Return to Earth Eternal Official Lore

3 | THE EARLY BEASTS

Time has erased many of the events that transpired during the Age of Legend, but the early origins of the more numerous races, primarily from Europe, have survived in the oral traditions passed down from our forefathers. As the diverse groups of Beasts arose and began to populate the Earth, the beginnings of civilization took root. The Ursines of Midgaard and the Felines of the Nile were the earliest to arise that we know of, and their cultures also ranked among the great of the Age of Legend. Soon after, tribes and communities of Beasts were to be found all over the known world, from the Frozen Wastes of the North to the harsh deserts of Africa.

 

Anura

The frog‐like Anura are a singular exception among the races of Beast in that we know exactly how they came to be, and when. As told in the Mystarch Dominion section of the history, the Anura were created as slaves by the Mystarch Tarchon, and how they rebelled against him when the Beasts rose against the Mystarch rule.

When the Covenant was formed, the Anura were judged worthy by Gaia the Earthmother and were granted full Beasthood, after which they eagerly bound themselves to the Covenant. Since that time, so long ago, it has not been uncommon for some Anura to be almost fanatical in their devotion to Gaia and to the good of Beasts.

Though they never had a homeland, the Anura have, in recent times, begun the first steps in constructing a city of Anura and for Anura, in the Polissya Swamp, which they are calling Moonfall.

 

Atavians

The sharp‐eyed and sharp‐taloned Atavians can trace their ancestry back to the cool oceanic coasts of western Tartessian Peninsula. Here, their feathered forefathers made nests along the beaches and inland mountains, and spent their time fishing and trading with other primitive Beasts. While their primary diet consisted of fish, hunting parties also frequently scouted into the mainland and preyed upon the lesser animals. Their enemies knew them as swift and fearful foes, and their cunning was legendary. Many of their legends tell of Ariviir, who single‐handedly felled great dire wolves from the north by feigning fearful chase and leading his pursuers into snares, whence the hunted became the hunter. It is often said that he and his tribe were the inspiration for the modern Cazadorians and their fight against the second Anubian invasion. Later, the descendants of Ariviir begat the nation of Tartessia, of which little is left today but the name, though it is known that it had contact with the Dog Soldiers of Amizeh across the narrow sea.

 

Bandicoons

East of the Great Forest, in the rolling hills and woods of the northern mainland, in the area we now know as the Blighted Wood, lies the ancestral home of the Bandicoons. In those days, of course, the taint of the Rotted had not been dreamt of yet, and the forests here were still the domain of the Beasts. The early Bandicoons were quiet, peaceful beings who loved learning the secret paths and many plants and trees of the woods and hills. Their children would often play with the Treekin to the west, who taught their kind the powerful druidic magic that has sustained the Beasts through many a hard time.

Though jovial and good‐hearted, the ancient Bandicoons kept largely to themselves, preferring the simple comforts of hearth and home within their villages to the dangerous and noisy life of adventuring. Any foe wandering into their territory quickly learned the difference between peaceful and harmless, however, for though the earliest Bandicoons built no cities nor dreamed dreams of conquest and martial glory, they were and are cunning and fearless in defense of what is theirs.

The legend goes that these early Bandicoons were not dispersed from their homeland until the Bleakness, and even then resisted the rampaging Undead for decades through the power of an artifact claimed to be from the Lost Ages. Some stories call this artifact the Stygian Eye, some the Boncairn, and some the Trillium Shard. There's no agreement on what this magical relic did to protect the Bandicoons, but in the end, it was all for naught, as they succumbed to the Bleakness and scattered to the four winds like virtually all Beasts in those terrible times.

 

Bounders

The earliest of the Bounders awoke on the isle of Hibernia, far to the northwest. As the Emerald Isle was then devoid of threat, the Bounders' days were idyllic and filled with leisure, abundant food, and friendship among themselves and with the occasional Hart or Broccan visitor from the isle to the East. The Bounders had everything they needed readily available and had no need for leadership nor commerce. They affectionately referred to their king‐less realm as the Emerald Kingdom. So things were on Hibernia, relatively untouched by events beyond their little world, until the vivacious Bounders were finally driven out of their Emerald Kingdom by the Primal Invasion, never to return.

 

Broccans

Famous in the stories for both their strength of arm and great courage, the warrior clans of the Broccans hail from the Scotian highlands. While many of the Broccans practiced farming and formed small communities there, the young warriors spent most of the year in small raiding parties organized by their individual clans and headed to the lowlands to hunt the wild cats and brown bears that could be found there.

