Demon Cannon and Ole' Faithful

Imagine two cannons, one built in the abyssal reaches of the realm of Orcus and the other a mortal crafted cannon.  Both were the largest cannons of the time.  The hordes of the Black Tide sought to prove there superiority not just in war but in engineering and valor.  The Black Tide was led by unusual and vain figures, some sought power over domination, and some fought for the glory of personal valor.   This came to fore in an epic battle called the Occupation of Milithian.

The Black Tide sought to prove that their cannon was better than Milithian's great cannon.  The Black Tide moved the Squealer of the Abyss into position to counter-battery fire the defenders mighty cannon called Ole' Faithful.  The two cannons fired upon each other for hours and saw their crews replaced multiple times.  The cannons themselves, were barely damaged from each others counter-battery fire.

When Milithian's sea wall was breached, the garrison ordered the sinking of the barge holding Ole' Faithful.  The cannon crew continued to fire Ole' Faithful as she sunk into the depths.  The defenders held the city and later raised Ole' Faithful.  Today, it is a monument to the heroes that died while manning it and those that perished in the defense of the city.

Godless Heathens and Gods In the Making

Bal-Kriav has been the place where some of the realm's deities have got their start.  Deities of the Bal-Kriav realm get their power from their worshipper base.  They may be powerful in one realm - such as Toril, whereas on Bal-Kriav they may be weak or non-existant.  The Balance oversees the entrance of gods to the realm.   Their goal is to keep a balance in the pantheon.   If one deity gets too strong, they open a way for another god to enter the realm or promote some hero to divine status.

Enough of the Balance, lets get to the gods that came to power in the realm of Bal-Kriav

• Lokestant, her goal is to bring an end to the  Karnegmoth Cataclysm
• Gaia, once the leading Nature Protectorate, she ascended from a mere mortal to a major god
• Shadow Lords, all of these were evil mortals - the Balance ascended Thasmudyan, the others became gods through some as yet unknown primordial(s)
• Jurmalon, never had much time to play god before he was captured and imprisoned in Set's Chariot 
• Scien-Ig, a gnome hero that was ascended by The Balance, he fills a role for new mantles that are technologically focused
• Tempestant, was admitted to the realm to counter the influence of Poseidon

Potential candidate for ascent - Raxcvillibus, this legendary figure killed the demi-god Coeus, he will probably have to take down another and claim there domains before The Balance will make him a god.

Some heroes of the realm never make the god roster, but go on to serve in other capacities.  The paladin Galrag ascended, becoming a Solar, and serves Athena.

Whitefang

I've put together some back history for the dragon-descended.  I like a good origin for races and I think this one is workable.  It all started with Whitefang.  

Apex Predators - Dragons?

 Back in 1st edition dragons were pretty darn weak.   A max strength red dragon had at most 88hps.  This beast would go down in a fight pretty fast against a 14th lvl party, so I tripled there hit points and made them formidable foes like they should be.  I once gave a dragon claws that were equivalent to swords of sharpness.  It was a limb reducing experience for that party.  This dragon was a gold dragon.  The party thought, oh look a friendly dragon, lets go parley with him.   After some conversation, the dragon attacked and someone queried, hey your a gold dragon, and it said "Yes, I'm a gold dragon that was raised by reds."   

I have a few historical dragons and one of the present that are legendary.  They came out with legendary status is one of the Epic books or some other tome I read at Borders.   These dragons and other creatures of legendary status were akin to the tarrasque.

• Tauth'ghourn - this was a blue dragon, when it died, one of the thirteen swamps of Meldar were named after him.  This dragon is signficant since it acted as a buffer between the dragonborn and the tiefling.  When he died, war erupted between those peoples and would continue on and off till both of empires crumbled
•  Apocalypse - this dragon helped build Iglutt, or at least his slave army did
• Sebgult - the oldest and meanest dragon of this part of the world, when this dragon stirs, and it is very rare now, you can say goodbye to some city - still need some fill-in material for that dragon, you got some mayham that you think he caused - then write it up and make it Bal-Kriav canon
• Amaglothorn - this white dragon created Ice Tear, and with it nearly destroyed two empires, whites have been known as the most chaotic and reckless of the chromatic dragons, the recklessness usually gets them killed
• Bothorthesh - was a red dragon.  Dragons don't always hole up in some ruined keep or cave, some build empires.  Dragons forming empires has largely happened in the Aerie of Dragons.  Thashangriel was founded by Bothorthesh.
• Hellbleaker - was a red dragon that founded Goth-Dyvermoir 
• Khiruphandân - was a green dragon that founded Maratazîr  
• the list goes on - check them out under Other Heroes (basically an area for Heroes with a lack of material for a full page)

Lot of URLs - Dont miss this one:

The big picture - all on one page, the mapped regions of Brucumus