Histories of the World, Estys, and It's People

(This is for a MLP Fantasy CYOA I'm planning on doing in the near or distant future, similar to DnD. Out or boredom and excitement I have decided to write the lore of the world I'm creating for it that I will try to update occasionally. If for some ungodly reason you are interested you can find me and my other CYOAs on the /mlp/ board of 4chan under the name 'Pluto Daze'.)

Histories of the World, Estys, and It's People
By: Bold Word

Introduction

In my time living on this world and Estys I have been most fascinated by it's history. Being born and raise on the Great Island of Cannor I had been surrounded by the many books the priesthood had gathered and copied, blessed by my status to be able to read them and experience our history in the written word.

Eventually I left the Island of Cannor to the mainland of Estys and The Holy Empire of Cannor, traveling throughout the land in search for more knowledge and history. What I was able to find on Cannor's mainland sated me, but it couldn't satiate me forever. I eventually ran into a problem that Cannor has little knowledge of the people and history outside of it's borders, the greater history of the world, Estys, and the people we share this continent with.

This is what made me leave the empire's borders and to travel the continent in search of it's history, this is also what has inspired me to write the very thing you are now reading. What you are reading is a collection of all the history I could find on the continent of Estys, and of the people and religions this continent shares into a collection of chapters that anyone can access. Everyone deserves to know the history of all of us.

General History

Before going into the individual history of Estys and it's people I decided to start with the general history of Estys before narrowing my scope. This first part of my journey took me south past the Calantir Mountains and to the Draconic Empire of the Eternal Heat, to the people who would know the history of the world and Estys better than anyone else.

My search would eventually take me to the Dragon Zeinul, a well known scholar of the Eternal Heat and someone who could tell me the history of the world from the earliest days to now. This is from his very own notes and words.

In a time before time the world was a chaotic and deadly place, a place where even the greatest of Dragons would have a hard time surviving if they were around at the time. Eventually the chaos was replaced by order and the world grew hospitable for life to form and thrive.

After many millions of years the first beings appeared on the world: Dragons, and the Yllnir, or Giants as Ponies call them. The Dragons and Giants would spend much of their time together at each other's throats, killing each other and trying to outdo one another when they weren't. The dragons would always beat them though, proving again and again to the Giants that they were better. The Giants would eventually seek something to best the Dragons with, something that could kill the Dragons and allow the Giants to overtake them and become the masters of the world. This thing turned out to be the only thing the Dragons didn't have: magic.

Unlike the Dragons, Giants had natural magic coursing through them that allowed them to perform various feats the Dragons couldn't. The Giants figured out that if they could figure out a way to naturally manifest magic outside of their bodies they could use it to kill the Dragons. Using a ritual they create the Winds of Magic, allowing magic to naturally flow throughout the world.

These Winds of Magic cause the death of many Dragons, their bodies unable to handle the sudden influx of foreign matter that caused them to age rapidly and then die. Not all of the Dragons died however, several of them managing to resist the effects of the Winds of Magic and survive. This led to a war between the remaining Dragons and the Giants.

Despite the number advantage and the magic advantage the Giants lost the war against the remaining Dragons. The Dragons, as revenge for creating the Winds of Magic that killed so many of them, kill as many Giants as they could. A few Giants survived and still live to this day, but are often found in isolated parts of the world.

The Dragons had won the war, but their numbers had been reduced even further. Still they continued to live and rebuild the civilization they once had with fewer numbers. They would eventually repopulate each continent with fewer numbers. Being the only intelligent life now the only competition they had were each other. For thousands of years this hasn't changed until it did in 1 N.L.

The Winds of Magic that the Giants unleashed had a great effect on the world besides killing a majority of the Dragons. These Winds of Magic caused the world to change, for plants and animals to change as this new magic moved through them, even giving them the power to manipulate this magic like the Giants did before. On Estys this caused the appearance of new intelligent life: the Proto-Ponies of Estys, or Keys, as the Dragons called them and now us in their tongue. This started the Ofan Sil era.

The Dragons on Estys at first didn't know what to do with the Keys. They were clearly intelligent, but they had the magic of the Giants coursing through them which made the Dragons distrust them. The Estys Dragons eventually made the Keys into servants under them, having them perform labors and tasks that the Dragons couldn't do or found to be beneath them, in turn the Keys got to live in the safety of the Dragons Cities and learn under the Dragons.

This arrangement didn't last forever though. The Keys would slowly shift into slaves under the Dragons with their lives taking on terrible conditions: little food and water, terrible homes, and increasingly hostile Dragon Masters. Their time of retribution would eventually come with the fall of the Second Draconic Empire.

49,999 O.S. saw the uprising of other intelligent creatures on different continents under the Draconic Empire, creatures that we still have no idea about today. These revolts inspired the Pony Perissodactyl to lead a slave uprising on Estys that quickly grew across the continent. The Boars, who recently appeared on the continent around this time, also joined the slave revolt under Seftoth.

The Dragons, still having low numbers from the war against the Giants long ago, put up a great fight against the slave revolts. However, with their fewer numbers and still having their weakness to magic they would slowly start to get pushed back against the revolt. They were soon pushed to just a few key cities and some isolated locations on Estys.

On 50,000 O.S. a year after the revolts began the Dragons decided to abandon Estys, fleeing to the other continents to help their fellow Dragons. The Dragons in the Eternal Heat Desert, however, decided to stay behind and where they remain to this day. Thus begun the Mindin Dov era.

General History Continued: Sus-Equus War, and the Equus Split

As soon as the war against the Dragons ended another war started between the Key Ponies and the Boars. The Boars wished for the majority of Estys to live on despite their amount of participation in the war. The Keys, seeing their destructive attitudes and great anger in the war declined this demand. This led to the Sus-Equus War with the Boars now ready to take Estys by force from the Keys.

It was a long and bloody conflict for both sides, leading to a countless many dead. The Keys would eventually win the war against the Boars, forcing them to the far western side of Estys where they continue to fester. With the Boars out of the picture the Keys began to build their civilizations on the Cannor Mainland thirty miles west of the actual island of Cannor on the eastern side of Estys. For three thousand years the Keys would build city-states that would eventually form into fledgling kingdoms and empires until the Equus Split occurred.

Unbeknownst to the Keys the Winds of Magic were continuing to effect and change them which would lead to the Faz Do Fin Key era and the creation of the six different pony species: Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns, Shetlanders, Halflingers, and the Cyes. This sudden split among the Keys saw the collapse of the Key civilization and the migration of most of the new species. The Earth Ponies and Cyes moved west further inland going past the Blackbark Forest and even past the Windward Plains to Central and Western Estys. The Pegasi moved into the Calantir Mountains to the south and the Kezken Mountains to the north, with a few Pegasi going with the Earth Ponies and Cyes to settle parts of the Windward Plains and Estys' Spine in Central Estys. The Unicorns remained in Cannor Mainland, eventually spreading to the surrounding areas and to the island of Cannor. The Shetlanders followed the Pegasi in all three directions they went, settling in the mountains where they would create massive Mountainhomes under the rock. The Shetlanders following the Kezken Pegasi even went further north to the frigid and mountainous Shetland Isles where they would get their name. The Halflingers would get split into three: the Blondhooved Halflingers would remain with the Unicorns, the Greyhooved Halflingers would follow the Earth Ponies, and the Blackhooved Halflingers would settle the base of the Kezken Mountains.

These societies would develop through the four thousand years of the Faz Do Fin Key era and continue into the era we are currently in today, Bok do Pogaan. Many empires have now risen and fallen as Bok do Pogaan goes on to it's three thousandth year. We shall cover these empires as we move onto the individual races of Estys and their histories.

Race Characteristics/Histories:

Unicorns:
It was obvious to me that the Unicorns would be the first race I talked about after returning from the Eternal Heat, they are my race and I've been surrounded by their history for my entire life. It wouldn't make sense for me to start with any other.

Unicorns are the most populous of the Equine races on Estys inhabiting the Cannor region with small populations also being found in The Frozen Shores, the Windward Plains, Southern Estys' Spine, the Twisted Woods, and even in Vardarianna Ort-Wilya under the Deer in Western Estys.

