Layonara

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Neverwinter Nights persistent world
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Layonara
Description	A family friendly roleplay focused setting. Layonara Online is run on 5 servers hosted at Mae West in San Francisco, California. Four of which are game servers, the fifth hosts the integrated databases and Layonara web content and forums.
Setting	Layonara
Vault Type	server
Magic	Low to Medium
Hakpak	Requires several downloads available from the official website
Schedule	24/7

Layonara is a campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons created by Dan Scott (known on the web as Leanthar) in 1986. When it was first created, Layonara was a setting for pencil and paper Dungeons and Dragons campaigns.

Since then, Layonara has garnered a large fanbase, especially with its move online with the Neverwinter Nights persistent world Layonara Online (often referred to as Layonara, or even just "Layo.")

Contents 1 Quick Facts 2 Articles and References of Note 3 Game World 3.1 Geography 3.2 History 3.2.1 First Generation 3.2.2 Second generation 3.2.3 Third Generation 3.3 Pantheon 3.4 Timeline 4 History 4.1 Beta Versions 4.2 Version 1 4.3 Version 2 4.4 Version 3 4.5 Timeline 5 External links

[edit] Quick Facts

• Required to Play: NWN v. 1.67, Shadows of Undrentide (SoU), Hordes of the Underdark (HotU), and hak pak downloads available on the layonara official website (see External Links below.)
• Recommended Ages: 10+
  • Note: While Layonara intends to be a family friendly community, the size of the playerbase prohibits constant monitoring of in game activities. Parents are advised to supervise younger children's internet activities. Also see Neverwinter Nights ESRB rating.

[edit] Articles and References of Note

Layonara has been reviewed, interviewed or mentioned in the following publications listed here in the interests of editing this article to move it toward a more encyclopedic format.

Layonara has been officially endorsed by Bioware, designer of Neverwinter Nights.

• First Layonara Interview with Bioware
• Second Layonara Interview with Bioware

[edit] Game World

[edit] Geography

[edit] History

The History of the world of Layonara

[edit] First Generation

Millions of years ago Layonara came into existence through a slow process known as evolution. During those millions of years many thing happened that have gone undocumented, or if it was documented by some unknown race, that documentation is not known. We will begin when documentation is actually known to exist, when the first Dragons arrived on the world.

The first dragons to arrive on Layonara were the Metallic Dragons, those of Gold, Silver, Bronze and many others of this type. For about five hundred years they made the world livable and it is reported that that they even created a few races. Word spread throughout the galaxy of a new lush Prime World that was just being settled. About that time Dragons of color, Red, Blue, Black and Green, along with a few others, began showing up on Layonara vying for power and their own control of the world. It is rumored that these dragons began to create races in order to reach their lofty goals and to defeat the Metallic Dragons. It has never been verified that the Dragons ever created races, but, nor can it be discounted. After another thousand years the Dragon Gods began actively becoming involved in this world, in the hopes of saving the Dragons that followed them. It is a known fact that the Dragon Gods did create races to reach their goals and yet not become ‘directly involved’ in the everyday ‘life’ of Layonara.

After two thousand years the Dragons fought a large war, what is now known as ‘The Dragon Wars’. This war lasted for over one hundred years and involved nearly every race that existed on the World. By the end of the war some races ceased to exist, some races were split up, and all races were greatly diminished in population. It was during this war that the Elves and Dwarves split into separate paths and the Humans became the dominant race. You see, not only were the Dragons at war, but also, other Races were at war, sometimes with themselves but most of the time with other Races. This all came about because all creatures believed in the cause of a particular type of Dragon and they fought for what they thought was right.

Out of the smoke of the war came a young Human General known by the name of Sinthar Bloodstone. He did not believe in the cause of any Dragon but instead saw the Dragon’s as the ones who brought all the death and destruction to the world. With that belief he formed his own army in the hopes of forcing both Dragon sides to surrender. As time wore on he became very good with magic and battle tactics and it is rumored he never lost a battle. In time the Dragon’s were forced to surrender to Sinthar and the World knew peace for a few hundred years.

When the war ended the Dragons demanded, as part of their surrender, that Sinthar be banished from the world, never to return. At his sentencing Sinthar killed many of the jury and then disappeared after swearing vengeance on the world. It was believed that this was just a story grown out of a legend until he did return some 2150 years later to seek his revenge, but that is another story.

[edit] Second generation

The second Generation began when the Humanoid Gods began to take interest in Layonara and the Dragon Gods were driven out. It is rumored that the Dragon Gods were driven out by accident, but then who knows the ways of Gods. It is also rumored that the Dragon Gods still have power on the world but are lying low biding their time.

