For nearly 45,000 years, the Immarse ruled the lands and their gargantuan size made it nearly impossible for other races to propagate. They had arrived on the probe through a massive vortex that threatened to swallow the probe. Due to the probes unique atmosphere, even their great powers could not get them out of the atmosphere. Thus they were trapped and they made a new home of the waste they had landed on. Their rule was peaceful and still. After many years they lay dormant and the other races of the lands began to come up from the depths and take over the probe. (There is much more history before this and the races must have been here much longer than this, but this is the first accounts that were actually recorded through songs and tales.
This age is marked with mysticism and great power. Most of the more powerful relics were created during this age. The Probe was now teaming with life and the Drattle had the upper hand on all things. Thus they ruled the lands and made the laws for all to follow, or they removed those that chose not to follow. They rode dragons as pets, but were easily as powerful as their pets. The Drattle were considered gods of their own right, and the true Gods, Malds and even some Supre Malds would have little to do with them as they had an uncanny ability to defeat even these powerful beings. It is said that during this time only the Suprema could take on the "mortals" that covered the probe. It was a time of great peace for those that followed Drattle law. It was known as a time of Suns as at the time there were two suns that circled the probe and kept everything warm and life teaming. It was a time of great power and knowledge. A time that could not last.
It was at the end of this age that Vincent Augomoto the man was killed in the Mission of Propel. His reign of terror started that day due to the Mother of Destruction and her companions. After his death, which ended a ritual, his body was cast aside and he became one of the most powerful Demon-Gods of all time. At least, that is how the story goes.
The Drattle vanished from the face of the probe in around 3850 and left everything when they left. Only tribes and handfuls of them were left on the Probe, but they too shortly vanished. (It is thought this was due to the fact that the two suns which once powered most of their machines and much of their magic, were mysteriously removed from the Probe. Leaving all the world in a state of chaos and confusion that took years to get out of. Now, only two moons serve as light and warmth for the aging probe.) The races that were left behind had no true direction and as such simply started fighting one another. It wasn't a World War in the since due to the fact that those involved where not truly nations but simply tribe of handfuls of peoples fighting one another. To this day, it is unknown why the Drattle left the probe and how. Also, their distant cousins didn't start populating the probe for another 100 years, settling in the Palama Islands. The Rattle have little knowledge of the Drattle other than they were related in some way. It was somewhere during this time that the Xefalonions landed near Rikinia. They cut a swath across the lands and destroyed much of everything, taking all they conquered as their own. They were doing quite well until they came to the Palama Islands and made a terrible mistake. It was the first time the Rattle had ever shown themselves in battle and the entire probe knew them, forever more, as the dominate fighting force of the land. If not for them, the probe may well have been given over to the Xefalonion invaders.
It was during this age that Death Stalker first immerged on the probe. His battles against Vincent Augomoto were legendary and have continued to the present day. Some believe that it is Death Stalker that stomped out the suns for the chance to get at Augomoto and it was Augomoto that brought forth the moons to ensure that Death Stalker didn't have a chance.
After the Drattle disappeared from the probe, the other races took over and many of the Higher Deities saw their chance to gain souls. As such they started churches, called for sacrifices, etc. This caused many of the now powerful societies to start fighting one another over which deity should be followed. Many smaller gods became Malds during this time and many Malds became Supre Malds. All of them profited from the misery of the mortals and few cared one way or another about them. During this time much of the current superstitions were brought up and created to ensure to keep the mortals in line.
This age brought about the issue of heretics, which were believed to be anyone that did not follow the "true" gods. This presented many problems for the different churches as "true" gods were plenty and it was hard to keep the people in line to whichever the church had chosen. So they started burning people that did not believe they way they believed. This policy was taken by most churches and thus many holy wars started during this time and entire churches were destroyed with all their followers being eradicated. Since the Supre Malds could not meddle directly in the affairs of mortals, those that had set up churches could not directly defend them and thus were knocked down a few pegs in power and often were then destroyed by another Supre Mald, or defeated and cast out by a handful of Malds. This was the way of this age and it was devastating
to the populace of mortals.