Occasionally the clans would range far to the south and raid the settlements of the Whitestone Harts, but these rarely resulted in anything approaching open warfare. Honor was paramount within the warrior clans, and Curnon save the Beast that insulted that honor. Though the Broccan clans were not scholars and kept few records, modern Broccans claim that their early ancestors were the first to take up worship of Curnon, God of the Hunt and it is true that in modern times, the High Priest of Curnon has been a Broccan more often than any other race.

 

Capricans

High in the peaks of the Carpathian mountains, the goat‐like Capricans carved their early homes out of the very rock and dirt of the mountainside. The conditions must have been harsh indeed, but the first of the Capricans were a hard people, known for their stubborn natures and strong will. An old saying, perhaps from as far back as this time says, "Better to try and squeeze blood from a stone than move a Caprican."

In fact, they lived quite happily in their mountain home. They spent their days growing what little food they could in the rocky soil and mining the caves of the Carpathians, in which they built towns and villages. When traders would visit, the Capricans managed to do quite well for themselves by trading gems and precious minerals for necessities they lacked and luxuries to make the stinging bite of the mountain winters more tolerable.

Though we know they built small cities in shallow cave systems to hide from the winter, none have survived the ravages of time, aside from one important exception. Two centuries ago, when Janus Redclaw and his band of vampire hunters found what they named the Warren, they found a ruined city that they were able to determine had been a city of the ancient Capricans named Kar Luthin.

 

Fangren

The Fangren history is largely shrouded due to the unfortunate events which eventually befell their people. The few scraps of legend which have survived trace the Fangren origins back to a small tribe led by two great warriors, Romulus and Remus. Stories say that they founded a glorious city in the heart of the Tiber Valley.

The legend states that their city was built on the western bank of the river Tiber, but once completed, a quarrel erupted as to who would be the leader. Remus was said to be the wiser brother, but Romulus the stronger, and also the firstborn. Their debate raged for days, but the city's people began to lean towards the eloquent Remus. Acting quickly to protect his birthright, Romulus sent assassins to slay his brother.

Warned of the coming treachery by a spy Remus had placed in Romulus's household, Remus fled to the eastern bank and quickly gathered his forces to him. Some say that there is no bad blood such as that between those of the same blood, and this proved sadly true. They warred for half a score years, brother against brother, Fangren against Fangren, until at last Remus was forced to flee, and disappeared from even legend. Romulus, victorious, built his city of Roma into one of great wealth and power.

The early Fangren were said to be a noble and courageous people despite their tumultuous beginnings, and great warriors besides, widely respected for their strength and wisdom both. They loved life, and honed their minds as well as their bodies. This makes their destiny all the more tragic, for these same qualities were what ultimately attracted the vampires to them, to decimate the Fangren and birth the Ferals. Their people thirsted for blood no more than a common sword does, and yet the cruel hands that twisted and wielded them bathed them in it for centuries.

 

Felines

Felines first arose on the banks of the Nile long ago, among the rushes and reeds. There, along the life‐giving river, they formed the Badarian Dynasty ‐ perhaps the earliest real nation of Beasts known to us, though the Ursines of Midgaard would take issue with that claim and it's uncertain as to who takes pride of place. Half‐remembered stories and legends make cryptic references that some have interpreted as indicating a true Feline civilization very early in the history of the Beasts, but none can place a name to any Beast before Beowulf of the Ursines. It's likely the matter of which came first ‐ Midgaard or Badaria ‐ will never be decided, for the deeds of those days have washed away in the storm of time.

The Badarians grew, for their time, rich in culture, and began to master the magical arts, which Felines seem naturally well‐adapted to. They took up the worship of Ra, the Sun God, and basked in the light of his glory. They grew rich and powerful, and inspired envy in the Beasts around them, and they became arrogant, and decadent.

Though it's not certain how the war started, the Badarians and the Dog Soldiers of Amizeh, to the West, went to war. Perhaps they warred over some great wrong one side committed against the other, or perhaps it was simply the natural evolution of a civilization grown wealthy enough to attract the attention of its neighbors, or perhaps they simply didn't like each other.

Whatever the cause, the Badarians and the Dog Soldiers warred for nine generations before the Felines were swept from the Nile. The surviving Badarians fled and after a long journey which cost many lives, they arrived in a land far to the north of their former home, sandwiched between two giant inland seas. They named their new home Hayasa and settled there, resolving to live humbler lives and avoid the attention of potential enemies.

