Astartes

Magical and legendary, the eternal enemies of the Ushabti are shrouded in mystery. Unlike the Ushabti, little physically remains of Astartes physically, though their influence is widespread and their offspring (Depending on who you talk to) include every human on the planet.

Whether the Astartes were created by Ausbaldis in the Floating home, or found some way to ascend is disputed by scholars and historians. Whether the Astartes were just some humans or the first humans is also up to debate. It’s appearance is conjecture with the Human nation in the clouds being represented in

different nations and cultures as a reflection of their own architecture. Scholars are unsure if it was genuinely a continent or a large number of allied and affiliated floating islands.

What was clear was that Ausbaldis, took a special fondness for his creation on the floating islands/continent known as Astartia, and that they achieved great magical feats that put their contemporary human cultures (with the exception of the Ushabti) to shame, and created a human paradise amongst the clouds.

Over their centuries of pre-eminence they had a friendly rivalry with their cloudborne elven neighbors, who while more practiced and long lived, were amazed by the speed and determination that the humans expanded explored and made new discoveries. The elves warned them of the pace of their discoveries, the arms race they began to develop against the Ushabti, and engaging too quickly and uncautiosly with planar beings. Their resultant fall and destruction led the elves engage in self-congratulations regarding their warnings, but also led to a belief that

the elves themselves need to expand, explore and control area lest it fall into the hands of the unworthy or unwise, and also a contradictory sentiment towards humans. The Astarte humans were amazing and capable, and so the elves show a deep affection for humans regarding their potential. Their hubris and self

inflicted destruction makes them wary of the dangers possessed by humans, and a certain  obligation granted to them by their gods and their own long lives to steer humans away from their own worse natures.

The Astartes were innovated and codified many of the spells currently used, even if they have lost their original names. Ancient tomes refer to Bigby Calendon, Tasha Yandola, Morten Kainen, Tenser Talion, Vecna Delathon, Melf Kaloon  though many of the specific spells they created have been absorbed into the arcane canon without clear reference to their originator. Legends tell of Djinn and Efreet, and beings from other worlds and more unusual ambassadors engaging in research both arcane and carnal with Astarte nobles. Researchers developed, now lost technologies created clockwork soldiers guards and servants. Teleportation was commonly and frequently used both individually and en masse to transport goods and people. Transmuters created massive structurally impossible buildings. Abjurers and Diviners, created defenses to protect their growing civilization from the Ushabti.

They also settled, traded and bred with many areas on the airth. Again, some claim that all humans started on the floating islands, and others that exiles, prisoners or peasants settled and bred with every nation or human settlement they could find. Their favorite remaining ruins abide in remote high areas: Floating islands, inaccessible mountains, or rare untouched islands. Artifacts scattered across the world testify to their advanced culture:  The occasional tome in the sanctum of a venerable elven wizard; a piece of clockwork machinery that still operates but only in the light of a full moon; The occasional teleportation

gateway; creatures that seem alien like the stalactite looking Ropers or the levitating beholder, claim to either be creations or conquerors of the Astartes.

Rumors about their fall abound. Some suggest that a final weapon was used against the Astartes by the Ushabti, that doomed them too. Others suggest that Radnadron unleashed his might against them for allowing his children’s favorite playthings to escape. Others point to the corrupted and otherworldly nature of many Astartes ruins, and suggest that the sky people sought forbidden and destructive knowledge, and inadvertently invited their own destruction into their midst. Other pious sorts, suggest that the gods doomed the floating island empire due to its own fall to debasement and debauchery.

Its fall left an indelible mark on the planet, creating the mountains that make up Orcholm, and scattering

islands all over the hemisphere, black and sterile. Ragnadron moved from a barely known otherworldly entity to a full fledged god, as the giants either awoke or emerged to rule much of the dry land.

To this day this is all that is known for sure of the fallen empire, though many cultures and bards have their own interpretations and songs that have been built into their stories. Every few hundred years there is a bardic attempt at an Astartes revival telling stories of heroes and lovers, mixing apocryphal stories with documents and fantasy.