This is the first writings that were documented in such a way as to be handed down. Before this time, all knowledge was passed by word of mouth. Many of the Deities saw this as a great things and wanted to get their own knowledge to the people. None saw it as their actual down fall. Before this if negative information was getting out, the deity could simply kill the person speaking it. Now, however, the books would have to be removed and that became much harder to deal with. Soon, many of the old gods would be rooted out and many deities would begin to lose their power.
As the mortals began rooting out the different gods and deities, the power began to shift. Many of the deities became aware that they may lose much of their power and with that power, much of their current territories. This was unacceptable to most and the gods started to war with one another. During this time, the most powerful of the deities, often called the Battle Gods, stepped forward and started destroying all others that got in their path. This was a time for great suffering on all sides. Most of the Supre Malds of today were the Battle Gods of this age. A handful of Battle Gods could take down Malds, or even Supre Malds and these Gods stood together to take out whomever was in their path. The Battle Gods would eventually establish churches to themselves. These nine entities are still worshiped today. An entire city was dedicated to worshiping them and their exploits.
The Deities had made a huge mess of the probe and many of the mortals that once inhabited it had become extinct. Then a handful of extremely powerful beings stepped onto the probe with power that seemed minimal, but then seemed to surpass even the deities. These beings quickly began defending the mortals and destroying the gods that were on the probe doing harm. They were all of a similar family with a crest that showed their honor. They were known as Melaney and no one, not even they, could explain where they had come from. Not to mention where they were granted such fabulous powers that were not reliant on Soulmere or Dymere. They were reliant on Metophic energy and some another kind which was not understood. They took over the land and brought peace within a hundred years.
It is known that some where already on the probe, maybe as far back as its inception, but none had shown themselves or their power before this encounter. The Gods that rallied against the Battle Gods were trying to destroy a city called Cross Roads where a one of the Battle Gods was staying. They started into the city wall when a flash lit the sky and three of the first Melaney were there. Then a handful more and a handful more. The Gods decided to take them down and learned quickly that those these looked like mortals, they were far from weak. In the end, it was the Melaney that took down the Gods of that fight. When they arrived in mass, there were fifty of them. Eye witnesses stated that they showed power evenly as great as that of the Gods. After the fight, they all simply went their separate ways and began exploring the lands.
Nearly three years later, they all banded together and began defending the lands from all deities that would harm mortals. This brought in an era of peace but it was a sketchy peace.
After reigning in the Battle Gods and other creatures, demons, etc. the Melaney had 24 years of peace with all mortals, gods, deities, etc. But that peace could not last for one of their rank was upset over the plot of lands that he had received after the settling of the Melaney and wanted more, much more. So he wound up killing one of the Melaneys which was thought to be impossible, and as such started the first Melaney war. When Chris Melaney came to take David Melaney in for his crimes, a fight ensued that would rage for years.
During this time, the Melaney showed themselves in mass and nearly sixty of them led entire armies against one another. Each was impressive in their own ways, but all were deadly. Their strange "Melaney Stance" gave them away immediately in battles. Many tried to mimic the stance but few could accomplish with any true style. During this time, 8 houses of Melaney came forward and many women were giving themselves to the Melaney men in hopes of having children of great power. This would cause further conflict down the road.
The Manley, though very helpful in removing the threat of the Battle Gods, became less than desirable after each battle left the cities and lands they fought in nothing but wastes. The mortals began turning on their Melaney generals and trying to kill them. Many Melaneys lost their lives due to this, where the soldiers of their armies would all attack the general at once, right when the general was fighting a Melaney of the opposing army. This was when the battle cry "Only a Melaney can kill a Melaney" began to trumpet, which meant push the two of them together and help the lesser of the two evils. Today it is used as a warning, then it was used as a taunt.