The Unicorns are pretty standard when it comes to Equine races and share similar features to Earth Ponies and Pegasi. Just like the Earth Ponies and Pegasi, Unicorns can be a large array of colors and even Cutie Marks, which are a feature they share with Earth Ponies and Pegasi. A feature unique to the Unicorns however are the horns that grow out of their heads, allowing them to use their natural magic far better than any other known race on Estys. Many Schools of Magic are often found in Unicorn lands for a reason.

Unicorn Religion:
The religion of the Unicorns is a combination of various Unicorn religions from when the Keys fell and splintered into the Equine races. During the Faz Do Fin Key era the Unicorns had a wide array of religions and faiths, but when the Empire of Cannor united the Unicorns the Emperors decided to unite their faiths into the religion the Unicorns now have "The Court".

The Court is a polytheistic faith with many gods making up the pantheon, gods that can be added or removed from the pantheon to show the ever changing court. There are two main gods in The Court: Cathar, God of Magic, Creator of the Heavens, and Fratile, Wife of Cathar, Goddess of Life, Creator of the World and Equines.

(Not a complete list of the gods. New Gods will be added as they are introduced.)

The other gods are children of Cathar and Fratile, or added to the pantheon. These gods include: Nereus, Firstborn of Cathar and Fratile, God of the Seas. Evadne, Secondborn of Cathar and Fratile, Goddess of Land. Cannae, Forthborn of Cathar and Fratile, Patron Goddess of Cannor. Pallas, Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Kindness. Pythios, Fifthborn of Cathar and Fratile, God of War, Battle, and Courage. Brontes, Sixthborn of Cathar and Fratile, God of Weather. Minos, Husband of Cannae, Protector of Cannor. Midas, The Court's Painter, God of Art. Argus, Seventhborn of Cathar and Fratile, God of Trade, Finance, and Money. Kallisto, Goddess of Travel. Daedalus, God of Medicine and Healing. Orestes, God of Strength. Ajax, God of the Halflingers and Food. Lycus, The Court's Hunter, God of Animals and Hunting. Agaue, Daughter of Cannae and Minos, Friend of Unicorns, Goddess of Family. Klotho, Ninthborn of Cathar and Fratile, Goddess of Death, Decay, and Judgement. Phoebus, God of Laughter, Plays, and Happiness. Glaucus, God of Farming and Home. Okeanos, God of Alcohol, Brewing, Parties, and Madness. Ganymede, God of Nature and the Wilds.

The Court also contains Exiled Gods, gods that used to be part of The Court, but have fallen. These include: Diomedes, Thirdborn of Cathar and Fratile, God of Corruption. Eos, Wife of Diomedes, The Dark Goddess. Hecate, Eighthborn of Cathar and Fratile, Goddess of Lust and Greed. Melia, Second Daughter of Cannae and Minos, Goddess of Necromancy. Aristodemos (former God of Hope, Peace, and Civilization) God of Lies, Deceit, and Destruction.

Upon the death of a Pony their soul is taken by Klotho for their deeds to be judged. If they have lived a virtuous life their soul is taken to The Court to forever be a servant of the gods for their good deeds. If they have lived a sinful life they will instead be taken to The Dungeon where their souls will be locked up and tormented for eternity.

The Court has an extensive and powerful priesthood. The priests are called Speakers who are the heads of the many temples in and out of the Holy Empire. The temples are independent from the nations they reside in allowing for the priesthood to have a great deal of independence with religious matters and to appoint their own Speakers. The Court Speaker is the head of the priesthood and the Holy Empire of Cannor residing in Canstel, the old capital of the Empire of Cannor.

Unicorn History:

Early History:

The Unicorns were hit hard at the start of the Faz Do Fin Key Era. They had chosen to remain in the areas where the Keys once lived, but the other Equine races had not, leaving the Unicorns with a shortage of knowledge and ponypower to maintain the Key's empire and homeland. For a while the Unicorns attempted to maintain the cities and machinery, but they eventually abandoned them as they were unable to. Instead, they left the cities for the wilderness to establish tribes and clans with like-minded individuals.

For most of the one thousand years of the Faz Do Fin Key the Unicorns festered in this way of life like many of the other Equine races, only making advances in magic, being the strongest magic casters of the Equine Races. Until 998 FDFK when the first Boartrek arrived in Cannor Mainland. Many Boartreks today come from the Sharpsnout Mountains far to the Northwest in Western Estys, but this one, the first one, came from Estys' Spine instead as an unseen consequence from the Earth Ponies finally kicking the Boars out from there.

While this Boartrek would be the smallest that ponies know of it slams into the vulnerable and broken Unicorn tribes and clans. Several tribes tried to unite and even win a few battles against the Boartrek, but after two years the Unicorn tribes are beaten to the coast. Many Unicorns hop onto what boats they could use and sail to Cannor, while the ones that remained burned the rest of the ships and how to make them so the Boars couldn't use them. Unable to sack Cannor the Boars were content enough to remain in Cannor Mainland, populating the landscape and further ruining the now ancient cities of the Keys. The Boars would be allowed to remain on the mainland for Bok do Pogaan's first five hundred years, until the Empire of Cannor arrives from the sea to liberate the lands of the Unicorns.

Beginnings of an Empire:

The Island of Cannor during the time of the Keys was largely unimportant to them compared to how we see it today. It had little in the way of Keyian industry, being mostly used for boat building and fishing with it's few small towns only along the coast. The small population of native Unicorns on Giant's Isle was isolated from the rest of the Unicorns, content to remain on their island in peace with what little they had.

Which was why when the Mainland Unicorns came that the native Unicorns were completely overwhelmed by the sudden influx of refugees. They didn't expect these Unicorns, thus they never prepared for their arrival. The Mainland Unicorns, while all the same specie, were a mess of different cultures, languages, customs, and religions that would quickly lead to all the Unicorns trying to take what piece of land they could on Giant's Isle, which was shortly followed by a famine cause they were so focused on fighting each other instead.

Things would eventually stabilize on Giant's Isle, but the island was now divided in a thousand different ways among the Unicorns, where war was an almost common occurrence among their lives.

A little over one hundred years after the Unicorns arrived on Giant's Isle a stallion was galloping through the woods, running through the woods away from his burning village. Not knowing if he was being chased he finds a set of hills and hides behind them, spending several hours behind these hills. As the sun begins to rise the Unicorn gains enough courage to step out from the hills, but before he could the hills suddenly started to shake and rumble.

The stallion quickly scrambles away as the hills start to rise, uprooting trees and tearing at the ground as it does. He gets to a safe distance and looks back at the hill to find a Giant sitting where the hills once were, having slept in that one spot for so long that the forest had grown over him. The Giant looks around in confusion before spotting the stallion and asking where he was and what the stallion was.

The stallion, panicking at the sight of one of the last Giants, ends up telling the Giant a little too much. He tells him what he was, about the Keys and the war against the Dragons, the war against the Boars, how the Keys were suddenly split into several different races, the Unicorns, and how the Unicorns had ended up on Giant's Isle. The Giant feels pity towards the Unicorn's plight and gets up, swearing to unite the Unicorns on Giant's Isle before trudging off to do just that.

This is a highly simplified version of the story, but it's one all the Unicorns of Cannor know. It's the story of how Kleisthenes the Giant appeared on Giant's Isle, the Giant who would eventually become Emperor Kleisthenes the Hero, The First Emperor of Cannor. Kleisthenes would win the trust of the Netil Tribe in the middle of Giant's Isle, leading them on a two decade conquest of the Isle where he would declare himself the emperor of Giant's Isle and of the Unicorns.

Kleisthenes would spend his four hundred fifty year rule shaping Cannor into what it is today: building the architecture and infrastructure, building the capital Canstel, creating the Kleisthenes Army reforms that are still in use, the Kódika tou Gíganta, law reforms that are still used in many Cannorian countries, and creating the Cannorian language by combining the Unicorn and Giant language together into one.

At 475 B.D.P. (Bok Do Pogaan) 25 years before Kleisthenes would die he realized that he was growing old and would soon die, also realizing that he had never named a successor either. Kleisthenes, while loving the Unicorns greatly, did not trust any of his advisers or generals to rule after him. Knowing that they would react badly to one of them or none of them getting selected he came up with a different solution to the succession crisis for he had an ancient Giant artifact that could solve the problem: Sfaíra tou Methódiou

Sfaíra tou Methódiou, 'Orb of Methodios' was a small golden orb created by the Giant Methodios, one of the Giants that brought The Winds of Magic into the world and the most powerful Giant when it came to magic. While small and unassuming despite being made of gold and having etches on it the orb was infused with the magic prowess of Methodios himself, magic that could be absorbed by someone holding the orb. This comes with a caveat however, as the one wielding the orb must be able to survive the sudden of magic to use it, something that most Unicorns would not survive.

