Aegis

To talk of Aegis is to discuss several distinct regions, known collectively as Regaria. At one point Regaria split into seven different kingdoms, each was its own great realm. When the Great Empire of Resh, and later the Sunshadows arrived on this continent, they encountered the King in the North, the King of Mountain and Vale, the King of the Rock, the King of the East, the Storm King, the King of the Iron Islands, and the Prince of Sands, each dominant in his own lands.

And before there were seven kingdoms, hundreds of kingdoms and different peoples existed. The earliest period of Aegis, long before the Sunshadows, before the first eladrin incursions, and even before the mindflayer empire of Nihilath, is called the Dawn Age. During this era, the children of the forest, ie the wild elves, lived alone throughout Aegis and worshiped the primal spirits, such as the gods of the trees and rocks and streams. This period lasted until the arrival of the First Men, survivors of the collapse of Nihilath, former slaves fleeing the underground feeding camps. They came up through caves from below the mountains of Quibahl. The First Men brought bronze weapons and horses with them, in addition to their own gods. They warred with the children of the forest and cut down their beloved forests.


The war between the children of the forest and the First Men lasted for centuries until they buried their enmity by forging the Pact. The Pact was a great peace treaty that ended the Dawn Age and began the Age of Heroes: Almost two thousand years of friendship between the First Men and the elves as well as general peace on Aegis. They worked together, traded between their villages, and some of the First Men even took on the old gods of the children, adopting the carved weirwoods as their own.

That peace was shattered when the eladrin armies swept in from their fortresses in the Feywild and in a few short years conquered most of Aegis, forming the first of three eladrin empires to dominate Aegis. For almost another two thousand years, the people of Aegis, man and elf, were subjects to the eladrins, living as they always had, in villages and small communities.

Then, when the Cendriane Empire collapsed and the eladrins retreated back into the Feywild, man began to organize themselves more, in bigger communities, in order to better be able to defend themselves. Soon the first citystates were formed.

500 years later, Tomaz Regar, a young warlord, used his sword and his army to unite the city states of the east, founding Regaria and crowning himself as king at the tender age of 22. And his ambition didn't stop there. For another 53 years, He expanded his kingdom, annexing what is Damaria and Valar today. After his death his grandsons and so on followed in his footsteps, and a mere 300 years later, Regaria encompassed all of Aegis.
 
For about 100 years, there was once again peace on Aegis, but then the Great Empire of Resh invaded Regaria via the southern ports of Quibahl, and 7 years later, Regaria was no more.

For nearly 200 years, the Empire held on to Aegis, but then King Markus made an alliance with the Kingdom, and started the fires of revolution. In a few short years, the Empire was defeated, and they retreated back across the sea.

Regaria was restored, and King Markus spoke of a new golden age to come. Thousands of years with peace and prosperity. Unfortunately, he couldn't have been more wrong. Just 110 years later, King Markus III dies, with no apparent heirs, and Regaria is plunged into a 17-year long very bloody civil war. Peace is made in -734, but there is no winner, no one strong enough to claim the throne, so the Kingdom of Regaria is dissolved and divided into the old seven realms.

For two hundred years, the seven realms continued their semi-civil-war, trying to gain the upper hand, but to little avail. So when the Sunshadows arrived on their dragons, the continent was ripe for plucking.


In -523, the five eladrin brothers and their extensive family came from the Feywild with their green dragons. Rumored to be fleeing a murderous betrayal in the Feywild, they first appeared in a forest in Valar. From there, they quickly built a powerbase and took over Valar, then marched on the rest of Aegis. While usually outnumbered 3 to 1, the green dragons more than made up for the difference. The armies of the other realms were one by one swept aside, until the Sunshadows a mere 5 years later could call themselves rulers of the Empire of the Sun, fourth eladrin empire on Aegis.

500 years the Empire of the Sun lasted, with the Sunshadows ruling with their dragons and iron fists. Never has Aegis had such unpopular and brutal rulers. Executions were every occurrences, and anyone who as much as thought badly off the Sunshadows were dragged away and never seen again. Their secret police, called the Silver Spiders, had eyes and ears everywhere. Or almost. Somehow the Silver Spiders missed the brewing and planning of the Regar family, who led the rebellion against the eladrin overlord. The armies had been gathered in secret, and when they struck, they surprised everyone. Most of the dragons were quickly taken out of the equation, and the Regars thought it would quickly be over, but they had underestimated just how many had linked their faith to the Sunshadows, and a surprising large amount of nobles flocked to the black and gold banner of the Sunshadows. Four years the bloody war lasted, ending with Arim Regar personally executing Emperor Ri'am Sunshadow and his 6 wives on the steps of the church of Bane.