As the Melaneys fell one after another, the civilizations that were left began realizing that they were left with little resources and much debt. To try and regain enough resources to survive, they turned on one another. It was the worst of times when brother fought brother on the battle field simply to get a leg up against an opponent. It did not matter the race that you were fighting, if they owned something you did not, then the fight was to the death and winner took all. This was believed to be a backlash for fighting the Melaneys, but no one could prove it was the Melaneys that started this insane way of thinking. By the end of 50 years, much of the land was devastated and only about 20 of the original Melaney still stood. During this time, also, the mortals were going after the gods, which provoked the gods and higher deities into a frenzy and started all out war with mortals, gods, Melaney, and the like. If this had continued, the probe would today be barren.
Seeing the destruction that could ensue if the Melaney were left unchecked, the Kala, decided to actually take action for the first time since its establishment, on a global scale. They decided to create what are now known as God Slayers. (It is believed that these had been created long before and had visited the probe, but never truly interacted until this time.) These slayers, if brought together properly, could take on even the powerful and near immortal Melaney. Some could even kill them. Thus a new horror was dropped upon the probe. Chris and David, seeing that the God Slayers were more than either could handle alone, decided to embark on a series of creations to try and stop the God Slayers. They tried three times. The first was an utter failure and was created out of desperation. His name was Gridlok and he had no conscious to speak of. The second was Alex Melaney, whom was created in much the same way as Gridlok, where both of them had DNA of nearly every Melaney still alive in the hopes that they would be powerful enough to take on the God Slayers alone. The second attempt was more successful than the first and Alex had a conscious but very little of one. Gridlok was supposed to be killed after they found the flaw, but David secreted him away to Achilleos. Alex was supposed to be killed as well, but Chris did much the same, giving his child to a witch to bring up. The third child was undocumented and thus there is little to no information on him or her.
The long fight between the Melaney and the God Slayers began and much of the probe was scorched. An arena was created in the same city that hold the great Auction, but the city name is lost to time and the city itself is considered a myth. In this arena the likes of Deities of any size can fight without harming the land around them. Thus the God Slayers began bringing the Melaney to the arena for their fights. This ensured that the other races could live through the fights and ensured that the probe could exist after the fights. It is said that the fights continue even today and when a God Slayer finds a god that is worthy of the fight, they will summon them to the arena for the fight. It has not been proven.
During this time, many gods fell, many Malds were destroyed and even a few Supre Malds were killed. Thus the deities went to the Hall of Gods to speak with the Kala and stop the God Slayers from their destructions. They were supposed to be there to destroy the Melaney, not the rest of creation. Thus a small fight sparked between the Kala and these deities. When this happened, Judge, the executioner of the Kala, fired a single shot at one of the Deities that was going to fire on the Kala. The shot tore through the deity and stopped the fight. He then decided it best to summon back the God Slayers and pin them up until they are needed. After this time, only a handful still walk the probe and those are rarely seen by anyone without godly eyes. However, they are always at the ready for a fight.
During the time of the Slayers, Chris Melaney and a handful of "good" Melaney tried to smooth things over with the Kala and with the God Slayers to keep from fighting and destroying much of the land. While in a meeting with the Kala, an assassination attempt was made on Chris Melaney and Xang Melaney, Chris' father, was killed in the crossfire. Xang, often known as Kane, died in Chris' arms and David Melaney tried to kill Chris as well, but was stopped by another, unnamed Melaney. The Kala refused to continue the conversation and Chris swore he would get them back one day for allowing his father's death in their home. He was banished from the Hall of Gods that day and the fight between him and David raged on. David became the Emperor of Achilleos and used the Zorbee armies to try and crush Chris, but his failure was completed at the city of Cross Roads. Chris and David mortally wounded one another on that day and both were buried just outside their own cities.
After the death of Chris, all the remaining Melaney, those of the original 60 or so, either left the probe, were killed or went into hiding. It was thought, for a time, that all Melaney had been eradicated. Those that had their bloodline, kept it hidden and their talents as well. For showing to be a Melaney could call the God Slayers and thus complete doom to yourself. Thus the time of peace ensued for thirty years from 1525-1485. That is, until the first Cataclysm. During the time between these two dates, the last of the Melaney were removed in one way or another from the probe and everyone believed they were safe. All the Deities were put in check and life began to thrive everywhere once more. The Brik Mines of Propel powered the capitol of nearly every nation and everyone started getting rich and maybe a bit greedy. The whole of civilizations began to rebuild themselves and it was a great time.
