Age of Discord

The ... Wrath of ... the Fallen Children ... A terrible ... thing ... to see ... The ... entire world ... burning ... down ... to the last ... tree.

— Ton-Rhall, Eldest of Mountain Giants

The Stage was set. The Players ready. Be it in innocence or on purpose, The Fallen had made the first move. But it would be the actions of the other Kaeni, the reactions of their children and one fatal misunderstanding that started the first of all wars and with it, the Age of Discord.

A World in Motion

by Greg Rutkowski

It was only after The Mother Stone had noticed the Tarakan and Adjari crawling on her surface that the gods as a whole became aware of the Fallen's Children. Reactions differed. Smith and Stormbringer decided to wait and observe while the Trickster secretly enjoyed this unexpected event. The other five were less enthusiastic, especially after it turned out that these new children reproduced faster than any other.
Most of the mortal races grew slowly in numbers to counter their long lifespans. Even the relatively short-lived Goblins race seemed to grow at a snails pace when compared with Tarakan and Adjari. Once released upon the earth, the Kaeni's children quickly found themselves pressed by their siblings. Tensions rose quickly, as especially the Atenarri had been told that these new creatures were usurping the land that was theirs by right.

A Fatal Mistake

by Greg Rutkowski

One night, one group of Elves, Orcs and Seafolk decided to take matters into their own hands. They attacked a Tarakan settlement and began to burn it down. Its occupants called upon their creator to save them. Said deity, although the least of the gods, was still leagues above mortals and wiped nearly the entire host from existence.
A few survived, however, and brought their parents' news of the act. News that were not entirely truthful. To the other gods, this only confirmed that the Fallen was acting against his own brethren. Both Smith and Stormbringer were convinced to act as well and together the Kaeni confronted the Fallen.
Arguments began with one party thinking itself unquestionably in the right rarely end well. When the gods confronted another it seemed less like a hurt party seeking justice and more like a family ganging up on the member they had always despised. The Fallen, loving his children just as the other Kaeni did, passionately defended them and the argument grew increasingly heated. When he, senses clouded by anger, threatened one of the Twins the situation escalated.
The Smith struck his throat, the Twins ripped off his arms, Songmaker clawed at his face, Stormbringer, Herald and Mother Stone hit his back and legs. Overwhelmed by the sheer force of the attack, the Fallen was thrown out of the sky and tumbled to earth a bloody mess. His impact shook the world and left a scar over a hundred leagues across. There, surrounded by his mourning children, he perished and disappeared from known existence.

Blaze of Fury

Sadness soon turned to hatred and the Children of the Fallen rose up in a War of Vengeance against the "False Gods" and all their children. Great was their power then, for some of the Fallen's essence had remained with them. Above all, it was the Adjari that absorbed the divine remnants and it was there that the greatest and most abominable of their race were born. They grew by hundreds of times, their wings, once enabling them to glide short distances, sails several dozen meters wide, the fire within their soul now a deadly weapon. And the mortal world knew them as the Trakhaney, the winged Dragons of nightmarish power.

by Mike Luard

Great was the assault against the other races, which stood without aid from their parents. The Kaeni had been connected ever since the beginning of existence, sharing a bond that went deeper than any found in the mortal world. A death, especially one as violent as the Fallen's had been, caused shockwaves to ripple through this bond and the other eight withered under the pain. Alone, the children were killed wherever they could be found and those of The Crow were burned to extinction by Dragonfire.

Final Calamity

It soon looked as if the Fallen would triumph in death, as his children had nearly driven the others from the surface. Then came the hour of the Dvergari. Held back from the surface at first, they now demanded to come to their brethren's defence. Their warriors would hold the line, while a select few were to be imbued with divine power. The gods may not have been able to intervene directly, but the Dwarves could serve as their instrument.
Reinforced by iron warriors, the children held while the newly crowned dwarven mages prepared. Long was the wait and many sacrifices had to be endured. But in the end, the power of the Gods was unleashed. And both Tarakan and Adjari were cast from the face of the earth.
What remained was a world scarred by hatred and blood. Races, be they Elf, Orc, Seafolk, Fairy, Goblin or Giant, on the long road toward healing. Gods, whose presence in the world was forever diminished. And the Dwarves as the most potent of forces on the mortal plane. What remained was...Dvergar.

Truly, the "First War" haunts us to this day. Such hatred, such fear for one's very existence itself...it is bound to leave wounds that never heal.

— Taishat, Orc-Shaman

Date of First Recording

Age of the First Garden

Date of Setting

Age of Discord

Related Species

• Adjari
• Atenarri
• Dvergari - Iron Lords of the New Order
• Srugan - The Walking Mountains
• Tarakan - The All-Consuming Horde

by JJcanvas

Fallen Children
Both Tarakan and Adjari are known to any mortal, their shadow reaching over millennia to haunt those that outlived them. But while the names may have survived, their meaning has not.
There were many Tarakans, differing in form and nature, some as tall as giants, others similar to elves. The name is a word from Kreiine, the God's Tongue, frst and oldest of all languages from which all others are derived.
It translates to "Mud Men" and refers back to what they originally came from. The Fallen was many things, creative with names he was not.
Adjari is Kreiine for "Scaled Ones". The race being made up of a variety of lizard-like creatures, from small Iguanas to the terrifying Dragons.
Walls of Stone
Most impressive of all-natural wonders of the world, aside from God's Grave, are the mountains known as the World's End Wall. A range of titanic peaks that stretch so far into the sky that only Dragons can even hope to cross them.
Rich in minerals, they are the home of many a Dwarven mine in the modern age and serve as the boundary between civilization and the ashes of the past. They may not have been as natural a formation as some belief.
The oldest versions of the tales that tell the story of the first ages do not mention them existing before the final days of the War of Vengeance.

by Max Kostin