Introduction

This is a brief video I made that explains the high level concepts of the world. It gives a good foundation for anyone who is looking to use Zol for any purpose

In its Origin, Zol was spun from the Sea of Monsters in words spoken by The Watcher in The Door. Zol is never without strife, beauty, hardship, innovation, danger, majesty, mystery, and adventure.

A world thought to have once been ruled by Elves, Dwarves and Humans. These races, called The Triumvirate, used the power of The Trinity to create an advanced and prosperous society. A civilization of sprawling cities of life, art, and culture. Sadly, this advanced society was completely destroyed in The Undoing.

Not much is known of The Undoing, or what caused it. Ancient texts tell stories of a heinous act made by the Humans. It is thought to have been a scheme that would turn mortals so far from the light, the Zolaen Gods punished all of Zol for the crime. Others believe it was caused by The Wandering Gods, a divine alien force that made themselves known to mortals only a century after The Undoing.

Since it is not known which gods or forces in Zol enacted The Undoing, many theories try to explain the event, or cast blame on specific gods. Said blame has caused a history’s worth of debate, discrimination, and war.

Regardless of which force caused it, The Undoing obliterated uncountable tracts of land, reducing them to a strange, low altitude wasteland called The Grand Nothing. The Undoing banished all beings from where Old Zol once stood to the furthest intact corners of of the world, and stripped away all of their memories. This forced them to begin anew with no knowledge of the old world. Priests have begged the Gods to explain The Undoing, but they refuse any question asked to them regarding the event.

Some believe the final punishment of the humans was to have their Great Magic stripped from them, and fractured. From this revoked magic, some believe the gods created a cast of new races to bear the burden of humanity’s sin. These would known as the Off-Human races.

In their new home, the sapient world began to atone, rebuild, relearn what was lost. Ages passed for Zol. What was once a society of refugees now resembled a civilization, but with only a fraction of its former glory. In these times, only the strong and powerful had agency, as the untamed wilds of Zol were too dangerous for the common folk. Zol struggled against the natural forces day in and day out. This hardship lasted millennia, but it all changed when the first spark of Iron Light was struck.

The powerful mage Maalvern devised a way for the common folk to capture and utilize the Magic of The Trinity, without the need of great skill, gifts, or blessings. Complex diagrams and runes scratched onto the surface of iron slabs allowed for simple magical devices called Apparatum that changed Zol forever.

Communication devices, agricultural advances, medical wonders, and many other wonderful things were created using Iron Light. Most notably, The Iron Tracks were built to span the dangerous, and largely unpassable distances between nations. Common folk were finally given agency over their own fate, and Zol began to prosper for the first time since The Undoing.

Now Zol sits, in an unprecedented time of opportunity. A realm said to be formed within the corpse of an infinite being within Zolaen Scripture. A developing world wrought with natural mystery, lost history, and unclaimed power. A world where anyone can claim their own destiny.