The Age of Kings

The Age of Kings spanned about two thousand years which represents ancient history in modern textbooks. Nothing globally cataclysmic happened but there were several important events.

## The Emebian Golden Age

Lasting from near the start of the age to the very end of it, the Emebian Empire was a kingdom of the Asranites that ruled most of the Baharadhun for almost 1,500 years. Though constantly wrestling for control with the Bachrans and the occasional small-scale territory war with the Giyanka, the empire flourished by keeping to itself. Its kings were thought to be descendants of Krohn, as they were easily twice the height of the average Asranite, who were considered giants anyway.

## The Fall of Tyrrh

The Kingdom of Tyrrh was an empire of the Lith that lasted for about 500 years at its height. They carved out halls in the mountains of their namesake rocky region of Tyrrh in Ran, making most of their living by mining valuable materials from the hearts of the mountains. As with most peoples, the Tyrrhians grew greedy and eventually mined into a cavern containing some the Vesar that had survived the fall of Nephiir. These ancient and powerful demons laid waste to the kingdom of Tyrrh before they were killed by Othric Craghammer and his sister Lashada. Nevertheless, the damage had been done, and the end of the age saw the halls of Tyrrh empty and barren.

## The Rise and Fall of the Venaim

Across the eastern sea from Ran, on the isle of Baelstron, a doorway opens, admitting the Venaim. These Venaim are called star-children in the language of the time, because they came from the stars. They were, in truth, a remnant of the Nephiir that had escaped the Fall. The people of Baelstron and Delerand immediately began serving the Venaim, not quite as gods but definitely as superiors. The Venaim quickly built their empire, spreading over Delerand with none even standing to fight. They met a little more resistance in Nurima, slaying the Aesar who ruled their currently. Similar resistance was quelled in Vestra, and the Verama also bent the knee. The northern Fjoer kingdoms and the Dathians knelt without a fight, leaving only the land of Geshaan in the southernmost isle. Geshaan was the kingdom of a terrible ruler: Asheroth, the Undying, the son of Ravonin the Eldest. To his followers he had promised life eternal, and many flocked to his promises, but they were empty. His followers became twisted into half-life, withered husks of humanoids, mindlessly serving the Undying King in his kingdom of ash and smoke. Now, Asheroth was one of the Ancients, and the Venaim were a remnant of the Nephiir, so what happened next was inevitable. The southern half of Thuriim exploded into violence and chaos as the Death War broke out between these ancient fated rivals, culminating in the Battle of Ashen Shores where the Venaim finally slew Asheroth for good, casting his soul into the void with his brethren.

Having conquered all of Thuriim, the Nephiir setlled into an age of peace and prosperity which lasted for most of the age. Towards the end, however, they became too curious, exploring with magic and technology. On the isle of their origin, Baelstron, they erected a great construction, a building they later called the Hall of Worlds. Their they built doorways, portals to other realms and other planes. For many years nothing came of it, but they opened a few doors they couldn't shut, and bursting through came the aberrations, extra-planar anomalies and undefinable entities, spreading their strange magic across Baelstron and destroying everything in their path. The remaining Nephiir sacrificed themselves to throw up a permanent shield around the isle, containing most of the aberrations and halting the spread of their contamination. The isles of Thuriim returned to their own rule, but the Hall of Worlds still stands abandoned behind the shield, alone in a landscape rippling with strange and unnatural magic.

## The War of Sun and Moon

Across the sea to the west, in the rolling plains of Dagara, trouble was brewing. In the north was Malahko, a city of silver dedicated to Malaia, the Ancient goddess of the moon. In the south was Bagaya, a city of gold named for Bakr, the winged lion-god of the sun. The cities were proud and had dominion over most of the continent. The only holdout to their reign was a comparatively tiny city known as Ara'diin. The people of Ara'diin served Aya, something rare for cultures to do at that point in history. The people of Ara'diin were desperate, and called on Aya for help. unto them Aya sent the Maena: demi-Aeon who were to aid them in the War of the Lights, also called the war of sun and moon. The queen of Ara'diin bonded with a Maena, becoming the very first knight of Amelrek. The knights were named after Raviel, one of the faithful Aeon in the war of stars, who still lived on in their lore as a great warrior wielding a flaming sword. Their word for him was Amelriel, and so the order was named. The knight of Amelrek left their city, wagin war on Malahko and emerging victorious, leaving the silver city in ruin, cursed by the knights's victory. The people of Malahko fled deep beneath the ground, stripped of their sight, and cursed to forever battle the Faceless abominations in the bowels of the earth. At the news of this conflict, the armies of Bagaya fell upon the undefended city of Ara'diin, forcing the people to flee as the city and most of its fertile valley was burned up in the wrath of the sun. The people split up, some becoming the M'baya of the Dagaran plains, others becoming the Shari and the Hurin. As the Bakaa were laying waste to the city, the knights returned and drove them out, slaying their king and placing a powerful curse on Bagaya that stripped the Bakaa of their wings and toppled their temples and obelisks. Now, all three cities lie abandoned: Bagaya at the top of a massive southern plateau, Malahko on the side of a lifeless mountain, and Ara'diin buried in sand at the heart of a newly formed desert.

## The Blood War

In the days of kings, the Te'kal ruled in the east of Ran, in the land of Khesh. Their reign of terror became an icon of the region like their pyramids and blood-altars dedicated to the Quetzar, a group of feathered demons that would regularly take shape to receive sacrifices from their Te'kal worshipers. More often than not, those sacrifices were other Ama, but the Te'kal exchanged them for power over Khesh. The sacrifices were usually taken as tribute from villages of Ahuatl or Kheprians in the fertile jungle lands or more arid southern climes. Nearing the end of the age, a hero rose from one such Kheprian town, a glowing warrior that earned the name Teotlaca. Or, in the language of Khesh: god-slayer. Aided by the Enathim Tana and the Wanderer, Jehan the god-slayer led a rebellion agains the Te'kal and the Quetzar (who were hailed as gods), sparking the Blood War and leading to their empire fragmenting into Khepria and Ahua'Tlala.

## The Rise of Khidar

For a good part of the age, the isle of Khidar and its native people kept mostly to themselves. But, as with all nations in the heat of prosperity, they felt it was time to share their greatness with the rest of the world. The immediate target was the fading glory of Emebia. Having just wrapped up a messy conflict with a cult of Kaj Tariim, Emebia and the rest of the Baharadhun fell quickly to the Khidarians, allowing them to end out the age on top of the known world.