History

## Overview

### Origins

Before time itself, at the center of everything and nothing, a single entity existed. This entity took the form of a tree, and around it a bountiful garden sprang up, creating the universe. As light was breathed across the universe, a single world would evolve at the center of it, Lone Haven. Being at the center of the universe, it was tethered closely to what would become known as the World Tree would breed a world of magic and fascination. It would be here, on the world of Lone Haven where beings known as the pantheon would be created from branches of the World Tree. They would become known as the Gods: Vulken, Eldran, Malace, Khor, Noir, Scarlett, Vert, Azul, Primar, Zephyr, Nyalis, Victim, Argos, Horious, Zeris, Imperium, Mortaria, Nevermore, Mori, Harlequin, Leviathan, Dire, Lylith, Kronos, Nacht, & Veroh. The pantheon would build a opulent and grand city in the heart of Lone Haven, the city of Sanctorous, with their palace atop a hill, named the Sanctum. It is in this city where all the mortal races would be created and dwell. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gensai, Aasimar, and many more would call this golden city their progenitor and motherland, while worshiping their creators. This would begin the Golden Age of Magic & Science. All the mortal races would assist and work together to progress their knowledge of the universe, it is also in this age where the mortal races would expand outside the island city of Sanctorous, sailing west to the continent of Wesdaes and east to the continent of Eastari. They would build kingdoms, trade with each other, and live in peace for nearly 500 years. In this age, the knowledge of magic would reach its pinnacle, and it is here that 20 legendary items would be forged. These items, known as The 20, are items of unrivaled capabilities. It is also in this age where spell casting and the knowledge of the arcane would be unparalleled. However, this age of peace and prosperity would not last for much longer. The Golden Age of Magic & Science would come to an end because of a single human woman, for she would be the catalyst for a god to commit the ultimate taboo, falling in love with a mortal. The god Mori, would first meet her in the distant land of Sernasso, a new nation with grand ambitions. She would stumble into his meadow, where they would talk about what it means to live, about what all the races of Lone Haven can accomplish together and what is each other's purpose. Over the series of visits, they would slowly fall in love with each other. Very soon, they were wed in secret and had a family. It would be soon after this, that the god of lies & deceit Malice would discover that Mori had broken the taboo, and would reveal this to the other gods. Mori would be called to Sanctorous to defend himself, it would be after he left that agents of the God Malace would kill Mori’s wife and 3 of his 4 children. Not knowing of his family's fate, he vigorously defended his actions, claiming that there was no reason for there to be a taboo on this to begin with. His defense would fall on deaf ears though, with most of the gods voting to have Mori’s family's memories wiped of him and for him to return to the Sanctuary indefinitely. Mori would storm out in protest, claiming that he would rather give up his godhood to be with his wife and kids. He would then arrive back at the smoldering ruins of the home he and his wife built, greeted by the charred bodies of his wife and children. He would fall into a blind rage, declaring war upon the gods. He would be joined by 7 other gods, who thus forth would be labeled as the Demon Lords. They would also be joined by many different races such as the tieflings, gith, orcs, drow, as well as a minority of  humans, elves & dwarves. Thus would end the Golden Age of Magic & Science, and begin The First Divine War.

### The First Divine War

Mori, disillusioned with the council of gods & their ways, left the divine palace “Sanctous”, bringing 7 other gods with him to the mortal world. They were determined to shape the world in their image & mold the mortal races along their lines as opposed to the Council of Gods. In response, all out war was declared between the forces of the divine, and the forces of the fallen, now known as the demon lords. The war would begin with large scale battles around the world of Lone Haven, with the demon lords winning many battles due to their superior strategy. After decades of war with neither side securing total victory, the Demon Lords had the Gods on the back foot, despite being outnumbered, their strategic decisions were what defeated the Gods in battle after battle. As a last resort, the Gods used a forbidden ritual to summon 5 Heroes from a different world to turn the tides in the war. The 5 Heroes would referred to later as the 5 Great Heroes, they would consist of The Twilight, The Cataclysm King, The Warrior Queen, The Harbinger, & The Hallowed. After only a year, the Heroes had turned to tides of the war in favor of the Gods, defeating most of the Demon Lords and their armies. The only two they would be unable to kill outright would be the Leviathan and Mori. Leviathan, however, would be captured and bound for eternity at the bottom of the ocean. The final Demon Lord, the traitor Mori, was the only one left as he still continued to win battles against the Gods despite being outnumbered. However, Mori would not give in. He would assault the heart of to God's power, Sanctorous and the Sanctum. The resulting battle would be the bloodiest battle of the war. The Battle of the Golden City would result in over 2 million casualties. Mori would march up the Divine Steps, the stairs that lead up to the Sanctum. He would be met at the top by the Legendary Heroes and their allies. The resulting fight would push the heroes further than ever before, and just when defeat seemed imminent, their ally, King Alastair, first King of Sernasso, would invoke the use of a forbidden magic item, one that seals away any entity that the user wishes at the cost of the user's life. It was thanks to his sacrifice that the Gods were able to triumph in the war. With the defeat of Mori, the First Divine War ended after 40 years of ceaseless war. Most mortal races had become victims in the war and their numbers had been reduced, specifically those races who had sided with the Demon Lords, like the Vampire, Tieflings, Orcs & Dwarfs. This fact would lead to the Second Divine War.

### The Second Divine War

The gods would fight among themselves, splitting into three camps, the Peace & Amnesty faction sought to forgive those who had fought with the Demon Lords. The Justice Faction sought to only punish the races directly involved in the war. And the Annihilation faction sought to purge all mortal races and begin again. Their endless arguments would result in open hostilities between the camps. It would be in this time of strife that the Annihilation faction would come up with a plan to recruit powerful warlords who had emerged in the power vacuum left after the Demon Lords defeat. These Warlords would be granted immortality, increased physical & magical power, and a partial healing factor. In return, they pledged themselves to the service of the Annihilation faction. They would be henceforth known as the Immortal Warlords. They would go on to operate in the shadows, destroying and undermining the other factions. For their part, the heroes would take a step away from the events in Sanctorous, instead going onto found nations and organizations of their own. It would be during this time where the God Malice, a member of the Annihilation faction, would enact his ulterior motives. He would have the gods turn on each other. In the ensuing event, the Gods would kill each other off, with only Malace remaining when the dust settled. He would command the Immortal Warlords to do one final mission before their servitude would be lifted, he commanded them to eliminate one of the heroes. At this point, the Cataclysm King, Twilight, & Hallowed had already died. So the Immortal Warlords turned their attention to the Warrior Queen. They would ambush her on her way back from a delegation to a foreign kingdom. The fight would be surprisingly even, despite the Warrior Queen being in her 60s by this point. However, the 6 Immortal Warlords would prevail, killing the Warrior Queen. No longer bound to serve under Malice, they each sought to gain enough power to rival him and each other. With that, the Second Divine War would end, and would mark the beginning of The Age of Darkness, where the 6 Immortal Warlords would hold vast power across the land, each vying for more power and influence than the others. It would be for the next 3000 years that the mortal races would progress magically and scientifically at a snail's pace, barely making any leaps in innovation. They would engage in endless wars over land and money. It is during these 3000 years where the memories of the heroes would fade into the realm of myth and fantasy. However, throughout the years, one thing remained, a prophesy of another group of heroes emerging to pull the world of Lone Haven out of the Age of Darkness by defeating the Immortal Warlords, and dethroning Malice. It would be this prophecy that the people of Lone Haven would cling onto, a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Thus it was for over 3000 years.