It is now known that Sinthar Bloodstone began his attempt at coming back about ten years after being banished. Most certainly the Second Generation did not revolve around this issue but it was definitely his return that caused the Second Generation to end and the current Generation to begin. During the Second Generation there were many Race wars being fought, most predominantly those of the Elves and Dwarves. To think what these two races could have been had they not fought amongst themselves simply boggles the mind. For the most part these Race Wars are over but every once in a while skirmishes will brew and of course the hard feelings will be there for many more Generations to come.

The Elves are now split up into two distinctive groups, the Dark Elves and Top Elves. The Dark Elves tend to live below the ground while the Top Elves, of various sub-cultures, live above ground. The Dark Elves used to follow the Dragon’s of Color while the Top Elves followed the Metallic Dragons. When the war ended their war began in earnest, it seems Elves are not very tolerant even amongst themselves.

The Dwarves are also split into sub-cultures but at least they are not openly hostile towards each other any longer. Sure the Hill and Mountain Dwarves sometimes fight but then they are Dwarves after all and that’s what Dwarves like to do.

During this Generation the Dragons retreated and were rarely seen but with the return of Sinthar they have retreated even more, what few that are left that is.

Sinthar was able to return after thousands of years through the use of portals that a rare few believe may be tied to Blood Wells. It seems that during his time on the World he had created a few Wells to help in his battles against the Dragons. When he was banished he was able to communicate with one in control of a well. With this he corrupted those and they eventually fell under his limited control. With this limited control he influenced them to create a few more wells and thus his power grew. He was able to convince a few to willingly help his cause with the promise of knowledge, power and wealth. After hundreds of years he created enough power in three of the wells that he was able to bring an army through from the Planes. Unfortunately for him, he miscalculated somewhere and over half of his army was destroyed along with parts of the World being reshaped due the explosions and the Negative Plane. It is thought by many that if his army had not been destroyed that the World would have fallen within a few years. Even with only half of his army intact he was able to defeat a large continent and thus secure a stronghold and build his army anew.

[edit] Third Generation

Sinthar has been on the World for just over ten years now and he has destroyed many of the Dragons that were still alive. He has promised that all other creatures will survive but there are not many that believe him. For years the Dragon cleansing continued but recently he has recently gone on a killing spree of much of the free world.

[edit] Pantheon

[edit] Timeline

• -23500 - It is commonly believed among most races that the first dragons arrived on Layonara a million or perhaps millions of years ago but this is the first "known" document to be found. Perhaps other civilizations existed but none are known to exist before this time.
• -19800 - A great war breaks out between Dragons and presumably Dragon Gods. It changes the shape of the world.
• -12600 - The first Dragon purge occurred. It is thought that 50 percent of all dragons perished.
• -9500 - Speculation is that the first non-dragon Races started to appear. Many believe that the dragons and Dragon Gods created these races.
• -5010 - The second Dragon purge occurred. It is thought that nearly 75 percent of all dragons perished.
• -2311 - The first documented war between races breaks out and rages for years. The Elves divide into the factions of today; Dark, Wood, High, and Aquatic.
• -1844 - A war rages through the Dwarven Nations and they divide into the factions of today; Dark, Hill, and Mountain.
• -1812 - The first documented war began between the known races. Humans, Dwarves, and Elves united in order to defeat a massive invasion of Giants, Ogres, Orcs, Gnolls, and Kobolds.
• -1601 - The first documented war between Dwarves and Elves occurred.
• -1100 - The great Dragon War began. Dragons of Evil fight to destroy all of Humanoid kind. At this time there were very few Good Dragons known to exist. The Chromatic Dragons are very nearly successful during this war until about 825 when Sinthar Bloodstone began to wage his own war.
• -811 - Sinthar Bloodstone is banished from the World by the Council of Seven. He is banished so that the Dragon War will end and that is part of the requirements by the Chromatic Dragons. Upon his banishment he swears vengeance upon the world, including all man-kind.
• -498 - The Dragon Gods are rumored to have departed from the World in this year. It is rumored that two Dragon Gods remain with influence but they no longer have dominance.
• -301 - It is rumored that a Human born on Layonara became a Deity during this year. Little is known about her at this time.
• -210 - A key Elven Forest and Plant are destroyed during a war with Orcs. It is rumored that the Elves are now traveling the planes in order to replace this plant. Little else is known. This is also the year part of an Elven library is lost at sea.
• -105 - Dark Elves stage their first major attack on Humans that live "topside". They held the city of Westgate for over a decade before being defeated.
• -5 - All across the World major volcanic eruptions begin to occur. The world begins to see major weather and climatic changes.

