History of Människar

Maester of the Red Citadel and expert in history, Mykonos Ertroi is a sarusian scholar that has devoted his life to the past of his world. During one of his lectures, he was asked to briefly sum up the history of Människar, from which this excerpt was adapted from:

The Beginning

There is little to no evidence that can clearly describe the early days of mankind, for not only very few artifacts have survived to the present days, but also because the first men lived in many different ways and no single description will apply for all of them. Yet, we do know that we are not "native" to this continent we call Människar, which translates from Old Engelian to roughly "mankind" or "manrealm". No, we came from overseas and settled on the western coast, more or less where Treria is today, reason as to why we find so many ancient ruins and artifacts around those parts, and also why the barbarians still hold on to old customs and traditions, such as burning their dead and rites of passage.

It didn't take long for said tribes to quickly spread across the central plains, especially around the The Guardian Peaks, where the land is quite fertile. However, this expansion was not a peaceful one, for they almost immediately came across the Gröni, orcs and goblins, which had many settlements and strongholds all around. They clashed and fought bloody wars, to the point where we've nearly driven the orcs into extinction, while goblins were smart enough to delve underground. Curiously enough, there is quite a number of experts here in the Citadel that believe there is an entire civilization of goblins deep in the Under Realm. Nevertheless, men didn't only meet the Gröni, but back then dwarves also built their cities in the surface, as you can find, for example, dwarven ruins in the valleys near Umera. The two races didn't fight at first, but once mankind realized how much the Dagriin liked to hoard their wealth...well, it was but a matter of time before they started raiding their cities. And so, with an ever growing number of wars, the Dagriin progressively migrated to a place mankind wouldn't have advantage: deep beneath the mountains, where they live to this day, working endlessly in their seclusion.

Moreover, the world used to be a very different place back then, spirits were more powerful and the wilds teemed with all sorts of...strange creatures, yes, more so than nowadays. Dragons roamed the skies, pillaging and asserting dominion over their territories, nearly every forest had its dryad tree and mankind didn't fear the winter as we do today, it used to be...milder. Yet, mankind has something no other being of our world possesses, the desire for expansion and ambition for power and knowledge.

The Rise of Mankind

Slowly, we expanded and, no matter how many people would die to dragons, ancients and giants, mankind vanquished them all, dragons were driven extinct, as were giants and countless other beings, an event we today call the Culling of the Wilds. As with all things, it wasn't without consequence, for as these magical beings dwindled and became extinct, as spirits were imprisoned or killed, new creatures arose, darker, terrible and merciless. Yes, I mean vampires, sirens, ghouls, mournspawns and others. Yet, something unexpected also happened, for the culling was, seemingly, also responsible for the dawn of magic, as it is around this time we see record of mankind showing the ability to manipute the White Essence, that is, Magi.

A Golden Era amidst the rise of Darkness

Finally, we reach a key moment of history, the ending of an era and the beginning of completely new one. As darkness arose in the wilds, as magic became widespread and danger started to lurk ever more at each corner, mankind had to adapt to this new world, from which the first great civilizations arose: Ellardia † and Engelia † as the prime examples. These two nations stood as beacon of hope against the dark, and maesters all around agree that this period was mankind's golden age, the pinnacle of our existence. Eventually they clashed and Ellardia fell to the might and glory of the Empire, which continued to expand and experienced its prime for millenia. The 'barbaric' peoples of the central plains fled and founded their great settlements, today Umera and Sarusa.

Wizards were found everywhere, there were great colleges and schools of magic, founded to turn the marked into exquisite citizens of the empire: great military commanders, spies, scholars and more. They wrote and structured the basis of magic as we know today, as well as many principles of our law and traditions, and with this, we might very well say we own most of our heritage to the Empire. Yet, another great event happened and split yet another era, the Linking. This cosmological event was, in its essence, an immense blunder from a long forgotten wizard. As records handled to us by the Order say, such sorcerer attempted to harness the power of Kunskar beyond its usual limit, to establish a closer tie between the two realms, as the name says, a Link. Yet, the consequence was catastrophic, for despite magic did indeed become more powerful, a new entity arose, a danger no spellcaster was ready to face, the fearsome Creepers as we call them: horrendous, disgusting monsters that hunt the marked without mercy or hesitation and are impervious to their abilities.

The Fall of the Empire

Magic became illegal as each wizard became an unprecedent threat to its surroundings, not for their power, but for the danger they could lure merely for existing. Some here even study the phenomena caused by the creepers, which we have nicknamed as Cursis. Not only that, but a mighty organization arose to power in Engelia, the Order, to oversee not only the imperial territory, but the entire continent, to make sure an event akin to the Linking wouldn't happen again.

Despite all effort, with an ever growing corruption of their bureaucracy, the extreme strain of their administrative capacity and the loss of their spellcasting agents, Engelia spiralled into a decadent cycle. Their greatest administrative center and military headquarters after their capital, Bratislen broke free and a new kingdom arose, Snadov †. The savage tribes of the northeast also became even more rebellious and became independant, giving birth to the Trerian people. And then, the empire took drastic measures, the Order organized a sort of coup, seizing control of the nation. Instead of an imperial throne, the knightly council appointed a designated ruler to oversee what remained of Engelia, and the kingdom adopted a different name, Thortyr, which adopted an isolationist form of government, which stands to this day.

Present Days

Centuries passed and the continent experienced an era of peace, but also stagnancy. Sarusa and Umera grew richer due to their ever growing overseas trade while the central kingdom slowly dwindled, to the point another arose, the theocratic nation of Arialor. Then, in the year 1000, a series of supernatural events, which we don't have very good records about, tell of the fabled Shadows of Exodus, who were seemingly responsible for the fall of Snadov. The kingdom was split further, in which Velden, Vevia and Legacya came to be. As of today, January of 1017, peace stands and these newborn kingdoms seem to slowly prosper, each in their own way.