· FACTIONS ·

Machine

In the First Age of Gaia, Tek’s dwarves built Aorion, a great city in the mountains. Gaia herself envied its beauty and grandeur, and planned to destroy it. The dwarves sought the protection of Xethos Nom and the dark elves, to create a magical barrier against Nature’s wrath. But the treacherous dark elves dispelled the barrier, their loyalty traded for a powerful druid spellbook. Gaia shook the mountains down onto the unprotected city, swallowing it into the very depths of the earth. Only a few dwarves survived, trapped in dark, cavernous pockets. Among them was the brilliant dwarf machinist and inventor named Garet 7, trapped in the Great Mill of Aorion, which he had engineered and constructed from stone and steel. Strong enough to withstand the weight of the mountain’s collapse, the Mill saved the lives of hundreds of dwarven machinists working inside, as well as Garet’s precious laboratories. Together, the dwarves drilled their way to the river Makka, still running underneath the rubble. They survived on fish and river water while Garet used a steam-powered drill to slowly bore his way back to the surface. By technological ingenuity and Tek’s will, the dwarves survived. But they would never forgive Gaia and her elves, nor their dark cousins, for their treachery. Magic and Nature became their sworn foes, and so it is still in this, the Second Age of the Saga.