• 0 - The Great Cataclysm occurs. The world geography is greatly changed, islands disappear and continents reshape. Historians to this day are trying to discover how and why this happened.

• 1 - All races begin to rebuild and assess the damage of their losses. Depression hits and riots begin.
• 3 - The losses due to the cataclysm are released. Around the world it is rumored that the losses are over 5,000,000 Platinum. Riots and the depression continue. Race Wars begin around the world.
• 5 - Riots are finally brought under control but depression continues. The Race Wars continue in full force.
• 14 - The depression begins to turn around and lives are beginning to return to normal. The Race Wars end after ten years.
• 18 - The depression ends and some cities are finally rebuilt.
• 25 - The Great Oak is threatened by some disease but Elves save it just in time. It is rumored that dozens of Elves gave up their life to save the tree.
• 34 - A few cities return to their previous glory. Great armies are beginning to be built again after being decimated during the Race Wars.
• 101 - Humans begin to carve out vast empires and the cataclysm is beginning to become distant memories.
• 148 - Humans and Elves begin to disagree on how fast Human expansion should happen. This has always been the case but it is getting to be intolerable in Elven eyes. Humans and Elves go to war.
• 221 - Humans and Dwarves begin to disagree on how much minerals should be mined before moving on. This has always happened but it is getting to be intolerable in Dwarven eyes. Dwarves begin to a boycott on all items sold to Humans and refuse to purchase Human items.
• 334 - Elves are nearly defeated by the Humans and exile themselves to Voltrex. They begin to regroup and re-establish dominance between families. Many Elves stay behind on the main continents to protect the forests in whatever way possible. Elf and Human war ends.
• 516 - Raklin "The True" Diamoniar is crowned emperor of Dregar. This brings in a new line of emperors that greatly helps the world, especially Dregar.
• 834 - The great city of Port Hampshire is destroyed by Dark Elves and Chromatic Dragons. Nearly 5 million Gold is ransacked and the famous "City of Gold" begins to rebuild.
• 848 - Demon forces are found on the continent of Rilara. Hind-sight says that this could have been the first initial contact with Blood and his return.
• 1123 - The Diamoniar line is overthrown and sends the world in to chaos and disorder. Clashes break out across the world, especially on the continent of Dregar.
• 1341 - Sinthar Bloodstone "Blood" returns to the world with a massive invasion force. He opens three portals from the planes but two of them collapse causing major damage and many other side effects. Blood may have been successful in defeating the world if he had not miscalculated the force of the portals.
• 1354 - A call for reinforcements goes out across the land and is answered.
• 1356 - A war in the Heavens begins.
• 1357 - Katia is imprisoned and loses connection to the world.
• 1359 - A being known as The Shifter is shifted through time without his tower and pays a dear price
• 1361 - Katia and another deity are freed.
• 1363 - For a period of a few months Shadows own the night during this year. It is rumored that a creature was slain in order to lift the shadows and their wanderings and killings.
• 1365 - Aeridin nearly loses contact to the world and his followers suffer.
• 1371 - Followers of Aeridin notice that they are able to communicate with their deity once again.
• 1373 - The weave or Lucinda herself is harmed in some way on this year.
• 1377 - It is thought that Mist and Aragen waged war on each other, nobody knows who came out the winner. On this same year, the Lost Elven Library was found.
• 1379 - A new Harper begins her servitude to Ilsare and continues on with the Playing of the Harmony of Life.
• 1380 - Toran is attacked in the heavens and for a short time the gates to the gods may have been left unmanned.
• 1381
  • King Waylend and Queen Alurial meet with Bloodstone. Many worry as they did not return for many months and neither speaks openly of the meeting.
  • The constellation of the Viper is once again seen in the sky above Layonara.
  • The symbol of a Scorpion is seen in the night sky for the first time, though it is very dim and difficult to locate.
• 1383
  • After six years the Lost Library is recovered and a new Library is opened on Voltrex. The new Library is called The Great Library.
  • Mist and Aragen end their war in the heavens. Some believe that Katia and perhaps Aeridin may have been drawn in for a short period of time.
  • It is believe that Lucinda herself was attacked as the Weave this year was weaker than normal.
• 1384 - A great and powerful green dragon is slain in this year, leaving only a rare few dragons left and Bloodstone's drive to destroy all dragons closer to being achieved.
• 1385
  • Two Bloodpools are destroyed by hearty adventure parties in this year.
  • The Great Oak seems to be growing in power. Many think that it is due to better leadership in the Druid circles.
  • A new Bird Lord comes in to power.
• 1386
  • Various constellations seem to be growing dimmer and the one of the Viper is growing brighter.
  • It is whispered among a rare few that the metallic dragons returned in this year but none have seen them since their rumored return.
