History of Arcadia

The Age of Legends

The Age of Legends is the scholarly term for the first mortal age, its oldest records reaching to around 10,000 BPA 3000 (BPA = Before Present Age, measured backwards from Year Zero). This is when the oral tradition became widely supplemented by actual written language. It was also when the first true kingdoms formed, beyond the previous loose tribes and city-states. It lasted until the coming of the Great War. In the ancient days, the world was known as "Mythara." It has gone also by other names. Now, it is of course best known as Arcadia.

The Founding of Omentien Numenalu (c. BPA 10,000)

In the early days of the age, when Humans were little more than roving bands of barbarians or Goblin-slaves, the Elves of Sylvania and the Dwarves of Undermount were close allies. Their societies enjoyed strong trade and friendship, and in their greatest endeavor they joined together to build kingdom together, a city standing between their two societies, a place where Elf and Dwarf could live together in unity. The city was was built over a river near the eastern shores of the Bay of Omens (then known as Luth Andolu), between the two great kingdoms. They named it Omentien Numenalu, meaning "Meeting at Westwater." The city was a marvel of architecture, with the strength and craftsmanship of Dwarven construction melded flawlessly with the beauty and grace of Elven. The city would stand for thousands of years as a symbol of the friendship between Elves and Dwarves.

Rise of the Humans (c. BPA 1,000)

The first known human kingdoms and empires can be traced back to around a thousand years before the Great War. The greatest human kingdom is said to have stood for a thousand years, but it fell into hubris. Uniting every other known Human kingdom beneath its banner, the Empire began the war, dividing all the peoples of the world against each other. The Empire sought to wipe out magic in a severely misguided effort. The Euternos were invented to siphon magical energy and destroy all their enemies. Great expanses of the land were ravaged, and the Elves moved to unite the others against the corrupt human forces. After several years of fighting, the Euternos were wiped from the face of the world, although they were not all destroyed; many were simply sealed in secret places. Humans were greatly reduced in number due to the many fierce battles and some aftereffects of the war. The final events of the war would, however, be among its most dramatic.

The Great War and the Fall of Omentien Numenalu (c. BPA 10 - PA 0)

The Great War was the first conflict of its scale, drawing in all the various peoples of the world. Omentien Numenalu became a major battlefront, but their defenses were able to repel all attacks--until something happened. No one knows what it was, exactly, but seemingly overnight the city went from an apparently impregnable stronghold to a ghost town. Exactly what happened is unclear, and no one is known to have survived to tell the tale, but signs indicate that a powerful force was unleashed within the city, leaving more than a quarter of it in ruins. Neither Elf nor Dwarf openly condemned the other for the loss of their city, but a seed of doubt was sown. The Dwarves became more isolationist, and the Elves largely withdrew southward to Sylvania.

The end of the Great War marked the beginning of the Present Age. As with the fall of Omentien Numenalu, none who lived through it have ever told the tale of the final battle that ended the war, but it has been the subject of much research and speculation. Some speculate that each drop of blood spilled in the war was fueling a ritual of the darkest magic, which would awaken a dark and terrible power. One day, accounts record, the skies darkened and the grounds quaked, and the top of Mount Tainirl was blasted apart by the sheer power of the energy released by this dark ritual. If that dark power had risen freely, it is possible that no life would have survived on the world... but something or someone intervened. What followed remains similarly unclear.

Some accounts describe a mere end to hostilities. Others claim that the energies that erupted on Mount Tainirl were so great that they disrupted all other energy flows in the world, even the natural turning of the seasons--that even magic ceased to function properly for a time. Some accounts claim that a global, supernatural winter blanketed the planet and did not lift for several years. According to these more dramatic versions of the tale, the races were scattered, their armies broken, and all sides turned their efforts to rebuilding what had been lost in the fighting.

