Post by cyranavenger on Feb 9, 2013 14:14:34 GMT
In the early years of the Ionian empire; whilst the forces of men, Nezumi and the Elves were fighting in the rebellion against the dwarves of Gorandon, other forces were at work. The Doppelgangers of the so called “plane of change” were hatching their own plans to gain a foothold in Solnarion. They observed the people of Ionia, studying their strategies, their ways and their culture for decades whilst they built the foundations of the empire, completely unaware that they were being watched from afar.
The Doppelgangers had found a way to covertly manifest in Celenor around 650 years ago, where they immediately began working to advance their cause. They ‘disposed of’ and replaced nobles and other individuals of power and influenced the general public to their way of thinking (though of course they didn’t know what they were serving until it was far too late).
Meanwhile, the race had been interbreeding with humans and left an everlasting legacy-the Changelings; a race that now breed true. The naturally lazy and self-serving doppelgangers put their offspring to great use and had them do much of the work required to keep operations running; generally acting as middlemen between the doppelgangers and their mortal followers, the changelings’ short lives were often spent fulfilling the Doppelgangers’ will. This led to some resentment from the changelings towards their ‘masters.’
A small group of changeling defectors; the first of the race to adopt the ‘passer’ philosophy eschewed their heritage and stayed in human form. These changelings began sowing dissent amongst the Ionian citizens and made people aware that there were a race of shapechangers secretly running the empire.
Angry mobs lead by wizards and clerics who could identify the doppelgangers for what they were found and destroyed the shapechangers in the street. This led the doppelgangers to try new tactics- they prepared their indoctrinated hordes for all-out war.
The great war that escalated was long and arduous, the Ionian empire was not used to fighting hordes of hit-and-run combatants lead by shapechangers whom could appear within their own ranks at any minute. The empire eventually changed their tactics against the enemy forces and performed mandatory true seeing spells on all of their troops. It was at this point, now that the Ionians were gaining the upper hand, that the vast majority of the changelings also defected and signed a treaty with the empire. With the changelings’ aid, the empire was able to destroy the shapechangers’ forces and pursue the survivors back to their strongholds in towns and cities. The last few and (naturally) the most powerful of the doppelgangers were using a form of extraplanar magic to hide from true seeing spells. The empire, in one of its most controversial moments, massacred the towns’ populations in order to root them out.
Though long ago, the war which brought about the near-extinction of doppelgangers is a well-known historical event. Understandably, most men alive today have quite the hatred for those who can change their shape. Despite their assistance in the war, changelings are generally treated with hostility and occasionally violence when their true form is discovered. The signing of the treaty with the empire only shows them to be twice as treacherous in the eyes of men, having betrayed their masters.
The Doppelgangers had found a way to covertly manifest in Celenor around 650 years ago, where they immediately began working to advance their cause. They ‘disposed of’ and replaced nobles and other individuals of power and influenced the general public to their way of thinking (though of course they didn’t know what they were serving until it was far too late).
Meanwhile, the race had been interbreeding with humans and left an everlasting legacy-the Changelings; a race that now breed true. The naturally lazy and self-serving doppelgangers put their offspring to great use and had them do much of the work required to keep operations running; generally acting as middlemen between the doppelgangers and their mortal followers, the changelings’ short lives were often spent fulfilling the Doppelgangers’ will. This led to some resentment from the changelings towards their ‘masters.’
A small group of changeling defectors; the first of the race to adopt the ‘passer’ philosophy eschewed their heritage and stayed in human form. These changelings began sowing dissent amongst the Ionian citizens and made people aware that there were a race of shapechangers secretly running the empire.
Angry mobs lead by wizards and clerics who could identify the doppelgangers for what they were found and destroyed the shapechangers in the street. This led the doppelgangers to try new tactics- they prepared their indoctrinated hordes for all-out war.
The great war that escalated was long and arduous, the Ionian empire was not used to fighting hordes of hit-and-run combatants lead by shapechangers whom could appear within their own ranks at any minute. The empire eventually changed their tactics against the enemy forces and performed mandatory true seeing spells on all of their troops. It was at this point, now that the Ionians were gaining the upper hand, that the vast majority of the changelings also defected and signed a treaty with the empire. With the changelings’ aid, the empire was able to destroy the shapechangers’ forces and pursue the survivors back to their strongholds in towns and cities. The last few and (naturally) the most powerful of the doppelgangers were using a form of extraplanar magic to hide from true seeing spells. The empire, in one of its most controversial moments, massacred the towns’ populations in order to root them out.
Though long ago, the war which brought about the near-extinction of doppelgangers is a well-known historical event. Understandably, most men alive today have quite the hatred for those who can change their shape. Despite their assistance in the war, changelings are generally treated with hostility and occasionally violence when their true form is discovered. The signing of the treaty with the empire only shows them to be twice as treacherous in the eyes of men, having betrayed their masters.