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Tens of thousands of years ago, before even the recorded history of the elves; demons and gods walked upon this Earth. The plains were not some ethereal concept, but physical reality. Many creatures could move between planes as easily as you or I walk through a door. Everyone wanted to claim this plain as their own, for manna here was so malleable whoever claimed it could form it to whatever they wanted. It could be of purest utopian good, or darkest depths of evil, and creature fought to make it their vision. But none could prevail. The plains of neutrality insisted that it be left alone, and they closed the doors between plains so the world could find its own path.
There were still minions of good and evil, neutral, law and chaos, but all were the ‘natural’ residence of this world free of the outer plains. For millennia this world persisted. The elves came, and the dwarfs, the humans, gnomes and halflings, the orcs and goblins, all made their way in the world.
Then one was born. His name shall not be spoken; he is the Dark Lord. He traded his sole, tore down doors and opened gates to other plains. Evil pored in, festered, and grew. It spread across the land. The evil in the world joined this blight and the good fought against it. This is the time of the Shadow Years.
Most scholars mark the start of the Shadow Years as 2107 on the Elvin calendar. The common calendar simply calls this Shadow Year 1.
The Dark Lord power grew slowly, but there was no need for haste, he had been assured of that. For 60 years this malignancy stayed local. Pleas for help often went unheeded, for it did not concern others. When he started to spread his influence, and his armies began to march, still most who were not attacked or felt immediate threats did little. Then it was too late. By the Elvin year 2198 (shadow year 91) there was not one corner of the continent not fighting the armies of the Dark Lord. These are the Shadow Wars.
The wars did not fair well for many of the races of good. Each fought valiantly but independently. Alliances were formed for immediate needs but did not proceed. It was at this time the Council of The Wise formed. Thirteen members, sages and thinkers from all the races, It is these who allied the races and began to swing the tide of war. But they did more than form alliances; they delved into ancient powers, magic, and knowledge, and fought the Dark Lord. When all was done the Dark Lord lay defeated.
Calagora the Wise, the head of the Council, slammed shut the hell gates and sealed them with his blood. The world would never again be as the neutral plains envisioned, but neither would it be as the dark plains wished.
The World Today