In the game, the current time is the First Age. Its history is only partly written.

The First Age

It is said that in ancient times there was a Great Cataclysm that nearly destroyed the world. Earthquakes shook the lands. Rivers changed their courses. Forests burst into raging infernos of flame. Mountains were thrown down. Oceans rose up onto the land. All the ancient kings, sages and mages perished. All the nations of the world were destroyed. Entire races were wiped out. Even the Gods were lost.

It is said that at one point in the Great Cataclysm that the world was truly destroyed, and the world we see today was made by the New Gods from fragments of the old world. This process is called the Time of Creation.

When the Great Cataclysm and the Time of Creation were done, nought remained of the known world but a few islands in the sea, a handful of survivors and memories of what once was. The world was so changed that the survivors measured the years from the Great Cataclysm. They referred to their time then as the "First Age After the Cataclysm." The time before the cataclysm was referred to as the Elder Days. Later, when the Elder Days were all but forgotten and the Great Cataclysm seemed little more than a story, their time was called simply the First Age as if there had been nothing before.

The Early Days of the First Age

In the early days of the First Age, scattered survivors found themselves marooned on islands that had once been mountain tops. Yet there was still one city that had not been flooded though it had been on low land, not high. By a miracle, the City of Stones, also called Port Town, and later renamed Stondar City, had not succumbed to the floods. During the cataclysm, so much land sank into the sea that Port Town and a small patch of high ground around it became an island then known as Punkett Island. Later it was called Stondar Island.

In Port Town there dwelt Dwarves and Gnomes as it had been since the days of the Elder Gods. In the early days of the First Age, Port Town had no ruler and was divided into two factions, one of Dwarves and one of Gnomes. Each faction was led by one of the town's foremost magic merchants. The stronger faction was led by Thoreg, the leader of the Dwarves. The weaker faction was led by Grivenek, a Gnome wizard who had been able to protect the position of the Gnomes of Port Town until a dragon stole his magic staff, from whence came his power.

The Gnomes were few and the Dwarves were many. So the Dwarves went by sea to find other islands and plant colonies upon them. Among these were Worfin Island, Sheep Island and Azmar Island. Since Port Town had no ruler, each of the colonies became a separate realm. Of the new realms, the strongest was Azmar.

At first there was no one to challenge or resist the dwarves. A few scattered survivors on Worfin Island welcomed the arrival of the dwarves of Port Town for the survivors on Worfin Island were also dwarves. The only other survivors were a few scattered ogres who lived on the islands before the Great Cataclysm. Over time, the ogres began to cooperate. They formed themselves into war bands and raiding parties. They learned from their enemies, the dwarves, how to forge weapons and they captured and learned to sail Dwarven ships. No one knew where the ogres were coming from, but their raids devastated Azmar and reached as far as Port Town. It was in this time that the dwarf Karleg became the Warlord of Azmar and constructed Azmar Castle.

It was during this time that the new gods used the magic of the Elder Gods to bring back from extinction the Humans. Soon they were commonly seen wandering in Port Town and even Worfin Island with no families or homes because they had been created out of nothing by the gods. The dwarves and the gnomes had resisted worshipping the new gods. They still honored Belkus and the other Elder Gods. The new humans had never seen the Elder Gods and soon two humans named Abacus and Beepe formed the Fellowship of Kraylus in honor of Kraylus, foremost among the new gods. Soon afterwards a smaller and quieter religion known as the Order of the Trinity was formed by another human named Lathariel to worship Valen, the god of death and the Underworld. Not long afterwards, a new religion was formed by Valindra called the Deification Church with the purpose of elevating her to the position of goddess.

In addition to forming religions, the newcomers into the world also formed a guild. During this time many of the new souls who had entered the world had joined together in a guild called "The Soul" guild. It is the belief of The Soul guild that their souls came from another world called Atys and that the guild was formed there in a time before the creation of this world.

In the days of the Elder Gods, there had been dwarves, gnomes and humans, but there had also been Elves. Like the humans, the elves appeared to have been completely wiped out by the cataclysm that ended the time of the Elder Gods. When the humans were recreated, the new gods brought souls into the world to inhabit the bodies of the humans and also some new gnomes. Kraylus cast a spell that allowed new souls to come to a place called the Pit of Souls where each would receive a body and a name and then be magically teleported by Kraylus, Valen or their minions into the world. This procedure was to prevent any soul that claimed a body other than a human, dwarf or gnome from entering the world, but there was a flaw in the magic spell cast by Kraylus. Some bodies did not appear in the Pit of Souls, but went directly into the world. By this method a dragon named Claw was created with a soul and rampaged across Worfin Island. Claw slew Abacus, first priest of the Fellowship of Kraylus, and the gods were angered by this. Kraylus resurrected the fallen Abacus while Krellin, the son of Kraylus, slew the dragon with a single blow from a mighty magic staff known as Krellin's Cane.

