ok heres a VERY vague idea of background. Feel free to suggest things, since it can only add to everyones enjoyment.
The world of
Elyden was once a jem in the Sea of the Astral. A land of verdant lands, fertile oceans and clean airs (much like our own world before our arrival).
First of the humanoid races were the elves, children of the air. They built grat cities high in the mountains in their floating loadstone continents. They were high creatures, noble and graceful, but capricious. their near-endless lives meant that most of their kind mastered various vocations and arts (
paths as they called them), before the air finally claimed them and they became true air elementals.
After them came the dwarves, children of the earth. they built their holds deep beneath the earth, where they remained for aeons, unwilling to explore, happy with what they had. Like the elves, they were a long-lived race, but unlike the elves, dwarves devoted themselves to one path until the day the earth claimed them. As these archaic dwarves grew old, their bodies ossified, and if not killed by disease or wounds, they would slowly turn into creatures of the earth.
In the water, tritons rose. They built great coral cities that sprawled the depths of the oceans - the greatest of all races, without compare. The tritons were congregous folk and esplored their world like none of the other races. they became traders and merchants, linking the othr races together and speeding the discovery of technologies and magic. Their greatest acheivement (some would say folly) was the discovery of arcanum. Like the other races, the tritons were elemental beings, and if they lived long enough, would become elementals of the water.
Living far beneath the world, in lands none of the other races could withstand ,were the salamanders, creatures of flame, but little is known of them even to this day.
For thousands of years these four races lived in relative harmony - the occasional war or skirmish was not unknown, but such events were nothing to cause Elyden to fear.
The tritons' discovery of arcanum was unprecedented - never before (not even with the discovery and implemenatation of magic) had anything had such an impact on life. With arcanum cam e agreater understnding of life and death - and the four first races began to loose touch with the elements, beginning a thinning of their blood that would give rise to the versions of the races that now live.
The rise of arcanum also triggered two major events - the mysterious coming o humans - the so-called 'gifted' - and the Great War. It is unknown if the humans brth in Elyden was due to the discovery of arcanum, but the first human tribe was discovered by triton explorers in the year arcanum was first manipulated. It was immediately apparent that humans were masters of arcanum, and their melders were without parallel. Despite though their race was little more than bronze age (next to the other races' beleived reneissance), they were seemingly at one with arcanum, making them powerful and wise beyond the meaure of time they had spent in Elyden (note: the human origin story varies wildly and presently, even the most respected diviners and sages are unclear as to the human origin)
The coming of humans caused problems to the other races. The threat of these beins was not small and a counci was held, where their fate was discussed. The tritons saw no threat. the elves perceived a potential thret if the humans were allowed to multiply. the dwarves, ever insular, felt greatly threatened and were hostile to humans from the onset.
To cut a long story short, over a decade of talks and actions with humans, the wolrd fell into war (note: the humans were largely neutral in this, neither promoting nor ignoring contact with the other races. But they did understand that they were at a great advantage, being such masterful melders of arcanum as they were).
Humans rose in a land of war, where the elder races fought over wrongs none of them could remember. the humans hid as the other races destroyed the world and their lives...
At the end of the war (stopped in no small part by human intervention), the world was a changed place. the elder races had almost destroyed each other. Elyden was but a shadow of her formr self.
From the human melding of souls arose the azuins, aasimar and tieflings.
(note: i still havent incorporated the mishtai into the story. suggestions welcome
)