The "First" Spring (c. PA 5)

Accounts also remain divided on whether the Long Winter truly existed. Many refer to a great coming of spring, but these accounts are widely regarded as equal parts metaphor and fact, and it may well be that they refer to a more conceptual rebirth than the coming of a season that had been too long delayed. Most of the races prospered, and the prevalence of Half-Elven bloodlines are often traced back to having begun around this time. Pure-blooded Humans began to dwindle, and their numbers never truly recovered after the end of the war. By the year 1000 PA, the Kingdom of Lyne became the last known persisting human-dominated kingdom. Even so, it was not until nearly four hundred years later that they would admit the truth: the apparent decline of humanity had become irrefutable. Scholars have since speculated that the deleterious effects of the Euternos may be somehow linked to humanity's numbers gradually reducing from generation to generation.

Appearance of Malketh (2497 PA)

Malketh was a Human and former warlord who sought greater fortunes than were offered by the roving nomads and small city-states of the Human lands. Even among the humans, the legend of Omentien Numenalu was still told, and Malketh wanted to see it. The great city was gone, but in the mind of this ambitions human leader, it was the perfect site for mankind to found a kingdom that would be its salvation--a new human kingdom to begin a new age. He visited first the Dwarves and then the Elves, asking for each to join with them in retaking the city, but each refused. To their memories, the city was a site of tragedy, and they did not yearn to return to it to sift through the ashes, even after so long. Warning of the danger of such an attempt, they told the Humans that if they could restore the city--which Malketh had already begun to call "Omenaru"--then they could have it so long as they could keep it. Malketh accepted this and left, leading his forces into the ruins. To the surprise of both Elf and Dwarf, the Humans succeeded. Malketh led his small army of men to victory against the dangerous creatures of the valley, and they occupied the old ruins of the city.

The Founding of Omenaru (2501 PA)

The city was reborn under the Humanized name of Omenaru in 2501, and within a few years it had become a small but thriving settlement. It came to be known as the City of Omens, as the bay before it had come to be called. The city became a symbol to Humans everywhere, and they began to come to it in droves. While some scholars, particularly certain parties in Lyne, would paint it as a pure human achievement, the truth is that while the Elves and Dwarves were not involved, politically speaking, many of their people were, and Omenaru was a truly diverse society. Yet, Malketh had struck an iconic, even mythical chord within his race. Within a decade, Omenaru had become a thriving town, and Malketh had been named king, abandoning his former title of High Lord.

The Reign of Malketh (2501 PA - 2577 PA)

Malketh ruled for seventy-six years, steadily consolidating the kingdom from the eastern shores of the Bay of Omens in the west to the Teliosan River in the east. The northernmost settlement was the holy city of Lumens Thelaris, and the Humans' territory stretched southward beyond the Elvish outpost of Numentir, to the Astorian River at the border of the Wilwaro Forest. Malketh gained great renown as a leader of wisdom and vision, leading Omenaru to great prosperity under his rule. Malketh remained healthy and cogent well beyond his centenary, until his death in the year 2577 at the age of 113. He was entombed within the city he rebuilt, and is still regarded the greatest hero of Humanity since the Great War. (It should be noted, however, that some scholars assert that the myth of Malketh the great human hero is just that--his longevity, they claim, hints that he may have had some blood coming from Dwarvish or Elvish stock, or that of aother more long-lived race.)

Tragically, Omenaru would survive barely a generation after Malketh's death. No sufficiently effective leader rose to take his place, and within a century the city had once again been abandoned.

The Quincentennial (3000 PA)

The memory of Malketh persisted, and five hundred years after the founding of Omenaru, a new expedition went forth to explore the ruins. The Guild of Heroes and Altur offered strong support, and within a few years a thriving settlement had been established, though they had no king or queen, nor any true ruling body. In the years since, Altur has prospered under King Landgrave Brightheart, but some of the old hostilities have arisen in Lyne. Even as a diverse and united settlement grows in the north in Omenaru, could it be that the last Human kingdom is on the verge of repeating the same mistakes of so many centuries ago?