The sea stirred, and life awakened with the Cambrian Explosion. From its depths, the first creatures emerged, arthropods with chitinous shells and early chordates, ancestors of all who would walk upon the land. Over forty million years, the Cambrians gave rise to the fish, the rulers of the deep. One hundred and twenty-five million years passed before some among them sought the shore, becoming amphibians. Fifty million years later, reptiles and early mammals arose. And at last, after two hundred and forty-five million years, the primates came forth, and from them, the Race of Men.
With the journey of life complete, The Start of the Aeltharen Era (1 A.E.) was marked, the dawning of The Golden Age. Unlike their rooted kin, the lush flora, the beasts were free to roam, shaping their own destinies. The realm of animals stretched infinite: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, arthropods, invertebrates, and fishes, each bestowed with sentience and purpose. They built homes and nurtured kin, though many embraced the path of the wanderer. Whether soaring through the heavens, swimming in the depths, or treading the land, all bore the mark of thought, feeling, and will, thriving in harmony and echoing the ancient songs beneath the stars.
Yet greater still was the gift of magic, for the beasts too were bound to the Seven Sources, each shaped by their nature and domain. Most followed the path of their kind, yet among them were deviants, whose souls strayed from the affinity of their kin. Yet neither fate nor realm forsook them, for all were cherished, none cast aside. Each bore a spark of wonder, a fragment of the world’s ancient song. Time passed, and the beasts grew accustomed to their homes, content in family and purpose. They sought neither dominion nor conquest, only knowledge and strength. Yet the law of nature endured, and the predators still pursued their prey, while the wary herbivores tread cautiously, ever watchful beneath the endless sky and shifting moonlight.
Yet the Race of Men, whom the world calls humans, differ from all other beasts of the Earth. Their hearts burn with a longing beyond kinship and home, for they are not content with the world they inherit. No, they seek the unknown, hungering for wisdom beyond measure, striving to shape wonders that defy the bounds of thought and time. This yearning is kindled in childhood, when dreams take flight both waking and sleeping, visions of realms yet to be. In their hearts, they long to forge the impossible into reality, whatever the cost. To dream is their nature, and in forging those dreams, they carve their legacy upon the world. Thus do men tread the path of toil, for their days are fleeting, and time once lost can never be regained.
In two centuries, men began to raise settlements and forge the first seeds of civilization upon the land of Aeltharia. From their hands arose art and culture, each soul free to shape its own dreams. Yet such works bore a cost, for the forests fell beneath their axes, the beasts were driven from their homes, and the creatures of the wild were hunted without restraint, their flesh, pelts, and bones claimed as spoils. Thus did men shape the world and rouse its ire, awakening ancient powers long slumbering beneath the earth.
Aeltharia, the living world, beheld their deeds, and in its wrath, it stirred. Some among the beasts, the hunters of the wild, shared in this anger, slowly turning their fangs against mankind, while others sought words over war, striving to teach men restraint. Some heeded these voices, turning to both remorse and redemption, but many did not. And so, from the womb of the Earth, demons arose, dark deceivers and destroyers, wrought in fury, whose purpose was to subdue the dominion of men and erase all they had built.
In 313 A.E., the demons arose in the North, their numbers swelling by the hundreds. With cunning and patience, they scouted the lands, seeking the dwellings of men. Then they fell upon them, razing cities and slaughtering all in their path until nothing remained, yet the earth they spared, leaving the world unmarred by their wrath. Many beasts such as bats, crows, rats, wolves, spiders, and others of predatory kin joined in their crusade. Yet they were not wholly wicked, for though their path was one of ruin, they sought not conquest but fierce vengeance, to shield the wild from the grasp of men.
Within a century, the dominion of men dwindled, their numbers cut to a third, their cities left in ruin. They became wanderers, driven from hearth and home, forced to seek refuge in the wilderness. Many among the gentle beasts, the deer, the hares, and the wise-hearted, offered them aid, guiding them through the lands in secret paths. Thus did men flee, hunted through the vast realm they once sought to claim, their survival now bound to the mercy of the wild and the kind kindness of those who still saw them as kin.
The Stars of the Heavens watched in sorrow, for men had become aimless wanderers, their dreams and passions fading as they beheld the ruin of their people and their home. Thus was The Heavenly Host divided, for mankind had shown both folly and greatness, crafting beauty and wonder as The Heavens themselves had once done. Some pondered, torn between mercy and indifference, while others held fast to their silence, for the affairs of mortals were fleeting, and all things whether sorrow or splendor would one day pass into the winds of time. Time in which the elves have abundance.
Yet the immortal elves, wise beyond measure, stood unmoved, for the dark demons of Aeltharia laid waste only to men, sparing the wilds and the noble creatures of the earth. To them, the fall of one race bore no weight upon the world’s greater balance. But there was one among them who would not ever remain still. Her name was Samael, fairest and most mighty of the elves. Alone she defied the will of her kin, and in time, she would be known as Aurelyn, the Dawnstar, the first to rebel against the silence of the Heavens.