Regaria was once more again whole and under the guidance of the Regar family. And just three years later, the First Great Demon War began.

Now, 250 years later, Regaria is once again no more. The Second Demon War broke the rule of the Regars, when nearly all of them were slain during the incursion of a demon horde. Most of Regaria avoided the demons, or rather, the damage dealt has been repaired, except the fractured kingdom. Regaria is once again the Seven Realms, battling and scheming for the control of Aegis.

The Seven Realms are as follow:
- The North, ruled by the Khim Jensen, King of the North
- Gundar, ruled by the Harald Zork, King of the Mountain and Vale
- The Iron Isles, ruled by the Jack Tempest, King of the Iron Isles
- Valar, ruled by the Emin Moonshadow, the Storm King
- Damari, ruled by the Kegan Andar, King of the Rock
- Regaria, ruled by the John Regar, King of the East
- Quibahl, ruled by the Elisabeth Sunspear, Princess of the Sands

Timeline

All of Macera
-12000 (ca): Macera is pretty much divided into two empires. K'harak, Empire of Giants and Aurak, Empire of the dragons. While they dominate the lesser races, only the dwarves are slaves per say.

-9000 (ca): Erathis gathers the greatest tribes of all the races to the isles of Saham, where she inscribes in stone the first laws, using a stylus made from one of her own ribs. She also builds 11 huge bridges, connecting the 7 great islands together.

-8600 (ca): The Dawn War breaks out.

-7300 (ca): The Dawn War ends. Both pre-Dawn War empires are in ruins. The giants are crushed, while the dragons have gone into hiding, sleeping it off after many years of war.

-7280: The Primal Spirits close off Macera to the gods and the primordials.

-6500: The mindflayers arrive from the Far Realms and conquer most of Macera.

-6392: Founding of the Empire of the Mind, also called Nihilath, as the mindflayers enslave most of the world.

-5569: The dragons awaken again from their slumber. They fight the Empire of the Mind and it's mindflayers who have enslaved the world.

-5565: The war is over and the mindflayers flee to other planes of existence and into the Underdark.

Saham
-5393: The Empire of the Sword is founded. From their great city of Xi Kir, the hobgoblins spread both to the north and south, laying waste to any resistance for years. The only resistance they run into, are the dwarves.

-5345: The Empire of Iron is founded by the Seven Dwarves, and as the empire spread, the hobgoblins of Xi Kir are pushed back.

-4309: Total collapse of the Empire of Iron, Xi Kir is taken back by the hobgoblins. After centuries of war, the hobgoblins prevail, with the aid of giants, drow and evil dragons. One after one most of the proud ancient dwarven cities fall, and are sacked. The Dwarven Alliance breaks, and those who aren't enslaved are cut of the rest.

-3976: Empire of the Sword collapses, after years of pressure from the remaining dwarves, human rebels, and increasingly powerful Eladrin armies, striking from the Feywild without warning.

-3711: The Anauli Empire is founded.The Eladrin move in from the Feywild, and conquer large areas of Saham and Aegis

-3365: The Anauli Empire ends when King Yedar Moonshadow dies. 12 children are left behind, and each wants to rule the empire. An internal civil war fought primarily in the Feywild. The war is won by the twin sisters Mir'a and Tika Moonshadow, who promptly embark on forging their own empire.

-2850: While the northernmost isles still are unorganized tribes and small villages, the four islands to the south are conquered by the green and blackscale tribes of lizardmen and their deathpriests from deep within the jungles of Jurak. The Emerald Empire is founded.

-2319: After more than 500 years of terror, the human populace rebel against their scaly oppressors, and the Emerald Tribes are pushed back into the jungles.

-1847: After many years of growth and stability, the various citystates of Saham engage in war for supremacy of the continent.

-1822: After 25 years of war, three kingdoms are founded. Kingdom of Jurak, Kingdom of Zinar and Kingdom of Upolar.

