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Overview

The Cerotellian Races are an Outworlder Racial Group originating from the intricate mechanical structural planes of Cerofell, one of the Thirteen Realms. Hailing from this vast and enigmatic realm of interlocking gears, grand metallic constructs, and self-sustaining megastructures, the Cerotellian peoples embody the synthesis of order, precision, and adaptation. In ages past, the Cerotellian Races made their way to the world of Haven, where their presence has left an indelible mark upon both the recorded and the obscured histories of its civilizations.

Whether as architects of progress, emissaries carrying the broken remnants and culture of their distant realm, or enigmatic travelers shaped by the mechanized order of their home, the influence of the Cerotellian Races continues to be felt across Haven’s many epochs and struggles, even in the millennia long after their reign. Their legacy persists in both the myths of the surface-dwellers and the lingering remnants of their great subterranean strongholds, where animate echoes of their mastery still whisper through the endless dark.

The Fall of Cerofell

Unlike most other Outworld Races, the Cerotellian Races made their entry into the Mavimyst out of necessity rather than desire. In the ever-shifting epochs of the Mythic Ages, the various Cerotellian peoples thrived within their respective planes, laboring endlessly in vast halls of brass and bronze in reverence to their Divine Creators — gods and goddesses who embodied the very essence of architectural and intellectual prowess. Each faction of the Cerotellian Races pursued perfection through intricate mechanisms and grand constructs, their societies woven into the very fabric of structured innovation.

However, their golden age was shattered with the arrival of the Termina-Certella, a name derived from the Cerotellian tongue meaning "Death to the Cerofell." This all-powerful Serranic entity, a being of unfathomable might, emerged from the Amaranth Realm beyond the Void of Thavma, and waged an apocalyptic crusade against the Cerotellian deities. One by one, their gods fell to the metaphoric blade of this relentless force, their divine forges extinguished and their sacred algorithms of intricate mechanical construction unraveled.

With their creators vanquished and their homeland no longer safe, the peoples of Cerofell had no choice but to flee. Boarding immense airships, vast vessels of impossible craftsmanship capable of traversing the Realmweave, they set course for refuge. Their exodus led them to the safe harbors of the Mavimyst, and ultimately to Haven, where they would carve out a new destiny amidst the shifting tides of history.

Arrival and Dominion in Haven

As they had made their entry into the world known in the times of the Early Archaisitic Era, they brought with them immense otherworldly technology and methodology totally alien to the Known World. Beneath the surface of the Earth, the Cerotellian Races soon established themselves as the most advanced race ever to grace the planet, and the single most dominant force within the cavernous and labyrinthine expanses of the Gleaming Abyss that lay underneath sea and land. Their deep dominions, illuminated by radiant conduits and shimmering constructs, culminating in the construction of subterranean halls of impossible design and vast machinery which eternally hum with unceasing purpose.

The Cerotellian Empire, which emerged from the depths of the Gleaming Abyss, willingly chose to remain within their subterranean strongholds. Though their technological prowess far outstripped that of the ruling Inomeni powers of the era, they lacked the means to contend with their would-be adversaries' overwhelming magical potency. Chief among these formidable rivals was the Edian Empire, whose near-uncontested dominion over much of the terrestrial world made open conflict a futile endeavor.

Curse of Mortality

Rather than seeking direct conquest, the Cerotellians ensured their ultimate triumph through diplomacy and calculated allegiance. During the catastrophic Edian-Dragon War, in which the Edian Empire waged battle against the ancient and powerful Alcadrago, the Cerotellians forged an alliance with Edia. It was in this conflict that their most brilliant mind, a figure known only as "Chimera," would unleash a weapon of unparalleled consequence — the Curse of Mortality.

This affliction, the masterwork of Cerotellian arcane science, wrought an irreversible doom upon the Alcadrago, filling the whole of the world with immense presence of Alizarin, ensuring the extinction of the ancient First Dragons. However, its effects extended far beyond the Great Wyrms. As history unfolded, the Curse of Mortality would come to be known as the death knell of all immortal races upon Haven, severing their once-eternal lifelines and forcing even the greatest of beings to reckon with the felt agony of the passage of time.

