The Chronicles Of Erinoth

Tales from a Dying World

Erinoth, once a paradise amongst the stars, now a fading world long beset by strife. Teetering on the brink of death, insidious threats emerge from the shadows to fight over the spoils of the ailing land. Its peoples find themselves beset from all sides by horror and darkness, and every passing day hope grows dimmer.

Spiteful gods scheme and manipulate, the dead rise from forgotten necropolis, and ancient cults resurface to undermine order. All the while, petty rivalries and ancient feuds distract the unprepared defenders of civilianisation from what is to come.

Take up arms and pick your side; Will you champion the light? Or perhaps pledge fealty to ancient Kings rising from the slumber of death? Some lost souls may even swear themselves to the nihilistic and hateful service of the Old Gods, who’s goal has ever been total dominance.  No matter what you choose, you will be launched into the chaotic final age of the forsaken paradise…

The Factions

The Knights of the Ebon Star

Grim of temperament, and implacable of will, the Knights of the Ebon Star have been Erinoth’s staunchest protectors for over a thousand years.

Armed with an esoteric and eclectic selection of unique arms and armour, they are the battered first line of defence against the eldritch and the malign. Operating free from the constraints of politics or race, beholden only to ancient treaties and sacred vows, they have long served the people of the world with little thanks. In fact, their duty is one of such import, and often necessary brutality, that they have long since garnered a grim reputation; feared and shunned by most. 

The creation of the order has its origins during the gruelling war between the God King Aelmir and the last of the Old Gods, Atro’esh, the Queen of Blood. The Queen was on the eve of victory, her hordes poised to finally drive the usurper King from her lands, but Aelmir could never conscience the evil he faced being allowed to reign freely, so sort new means to combat the terror of the Old Gods.

It was through a combination of ancient lore and proscribed knowledge that the first knights were taught the arcane and mysterious ways that they needed to combat the Old Gods, and were inducted into what would become the Ebon Star. They lead Aelmir’s armies in a counter offensive that would eventually turn the tide and see the Queen of Blood slain by the God King himself; the threat of the Old Gods driven off… for the time being.

But the first Grand Masters did not rest, they knew as well as their King that the Old Gods would ever pose a threat to Erinoth. Instead, they took the opportunity presented by what they perceived to merely be a ‘brief reprieve’ to build up the Order as a bastion against the returning dark.

Ancient order sworn to combat the darkness

The Awakened Kingdoms

The first Lords of Erinoth rise again.

In the oldest days of Erinoth's history, the Erinarii, ancient descendants of the ethereal Celestarii, sought a solution to one of the great universal problems. Mortality. Once cosmic beings of light, their new found fragility could no longer be born, and through arcane arts now long lost, they discovered a method to avoid death. They mastered not only the capture and transference of ones living essence, but the perfect shaping of new bodies to house them. Finally, the once immortal beings of light, now bound to terrestrial, fragile bodies of flesh, could once again experience the surety and power of near endless life. As the practice flourished across the length and breadth of the great Erinarii empire, vast complexes dedicated to the practice arose. Becoming like secondary cities beneath the earth, these colossal mortuary complexes housed many millions of forms ready to awaken when their designated inhabitant reached the end of their previous life. The cults grew powerful, and the people complacent and hubristic in their new found impunity to the rigours of mortal life. 

When the World Tree was torn asunder and the Great City fell at the culmination of the Second War, so too did the Erinarii’s gilded and indulgent way of life. The rituals and powers supplying the mortuary complexes were severed and the facilities fell dormant, with many of the vaults lost to cave ins or to the turmoil that followed the cataclysmic finale of the conflict.

Whilst most who were expecting their death to be merely temporary found themselves instead wandering the endless forest of the underworld, some poor souls were unfortunate enough to be sealed within the arcane internal systems of the vaults, trapped for millennia in a half life of insanity. Others were less fortunate still, partially resurrected and preserved for the ages since in their stasis fields, awaiting the final rites to free them from their waking nightmare. The desire of their promised resurrection being the one thing that binds them all together in their oblivion.

