Ur-Daemon

The Ur-Daemon were chaotic creatures from another valence who invaded Elanthia about 105,000 years ago. It is not known for certain how they gained access to our world, though myths have long suggested the blame lies in some fashion with Eorgina and Fash'lo'nae. These primordial "daemons" were later interpreted by the Elves as being extra-planar entities, whereas their oral traditions attested to shadow monsters devouring the forests. These were powerful demonic entities which fed on both the natural mana foci as well as the life's essence.

They were driven back by the Drakes in a thousand year war, which blasted the landscape for hundreds of miles in the last battle when their remaining portal was collapsed. It is thought there were multiple such gateways ripped open through some cosmic violence, suggesting there was widespread vulnerabilities in the veil at the time.

Other extra-planar intruders are associated with this same period of instability, including: the Great Elementals, the Vvrael, the Vishmiir, and Althedeus. The Eye of the Drake was a powerful artifact which was designed to seal off the world from the interdimensional rift leading to many other planes of existence. Theology holds that following the destruction of dragon rule, the gods associated with the moons (Arkati) inherited the world and brought life back from brink of annihilation. The historical period is generally referred to as the Age of Darkness.

Historical Ur-Daemon

It is not necessarily known that the "Ur-Daemon" correspond to a single kind of entity, or if there were heterogeneous hordes of major demonic in a single mass slaughter. The blood of a "dead" Ur-Daemon was collected from Teras Isle by the Palestra Blade Aralyte for her ritual to defeat Althedeus, a demon supposedly born of the chaos from the Ur-Daemon War. These have been visioned as enormous floating squids, essentially black tentacled monsters, but other lore attributes them as having limbs with six fingered claws which is reflected in one of the constellations. The ever flowing black blood was used to charge the crystallized eye of the Ur-Daemon named Ith'can, who vaguely resembled an oculoth, and whose many eyes allowed transportation between valences.

While the official lore has nothing in the way of religions specifically devoted to the Ur-Daemon, there have been some demonic cults related to theology surrounding the First Age cataclysm. With a modernization of the I.C.E. Age lore surrounding The Dark Path, their idiosyncratic beliefs regarding "Ka'Daena" and the "Gates of the Void" can be twisted to reflect the Ithzir "Grak'na'Den" and Tehir "Maw of the Void." The Broken Lands can be interpreted with Althedeus replacing the imprisoned Kabis, with The Dark Path treated as a cult of Shadows with an odd theology of Eorgina.

Known Ur-Daemon

• Ith'can - An Ur-Daemon resembling an oculoth, with supernatural powers like possession, whose many eyes allowed interplanar travel.
• Unknown - Ur-Daemon dormant in the rocks of Teras Isle
• Marlu - Believed by some to be an Ur-Daemon who sought asylum with the Arkati.
• Kharuugh-Ur - Non-canonical Ur-Daemon who killed the non-canonical Drake Shu'raax. They were famous Ordainers in Shadow World.

Contemporary Extra-planar Beings

• Althedeus
• The Vvrael
• The Vishmiir
• Great Elementals

Demonic Cults

• Disciples of the Shadows
• The Dark Path (archaic)
• Marluvian cultists
• The Cult of Kron'khaal (unofficial)

Temporal Anomalies

Temporal disturbances sometimes reveal scenes of the Ur-Daemon War. These provide glimpses of the otherworldly monsters as they actually existed.

Below Melgorehn's Reach

When Elithain Cross was confronted in 5114 Modern Era, temporal anomalies showed a scene related to the Ur-Daemon and Vvrael.

The air grows warm and ethereal lights drift through the area like ghostly white smoke. Among the pale mist, images form and shift, first depicting a sky filled with ancient Drakes, their fiery breaths pouring out to burn a gnarled black Ur'Daemon that floats through the air like a giant squid, and then next an Ashrim ship gently floating on the waves as fires rage on the distant land.

Planar Shift Distortion

This is what you see when you look into the rift opened by the sorcerer spell Planar Shift (740).

