Introduction I: The Circle

 In the beginning of time, there was the Arylmoor, a great forest that spanned from one end of the world to the other, a paradise of towering oaks and bountiful lands. Within it dwelled its children, who, like the Moor, had risen from the Flame of Life and hidden among the thick bush were unfathomable secrets buried the day the world itself was born.

Among those who lived in this great forest were a certain woodland folk. Their origins wrapped in myths of gods and kings. They lived in a glorious kingdom deep inside the Arylmoor. They were children of the Flame, and so from the Flame they drew power, gaining abilities both wonderous and dangerous. For untold ages, they lived in relative harmony with the Moor’s other children, thriving in their shared home amidst the trees and the bush.

Or at least, that was the legend. But legends are often misleading.

In truth, what we do know about these forgone people is their ultimate fate. For all was not bliss in the lands of the Arylmoor. For, from the deepest darkest abysses of existence, in an age before the folk first walked the lands, came Man. They had no abilities, yet they shared their likeness with the Folk in both mind and body. They were ambitious, they were poisonous, and they came in droves with blades and banners. They built their kingdom on the shores of a great river and from there they wreaked havoc upon the world.

For centuries warred Man and Folk, yet for many centuries neither side emerged victorious. Finally, at the climax of their conflict, the two forces met at the Field of Triumph in the Last Battle of Folk and Men, and there on that barren field, Folk were defeated, and their kingdom was destroyed.

Having realized that the destruction of their old way of life was all but inevitable the Woodland Folk abandoned their old homeland and went into hiding, letting their kingdom fall to ruin. They endured a great exodus, which led them to hiding amongst the ranks of their enemy and learning to follow their ways. They wore the same clothing, lived in the same houses and even aided in the destruction of their old home which was to be made nearly unrecognizable. All for the sake of survival.

However, even in such dire times their arose a glimmer of hope, for it wasn’t long before some gifted Folk made it to the upper echelon of man’s high society. Eight such families banded together to form the Great Houses, who proceeded to influence the creation of hidden community, a sanctuary for the displaced scions of the Arylmoor. They took control of eight of the Nine Boroughs that made up the new settlement. They founded Hamlets that would house their people and built institutions that would govern them. Together these institutions came together to form one large entity, The Circle. With the Table of the Great Houses situated above everything.

The founders of these Great Houses were styled as Barons. They used their immense wealth to purchase the lands at the edge of man’s domain in one last attempt to preserve the Moor, all while aiding in the construction the city that now housed them, the Great City of Hatlynshire.

 

                                                             -Chapter One of the Tome of Stories: ‘The Origins of our Kind’

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  For more see:

• Introduction II: The Order of Man
  
• Genetics of the Great Houses
• The Powers of the Great Houses
• The Organizational Structure of the Circle
• The Monetary System of the Circle
• The Woodland Folk of the Arylmoor
• The Red Century and the War of the Banners