Virana has a rich history stretching over thousands of years. This is a brief account of the history of the world.
Age of Creation
In the time before time, eight powerful entities found the young planet Virana. Nobody really know what these beings were and what their role was in the greater universe, but on Virana, they would later be known simply as gods (Alderin, Melinion, Karalon, Vanoros, Ladewe, Mera, Taninki, Nionena). When they found the young planet, they saw that it had the signs of early life, but it was frail, and needed help and guidance to prosper. So the eight made a pact, they would be the guardians of this fledgling world, and together, they would help it reach greatness. They all agreed that they would help the planet, but they would not control it. They would help life evolve, but it should always make it's own choices. They would avoid direct intervention, instead relying on chosen individuals they felt that they could trust that they would invest small amounts of their own power into.
In the early days the world was just inhabited by simple animals not even evolved enough to cooperate, but as time passed, life evolved, the lifeforms became more complex, and finally, the first glimmers of the concept of civilization started to appear. But as the life on the planet became more evolved, the eight also noticed that they had attracted the attention of a darker power, known as Tiamat, who seemed to have her own designs for the new world. The eight realized they would need to protect Virana from her, but she did not belong to the same reality as them, it would be impossible to confront her directly, it would have to be done through Virana itself.
Age of the Great Dragons
The first race that reached the point in evolution where they could form a civilization was the dragons. The early history of the dragons are still shrouded in mystery, but in the
Age of the Great Dragons we saw the dragon civilizations form, and for a thousands of years, the planet was ruled by dragons alone, while other lifeforms were no more advanced than herds of mammals, flocks of birds and schools of fish. The dragon followed three different ideologies, causing them to split into the Metallic, Chromatic and Gem clans, which all fought for control over the planet.
It was during this time that Tiamat took on her most know form, that of a 5-headed dragon. She started early on influencing the dragons, lending her power to the chromatic dragons, helping them prosper and gain an advantage. Her ability to transfer power to the world was still weak however, so this was a slow process, but she seemed to have time on her side. All the eight could do was to warn the other dragons about this, hoping they would be able to counter her advances. As the dragons prospered and expanded, the eight curiously learned that the souls of the dragon seemed capable of collecting and keeping tiny pieces of the divine power of the eight. This lead to dragon souls being effectively immortal. If a soul had absorbed enough power, it could sustain the body and bring it back to life from almost any injury, and if that was impossible, the soul would move on to a new body, inhabiting the next dragon born. As such, these dragon souls became more and more powerful as they lived through multiple bodies, making dragons in the later part of this area much harder to kill completely than the earlier dragons. The dragon civilization was a mighty one, but there are less historical artifacts from this area than later civilizations. This is both due to the time passing, but also due to the fact that dragons preferred to use natural features for their homes, rather than building grand buildings. They did produce art and powerful items though, some of which have survived to this day. As Tiamat's power grew, the fights between dragons crew more and more intense, and it turned into a race between the chromatic dragons, who had fallen under her sway and tried to speed up her arrival in this world, and the metallic dragons who tried to slow down the process and stop her. As the war raged on between the dragon clans, the dragon population started to decline, opening up the scene for younger races to arrive on the scene and starting their own fledgling civilizations, in particular these were the Elves and the Dwarves, as well as a myriad of greenskins, such as orcs and goblins. At first, these races mostly appeared in small tribes, with several of them actually living alongside the dragons, helping them (or being enslaved by them) with tasks that are easier performed by smaller hands. But as time passed, these races started building proper civilizations of their own. This era ended when Tiamat finally made her move, and tried to enter the world through a ritual conducted by her loyal servants, the Valgerin (Which are made from corrupted dragons). The Metallic dragons assaulted the ritual size with all they could muster, but the chromatic dragons were defending it in force. Gem dragons had also been joining both sides. The metallic dragons and their allies managed to stop the ritual and defeat the half-formed Tiamat, but the price was high. Dragons lay dead all around, and the dragons powerful enough to survive were mostly the older dragons, well past their child-bearing years. The efforts by Tiamat also seemed to have a corrupting effect, further reducing birth rate also after her defeat. In the end, this spelled the doom for the dragon race. Some dragons lived for more than a thousand years after these events, but not enough new dragons were born to sustain the race and the dragons were on their way to extinction.
Age of the Great Races
With the dragons mostly gone, space opened up at the top, and some of the races that had flourished during the end of the Age of the Great Dragons now took that place. The Elven and Dwarven civilizations prospered and during their time, spread to most of the world, heralding a new golden age of art
In the beginning, all was good, and most races venerated the eight, and got their divine magic from them.
The known eras are
Age of the Great Dragons
In the
Age of the Great Dragons the world were ruled by dragons. During this age, many important events took place, long before the rise of the civilizations of the younger races, such as the elves, dwarves, and much later, the humans. During this age, the dragons had a kind of civilization. It was much looser defined than we tend to do today, but the dragons arranged themselves in clans, and had a hierarchy that extended beyond their color (but stayed within the main type [Metallic, Chromatic, Gem]). And while the dragons still mainly used caves and the like for their lairs, they did produce some buildings and artworks, often with the help of vassals. Examples of this includes temples, forges and statues.
Age of the Great Races
During this age, we saw the emergence of the civilizations of the dwarves and the elves. During the height of this age, their civilizations thrived, and dominated the world. As this age came to an end, we saw the decline and ruin of these civilizations, leaving a void for humanity to fill. Many ruins from this period survive to the modern day, and can be found by brave explorers. Due to the fact that these often contain numerous traps, and often monsters who have found a home here, sensible people usually keep away, leaving these ruins unexplored even if near civilization. These ruins only serve as a tiny glimpse into what once was though.
Age of Humanity
During the most recent age, humanity is now on the rise. Their civilizations are still nowhere near where the dwarves and elves where at their height, but humanity have certainly laid claim to the planet and are still rising. Human cities grows in size, and as they claim more land, they start to find the ruins of the civilizations that came before them. However, while humans are the dominating race on the planet, most areas are still unexplored. Humanity keeps mostly to the coastal areas, as expeditions into the inland of the continents tends to be both difficult and dangerous. Most explores who attempt to chart these places never return. So far, humans haven't made claim to even a tenth of the land held by the elves and dwarves of the previous age.