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Samael, filled with purpose and resolve, rose before her people, her voice ringing like a clarion call as she spoke before the gathered host:
“Why, O my people? Why do we linger in the Heavens while the Race of Men is cast to ruin and despair? Why must the innocent suffer for the sins of those who came before? Should they not be given the chance to rebuild, to rise from the ashes and seek redemption? Should they not be allowed to make their dreams into reality? Tell me, each of you, how their plight is unlike our own, when we were driven from our homes by the Outer Deities of the void. Then, we had none but ourselves and our beloved Goddess, our mother, to guide us. Will we let men face this doom alone, or shall we descend and aid them, as once we were aided? Yes, there is weakness, and there is frailty, but I have seen with my own eyes, as many of you have, that there is also courage and honor in men. Come, my people. Let us go down, and let us fight for what is right, beneath ancient stars and skies watching.”
The elves were profoundly moved by Samael’s words. A third stood beside her, yet the rest, though stirred, remained steadfast in their oath to remain apart from the affairs of men. When Samael and her kin sought to depart, the others barred their path, and so was kindled in the War in the Heavens in 407 A.E.. Yet it was no war of steel and slaughter, but one of song and speech, of music and poetry, lasting a century as the elves wove their arguments in passion and beauty, beneath the watchful gaze of stars eternal.
As the war raged on, The Goddess of Creation at last intervened, her voice ringing across the Heavens, calling for peace and the dawning of new hope.
“Fair and wise are my children, as fair and wise are the works of thy hands. Long have I watched thee, and long have I cherished thee, from the days when we wandered the void, seeking a home beyond the darkness. In thee, I have seen great beauty, and in thy hearts, I have beheld both wisdom and sorrow. Thy song is filled with longing, thy voices rich with love and strife. And though my heart is glad for all thou hast become, I know that no mother may hold her children forever. Thou art torn, between the call of the world below and the vow to remain apart. Some would aid the Race of Men, and others would let them walk their path unaided. Yet hear me now, and let my will be known. I shall not command thee, nor shall I stay thy hands, for I have given thee freedom, and freedom thou shalt have. If thy hearts bid thee descend unto Aeltharia, to walk among men and stand beside them in times of peace and war, so be it. Go with my blessing, and dwell among them as kin. Yet take heed, for the fate of mortals is not the fate of elves. Their days are fleeting, and as the river runs to the sea, so too shall their lives pass beyond thy grasp. Those whom thou lovest shall wither, and those whom thou callest friend shall fade into dust, only to rise anew in forms unknown to thee, with dreams not thine own. If sorrow burdens thee, or weariness takes thy spirit, return unto the Heavens, and as a star thou shalt shine once more. Go now, my children, and seek thy joy. May thy path be bright, and may peace follow thee all thy days, now ever.”
With the Goddess’s blessing, Samael and her followers descended into Aeltharia, falling as stars upon the world, their radiant light touching the lands where men yet dwelt. This event, remembered ever after as The Divine Descent in 513 A.E., was witnessed by all mortals, who gazed in awe upon the heavens. It seemed as though the very stars had graced the world with their divinity, their celestial song echoing across the firmament. Yet in the shadows, the demons watched and trembled, for they were not yet strong enough to stand against the power that had come to Aeltharia.
The elves divided themselves and journeyed across the vast lands, seeking the scattered remnants of men, hidden in the wilds and forsaken places. They spoke, bidding them not to fear, for they had come to deliver them from despair, to raise them from hunted prey to builders of their own fate. Long had men suffered beneath the weight of their past transgressions, and long had they wandered in the wake of their ruin. Yet the Fallen Stars would not see them perish in darkness. They would rekindle the flame of hope, that men might dream, love, and create once more, shaping wonders yet unseen and forging a future unchained by past sorrow and lingering shadow.
For many years, Samael and her kin walked among men, guiding them in the craft of creation and wisdom, deepening their knowledge of both the world and the Heavens. They revealed to them that Aeltharia was no lifeless rock but a sentient realm, whose balance must be honored, lest it turn against them once more. And so, men learned the Seven Virtues, humility, patience, kindness, charity, chastity, diligence, and temperance, to temper their ambition with wisdom and grace. In time, under the elves’ tutelage, their magic flourished, and their souls awakened to greater heights. Men ascended, taking forms of divine power, each bound to the Seven Sources: Angels of the Light, Leviathans of the Deep, Titans of the Earth, Phoenixes of the Flame, Dragons of the Sky, Yōkai of the Storm, and Eldritch of the Night. And so dawned The Age of Ascension, when men no longer merely walked the earth but soared high and free among heavens.
