Legends of Old Urthe - Hell on Urthe  (D&D v3.5)
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Fourth Age - Old Urthe: History of the Ages

The First Age lasted many thousands of years, from that time long, long ago when the People first came to the Urthe, through the many discoveries that they made about their home, throughout all their subsequent wars, and up to the terrible time that is known as the Devastation.

And so came about the Second Age. The wounding of the Urthe by the fires of the Devastation caused life to retreat from the land for a long time, and healing cold tended Urthe's wounds. In the darkness of the Second Age, old differences were forgotten as the People banded together in the interests of survival, living in isolated cave-dwelling communities and battling against the Great Cold. In that harsh time much knowledge was lost as the people descended into barbarism and despair.

Eventually the Urthe was renewed and the Cold retreated, and the Third Age, the Age of Rebirth, dawned, heralding the return of the ancient Gods as the People gave thanks for their delivery and turned once more, as did their forebears, in a past now long forgotten, to the worship of the Urthe as a living entity, and celebration of the wonders of nature. And the Urthe Mother blessed the People and forgave them for the evil of their ancestors, and the People, in turn, revered her and her Consorts.

And then did Elf friend and Dwarf brother, who had long ago shunned the wickedness that had led to the Devastation, come forth from the hidden depths of forest glade and of mountain fastness, and welcomed the People, and gladly they did instruct them in the ways of the Urthe, and reintroduced the People to the wonders of Magic, for they alone had not forgotten.

As the Third Age progressed the People relearned some of the lost knowledge; metal tools replaced stone ones; towns were built and schools established. And the People, aided by the Elves and Dwarfs, cared for the Urthe and were rewarded by her bounty. And life was good.

But there were others who looked out on the renewed Urthe, creatures whose bodies and minds had been bent and twisted by the fires of the Devastation, and who were capable of surviving the worst trials of the Second Age. And whereas the People viewed the new Age with hope and wonder, these others eyed it with malice and rage, and in their hatred, they called upon cruel and malevolent Gods to destroy that which they could not abide. And so the Dark Gods of War, Death and Forbidden Knowledge came once more to the Urthe.

And these Dark Gods whispered to the People, tempting them with promises of power and unholy secrets and some of their number listened and turned away from the bosom of the Urthe and left the lands of their Brethren to embrace these Dark Gods. And the People mourned their Lost Kin.

But in time would they have cause to fear them, for, spurred on by their Dark Mistress, Morrigan, and with their hearts filled with malice, the Lost Kin and their creatures descended upon the People without warning, plunging the Urthe into bloody conflict.

And how the Dark Gods laughed at the slaughter.

The fighting lasted for many years, but the People and their allies, the Elves and Dwarfs, stood firm, their love for the Urthe stronger than the hatred festering in the hearts of their foe, and they eventually triumphed. And with the end of the war, the Third Age gave way to the Fourth.

Giving thanks to the Urthe for their victory, the People began to renew the ravaged lands, and rebuild their homes and cities. The Lost Kin returned to their own lands, to whatever awful fate awaited them at the hands of their Dark Mistress.

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