History of Thrae

Every culture of Thrae has a slightly different creation myth, but many of them have some things in common. Most faiths agree that Thrae was created by a plethera of mighty, cosmic beings known as, "the Makers," "the Centuria," or the "the Valdel." What or who these beings were is subject to endless debate. Some say they were humans who had ascended to godhood. Others, that they were spirits sent by a great creator god, like Bera or Malux. The Makers' purpose in creating the earth is even more disputable. In any case, virtually everyone but the Valori agree that this, "Centuria" of beings is responsible for everything that exists, including humans, animals, plants, the suns, the moon, the Saurians, the Rafresian creatures of the south, and the kar.

Tranquility could not last forever. In 10,000 PS, something in the world changed. Some legends say it was devils descending from the outer darkness; others, that it was a science experiment gone haywire.   In any case, the world was never the same. Somehow, the number eight had been cursed, and everything that shared in the "Octet," (by having eight legs, eight eyes, eight parts in any sense), became cursed as well. Spiders and scorpions congregated in the Grottades, growing exponentially in size and strength. More disturbingly, other creatures such as dogs, saurians, and even humans began to change biologically, sprouting additional appendages and organs to join the hive mind of the Octet. Some humans, known as Arachnid Shamans, began chopping off their thumbs and big toes in an attempt to join the Octet voluntarily and, thus, retain some autonomy and privileges.   Within a year, the Octet began to openly challenge the Draltha with raids, kidnappings, and murders. A few months later, as the Octet's numbers continued to grow, its conflict with the Draltha became an open war that shattered the Imperium.   While humanity, the Saurians, and the Dragons finally vanquished the Octet, the world had been left in ruins. The once mighty Imperium had been divided into dozens of nation-states, the infrastructure of the first men had been destroyed, and the capital city of the Imperium, Draltha, was utterly and completely ruined.   Most significantly, nearly all of the Dragons were killed. Only one remained – a warrior named Inti Long, "Dragon of the Sun." He then took eight wives, one from each of the eight remaining nations of Thrae, and by them gave birth to thirty Dragons, known as the Reborn, from whom all modern "dragons" have descended ever since.

From long before the Arachnid War, humanity was split, primarily, between two factions – the Drakava to the North, who followed the Reborn Dragons, and the Rafrees led Mirmar, who dwelt in underwater cities to the south.  These factions were united in the Draltha Imperium, but resplit after the Arachnid War into the Drakava Nations to the North, led by the Reborn Dragons and their descendants, and the Rafreesian Nations to the South, led by High King of the Seas, Rafrees, and his sons.  For millennia after the Arachnid War, these two factions largely kept to themselves and lived in peace with one another.   This arrangement worked well until the Mirmar's southern sun began to dim, forcing the Rafreesians to migrate north or die.  Rafrees decided that he would be better suited as a ruler of the whole world and, as a result, broke the Covenant of Balance by declaring war on the Dragons and the nations of Drakava.   At first, the Mirmen and Kaiju seemed to have the upper hand, as they were able to control the water levels and move freely through the flooded areas. Additionally, Rafrees's son, Hektha, built his fortress on the Mistisles and covered the whole world with a perpetual, thick, magic fog.  This prevented the Dragons (who's powers, including the power of flight, were dependent on sunlight) from drawing Kar or even communicating between hemispheres.  The Rafreesians then proceeded to flood the entire western hemisphere, killing nearly everybody and slaying all the dragons who were stranded there.   To the East, on Erendra, the last remaining Dragons were all weak-blooded and unable to draw any Kar from sunlight.  They rallied around Mt. Krakova, the tallest mountain in the world and drilled the first great Karos, now known as the forge of Drakava. Using the kar from this karos, they managed to kill Rafrees on the field of battle, ending the war and allowing the waters to recede.   Hethka remained in the Mistisles, trapped there behind enemy lines and held hostage by aquatic saurians.  Now, he continues to blanket the surrounding sea with mist, cutting off the Western Hemisphere from the Eastern Hemisphere.  All of the remaining Dragons now lived on Erendra, in the East.  They regrouped and formed the Empire of Terios.  The Mirmen and Kaiju retreated to their underwater kingdoms, and a fragile peace was established between the remaining factions. The war had left its mark on the world, and the remaining survivors were left to rebuild and recover from the devastation wrought by the conflict.

After the War of Sea and Flame, the world of Thrae experienced a period of relative peace for around five millennia until, suddenly, disaster struck. The saurians had always been the allies of mankind. Led by the three great wyrms who (according to some myths) helped create the world with the Centuria, the saurians were man's most powerful and loyal friends. Then, it happened. In the blink of an eye all the Saurians in the east turned on the human race and began mercilessly slaughtering people, not to eat them, but to burn all their corpses and wipe the land clean of all life and civilization.   To this day, nobody understands why or how this happened. But the Dragons, the champions of Mankind, refused to roll over and die. They fought back against the fork-tongued backstabbers, leading mankind to the most devastating war in the history of the Eastern Lands – the Dragon War. The war finally ended when the hero, humanity's champion, Oju Kai, dealt a mortal wound to the First Wyrm, dying himself in the process. Oju Kai is the most well-known historical figure in the Eastern Lands.   In the ashes of Tirios, the remaining dragons spent the last of their strength building the Azulath Empire to restore order and prosperity to Erendra. In doing so, they hoped to build a safe and mighty base from which to restore the rest of the world. From that moment on, Easterners (with the exception of the people of Teran) and the Saurians would ever and always be enemies.