Ancient History

Era beginning/end

In the centuries leading up to the time known as the Thousand Cities Era, Humans and the other peoples of western Immoren often struggled against nature and the many threats that assailed their lands. Among these were the Wurm-worshipping tribes of the Molgur, which included powerful Trollkin kriels, bogrin, Ogrun, and Human barbarians. But they were not alone. In the depths of what is now known as the Thornwood, one of the most notorious kingdoms of ancient times was born.

Even today, the name of Morrdh is most likely to be spoken with a shudder. The dark kingdom was forged in a crucible of bloody conflict with neighboring Molgur tribes, but the nefarious pacts and occult rites practiced by its nobility gave Morrdh its unsavory reputation. Unearthed records tell tales of lords who summoned forth monsters from earth and sky to do their bidding and called forth the dead from their graves to take up arms against the dread kingdom’s enemies. Scholars today debate the amount of truth in these accounts, but what is known for certain is that centuries before Thamar brought the Gift of Magic to humanity, the lords of Morrdh had access to knowledge that was far beyond the ken of their peers—and perhaps should have remained so.

During this time, other Human empires began to take shape. In the north, a fierce warrior-priest named Khardovic fought to unify the warring horselords of the plains and steppes, creating the empire that would eventually become modern-day Khador. To the south, other early heroes of the Menite faith stood against the Molgur hordes. At the walls of the city of Calacia, which would later become Caspia, one such hero—Priest-King Golivant—faced a Molgur force led by a great Trollkin chieftain named Horfar Grimmr. The battle was long and brutal, costing thousands of lives on both sides. Heedless of the dead, the Molgur hurled their might against the walls of Calacia while the defenders loosed their arrows and poured molten oil upon their assailants in retaliation. Only the death and defeat of Grimmr was enough to break the Molgur and scatter their forces.

Grimmr’s defeat at Calacia was seen as a decisive victory for the followers of the Lawgiver, but it was a crippling blow to the Trollkin and other peoples who traced their origins to the goddess. Human barbarians would eventually convert to the worship of Menoth; Trollkin, Ogrun, and bogrin could find no such welcome and were either slaughtered on sight or driven far from their ancestral homes and deeper into the untamed wilderness.