40 years of peace and prosperity led to into the great calamity that was the Great Cataclysm. Almost every nation was getting their Brik for rebuilding from the city of Propel and the Brik Mines that were there. The Olars were working overtime to rebuild as much of the different nations, as well as their own, as they possibly could and they were being paid well for it. Everyone was celebrating the death of the Melaney, the death of the Battle Gods and the removal of all the deities from the probe directly. It was a time of great rejoice and amazing wealth. But times like these don't last and this one could not.
The first of the Great Cataclysm, but not where we place 0 on the age due to the fact that, though this led to the second of the Death Wars, it wasn't the grandest of Cataclysm. This was more an economic ruin of most of the probe rather than a destruction of much of it. During this time, a king was killed that was to set a thousand years of peace in place during some great peace talks. His death caused people to believe the Melaney were behind this and furthered their fear and hatred of them and caused three different nations to declare war on one another. The Catastrophe happened when something literally blew the Propel mines from the inside out. This caused much of the value of all currency to plummet and entire nations fell over night due to their loss of their capitol. During this time, also, a great holy relic was stolen from the depths of the Necrosis and it caused much of the underworld to rise to the surface in search of it. This all caused so much death and destruction that even the deities were trying to step in to help stop it. If they lost all their mortals, then they could never become more powerful. Their stepping in caused more irritation than they had thought possible due to the fact that everyone was still weary of them after everything that had happened. Thus a new holy war began with everyone choosing a side and the great churches struggling against one another. Since this started and religion became something of a taboo, the common mortals began bringing arms against the churches and then against the Nobles that were backing them. The Nobles in turn brought their armies to bare against the peasants which caused the kings to bring their armies against the Nobles and then all out war started once again. Thus marked the reason for the Second Death War.
Due to the loss of life and the great famines that were happening throughout all lands, all nations were waring with one another for resources, that with the Holy wars that were raging already caused everyone to become opponents to everyone and again brother fought brother over resources, religion and their very thoughts. Most peaceful races were extinguished within the first three years of the Death War II and civilizations that lost were put into slavery or eradicated completely by those that won. It was good to have slaves, but they were more mouths to feed in a time when most crops would not grow and most water ways had been diverted or completely destroyed. This was a time of death and destruction for all living beings and a time when "peace" was a dirty word among the Nobles. It was a time when alliances were shattered and people were bought and sold like cattle. Only the strong survived and nations that were not part of the fight, were considered part of the problem. It was during this time that the true might of the Rattle Armies came to bare on other nations as the Rattle tried to bring stability to Palama and her islands. Their stability brought with it many strings that other races did not want to live under. Thus the Palama landscape was nearly untouched during much of the Death Wars II save for the few fools idiot enough to take on an army of Rattle.
The war lasted only 10 years but by its end there was no nation untouched save for Palama and no race was left unmarred. Every land had great wastes that left the crops ruined and the buildings nothing more than rubble. There were only two cities that still stood. Cross Roads and Brindakrie and both of them were smoldering from the recent battles. Cross Roads had new heroes that now defended their borders, the Reachers, who banded together to fend off any opponents. The team was so powerful that even the deities steered clear of that city.
Brindakrie had Prince Charles, the most powerful Sorcerer in the lands of Zerror and most other lands as well. He and his Grand Vizier Jofus, both controlled two armies of great power and Charles' strategy with Jofus keen since of calculations made any foe beatable. Their city was attacked, but it was not raised and those that attacked it only made it into the inner walls before being repelled.