Kleisthenes placed Sfaíra tou Methódiou in the middle of Canstel and declared that anyone who could wield Sfaíra tou Methódiou without dying could become the next Emperor of Cannor. Many Unicorns jumped at the chance to wield Sfaíra tou Methódiou out of the hope of becoming the Emperor or gaining it's magical powers, but all of them would be unable to stand it's magic and die instead. Until six months after Sfaíra tou Methódiou was placed in the middle of Canstel.

A five year old colt decided to try and wield Sfaíra tou Methódiou, but not out of a lust for power. The colt's parents had been killed by bandits who then burned his family's house down leaving the colt without a guardian and no home to go to. Because of this, the colt was planning to use Sfaíra tou Methódiou to commit suicide instead. The colt took Sfaíra tou Methódiou and waited for it's magic to overcome him.

That didn't happen though. The cold was instead able to withstand the magic and absorb Methodios' magic into him, the Unicorn colt being filled with the magical power of a Giant! Kleisthenes would soon find out about this and seek the colt out, upon finding the colt Kleisthenes declared that the colt would be the next Emperor of Cannor when he comes of age and when Kleisthenes would die. So the story of Little Steel would begin, the Second Emperor of Cannor and the first Unicorn Emperor.

Kleisthenes would spend the last twenty five years of his life teaching Little Steel to become the emperor, things like: reading, writing, magic, the intrigues of the court, ruling, and even philosophy before finally passing in 500 B.D.P. just outside of Canstel where his remains are to this day. Little Steel, now thirty, would take his death hard, declaring a month of mourning and a holiday in his honor in the middle of the Season of Ice, Pir Giganta. Also in his honor, Little Steel would rename the empire into what it is known as today: Cannor.

After the mourning passed Little Steel would go to perform the task that would take up his entire life: liberating the mainland from the Boars.

The Early Empire (500 B.D.P.-1500 B.D.P.):

The newly crowned Little Steel would start his rule by declaring war on the Boars to take back Cannor Mainland for the empire, gathering as many Unicorns and boats as possible for the invasion before setting off. On the 27th of Ottepel', Season of Growth the Cannorian forces led by Emperor Little Steel would approach the Nezhkar Cliffs where they would spot a large force of Boars waiting for them on the top of the cliff. The Cannorians would make the decision to turn the boats south in hopes that the Boars would lose them through the nearby woods on the shore which the Boars end up doing, disappearing into the woods.

The Cannorians would eventually land at the mouth of the nearby Del-Black River where they would disembark only for the Boars to ambush them from the woods. The Battle of Del-Black River would be bloody with the Cannorians nearly retreating, only to rally as Little Steel threw himself into the fray, the river's mouth becoming red with blood. The battle would last for several hours with both sides loosing many until the Boars broke off the attack and retreated back into the woods, allowing the Cannorians to rest and recover.

Little Steel's first task was to build a fort near the mouth of the river to insure a hoofhold on Cannor Mainland, help the wounded recover, and wait for part of the army that got delayed due to weather. The fort would be finished by nightfall and the rest of the army would arrive in the middle of the night.

When morning came Little Steel would leave half of the army with the wounded in the fort to keep watch and make sure they would recover, while he would take the other half to follow the Del-Black River north to the Kezken Mountains to try and get the Pegasi, Blackhooved Halflingers, and maybe the Shetlanders to help out in their liberation. For a week and a half Little Steel and his army would follow the river north the entire time being harassed by the cold, rain, and Boars. They would eventually reach the source of the river at the base of the Kezken Mountains where they find the Pegasus city of High Sanctuary, or Wysokie Sanktuarium, in their language.

After a little bit of diplomacy the Pegasi of High Sanctuary agreed to help. The boars didn't have a chance to invade them due to their cities being built on clouds, but the Boars still constituted a threat to the Pegasi. High Sanctuary sent some diplomats out to other Pegasi cities as Little Steel moved on to see the Blackhooved Halflingers and the Shetlanders. The Blackhooved Halflingers didn't need a lot of convincing to join the war with a similar reason to the Pegasi and being more vulnerable to Boar attacks.

When Little Steel went to see the Shetlanders all he found were the remains of their Mountainhomes and their dead. They had all been wiped out in the Kezken Mountains by the Boars, who had occupied their forts for a short time before abandoning them to the snow. Still, with all his new allies gathered he moved back south to take the fight back to the Boars spending two years liberating Northeastern Cannor Mainland before stopping. Incentivizing Unicorns to go and repopulate the mainland while kicking the Boars in the area to make way for the Unicorns.

After this, five years of peace would go by with Little Steel returning to Canstel to rule. There he would meet the love of his life, Dancing Snowflake, a lowborn mare that grabbed his attention the moment he saw her. They soon married and went on to have their only child and colt, Cathar.

Little Steel would continue to liberate the mainland off and on for all forty years of his reign, starting by liberating the rest of Cannor Mainland from the Calantir Mountains in the south to the Kezken Mountains in the north before pushing further inland going as far as the Blackbark Forest and stopping just when the forest turns into the Windward Plains, what is considered to be the border of the modern Holy Empire of Cannor. He had planned to go further, but died in 540 B.D.P. at the age of seventy after forty years of rule. His son, Cathar, would take over the empire at age thirty-four. Cathar had already been married for twenty years at this point, to a noble mare named Fratile. It was a happy relationship between the two, but also one soured by their failed attempts at family life. In their twenty years of marriage they attempted to have six foals, but out of all six: three were miscarriages, two were stillborn, and one was born sickly and died shortly after birth, despite the best physicians the empire could offer tending to the poor thing.

Three challenges would present themselves in Emperor Cathar's 26 year reign: religion, the Boar Question, and the Pegasus Question, religion and the Boar Question being the highlight of his early reign, one of them being how he got the epithet of 'the Holy'.

Cathar's first issue was the matter of religion in Cannor. While the empire was united culturally, religiously it was still a mess and a great stain on the empire. The empire was still split by the multitude of Unicorn religions that appeared after the split years ago and was a topic of great debate at the time. Kleisthenes and Little Steel both tried to deal with the matter of religion, but there were now so many religions in the empire that favoring one religion over the rest would be sure to bring down the ire of the other religions and incite mass revolts. Cathar knew this fact well which was why he came up with a brilliant solution in addressing the problem of religion: making all the religions in the empire into one.

Cathar would combine all the religions in the empire into what is known as The Court, throwing all the Gods into a single pantheon, getting rid of and combining others as needed with no head god of the religion. A few revolts would result from this new religion, but most Unicorns of the empire embraced this new faith with open hooves. Cathar, with help from his wife Fratile, also organized the temples and priesthood into what it is today.

The second challenge Cathar faced was that of the Boar Question. Many of the Boars that had settled into the mainland from the first Boartrek had now been forced out of the empire, but a sizable minority of them stubbornly refused to leave and were now scattered around the empire, with most of them now residing in the Blackbark Forest. These Boars refused to assimilate into the empire and would even perform raids into nearby towns. The nobles in Canstel wanted to use force to remove the Boars, but Cathar, who only used violence as a last resort, wanted to see if they could convince the Boars to lay down their weapons and assimilate. The nobles however pressured him to send in the armies to force the Boars out.

A few of the Boar tribes were able to be forced out of the empire, but most of the tribes simply fled into the surrounding terrain and used hit and run tactics to whittle the Cannorian forces down, constantly going on the move to avoid detection by the superior Cannorians. These tactics worked well for the Boars where they tried it, but it couldn't have worked better than in the Blackbark Forest where Cannor's armies spent two years fighting the Boars with hundreds of dead Unicorns and only a few Boars dead to show for it. The only good that came out of this was two generals made themselves known on the battlefield: General Pine Crest, and General White Horn, both of whom would become Cathar's most trusted advisers and greatest friends.

After two years of trying and failing to remove the Boars Cathar decided enough was enough and that it was time to try diplomacy. He would meet with the leader of the Boar tribes in Blackbark and manage to make a deal with them: their gods would be added to The Court and their tribes will be autonomous in the empire, in exchange their children will be assimilated into the wider culture of the empire and become citizens of the empire meaning they would have to pay taxes and follow the laws of the empire.

