The world is not defined by a single age or lone event, but by an unbroken cycle of struggle, collapse, and recovery. What players encounter is the result of countless decisions made across millennia—by nations, civilizations, rulers, heroes, and ordinary people alike. Some of that past is well documented, but much of it is distorted, mythologized, or forgotten entirely. Yet all of it continues to shape the present.

History in this world is not passive lore. It determines which lands are stable or broken, which ruins and dungeons await to be explored, which factions hold power, and which threats are poised to rise next. Ancient knowledge, lost techniques, and forgotten places do not reappear arbitrarily—they are uncovered, restored, or reactivated through exploration, conflict, and discovery.

At the center of all eras lies a single constant: The Eternal War.

The Eternal War is the defining condition of the world—a persistent, evolving struggle between the forces aligned with good, seeking order and preservation, and those driven by evil toward corruption, domination, and annihilation. It is not a single campaign or era, but a recurring cycle that reshapes civilizations, redraws borders, and scars or heals the land itself.

Across cultures and centuries, this conflict has been framed through different names and doctrines. Different races, factions and nations have over the ages proclaimed and dedicated themselves to many different deities known by various names. As they have become more advanced and developed, each of the civilized nations and races have all come to the common conclusion—there is a singular benevolent divine entity that seeks the well-being and prosperity of all good folk, and a singular evil one that is bent on destruction and annihilation of everything right and true.

To the Imperian, they are known as the Lord of Light and the Prince of Darkness.
To the Dwarves, The Maker and The Destroyer.
To the Ashrian, The Dawn Mother and The Night Bringer.

Each nation and race has known them under different names, but all share the same intrinsic understanding. These entities are not distant abstractions. Their influence manifests through ideology, corruption, blessing, omens, divine and unholy power, and war.

This conflict does not pause for rest or political convenience. Periods of stability represent moments where vigilance holds, not where the threat has ended. When defenses weaken—through complacency, internal conflict, or neglect—the forces of darkness exploit the opportunity. Orc incursions strike swiftly to overwhelm before resistance can organize. Undead corruption spreads slowly, relying on indifference to establish footholds that become increasingly difficult to cleanse. Demonic influence infiltrates quietly, embedding itself within communities before revealing its presence.

This war is reflected directly in gameplay. Regions fall under occupation, settlements degrade or collapse, trade routes become unsafe, and the environments themselves become corrupted. Liberation is possible, but never guaranteed, and victory often leaves lasting damage that requires healing. History records not only triumphs, but bitter losses—towns erased, kingdoms broken, and entire regions abandoned.

Players do not exist outside this cycle. Participation in the game world—and by extension in The Eternal War—shapes reputation, access, and identity, defining how the world responds to their presence and actions.

The Beneath first appears in some of the oldest historical accounts from elves and dwarves. Some frame it as the former heart of dwarven civilization at its pinnacle—an immense subterranean realm housing wonders rivaling the great elven works on the surface. Others suggest much of it was built by the Ancients but discovered and appropriated by the dwarves as they expanded their underground kingdom. Still other accounts hint it was some sort or layered, sealed prison system created by the divine in ages long ago, or a terrible scar left by great conflict at the beginning of creation.

While the origins aren’t particularly clear, all the histories unilaterally speak of a great war with the dragons that shattered the elven and dwarven civilizations, and as the threats grew on the surface, the dwarves and elves are said to have hidden their most powerful knowledge, relics, and artifacts deep below, sealing them within vaults, sanctuaries, and living preserves.

What followed remains a controversial topic—some accounts claim reckless delving by the dwarves, others blame forbidden magic from the elves, yet others suggest external intrusions by forces of evil, or the breaking of ancient seals through a combination of circumstances. All accounts agree on the same outcome however: something awakened—or escaped—and corruption spread upward through the depths of The Beneath, driving both elf and dwarf back to the surface to contend with the fates that awaited them there.

What is consistent through all historical reference, is that the knowledge and powers held within The Beneath wasn’t meant to be forgotten or lost—and it holds many secrets in desperate need of being discovered—along with countless perils.

The elves and dwarves had to face the dragons on the surface without the safety and protection of The Beneath, and they paid the price. Both nations were shattered to a fraction of their former civilizations. As the war raged on, in a decision based of desperation, they began equipping, training and utilizing the resilient and increasingly prolific humans against the dragon threat, advancing them at a much faster pace than they would have otherwise developed. Together, the three races became proficient at slaying the dragons, eventually thinning their numbers and forcing them to retreat back across the oceans to leave the world in relative peace once again.