• 1387
  • A great black cloud, or some great shadow, seemed to encircle the world one night. This disturbance was reported from many locations around the world. Research continues on what may have caused this disturbance and why it lasted for such a short time.
  • It is lightly rumored that a Bloodpool has been restored.
• 1390 - The Island of the Harper of Life is rumored to have suffered a devastating attack, its effects on the role of the Harper are still unknown.
• 1392
  • Toran's mightiest Justicar falls from grace. The church and faith of The All Watching is greatly diminished, as many of its paladins are tainted by impurity.
  • The Kingdom of Roldem falls to Blood's forces. At least six hundred thousand are slaughtered in the onslaught, and the once powerful navy is diminished to small numbers.
  • Conflict strains relations between Ilsarians and Lucindites, a rift forming between the allied churches for reasons unknown. Rumors abound on the subjects of both causes and solutions, but all that is known for fact is that there is friction where none existed before.
• 1393 - The realm of dreams is liberated from the taint of betrayals from the past. An Ilsarian spirit is said to still remain trapped within, yet no longer suffering the turmoil of Nightmares.
  • Springing from Willow's Weep, a strange disease begins spreading through Northern Dregar. It quickly moves along the region, its victims dying seemingly of pure sorrow. A desperate call goes out to the best healers of the world, but little hope for a cure is felt.
  • The Viper constellation moves to attack both Beryl's Geode and Xeen’s Gift.
  • The township of Stone falls to Blood's forces. Many heroes felt this as a personal attack, the small community being close to many of their hearts.
• 1394 - Dozens of heroes and a large military invasion were successful in defeating a large contingent of Bloods forces. This was his first significant loss in history and with this the tides of war have changed.
  • It is thought that a great hero was somehow able to save the Soul Strands from being cut. The disease spreading through Willow's Weep is stopped.
• 1395 - The Dwarven Halls under Mount Norand are cleansed of their undead taint and the Bloodpool lying within is destroyed by a stout group of heroes.
  • Bloodstone loses General Xandrial to the Planes. Xandrial was able to defeat a Lord in the planes to claim his ‘rightful place’. Many now understand that Xandrial was harvesting souls on Layonara in order to gain power for his ultimate goal of defeating this Lord.
  • After several missions into the Islands that once made up the Kingdom of Roldem, Blood's forces suffer a major defeat by a large group of adventurers and allied military forces. Freedom is won, and the rebuilding of the ravaged islands begins.
• 1397 - The land known as the Swamp of Reawakening is balanced and the Grove of Slumber appears.
  • A cure for a devastating disease spreading through the Ulgrid Dwarven Clans is found. Many dwarves die and the halls are left in a downtrodden state.
  • The T’oleflor Realm has been reopened by decades of difficult effort and sacrifices by many dedicated heroes.
  • The Silver Vein has been returned and planted once again. A new Hierophant comes into power.
• 1399
  • Just as suddenly as it stopped the Soul Strands began being cut again.
  • A year after the disappearance of Shadow it is thought that Selian has severed all ties with the Sisters, possibly destroying this great sisterhood forever.
  • The generals Drezneb and Eon are defeated in battle and their blood pools destroyed by a large group of powerful heroes.
• 1400 - A new Sun Archer rises at the dawn of the century and saves Voltrex from possible catastrophe.
  • The constellations of the Viper and the Scorpion fade from the night sky.
• 1401
  • Rumour spreads of a dancer who transcended the bounds of The Material to give strength to the weakened Lumbral and became The Veil between two worlds.
  • The artifact known as the Blade of Shadows is forged.

[edit] History

Layonara has passed through many stages of development since its inception as a NWN persistent world five years ago.

[edit] Beta Versions

[edit] Version 1

This version attempted to represent the setting in the online game world in a very detailed, "zoomed in" way. The local geography was very thoroughly represented and game areas were almost contiguous in their coverage of the physical area of the setting. This level of detail allowed for only two of the continents and a small number of the islands that exist in the setting to be represented in the online game world.

[edit] Version 2

The present incarnation of Layonara Online. The scope is less detailed than Version 1 allowing all 5 continents and many of the island chains in the setting to be represented in the online game world.

[edit] Version 3

The next version of Layonara Online (currently in development.)

[edit] Timeline

• 1986 - Layonara is created as a setting for paper and pencil D&D games
• 2002, June 24 - Layonara Online first posts to the internet
• 2004, August - Version 2 of Layonara Online goes live
• 2005, December - LORE (Layonara Official Reference Encyclopedia) comes online

[edit] External links

• Layonara Online – official website and forums.
• Layonara Official Reference Encyclopedia – (LORE) official wiki encyclopedia of the Layonara setting.