There is then a large gap between Cathar's second and third challenges, this gap being filled by him running the empire. The greatest thing to note in this gap is fourteen years into his reign when he and his wife Fratile finally have a child that survives the birth and was healthy: a filly that he names Glory Star.

Cathar's third and final challenge would come three years before the end of his reign in the form of the Pegasi from the Kezken Mountains in the First War of Horn and Feather. Every since the Cannorians removed most of the Boars from the empire relations with the Pegasi have been decreasing, mostly with the Kezken Pegasi. There was no longer a common enemy to unite the two species so hostilities have been slowly growing between the two races. It was around this time that there was one reason that relations were bad between the two.

Just north of the Kezken Mountains and south of the Shetland Isles was an area known as the Sea of Trees, a massive area of uninterrupted forests and hills. Cannor was just beginning to colonize parts of the coast in this area from the sea, but because of the time and cost of going by boat most Unicorns were going over the Kezken Mountains to supply these colonies, directly under the cloud cities of the Pegasi and what they considered to be their territories. This uneasy peace would soon be broken.

Unlike the rest of the Kezken Pegasi the cloud city of High Sanctuary had maintained good relations with the empire so when the King of High Sanctuary passed he willed his kingdom to Cannor, a decision that would anger the other Pegasi City-States. They sent Cathar a demand to instead crown the king's brother as King of High Sanctuary, but Cathar would ignore these demands. As a result the Pegasi City-States united into a single entity known as the United Cities and declared war on the empire. Their first action being to invade High Sanctuary and install their king before moving south into the empire.

Cathar was quick to respond to this new threat by raising the armies across the empire and then hoping to have them meet Azhakhan, a city that was close to the Kezken Mountains, but far enough away that it wasn't in any danger yet. He also ordered that any armies that were already there to wait for the rest of the army so they could attack as a united force against the Pegasi. However, a general there heard that even with all the Pegasi City-States united they were outnumbered so he gathered what soldiers were there already and ignored his orders to stay put, marching to the northeast to the Del-Black River to meet the Pegasi at the Battle of Belyy Bridge. The Cannorian armies were recently equipped with Bolt Throwers, a recent invention that functioned similarly to the crossbow. A cone would go over the Unicorn's horn that was then connected to the weapon by a tube, the Unicorn would charge magic into the Bolt Thrower and then fire it when it was full, the bolt of magic then flying away like an arrow. With these new Bolt Throwing the general thought he had another advantage.

The Pegasi, for their part, knew that they were outnumbered and outclassed technology wise, but they had the advantage in tactics. So in the Battle of Belyy Bridge the Pegasi used things like feigning retreat, making the Cannorians think there were less of them then there already was, and flanking maneuvers. The Bolt Thrower did well in the battle, but the general had to retreat after taking numerous losses on the battlefield. The first battle of the war at Belyy Bridge was a minor victory for the Pegasi, but they also took quite a few casualties in the battle.

There wasn't another battle until the armies of Cannor met at Azhakhan, but even then they suffered a few more losses with the Pegasi getting minor or pyrrhic victories. It wasn't until three seasons into the war that the Cannorian armies won a victory at the town of Tunguska where most of the United Cities army was wiped out and allowing Cannor to go on the offensive.

The Cannorians quickly took back High Sanctuary before moving into the mountain to bring the fight to them and to test another new weapon called the Bolt Cannon. It was similar to the Bolt Thrower, but was instead designed to be a cannon. It required more Unicorns for more magic that it then fired with enough power to blow a Pegasus city out of the sky. There were, however, a few problems with the Bolt Cannons.

Outside of the Windward Plains, Pegasi cities are often found floating near or on top of mountains where it would be hard for any Non-Pegasus army to reach and siege them. The Bolt Cannons weighed a lot and required several Unicorns to even pull them on flat ground and even more when going up a mountain, the barren and uneven mountain paths often broke the Bolt Cannons or caused the Cannons to fall off the sides of the mountain all together with Unicorns still attached to them. The few that did get to their targets, however, did what they were advertised to do as a few Pegasi cities were blown out of the sky from them. Still, there wasn't enough to change anything and the war turned into a stalemate with the Cannorian forces "sieging" down the Pegasi cities.

The war would go for two more years before Cathar met with the king of the United Cities and broker a peace. It would be a white peace where High Sanctuary would become a part of the empire, but everything else would remain as it was before the war, along with the promise that the Unicorns would stop using the mountain paths to get to the Sea of Trees. The United Cities would fall apart into it's usual city-states shortly after this peace despite the king's best efforts to keep it together, there was no longer an invading force so the Kezken Pegasi saw no reason to keep it together.

Cathar would spend the rest of his rule doing as he usually does before retiring to his Season of Fire palace on Cannor Mainland for the Season of Fire as usual, going with his wife and daughter. It would be on this Season of Fire that Cathar would meet his end.

On the 5th night of Sukhoy, Season of Fire, 566 B.D.P. an assassin would break into the palace and kill Cathar and Fratile in their sleep. The assassin would've killed the then twelve year old Glory Star as well had it not been for a wooden cat toy on the floor of her room causing him to slip, waking the sleeping princess up and alerting the guards who then captured the assassin. The assassin was a Pegasus who sought to take revenge on the empire for the war.

The empire would quickly fall into a succession crisis with the death of Cathar and Fratile. There were no laws stating that the successor had to be a male to rule, but Cathar had never officially declared Glory Star to be his heir meaning the succession was technically open, something General Pine Crest would take advantage of.

Pine Crest was in Canstel at the time of Cathar's death so upon hearing of his death Pine Crest would take his army and march into Canstel with his Unicorns declaring him emperor, also forcing the then Court Speaker to recognize him as so. General White horn however was with Princess Glory Star on the mainland and saw her as the true empress to the throne, deciding to remain loyal to the Kleisthenes dynasty. This was the start of Cannor's first civil war.

While it was the first civil war in Cannor's history it was uneventful compared to the other civil wars the empire has experienced, but still lasted for six years. While Pine Crest had the support of his army, most of the navy, and the nobles, Glory Star had the support of most of the population, and most of the army. Most of the lower and middle class supported Glory Star so most of Pine Crest's impromptu reign was spent suppressing rebellions on the island of Cannor, giving Glory Star and White Horn the time to organize a new navy and retake the island, with Pine Crest killing himself by the end of it all.

So in 572 B.D.P. Glory Star was crowned as the first empress of Cannor at the age of eighteen, her first act being to honor the memory of her father and mother by making them the head gods of The Court. She hoped to spend the early part of her rule repairing the damage the civil war caused the empire, but the Kezkani Pegasi ruined that two seasons into her reign.

Both sides had honored the treaty made between them, but the citizens of Cannor cared very little for it as they continued to use the mountain paths to get to the Sea of Trees. Despite Cannor's best efforts to stop the citizens from breaking the treaty they continued to find ways to use the mountain paths across the Kezken Mountains. So the Pegasi decided to take matters into their own hooves by killing any Unicorns they could find trespassing on the mountains.

This only caused anger across Cannor and to Glory Star who declared war and started the Second War of Horn and Feather, which would prove to be different from the first one. The Cannorians had learned from the mistakes of the first war, along with learning how to learn the Bolt Throwers and Bolt Cannons better, but the thing that helped the Cannorians a lot in the second war was the recent domestication of the Laika.

Back during the time when Dragons ruled the world they had bred an animal from wolves, a beast that is similar to the wolf but much bigger and much more dangerous, which they called Grohiiks. These Grohiiks acted as pets to their Dragon masters, standing from 7-10 feet tall and sharing the Dragon's mood and temperament. After the Keys and Boars overthrew the Dragons the Grohiiks escaped into the wild where they became feral, becoming a dangerous hazard and the death of many travelers. This was what the Grohiiks were until several years before the second war started.

Within the Windward Plains the Cyes managed to domesticate the Grohiiks again, using them as carnivorous cavalry in their frequent wars against other nomadic clans of Cyes. This would quickly spread to Cannor where they would be used as cavalry as well and given their new name, Laika.

