The Oldest People
Urdrevan accounts of their earliest history describe a dream-like age when all of humanity roamed the world, following on the heels of the Gods as they finished creation and beholding each new thing as it was made. After the Gods departed to oversee Elandra from the heavens then humans continued to explore the world, organising themselves around the folk among them who could still hear the divine word. Some of these new priests were inspired to settle their people in places where resources were abundant, to build cities and monuments to the glory of the Gods. The Urdrevan regard themselves as descendents of those groups who realised that no structure raised by human hands could do justice to the beauty and complexity of the world, and that creation itself was a sufficient monument to the glory of the Gods. These folk stayed on the move, to better live off the land without spoiling it and to avoid being ruled by the ambitions of others.
The roaming people endured the ways the settled folk changed the world. They endured the felling of forests and draining of marshland, they endured the enclosure of fields and pasture, they endured the building of roads and walls. When the elemental flux brought floods or droughts to the land that ruined the crops then the settled folk would suffer greatly, communities fighting over the stores they needed to survive. The settled folk began to join forces under leaders who could keep them safe in times of war, and soon the first nations had arisen – with borders marked upon the land and warriors set to guard them. It was in this time that the roaming people learned from the beasts how and where it was still safe to live, they followed the herds in migration and fathomed the ways free people could live in the harsh lands unsuitable for settlement.
Though living in many different fashions and facing many different struggles the roaming people were united by their dedication to remaining unruled and free to wander as they pleased. There came a time when by the great effort of the Priests of the Traveller and the Celebrant that the diverse gatherings of the people swore a covenant to preserve their way of life and to assist each other in times of hardship. From then on they were known as the Urdrevan people, and would meet in great moots every three years to renew their oaths and resolve disputes between bands.
The rise of the Corruption began slowly and subtly, a steady increase in the danger and discord in the world presented many opportunities for mobile merchants and mercenaries. It seemed like the Commonwealth had been founded at just the right time, to safeguard the interests of those Nations dedicated to freedom. There came a time when each new messenger seemed to bring bad news, stories of strife and natural disasters and failed harvests. The Moots of the people were not decisive, for grudges of old were enflamed by privation and any foreign cause would have supporters on each side at each other’s throats. The people were turned away from welcome they expected, guest rights were broken, and the columns of refugees grew to such length on the roads that to help one person would be to drown in the desperate need of thousands. The Urdrevan not brought under the power of the enemy were harried from the lands they roamed, wild spirits came among the beasts and sickness lay heavy on the land.
The Fading
Immediately following the Pact, the event known as the Fading has further prevented new progress in the nations; this was some sort of unknown magical calamity which affected and continues to affect the spread of information and its retention – both on paper and in the minds of all people across Elandra.
Land beyond the boundaries of the Corruption is no longer remembered as it should be; it is as if the memory of it has been washed away, and the records of such are blank or missing too. Information from before the Pact is similarly difficult to find, and impossible to recall for those who lived through it.
Other information is similarly missing from recall by all the remaining powers of Elandra, though some snippets of the past are found in oral traditions, festivals and the echo of memory on culture of each nation.
The study of history has been devastated by this calamity, as it is no longer possible to be certain of fact with so many relied-upon sources being unavailable. The record-keepers and historians of every nation have tried to maintain some form of order, but there is a lot beyond mortal knowledge that was once known to all, and it is an ongoing exercise to share what little remains.
Scholars generally blame the Corrupted for having caused this – severing connection to whatever is beyond their borders using foul magic of some kind, but the search to recover what has been lost is a massive international effort.
The Fading of Knowledge was a tremendous wound upon the very spirit of the people, a whole generation traumatised by the excision of stories they were sworn to keep. Many bands broke apart in the aftermath, robbed of the expertise they needed to continue their journeys. The new generation of leaders have sworn to avenge the wrongs visited on their elders, they have paid to relearn the lessons of their forebearers in blood and tears. What remains of the Urdevan is less than it was, but at its core is a will to survive that has carried the people through a thousand years of hardship. The Urdrevan have been sharpened in clashes, they have been hardened in flames, they are hungry and know well the scent of the Corrupted. The spear is ready in the hand, the arrow is drawn upon the bow, the horn gives voice, the leash is slipped, and the last of the Urdrevan are ready for war.