During all of this time, Mt. Dryst, one of the most feared places on the Probe, erupted and killed much of the inhabitants in the lands of Hisska, where the evil Siratis lived. The eruption came at the exact time that an enemy force landed on the continent and it is believed that Siratis' magic caused the eruption. Oddly, the creatures and races that lived on Hisska had evacuated only a few days before the eruption. After the lava cooled and the clouds subsided, which only took a few weeks, the inhabitants began pouring back into Hisska around Mt. Dryst and the plants seemed to grow at an alarming rate. Within three months of the explosion, no one would have ever known it had even erupted. No one now attacks Hisska near Mt. Dryst for any reason. The army that had attacked that day lost nearly seven hundred thousand troops between Hisska and Zerror. Strangely, the clouds of death never made it past the mountains of Zerror and onto the main lands.
Due to the Death Wars II, most of societies were destroyed and almost nothing wasn't ruined above ground. Three cities still stood, which have always stood. Brindakrie, the house of the dragon, Propel, the mother of wealth and Cross Roads, the city of Justice. Beyond this, all other cities were either in ruin, or completely destroyed. Due to this there was little defense for the night creatures and much of the mortals had to find ways to fend them off.
During this time, after the great wars finally finished, and the deities were no longer meddling directly in mortal affairs, the mortals began to propagate greatly across the lands. Races that were near extinct began rebuilding. Death Stalker, seeing that his armies could easily wipe out the entire race of mortals on the light side of the probe, did something no one expected. He pulled all of the night creatures back for twenty years. He even spoke with the different tribes of mortals and explained to them that they had 20 years of peace before he would again unleash his hordes to the land. Thus for twenty years the mortals had a chance to rebuild and thrive but they needed more than just assurance of the night, they needed to rebuild their numbers. Thus the Deities helped them to become more fertile than ever to replenish the lands. During 100 years of this time, every race was giving birth at a rate that was phenomenal. even the creatures benefited from this age. However, many of the darker beings also benefited from this age and thus many of their lands were easily replenished as well. Many mortal races went from the edge of extinction in one generation to near over population by the next three. Mothers that would normally have 3-5 babies in a given life time were having 12-20 and their labors have become much easier.
During this time the civilizations that were ruined began rebuilding their cities once more, but this time with protections from the night creatures and from other Deities as well. Each city would be brought up around a Champion that could take on outsiders that would try to harm the city. This practice happened with all races and many of the Melaney blood lines became champions. These Champions were there to protect the cities and not for conquest. Thus most cities would not try to fight one another and would simply expand outward until they started getting close to another territory. They would then stop and try to negotiate. These negotiations would be through mediators and the mediators would often be of Melaney blood lines as well, or very powerful mages or the like. The "mediations" would often become hostile and rather than whole cities fighting one another, the Champion and the Mediator would fight it out and the victor would gain control of the other's city. Thus cities changed hands easily and with minimal blood shed during these times. However, this presented other issues that would shortly come to light.
It was during this time that the first Rangers began walking Colemanian. These Rangers were common folk that had little to no abilities or powers when they first entered the Monastery of Light located in the city of Zemdest. After five years of training and endowment in different abilities, a week ranger could take on a Mald alone. May not beat them, but would be able to hold their own for a great deal of time. These Rangers now roam all of the Colemanian territory that is defended by Cross Roads and few will rival them. They never train more than 12 at a given time, during the reign of the 12, others will be started in their training but will not gain the endowments unless one of the original 12 is defeated. Each ranger is given a specific assignment among the different counties of Colemanian and each dishes out justice in those counties. The judges that preside there will give the Ranger a name to bring in and the Ranger will then bring in that person if they are within their county. Also, the Rangers are called to quell disturbances. It is a cruel brand of justice that they shell out, but it keeps the peace for most of Colemanian. Some Rangers have been requested for other lands, such as Zerror and Shenor, but these Rangers are not as powerful as the 12.