The Second War of Horn and Feather would be the first war where the Laikas were used outside of the Cyes. Given enough frequent and rigorous training they could easily become war beasts that, besides their carnivorous nature, could also pull many times their own weight. This part of the Laika would prove greatly useful in the war, able to pull a few Bolt Cannons up the mountains and even pull them up if they went over the side.

With the Laikas the Unicorns would be able to get the Bolt Cannons up to the mountains and to the Pegasi cities where many of those cities would fall with the power of the Bolt Cannon. In 586 B.D.P. the Kezkani City-States would surrender to Glory Star who would force the Pegasi cities to unite and become a Client Kingdom with their kings to be elected by her.

The Pegasi of the Calantir Mountains to the south would also be forced to do the same by Glory Star, but peacefully this time, uniting into a single kingdom and then turned into a Client Kingdom. However, the Dragons of the Kingdom of the Eternal Heat were angered by the subjugation of the Calantir Pegasi and that the entire Calantir Mountain Range was now technically under the rule of Cannor.

Pegasi:
Heading back north to the borders of Cannor I knew the second race I wanted to cover were the Pegasi as I would have to pass through the Calantir Mountains if I wanted to return. Not knowing the cloud walking spell myself however, I had to settle with going to a Pegasi surface city to get the history I required.

The Pegasi are easily identifiable by the pair of wings they all have on their sides. These wings are very much similar to a bird's in shape and their feathers. Just like birds as well, Pegasi have hollow bones which allow them to be light enough to fly through the air. It was assumed that because of this that their bones should be brittle and broken very easily, but their bones are also very dense, dense enough to be as strong as normal bone.

Unlike the other races, Pegasi can stand on clouds while the other races would simply fall through the clouds. Because of this ability they can also manipulate these clouds by pushing or pulling them in different directions, this also allows them to manipulate the weather as they need. This is how Pegasi Cloud Cities are created, by pushing many clouds together until you get a big enough mass to support the weight of buildings.

Pegasi Religion:
The Pegasi do have a single religion that is shared among them even though their populations are separated on different mountain ranges. Still, because of this separation there are a few differences among their religion depending on location and even cities.

The Pegasi call their religion 'Niebieskie Niebo' in their own tongue. Similar to 'The Court', this religion is polytheistic with several gods making up their pantheon, but there is a single high god among the pantheon that rules over the others. The sky and the weather are a common subject of worship but similar to the Earth Pony folk religion, the seasons are worshiped as well.

The High God of the Faith is called Świętowit, the god of war, fertility, abundance, and the four directions. Świętowit does have different aspects of worship depending on the mountain range. In the Calantir, he also represents summer and the southern winds, the winds that blow up against the Calantir from the Desert of Eternal Heat. In Kezken, it's winter and the northern winds that blow from the Frozen Shores, and Świętowit in Estys' Spine is a combination of all four seasons and the respective winds that blow along the Spine each season.

Other gods in their pantheon include: Perun, god of the sky, lightning, storms, and rain. Xors Dazhbog and Xors Jutrobog, gods of the sun and moon respectively. Dziewana, goddess of love, weddings, and infancy. Dodola, goddess of rain and wife of Perun. Marzyana, goddess of death, rebirth, and dreams. Uroda, goddess of agriculture. Flins, god of death. Nemiza, god of the threads of life. Peklabog, god of the underworld. Porevit, god of power and masculinity. Radegast, god of honor, strength and hospitality.

Niebieskie Niebo is a very decentralized faith, with each city appointing their own Arcykapłan to oversee the religion in the specific city. As a result of this decentralization, each city has different variations on their rites, festivals, holidays and customs that are different from other cities, even if the difference is only miniscule.

Pegasi Culture:
Pegasi culture is obviously very militaristic and has been ever since the Keys split into different races. Each city has their own army that is ready for combat at any time made up of Pegasi that have been raised to fight from birth. All foals at the age of five are tested with the strongest and most athletic being selected to be part of the army, the rest of the foals that don't make it being barred from the army and raised to be civilians instead.

Pegasi society is also very masculine and patriarchal. Mares and fillies are barred from most things in Pegasi society, including participating in the army. Mares are instead expected to be homemakers, staying at the house to care for the husband and raise the foals. Stallions and colts are expected to contribute in society by serving the army, or if they didn't make the army, to find jobs that benefit the city as needed.

Earth Ponies:
The next target of my history was the Earth Ponies, which were nearby in the Duzkangar Plateau so it wasn't a long trip from Calantir. Still, I was thankful to have finally arrived in Bela Karpa, their capital, and settle down for some rest before finally moving to one of their libraries.

Earth Ponies are, forgive me for describing them this way, quite bland compared to Unicorns or Pegasi. They do not have any bony protrusions like a horn or extra limbs that allow them to fly. Despite their appearance they do have abilities similar to Unicorns or Pegasi. All Earth Ponies have a special connection with the earth, making them expert farmers, and enhanced strength that is only rivaled by the Shetlanders and the Cyes.

Earth Ponies can learn and use magic, but it is hard and it is uncommon for an Earth Pony to cast magic like a Unicorn can. Because magic is usually unreliable to them they instead craft tools to help aid in tasks, from simple farming tools to aid in farming to a ponyless carriage and even airships to get around faster, though things like the ponyless carriage are a rare sight. Still, these make Earth Ponies master crafters.

The Earth Pony population is split into two: one half living in the Duzkangar Plateau in the Holy Cannorian Empire, driven here by the Great Boar Trek, and then the other smaller half that still lives around Estys' Spine and in Western Estys.

Earth Pony Religion:
Most of the Earth Ponies in the Duzkangar Plataeu and in Estys' Spine have long converted to The Court religion of the Unicorns. However, there are still pockets and the Earth Pony kingdoms beyond Estys' Spine that still worship the Earth Pony Folk religion, which has also been seeing a bit of a revival among the Earth Ponies in Duzkangar.

This folk religion is called 'Obožuvanje na Zemjata' or Worship of the Earth. Unlike most of the religions in Estys Worship of the Earth is a monotheistic religion with only one god in their pantheon. This god is a goddess named Zemja Majka, the Earth Mother. The Earth Mother is an aspect of the earth and everything on it. She is often described as a kind goddess who looks after those who worship her, but can get angry at transgressions against her. Nature is, therefore, important in the Worship of the Earth: trees that are cutdown are to be replaced with saplings, artificial mines that no longer yield minerals are to be completely filled back up and so on.

Worship of the Earth is another decentralized religion, though unlike the Pegasi it does have a agreed upon holy book that all priests and priestesses are to follow. A single priest or priestess is usually responsible for watching over the religion in a single kingdom though more might be appointed if the kingdom is too big for one priest to handle by themselves.

In the Worship of the Earth, there are two important festivals at the start of planting season and at the end of harvest season. At the start of planting season the seeds are placed into the ground, followed by prayer and celebration to the Earth Mother. At the end of the harvest season there is a large feast by the community, where part of the harvest is sacrificed to the Earth Mother.

Earth Pony Culture:
Earth Pony society sees equality among the two sexes. Both sexes are seen as equal to each other and neither sex are barred from doing anything, though mares are still expected to stay at home and care for the house.

Violence isn't encouraged but it isn't discouraged either in Earth Pony society. There have been plenty of wars among Earth Pony kingdoms but, instead of battles being bloody, chaotic affairs, both sides instead send their best fighter out to duel with the winner being the side that wins the duel.

Halflingers:
As I traveled from Bela Karpa to one of the Shetlander Mountainhomes in Kezken I made it so my path went through Halflinger Hills so that I could add them to my history as well. It was a pleasant journey and I arrived in Tykhi Pahorby in a couple of weeks. Tykhi Pahorby, while the capital of Halflinger Hills and it's biggest city, is barely any bigger than their signature hillock villages.

Halflingers are only slightly shorter than a Shetlander and considerably shorter than the average Unicorn. They are similar to Earth Ponies in the complete absence of unique features but can cast magic far easier than a Earth Pony could, but still not at the level of a Unicorn without considerable training.

Unlike most of the descendants of the Keys who can have an array of colors, Halflingers have a very limited selection of colors that they can be born with. Their coats are almost always a shade of brown and their manes and tails almost always a shade of blonde as well. The only unique colors they do have are the featherings that cover their hooves but those are almost always either blonde, gray, or black depending on what tribe they've descended from.

