Beginning - Changes - Age of Humans
In the beginning, when the world was still very young, the First Ones[1] walked the earth, giving life to it as was suiting.
The world was still young when the Dragons[2] awoke, and some of the First Ones rejoiced and welcomed them. Others seemed indifferent to the Dragons awakening, intent on their own. Some of the First however sought to destroy the Dragons.
The First War[3] that issued was short, but devestating.
Much of the world had been ruined, and some of the First Ones no longer remained. However, in the aftermath of The First War it was found that three new races had awoken. There were the TreeKin[4], the LizardFolk[5] and the InsectMen[6]. They all helped in their own way to restore the world to what it had been before the First War. Feeling kinship with the LizardFolk many of the Dragons schooled them in all things they knew, and in arrogance born out of this the LizardFolk demanded obedience from the InsectMen and TreeKin.
The TreeKin did not seem to care about being in servitude, and thus bowed their will to the LizardFolk, at least outwardly, though from that day they more often than before sought contact with the First Ones. The InsectMen were violently opposed to the LizardFolks notion of supremacy. This lead to The Second War[7], and it was quite prolonged. Mostly because the First Ones chose not to intervene directly. When the Dragons entered the war supporting the LizardFolk it was the First Ones who forced them to stay out of it. By what means remains a mystery to the scholars, for none of those that remember that time have ever spoken about it. Near the end the TreeKin revealed why they had communed with the First Ones. The newly awakened Aellar[8] entered the battle aganst the LizardFolk at the side of the TreeKin.
The once proud LizardFolk were broken up into tribes to be headed by groups of Aellar, to prevent them from reuniting and rising to a position of power.
Some Aellar had gone to the InsectMen to exchange knowledge and strategy during the war. Those who remained with the InsectMen were joined by greater numbers than those returning to their homes.
Most however remained with the TreeKin.
During the time of peace that came after the Second War the First Onces all gathered in seclution and were not seen nor heard from for many of the cycles of the years. When they again appeared they had a simple message:
They would leave the world in the care of the Five Races. However, since the world was still young, other races might still awaken, and they should be embraced as brothers and when mature enough given a share of the burden of caring for the world.
When all had heard them the First Ones left in what manner seemed them appropriate. Some walked off in privacy never to be heard from again while others vanished in beams or sparkles of light and some just seemed to fade out of being where they stood, yet all became unreachable even with the most powerful of magic.
Woe, for barely had an Age of Ice come and pass without the First Ones on the world when the world was devestated again. Meteors were not unknown, for many had fallen to the world before, but none of this size since the First Ones had first walked the world. Much of the mountainrange it struck was no longer there, and it was that very mountainrange that all InsectMen everywhere called Home. Dust hung in the air for a long time, even threatening to kill all life by blocking out the sun. The world was not turned desolate though at many places there were large wastelands where once woods teemed.
Things would not return to as they were before, for with the disappearance of that mountainrange the patterns of the weather was vastly changed. And the weather was not the only thing that changed. When the Dragons, TreeKin and Aellar again found the LizardFolk and the Aellar who had gone to the LizardFolk and InsectMen, they no longer recognized their brethren.
The LizardFolk, once the scholars and learned of the Middle Races were now little more than rowing bands of hunters. Though some of the LizardFolk were of the old breed, able to reach ages of well over 500 years [512 years of age for the early LizardFolk held special significance since it's 8 to the power of 3. They based their mathematics on 8, having three fingers and a thumb on each hand.], they were dwindling quickly in numbers.
The Aellars who had gone with them were not much better, and were henceforth called Oriachnods[9], an Aellar word for "lost spirits". That word is the root for the word used in the common tongues for that kin, the Orcs[9]. Whereas the old Aellar fought only because they had to protect their own lives and the TreeKin, the Oriachnods delighted in battle, and would fight for the pleasure of it. To make up for losses in battle they had also become more prolific than ever imagined.
The Aellars who had gone with the InsectMen had grown more suited to a life underground and were called Dukelir[10], meaning "tunnel-dweller". Many of them had become unaccustomed to the light of day, are pale as wraiths, while their original strength had increased further. They all grew short, seldom reaching past four and a half feet. They also lost the immortality of the Aellar, but were still far more longlived than the Oriachnods. It seems they have retained the memory of their Aellar ancestors and only forgetting that which they no longer need or want to recall. Though, in later generations this seems to fade a bit.
