Appendix - History

Olympia: The Age of Gods PBEM (Oct 4 2000)

# Appendix C: Appendix - History

All of Olympia is divided in two parts: the Imperial Empire and the Mandorian Confederacy.

In ages past, there was only the Imperial Empire, and peace reigned on the face of Olympia. Then a professional seeker of antiquities named Mandor discovered a library of books and artifacts in the basement of a ruined tower partway up a mountain. The books were in an ancient tongue, but after long study Mandor was able to translate them. Mandor had discovered the fabled lost library of Bastrestric ther Archymonaged, the greatest of the human mages that had fallen in the Time of Flames (see Appendix - Mythology of Olympia). Mandor began to study the books, and gathered a small group of like-minded seekers of knowledge. The lost art of Magic was refound.

It came to pass after some years that Mandor and his followers were discovered by priests of the Eight Churches. The priests denounced Mandor and his followers as disciples of Tor, and accused them of evil crimes against Man. Mandor and his followers protested that they were only innocent seekers of knowledge, but the priests refused to listen, and soon raised up an army and drove Mandor and his followers to the edge of the ocean.

Although harried by sword and bow, and driven like cattle, Mandor and his followers did not resist, only protesting again and again their innocence. But at the edge of the great sea, Mandor himself turned and stood against the army arrayed against him, crying out "See now what you have called upon yourself!" With that he unleashed great magics against the priests of the Eight Churches and their soldiers, such as had not been seen since the Time of Flames. Fireballs laid waste great sections of the army; lightning bolts rained down out of a clear sky upon the priests; and fallen men rose up from the dead to battle their brethren.

While Mandor stood against the armies, his followers gathered into ships and fled across the ocean and out of the known lands. And when they had gone, his magics exhausted, Mandor fell beneath the swords of the priests.

And in the Imperial Empire there was great rejoicing that the plague of Tor had again been cleansed from the land.

But the followers of Mandor sailed on across the ocean for long weeks. Many perished in the empty sea, but at last a few survivors beached upon the shores of a new land. There they built a city and a nation, naming it Mandoria after their fallen leader.

In time Mandoria grew in size to rival the Imperial Empire. In both nations memories grew dim. In the Imperial Empire, Mandor was little more than a bogeyman to scare children; in the Mandorian Confederacy their origins in the Imperial Empire were forgotten. Then daring explorers of both nations discovered the others, and long forgotten tales of horror were rekindled. In the Imperial Empire the priests of the Eight Churches preached against the horrors of Tor and the evils that magicians worked against their fellow men. In the Mandorian Confederacy, the streets were filled with stories of persecution and the bloodlust of the Empire.

And so the Age of Gods began, when religious wars raged across the face of Olympia, and man turned against man until the oceans themselves were red with blood.