Halflinger Religion:
Almost all Halflingers live in Halflinger Hills in the Holy Cannorian Empire so almost all of them worship The Court. The Blondehooved Halflingers all worship The Court, the Grayhooved Halflingers worship The Court as well, but a population of them do worship the Earth Mother. The Blackhooved Halflingers are the only Halflingers with a religion of their own. It doesn't have a name but they worship the goddess Berehynia, the goddess of independence.

Halflinger Culture:
Halflingers are extremely sedentary, often staying in the hillocks they are born in for their entire lives without ever leaving it, going to a neighboring hillocks at most if needed. Because of this sedentary nature it is rare to see a Halflinger outside of their hillocks.

Halflingers are also a peaceful folk that doesn't engage in violence. It is rare to see a Halflinger willingly be part of any army, much less carry a weapon with them. On an occasion that a Hillocks is attacked, the Halflingers will form a militia to defend their home, though with crude 'weapons' that lead to the defense usually ending poorly. Halflingers much rather sing and dance than do any violence, letting the the soldiers of the Holy Cannorian army protect their hillocks instead, not out of laziness mind you. This pacifism isn't shared by the Blackhooved Halflingers who are known to defending their hillocks in Kezken fanatically.

Some commons facts that are known about the Halflingers are that they enjoy celebration and eating. Halflingers are some of the best cooks in Estys, able to create great tasting foods for any celebration.

Another common fact about Halflingers is their seeming kletomania. Halflingers that head out of their hillocks into different societies are known to take things without asking, which gets them into trouble. These are almost always misunderstandings. A Halflinger hillock only have a polation in the tens and rarely in the hundreds. Because of these small populations everyone knows each other in these hillocks, so they don't bat an eye when someone goes and takes something as they usually need it and return it later.

Shetlanders:
The Shetlanders are a hardy race of ponies that live mostly underground in tunnels and cities they call 'Onol bom' or 'Mountainhome'. They live mostly underground in the mountains across Estys, content to mine away in their tunnels and homes. The main population of the Shetlanders are located far to the north on a frozen archipelago called The Shetlands, only accessible by boat crossing, crossing over the ice in the winter, or making a trip through the dangerous abandoned Shetlander Tunnels underground.

Besides the Shetlands, Shetlanders and their Mountainhomes can be found in almost every mountain range across Estys, notably Kezken, Calantir, Estys' Spine, and even in the Cragged Teeth Bulge where the Boars live. Mountainhomes aren't just exclusive to mountains though, there are plenty of Mountainhomes in other regions beyond the mountains, like the few among the Dragons in the Desert of Eternal Heat, one on the Firebred Swamps, and more.

Shetlanders are usually easily spot due to their small size and long beards and manes, the colors of their coats and manes are often dull and match the color of the rocks. Unlike most other races that can perform magic in some form Shetlanders are unable to without many, many years of training. What little magic Shetlanders do have is just enough to instead enchant special runes they carve into their weapons and tools to give them different effects.

Shetlander Religion:
Many Shetlanders would argue that their religion isn't actually one but instead a system of beliefs but to keep with the organization of this book it shall go under the religion section here.

The Shetlander religion is called 'Ubal Soloz' in their tongue, or 'Ancestor Worship'. The Shetlanders worship the souls and spirits of ancestors or other Shetlanders who have died, honoring their spirits and striving to be like them. It is more common for Shetlanders to worship their dead relatives, but worship of ancestors completely unrelated to you isn't something that isn't looked down upon.

Burial of the dead is extremely important in Ancestor Worship, the dead are to be buried or placed in the coffin upon death. Failure to do so will cause the dead's spirit to become angry and manifest itself into the real world, causing havoc for all.

Ancestor Worship is extremely decentralized. There is no head of faith, priests, or even a holy book to guide the faith. Shetlanders are to worship their ancestors however they please.

Shetlander Culture:
Similar to other cultures, Shetlander society is patriarchal but not extremely so. While mares are expected to be homemakers nothing stops them from doing anything else like getting a job or even going into politics. The only thing mares aren't allowed in Shetlander society is to join the army, as it's strictly a stallion only profession in Shetlander society.

A common sight among Shetlanders is long beards on stallions and long manes on mares. Long beards and manes are often a symbol of status and it is forbidden to completely shave a beard or mane off. Beards that are often more well-groomed and trimmed are signs of higher status in Shetlander society, while a beard that is unkempt often belong to Shetlanders of poorer classes.

A common punishment in Shetlander society is to have your beard or mane completely shaved off as a sign that you have committed a terrible act. If a different race performs the act and on one that doesn't deserve it, it's considered the highest form of disrespect and often an act of war.

Cyes:
Cyes are the largest race among the Pony races, but have the smallest population of them all. They almost entirely populate the Windward Plains with the cloud cities of the Pegasi in the region. They are a Nomadic people who move around the plains with the seasons, never staying in one spot for too long.

Cyes are identifiable by their large size and limited color scheme of whites, browns, and blacks. Like the Halflingers, Cyes have featherings that grow over their hooves which require regular care to avoid them getting too long and tripping over them.

Cyes Religion:
The Cyes religion is called Herbaism. In Herbaism there is no high god to worship and instead the 99 Hreba, a group of spirits with 55 of them good spirits or 'white' and 44 bad or 'black'. Each nomadic group of Cyes has one Shaman who can call upon the Hreba when needed and read their responses. There is also the worship of other spirits in Herbaism, including the worship of the three ancestral spirits. The Lord-Spirits are the spirits of old leaders that any Cyes can worship for physical or spiritual help. The Protector-Spirits are the sprits of Great Shamans or Shamanesses. The Guardian-Spirits are spirits of regular shamans, associated with localities within a clan's boundaries.

The Cyes religion is actually quite centralized with a Great Shaman presiding over the entire religion with smaller Shamans being appointed to each clan to watch over. The Great Shaman precides over a clan of his own that is nomadic as well and travels around the plains. Every year, all shamans from every clan gather with the Great Shaman to discuss happenings within the religion. When a Great Shaman dies, their body is left behind for the animals to eat, the shamans from all clans gathering together and selecting a new Great Shaman to take their place.

Non-Pony Races of Estys:
Inhabiting Estys along with the Ponies are populations of Non-Pony races. From the ancient Dragons, the Deer and Griffons who had arrived from across the sea and the Boars brought by the Dragons, the enigmatic populations of Changelings and Diamond Dogs underground, the Kelpies and Sea Ponies of the rivers and seas, and the tiny slave populations of Zebras, Giraffes, and Minotaurs under the Dragons.

I could have stopped at just the Pony races of Estys but thought to gather what I could of the other races that call Estys their home as well.

Deer:
The Deer are relatively recent newcomers to Estys. Unlike the Boars who were brought here by the Dragons, the Deer came here by themselves on large ships off the coast of Cannor two weeks after the Day of Tide and Ash, serving as the final nail in the coffin of the Empire of Cannor. They then sailed to Cannor Mainland and proceeded to raid their way across the remains of the empire all the way to the westernmost regions of Estys where they reside today. Other groups of Deer can still be found scattered across the continent as well.

The Deer are recognizable for their limited color schemes of browns and greens, their manes, which only grow on the tops of their heads, have a much wider variety of colors like pony manes and tails. Deer stallions are often recognizable for a pair of antlers that grow on the tops of their heads with their manes, a feature that is lacking in Deer mares.

Similar to how the Pony race is split the Deer are split as well into four different races: Fordeer, the majority of the Deer population, closest to Earth Ponies. Peryton, Deer with wings that can fly similar to Pegasi and the third largest population among the Deer. Vitrung, Deer that can perform magic similar to how a Unicorn can, second largest among the Deer population. And Nordeer, Deer similar to Fordeer but adapted to living in colder and mountainous areas, smallest of the Deer population.

Deer Religion:
The Deer religion is called Peuramenusko, a faith with a wide variety of gods and traditions though these gods and traditions can change depending on location with the Deer in Eastern Estys having a more traditional and less organized faith with a few gods missing compared to their western counterparts. In the west within Vardarianna Ort-Wilya the faith is organized among a complex priest class, the head of the class and religion given the title of Onnea Tuonti, Luck Bringer. The Deer kingdoms in the east lack the Onnea Tuonti, but maintain a priest class though without much of the powers that they hold in the west.

