Elder Races

The Elder Races (a term invented and used to refer to the first species to evolve sentience on Crux) are the original sentient life that dwelt in, on, or around Crux. The three most well known are the Krakens, the (True) Dragons, and the Phoenixes, but there are two more that hold high importance in the history of crux; these unremembered, these forgotten lords of the world, are they who dwell outside of the atmosphere of crux and they who dwell in the dark geode-like caverns of the Underworld — beyond the reach of the greatest of wizards with how remote and inaccessible to life these regions are.

## History

The Elder Races were, for the most part, created by the deities during the Year of Wrath. Only the Underworld dwellers and those that descended from outside the atmosphere are seemingly exempt from this rule. They were made as living weapons, made to slaughter and kill and destroy all that stood against their makers; but on the last day of the Year of Wrath, when the gods were banished back to the Spheres Beyond, they were left alone — left to wander aimlessly. The True Dragons were the first to attempt unification of the Elder Races, which did not succeed the first attempt; the second, the premises of their alliance had merit, which the Krakens and Phoenixes accepted, leading them to ally to protect Crux against the predations of that which would threaten its sanctity. While three Elder Races stood together, many others were left out of this gathering, the aforementioned Underworlders and other-planet creatures for instance. During the first Age of Mortals, the Elder Races guided the mortal species into forming great city-states for their protection; they gave them fire, metallurgy, astronomy, and of course magic — without the Elder Races' assistance, no civilizations could even attempt to develop in the hostile world that is Crux.

During the period of time when the First People colonized the entire planet, the Elder Races were content to sit back and observe their wards, at times rising from the ocean depths or descending in fire from the heavens to prevent them from enacting some of their less morally sound ideas. After the disappearance of the First People, the Empire of Kagina eventually spread across the surface of Crux; the violence towards the Merovech tribes and the sheer danger of the Kagina acquiring the Vault of Kings sent the Elder Races into a rage, they surfaced from their hidden places and wrought untold destruction across the Great Empire, burning and drowning whole cities until Kagina had become a continental desert of unnatural heat and dryness. Despite the burning of Kagina, they still conquered the lands around the Vault of Kings, leading the Alliance of Three to use their magics to send a messenger to another world, that of the 5th Elder Race. Making a deal to bring doom to Kagina, the Elder Race from Beyond the World came down, bringing the incomprehensible power of the stars down to the Kagina. Death, doom, dissolution of the illusion of supremacy. Kagina fell in one night.

For this act of untold violence, the Elder Races decided to hide themselves in the hidden places of the earth, so that none could call upon them ever to do once more such a horrible act. And so, they slept.