I n the Histories of Kalamus, it is recorded that all records before the Age of Darkness were mostly lost and/or incomplete. This partial History is an exerpt from Histories of Kalamus Vol. 10.

The Age of Darkness came about when the Evil swept down out of the Northlands, that freezing bitter area mostly unexplored by the Folk. No one was quite sure what the Evil’s purpose was, but all knew that they swept the Hyooman Empires away in front of them and lay seige to the Folk held lands in the south. Until the Evil had come, Folk and Hyooman had lived in peace for centuries, an uneasy alliance that came about when the Treaty of Greli was signed after the Third War of Destruction. But I digress, let us speak of the Evil.

The Evil was in the form of the undead, vampires, and other beings created out of the twisted magic that the MageKing of the North had discovered. His armies wiped out whole settlements and towns in his quest to wipe the World clean and start it again in his own twisted form. In one record, a Southern Commander wrote in his dispatch:

“They come from nowhere, they ambush us at every turn, these demons and spectres, we stay close to the watchfires at night. Even during the day we are not safe, I’ve lost good Warriors trying to beat these...these twisted things. My Queen, we need food badly, our supplies tainted by the touch of the unclean, we need warriors, where are the Mages? We were promised Mages.”

In this we read that they requested mages, the Mages of Amerlan being the only ones who knew how to harness the forces of the Pure Way. There were very few of them, as the World had not needed their powers in a long time. History records that Miyal Herkan and his entire command were wiped out in a large battle far north of the Hyooman settlement of Trikal. This being a decisive battle that helped turn the tide of Evil. The Mages of Amerlan had sent help swiftly and were part of the action that turned the unclean tide. The Hyooman’s had sent troops and supplies also and were involved in the deepest battles.

A dispatch from the Hyooman Commander reads:

“My King, I write this report in response to your message, the Folk Warriors and Mages they have provided fight with consummate skill and power, we are happy to fight beside such Folk. They know no fear in the face of death, and have more than once saved our troops from certain doom at the price of their own lives. We owe them many times over My Lord. Our troops and their’s share the watchfire’s at night, and food by day, without them My King, we would have been swept away and lost in the passages of time.”

This dispatch proves that at one time the Hyooman’s were our staunch friends and allies, that they and we helped each other during the darkest hours of the World. This will be talked upon later.

During the Years of the Darkness, many towns were abandoned and most Folk moved nearer the larger Holds and castles, this to prevent further incursions by the dark forces. Many great battles were fought at the cost of blasted lands, as seen far to the east and to the north by the Glass Plains, and the Blasted Lands. These being a testimony to the powers that raged and fought.

In the darkest hour, when it seemed as if the Hyooman and Folk Warriors were at doom’s door, their came the WarMages, no one knows exactly from whence they came, but tales have been told of the Gods of Light bestowing the honorable and kind with the pure flame of Magick. They came and helped turn the tide on all fronts, many were killed when the Southern Forces fought their last at the Battle of The Ice Fields, north of the settlement of Trikal. The forces that were used forever turned this land into glass, monuments erected around the plains showing the names of the Fallen, forever entombed within. Hyooman and Folk side by side in the Halls of The Valiant, shall we remember this sacrifice, or forever forget those who kept us free?

The power of Magick was brought fully back into the Lands of the World, showing that together we can strive to be free of Darkness.

Let me talk about the Wars of Destruction, these Battles and Actions were fought to the detriment of both Hyooman and Folk, the Hyooman’s were led by the Mad King Ralan, who declared that the Folk were an abomination on the World, and should be wiped off the face of it. Many Hyooman’s disagreed with this and fought with the Folk against their own. Always in Folk society there have been hotheads and Generals who would prefer that the World be Hyooman free, they are usually tempered by the wisdom and forethought of the Queen’s Court, her advisor’s being of different lands, breeds and classes.

There were Three Wars of Destruction, the first being in N.E 234, when the Mad King Ralan declared that the Folk were an abomination, that the World would be cleansed of them. This led to many border Actions and Great Battles as the Folk fought for their lives, the Mages of Amerlan were powerful back then and stemmed the tide of Hyooman’s.

The next War was fought in N.E. 238, the Mad King having rallied his twisted forces against the Folk lands again, backed by an unknown power that gave Magick to his Hyooman Mages, they being twisted evil things that fought with Darkness. Once again, Folk and Hyooman sympathizers alike fought the Mad King’s forces, this time forcing them back into their own lands and reclaiming what was lost in the First War.

The Third and final War of Destruction was fought in N.E. 245, the last vestiges of evil swept again out of the Mad King’s empire and were exterminated to the last trooper, the Mages of Amerlan being prepared this time and the Queen giving permission to use the Spells of Apocalypse. This resulting in the first of the Blasted Lands, forever wiping the Mad King and his twisted minions off the face of the World. The Treaty of Greli being signed by what was left of the Mad King’s Court, this under the pressure of destruction by Folk forces.