It's often opined among historians that this choice of location represents, through no fault of the Felines, one of the most unfortunate decisions in the history of Beastdom, for Hayasa is strategically situated, and is directly in the path of any southern movement by the hosts of the People of the Skull. The history of the Felines is largely one of sorrow as a result of this decision, though the last one hundred years or so represents a happy exception.

 

Foxen

The kingdom of the Foxen is remembered more as an idea than a history now. It is said, and passionately felt among many of the Foxen, that the Border Holds, so‐called as they lay the furthest east of friendly Beast nations known to those of the time, were among the most civilized of Beasts, skilled in the arts of war, art, commerce, and lordship. Located where the Ranger Kingdoms are today, the citizen‐soldiers of the Border Holds were apparently widely known as great hunters and travelers who ranged near and far, gathering a unique culture to them that drew upon the influences of all around them.

Unfortunately, little more is known about these early Beasts. All we know of them comes from third‐party accounts in the stories of other nations of that time, though they were one of the few nations of Beasts to survive the Bleakness. Their civilization was scoured from the land by an invasion of the People of the Skull sometime in the latter part of the Age of Legend and the infamous citizen‐soldiers of the Border Holds disappeared from history. Modern Foxen honor their memory in the Ranger Kingdoms, but do not claim to be anything other than the spiritual successor to the Border Holds.

 

Harts

Travelers to the southern coast of Anglorum often stand in awe of the majestic and unique cliffs which line the beaches and inland valleys of the region, known for their strange and mysterious color: white as new‐fallen snow. It was here, in the forests near these cliffs, that the ancestors of the proud Harts first revealed themselves to the pages of history.

Taking their name from these same cliffs, the Whitestone Harts quickly spread across much of the great island and formed small communities where they lived in relative peace, aside from fighting off occasional small raids by the Scotian clans of Broccans to the north. Legend tells us that when the Treekin first approached the Harts, they were astonished by the natural aptitude of the beasts for such magic. Druidic rites and rituals gained great popularity throughout Whitestone and were taught to the young Harts from an early age so the most skilled could be chosen as village leaders. The Whitestone Harts gained wide renown during the Age of Legend for their great skill in healing, second only to the Treekin themselves, and even erected a large stone ring on the south of the isle called Stonehenge, to aid and focus their druidic magic.

 

Longtails

Though many stories are told of the wandering Longtails, much of what is said is fiction and hearsay. No one knows for sure where the first Longtails arose, but they roamed through central Europe for much of the Age of Legend, never staying in one spot for long. They earned their bread by performing shows where they exhibited great acrobatic feats and clever sleight of hand, and doing odd jobs like mending pots or chopping wood for villages they would stop near. At night they built enormous fires and gathered around them to tell stories, play music, and dance by the hypnotic firelight.

Because of their nomadic lifestyle, they were often blamed when something would go wrong in a community. Invariably, if they were not outright accused of theft or violence, the mutterings and whispers would start and they would move on before any real trouble could occur, for the early Longtails had no love for fighting and combat.

It's quite ironic then, considering the ill reputation of the Longtails, that much of what we know of the Age of Legend and the origins of the other races comes directly from the stories passed down verbally from parent to child around those iconic campfires. It's precisely due to their nomadic nature and oral tradition that we have even the scraps of knowledge of our history before the Bleakness.

 

Noctari

The early Noctari were a people both hearty and wise, living in the land of Hellena, at the base of mighty Mount Olympus, near the Aegean Sea. Though their nation was not so ancient as Badaria or Midgaard, Hellena arose soon after those ancient nations. Unlike either the Felines or the Ursines, though, the Noctari were not governed by a central authority, instead preferring to live in distinct settlements that were loosely allied with each other.

Early on, the Noctari worshipped the Gods of Mount Olympus, and each of their villages would typically adopt a patron God or Goddess. It’s known that the Noctari occasionally warred against each other under the influence of competing Gods, for although they were a people who valued knowledge and good judgement, they were also a proud people, and quick to anger when they felt their local God had been insulted. The exception to this rule was Zeus the Father, who was respected and honored among all Noctari of Hellena, except perhaps by the Priestesses of Hera, whose devotion to Hera and Hera alone was legendary.