The head god of their faith is Ukko, the god of the sky, weather and crops. Ukko has a wife, the goddess Akka, the goddess of fertility who represents the feminine side of nature. Akras, the protector of plants. Ilmarinen, the great smith and maker of heaven. Kalevanpoika, who is strangely a Giant, a hero god who helps the Deer in times of need. Kuu, goddess of the moon. Tapio, god of the forests and hunt. Mielikki, wife of Tapio and goddess of the woods. Nakki, the goddess of pools, lakes, and oceans. Perkele, god of the dead. And so on.

Boars:
The Boars are quite an enigmatic race despite how simple they appear to be. Even though the Boars have been on Estys since the Keys roamed the lands they have written very little about their past, leaving their civilized cousins and other intelligent races the job of trying to piece together their history and way of life. I tried to get as much information about them as possible for this book so please forgive me if the information on the Boars appears to be lacking.

On average, Boars are about half a head taller than ponies, coming in various shades of browns, whites, and blacks. The most obvious feature of the Boars are their tusks that protrude up from their lower jaws with two to four tusks being the norm. These tusks can grow up to twelve inches long if they aren't sharpened down or broken. Their tusks are often quite sharp and are even able to pierce some armors, making them a formidable natural weapon.

Boar society is often extremely chaotic being organized in clans with a chief to rule over the clan. The title of chief isn't hereditary however, instead it runs off a 'survival of the fittest' system where the toughest Boar leads the clan and other Boars are free to challenge the chief for rule over the clan in a fight to the death where the chief will either keep his title or get killed by the challenger who will then take their place. Borders can change very often between Boar clans as fighting among clans are common as well, a clan can often completely take over the lands of one clan and then get completely taken over themselves the next day.

Every once in a while one clan will manage to establish dominance over the rest of the Boar clans where the chief of the united Boar clans becoming the grand chief of the Boars. With no other Boar clans to conquer this united Boar clan will form what is called a Boartrek, or a Rajtaütés in their own tongue, a massive army of Boars that invade into the civilized lands of Estys to plunder or even claim a new home for themselves. The united Boar clan usually doesn't last too long however as it almost always falls into infighting among the absorbed clans or among the leadership itself, falling back into normal clan politics shortly after being united.

Boar Religion:
In the religion of the Boars they worship only a single god who they call Hadur, the god of fire and war. Among the Boars it is their belief that Hadur created the world and everything else in a great burst of fire, decreeing that it was the destiny of the Boars to go out and conquer the world he had made for them. The Boars have no organization for their religion, not even a priesthood, instead leaving it up to each Boar to worship and interpret the words of Hadur in their own way.

Despite this the Boars do have one recognized holiday every year on the summer solstice, spending most of the day feasting until the sun finally sets where they make a giant wooden effigy of Hadur and burn it, celebrating and dancing around the burning effigy until morning or until the effigy turns into nothing but ash.

Griffins:
Griffins are the other race to come over the sea with the Deer, though the two races are unrelated to each other and are rivals with each other even before whatever sent them over the seas to Estys. The Griffins have scattered themselves across the mountains and hills of Estys upon their arrival, often coming into conflict with the Pegasi or other native inhabitants, though considering their low numbers the Griffins didn't often win these conflicts.

Despite their mistrust of outsiders I am happy to say that I have secured their history from a Griffin tribe that has an extensive collection of their history. As I copied their history down into this book over the week I was with them I was also able to have a look into their religion and culture which I have put down here as well.

Griffin Culture:
Similar to the Boars, Griffin society is organized and centered around clans to the point that even their Kingdoms and Kings partake in these clan politics. Clans are tribes of Griffins who come from a common descent or ancestor with the eldest member of the clan being the chief of the clan, for this reason it is hard to become apart of a clan where one must either marry with a member of the clan or, if a clan so allows it, complete a task that allows them to become part of the clan without having to share blood. In Griffin kingdoms this system of clans continues to function and be central to the kingdom, with the king usually giving out titles to members of important clans.

Griffin clans have their own unique names, usually named after the founder of the clan or something important to the clan. Each clan also has their own unique symbol or marking, either a flag, something painted on their shields, or something added to their clothing.

Griffin society is extremely militaristic with every chick at a certain age, no matter their standing, clan, or gender, are taught how to use weapons, meaning most Griffins are usually proficient with one weapon by the time they are considered adults. Something that is also highly prized in Griffin society is honor; honor in life, honor in politics, and honor in battle.

Doing something that breaks your honor, or the honor of your clan will usually have one exiled from their clan to become Clanless. One can also become Clanless out of their own will. As becoming Clanless usually entails doing something dishonorable the Clanless aren't treated well in Griffin society, at best being shunned or at worse chased out of Griffin lands. There are ways for a Clanless to become apart of a clan again, usually in the form of regaining their lost honor or the honor of their original clan.

Griffin Religion:
The Griffin religion is a decentralized one where, while there are temples and a priesthood, it is usually up to the individual priest or Griffin to interpret the words of the gods themselves rather than through a central church organization. Still, the priests in a Griffin kingdom do gather once a year to discuss matters of the faith.

In the Griffin religion there are only three gods: Sól, goddess of the sun, war, conquest, warmth, and growth. Sól's twin Máni, goddess of the moon, tactics, peace, cold, and rest. And Stjarna, god of travel, stories, hope, and time.

Griffin Magic:
A strange peculiarity that I found among Griffins is that they have a unique magic that is special to them. This special magic comes from the Vættir, a spirit that comes in the form of a wisp and/or ball of light. The Griffins aren't sure when the bond between them and the Vættir formed, but a Vættir will form and bond itself to a Griffin where it'll then bond and help their descendants for several generations. Vættir can die though, either in combat or from old age. Upon the death of a Griffin's Vættir a new one will form a few days later and bond itself to the Griffin.

The Vættir mostly help the Griffin's in combat, either enfusing their weapon with an element of some kind, helping to deflect and block attacks, increase their speed or strength and so on. The ability of the Vættir depends on the color it has.

Dragon Ponies:
Dragon Ponies are the combination of a Dragon and a Pony. Dragon Ponies have the bodies and heads of Ponies, but the wings, claws, tails, and elemental breaths of the Dragons. Dragon Ponies are found almost entirely within The Desert of the Eternal Heat with the Dragons, though there are scattered populations and individuals across Estys.

Dragon Ponies were created long ago, back when the Keys rebelled against the Dragons. Some of the Keys decided to remain with the Dragons during the rebellion rather than joining their kind against them, helping the Dragons restore order to the Keys. When the Dragons lost the war the Keys that remained loyal to them fled to the desert with them, the Dragons rewarding their loyalty by giving the loyal Keys the essence of a Dragon, making them part Dragon, along with giving them their freedom.

The Dragon Ponies continue to live with the Dragons in the desert, making up a sizable caste among the Dragons as workers, some of the only magic users among the Dragons, and as warriors.

Dragon Pony Culture:
The Dragon Ponies have completely assimilated into Dragon culture. Many things that Dragons do in their culture, Dragon Ponies take part in it. So many Dragon Ponies celebrate the same customs and culture as the Dragons do.

Like Dragons, Dragon Pony families are patriarchal with the stallion running most things in the family, though females have a great deal of freedom both among Dragon Ponies and Dragons. Also similar to Dragons, Dragon Ponies look after their children for sixteen years. After sixteen years it is expected of the young Dragon Ponies to be ready to live independently and contribute to society.

Dragon Ponies do have slight variations in things compared to Dragons. Dragon Ponies are often more caring to their children compared to actual Dragons. A Dragon Pony family also runs a bit differently and Dragon Ponies have slightly different religious customs.

Dragon Pony Religion:
Dragon Ponies worship the same two gods that the Dragons do: Nyrsag, the Great, god of knowledge, ingenuity, protection, justice, and creator of Dragons. Mymroa, the Eternal Fire, goddess of fire, light, wrath, war, revenge, 'the one who gave the Dragons their fire'.

Unlike the Dragons who are content to let their faith be decentralized, the Dragon Ponies have managed to create a centralized version of the Dragon faith, complete with a church, priesthood, and a holy book.

Hippogriffs:
Hippogriffs are the newest of the intelligent races on Estys. They take much of their appearance from Griffons and Ponies though there are still several differences. They have the top half of a Griffon, but with a slimmer and longer head with long beaks, slim eyes. Their top halves do have feathers of various colors, but instead of plumes they have manes and tails like Ponies which are often long and swept back. Their bottom halves are Pony though the two halves blend with each other in a seamless transition from one half to the other.

