The Time of The Crossing chronicles are a collection of tales, myth, and history of the coming of Blood of Saemon and their arrival on Helca (the the turmoil it caused) in The Valley of Sighs. The basics that are commonly understood is that those who came were mostly human, fleeing a dying world that was beset by the Unholy Trio, and that the followers of the dark gods pursued them to the world of Helca. The Time of the Crossing is understood to represent the start of The Modern Age – The Crossing Era.
NOTE: None of this information is chronicled in too much detail or widely disseminated among the current population of Helca. After this moment in the modern age, The Time of Endless Death was known to come after.
Knowledge is broken down by ease of discovery/availability & Meticulous Record Keeping may improve usability; Any attempt to know more than what's Pervasive will require a reference, source, knowledge, check, or access to someone who can get or provide either of these. Specific Lores may increase the chance of knowing specific elements.
Information Sources: Mundane Reference | Associated Phenomenology Only | Specific Lore
For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.
The Crossing Elders: These were the most powerful of the druids, arcanists, magi and priests of the world from whence they came. They commanded powers of of the occult of the highest order, and carried with them the spark of dying gods from their home world – killed by the Unholy Trio but recovered from the field of battle. These ‘elders’ Wielded great power, and conjoined their power together to create a quasi-sentient object that could channel it as a weapon and a gateway.
The object of concentrated power was named the Omphalous of Saemon. It is this creation that would broadcast their calls over Helca, across time and space to other divine entities and to the multiverse itself to carve out power and strength against their war with the Gods of darkness and Evil. Many of The Crossing Elders sacrificed themselves to create this object.
The Dark Bracing: (1 lunar cycle) Events leading up to this great battle, referred to as ‘The Dark Bracing’, are unclear. However, it was not more than three or four years after the the refugees of The Great Crossing began to keep records. The Orrish and their allies, once driven back by and prohibited from following, found a way through the passage used by the Blood of Saemon. A massive army, ready for battle and carrying the standards of the Unholy Trio moved into Saemon’s Valley (The Valley of Sighs). It trod directly amidst the survivors trying to rebuild their cultures. So horrible and terrifying was this battle, that its effects are still observed today. The forces of life and death fought a great pitched battle in this valley. It is said to have raged for a full cycle of the moon nonstop into a stalemate.
Arrival of The Interloper: (CY 3?) After years of war and strife, fire and blood, a new moon appeared in the sky – a moon simply called ‘the interloper’. It was a black hunk of basalt rock, ripped from the home-place of the Unholy Trio and The Blood of Saemon. Upon this the Unholy Trio was said to make their home and concentrate their power. They reopened the gateway, which was sealed and could only be opened from Helca. Their armies poured through into Saemons Valley (The Valley of Sighs). The trio soon stepped down from their watch and entered the battle on the side of their servants, the Orrish, the Trolls, Gnolls, misguided Ko-bolds and others from their world. A dark shadow was cast upon Helca and the gods of darkness began their destruction.
For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.
A Brief Peace: For a human generation the refugees divide, scout and work to keep the peace amongst themselves in ‘Saemon’s Valley’.
Omphalous of Saemon Created: CY It is unknown exactly when, but it was created during the retreat from the Unholy Trio on their world of origin. Continuously pressed and harried, the old gods for their world being killed one by one, the object was made in a last ditch attempt to find the power to escape.
The Crossing Into: CY 1? The first of the Blood of Saemon arrive in a land they name as Helca. No true information has been able to be gathered from the early days of the races of that would mostly settle the east (north and south of The Valley of Sighs) and slowly migrate westward into what was to become Gladnor. The first recorded new histories would be a generation after ‘The Great Crossing’, settled as Common Year 1. What may have happened to any written materials brought from the home of those known as The Blood of Saemon have been lost in time – or at least common knowledge.
There is no clearly understood duration that the journey itself took. Whatever the means of arrival, it tore from the survivors any clear memory or vision of what their home looked like.
The Journey: (CY ?) Today, only hazy legends and myths survive of this experience. Before any of recorded history happened, the journey through the magical portal brought them to what would be Known as The Valley of Sighs. Here they set up large camps of refugees, trying to scout and sort out where they would move, what claims would be made, and what alliances would form. The earliest histories speak of a place absent all gods, though the stirrings of the elemental, beast spirits and the like were detected and relationships built. Regardless of the truth, no documented history of Helca itself exists by the Blood of Saemon before The Great Crossing.
Some claim that in fact the races are not natives of this plane of existence at all, but in fact come from some place and/or time else and were transported by magical means. It is thought by most that the races seeking refuge came from a sinking continent or land named Saemon. This is often referred to as Seat of Grey Birds (Origins of Blood of Saemon). Whatever the case, races of light and darkness, good and bad, civil and savage all fled their homes.
The Call for Succor: CY ? As a desperate battle was being fought, the Blood of Saemon had little in the way of magic or faith left, their greatest among them sacrificing themselves to provide power for the means to escape their dying realm. What little remained gathered together and chanted & prayed, using all their power to send their message and need across the world and into the cosmos. A name answered back across the gulfs – an awareness and a place called ‘Helca’.
Omphalous of Saemon Destroyed: