TORA
DANYA
A short history...
For the sake of convenience, Tora Danya’s history has been split into three eras.
THE FIRST AGE (FA)
THE FA BEGINS WITH EYA, the heart of creation, and details the formation of the universe, the birth of the Gods, and subsequent generations.
Conflict rose with the emergence of Roan, a being of pure malice who nearly succeeded in dominating the young cosmos by seeking to control Eya. He was eventually defeated and imprisoned by the Gods.
The second conflict rose out of Roan’s machinations, which inadvertently tipped the balance of the universe. This caused the birth of the Ebbanduli, fifty chaotic demons who sought to devour creation. They were stopped by the goddess Nira, but their destruction proved impossible without tinkering with the heart of reality. To contain them, the Gods reordered creation into a spherical form of five planes, or levels, that utilize the force of balance to keep the Ebbanduli locked in the center. The keystone of balance is third level is the physical plane, where order and chaos, good and evil --both sides of all dichotomies-- overlap. Following this development, the gods went on to populate the physical plane with various attempts at mortal life, all of which failed before their fourth and final attempt resulted in humanity as we know it.
Humanity evolved and grew, building shrines and cities in honor of the gods. Before long, the central landmass was covered by the massive kingdom of Ladinia. At this time, the gods were very much a part of human life; many were born into human avatars on the physical plane in order to interact directly. A golden age fell over humanity, and Ladinia stood for 1,000 years.
The first sign of trouble came at the end of the millennium. Tora, the Goddess of Hope and a patron of Ladinia, vanished. Ladinians feared she no longer walked among them in avatar, and rumors began to spread the she was displeased with humanity and had abandoned the kingdom. For this, opposing factions in different regions began to accuse one another. Eventually, news began to spread that not only was she gone from the physical plane, but the goddess herself was dead, and with her, hope itself. Tensions escalated as conflicts between political rivals and warring religious factions began to spread.
Stories vary, but it’s believed that the kingdom was attacked from within. The royal family was assassinated by bandits, leaving a young and sickly heir to take charge. Within a matter of years, he too was dead. The Lord Regent, a man named Crael, attempted to smooth tensions, but blame for the assassinations began to come from all sides and he quickly lost control.
The kingdom finally collapsed at the closing of the age. The Niranites, a powerful religious sect dedicated to Nira, had been feuding with a warlike clan known as “The Stoneforged,” but their focus suddenly shifted to the royal palace, which lay just north of their lands. For reasons not fully understood, the Niranites marched on the palace and demanded the Lord Regent’s surrender. Grand General Lucas, fearing the proud Niranites were attempting to take the kingdom at its weakest moment, led the royal army against them. In the ensuing battle, the palace was destroyed. Mixed accounts of the battle were confused, and many have turned into legend, but a popular tale stated that the Goddess Nira herself came to the battlefield to fight alongside her followers, and that she personally murdered Lord regent Crael. However, she sacrificed her life, or at least that of her avatar, in doing so. The Niranites departed in ruin, having lost their goddess and many warriors. Lucas and his men hunted them to near extinction, killing their warlord and scattering them to the four corners of the landmass. As the kingdom collapsed, stories of their apparent betrayal, as well as Nira’s demise, preceded them.
It is said that the Gods, fed up with humanity’s inability to overcome their base behaviors, left the physical plane and withdrew from the lives of mortals. None of been seen since the end of the FA.
The story of Time and Tide depicts the search for the truth behind Ladinia’s fall and Nira’s betrayal.
THE SECOND AGE (SA)
THE SA, KNOWN AS THE AGE OF CHAOS, covered the 591 years during which the landmass was divided.
After Crael’s death, the kingdom split into rival factions. Seven sovereign nations formed over the first century.
For a deeper and more comprehensive look at each each province, including history, geography,and demographics, click the buttons with its name.
ARINNLEY: The highland region at the center of the land, where the ruins of Ladinia’s palace stood, and those loyal to Grand General Lucas protected what they saw as the last faction still loyal to the crown.
BOWEN: Home to Lord Royce, a close cousin of the deceased Ladinian royal family. Royce and his followers believe it was his duty to claim the crown and repair the land, but other regions disputed his claim and believed he had played a role in the assassination of the kings.
SHURO: Once home to the Niranites. Their rival tribe, The Stoneforged, believed that the weakness of the prior leadership was to blame for the kingdom collapsing. They insisted their strength gave them the right to dominate the land and set out to do so.
ESTILAN: Home to a wealthy patrician who inadvertently founded a city by offering protection to the locals. With leaders skilled in diplomacy, this region remained neutral for much of the SA and is credited with eventually reviving the economy of the landmass by reopening trade routes.
OCEANWARD: Protected by geographic formations, this region mostly kept itself out of the wars. It was home to a highly spiritual caste of people.
ORANDEL: Another region safely distant from the center of the conflict, Orandel supported a community of independent aristocrats and their serfs. Disgruntled with the rest of the land, they bolstered their defenses and withdrew for centuries.
GALANIE: A highland region below Orandel, this semi-sovereign area was a haven for those who felt unsafe or unaccepted in other forming nations.
The SA came to an end when Edgar the Great, a king from Bowen, reunited the landmass into a new kingdom.
THE THIRD AGE (TA)
THE TA BEGINS with the rise of Tora Danya.
All seven nations agreed to form a new union, accepting their role as official provinces of the kingdom.
The treaty stipulated that each realm maintain a certain amount of independence. One of the most important clauses allowed for the ruling families of each nation to remain in control of their territories, and they were allowed to become peers of the new Monarchy. The document also promised that cultural and religious identity would not be impeded by the Monarchy, and peaceable mingling was encouraged. The abandoned (and supposedly haunted) region of Bryswythe was later resettled and declared its own province in the year 257 TA. In 1000 TA, a strip of unregulated land south of Oceanward, known only as Narrowmead, was set aside as a wilderness reserve by the Monarchy.
While Tora was considered long-departed, Edgar chose the name “Tora Danya,” which translates as “Hope’s Blessing,” to honor her, and to keep alive the force she represented in the face of her absence. The strategy worked; Edgar’s optimism spread, and the land began to anticipate healing from centuries of war and despair. In modern times, depressed citizens are encouraged to look to their kingdom as a source of inspiration. As Edgar said, “If a land like ours can heal and grow, is Tora truly gone?”
The TA contains the many tales and trials of the kingdom’s existence.
As of Time and Tide, Book 1: Changing Tides, the year is 1561 TA.
Copyright © 2018, Seth A. Feldman