Hellena prospered greatly, and its cities grew strong, resisting even the Bleakness as well as any nation had, and was one of the few civilizations to survive more or less intact until the Age of Man. Our great debt to these ancient Noctari, as modern Beasts, is the library they built in the heart of Mount Olympus, which survived, in secret, even through the Age of Man. Though most of what we know of early Beast history comes from the Longtails, it was through the knowledge gained from the great Library of Athena that the Beasts of Europe were able to restablish civilization relatively quickly after the fall of Man. Philosophy, politics, the study of the trees, rivers, and animals, the secrets of curing disease: All these have their roots in the knowledge we gained from the re‐discovery of the Library of Athena.

 

Taurians

Of early Taurians, little is known, for they kept few records. They have always been renowned as great hunters, even then, and what records have been found of the early Taurians do not tell us much about them save how many creatures this Taurian slew, or how many captives that Taurian took in his last raid against a neighboring tribe. It's believed that they first arose in the southwestern portion of Taurania, in the Taurus mountains, for when mighty Sargon first makes his mark upon history many thousands of years later, the Taurians had not yet expanded beyond the mountains of their racial youth.

 

Tuskens

The Tuskens originated in the woodlands that covered the foothills of the eastern Carpathian mountains. Warriors they were, but not barbarians. Though they left few records and were no scholars or artists they had an iron discipline. They called their homeland 'Eremantus' which expresses the idea, in the Old Tongue that, "In discipline lies freedom." The ancient Tuskens spent their days training in the arts of battle and serving as mercenaries for causes just or not. They themselves sought no territory and did not demand or take great shares of treasure, serving in trade for raw iron, cloth, food, and other necessities but primarily motivated by the glory of battle.

There the Tuskens stayed, living simply in forested Eremantus until the Vampires came and drove them out of the Carpathians so that they could establish their Blood Kingdom.

 

Ursines

It is debatable whether Ursines or Felines formed the first true nations among the Beasts, but there is no doubt that the first Beast whose name we know was an Ursine: Beowulf, fabled first King of Midgaard. Though little is known for certain, and much is no doubt exaggerated about this semi‐mythical figure, it is accepted that Beowulf was a real Ursine, likely a young chieftain of one of the tribes of Ursine before forging that race of Beasts into a nation.

The legends say that when Beowulf was a chieftain, a great monster known as Grendel roamed the countryside, despoiled the forests, and drove off or consumed the moose that the Ursines hunted for food. Beowulf, resolving to slay the foul creature, ventured forth, found where it lay at night, and slew it in a great battle full of thunder and fury. When Beowulf returned, all hailed him as a great hero, and soon he was held first in esteem among tribal chieftains.

Three moons later, another, even greater monster appeared, despoiling the forests, driving away the moose, and even raiding villages of Ursine to sate its hunger. Once again, Beowulf went forth to hunt the monstrosity, finding the cave within which it dwelt. Though the creature was not there, Beowulf found within it the rotted corpse of Grendel, and realized that the monster he hunted now was Grendel's mother. She had retrieved her child's corpse and brought it back to her lair. Beowulf gathered up the corpse of Grendel, climbed up the hill within which the cave mouth opened, and there hung the corpse over the opening.

When Grendel's mother returned from feasting on a moose, she saw the corpse hanging over the cave mouth and grew possessed with the greatest of rages. Charging forward, she roared her fury at the defilement of her son, and fell into a great pit which Beowulf had dug. She was howling with rage as Beowulf, hidden on the hill above the cave mouth, pushed boulders off the ledge he rested on, crushing Grendel's mother in the pit below.

Beowulf climbed into the pit, hacked off one of the creature's horns, and brought it back to his people as proof of his victory, after which they hailed him as a conquering hero and proclaimed him the first King of Midgaard, and Lord of the North. For half a dozen years, Beowulf ruled the Ursines of Midgaard wisely and well, and the nation prospered. Few spoke a word against him and those chieftains who challenged his right to rule were quickly taught otherwise, for Beowulf was ever a mighty warrior, and was quick to swing his mighty axe, which was called Frostfang, and whose handle was forged of the horn he took from Grendel's mother.

It was then, as the Ursine's sun was just beginning to rise that the Dvergar first struck, rolling like a wave over northern Midgaard, crushing and burning all in their path. Beowulf led his people in many battles against the Dvergar, but here history becomes unknowable in a jumble of war and chaos. It is said that Beowulf fell in battle, a ring of Dvergar bodies lying around him, but no knowledge remains of where he fell or indeed, of Midgaard at all for almost a century after.