The age of Kings started in Rikinia, where a wealthy merchant was trying to get things done with the local authorities through the voting process, but it was taking so long to get anything done that no one wanted to even deal with them. He took up as many people as he could to band together into a "Union" of sorts where the head of the union would have the power to force others into action. This caused a lot of mistrust to through the city, but many followed simply to get things done. This union grew exponentially within a few weeks and suddenly it had more power than the voted authorities. The wealthy man then decided to take his newly gained power to the next level and began making polocies that would shape the rest of the city. After two months, the voted authorities were over run and those that did not like the idea of the union were either swayed or ran into strange accidents. By the end of the year, the wealthy man was now the first king of Sabnik of Rikinia. In true fashion to nearly anyone that gains power, he wanted more. By the end of the next year, he was king of Rikinia and ruled over all the lands there of. He put in place Nobles that supported him and gave them the lands that his union had stolen from the land owners that once lived there. This caused a few revolts, but since the Champion of the city had to go with whichever authority was in power, they had little recourse. Hundreds of cities followed suite and soon there were kings in nearly all the lands. Propel had a similar issue, but when the union tried to spring up, it was quelled by a woman that professed herself queen and with the power to back it up. She was also the Champion of the city and those that opposed her quickly fell to the way side. She is currently still the queen of Propel.
During this time many of the "peasants" were overlooked in their daily needs for more powerful exploits and were either ignored of poorly treated. Most kings wanted power and riches and little to do with the true daily tasks of the running of cities. Thus they left that to the Nobles. A practice that would one day come back to bite them as most of the kings handed down their crown to their heir and those heirs were not brought up to care about the people, but about the crown.
For nearly 500 years the kings had ruled the land and most were so powerful that they would rival their own gods. However, most also had little to no regard for the peasants that followed them. Peasants were nothing more than tools to be discarded when no longer of use. Thus many revolts started happening during this time and the Noble houses that were given status and then thrust out into the cold by their kings whims, would band as many of these peasants together as possible and turn on their kings. This was happening in every major society so much so that if a king wanted to discard a noble, they would have them beheaded, or worse, rather than throw them out. During this time, most of the societies that are seen today were established but most have been transformed due to this age, to a point that they would not be recognizable by those that lived there during the Age of Kings. Most of the societies that had lived through the Great Cataclysm I, were very powerful and had alternate sources of money, food, etc. The Nobles would gun for these alternates so that they could use the supplies to rally against their kings. When a king was ousted, then the infighting would begin and the Nobles would try to find civil ways to decide who would be the next king. This did not have peaceful ends. During this time, a great auction was uncovered that was held once every three generations. During this auction, all the gods, deities, etc. would walk the probe for 24 hrs. and auction off different rare items to one another. A book of the auction was released by a local that lived within the city. The local was soon killed after for defying the deities. Many mortals read the book and learned of where it was being held. Those that had the staying power could walk away with trinkets so powerful as to destroy entire armies in a single attack. Thus, many of the Nobles tried to gain these items and hand them down to their kids to ensure that they could stay in power. Entering the auction was a scary thing unto itself for mortals were not allowed . Those that were found there were either destroyed instantly or ruined in one way or another. These trinkets now make up the powerful tools used by the Noble houses to keep their kings and other Nobles from destroying them. Some of them are so powerful as to keep deities away from their cities.
This is where our story begins. Gridlok is the only Melaney still on the probe that anyone knows is a Melaney, but most don't consider him as one. The start of this age has been foretold through many different seers, but none so powerful as the Amazing Xantor. If his prophecy is to be true, many will die as the probe enters another Death War.
He prophecies a Great Cataclysm that will rival that of the first and one that will lead the probe into a Death War and deplete the entire probe of all life. A fight between the agents of light and dark that will leave even the moons scared. His prophecy, however, is flawed in many ways in that he was considered insane when he wrote it and hasn't gotten any better since. Some of the writings are so strange as to not even make since, but after they come to pass, the passages make perfect since. Those that follow his codex are considered Xantorites and many believe that he wasn't trying to stop these things from coming to pass, but rather make them.
There were other prophecies as well, but only one as well known as Xantor's. Mara, Xantor's sister, also prophesied of the ending of this age, but the Great Cataclysm II wasn't the same in her's and the Death War III didn't happen. Those that follow her prophecy are known as Maranites and are zealots that want to ensure her prophecy comes to pass. Strangely, everything they do to make her's come to pass seems to force Xantor's into thee light more and more.
Only those that live through this age shall know which they should have followed.