Velious

History

Veeshan the Wurm Queen was the first of the gods to discover the planet now known as Norrath. Legend states that she soars throughout the universe seeking planets to claim as her own. When Veeshan would discover such a planet, she would mark it by slashing the land with her claw. For Norrath, the soil scarred by the great crystalline dragon was the continent of Velious. Within the enormous canyons created by Veeshan's claw, she deposited her children; the dragons of the First Brood. It is from this handful of dragons that the entire dragon race of Norrath originates. The First Brood dragons were also the first life forms to roam the land and soar through the skies of Norrath. And they were the only ones to do so for a very long time. This period of history would become known as the Age of Scale.

During the Elder Age, other gods of the pantheon discovered Norrath and set forth in creating many other forms of life to inhabit the planet and balance Veeshan's power. While many gods and goddesses created countless new forms of life, none dared to disturb the frozen lands of Velious. As such, the Elves, Dwarves, Ogres, Giants, and other creatures of the world did not even know of the continent's existence. Over time, Rallos Zek's creations came to dominate the continent of Tunaria. The Rallosian Empire became bored with nothing left to conquer, and foolishly invaded the planes of the gods themselves. Although early expeditions were successful, the empire failed to conquer The Rathe in the Plane of Earth, even when backed by the might of Rallos Zek himself. As a punishment, all of Rallos Zek's creations (Ogres, Giants, Orcs, Goblins) were stricken with a curse that limited their strength and intelligence. The giants that lived in the northlands also had their region stricken with an unending storm of ice that crumbled their cities, killed their livestock and crops, and effectively ended their way of life. Those that escaped the famine attempted to also escape the curse laid upon the other Rallosian races by setting sail. This did not go unnoticed by Prexus, who then created a hurricane of massive proportions to destroy the fleet. For the few ships that survived, they crashed ashore either on the shores of the Desert of Ro or on the coast of Kunark. Xegony, the Queen of Air, caught one other small group of surviving ships and set forth a wind that carried them all the way to the lost continent of Velious; the harshest punishment of all.

The giants of Velious would somehow survive, and, having escaped the curse of the gods, kept their heightened intelligence and strength bestowed upon them by Rallos Zek. These storm giants and frost giants soon found themselves face to face with the oldest and most powerful creatures on the face of the planet, the dragons known as the Claws of Veeshan. They fortified themselves in a citadel devoted to The Warlord that they would call Kael Drakkal. The dragons sought to destroy the giants, for allowing lesser beings to roam Veeshan's continent was considered sacrilege. From Kael, the giants would battle the Claws of Veeshan for centuries. They were even able to slay one of the First Brood, Hsagra, wife of Lord Yelinak. As if that wouldn't create enough bad blood between the giants and dragons, King Tormax then used Hsagra's skull as his throne in Kael. But the dragons weren't the only enemy of the giants of Velious.

When Brell's Dwarves first surfaced during the Elder Age, their king dispatched ships to sail out from the coast of Butcherblock Mountains in search of new lands to mine riches. One such ship, captained by Colin Dain, set a course around the southern coast of Tunaria when they were met by a terrible storm that lasted for several days. When Prexus finally calmed down, Dain and his navigators had no clue where they were. The captain decided to simply choose a direction and sail until they hit land. As the days and nights passed, the air grew cold. So cold, in fact, that several Dwarves began to succumb to the freezing temperatures before they could starve to death. Eventually, they spotted land, but the icebergs tore apart the ship. Only about one hundred survived to make it to the beach. Dwarves are a hearty people though, and Colin Dain was a great leader. They quickly found shelter in the caves beneath the Eastern Wastes and it wasn't long before they discovered the valuable properties of velium. The very ice beneath the surface of Velious was malleable and stronger than steel.

Sculpted out of velium, the Dwarves established a home they called Froststone deep within the Crystal Caverns. Their peace and comfort did not last long though, for the frost giants soon caught wind of the newcomers to Velious. Colin Dain himself led a suicidal attack on the frost giants in order to buy his people enough time to escape back to Froststone. Led by Slagd Frozentoe, a force of 250 frost giants marched from Kael and into the caverns. While Dain Frostreaver II, son of Colin Dain, led most of his people through a hidden passage and westward to the Great Divide, a brave band of Dwarves led by Glight Snowchipper fooled the giants into a labyrinth of death. Inspired by Brell Serilis, Glight had devised a last resort defense system. Glight and his men sacrificed themselves with a final trap that dumped thirty thousand tons of snow and velium on the giants. For this heroic act, Crystal Caverns is often referred to as Glight's Fall by the Coldain Dwarves and the miners refer to themselves as Snowchippers. Led by Dain Frostreaver II, the Coldain established a new city, Thurgadin, hidden behind the frigid waterfalls of the Great Divide. The city was built with defense as a priority and it served the Dwarves well.

EverQuest

During the Age of Turmoil, a band of Gnomish pirates built a metal ship capable of breaking through ice. After discovering the lost continent of Velious, they quickly established a small camp on the shores of the Iceclad Ocean and then began running shuttles back and forth to a small dock in the Northern Desert of Ro. Norrath's greatest adventurers were quick to hop on board the clanking ship in an attempt to explore new lands. Every person coming to Velious during this period was welcomed by the Coldain. Tolerated may be a better word for it. But, these adventurers were immediately faced with a monumental decision. Which side of the war would they choose? The dragons, giants, and dwarves all had their pros and cons, but often times the decision had to be made for entire guilds rather than individuals. Many chose the easier route by befriending the dwarves, proving their worth to Dain Frostreaver IV, and entering battle with the Kromrif frost giants. Some sided with the Claws of Veeshan in their quest to rid the continent of the Kromzek storm giants, thus keeping an amiable relationship with the dwarves simultaneously. And an elite few chose to discard the hospitality of Thurgadin, side with King Tormax of Kael, and launch an assault on the ancient dragons.

Cities

• Icewell Keep
• Kael Drakkal
• Skyshrine
• Thurgadin

Outdoor Zones

• Cobalt Scar
• Eastern Wastes
• The Great Divide
• Iceclad Ocean
• Wakening Land
• Western Wastes

Dungeons

• Crystal Caverns
• Dragon Necropolis
• Siren's Grotto
• Sleeper's Tomb (Kerafyrm's Lair)
• Temple of Veeshan
• Tower of Frozen Shadow
• Velketor's Labyrinth

EverQuest II

At the beginning of the Age of Destiny, a great cataclysm resulted in the moon of Luclin being destroyed. Portions of the moon rained down upon Norrath, thus shattering the lands into unrecognizable smaller islands. The seismic shift left several continents lost, possibly forever. With several Coldain refugees living in what was left of Everfrost, many assumed Velious to be one of the lands completely destroyed. But, after the rediscovery of Faydwer and Kunark, the frozen continent of Velious was found as well. Details on how it was found and what has changed over the course of the previous few centuries is not yet known.