27:  King Anoun dies on the field, leading a coalition of armies from Saham and Mika and defending the capital Zenith from a demon horde left unconfined by the immortal armies. The humans inflict a surprising defeat to the demons, who are pushed back, out of the mortal world.

Aegis
-3711: The Anauli Empire is founded.The Eladrin move in from the Feywild, and conquer large areas of Saham and Aegis

-3365: The Anauli Empire ends when King Yedar Moonshadow dies. 12 children are left behind, and each wants to rule the empire. An internal civil war fought primarily in the Feywild. The war is won by the twin sisters Mir'a and Tika Moonshadow, who promptly embark on forging their own empire.

-3278: Realm of the Twin Queens (empire) is founded. The Twins never managed to subdue the amount of land that their father did, nor did they try. Wise from the mistakes of the past, they fought overextension, even though the nobles were screaming for more power and more land.

-2824: Realm of the Twin Queens ends when Kalok Sunstrife wrestles control from the nobles and topples the twins. Both are beheaded, and Sunstrifes commands the Eladrin armies back to the Feywild.

-2801: The Cendriane Empire is founded when Cendria Nightsky allegedly has Sunstrife assassinated and takes control. Focusing on the north instead, Nightsky conquers vast amounts of land near the subartic limit.

-2252: The Scar of Chaos appears after a great earthquake.

-2239: After a 26 year draining war, the Eladrin are finally victorious at what latter becomes known as the War of the Scar.

-2235: End of the Cendriane Empire

-2012: Citystates emerge

-1534: King Regar is first king of Regaria

-1211: Regaria encompasses almost all of Aegis

-1099: The Empire of Resh launches a surprise invasion on Regaria.

-862: After more than 200 years of occupation, the Great Empire of Resh is defeated by Regaria and the Kingdom forces.

-751: With King Markus III dying with no heir, the kingdom is plunged into civil war.

-734: The civil war ends, with no winner. The Kingdom of Regaria is dissolved into nine smaller kingdoms.

-528: The Sunshadows (eladrin) arrive on their black dragons and quickly win over the smaller kingdoms.

-523: The Empire of the Sun is founded.

-7: Rebellion in the Empire of the Sun, lead by the Regar family.

-3: The last Sunshadow is executed, effectively ending the war. Regaria is reborn.


Kine
-1689: Founding of the Auran Empire. More than 10.000 years after it last happened, a dragon rules an empire on Draegor. Aura Goldenclaw rules with a just but very firm hand. His laws are fair, but harsh, and utter loyalty is demanded. One by one, the cities either join him, or are forced to bow before his military superiority. Under the law, all are equal, except of course for slaves. The Auran Empire blossoms, becoming a huge beacon of light in an otherwise dark world.

Mika
-4876: The Dragonborn Empire of Arkhosia is founded after more than 145 years of internal wars amongst the Dragonborn tribes. First it expands to the south.

-4851: Nexus is founded by humans driven north by the internal battle of the dragonborns.

-4578: The human empire of Bael Turath is forged in the north. Decadent humans worshipping devils run the empire, but power seems not to satisfy them nearly enough.

-4324: The Pact is made. The Noble Houses of Bael Turath, mightiest city on Macera, make a pact with Asmodeus himself. All nobles are corrupted and turned into tieflings.

-3834: The two empires clash for the first time, in what later became known as the Battle of the Fields of Blood.

-3622: Beginning of the Battle of Razortear, where more than ½ million tieflings and other infernal beings lay siege to the mightiest dragonborn keep.

-3611: The Siege of Razortear ends by it's sacking, when the infernal forces of Bael Turath finalize a enormous tunnel 10 years in the making and penetrate the before impregnable fortress.


-3576: Fall of Arkhosia. The infernal legions of Bael Turath capture and sack the Dragonborn capitol. The Arkhosian Empire is no more, and many Dragonborn flee further to the south, into the desert.

-3303: Explosion of Bael Turath and Sundering of the World, where most of the northern part of Mika are buried beneath the seas.

-3302: Nexus becomes independent.

-2600: After years of internal wars and conflicts, Ul-Tep the dragonborn is crowned first Grand Pharaoh of Resh.

-1983: After many years of expansionism and wars, the Empire of Resh now covers the entire southern part of the continent of Mika.

-1709: Following a long series of peaceful years and content Grand Pharaohs, the Empire of Resh starts looking to the north, and the newly formed Kingdom.

