History of Materia
From the writings of Relathar, a historian who remains in the employ of the Grand Library in Husen…
Many generations ago, the ancestors of our human citizens crossed the sea on a ship called the Knicks. They were fleeing a land of fear and starvation called Aert, which lies far beyond our horizon. Aert had grown to be a land of great power and technology, yet for all of their great intellect there was no forethought to the common needs of the people, and their great population was left with scarce food and land resulting in plagues and mass starvation.
Men of great wisdom gathered together and sent the Knicks away as a flagship of hope with the bravest and wisest of their nation on board. They were tasked with finding a new place with abundant food and land. Those aboard had seen the harm that could be causes in the name of advancement, and were not interested in the technology of Aert. They sought to build a new life where each person could find their own destiny once again as in the days of old. It is for this reason that we today limit our use of machines and electricity.
After a dangerous journey across the Northern Star Sea, the Knicks came to this continent which today we call Materia. The people of Aert found here a society of ancient beings known as the pelaon who had inhabited this land for all of recorded history. The settlers had known of the pelaon from their legends of ancient societies and the pelaon graveyards scattered across Aert, but were surprised to find them living here. These creatures, who lived in a balance despite sizes both great and small, each welcomed the new settlers in their own ways following their landfall at a shore they called Bacam.
A new village was started at Bacam. As this village was constructed, more of the travelers from Aert crossed on small boats from the Knicks which sat offshore. It is said that during this time a great storm came and destroyed the Knicks, the ship sinking into the sea and taking with it many of the remaining colonists and supplies which had not yet come to land. Only those who had made land and those able to get to rafts had survived. These survivors stayed at Bacam and grew to be one community with the pelaon people.
The Aert people brought wisdom of organization and structure and improvement which few pelaons had considered. Cut wood and stone construction and new ways to lay out villages were taught to the natives, new languages and traditions were introduced to the land and a new government was formed to include all, not just human or pelaon.
As our people grew in number, the land of Materia was explored and new villages were formed across it’s landscape. Today we can only speculate where Bacam once stood, abandoned or built-over as larger and finer cities and towns were formed. Its exact location, if recorded, was lost during the great fire of Husen. If we could find the Knicks, we would know. However if the swimmers know where the Knicks rests at the bottom of the sea, they have not found reason to tell us.
In present times, many humans and many pelaons live without barriers, a shared past and a shared future. We work together in equality in all things to make a better, more peaceful society.
As with any culture, there are some who choose the keep apart; bitter humans who are prejudice against those different than themselves and traditionalist pelaons who call themselves “purists,” and see the advancements brought about by sharing with humanity to be an offense against nature. These, however, are not so great in number to prevent happiness and brotherhood within the civilized areas.
We continue to learn from our ancestors’ mistakes and grow a better world through the wisdom and knowledge that survived the fire. Their writings account their experiences but also the many pieces of knowledge in all aspects of life gleamed from the advancements of Aert. Early copies of many of these almost-sacred writings are now preserved in the Grand Library of Materia and copied for library researchers across the land.