Altenda

Long ago there was only the spirits. The lived in their own realm, but couldn't visit, only view the material world. One by one each chose to create a race in their image. From dwarves to elves, the spirits populated the world with their creations and granted them varying degrees of magic. The last race to be created was humans by two brother spirits. Lycus and Kesmos warred over the souls of humanity, leading to a dogmatic war that consumed humanity.   After years of conflict, each side called upon their spirit to vanquish the other side. Kesmos responded by consuming the soul of a man and tied his spirit to the body. This caused Lycus to respond in kind. A follower of Lycus sacrificed himself to allow the spirit to possess his body. With both brothers tied to mortal bodies and with all their power the war rapidly accelerated. Humans began looking to other races for allies in their fight, and within 50 years the war had spread across the world. Some races were utterly wiped out by the feverish humans others were exiled from their homelands or enslaved.   After more than 100 years of fighting the other spirits demanded the war to end. Kesmos refused, but Lycus worked with the other spirits to find a way to end the conflict. Lycus, with the help of the other spirits, blocked the brothers access to their spirit selves and with it their power and immortality. In an instant this left mankind without their gods and without magic.   The loss of magic caused what became known as the great collapse. A dark chaotic time where humanity struggled to meet their basic needs. It marked the end of the war, but not the fight between Lycus and Kesmos. They spent the remainder of their mortal lives continuing their fight. At their deaths, though, they did not return to their spirit selves, instead their spirit's bond to mortal bodies was passed down through their lineage. Only one thing could break the block, once a descendant of both Lycus and Kesmos is born can their spirit selves return to their mortal bodies bringing magic and a long ended conflict back to mankind.