Age of Demons

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The **Age of Demons** or the **First Age** is a period of history spanning nine million years that is mostly known of through myths in the modern era.

# The Age of Demons

**Date: -10,000,000 YK**

* Khyber's fiendish offspring overrun the surface world, creating a hellish enviroment where rakshasas and night hags rule supreme.

**Date: -1,500,000 YK**

* Dragons rediscover the Prophecy and rise from their primitive state to oppose their demonic overlords. Unable to defeat the demonic hordes of the Dragon Below alone, the dragon ally with the couatls.
* The common races, still in primitive states, hide from the godlike combatants and find a way to survive.

**Date: -100,000 YK**

* Recognizing their cause would otherwise be lost, the Couatls sacrifice most of their number to bind the most powerful of the demon lords and the majority of the fiends back to Khyber. The couatl's remain trapped for eternity with the fiends they bind. Victorious, the dragons retreat to Argonnessen to contemplate the Prophecy, ignoring the "lesser races."

## History

The Age of Demons began ten million years ago, after the end of the Age of Dragons when after Khyber, the Dragon Below slew Siberys, the Dragon Above he was in turn imprisoned in the coils of Eberron, the Dragon Between. As Khyber's last act he unleashed hordes of demons upon the world, which rose up from the depths of Khyber. The first Children of Khyber, known as the Overlords or *Na-Vakti* in Infernal reigned supreme. These fiendish beings maintained personal domains on the world of Eberron for nine million years, where reality was whatever they wished.

### Dragon-Fiend Wars

One-million-five-hundred-thousand years ago, the blue dragon prophet Ourelonastrix and couatl sage Hezcalipa rediscovered the Draconic Prophecy. Over the course of thousands of millennia of conflict with these individual fiends and their forces, the combined forces of Dragons and couatl were finally able to bind the Overlords. It was during this time that the deeds of draconic heroes and villains allegedly formed the inspiration behind the mythology of the Sovereigns, including for the Pyrine pantheon of Sarlona that split into the modern Sovereign Host and the Dark Six. Few recognize this today outside of followers of traditions like the Church of the Wyrm Ascendant, which has followers in Stormreach and among the dragonborn of Q'barra.

Led by Hezcalipa, the couatl sacrificed themselves to form the Silver Flame, a spiritual force with the strength of a god based on the Material Plane that held the Overlords in a permanent state of torpor.

The Overlords are bound to this day, imprisoned by the couatl's sacrifice within the Silver Flame. They operate through lesser fiends called rakshasa which are collectively known as theLords of Dust. The aboleth fled to the lightless depths where the dragons could not reach them. Dragons such as Rhashaak were dispatched to serve as guardians over the ruins of the Overlords to ensure these beings remained bound. The lizardfolk were affected by the touch of the couatl, and dream of this age so it will not come to pass again.

This ended the Age of Demons, and began the Age of Giants.

## Creatures of the Age of Demons

On behalf of these Rajahs the rakshasa held sway over the lands, while the aboleth in turn dominated the deep waters of the oceans. Krakens also held sway in the ocean. The mighty dragons and couatl were the only forces that could stand united against the individual Overlords.

Other lesser creatures of the time are known to include lizardfolk, and dinosaurs. The sahuagin have legends of champions defeating the fiendish Overlords, and presumably existed in some state during the **Age of Demons**. Humans also existed as well, as the couatl blessed a devoted group of humans from Sarlona to become the first shulassakar and guard the couatl ruins in their absence, before the great sacrifice of the couatl to form the Silver Flame that ended the age.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 ***Eberron Campaign Setting***.
Keith Baker, Bill Slavicsek, and James Wyatt (2004). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-3274-0.
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 ***Dragons of Eberron***.
Keith Baker, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Nicolas Logue, and Amber Scott (2007). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-4154-5.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 ***Eberron Campaign Guide***.
James Wyatt and Keith Baker (2009). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-5099-4.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "**Eternal Evil: The Lords of Dust**" (November 2005) by Keith Baker. *Dragon Magazine* issue 337.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "**Poison Dusk, Black Sun: Explore Q'barra, Part 2**" (December 2010) by Keith Baker. *Dungeon Magazine* issue 185.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 ***City of Stormreach***.
Keith Baker, Nicolas Logue, James "Grim" Desborough, C.A. Suleiman (2008). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-4803-5.
7. ↑ Keith Baker (04/18/2005). Dragonshards - The Role of Dragons. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 10/28/2017. Retrieved on 02/11/2019.
8. ↑ ***Eberron Expanded: Lords of Madness***. Keith Baker (July 4th, 2005). Wizards of the Coast.
9. ↑ Keith Baker (09/20/2004). Dragonshards - Shulassakar: The Feathered Servants. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 06/20/2018. Retrieved on 02/06/2019.