Which brings me to the Age of Darkness.

For four centuries the Hyooman’s and Folk again lived in peace, trading and farming side by side as they had before the Three Wars as they had come to be called. The Mages of Amerlan had begun to withdraw as their Great Powers were no longer needed, they advised the Queen and her Court but nothing more, eventually the Spells of Apocalypse were locked and sealed away behind the Great Seals and Fetishes, so that in time of need they could be returned to the World. Their power being too great to pass down, the Mages feared they would be used for Evil, and so, in the Tower of Herom they were sealed and Warded by summoned spirits.

The Mages had the Gift of Foresight, and they could see a great Evil gathering far to the North, but try as they might, no one heeded their warning, as Folk and Hyooman society had become too complacent in the centuries between Wars. The lands were bountiful with fruits and grains, trading was at its peak, Folk and Hyooman’s alike were beginning a new Golden Age of Prosperity. Once again, the Mages warned the Queen and Her Court of the coming danger, of the Evil that was sweeping Southward. The Royal Court paying no heed, the Mages turned to the Empire of the Hyooman’s trying desperately to warn them of what approached their borders.

The Empire was heedless of the warnings also, having thought that the Mad King’s destruction meant the last of Evil had been cleansed from the World.

Remember this, my children, as long as good exists, there will always be evil.

The Mages were distraught, they sought to bring the Evil to bay and so sent parties of their finest Battle Mages to the North, to turn the Evil back to the freezing wastes from whence it came. The groups were made up of the most powerful and strongest of the Mages, they never returned from the North, nothing was heard from them again.

This shook the Mages down to their very core, their best and brightest gone? They panicked and sealed themselves into their towers to await the coming fury, sealed and warded, they watched the outside world through their Mirrors.

What comes next is mostly conjecture, pieced together from parchments and books long thought to be lost during the Age of Darkness.

We believe that at some time during the Three Wars, an escaped Hyooman Mage made his way to the Northlands, there he discovered a pocket, or tome or scroll, who knows, of Dark Magick. Something that had been sealed away ages ago from the prying eyes of mortals. This in the hands of a twisted being such as the Hyooman Mage were a force to be reckoned with. The power he discovered further corrupted him or her down that long dark path, capturing the innocent peoples who lived in the North, he took their souls and discarded the flesh, making his own creations live. These twisted things made up his army that swept down out of the frozen wastes at the top of the world, leaving only ravaged lands in their wake.

Let me stop for a moment for a few facts about Folk and Hyooman’s. Hyooman’s choose the colder climes, simply for the fact that they are very thick skinned, some might say thick skulled also. Their bodies more adaptable to a changing climate, using woven clothes that keep out the winds of cold and the heat of summer. The seasons changing from the bitter of Winter months to the heat of Summer.

Folk, by their very nature are gregarious, they tend to live in an unchanging clime, the temperature hovering about 70 degrees fahrenheit at all seasons, this making a comfortable living even though the Folk have fur. Storms and rain are common, which serve to cool down the hotter climes, the Folk being fully adaptable to the warm weather that is year-round.

The Northern Borders of the Hyooman Empire, first felt the blow of the unclean in N.E. 698, when a Lone outpost sent a runner to the main garrison requesting help against an unknown force. The outpost was located along the Frelis Border, a lone garrison of three hundred Hyooman troops guarding against bandits and rogues. The relief force and the garrison were never heard from again, the relief force consisting of over a thousand mounted troops.

*Kalamus’s note- The Mounted troops refer to Hyooman’s being on a quadruped type animal, an offshoot of the Equine Folk line. This causes consternation to this day.

This was the first known skirmish between the Unclean and the Hyooman Empire, other battles were most likely fought, but details being lost in the passages of time.

The empire of the Hyooman’s were caught between a rock and a hard place, between Folk Lands and the Evil slamming into their borders. They were overwhelmed, sending messangers and runners to Queen Marli’s Court, asking if they could fall back into Folk Lands.

Queen Marli was distraught at having the Mages of Amerlan disappear when they were needed the most, she acquiesced to the Hyooman’s request and refugees by the hundreds of thousands flooded into Folk Lands, the main Warrior contingents remaining behind to cover the escaping hyooman’s. They died to the last Warrior. Folk Warriors and others sped to the North to help their allies, finding nothing but bodies and ruin. The refugees armed themselves and began forming military units that flooded back to the North along with the Folk, they were shocked at the desolation they saw. Lands that were once fertile, now grew twisted mutated plants, animal life became vicious and poisonous, the land itself had turned against the peoples of the World. Darkness reigned wherever the Unclean touched the soil. Reports of Spectres and Vampires came from the Warriors to the North, soul chilling wraiths and other summoned creatures of Hel were seen sucking the life out of Folk and Hyooman alike.

