A Brief History of the Ancient Empire from the First to the Fourth Ages

Era beginning/end

A History of the Empire through 5495 AE

At the dawn of the First Age, the four greatest prophets of their faiths received many signs and portents of a coming catastrophe. They chose to meet at a predetermined time on the summit of the Undermountain. Those assembled included the Speaker of the Eon Worm, Basil of the Deep Root, Varyan the Starseer, and Grundle the First Hammer. Their meeting quickly devolved to bickering over difference in philosophies, but in that moment they each received a sign from their god, culminating in the very Sun itself growing dark. And they realized that none could survive alone in the face of the impending cataclysm. This came to be known as the Council of Passing Shadow.   As each of these prophets spread the portents of a coming doom and the message of unification to their people, gradually the leaders of each tribe or warrior-state came to see the light of reason, to set aside their differences and unite forces with each other, and with those of the greatest nation the world had ever seen, the human/elven superpower known as Nalizant. And so these disparate peoples formed the Empire, a bastion of hope for the continents of Nalizant and Rabarri. But that hope would not last.   First to take the throne was Grundle the First Hammer, leader of the dwarves, and it was agreed that each of the four main factions, elves, humans, dwarves, as well as the strange creatures known as wyrwood, would follow articles of succession that guaranteed a faction to hold the throne for no more than 100 years. However, it was a little over a century after the Empire’s founding that the prophesy of doom finally came to pass in the form of the Wyrmstar, a humongous orb of burning red iron that fell from the sky, obliterating the capital city and killing the human Emperor Nathis. Next in the line of succession was the elven high priest of the Deep Root, Mykalus, who quickly consolidated power, moving the seat of the Empire from the southern continent to the northern city of Lokar, and rallying the Empire’s forces to prepare for invasion. And he was wise to do so, for besides the destruction caused by its impact, the Wyrmstar was to bring even an even greater threat.   The dragons had long been the closest any mortal had seen to actual gods upon the face of their world. These majestic creatures had nurtured the shorter-lived races through their primalcy, even the elves, who in this age still had lifespans of over a thousand years. Though the dragons rarely meddled in the affairs of the mortal races, no one in those days could ever dream of the true horror that was to come. It spread like a sickness from the site of the Wyrmstar, corrupting the minds of the chromatic dragons and their dragonborn, turning them against not only their metallic kin, but churning within them a hatred for all the mortal races. The once peaceful chromatic dragons turned on the mortal races, unleashing their fury. The Dragon Wars had begun, and would rage across the known lands for almost a thousand years. In its wake it left untold death and destruction. It would result in the complete extinction of the dragonborn, and the self-imposed exile of the remaining metallic dragons, who wished to prevent such a catastrophe from ever occurring again, should they too fall to corruption. But where the mortal tribes would have fallen easily, one by one, to the might of the dragons, the combined forces of the Empire were able to finally triumph. It was the greatest of victories and in the most terrible war the world had ever known, and it left the people of the Empire with no doubt that their imperium was the ultimate force for good in the land.   Thus ended the First Age of the Empire. During the ongoing threat of the Dragon Wars, Emperor Mykalus, now ancient even by elven standards, had dared not follow the rules of rotating succession and turn the throne over another faith in the midst of such conflict. And so after a thousand year rule, few chose to question the decision when his son Kyanin took the reins of power from the aging Emperor. Thus began the Mykalian Dynasty, perpetuating another 3,000 years of elven rule. It was in the time of Kyanin’s daughter, the Empress Shelara, in the Second Age of the Empire, that the halfling who would come to be known as St. Killian the Blessed had a vision of the Gods’ Moot, the site of the original Council of Passing Shadow, and took his followers on a holy pilgrimage to the Undermountain. There he received a vision of a new, unifying religion and founded the First Church of the Celestial. Within only a few years it had become the official religion of the Empire, supplanting all pagan religions that had come before. And though many of the old ways died hard, today the Church has become a way of life for all the Empire’s citizens.   It was in the Second Age also that the wyrwood merchants who had, together with their spiritual leader, Varyan the Starseer, helped found the Empire, discovered that whatever ancient and mysterious magic that had been used to create them was fading, and that they were no longer able to reproduce their own kind. Though virtually immortal, the surviving wyrwood saw their power and influence in the Empire diminishing, especially as they were the only members of the four founding races who had never held the seat of power. And so the wyrwood merchants quickly pledged allegiance en masse to the new Church, and petitioned the Empress to recognize their leaders as a noble house. The canny Empress Shelara, knowing it behooved her to keep the wily wyrwood merchants on her side, granted the wyrwood noble houses the title of the Green Trust, making them the official bankers of the Empire. Little did she know the power she was truly bestowing upon them.   The Third Age of the Empire was once again one of war and bloodshed. The dwarven General Targo, longing for the glory days of the Bloodhammer Tribe before the advent of the Empire, declared himself the new First Hammer and lead a like-minded faction of dwarves in a bloody war of insurrection against the imperium. Eventually the rebels were driven to take refuge deep within the Undermountain, where it is believed they remain to this day, perhaps plotting their revenge.   And thus began the Fourth Age of the Empire. This is the year 5495 AE (Age of Empire). Five years ago, a dwarven explorer named Dolgrin the Seeker took an expedition to Rabarri to search for the Wyrmstar. Locating this mythical object of destruction, she brought her prize back to the capital of Lokar, presenting it before the elven emperor Arandolan. Little could she have suspected that the vile artifact held one more terrible secret; a plague. Within days the entire royal family and most of the population of Lokar were dead, their bleeding bodies shriveled and ravaged by the Red Wilting. The Mykalian Dynasty had come to an end, and the vacuum of power was filled by an unlikely source. The wyrwood discovered that they were naturally immune to the plague. The head of the Green Trust, Abroshtor, as the highest ranking living noble within the capital, quickly reinstated the rules of succession, declaring himself next in line and crowning himself the new Emperor. For the first time in the Empire’s history, a wyrwood now holds the seat of power. But it has been a Pyrrhic victory. The Red Wilting continues to spread like wildfire throughout imperial lands. The elves, despondent over the loss of their Emperor and fearful that the Red Wilting is a curse upon their race, have retreated to the great forest of Nikyonis. And in the territory of Nosirios, the imperially-appointed governor, Shokambe, has declared himself Sand King, and Nosirios a sovereign nation. He has expelled all imperial forces and citizens loyal to the Empire, including a regiment of Paladins of the Sun.   These are perilous times, and the future of the Empire remains uncertain…