Dark Ages

The world of Miranda had been forcibly reshaped by those who draw upon the power of the Empyrean Dragon who sleeps at its core. A large war had been fought over the entire planet and it left the civilizations of the Age of Legends in ruin. With the Black Gates now closed and the Great Machines silent, Miranda resumed her long slumber. The mortals who still lived on Miranda faced a a near endless cycle of fire, pestilence, war, famine.

Those races of the gods were left cut off from the beings that had created them. Many of them either left this world or simply entered a long sleep.

The elves retreated to the deep forests and wept for the punishment they foretold was now here. The mortals of this world would not listen and in their foolishness they nearly awoke the dragon of this world. The elves would ultimately pay the price as they would be forever changed. They would give up themselves in order to save the world.

The dwarves were made to pay for their sins as the Earthmother sent all but a tenth to work as slaves for the giants. The tenth that she kept near would be sheltered in Stoneheart Hold until the world was whole once more.

The world of Miranda had been damaged by the primal power of the outsiders. Lands that had been cracked now shattered into thousands fragments, the seas rushing in to fill the void. Large volcanic eruptions spewed black ash into the sky, threatening to blot out the sun and kill all life on the world. These ash clouds dropped black rain from them, killing crops and animals with equal abandon.

For over 10 million years life teetered on the brink of annihilation. Those mortals who managed to survive had changed over the years. Gone were the great cities, instead small communities sheltered in the shadow of volcanoes hoping to survive. The was a world of kill or be killed for those left behind. Most of the mortal races created by The Ancients went extinct before the sun once again shone upon the land and the seas no longer raged.

As the world once again settled down and the dragon Miranda returned to her long slumber, the mortals who survived began to built civilizations anew. Small villages became towns and towns became cities. Rising above all others were beings of immense power that were referred to only as The Masters. These Masters were each able to summon forth power only seen before in The Ancients or outsiders.

They did not use this power to help others survive, but instead to conquer and control. These Masters worked together and divided up the world among themselves. Each Master ruled with absolute power over their region of the world. Some of The Masters used the mortals within their region as little more than toys, while others forced them to labor on the construction of vast cities and monuments.

The only areas that remained free of The Master's control were the lands controlled by the godly races. Several of The Masters tried to control these areas, but they were always met with defeat. However, other mortals that tried to flee from the land of The Masters were similarly turned back. The godly races stood apart from The Masters and the terror they spread across the world.

For over a thousand years The Masters ruled over the land. They strode as gods among the other mortals - their power granting them near absolute control over the environment. These years of absolute rule brought about arrogance and eventually contempt even for each other. What began as amusement for The Masters eventually led to their downfall. The Masters would often raise large armies and force them to fight each other. Eventually The Masters used their armies to fight each other for control of resources.

Once the first Master conquered another and took their lands, a race was on to each Master to conquer their weaker neighbors and secure their own power. The terror of kill or be killed drove the Masters into a frenzy of blood and violence directed at each other instead other simply the weaker mortals among them.

One of The Masters, Gelin, proved to be smarter than all others. While his land was conquered by his neighbor its loss did not bother him. He discovered how to actually steal the power of another Master and add it to his own. While the rest of The Masters fought each other, Gelin would stay in the shadows and watch. When one Master was finally driven off their land he would capture them and drain their power into his own.

Only taking the power from the defeated Masters masked his actions from the other Masters. When they finally realized what was happening it was far too late. Gelin rounded up the remaining Masters and drained them of their power.

What brings them together as a nation is not only a fierce defense of the highlands, but binding oaths made to Alderok. Alderok, also called the Honor's Bite, is to have been the weapon wielded by Vayne when he slew the Chaos Lord Sanmmuhhphir to end the Dark Ages and trumpet the Return of the Gods. Alderok was given the men of these lands so they may stand against the darkness.