Del Atar

Del Atar has avoided annihilation by luck alone, it seems. The Elders - a race of immortal, nearly unkillable beings, who wield powers beyond the grasp of the lesser races - have vanished. Their great citadels lay empty, and their forges are filled with naught more than silence and dust. No one knows where they have gone, or what happened to them, but the timing could not have been better. The Elders coveted their immortality and had embarked on a quest that they claimed would allow them to keep it forever. The cost they were willing to pay, however, was Del Atar, and every other plane of existence. The Arks - great sky-ships, seemingly capable of housing the entirety of the Elders population - have disappeared as well, leaving few answers to any of what has happened.   Although the Elders disappearance is undoubtedly a good thing, the power vacuum that has been left is nothing short of astounding. As the largest and most powerful empire to ever touch the surface of Del Atar, they controlled lands and peoples far from their mountainous homes. They tamed the wilderness, conquered savagery, and instilled civilization. Now, they are no more, leaving three powerful alliances to attempt to find their place in this new circumstance.   The first is the Held States, made up of those who lived on the Northwestern continent and thus shared their home with the Elders. They were the first to be absorbed into the growing empire, and, by the time the Elders disappeared, few held any independent view of themselves. The second - the Shattered Kingdom - were those who had attempted, at first, to resist the Elders. There was nothing they could do, of course, but as punishment, their nation was torn apart, and the southern continent shattered into an archipelago. The final is the Wild Lands - a loose conglomeration on the Northeastern continent, which was never fully colonized by the Elders. They remained fiercely independent even after they were conquered, keeping their tribes even until now.   As these three groups, and smaller ones besides, come to terms with their newfound freedom, the clouds of war and conquest loom on the horizon. Each seeks to make its mark after centuries of oppression, and none will rest until they do.