History

Historical eras 

Civilizations have passed through multiple eras through the ages. Most notable are the era of dawn, era of building, era of conflict, era of strife and era of enlightenment.

In the era of dawn, civilization was formed and cemented. People that earlier had been roaming groups became settled tribes which led to a large growth in populations and laid the foundation for cities to come. Agriculture and animal husbandry marked the grand events of this era.

During the era of building, these civilizations grew and advanced. Tribes became kingdoms, democratizes and republics which would claim new land to grow and building cities which made them richer. All this enabled concepts like schools of thought and aesthetics to grow as people became more comfortable and able to spend resources beyond mere survival. Discoveries such as metallurgy and writing are attributed to this era, as well as the founding of the ancient empires.

With time though, expansion will create conflict as scarcity of unclaimed land become grounds for fighting. This led to the era of conflict where each civilization had to prove their strength and resilience. It was to be a long and dark era in which many civilizations would fall, big and small alike. It was however also the stuff of legends and many grand stories still told into modernity originated from this age. The event that would truly define this era was to be the war of sages. Among the oldest of the ancient kingdoms and empires the use of the mystic where a part of everyday life, some even only allowed those of the ruling elite to practice while in others the rulers employed sages as closest advisors. Someone that was called a sage possessed mystical powers or knowledge that allowed them to accomplish feats of incredible nature. Those that used these powers for good were revered and respected, but those that would use them for their own gain or for nefarious purposes would be feared and called warlocks. As those possessing knowledge and mystical ability often were in some position of power, their influence was almost limitless but at the same time they were always under much scrutiny leading simple accusations to become items of inquisition, ruled by the church of the light bearer. When a group of sages decided that it was only through their leadership that civilization could prosper, it caused a ripple through the world as rulers, nobles and common people alike became fearful of what those possessing mystical power would do to them, although for different reasons. Among rulers and nobles, the fear was to lose their power, influence and holdings to the sages while the fear among common folk was based in superstition and exaggeration whipped up by nobles and church alike. Throughout the known world, sages began to take control and depose the rulers of kingdoms and empires alike, and formed a new great empire. A great war was waged against these sages, now called the council of warlocks, by an alliance comprised of nobles and the church. The superior power cast by the sages and an army of enhanced men and beasts stood against the combined forces of mortal men led by former rulers, nobles and cardinals of the church. In the end, the sages could not stand against the amassed armies of the nobles and church.

In the aftermath of the war, in what would be known as the era of strife, a great purge of any professed sage was done, manifested as a grand inquisition that swept over the land. Any accusation of mystical practice was taken by its word. At best a trail was set up but only to remove any doubts of innocence. Most of those that were accused were never heard and instead killed as a preemptive action, having the newly ended war fresh in memory. It only took a handful of years for anyone with powers or knowledge of the mystical to disappear all together, only occasionally appearing in rumors or stories. During this time and long after, wars came and went as the once united force that overthrew the council of warlocks became divided and fought to reclaim their old thrones, while ambitious nobles tried to either overthrow the old regents or create a new kingdom for themselves. A tumultuous time of war would linger for generations, alongside continuous persecution of anyone accused of witchcraft. The only real winner in this era was the church whose influence and power grew nearly without limit. This era would finally come to a close when a decree from the church called for peace of faith, convincing any ruler that followed the teachings of the church to stop warring with both brother and neighbor of the faith or face excommunication. Slowly peace did finally settle and with along with it people looked to the ways of the old, ushering in a renaissance that would lead into the age of enlightenment that would lay the foundations for science to grow and as the era of enlightenment would come to be, it was science and exploration of the world that would be its main defining features. 

The Grey Wanderers

The world is far older than any living man might imagine. While the learned of the empires see the world as just a rock floating through the nothingness of space, and the priests of the faith claim it to be just a part of a much grander divine, there are some that make the claim that the world is a reflection of another world just beyond human senses. This is however laughed at by those that study celestial bodies or theorize about the divine properties of the universe. Outside the halls of the universities and colleges, there are those that tell stories of myths and legends they claim hold the true history of the world. One such legend, being part of a manuscript, supposedly found its way to the hands of an explorer named J. Hartman, the same man that brought trinitum to the empires. In a series of letters to a friend he wrote about this legend, expressing it as the true piece of the puzzle to the real origin of mankind.

According to the manuscript, long before recorded history there was a civilization dedicated to spiritual pursuit. They built great temples and complexes in order to better focus and channel their intentions and will of higher being. What they discovered was that the world was but one of many, all connected to each other through an empty plane of existence, a world between worlds just beyond a thin veil of reality. This world they called the grey world, devoid of any features until intention was directed at it, reacting to the thoughts and emotions of the observer, making it change in an instant into whatever, willful or not. With time methods to traverse this world were learned by honing one's will to shape the grey as one desired. Soon the most skilled began to enter the grey, forming and shaping it as they saw fit, making it their own dominion.

These became known as Grey Wanderers and they built a new world for themselves within the grey. But even though they had mastered the skill to walk in the grey, it was still a treacherous world and many became lost as the world around them could change in an instant because of a single fleeting thought or emotion. The wanderers remedied this by creating beacons; anchors that would solidify the world around them to one form only and thus making it safe for anyone that traveled the grey.

With time, great cities were built and inhabited by more and more people. The grey world became the new home of the ones that once had strived for spiritual perfection, it was their true paradise. Though not being satisfied with the endless potential found in the grey, there were those that wanted to see what other worlds existed beyond the veil and a time of new exploration began where new worlds were connected to the cities of the wanderers. Soon other species joined in the grey where the wanderers shared their teachings. Together they built one great city around the greatest beacon that anchored all worlds. Man had become gods of their own making, seeing themselves as the brightest of all creations.

This golden age would end when the wanderers came upon a world of pure dark intention. Never before had they encountered something as cruel and wretched as the creatures that existed there. These creatures only existed as shadows, lacking a corporeal body. They could however latch themselves onto those that had one and like a parasite they fed on the emotions of man. The parasite would slowly corrupt its host with never-ending whispering of wants and ambitions, feeding on the emotions and draining the mind. The corruption quickly spread among those in the grey. As the host fell deeper, more and more signs appeared, like black veins under the skin, hysteria and emotional unbalanced all while becoming more and more malevolent before the mind of the host disappeared for good, leaving only a grim reflection of the persona behind as the shadow took full control of the body.

It did not take long for the shadows to spread throughout the cities, feasting on its denizens while wreaking havoc. The uncorrupted wanderers did combat them, driving them away with pure light. The tide of corruption however proved to be overwhelming as one city after another began to fall to darkness. The wanderers made a final effort to save that which they had created using a great beacon to create a light so powerful that it might drive away all shadows once and for all. But the strength of will to create such a light instead drew all shadows towards it, where they feasted on the pure energy so powerful that it drove the shadows mad and in their frenzy the beacon was razed, destroying the anchor. Reacting to the chaos the world started shifting uncontrollably, changing the very foundation of order and balance between the worlds, making the world that the wanderers had created collapse and with it pulling at all connected worlds, making them collide and from that a new world was created in the grey that forced itself outside to become a new reality separated from the grey, which had become a place of darkness and shadow, a dark reflection of the new reality.

The letters never disclosed any details on where the manuscript with the story had come from. It was not long after writing these letters that Hartman supposedly made his discovery of trinitum, after which the subject of the manuscript never was raised again.