-1700: Start of First Kingdom-Reshian War

-1697: End of First Kingdom-Reshian War


-1547: Start of Second Kingdom-Reshian War

-1540: End of Second Kingdom-Reshian War


-1398: Start of Third Kingdom-Reshian War

-1381: End of Third Kingdom-Reshian War


-821: Start of Fourth Kingdom-Reshian War

-789: End of Fourth Kingdom-Reshian War

-521: Start of Fifth Kingdom-Reshian War

-468: End of Fifth Kingdom-Reshian War

-157: Start of Sixth Kingdom-Reshian War

-77: End of Sixth Kingdom-Reshian War

27: Both the Kingdom and the Great Empire of Resh send troops to Zenith to help defeat the demonic horde laying waste to Saham.

All of Macera
0: Beginning of the First Great Demon War.

23: Several clashes spill over to the mortal world

27: Lots of demons enter the mortal world, especially in the kingdom of Zinar. The humans inflict a surprising defeat to the demons, who are pushed back, out of the mortal world.

31: End of the First Great Demon War. Most of the demon lords are dead, and the demons are pushed back into the Abyss, which is (even more) in a state of total anarchy. No gods died, but the war has taken an enormous toll on their resources.

57: Beginning of the Second Great Demon War. It turns out that Orcus, Grazz't and Demogorgon are not dead. Demons assault the gods, their angels and their worshipers just about everywhere in the multiverse.

66: Turns out Lolth and Gruumsh have been cooperating with the demons all along. Lolth steals and destroys the Spirit Stone.

67:  With demons in great numbers in the mortal world, the primal spirits are forced to lift the ban of the gods, so that they can help out Macera.

76: The Triumvirate invades the dominion of Tytherion, looking to add Zehir and Tiamat to their coalition of chaos. Both refuse, and Demogorgon and Lolth slay Zehir, while Tiamat flee the dominion.

78: Orcus and Gruumsh assault Vecna's not so secret lair in Pandemonium and catches him off-guard enough to nail his lich-skull to the floor.

82: Torog is overrun in the Underdark by a horde of demons.

87: Celestia is attacked by the demon horde. With Kord and Bahamut chasing Lolth acrosss the Nine Hells, Avandra and Erathis come to Moradins help but all 3 gods end up slaughtered by Orcus and Demogorgon.

98: Kord, who is guarding Ioun in Hestavar, is tricked by Grazz't to come to Sehanine's help on Arvandor, but she is already dead and when Kord arrives, he finds himself alone, facing a plane full of demons and all 3 demon lords. As Kord is slowly butchered, Grazz't also tricks Ioun out of Hestavar by making her think that she can save Kord and Avandra.

99: End of the Second Great Demon War. The Demons have nearly won. Gruumsh, Lolth, Demogorgon and Orcus corner Tiamat and Bahamut in the Forgotten Fortress where the Two-Who-Were-Once-One fall together, as they were born together. Corellon and Melora catches Lolth and Gruumsh without support, and manage to slay Gruumsh before Lolth slays Melora. Asmodeus, Pelor and the Raven Queen sacrifize Corellon and thus unleash the Spellcurse, an ancient uncontrollable magical force that ravages through the ranks of the demons, decimating their numbers. The three Demon Lords flee back to the Abyss, and as Lolth follows, she is intercepted by Bane and killed. As the demons once again are back in the Abyss, the portals  to the Elemental Chaos are closed are sealed off and the war is over.

109: Ten years after it is unleashed, the Spellcurse has run it's initial course, but it's hard to evaluate the full extend of what it has done. Most people or creatures initial affected are long dead. In fact, they died a quick and agonizing death shortly after being affected. But still the Spellcurse linger. Some people are born with it, some are just born with the mark, which may in turn develop into having it. But the Spellcurse of now is weak, and people often live many years before dieing. Although most go insane long before dying.

249: Current year.

The Second Great Demon War

Barely 200 years ago, the Second Great Demon war began. After the (First) Great Demon War, which had ended 26 years before, scholars, wizards and religious leaders were sure that the three main leaders of the demons, namely Orcus, Grazz't and Demogorgon were dead, along with most of the other demon princes. As it turns out, that was not completely true. In a subterfuge masterminded by Grazz't, they had faked their own death and instead hidden in the Abyss, siphonating the power of the other demon princes that perished in the war.

