The modern era of history, known as the 5th age of the world, begins on the
first pass, the pass of 1, almost 3900 passes prior to the current time,
when Chronos, god of knowledge, first ascended to godhood. Ever since
this time, extensive records for every pass can be found in the Great Library
of Chronos.
The most important event to have occurred in the first 4000 years of the
5th age is undoubtedly the rise and fall of the Solaran Empire. A subrace
of humans, so far unknown to history, suddenly enters the picture, first
described in the pass of 2847. Gifted with innate magical powers the
likes of which had not been seen since the end of the Godswar, the Solarans
quickly came to conquer most of the Continent of Moravia, ruling with excessive
cruelty over what they viewed as the lesser races. Finally, in the
pass 2932, Woden, god of magic, is said to have taken pity upon the world,
teaching the subjugated humans how to channel and control magic through intellect
and incantation. Thus was the first conclave of wizards born, a force
to rival the natural magical might of the Solarans. Rallying behind
the human wizards, the various races united in a bloody revolt against their
Solaran oppressors, finally defeating them in a decisive battle on the pass
of 2937. Following this battle, all traces of the Solarans disapear
from Annwn, and their history has been obliterated from all records. No
historians now know what became of the Solarans following their loss, although
there blood still flows in many humans of other races which had intermingled
with the Solarns.
In general, most races of humanoids have now recovered to something of an
equilibrium state following the ascendancy of their new gods, the end of
the Dark Ages, and the defeat of the Solaran Empire. The pantheon is
filled once again, and the opposing forces of law and chaos, good and evil,
are balanced once more. While much arcane
lore has been rediscovered since the dark ages, none of the races even approach
the power they had known prior to the Godswar, and many wondrous treasures
from this time still lie undiscovered, sparking tales and legends of long
lost civilizations and tempting adventurers to plumb the depths of crumbling
ruins in search of ancient treasure.