The Four Empires

Long before there was Triberol and Vuunei and the Diquin Empire, there were the four empires.
The oldest written documents we have stretch back to over 4000 years BB. They speak of four mighty empires: The Emerald Empire, the Amber Empire, The Crimson Empire, and The Lotus Empire. Before the first of these writings were unearthed in 3794, many believed these four empires were mythical. Legends from around the world speak of these four empires, started by four different siblings: The Emerald Empress, The Amber Emperor, The Crimson Emperor, and The Lotus Empress. The myths vary on the origins of the four siblings, but all claim they descended from the sky in a massive vessel and then decided to split the world between the four of them. There was obviously opposition, as there were already hundreds of countries scattered about the land, but the legends say that the power of the four was god-like. Their usage of magic was endless, as they reduced entire armies to ash with capsules of fire and even brought a moon down on what is now Pahadi. They would then rule for either 6,000, 16,000, or 48,000 years. When they passed, their descendants took the thrones. Lacking the wisdom of their ancestors, they all believed the world should belong to them, so they declared war on each other, and it was this war which ended the old world, with the final battle of this war being the start of the new calendar. This was seen as pure myth by many, as it forces us to believe the four siblings all died at the same time. However, many societies around the world do start their calendars at the same time, so many historians have believed some important event occurred. The discovery of the ancient texts surrounding the empires sent the historian world into a frenzy. These texts were from the time of the empires, as they spoke about them in the present tense. Even more recently, in 3816, an historical document was unearthed in northern Gornam. This historical document was believed to have been written sometime between the fourth and eighth centuries. It speaks of Runners, beings who entered the world because of a rip in reality. This has been connected to various paintings which were made around 50 AB. In 3827, more information on these Runners were discovered in Kaichi. These texts spoke of attempts to make a weapon, but something went wrong during the making of this weapon, and from it came “beings faster than the eye could see.” These beings destroyed what was left of the war-scarred world, only to finally be defeated in a battle. The details of this battle are unknown, as only part of the text remains. Historians do not even know who The Runners fought. It is still unknown exactly who The Runners were, why they attacked, or even what they looked like. It is possible we may never know.