History

Nodd has a long history, which seems to shift and waver the further back into the past one looks. Much like traveling into the Abyss, the further one goes the less certain things are - Even literature from times of yore is likely to hold paradoxical contradictions.

In the Beginning

Among the most consistent facts are that gloam was not as commonly manipulated in the past, and true understanding of magic was rare - most things were done the hard way. Mages were uncommon, often both famous and feared. Resurrection was reserved for the most important of individuals, possible only in the most ideal circumstances, and not guaranteed to work even then. Insiders were less varied. The various chaotic events that happened throughout the City were seen as either gifts or curses, depending.

Controlling Chaos

In Nodd's early history, the most popular theory for the strange chaotic events was a simple one - whenever there was an excess of order, it would invite chaos to counteract it. The pattern held true at many scales, from a single person to even the City as a whole. Magic of the time involved directing these swells of chaos to accomplish a desired effect.

The Council of the time began a myriad of experiments into the nature of chaos, seeking methods to understand and control it. The exact details of many of these experiments remain shrouded in mystery, as well as their outcomes. All that is known is that one fateful experiment changed everything - The Night of the Mothertoad.

The Night of the Mothertoad

The exact details of the experiment which preceded this event are not widely known, only that it involved subjecting a mere mephitoad to a concentrated amount of chaos. The mephitoad underwent acute corruption, becoming sentient and beginning to grow and assimilate anything it touched. It broke free of it's containment and began to take over the City - spawning corrupted mephitoads, absorbing citizens and changing the cityscape as it went.

The event led to widespread panic. Many citizens fought to defend themselves, though just as many were entranced by the sight of the recently assimilated, slack-jawed and blissful. Seeking to stop the rampage, the Council sought aid from the City's strongest mage, Illa Phasmere. In exchange, she was promised a position in the Council, to which she agreed.

Illa led her followers to battle, and ultimately proved victorious - albeit at the cost of a vast swathe of the City. Illa also underwent corruption due to the immense magical energies involved, changing her forever. Before the corrupt mephitoad was completely destroyed, however, the Council made it an offer to join their ranks - an offer it accepted, becoming one of the first citygods beside Illa and gaining the name of the Mothertoad. The two gained an innate understanding of the City's ways, becoming powerful cityspeakers.

The Council consulted with these two godly beings for guidance, seeking their understanding of the City to aid in controlling its chaos. Shortly after, they would found the first two of Nodd's houses. Illa founded the house of death, Umbrasia, while the Mothertoad founded the house of life, Vivira.

The formation of these houses led to an increase in the prevalence and skill of mages, as they could work and train alongside those of similar philosophies. Seeing the success of this system, the Council began to experiment on further theories, one of which led to the creation of the GodGrinder.

GodGrinder

The GodGrinder was a tournament of death matches hosted by the Council, with the ultimate prize of being made a citygod. Many mages entered, and hundreds of lives were lost during the tournament itself until there were only two contestants remaining - Filo Rooke and Mercian Vetch.

The two fought, but eventually Mercian stood, her face mutilated by one of Filo's attacks. As a lehlt such an injury was a severe one for her - cosmetic magics are famously resisted by lehlts, who require the envy of others to remain out of their wretched form. However, she was given the reward promised and became a citygod.

And yet to her horror the Council also resurrected and similarly empowered Filo, who had been left intact enough for the primitive resurrection magic of the time to function. With two more of Nodd's most powerful mages now in the Council's grasp, two more houses were founded - Mercian founding the house of flesh, Vorn, while Filo founded the house of mind, Psilysium. The City flourished yet further.

The Door of Knowledge

The next notable figure in Noddish history came from humble beginnings. The petrid named Quin Aven started life as a mere doorknocker, but never developed a proper body beyond his head. Most petrids are excised from their host building, but Quin refused as the process would likely kill him. Fortunately, despite being confined to life hanging off of a door, the mistress of the house was considerate enough to bring Quin texts to occupy his mind.

Over the years Quin's studies would rival those of preeminent scholars, particularly in the esoteric field of artifact creation - a field with very few practitioners at this point in history. As his prowess grew, he began to create wholly original tools and items, which he secretly shared with others. Eventually, Quin's work drew the attention of the Council, and the petrid - door included - was stolen away into the Spire.

The Conduit was built shortly afterwards, at the very top of the Spire. For his work, Quin was elevated to the role of citygod, founding the house of Control, Omnillian, constructing it's main citadel around his original building where he resides to this day.

With Quin's guidance, and the Spire's construction, Nodd entered a new era. With the Spire's aid in controlling Nodd's chaotic energy, resources became nearly endless. The City expanded in every way it could. Homes held the finest of furnishings, luxuries and excesses became commonplace. Technology and magic both flourished, and a myriad of methods were developed to control gloam. Citizens were encouraged to indulge to their heart's content.

The Morphoria Mystery

Nobody knows when or how the house of Change arose exactly. Pnura is the citygod of house Morphoria, but when, why, or how Pnura came to be is unknown. The exact date of when or the exact reason why Morphoria were founded differs depending on who you ask, with the only concrete agreement between historians being that Morphoria definitely did not exist in Nodd's beginning - it seemingly just happened to be there one day. Asking a Morphorian for the house's history is similarly unhelpful - they barely agree on what happened a few moments ago, let alone at the house's founding.

Present Day

Not long ago, the Council revealed there was a defect within the Conduit, leading to a gloam deficit. Citizens have had trouble with generating gloam, and chaotic acts are not giving the payout they once did. Fewer citizens are being resurrected, and a pervasive sense of unease lingers within the City.

Around this time, there were also the first signs of an unusual phenomenon - the appearance of unusual creatures unlike anything in Nodd appearing before the gates of the City, as if drawn from another world. The Council created the Court of Induction to examine and catalogue these creatures for their own ends, which soon became known as outsiders among Noddish citizenry.