That time is now. Through means unknown even to most of the Awakened, many of the great vaults have started to reactivate, their stewards and warden constructs awakening and tending to those who long since had abandoned, either through madness or memory, all hope of return to life. They arise to find a world much changed, and in their eyes little for the better, with unseen powers slowly working to unite them together in common purpose.

Reclaiming Erinoth.

Cults of the Devoted

Insidious devotees to the Old Gods

“They have existed since the first of all things existed. Since the moment the cosmos was born, They were there, in the shadows, in the dark places, waiting, planning, and They shall be there at the ultimate end of all things, an end They shall conceive of and bring about! For it is their indomitable will that nothing but They shall have power” - unnamed prisoner interrogated by the Ebon Star c.1623

Whilst there are innumerable lesser beings amongst their numbers, Erinoth’s history has been dominated by the machinations of a trio of Old Gods of enormous power; The Three.

The Triple Headed Queen, The Three Sisters, The Dark Maidens, The Eternal Empress… These names, and a multitude more, chart their bloody and terrible course through history, each with innumerable cults and devotees following in their wake across the known world.

Of the three, Adrassos - more often referred to as She who Devours or the Pale Maiden - is the most infamous, for it were she that tore asunder the World Tree and ended the golden age of Erinoth. Though destroyed at the close of the Second War, her cults are still beyond counting and are as varied in their devotions as they are wide spread. Corruption spreads from the highest reaches of society to its very depths, each member’s specific vices, desires and resentments twisted and manipulated by the cult’s preachers and demagogues.

Such is the state of decline in Erinoth’s twilight days that some even brazenly operate in the open, preaching salvation and deliverance in the face of the ‘false gods and idols’ that have failed the dying world, spreading their corrupting doctrine far and wide - each organisation having spawned a dozen more before they can be shut down.

By contrast, the cults of Atro’esh; the Queen of Blood, the Black Hound, She who Rots the World, operate far more subtly, more insidiously. Insinuating themselves within the votive and ritual practices of the rural folk of her one time domain. They manipulate the rich folk lore and tradition of the region to sway their members unknowingly towards damnation and service to the Old Gods.

That is not to say that there are not a great number of members who’s devotion and worship is of The Queen of Blood, for many of the old families of Valindor turned from their Queen begrudgingly and kept alive their faith in secret, but they live too close to the vast citadel of the Ebon star. To stray openly from the path would be to invite certain death, and worse in the eyes of the devoted, it would hinder their God’s dark destiny.

Those who serve the final of The Three are as mysterious and enigmatic as their patron, for throughout Erinoth’s long history there is virtually no mention of her. She was absent from the wars against the Celestials, only known through ancient ruins and the ravings of mad prisoners who under interrogation simply call her, She who Darkens the Sky. Why she remains hidden, even now, as the world teeters on the brink, is a mystery; the answer to which can hardly bode well.

Peoples of Erinoth

  • Erinarii

    Descendants of the Celestarii who came to Erinoth millennia ago, the Erinarii have persevered through the innumerable hardships their adopted world has presented them with.

    Though much changed by the trials of their time on Erinoth, and forever altered by their prior indulgence of the mortuary cults and their technology, they are still as wise, capricious and self assured as their original stella forebears were.

    Possessed of long lives and an affinity for the Living Light, they have crafted a powerful and proud civilisation, striving against its inevitable decline in the dying years.

  • Aelmarii

    During the decedant height, and subsequent collapse, of the first Erinarii empire there were those who repudiated the increasingly indulgent and technologically reliant society they found themselves in.

    The mortuary cults especially were point of tension between the increasingly fragmenting Erinarii, and despite their ending at the close of the war, those who had long opposed them found themselves feeling estranged from their former kin. This new subsect of society chose to follow the God King Aelmir in his self imposed exile and would eventually settle in Valindor in Erinoth’s North east, over time forming a unique culture and people of their own, though one still intrinsically linked to their southern cousins.

  • The Khal

    The Khal believe themselves to have been raised up from the beasts of the land by the Khalathas the Wanderer, one of the great gods of the cosmos who first shaped Erinoth’s abundant nature.