Little noticed in the midst of this, another soul bypassed the Pit of Souls and came into the world as the first elf since the time of the Elder Gods. His name was Allort. When the gods learned of his miraculous passage into the world, they decided to allow him to live and then permitted other souls to enter the world as elves. Allort swiftly became the greatest mortal wizard of the First Age. He was the first mortal to use script magic. He was a leader among the elves. He was also a legendary explorer, setting out constantly in search of new lands, especially those with forests and green hills, lands where elves had once dwelt in former times. Some said he was seeking elvish survivors of the cataclysm. While the dwarves and the gnomes worshipped Belkus and the Elder Gods and the humans worthipped Kraylus and Valen among the new, Allort took a different path and hearkened to Krellin, son of Kraylus, a god who as yet had no followers. Allort became the high priest of Krellin's Flock the religion of the followers of Krellin.

It is said among the Fellowship of Kraylus that its first priest, Abacus, was asked by Tronor, herald of the gods, to find a suitable place and Kraylus would make a temple for the fellowship. Abacus chose a place on the north of Punkett Island. It is said that Kraylus appeared in person as a large glowing figure who could walk in the sky and planted a seed there saying that it would sprout into a sacred tree and that as the Fellowship grew, so would the tree and the temple. In the days that followed, this was seen to be true. As the Fellowship of Kraylus grew larger and larger, so, too, did the sacred tree and the great temple. It is said that prayers made inside the temple are more heeded by Kraylus than prayers said elsewhere.

At the urging of Valen, god of the dead, Kraylus created the underworld so that the souls of the dead would have somewhere to go in the afterlife. At first, the underworld was bright and peaceful and ruled by Valen from his mighty throne on a pile of skulls, symbolizing death. Valen was merciful to the souls of the dead and would always send them back to the land of the living if ever they wished to go. Then came Dreamora's Prophesy and the early days of the First Age came to an end. Dreamora was one of the Elder Gods and he spoke to Kraylus saying that the magic upon which the world had been made by the Elder Gods was flawed and this was why they had abandoned it. Dreamora said that the world must be destroyed and remade yet again or it would ever suffer from flaws in the underlying magic.

The Latter Days of the First Age

In the latter days of the First Age, Valen left and the Underworld became dark and inhabited by foul beasts and monsters not seen in the land of the living. The Underworld became a place of fear and torment. The throne of skulls remained vacant and with no god of the Underworld to send them back to the land of the living, the souls of the dead became trapped in the Underworld, facing an eternity of darkness.

The position of the gnomes of Port Town had grown weaker after a dragon stole the magic staff that the Elder Gods had given to Grivenek the gnome wizard. As a consequence, the dwarves became ascendant and persecuted the gnomes. Ogres and a dragon waged war upon the Realm of Azmar and even upon Port Town. In these days a leader arose in Port Town. He was Noreg, the son of Thoreg. Thoreg was already the leading merchant in the town and the leader of the dwarves. His son, Noreg, organized the Port Town Militia to defend the town against ogre raiders. This they did. The dwarves set about making arms and armor and posting guards at the gates of Port Town. Ogre raiders twice breached these defenses and entered Port Town, slaying everyone in sight. The first time this happened, the Port Town Militia and some armed civilians cut the ogres down. The second time it happened, a particularly fast moving ogre could not be slain until it reached the marketplace where the elf mage Allort chanced to be present. Allort cast a spell upon the ogre. It was a spell made in honor of the god, Krellin. Since Krellin was, among other things, the god of war, of merriment and of sheep, this spell was a harmless spell invented in the spirit of merriment to temporarily turn someone into a sheep. But Allort knew that the spell was flawed. Since sheep have no hands, the spell would go awry if the person upon whom it was cast was holding anything in their hands. It had been tragically discovered that if the spell were cast upon anyone holding any object in their hands, that they would not turn into a sheep, but would instead disappear forever and could not be brought back by the normal magical means, even by the gods. Knowing this and seeing that the ogre carried a large axe in its right hand, Allort cast the spell and the magic of the world was disturbed, several people disappeared temporarily, but the ogre was never seen again.

The gods later fixed the spell so that it could not be used in this way again and would not disturb the magic of the world. Ever after, Allort's sheep spell would do nothing at all if cast upon someone holding an object in their hands. Nonetheless, Allort had won a victory and was praised by Noreg, who was then the leader of the Port Town Militia. Allort was made an honorary member of the Port Town Militia.