Unlike the other races of Estys Hippogriffs didn't appear through natural means, instead having been created through Necrotic magic 250 years ago. They were created by the Unicorn Necromancer Sylvan Sea, who terrorized The Sea of Trees and Frozen Shore for a period of thirty years (4303 B.D.P-4333 B.D.P.), having combined the remains of Griffons and Ponies together to create the Hippogriffs and use them in his undead army. When Sylvan Sea was finally killed and his remains burned in 4333 B.D.P. the Hippogriffs were freed from his magic, allowing them to think for themselves and make their own destiny.

After being freed the Hippogriffs would spread throughout Eastern Estys, settling down in large groups throughout Holy Cannor, The Sea of Trees, Windward Plains, Estys' Spine, Frozen Shore, and The Shetlands. Most of these groups were and still are small with the biggest populations of them being on the island of Cannor and on the surface of the rocky, windswept isles of The Shetlands.

Hippogriff Culture:
The Hippogriffs don't really have their own culture, not enough time has passed for them to develop their own along with how spread out they are. Instead, most Hippogriffs adopt the culture of the nation that they are in, taking up their customs and languages as their own.

The exception of this are the Hippogriffs that live on The Shetland isles where a culture of their own has started to form, centered around the sea, fishing, and sailing.

Hippogriff Religion:
Similar to their culture, Hippogriffs usually adopt the religion of the country they live in leading to the Hippogriffs being quite diverse in terms of religion. Again, the exception to this are the ones on The Shetlands who have started to form a religion worshiping a god they call Anguta, a god of the sea, fishing, and the dead. A few festivals and holidays have started to form in this religion including a funeral for the dead where the dead is either placed on a raft or a boat, depending on their status in life, and some of their material wealth and items where the raft or boat is set on fire and pushed into the sea.

Hippogriff Magic:
Hippogriffs have developed a natural gift for Necrotic magic, likely a remains from their creation through Necrotic magic. This gift with necrotic magic has earned them a lot of suspicion in many areas, though so far they haven't tried to cause trouble with it.

Hippogriffs are also skilled in the magic of Alchemy.

The Kin of the Abyss:
This next section of the races will go to the races of the Changelings, Diamond Dogs, and the Gigas. These three races are collectively referred to as The Kin of the Abyss, so referred as such for their enigmatic and mysterious way of life, how they all live underground, and the god that most of them used to worship. Despite all three of these races being classified under this term they seem to have little relation to each other besides where they choose to live and their old god.

So I apologize, dear reader, if you find this section on these three races to be lacking. Almost all that we know about them has only been really recorded by the Shetlanders and even then it isn't a lot, especially for the Gigas who only have a few books about them.

Changelings:
The first of The Kin of the Abyss I will cover are the Changelings, mostly because of the three Kin they are the ones that we know the most about. Changelings appear as a cross between a Pony and an insect, shaped like a Pony with four legs, tails, manes, wings, and even horns. Instead of a coat though they are instead covered in chitin, legs that sport holes along the edges, wings that resemble those of a fly's, manes and tails that take on the appearance of spider webbing, fangs, compound eyes, and curved horns.

The first mention of the Changelings come from the Shetlanders when they suddenly appeared from deep beneath the earth with the Diamond Dogs and invaded the First Shetlander Empire, contributing to the collapse of their first empire.

Changeling Culture:
Changeling society are organized into hives, closely knit groups of Changelings that are all descended from a single Queen, usually several thousand in size. Changeling hives are usually either built underground, in an extremely secluded place on the surface, or underneath an abandoned or even an occupied Mountainhome. At the top of the hive is a single Queen who wields absolute power in the hive. The Queen is always a female and usually gives birth to most new Changelings in a given hive.

Changeling hives have a rigid hierarchy within them, with the Queen deciding what a Changeling is to do in the future for the hive, never being allowed to move to a different place in the hierarchy no matter what. Coupled with this is a strong sense of community within the hives. Changelings are kind and respectful to each other, though it is expected that a Changeling should do their absolute best to run their part of the hive.

Changeling Religion:
Changelings are an oddity among the races of Estys as they worship no gods nor even have a simple belief system. This irreligion apparently didn't used to exist as symbols of religion are found in abandoned Changeling hives deep beneath the earth that are dated before their invasion of the First Shetlander Empire.

This doesn't mean that Changelings are completely against religion. Changeling hives that interact with the surface can end up taking up the religious practices of the races that they interact with.

Changeling Magic:
Changelings have two special kinds of magic that they share. The most notable of the two magics is given away by their name: the ability to change their appearance.
All Changelings have the ability to change the way they look, able to take on the appearance of anyone they've seen or even make up a new appearance all together. This allows Changelings to disguise themselves as anyone with perfect accuracy, copying their appearance down to the smallest of details. This makes Changelings the masters infiltration, able to disguise themselves as a resident of a town and slip in without any questions. Many times infiltrations by Changelings isn't known until it's already too late.

The second type of magic they have is a hivemind. This hivemind connects the thoughts of all Changelings within a single hive, allowing Changelings to communicate with each other without having to be in the same room, even able to communicate over great distances. All Changelings in a hive share the same hivemind so they are able to communicate with each other whenever it is needed.

Diamond Dogs:
The Diamond Dogs are the second of the Kin. As the name suggests they are a species of canine that are almost always found deep within the earth. They can vary greatly in appearance and size with the smallest being around the size of a normal Pony and the largest an imposing three times the size, this size being aided by how they walk as they do walk on all fours, but their forelegs are much longer than their back legs.

Diamond Dog Culture:
Diamond Dogs are often found in large tribes underground numbering at 20-50 individual members though some larger tribes can have members in the hundreds. From the sources that the Shetlanders have these tribes operate on a rigid hierarchy with the Alpha of the tribe and his family at the top and at the very bottom the slaves that the tribe has. This hierarchy isn't completely sturdy though as the Alpha's position is heavily scrutinized and coveted by the other members of the tribe. If weakness in the Alpha of the tribe is sensed it won't take long for the members of the tribe to turn on the Alpha and try to claim the title.

Diamond Dogs are known to be prolific miners, rivaling even the Shetlanders in this task though rather than using it to expand their homes or create magnificent structures they use it to create winding tunnels in a quest to require as many rare gems as they can. These gems are then returned to the tribe and offered to the Alpha where they are then added to a pile of gems that each Diamond Dog tribe has. This is used to show wealth and power to the other tribes.

Diamond Dog Religion:
Little is known of the Diamond Dog religion compared to their culture. From the bit of evidence that the Shetlanders are able to gather about their religion it doesn't have a name, or at least one that isn't easily translatable into Shetlandic, and as far as the Shetlanders know there is one god in the religion who's name is translated as Rokap who the Diamond Dogs give offerings of gems to and sometimes sacrifices of slaves.

Gigas:
The Gigas are the last of the Kin to cover and the one that the least is known about. Sightings of Gigas have been extremely rare for Shetlanders and even rarer for the other races as they haven't been recorded above the surface. Information about the Gigas has come from the Changelings and Diamond Dogs who have been willing to share this information. These accounts from Changelings and Diamond Dogs are often filled with great fear.

The Gigas are described to be completely hairless and their skin extremely pale, almost pure white in color. They stand at 8-12 feet tall and rather than walking on all fours they walk on two legs. Because of their lack of hair they wear clothing to cover themselves and keep themselves warm in the deepest depths of the earth.

Gigas Culture:
Along with wearing clothes every Gigas also wears a mask that fully covers their face. The Changelings and Diamond Dogs aren't sure why they do, but the Changelings and Diamond Dogs have never seen a Gigas without a mask on. The materials of these masks are unknown but they usually sport intricate patterns, designs, and colors. The Gigas have a highly militarized and aggressive society, if a Gigas runs into a Changeling or Diamond Dog they attack immediately and attempts to talk are met with complete silence. Gigas are also extremely proficient on a "corrupting magic".

Gigas Religion:
The religion of the Gigas is a bit more known as some Shetlanders were able to interview some Changelings about it. The Changelings don't have a name for the religion, but they do worship a god that the Changelings only called 'The Abyss'. The Abyss is an extremely malevolent god and is theorized to be responsible for the Gigas' use of "corrupting magic", but little else is known about The Abyss besides that the Changelings used to worship the god a very long time ago.