    To what extent this is true is impossible to ascertain, lost to the long aeons of the past, but what is certain is that the old Khal empire held great reverence for the living world and its natural order. They saw themselves as guardians and protectors, charged with keeping the balance of Erinoth. This perceived duty lead to tension between the newly arrived Erinarii and the fledgling empire.

    It was no petty quarrel or cheap conflict however, that spelled doom for their people. No, In fact the Khal would set aside their differences during the first war and fight against the Old Gods that had for so long terrorised their world. Instead it was this, and the subsequent rise of their empire, that would see them twisted, manipulated, and used as pawns by the Old Gods to wage war against the Erinarii civilisation.

    Now they are a bleak shadow of their former glory, awaiting a chance to regain their status.

  • Humanity

    When the Celestarii first descended to Erinoth, they found the nascent human race little more than feral clans, warring amongst each other in service to the Old Gods.

    Such was the disruption they caused, and so rapidly did they reproduce that it was initially decided to eradicate them upon the defeat of their gods. The plan was never enacted however, as vast numbers of the young race began to side with the Erinarii and wage war against their former masters, seeking to learn and grow and raise themselves up from the thrall class they had been before. In time, human fiefs would flourish during the golden age, and such is their adaptability and resilience, continue to thrive even after the calamitous second war.

    In the ages since, politicking, petty feuds and religious schisms have torn the race apart into a hundred different nations, all of whom now suffer under the darkening days.

  • The Fey

    More info coming soon

  • Beast folk

    More info comming soon

FAQs

  • Erinoth is the dark fantasy setting that forms the basis for the GreyHawk Miniatures product line and the setting of our flagship skirmish game ‘The Chronicles of Erinoth’.

    The world and its lore has been a labour of love for our team for a long time now, and is a rich and compelling world in which to paint, collect and play with miniatures.

  • Yes! but also… no. It’s not just a game. We have tried to create a rich world to serve as a backdrop for cool stories and cooler miniatures.

    Erinoth serves as a canvas for us to create ancient knightly orders, old god worshiping cults, necrotic hordes of the dead and so much more, and then to present these as miniatures for painters, collectors and gamers alike. But yes, it’s also a game!

  • That doesn’t matter! We’re aiming to make The Chronicles of Erinoth as enjoyable and easy to pick up as we can. Our goal is to ensure as many people as possible are able to get playing and telling exciting narratives and tense skirmishes.

    When the game goes on general release there will be quick start and beginners guides to help you play your first games. Or perhaps you might like to sign up for the beta and help us make it as user friendly as possible? Keep an eye on socials for info on how to join.

  • Simply put, it’s still in development.

    Making a good game takes time, but we’re aiming for a spring summer 2024 general release! In the meantime, we will be building up the range of miniatures and our community alongside it.

    As of autumn 2023, the game is in the alpha testing phase but we will shortly be rolling out beta play testing along with a whole raft of new models. If you’d like to know more about the beta, contact us via email or the website contact form!

  • At launch we intend to have three playable factions, who are outlined further up this page, The Ebon Star, The Awakened and the Devoted. But they are by no means the end, we have many more factions and sub factions planned over time.

  • Yes.

    Okay, its both, we don’t see why you cant roll together the best of both worlds and create something awesome. We’re not the first to do it, and we wont be the last, because both sci-fi and fantasy setting have so much to offer. robots and airships, magic and occultism, shoot outs and sword fights, undead and demons, we have it all!

  • It’s whatever you want it to be.

    Here at GreyHawk, we really love gaming, the narrative of it, the competition, but mostly just the fun. Whether or not you want to have something to play with your friends on a rainy Sunday, want to run an epic engaging campaign that spans dozens of games, or organise a local league to see who’s top of the pile, then there is hopefully something for you!

    That being said, at launch the game has been developed with a view towards a narrative semi casual skirmish system, so whilst we more than welcome the most hardcore of tournament players, you might have to be more patient with us (or join the team and help the development!)

  • For the time being the easiest way to learn more about Erinoth and the characters is across our various social media platforms, our Patreon, and this website!

    As the game develops we shall be cramming the main rulebook and all of the supplements we release with detailed lore and artwork to help grow Erinoth and push its narrative forward.