As the Port Town Militia grew stronger, their leader, Noreg, grew more powerful. His disdain for foreigners led to a terrible incident where his militia attacked and killed humans and elves trying to enter Port Town. Above all Noreg resented the gnomes of Port Town whom he considered foreigners. The gnomes had always said that they had lived in Port Town as long as the dwarves, but Port Town was so ancient that it was difficult to know the truth. Noreg and his militia persecuted the gnomes and drove many of them to flee. Some went to Azmar where they were more welcome. One gnome named Orvek built his house northwest of Port Town, as far as he could go in the direction of the ancient land of the gnomes without running into the sea which has swallowed those lands and the other Fair Lands in the cataclysm. In ancient times there had been a town of gnomes northwest of Port Town. Other gnomes soon built their own houses near Orvek's house and a village emerged. It was called Orveka by some, in honor of its founder. Other referred to it simply as Gnome Town, the same name that the ancient town of the gnomes had been called.

In the distant north, in the Realm of Azmar, ogres attacked Azmar in greater numbers. The people of Azmar Village, later renamed Azmarton, would take refuge in Azmar Castle during these attacks and so long as the castle held, the realm would survive. Then, during one particularly fierce ogre attack, a large dragon whom the ogres called Zern, joined them in attacking the castle and pulled down one of its walls. The Army of Azmar managed to injure the dragon and it fled, giving the dwarves victory that day, but it was clear that the tide of the Ogre Wars was turning against Azmar. In these days, the Warlord Karleg of Azmar was visited by an elf. Elves had not previously been seen in Azmar, a stark land of rocks and red skies. The elf was named Thaero and came in the company of Beepe, priestess of the Fellowship of Kraylus. Unlike other souls, Thaero had vague memories of an earlier life as an elf in a land of forests where he had once had a bear as a companion. Seeking this bear, Thaero travelled across the known world and this quest led him eventually to Azmar. The Warlord Karleg of Azmar asked Thaero in his travels to seek out new lands for his people that they might abandon Azmar to the ogres and live in peace and prosperity in a more hospitable land. Thus was Thaero named High Ranger of Azmar and set out upon his travels with a new and more urgent purpose.

Thaero and Beepe traveled the world seeking such a place. They visited Sheep Island, formerly known as Tower Island then inhabited by a dwarf shepherd named Garon and his large flock of sheep. Garon was troubled by attacks upon his sheep by some beast that came in the night. Previously he had sought it and asked others to help. The legendary gnome Stitch, who once slew an ogre singlehandedly without even a weapon, had come to Sheep Island, but found no dangerous beasts. When Garon went with Beepe to seek out the beast, they found a pack of wolves which Garon quickly slew. As they searched for more wolves, they came to a bare rock valley and there, Beepe beheld a most unusual creature. Nothing like it had ever been spoken of in all the known world. It stood on two legs, it was more ferocious than any other creature, even an ogre. It had large pointed ears and it came at her in a frenzy, clawing at her with both arms. Beepe slew the thing.

After this, Thaero brought the elf mage Allort to Azmar to help and mentioned Sheep Island to the Warlord Karleg of Azmar as a place he might bring his people. Karleg was, in fact, a cousin of Garon. Garon was the owner, ruler and sole inhabitant of the island. Later, as Thaero resumed his travels, Karleg visited Garon, but Garon resisted being ruled by Karleg or having anyone else live on his island. The Ogre Wars continued and Karleg determined that his only course was to win it. To do that, he needed to bring the war to his enemy. Yet it was not known where the ogre raiders were coming from. It was believed that there must be some previously undiscovered island that was home to the ogre raiders. This island was called Ogre Island. Karleg set off with his warriors to find Ogre Island and they succeeded. Upon finding Ogre Island, Karleg returned to gather more troops. All the Azmar Army was assembled and couriers were sent to other islands to call for aid. Garon of Sheep Island came to help his cousin. Noreg, son of Thoreg, brought warriors from the Port Town Militia. They assembled at Azmarton the largest army the world had yet seen, then they embarked for Ogre Island.

Karleg and the Azmar Army came ashore on Ogre Island and set upon the ogres with unmatched fury. Their allies from Sheep Island and Port Town came with them. They set fire to the ogre camps and cut down every ogre they could. At the Battle of Ogre Island, the ogres were defeated and fled eastward in their ships. But as the ogres were fleeing, a mighty dragon emerged from behind a hill. In its claws it clutched a magic staff that glowed with a blue light. Noreg recognized this staff. It was the staff once wielded by the gnome wizard Grivenek until it was stolen from him by a dragon. This, then, was the same dragon.