The aftermath of the Curse reshaped the very fabric of existence on Haven, altering the balance of power among its civilizations. Once-mighty entities, whose reigns had spanned eons, now found themselves vulnerable to decay, disease, and the slow, creeping grasp of mortality. The fall of the Alcadrago marked only the beginning, as the great lords of the Inomeni, the undying sovereigns of the Edian Empire, and even lesser immortal beings began to wither and perish.

Some sought desperate means to reverse the effects, turning to lost or forgotten magics or arcane machinery in vain attempts to reclaim their lost immortality. Others, however, embraced their newfound mortality, adapting to the cycles of life and death that had once been foreign to them. In this way, the Curse of Mortality became both a curse and a catalyst — an affliction that destroyed entire civilizations, yet also gave rise to new ways of thinking, new philosophies, and the inevitable march of progress that would shape the future of Haven.

Decline

The Cerotellian Races themselves would suffer the consequences of the Curse in which they created, their Empire began to slowly unravel as the very balance of their existence was upended, unable to cope with the concept of mortality now infecting their very beings. Though they had long prided themselves on their mastery of order and precision, the sudden introduction of mortality into their kind disrupted their once-immortal leadership, leading to fractures within their rigid societal structures.

As the centuries passed, their great subterranean citadels, once humming with eternal purpose, fell into stagnation and decay. The once-unbreakable chains of succession, upheld by undying overseers and mechanical continuity, now faltered as leaders perished, and their knowledge was lost to time.

Struggles for power arose within their ranks as factions vied to preserve what little remained of their dominion, while others sought desperate means to reverse the effects of the Curse. Some turned to forbidden experiments, attempting to integrate their bodies with their own creations, birthing grotesque amalgamations of metal and flesh that defied natural law.

Others fled deeper into the Gleaming Abyss, isolating themselves in forgotten vaults and citadels, preserving what they could of their once-proud civilization. However, no matter their efforts, the slow decline of the Cerotellian Empire was inevitable, with the encroaching and engulfing crimson shadow of Alizarin, and their presence in the world of Haven would gradually dwindle into myth.

Legacy

Despite the immensity and complexity of the Cerotellian Empire, their territorial reach upon the Known World was less then perhaps one may expect, with their domain reaching only across the cavernous expanses of Southwestern and Northern Bariquel. However, their greatest feats of impact within the histories came after their Empire's collapse, with their immense mechanical constructs and technological wonders being charted and cataloged by the mortalborne races which came thereafter

The remnants of their lost civilization, from towering automatons frozen in time to subterranean citadels of intricate design, became the foundation for countless myths and legends, particularly amongst the races of the Abyssal World. Even in ruin, the dormant mechanisms of the Cerotellians continue to function, their purpose long forgotten but their influence still shaping the civilizations that dwell in the depths. Many scholars and explorers of later ages have sought to uncover their secrets, yet few who descend into the forsaken halls of the Gleaming Abyss return unchanged — or at all. The artifacts and knowledge salvaged from their ruins have led to both wondrous innovations and catastrophic failures, as those who attempt to wield Cerotellian technology often fail to grasp the intricacies of its construction. In this way, the legacy of the Cerotellians remains a double-edged sword — both a gift and a warning to those who would seek to harness the power of a civilization long past.

Member Races

Several races bore the Cerotellian name throughout the eons, even after the decline of the Inomeni Cerotellian Empire, several of the mortalborne races which emerged thereafter had took for themselves the mantle of Cerotellian, though each with varying veracities to that notion. Some later races had sought to emulate the lost grandeur of their predecessors, integrating fragments of recovered Cerotellian technology into their own civilizations, while others claimed the title merely as a means of legitimizing their rule. In time, these successor races would diverge greatly from the original Cerotellians, their cultures shaped more by the world of Haven than by the mechanical order of Cerofell.

Among these successor races, some retained remnants of the Cerotellian Races' famed ingenuity, developing intricate clockwork cities and forging alliances based on technological supremacy, while others devolved into isolationist factions, zealously hoarding what little knowledge they had salvaged. In certain regions of the Abyssal World, entire societies arose that worshipped the lost Cerotellians as divine progenitors, constructing vast subterranean shrines in their honor and desperately attempting to reactivate dormant relics. Despite their differences, all who claimed Cerotellian heritage shared a lingering reverence for the lost empire, though whether as aspirants, scavengers, or fanatics, their interpretations of that legacy often stood in stark contrast to one another.

Individual Member Races

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