The Mythic Ages

The Hollow Birth

• Titanic tunneling worms formed the first labyrinths of the Veins, shaping the foundation of the Underdark.
• Sentient life emerged in bioluminescent pools and fungal glades—flumphs, antlings, and lizardfolk among the earliest.
• The earth itself, believed to be the fossilized flesh of a dead god, nourished the birth of magical life.
• Time was not measured; life was seasonal, reactive, and primitive.
• The Age ended as fire-blooded wyrms descended into the tunnels, drawn by old instincts and ancient hunger.

The Scaled Age

• Dragons carved out dominions, shaping massive caverns into treasure fortresses.
• Lesser reptilian species—nagas, yuan-ti, kobolds—thrived under draconic overlords.
• The war between Bahamut and Tiamat shook the crust above; their followers battled across centuries.
• Magic advanced rapidly during this age, especially enchantments of domination and hoarding.
• The Age ended with the retreat of Bahamut the Maimed into the deeper caverns, and the hibernation of Tiamat. Other dragons abandoned their places of power to find reclusive places of safety.

The Age of the Ghostwalk

• The Grave Giants unearthed a portal to the afterlife, sparking a spiritual golden age.
• The dwarves became spirit shepherds; the duergar, master tomb-builders.
• Mortuary architecture reached its zenith—cities made of mausoleums and catacombs.
• The Underdark saw rare unity, with trade and pilgrimage centered around the ghost paths.
• The Age ended with the Fall of Dammerhall—a magical meltdown that cracked the Deep and let the Old Ones in.

The Age of the Old Ones

• The Old Ones—aboleths, mind flayers, and things unnamed—enslaved the thinking races of the Veins.
• Memories were extracted like marrow; wills broken; bodies repurposed into living experiments.
• The dwarves fled to the surface, abandoning their cousins to slavery.
• The Age ended when a duergar revolutionary —The Authority—rose, wielding impossible power to drive the Old Ones into exile.

The Age of Liberation (0–571 AL)

• The Authority established Diepkamer, the center of a new united empire.
• The Authority ruled not with iron, but with unshakable psychic will—then vanished in 394 AL.
• Whispers of the Old Ones’ return persist.