from Parkstone’s The History of Damensea

Age of Creation

Some time after the universe sprang forth, the gods convened and decided to create a planet to be their home. Gathering the heart of stars, the gods formed their home then brought forth the oceans to cover most of their new home to cool its fiery surface. Pleased with what they had made, they named the young planet Damensea.

However, the gods found the empty Damensea lonely, so they created life in the oceans that burgeoned into plants and animals. For a time, the gods were satisfied, but they soon became bored and decided to create sentient beings. They created elves, griffins, unicorns, and other magical creatures, but the gods still wanted something more, so they created man. Finally satisfied with their creation, the gods vowed to create no more forms of life.

Age of Gods

The gods divided the creatures of Damensea and went to live amongst their chosen ones. During this blessed time, the gods taught their followers many skills, guided the building of the first cities, and developed human civilization. The gods were integrally involved in their followers’ lives—most answered prayers by appearing before the supplicant and providing aid.

However, as their people flourished and multiplied over several millennia, the gods focused on a select few, often only appearing to their followers who knew their true name. It was then the curious Rhiannon wheedled the secret of magic from the Goddess. This incident outraged many of the other gods because they had intended for man to remain untainted by magic.

The gods convened then debated for a hundred years and ultimately decided their presence was corrupting their creation. They vowed to only appear among their followers on their high holy days or if a majority of the other gods agreed to allow it. They agreed to restrict themselves to guiding their followers by speaking through their called priests and by whispering in their followers’ hearts.

Age of Magic

Once the gods ascended to the heavenly plane, magic spread through human civilization like a drop of blood in a glass of water. Within a millennium, magic was used by all (in one fashion or another) and had become more important than the gods to some. As man multiplied and became more comfortable with magic, they lost their wariness of magical creatures. It became nothing to request (or demand) a boon from an elf or nightmara or dwarf or other magical creature, which inspired great anger and fear among the magical creatures and led to the catastrophic Stone Wars.

Beginning as a quarrel between a clan of dwarfs and a town of miners over an opal mine in the D’vark Mountains, the Stone Wars swiftly ignited the rising tension between man and magical creatures. The conflict spread across of all Damensea within ten years and engulfed nearly all. Only the gypsies, unicorns, and dwellers of remote isles remained impartial to the conflict. The Stone Wars raged for two-hundred-thirteen years and destroyed many of the nations the gods had established, including Lystra, Calatini’s antecedent nation. The Stone Wars ended when the elves convinced the other magical creatures (except the nightmara, werebeasts, and magical pets) to migrate north before they built the Walle.

Age of Man

With most magical creatures north of the Walle, man dominated the bulk of Damensea. Living without the gods or magical creatures, human civilization became less reliant on magic. Magic was still commonplace, but it was more often charms or everyday spells. Over the millennium, man became accustomed to only relying on witches for magic. Although worship of the gods thrived; prayers were now for spiritual guidance not magical boons.

For the first five centuries after the Stone Wars, creatures on both sides of the Walle focused on rebuilding. Only then did man or magical creatures reach out to the other, but great wariness remained. Over the millennium since the Stone Wars, important treaties have sprung between man and magical creatures, such as the one between Calatini and the nightmara. These treaties encouraged the more intrepid of magical creatures to settle in human lands, although humans are rarely permitted to settle north of the Walle.