Alrighty folks, some of the information I still have to transfer from brain to print, but it should only take a few days. Here's a sample an overview I'm working on for the timeline. There will be more detail, however this is something meant to give someone a good idea without having to read through every last scrap of information.
In order for people to better understand how the world of Elderash works, one must know how it came to be in the first place. For that, we must look back through history and the events that shaped the world of today. One of the most important aspects of history within Elderash is the establishment of ages. Historians have broken down the near 30,000 years of events into the First Age, Second Age, and the current age, Third. Therefore the year dates for everything end with FA, SA, or TA. Listed below are all of the major events in the history of the world as best as historians can recount.
First Age
Beyond 13,000 FA- Anything beyond 13,000 FA is considered the time of myth and legend before recorded history. This was also the time when the gods created the Tenugaia, the original and sole race to inhabit Elderash. It was during this time that the Tenugaia were a young people and much of their early history was lost even to them.
Much of the first age and the history of the Tenugaia are both myth and specualation, however the impact they had on the world of Elderash and beyond is unmistakable. Created by the gods to represent the whole of what life was meant to be they were vested with a vast intellect, near perfect bodies and according to some a lifespan that could have lasted for over a thousand years. Above all they were given freedom of choice and allowed to choose their own destiny within the world. It is often said that in the beginning they were perfect in thought, form and motion... sadly that is not what history remembers them as. Some time 13,000 FA a gateway from another world opened within Elderash pouring forth a collection of races. Elves, dwarves, gnomes, goblins, trolls, orcs and dozens more.
The true origin of these races whom called themselves the Fey has since faded from memory, however their reason for coming to Elderash is not. It is said that the world from which they came, their original home, was being overrun by a species known as humans. For centuries the races of the Fey tried to live in peace with them only to eventually be pushed back through either acts of aggression, or simply being driven off by sheer weight of number. Eventually they tried to hide in forest, mountains, streams and wherever else they could but in the end even that proved futile. Thus the Fey, good and evil alike, set aside their differences. Their rulers came together using their most powerful magics to open a gateway to another world. The magics however were... imperfect at best. Because they had never attempted something like this before they had no way of choosing their destination, nor the strength to do so again and once they stepped through there was no going back. Had the fey known what they were to step into they may well have remained part of their original home.
Upon stepping through the gateway they witnessed a war unlike anything they could have imagined possible. The Tenugaia in their arrogance thought themselves the equal of their gods and had sought to replace them, worse still, they were winning. When they races of the Fey learned that the Tenugaia turned against their gods for no other reason than to replace them and usurp their power, the gods found unexpected allies. Though for all their determination they were nearly wiped out within the first years.
"We marched in lockstep, shoulder to shoulder, sword in our right hand, shield in the left. We sought to lay siege to the Tenugaia city of Noroc. We were ten-thousand strong, yet little did we know... we would never even raise a single blade against them. At first we saw what looked like a small silver dots on the horizon. Strange things of metal that flew through the air, things not even our seers understood. Then I heard it a sound that will haunt me to my dying day. It began as a tiny whistle until it grew to that of a deafening shriek as the metal monsters drew near. They shrieked and then to the flash of brightly colored lights the ground exploded. Fire flew up all around me and how I survived I still don't know. The only thing I really remember... they shrieked and we screamed..." ~ Passage from the journal of Daimarc Steelfist, Dwarven Warrior
In the times since their creation the technology of the Tenugaia had advanced to the point their capitol city of Gargathia sat upon an island that floated high in the sky, moving a their whim. It was unlike anything the Fey had ever seen and had the gods not quickly vested them with the knowledge of how to defend themselves it is likely none of them would have survived. In time it became a battle of ancient magic vs technology beyond the imagination. Suits of powered armor, ships that soared through the air and weapons that fired deadly beams of energy against that of the oldest of magics, beings infused with energy so strong they seemed to convulse with power and arcane rights the likes of which haven't been seen since. It was a war that shook the world to its very foundation. In the end the Tenugaia, too powerful to destroy, were sealed away in a void between worlds by the very gods who created them.
"As I watched, those Tenugaia monsters were driven from the world by the very gods they sought to overthrow. Like the beasts they were they snarled and roared in protest until silence filled the land. We won... someone said... we won. As I looked around the only thing I saw were fields of bodies as far as the eye could see, cities that lay in ruin and a world torn asunder. Sure, I thought. We won..." ~ Daimarc Steelfist.
After the war the gods withdrew to the heavens allowing the races of the Fey to live in Elderash in return for their aid in the war against the Tenugaia, yet even they did not remain unscathed. Twenty-one in number were the gods when they descended from the heavens to put an end to the evil of the Tenugaia, and it was sixteen that returned. Among the dead was the god Haerodaca, father of Raezor and god among the gods. It is said by many that when his son assumed the mantle of his father as head of the pantheon that he withdrew from the world, angry and bitter over the death of his father. Whatever the case may be in modern times there are no temples dedicated to Raezor and it is said he cares not if he is worshiped by the mortal world.
The mortal world was known to have fared even worse. No race walked away suffering a loss of less than 40% of their population. Others races such as the Gizka, Senok, Sathian and Dokcren were either wiped out entirely or they were devastated to the point it was only a matter of time before they faded from the world. This was a fate that almost befell the trolls as well. Because of their immense physical prowess and ability to regenerate numerous forms of injury they served as front line shock troops in the war. In the beginning they numbered over 30,000, afterward it was said a mere 1,000 survived.
Though races such as the elves and dwarves were known to be mortal enemies with the likes of orcs, trolls, ogres and goblins, after what history came to call 'The Banishing War' no one was eager to take up old prejudices. Instead, for the first and only time, all of the races sat down and divided the world up without warfare or bloodshed. After this they all walked away to live their lives and try to bandage their wounds, both physical and mental.
The Age of Decline (C. 13,000 FA – 10,000 FA)
The age of decline records a time when the races of the world held in their grasp the technology left behind by the Tenugaia and their attempt to hold on to it. At first many of the races enjoyed the use of immense amounts of technology and some claim they were even able to use some of their airships to travel to the two moons in orbit of Elderash. While it is known they retained much of the technology, the moon travel is still debated to this day. The problem that all faced however is that they knew how to operate the technology, not how to maintain or repair it once it began to fail. Over the course of he next 3,000 years the secrets of technology slowly began to slip away until they were nothing more than rumors and the occasional gadget that showed up from time to time.
By the time the age of decline came to a close the world of Elderash returned to a point in time much like that of what it once was before their arrival, until...
Yes the until is just a nasty little cliffhanger I threw in there.