They claimed then that the InsectMen were no more, and if asked still holds true to that, their civilisation lost forever beside that which the Dukelir retained. Most of it was the art of metalworking, masonry and architecture. How the Dukelir, commonly known in the Human languages as Dwarves[10] for their short height, are still able to produce clothing out of the silks (commonly called "QueenSilk") the InsectMen's Queens and Matrons produced, they will not reveal[11].
When the Orcs turned their gaze from battling other Orcs and the occasional skirmish against the LizardFolk towards the Aellar, TreeFolk and Dukelir it was time for the Aellar to change as well and become a people known as the Elve[12]. This is near enough an old form of an Aellar word best translated as "quickling".
While the Elves retain many of their original features the Aellar, they discarded their strength for the benefit of speed and agillity. This was both a spiritual and physical change. An Aellar could clearly remember his early childhood even though he had passed his one thousandth birthday, while the Elves memories fade as they do for mortals. It is a slower process than for all mortal races with the exception of Dukelir. Another change was that where once the Aellar would always have a zest for life, the Elves grows weary with the world as the centuries pass and give up their life, even if their bodies are as strong and fit as they were at the young age of 50 some 600 years ago.
Some of the Elves, by some called DarkElves (since they are not above dealing with dark forces), by others called HighElves (since many of them comes from old nobles lines) or DawnElves (seeking to return to their state at the dawn of being), seek to return their kind to the state of the Aellar and erradicating the others they share roots with, for they belive that the Aellar were particularly blessed by the First Ones, as they had been awakened by them.
The Dwarves withdrew from their surface settlements when raided by the Orcs, returning once the Orcs had been driven away by Elves. Elves however seldom got any help from the Dwarves when the Orcs attacked them.
This is the root for the mistrust the Elves have for the Dwarves. And many Dwarves dislike the Elven inquisiveness about the "QueenSilk".
Not long ago, as ages are measured, the Humans[13] awoke. The Youngest Race yet had entered the scene. Exactly where they originates from is not known, but it seems to have been an island no longer on any charts. They were at first welcomed as brethren by the Dragons, TreeKin, Elves and Dwarves, alternatively hunting and hunted by the LizardFolk and brutalized by the Orcs. Humankind learned and grew strong, and a Human empire arose, strong enough to beat back the orcs, and trade as equals with the Elves and Dwarves, but at that point its leaders had come to lust for the Immortality of the Dragons and TreeKin, or at least the lifespan of Elves or even Dwarves.
The Human empire fell, destroyed as it was from within. A group of Elves openly proclaimed themselves as DawnElves, for their desire to "return to their state at dawn of history", admitted having had lured the Humans that ruled the empire that they could achieve the longevity of the Elves, but at a price they did not name. The price turned out to have been the persons sanity. The lust for power did not slacken with expanded life, but instead drove them into turning on eachother to gain even more power and status, ruining the foundation of the empire.
Though Humanity had been broken it was not beaten.
Now, in what some call the "Age of Humans", conflict is brooding on the horizons, for Humanity is recovering from the fall of their empire, and now covet the power, knowledge and wisdom of Dragons, woods of the Elves and TreeKin, the mines of Dwarves and the plains of the Orcs...
Though there are still those among the older races that Humanity will overcome the taint of their former leaders. There are after all shining examples of outposts of humans that are ruled fairly and in harmony with the surrounding lands.
[1] (the) First Ones: Not much is known about them. For instance it's not known if they were eternal divine spirits, or something else. Some were arachnid / insectoid in appearance, others bipedal, and other yet it had no solid form. Some where fair and pleasing to behold, and others gruesome beyond words. They seemed non the less to (collectively) possess incredible amounts of knowledge of all kinds, and powers understood by no other.
They are revered by the descendant of the Aellar as Gods, or nearly so anyway, though they focus on different entities of the First Ones.
[2] Dragons: A race of evergrowing, highly intelligent bewinged saurians with magic more or less coursing through their veins. Dragons also possess a racial, "hereditary" memory of events. However, mastering the art of recollection is not easy. Some Dragons who tried to push their limits of recollection too far have become quite insane, but those are quite quickly put down by other dragons. Since they never stop growing, though with the speed they grow drops drastically as they reach their maturity at or around 50 years, they are theoretically immortal. However, finding a dragon that's more than 4000 years is however very hard. On the other hand, since they have a hereditary memory they can seem much older than they really are. An young adult Dragon at the age of 50-75 years tend to be about 5 yards long (give or take about a foot or so), and a dragon into his fourth century since hatching might well be 10 yards long.