They were now back, stronger and meaner than ever before. It also quickly became painfully obvious that the 3 demon lords had made an alliance, setting aside they eon-old paranoia and enmity to wage war on... well everyone else.

No one knows quite where exactly the war started, because it was not one assault on one place, but instead a multitude of demon hordes attacking many different dominions in the Astral Sea. And while the assaults started in the Astral Sea, they quickly spread to the rest of the multiverse, with demonic hordes attacking places like the City of Brass and even both the Feywild and the Shadowfell. The numbers of the demons seemed truly infinite, while those of the defenders definitely weren't.

For almost 10 years, the gods warred against the demons, then came Dark Betrayal. Lolth tricked one of the Primal Spirits into telling her where the Spirit Stone was hidden away. The Spirit Stone is the ancient artifact crafted to keep demons lords out of the material plane on a permanent basis. She then destroyed the Spirit Stone with the help of Gruumsh and then suddenly, the mortal world of Macera was ripe for conquest by her demonic allies.

The Triumvirate won't yield to reason nor threats, an no attempts to destabilize the alliance is even close to succeeding. The relentless assaults are starting to take their toll and many of the defenders. With the power of the Spirit Stone broken, the demon hordes started to invade Macera in great numbers and the primal spirits are forced to lift the ban of the gods, so that they could help out Macera.

The war continued this way for another 10 years or so, with the demons slowly grinding down the gods and their armies.

The Demonic Triumvirate invaded the dominion of Tytherion, looking to add Zehir and Tiamat to their coalition of chaos. Both refused, and Demogorgon and Lolth slew Zehir, while Tiamat fled the dominion. So Zehir became the first god to die.

The next year, Orcus and Gruumsh assaulted Vecna's not so secret lair in Pandemonium and caught him off-guard enough to nail his lich-skull to the floor. Another god was dead, and the war seemed to only go one way.

About three years later to the day, Torog is overrun in the Underdark by a horde of demons, and is ripped to pieces. Another 5 years later, Celestia is attacked by the demon horde with only Moradin home, working hard on creating some new weapons to slay demons. At the time, Kord and Bahamut are chasing Lolth acrosss the battlefields of the Nine Hells, so Avandra and Erathis come to Moradins help but all three gods end up slaughtered by Orcus and Demogorgon.

After the death of Avandra and Erathis, it became obvious, even to the gods, that they were being picked off one by one. They began to take less changes and fortified themselves when not together.

Eight years later, the war was still raging on at least four different planes. Kord, who was guarding Ioun in Hestavar, was then tricked by Grazz't to come to Sehanine's help on Arvandor, but she is already dead and when Kord arrives, he finds himself alone, facing a plane full of demons and all three demon lords. As Kord is slowly butchered by the horde of demons, Grazz't also tricks Ioun out of Hestavar by making her think that she can save Kord and Avandra.

And then the world came to the end of the Second Great Demon War. The Demons had nearly won.The Feywild had been ravaged by demons, the empires of the fey crushed beneath the demonic boots. More than half of the original gods were dead, their dominions sacked and their armies nearly broken. Gruumsh, Lolth, Demogorgon and Orcus corner Tiamat and Bahamut in the Forgotten Fortress, an ancient giant fortress in Saham where they have been sent by Bane. For weeks, the demons assaulted the two gods and their angels, before the Two-Who-Were-Once-One fell together, as they were born together.

Meanwhile, Bane, Asmodeus, The Raven Queen and Pelor were working on an ancient magic that could turn the tide of what seemed like. As the demon horde moves on, Corellon and Melora catches Lolth and Gruumsh without support, and manage to slay Gruumsh before Lolth slays Melora.

Shortly thereafter, Asmodeus, Pelor and the Raven Queen sacrificed a willing Corellon and thus unleashed the Spellcurse, an ancient uncontrollable magical force that ravaged through the ranks of the demons, decimating their numbers. The three Demon Lords fled back to the Abyss, and as Lolth followed, she was intercepted by Bane and killed.

With the demons once again back in the Abyss, the portals to and from the Elemental Chaos were closed and sealed off, and the war was finally over. Asmodeus, Pelor and Bane headed back to the the Astral Sea, the Raven Queen stayed in the Shadowfell, and the Primal Spirits left for the Feywild.

Unfortunately, the war was over, but the Spellcurse had just begun...

