The history of the World of Indagar stretches back over 1,000 years from the present. The following provides a description of the Current Time, as well as useful links to breadth of history of the world.
Current Time (5 PC)[]
Ruins of Konagara
Just five years ago, the Republic fell. In one day, the strings that were barely holding onto to the waning power of the strongest country in the known world snapped as the Cataclysm unfolded during the 1,000th year celebration of the Republic's founding. The Cataclsym was a world shattering event, as reaper energy from the Spirit once again seeped into the world and tore the landscape asunder. The capital of the old Republic, Konagara, was completely destroyed, and the land around is withered, forming the Dead Lands. Massive earthquakes in the center of the continent literally moved mountains, opening a previously closed path in the Spine between the eastern borders of the Republic and Sand Seas. Reaper energy exploded from the earth, all throughout Indagar, creating reaper poisoned Spirit Wells, source of water infused with the power of magic, prior to which the only known source was the Spirit Well under Konagara. The impact of the Cataclysm was felt as far away as other continents, and the denizens of Indagar are just now coming to terms with what the future of Indagar will be.
With the destruction of Konagara and the collapse of The Republic's government, production of Spirits - powerful, ingestible, capsule of magic energy - also ceased. These wonders were refined from the waters of The Well which used to reside in a cavern below Konagara. By consuming Spirits, a person can be imbued with relatively safe and very powerful magical effects such as longer lasting life, cured diseases, superior health, expanded mental capacity, heightened memory, a stronger body, or a number of other powerful effects. With access to Spirits, a person could become larger than life, an army could become an unstoppable juggernaut, and a nation could expand far beyond the normal bounds of humanity. Such was how The Republic grew so large and was able to maintain power. Further, as foreign peoples also desperately coveted Spirits, they become the economic fuel of the success of the Republic, and without them, what remains of the Republic, known as the Lanagaran Scions, struggles daily to maintain their grip on order. It is also true that the fall of The Republic was not solely caused by the Cataclysm, as its power was already fading due to a series of critical events which were already occurring during the years preceding it. However, it definitively marked the point at which the rule of the Republic was no more and the Lanagaran Scions were made.
To the far west, a mighty nation known as the Minsheng Empire had been preparing for a massive invasion of Indagar, but that invasion had been stopped when their ambassadors fled in terror during the Cataclysm. Yet, the Emperor remains undeterred, and he is still concocting plans for how the Minsheng Empire will reclaim The Well and all of Indagar. This storm, rising in the west, has yet to come to the attention of the people of Indagar.
The power of The Reaper, a name given to the magical force created by Reaper Energy, still leaks out of the ruins of Konagara. A powerful, clandestine group known as The Cabal, now calls the ruins of Konagara and the surrounding Dead Lands their home. The Cabal is a small group made up of terrifyingly powerful magic users whose bodies have been warped by Reaper Energy during the Cataclysm and whose magic is fueled by Reaper Energy. Having been bent to the will of Reaper Energy, these individuals have latched onto the idea of The Reaper as being a sort of demon-god that they now serve and who is driving them to wrought destruction and sow chaos across Indagar.
In the center of the continent, the people, known as the Great Forest Tribes, have had their world-view devastated by the Cataclysm. The Great Forest, a magical, dark wood nearly a quarter the size of the continent, has long since been their refuge and home. However, the release of Reaper Energy hungers to destroy that bastion of life. With their own wells now being poisoned by the powers unleashed in the Cataclysm, the Bear Shamans of the Great Forest Tribes believe that their very existence is under threat. They believe that outsiders are responsible for this new threat, and the rumblings of war have begun as the largest population on all of Indagar has began to muster and move out of the Great Forest, determined to find and destroy the source of Reaper Energy.
To the east, the greatest bastion of civilization since the destruction of The Republic, the Kingdom of Arkland, still maintains a powerful, thriving economy and a robust, feudal society. Thousands of miles away from Konagara and the Cataclysm, the Priests of Light, a zealous, religious group, point the finger at the Lanagaran Scions as having brought about their own downfall for not serving the Goddess, their greatest deity. They believe that The Reaper is a manifest of the Trickster, their God of evil, and so have begun to sound the drums of war in an effort to purge Indagar of the corruption and restore glory. No longer under the thumb of the Republic, many hawkish noble families of Arkland are starting to muster behind the otherwise disdainful call of the Priests for without the Republic, now is the time for Arkland to branch out, conquer its ancient enemies, and establish itself as a new world power.
Yet another powerful faction, known as the Stars of Ixohtl, however, will stand in the way of Arkland. Ancient enemies whose wrath has been stayed for a thousand years by the peaceful government of the Republic, the Stars have recently observed in the sky their greatest, religious rite in which the Stars Align. The Stars believe that when the bodies of the heavens align, it signals the birth of a new Star, the name they given to their deified, leaders. In ages past, such an event always foretold a great expansion of the Stars, bringing them to new found heights and glory. As such, they have begun to muster their hordes of horsemen, preparing for war.
To the south, a relatively new people, known as the Ramal Nations, have also begun a meteoric rise of their own. Long considered a back-water of the Republic, in recent days, the Blood Cults of the Ramal Nations have discovered that since the Cataclysm, their Blood Magic has grown significantly in potency. Always having harbored the desire to expand the borders of the Ramal Nations outside of the lonely desert of the south, the Ramaltas, the kings of the Ramal Nations, have started to federate, both to protect themselves from the inevitable dark times to come but also to secretly begin their own plans to expand their borders and perhaps seek the riches of others in Indagar.
Lastly, a new power has also formed since the Cataclysm, known as The Order. Based in the City on the Lake, a neutral ground which maintains a tenuous peace with the Great Forest Tribes, The Order is comprised of individuals who have been able to overcome the possessive powers of Reaper Energy and transform from demonic members of The Cabal into a secret society whose sole aim is the destruction of The Cabal and ultimately to save the world, at any cost. Once Cabalists, these powerful individuals now act secretly to counter-infiltrate the peoples of Indagar in search of Cabalists. Their fervor is heightened by the fact that they believe that the end of the world is coming, and nothing has right to stand in their way to stop it.
With the power vacuum put in place by the fall of the The Republic and with the imminent danger of the reaper, infesting the lands, the peoples of Indagar have fractured and began to take matters into their hands. This is made worse now that the Cataclsym has opened up the earth, spilling forth many natural springs that can become Spirit Wells. The draw of these sources of magic, and the ability of the peoples of Indagar to use them to create their own Spirits and become a world power is intense, and there will inevitably be conflict as they attempt to claim them.
Such are the current, dark times of Indagar. A thousand years of prosperity under the banner of the Republic has come to an end. With a great power vacuum left in the wake of the Cataclysm, those forces within Indagar who have always sought power are now free to manifest. The air is thick with strife. The average man, woman, and child can feel the dark times approaching, and the future of Indagar remains uncertain. The dam which is holding back the chaos of war is leaking, and it will not be long before it bursts.
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--Neil (talk) 02:12, 11 October 2016 (AST)