A collage of images fills your mind as you peer into the depths of a shifting twilight grey rift.  You gaze unwaveringly, transfixed by the jumble of historic images racing across your consciousness.  Massive winged beasts, reptilian in nature, flit through a flame-ravaged sky, locked in battle with otherwordly creatures.  Soon enough, the scene changes to one of serenity and peace, various humanoids emerging en masse from caves.  That image, too, fades and is replaced by a great amalgamation of humanoids, all different races standing across a great decaying battlefield juxtaposed to zombies, banshees and other abominations.  But, after only a few seconds, that scene too disappears as quickly as it entered your now reeling mind.  Just as it seems the jumble of images will stop, they start again, in quick succession like a seamstress wielding her loom.  An eternity of tranquil images passes you by, only to be suddenly, and devastatingly replaced by a crude half-elf leading an army of humans towards a small town.  But alas, as the story gets interesting, all the images fade and you avert your gaze.

Teras Isle: Head of the Beast

Aralyte is charging the crystallized eye of Ith'can. The Staff of Ith'can was made for Althedeus from sacrificing Ithzir for their bones.

[Head of the Beast]
The cavern is immense, yet it seems almost dwarfed by the monstrous head of a beast rendered in a strange scaled substance that defies analysis. Emerging from the surrounding walls, its visage is contorted in an eternal grimace of fury and pain. Beneath it sits a large glaes anvil. A steady drip of bubbling black liquid leaks from the glittering eyes and snakes down the sides of the monstrosity's face, falling down upon the anvil's top where it pools just before hissing into a vapor of steam. 
Obvious exits: northeast, southeast

>look head
The leviathan head towers above, dominating the chamber with its hideous snarl. Its dark eyes seem to flash with fury, as light flickers across their reflective surfaces. Tears of smoking black liquid create twin stains down the creases in its gaunt cheeks.


Aralyte walks over closer to the head.
Aralyte says, "It is said..."
Aralyte runs a finger along the cavern wall, and briefly across the monstrous head.
Aralyte asks, "Is it true, perhaps?"
Aralyte asks, "The remnants of an Ur'Daemon?"
Aralyte says, "In time perhaps, I will need to return here."
Aralyte tilts her ithzir bone staff side to side, making the light play off it.
Aralyte walks towards the glaes anvil.
Aralyte raises her ithzir bone staff in triumph!
Aralyte chants her tongue musical and archaic.
Aralyte grips the bone staff in her hands, almost spinning, her grey gossamer cloak flowing out around her like a ripple of silver waves.

Aralyte holds the white eye of the bone staff over the altar, its crystallized surface slowly being covered by the bubbling black liquid leaking from the gnarled, huge scaled head above.

The black liquid pools over the eye, slowly bleeding through the crystallized shell, filling its depths like a slow rising jar of ink.

The white eye hisses as the black liquid continues to bleed over it, wrapping it in a blanket of shadows.

Chants more, closing her eyes and her voice rising in a gentle, melodic tone.

Smoldering fire breaks into life around the eyes of the monstrous head. It flickers for a few moments, then dies away with a sizzle.

For a moment a flash, or a spark, perhaps of life, spreads across the glistening dark eyes of the leviathian head towering above. It is brief, and fades quickly.

The liquid black smoke swirls inside of the white eye on the ithzir bone staff, slowly filling up and turning black.

Aralyte says, "It was successful."
Aralyte says, "The eye, it is filled."

Artifacts

Ur-Daemon Obelisk

Wehnimer's Landing Museum (Circa 5101 Modern Era)

(veil iron obelisk)
The obelisk is black, so dark it seems to absorb the light. A band of glyphs is carved around the middle. You find them incomprehensible and strangely disturbing. Though black velvet ropes prevent you from approaching the obelisk too closely, you feel a slight chill emanating from it. A small plaque stands on a tripod just inside the ropes.

>read sign
It reads:
The Ur-Daemons

>read plaque
It reads:
Recovered from the ora mines in Rhoska-Tor, this strange artifact is thought by some to be an Ur-Daemon relic.