The Dawn War

The obyriths, an ancient and inherently evil race from another place almost completely annihilate their own universe. Seeking more wanton destruction and corruption, they send a shard of pure evil into a boundary between their universe and this one and themselves cross the boundary. Tharizdun finds the shard and grabs it. He is corrupted by the Shard of Pure Evil and falls mad with a desire to unmake reality. Luckily, he has enough sense left to partially repel the whispers of the shard, telling him to put it in the Astral Sea, and instead plants it in the Elemental Chaos, resulting in the creation of the Abyss, as the shard descends in the vortex of pure evil.

Primordials, Tharizdun and the surviving obyriths all pummel towards the bottom of the Abyss,  and battle for control of the shard, and the use of it, but the two forces reach a stalemate.

Obox-Ob, a mighty Obyrith, claims the Shard of Pure Evil and becomes the first Prince of Demons. Seeking to replant it in the Astral Sea, he is soon unseated by a combined effort of the newly transformed demon lords Demogorgon, Orcus, and Baphomet, who blast him down into the surface of the Elemental Chaos, creating the Blood Rift of the Abyss. The Shard of Pure Evil still burrows deeper to this day, creating more layers of the Abyss.

The Elder Elemental Eye, an alias of Tharizdun, marshals the primordials and other denizens of the Elemental Chaos in order to try to overwhelm the combined might of the new Demon Princes. Some, such as Codricuhn and his chief lieutenant, Miska the Wolf-Spider, join Tharizdun in the Abyss and are corrupted into demon princes. Others, such as the Elemental Princes, have no knowledge of his true form, and continue to spread his cult from the Elemental Chaos proper. The cult believes that if the Elder Elemental Eye could gain the shard of pure evil, he could lead them to victory over the meddlesome gods and immortals of the Astral Sea.

As forces are marshaled, both sides begin to recruit troops. Giants ally with their primordial creators and the titans. Djinns and Efreets also side with the primordials, who create elementals out of elemental spirits. On the other hand, the gods have support from the angels and the enigmatic astral giants. Both sides also create abominations, to be used as mindless but lethal weapons in the war.

The Dawn War lasted for countless years, and many gods and primordials died during the war. To recount the entire war would take way too long, but the highlights were as such:

Moradin comes late into the war, but when he does, he does it to liberate the dwarves from their elemental masters. He frees the dwarves, who in turn deliver a blow that cripples the giants, and unleash the fury of a hundred generations of repression.

Minotaurs are created by Baphomet, once a great primordial or fallen god with ties to the natural world, as his soldiers in his bid to replace Melora as the god of nature.

Medusas are believed to be made by Zehir from reshaped elemental spirits.

Primal Spirits such as Stormhawk help keep the world from being destroyed. Other Great Elders protect the people caught in the crossfire, allowing the humanoids' survival.

Io, who also tried to stay out of the war, finally realizes that unless he wants creation unmade, he needs to join the war. Io enters the fight and defeats many primordials in the Dawn War. but in his arrogance, Io decides to face Erek-Hus, the King of Terror, alone. The primordial cleaves the dragon god into two halves, becoming Tiamat and Bahamut. The dragon gods proceed to slay Erek-Hus, then battle each other until Tiamat flees.

Nerull, the god of death, chooses a mortal queen who died of plague as his consort. She slays the god and usurps his throne. The other gods rise up to stop her, and she becomes the Raven Queen.

Lolth descends into the Abyss, hunting demon lords, or perhaps in search of power and become corrupted by the Shard of Evil. She leads her chosen against the other elves, creation the fractioning of the elven race..

The elven race splits in three, with Lolth leading her drow into the Underdark, the elves leaving the Feywild for the natural world, while the eladrin stay behind, close to Corellon, and to rebuild their ruined kingdoms.

He-Who-Is and other gods overwhelm and chain Tharizdun away in a deep layer of the Abyss, naming him the Chained God, and strike his name from the annals of history. His armies scattered, but not defeated, and led by Miska the Wolf-Spider they fight on. Tharizdun's essence is sealed away in his prison, guarded by the angel Asmodeus, first among He-Who-Is' servants.