[3] The First War: A war amongst First Ones over the existence of Dragons, causing untold damage to the planet. Those in favour of the Dragons won, in part due to the involvement of the Dragons themselves. What happened to those opposing the Dragons existence remains unknown, since only the oldest and wisest of the Dragons alive can recall those times, and they are not sharing.
[4] TreeKin: The "males" are called Ents and resembles ambling trees, "females" are called Dryads and seems to be spirit projections of certain groves of trees. While each of the TreeKin does possess both "genders" required to reproduce it is the Ents who go to the Dryad Groves when the time for such things come. The suggestion that two TreeKin of the same "gender" would reproduce (they are biologically quite capable should they choose it) would appal even the most open-minded of them. Some Dryad-Groves are large enough to house not only one but two, or in certain cases even three, Dryads. Groves of this size does however tend to split into two, or more, groves that might share a tree or two.
It seems that the lifespan of Dryads are dependant on the rejuvenation of their grove, and are thereby in theory immortal. The Ents are known to be mortal, though very long-lived, sometimes reaching well over 1000 years of age. Tales amongst the Elves tell of "Old Grandfather" who died at the very high age of at least 1300 years (though his passing is fairly well known the exact year of his conception is not).
A wellgrown Ent past his first century (and thus is considered adulthood for Ents) might be anything from 13 feet to over 20 feet in height.
[5] LizardFolk: Bipedal lizards. They are quite a bit larger than all other races with an average height of well over 6 feet with notable exception of the Dragons and Ents (how to measure the size of Dryad is an open question, since their projected size is quite often at 5'6" in height, while their Grove might consist of near a dozen trees with a diameter of well over 2 feet each). Once scholars, now no more than savages.
[6] InsectMen: A slight misconseption about this folk from their name. Somewhere around 80% of the population of the InsectMen were actually genetically neuters. They were in that respect somewhat like antropomorphed ants. They normally walked on four legs and used two arms and rather clumsy hands (with one "finger" and two thumbs). It is unknown if they were immortal or not, since individuality was not prominent, even among the ruling members of the race.
[7] Second War: A war mainly between the LizardFolk and the InsectMen, with TreeKin occasionally entering battle against the InsectMen when forced to it by LizardFolk.
[8] Aellar: A race of bipeds somewhat smaller than the LizardFolk, and probably larger than Humans. They were possibly immortal, though apparently none remains today. How and why they have passed from this world is not know, though it is suggested they all went through the changes (to Orc, Dwarf or Elve), and passed on the way of that folk.
[9] Oriachnods / Orcs: Debased Aellar, brutishly savage revelling in combat/battle. Battle-prowess is the way to determine rank amongst them, and sometimes the loser does not only lose the desired rank but life as well. Even the Shamans (Orc healers/councellors/spell-casters) determine their ranking in combat, however these are of a purely magical nature. Though most of the times both Shamans survive on more than one occasion have a whole tribe disappeared, this due to the effects one of these battles, such as a demon having been summoned and let loose.
[10] Dukelir / Dwarves: A short-grown people with a lot of strength, both physical and mental. Though they individually might not be as versatile as other people they make it up with mastery in their trade. No smith of any people, not even the more long-lived Elves, can match the skill of a Dukelir Mastersmith. A Dukelir woodcarver will tirelessly work on a single piece of carving for years if necessary to get it right.
[11] The reason for this is quite simple. A vast majority of the Dukelir doesn't know or care where it comes from or how it's produced. When a Dukelir says "I will not reveal that." other Dukelir will respect that choice of privacy/secrecy (in the Dukelir tongue there is only one word for privacy and secrecy) and not press the issue further, and quite possibly honour it by themselves choosing to not reveal where they saw or bought it. Therefor most a Dukelir trader might be forced to reveal (quite possibly requiring torture) is the name of the Dukelir who sold him the Silk, and location of the trade, not knowing more than that.
[12] Elve is nearly enough the original Aellar word for "Quickeling". It is apparent that though they are physically immortal their spirits are not immune to the ravages of time. An Elve having passed 500 years will most certainly start to feel old and worn, though only his eyes and manners might betray this.
[13] Humans are just that … Humans.
The "conflict" that humans get into with Dragons are from the fact that Humans overstepped their bounds and the Dragons are trying to hold them back and honouring The First Ones.
So as Dragons could easily be seen as Evil Monsters for laying waste to human towns, their reason for this is not because they like it, quite contrary, but it is something they feel compelled to do. Though none of the Original Dragons are alive "today" they have "hereditary memory", so each dragon remembers (though not crystal clear) what their parents did (until the day of conception), and their parents parents, and their parents parents parents, all the way back to The First War.