The Warlord Karleg showed no fear and led the Army of Azmar in an immediate attack upon the dragon. They struck the dragon and wounded it, but it took flight and they could not follow it into the air. Azmar's elf allies, Thaero and Allort had spoken of methods of fighting a dragon while in flight. Thaero had spoken of bows and arrows, but Thaero was not there and Azmar had no archers. Allort had spoken of using his sheep spell to turn the dragon into a sheep so that it could not fly and could then be finished off by the Army of Azmar. But Allort was not there either. Having no weapon but his voice, Karleg taunted the dragon in hopes of bringing it towards him so that the swords and axes of his warriors could finish off the wounded dragon. The dragon attacked Karleg, who fought bravely on until he was slain. The other dwarf warriors were dismayed to see their leader fall, but they attacked and the dragon again took flight The dragon seemed too weak to make the flight to another island and instead landed upon the same hill it had previously been hiding behind. The warriors of Azmar charged up the hill, henceforth known as Dragon Hill. The dwarf warriors in the front rank later said they saw the dragon clutching at a small gold ring with a purple gemstone and then the dragon disappeared. It did not fly away. It simply disappeared.

Ogre Island then became part of the Realm of Azmar and settlers from Azmarton went there to set up a fishing camp. The fishing was better there than in the fishing grounds around Azmar. But it was not long before the Ogres returned in their captured ships and drove the dwarves from the island. Then the ogres again began to raid Azmarton. Without the Warlord Karleg to lead them, the dwarves were lost. They turned to Yarleg, son of Karleg to take his father's place. Yarleg said he was not a warrior and it would be absurd to call him a warlord. The dwarves of Azmarton then said they would make him their prince and be ruled by him and his heirs ever after. Thus did Yarleg son of Karleg become Prince Yarl of Azmar.

Prince Yarl asked Garon of Sheep Island and Noreg of Port Town to assist him in the new war against the ogres. They came, but Noreg was offended that Yarl called himself the prince of a realm while Noreg was only the leader of the militia of a town. Noreg considered hiimself at least the equal of Yarl. So Noreg asked his father and the other leading dwarves of Port Town to make him a prince and to remake Port Town into the capital of a proud realm, like Azmar. By then, Thoreg would not refuse his son anything, so it was done. Thus did Noreg become Prince Noreg. Noreg thought the name Port Town was too mundane and sought to revive the use of another of the town's ancient names: City of Stones. This was too long and spoke only of a city while Noreg wanted a realm like Azmar. So Noreg's first decree as Prince was to give Port Town a new name. He named it Stondar City and the island it sat upon Stondar Island. The Port Town Militia was renamed the Army of Stondar. He called his new realm the Realm of Stondar. He was hailed as the first Prince of Stondar.

The Ogre Wars continued. Ogres raided Azmar and Stondar, but finding these well defended, they attacked Sheep Island. Garon lost many sheep, but survived and sought aid from his cousin, Prince Yarl of Azmar. The aid was given, but only after Garon agreed that Sheep Island would henceforth become part of Azmar. The ogres were driven off and dwarves of Azmar settled on the island.

The ogres then shifted their attacks to Worfin Island. On behalf of the dwarves of Worfin Island, Kaleb went to Prince Noreg of Stondar and agreed that Worfin Island would become a protectorate of Stondar and would yield to the authority of the prince of Stondar.

The Army of Stondar then drove the ogres off Worfin Island. Ogres then set upon Sheep Island again, this time in larger numbers. All the dwarves there were slain or driven off and the new houses the dwarves of Azmar had built were burned to the ground.

Then came "the Kicking of the Gnomes" as gnomes were driven out of Stondar City. Once the gnomes had a village of their own outside Port Town, Noreg became more adamant that gnomes leave and go there. When some refused, the Army of Stondar kicked them out by force in an event known as the "the kicking of the gnomes".

In the third year of the reign of the Dwarven Princes, the Lord Garon of Sheep Island formed an army and defeated the Ogre Raiders at the Battle of Sheep Island. After this, he gave out land to reward those who fought for him and declared Sheep Island an independent realm again.

In the seventh year of the reign of the Dwarven Princes, a human named Radnar claimed five islands off the coast of Worfin Island, named them the Radnarian Isles and declared them to be a new country called the Kingdom of Radnaria with himself as king. Though there were no other human realms, not all humans joined him and the Dwarven Princes refused to recognize the existence of the new country.