The conclusion of this dark event known as ‘The Desolation War‘ left the elves, dwarves and humans devastated. The elves sunk back into the few remaining old forests and groves that survived the fires and horrors of the dragons, and began efforts to preserve what remained, and slowly rebuild their nation. Likewise the dwarves found new homes in the lofty mountains of the overworld, where they could make deep fortresses within the stone, remaining separate from The Beneath and the corruption within. The humans race, now equipped with far more knowledge and capability than they previously had, began building more permanent settlements and cities across the world, expanding and multiplying at rates far exceeding the expectations of elf or dwarf and becoming the dominant race in only a century or two while the dwarves and elves had barely begun to recuperate.

The civilizations and nations that emerged after The Desolation War were formed by a combination of traditions and cultures, region and location, and ambition.

For the elves it was more of a matter of the locations of the ancient woods and groves, separating them naturally and eventually leading them to form distinct civilizations apart from one another.

For the dwarves it was similar, one group choose to settle the mountains of the western regions, the other the east. Both retain similar cultures and are composed of the same original clans, but they differ in government and ruling structure.

The human race is where a lot more diversity occurred; some settled in the heat scorched deserts of the south, others the frigid northern wastes. Some built cities and fortresses, while some remained more nomadic and tribal.

The Imperian nation began it’s rise to power through conquest during this period. Formed by a collection of families who retain nobility status to this day, they thrived in the central regions, building an empire that exceeded all contemporaries and rapidly amalgamated other factions and nations around them over the course of a century.

As the Imperian empire continued to grow and expand, absorbing countless smaller nations and engaging in numerous conflicts with the other significant civilizations around them, four treaties were formed to keep the Imperians, as well as the forces of evil, in check.

The first treaty came into being during a long and bitter conflict between the Imperian and the Westlander Kingdom. It was rumored to have originally been the scheme of the reclusive and secretive Shadow Elves—desiring to solidify the western powers against current and future threats and keep the Imperian from interfering with their realm, an inevitable occurrence should the Westlanders be taken over. Whatever the origin, the shocking announcement to the civilized world of the ‘Western Alliance‘, composed of the Westlander Kingdom, the Dwarves of Kahlad’Rhun and the Shadow Elves, brought the Imperian war with the Westlanders to a grinding halt—as they recognized this new combination of opposition would be far too costly to pursue and victory would be far from certain.

Following suit, the Dunarii, Myra’ad Wood Elves and Tel’Althas High Elves declared the ‘Bright Seas Pact‘ just a few months later. A similar treaty uniting their nations in defense of the southern lands and by extension against Imperian invasion, effectively stifling the Imperian expansion efforts in the southern regions of the world.

The invasion of the Norse into the northeastern lands following a massive undead force that overwhelmed their original home in the frost covered northern isles sparked a short but fierce war as they took stronghold after stronghold from the unprepared Imperian forces and swept through the lands, setting the Imperians who were already confronting an orc horde on their northern front, into a unfamiliar defensive posture. As the Imperians gathered their forces for a counter-offensive, the mighty Barbarian Tribes from the North along with contingents of Aranell Wood Elves, marched down the northeastern coastlines and came up behind the Imperian army that were beginning siege of the Norse held fortress now known as Journey’s End, forcing them to withdraw and accept peace terms, and forming the ‘Northguard Bond‘ between Norse, Barbarian and Aranell Elf, solidifying their respective nations as protectors of the northern regions and protecting each other from Imperian retribution and conquest.

The last of the Four Treaties was the ‘Dawn Covenant‘, a joining of the Ashrian Empire, the Eastern Dwarves of Morin’dur and the Selrynar High Elves, becoming a beacon of eastern power against the increasing incursions of demon, orc and dragon as well as curbing Imperian ambitions in the eastern regions.

Together these treaties contained the Imperian expansion that was a defining aspect of the age, and brought about a far more united and directed response to the increasingly more frequent and larger-scale invasions by the forces of darkness occurring throughout the lands. The Imperian became as a result, a central player in the defense of the nations, often working with one or more of the other nations and treaties to counter emerging threats as an ally rather than a potential enemy, slowly shifting their culture to one of protection, diplomacy, order and trade rather than that of conquerors.