The Staff of Ith'can

It is an "ithzir bone staff" with the crystallized eye of the Ur-Daemon Ith'can. When charged it is able to open gateways to other planes of existence, and was used by Aralyte to turn Lake Eonak by Melgorehn's Reach into a portal to the Shadow plane where Althedeus was defeated. The staff was made using the bones of sacrificed Ithzir for Grak'na'Den, the Ithzir epithet for Althedeus, who they called "father of the black heavens" in the Tehir language. It was pivotal in the finale of the Cross into Shadows storyline, and was later mentioned to provide backstory for Aralyte's red soulstone.

Return to Sunder Storyline
(9th Olaesta 5116 Modern Era)
Vynessa asks, "Are you all familiar with the Staff of Ith'can?"
Vynessa asks, "It was recovered, I believe, almost two years ago?"
Puptilian asks, "Was going to say, wasn't it part of what we used to get into the shadow realm?"
Vynessa says, "The Blade Aralyte, it was within some of Grishom's collection."
Puptilian asks, "What they went to Teras for?"
Vynessa says, "Precisely."
Vynessa says, "It was forged by the bones of ithzir, and capped with the eye of an Ur'Daemon, or so the story goes, or I suppose, went."
Falvicar quietly says, "Snd filled with demon blood from Teras."
Vynessa says, "The white eye was.."
Vynessa nods at Falvicar.
Vynessa says, "Exactly, filled with the blood of a demon, and then used to turn Lake Eonak into a pool of shadow, allowing many of you into the Shadow Realm."
Vynessa says, "When many of you confronted Althedeus."
Vynessa says, "The staff is presumed gone now, I do not recall what transpired to it, rather it crumbled, or remained with Aralyte in the blackness."
Vynessa says, "But the staff was forged by ithzir bones, and per Grishom's writings..."
Vynessa says, "And, let me preface this all."
Vynessa says, "Grishom Stone is a madman."
Vynessa says, "It took me only a few moments of regarding his work and musings and research to confirm what I knew from the stories I'd heard."
Vynessa says, "But, it is important to understand the enemy, at any rate."
Vynessa says, "I think another item of such, exists."
Vynessa says, "The staff was said to be forged by ithzir bones, but, was actually created by an ithzir."
Vynessa says, "Grishom believed, the creator actually had volunteers sacrifice themselves to try to make this staff."
Vynessa says, "Grak'na'Den."
Vynessa says, "Grak'na'Den is the Ithzir's name for Althedeus."

Melgorehn's Reach

It is not known yet what the nature, function, or origin of the orb is in the monolith near the apex of Melgorehn's Reach. Loul the Enchanter was a story from the I.C.E. Age, but the "daemonic" details and "pure" veil-iron would not make sense in the original context. It might be an ancient artifact from deep in the Age of Darkness. The fundamental premise is that Loul used very rare (ancient) artifacts of extreme power to make the Reach. These would have been Lord of Essaence artifacts from the First Era. However, they did not exist in Elanthia, so this orb is possibly an Ur-Daemon relic.

[Melgorehn's Reach, Lost in the Fog]
You are in a dense fog bank and can see absolutely nothing.  You realize that you can probably back out of here easily enough.
Possible paths: out

XXX glances at an ancient granite monolith.

>look monolith
Twisting runes and carvings along the face of the monolith dance in your vision causing you to sway uneasily.  You can't seem to keep a clear focus on them long enough to decipher what they mean. Imbedded into the monolith is a large, krodera orb covered with veins of pure veil iron.  The detailed stonework around the orb portrays hordes of daemon clutching at .  The daemon's arms extend toward the orb, their claws digging into the its surface and securing it in place.  The orb pulses rhythmically with a dull red glow.  The veil iron veins seem to writhe as the opposing magics caress them and tap their power, and a swirling mist surrounds the monolith as if protecting it.  There is a small, gem-shaped, indentation just above the orb which is empty.

External Links

Rough account of the Ur-Daemon War
Marlu's Profile
Elanthian Times, Volume 3, Issue 2