Pazuzu, an Obyrith Demon Prince, whispers words of deception and corruption into Asmodeus' ears. Asmodeus grows proud and hateful of his position as prison-keeper, and seeks out the Shard of Evil nstead, abandoning his duty. Claiming a sliver of the shard of pure evil at the bottom of the Abyss, he creates his Ruby Rod and fights his way back to the Astral Sea. Asmodeus convinces He-Who-Is to allows him back into his forces. Asmodeus becomes adviser to the general of the divine armies, Bane.

Asmodeus betrays He-Who-Is and slays him (and thus becoming He-Who-Was). With his dying breath, He-Who-Was curses Asmodeus, transforming him and his followers into devils, and biding Asmodeus to an eternal prison in Baator. Asmodeus seizes his former overlord's divinity and creates a rigid hierarchy of power. Having devised a way to subvert and harvest mortal souls, the devils also require infernal pacts to breach the bindings of Hell. Even still, he hungers for a larger fragment of the shard of pure evil

Zehir (who may have aided Asmodeus against He-Who-Was, or even killed the god himself) claims humans as his own. The other gods defeat Zehir and free the humans from his control.

The gods, desperate for Asmodeus' skills, compact with the archfiend, granting him autonomy in return for his aid in defeating the primordials.

After much fighting, the war is over, and the gods have won. The Chained God is imprisoned, his allies are dead or in hiding.

The Primal Spirits realize the danger to the world and decide the world must be protected from both elemental and immortal influence. They declare the mortal world free from both sides of the conflict.

Erathis assumes dominion over the minotaurs.

The Raven Queen abandons her dominion in the Astral Sea to inhabit a grim winter fortress in the Shadowfell.

Genesis

In the beginning, there was nothing, except for the Pillars of Creation and the Living Gate. Then a tiny disturbance in the nothingness between the pillars caused it to split in two, creating what is now known as the Astral Sea and the Elemental Chaos. Out of the Astral Sea arose the gods, created by their own will, and out of the Elemental Chaos the primordials form themselves.

Soon after, angels arose formed out of the astral essences as divine assistants to create mortal races during this time, while the slaads began to exist in the Elemental Chaos.

Moradin creates the first Maruts from the stuff of the Astral Sea and the souls of unborn angels to serve as impartial arbiters of divine disputes and, eventually, enforcers of divine pacts.

Djinns and titans are created by the primordials to populate the Elemental Chaos.

Macera, the mortal world, is created by the primordials and their newly formed titans using the creation-stuffs that eddied between the Elemental Chaos and the Astral Sea by discarding bits which are too bright or too dark. The world was then one of elemental fury, engulfed in an endless cycle of destruction and rebuilding. The bright pieces of creation-stuff detritus coalesce into the Feywild  while the dark pieces of creation-stuff detritus coalesce into the Shadowfell.

The gods look down from the Astral Sea and see what the primordials had created. They covet Macera, because they understand how it can be improved. They create natural life, tame the churning elements, and create the sun and moon in the world.

In the Feywild, the primordials create a new race of titans, the fomorians who in turn create cyclopes as servants and gnomes as slaves. About the same time, death Giants coalesce out of the Shadowfell as the world begins to know mortality. The Shadowfell becomes a focus for the souls of mortals, to which they travel before moving on to their eternal rewards. Falling in love with the mortal world, some angels make a deal with the newly awakened primal spirits and give up their immortality, becoming devas.

Io fuses astral spirits into the raw elements. The greater spirits become the dragons, while the lesser spirits become the dragonborn to serve the dragons.

Corellon discovers the Feywild and creates the elves (then a unified race) to inhabit it. Shortly after, He Who Is creates humans and Moradin soon follows suit, when he chisels dwarves from the bones of the earth. Melora and Sehanine then create halflings. With the creation process done, at least as far as the gods are concerned, Erathis gathers the greatest tribes of all the races to the isle which is now known as the Deadlands, where she inscribes in stone the first laws, using a stylus made from one of her own ribs.

Inspired by the many creations of the gods, the titans create giants to serve them.

A nameless god kills the Living Gate's guardian and opens the gate, releasing the defiling energies of the Far Realm. In order to seal the Living Gate again, Ioun and Pelor shatter it at the cost of Pelor's dominion of Verdant.

Envious primordials demand dwarves of their own. Pleased that the primordials appreciate his creations, Moradin gave the dwarves to the primordials and returned to his work. The primordials gave the dwarves to the giants as slaves, which the giants used to carve the first empire on Macera. For unknown reasons, Moradin doesn't react to the pleads of his people.