History of Zivaria

First, there were the Primal Ages. These were the ages of creation. Zivaria, the Creator Goddess created the universe, and with it, gods, and land, and many creatures. In this age, the gods walked the land alongside giants and all other creatures. Mortals also began to walk the land, forming tiny tribes as they could not yet comprehend the world around them.   The Second Age was called the Age of Bones. Mortalkith quickly expanded, and neither the gods nor the giants expected them to grow and reproduce so quickly. Mortals soon developed a desire to possess, and began staking claim on what was previously peacefully shared land, beginning a conquest that would last an era. The giants were soon overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of mortals, and fell to their hordes. Seeing this, the gods fled back to the Celestine, only a few remaining to fight alongside the diminishing giants as they defended against the massive numbers of mortals. The mortals, having gained power and magic taken from the bones of the slain giants and gods, quickly ran out of things to fight - as all of the giants were eradicated, and the gods had fled - and so, naturally, they turned on each other. Before too long, all of Zivaria was painted in blood.   The Third Age was referred to as the Age of Ashes as a wave of volcanic activity burned across the land, reshaping the terrain of Zivaria. Some say this was the work of Utdall, God of the Earth and Below, in an effort to cleanse the continent from the war and death in the previous age. Volcanic fissures, eruptions and ash swept across the continent. The tribes of mortalkith that survived the war had yet another challenge to overcome, and only a few made it through this era alive.   The Fourth Age was known as the Frozen Age. Once, Zivaria burned. Now, Zivaria freezes as an ice age takes hold of the continent. The few mortalkith tribes who survived either took refuge in subterranean caves or became tundra-walkers.   The Fifth Age, the Age of Harmony, showed promise to the relationship between mortalkith and the gods. When the ice thawed, the mortals emerged to newly reshaped lands, and decided to petition the gods of their ancestors for peace and prosperity. The gods, having seen the mortal tribes' perseverance through devastation multiple times heard their pleas for peace, and agreed they had served penance enough. Thus began a tenuous relationship between the gods and mortalkith. Tribes began to settle towns, and mortalkith grew once again, this time in harmony with the gods and the land.   The Sixth Age, the current age, is the Age of Endeavor. With only a few skirmishes between territories, towns became cities, trade routes are solidified, and mortalkith began to truly flourish. In such a time of peace, mortals are able to pursue intellectual and spiritual pursuits. Diplomacy and commerce are the foundations to peace, and technologies are researched and developed as mortals are once more able to fully re-explore the land.