Now was the time that the Mages of Amerlan were sorely needed, but nowhere to be found. Hyooman and Folk searched the Far Lands for any trace of the fabled Wizards. A lone Hyooman stumbled upon the entrance to a Tower, he told the Wizards inside of what was happening to the armies, and begged for their help.

The Mages were ashamed that they were not at the forefront of the War, as their ancestors were long ago, never prideful, they contacted all the remaining Wizards, and others of their Brotherhood. In a grand gesture, they appeared by the thousands at the Royal Court asking for forgiveness and a way to atone for their cowardice.

Queen Marli looked upon the assembled Sorceror’s, Wizards and Mages. In her ultimate act of benevolence declared them absolved of all crimes against the Folk and the Empire. The Brotherhood were astounded that the Queen would show such mercy. Vowing their loyalty to her they sped off to the North, where they died by the armful protecting the troops from the unnatural fury of the Evil. Their spells and tomes of magic were almost useless against the power of the Unclean. The tides of Evil swept the combined might of the Two Lands before them, and threatened the good peoples of the World with final extinction.

Then, a report came from the Combined Command that was serving and fighting in the East. The dispatch reads:

To our Exalted Leaders,

We bring you news of great victory, our armies have triumphed in the East Land, we have made great gains upon the Unclean foe. We have need of supplies and weapons, but we also have a wonderous tale to tell you Our Lords. Our armies were fought to a halt, the Unclean was pushing us back till we had taken position in the Hold of Shaksir, we were at our last Lords, our supplies dwindling, our Warriors tired and under seige from the evil.

Then, as the Gods are our witness, we saw a single figure emerge from the Dark, light surrounded it as Fire and Flame of the Pure Way flew and slaughtered the Unclean by the hundreds, our Warriors took heart and sounded the Call to Battle, we sped from the Hold and joined once again in what we thought to be our final actions upon this World. The single figure stood and held the lines while protecting us, the battle was one of no quarter or mercy My Lords, the Standard of the Free Lands was once again raised over the East. We had triumphed at last due to this strange figure.

The figure had turned and told us of great WarMages that were to join the fight against the Unclean, that we could take heart for the Gods of the Light had not forsaken us, then he walked away into the Dark, alone, with only the cheers of our troops in his ears.

We swear Lords, that this lone figure saved over a hundred thousand of our troops, and the Eastlands. Never shall we forget that sight till our dying days.

The Eastlands being a minor Province, this no less gave heart to the troops in the field, who thought sure that the Final Days were upon them. The WarMages had come.

Still, even though the power of the WarMages turned the tide of Battle, the War was to continue for years, there being too little WarMages and millions of the Unclean. But now the forces of the combined Empires took great heart, that the Gods had not foresaken them as once thought, that maybe, just maybe there was a chance now to bring the Evil to heel.

Great Battles were fought over many of the Lands, thousands of Folk and Hyooman’s died together to fight the implacable foe, WarMages fought with awesome power and strength only to die at the hands of some unknown evil in the night. Many were the Heroes that emerged from the Wastelands of the Great War against the Unclean, many more died unknown and unsung in those battles.

The Evil itself was finally extinguished by the combined might of the last ten surviving WarMages, combining their power, they forever entombed it in the North, and then sent it away to an unknown place in space and time.

Great Armies from both Hyooman and Folk Lands pushed the evil back to that point, low on weapons, food, and supplies, they gave everything they had into one final push. That allowed the WarMages to complete the Ritual of Binding on the great Evil.

How close, my children, did we come to the Final Days, how close were the good peoples of the World to being cleansed from the precious soil?

In the final months of the War, the Great Armies which had pushed back the Evil were only a tenth of what had been fielded at the start of the War. Two million Warriors, Mages, Sorcerors, and other folk where the only witnesses left to see the Binding. Twenty million Folk and Hyooman’s died at the hands of the Unclean before the tide was stopped.

Yes my children, we were very close to the Final Days.

The rebuilding had to begin after such devastation, but alas, the forces of politics came into play after the Binding was done.

Though the Evil was done with, packs and bands of stragglers plague this land still. But evil has many different forms, as we shall discuss briefly.

In other volumes I discuss exactly what happened after the Great Binding, but here is a summary.

Politicians on both sides began to accuse each other of not warning about the Evil, the Mages had tried but were ignored by both sides, this being truth, the politicians were loathe to listen. Making their own truth was more convenient, and thus which caused the rift.

This was a century ago, and because of the placing of blame by both sides, a rift was created that forevermore severed the Hyooman and Folk alliance that had lasted so long.

Though the Unclean was defeated in N.E. 720, its taint still shows, as now in the Hyooman Empire, divisions have begun and madness has taken hold again in the North Lands. Now, after so many years of peace, again we face the might of the Hordes from the North.

It is now N.E. 832 and again, an evil has come to plague us. This time, we stand alone.

Exerpted from the Histories of Kalamus, Vol 10.

N.E. refers to the designation New Era.