Orodien

Orodien [o-ROD-ee-en] was the mythical second realm of the Godmen, founded during the Jade Epoch after the destruction of the first realm of Yendim. The Orodien Peninsula in the north of the continent of Retzayk is named for the mythic realm, though whether this was the actual location, or even if the mythical Orodien existed, is uncertain.

According to the legendarium of the Helevosien, survivors of the terrible floods and storms which destroyed the Realm of the Godmen fled northward seeking a land free of viridplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigVirid

Referring to the Virid Kingdom of flora and fauna, toxic to human life. infestation. They explored the northern seas, and established a new realm on a spur of land on the Edge Lands, that was clear of virid forests. Orodien was surrounded by sea and warmed hot springs from a great volcano.

In summer the fields were rich with grain, with exotic fruits grown in halls of crystal glass. Central to Orodien was the Keep, both a citadel and the great repository of all the knowledge of the Godmenplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigGodmen

The Godmen were the mythical inhabitants of a landmass contiguous with the modern Natorn Archipelago, said to be the ancestors of all the Thalsic peoples of the northern Civilised World. In the Emerald Epoch they created the first great civilisation, referred to as the Realm of the Godmen. The Godmen are said to be mytho-historic, memories of an ancestor race shrouded by millennia of HartheraAnrelAnrelherherAnrelAnrel. Orodien survived for millennia in peaceful isolation, until it was eventually abandoned and destroyed by the very volcano that gave it life.

Orodien was said to be a great storehouse of knowledge, its rulers preserving all the secret arts of the Godmen for future generations. It was a utopian monarchic society, with an elected autarch. It had an abundance of riches, its mines filled with metals, with agriculture boosted by geo-thermal heat, and the palaces of its citizens warmed by geothermic hypocausts.

After its destruction, the autarch's palace with its proud towers are said to be the only major building standing, overgrown and some earthquake damage. The library remains virtually intact, though the books are crumbling and many are illegible. Gargoyled colonnades line the avenue to Mount Orodien, with primitive later ruins about the crater. Traces of an ancient quay remain on the southeast shore.

In 620 BME, the famed Rasian Grand Master Ferokian set off on a voyage northwards, in an attempt to locate Orodien and bring back its secrets to the world. He never returned.

Most modern scholars believe Orodien is merely a myth with no basis in fact. Ancient ruins do exist on what is today called the Orodien Peninsula, but it is unclear whether they have anything to do with this mythic civilisation or were from a later settlement.