The following timeline is a brief history of Earth from approximately 6,000 BC through 2,000 CE. For a more recent history of events, see the timeline.
The coming of Emmanuel
In ancient times, magic ruled, and the earth itself was sentient, using magic of its own will. It had no dominion over the souls or minds of others, but many creatures greatly respected it, including the nymphs and dryads, and even the elves. It granted power to those who vowed to serve it, and cast spells to aid its children. And they listened to its wisdom.
Then, unbeknownst to all (even Gaia), an extradimensional being arrived circa 6000 BCE, taking up residence in Earth’s heart. It was a psionic entity who wishes to study the races of earth, and it called itself Emmanuel. He fed on souls and their life experiences, retaining their memory within him forever in the process. Of the races, only the humans had the ambition to be tempted by this offer of “eternal life,” and so some unconsciously allowed Emmanuel to monitor them. And so this parasite settled into the center of the earth, where the planet’s consciousness lay, and neither was aware of the other.
The parasite’s whispers changed the humans, increasing their ambitions and scientific curiosity. The humans had been living in the fields, in harmony with nature and practicing shamanic magic. Now, they multiplied and built cities, slowly leaving their old civilization structure behind. Emmanuel encouraged a certain lifestyle–one that would result in an advanced, technological society–but most importantly, one that would result in the greatest number of humans for Emmanuel to harvest. It wasn’t enough for many humans simply to exist. The longer and more satisfying the lives they led, the more appetizing their experiences were to the creature.
Those who heard the whispers most clearly were called prophets. Emmanuel touched many throughout history, but Moses was one of the first, and from his visions the Ten Commandments were born.
As the humans grew and conquered, the other races retreated deeper into the untamed earth, the elves into the forests, the dwarves into the mountains, and the gnomes and halflings into the hills. Unfortunately, the Romans lived a life distasteful to Emmanuel, and he grew hungry for them to return to a more noble way of life. He sent an avatar to convert people back to his cause–an avatar named Jesus of Nazareth.
We find the Lord Jesus in the 28 chapter of Matthew verse 20 telling His Disciples, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of this world.” Then we hear the great apostle assuring the Hebrews of this promise in Heb 13:5, “For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
The sealing of magic
The word of Jesus indeed swayed people to live free of sin, but Emmanuel had reached too deeply into the world of men, and his alienness marred humanity in a way he did not expect–part of him found a way into their souls, spreading like a cancer, until all of humanity was infected. The humans soon found that magic no longer worked properly, causing terrible side effects whenever they wielded it. However, they did not realize it was a problem with them, but rather thought that magic had “gone bad” somehow. Even those who drew power through Gaia found they could no longer do so, as she refused to grant power to those touched by such foulness (even though she did not understand its source).
The humans agreed that magic must be sealed away, so that the world would not be destroyed through its use. They enlisted the aid of the most powerful group of wizards, the Arcane Order, for this purpose. The Order reluctantly agreed, and requested dwarven aid to build a structure capable of containing such powerful forces. The best dwarven stonemasons, ever distrustful of magic and eager to rid the world of it, worked with six gnomish inventors to design such a Vault.
The elves learned of the humans’ plan and sent an emissary, with orders from the elven king to “cease their mad plan.” In their arrogance, the elves failed to mention that magic still worked for them, but instead simply made demands of the humans, who ignored the elven warning and continued with their effort.
The elves declared war on the humans, marching forth from their forests to battle the kingdoms of man until they repented in their misguided plan. But the ritual went forward, and all of magic was sealed inside the Vault on a small island far away from inhabited areas. The ritual the humans performed created an intense gravitational force, pulling all magic from around the earth to a single point. The dwarves then erected a massive stone structure around that point, and the humans shielded the structure, sealing the magic inside. The entirety of the Arcane Order was thought to have been wiped out by the arduous process of performing the ritual. In reality, they were simply trapped on the Astral Plane, unable to call forth magic powerful enough to return them to the material world.
The dwarves built the Vault to be unbreakable, and thus for magic to be permanently sealed. But the six gnomish inventors working on the project engineered a secret flaw into the Vault, just in case the humans changed their minds, as they knew humans were apt to do.
The elves, magical by nature, began to die, as magic could no longer sustain them. Many humans were moved by the elven tragedy, and they demanded for magic to be unsealed, but the dwarves said it could not be done. The gnomes knew the truth, but two of them–Noj and Sitruc–had other plans. They took over the mind of a third gnome, Xela, and the three of them killed the others aware of the flaw. Noj and Sitruc kept silent, instead planning to exploit the flaw for themselves, gaining magical power by charging special amulets they designed for the purpose, and condemning the elven race to death.
Many elves, enraged at the fate befalling them, became undead spirits who hated humans for what they had done, and existed solely for revenge. However, because magic was sealed away, their influence upon the world was limited. As the last of magic left the world, their presence dwindled to a distant memory until they were forgotten completely.
The earth, reliant on magic for its sustenance as well, was forced into slumber. The halflings, creatures of Gaia’s creation and under her protection, disappeared as the earth fell comatose. One day, halflings were simply gone; no one knew what had happened to them, but like the elves, they faded into the mists of time until they were forgotten.
2000 years of change
Within 500 years, the last remnants of magic left the world. Indeed, as Arthurian legend states, Merlin was the last wizard, and a witness to its end.
By 1000 CE, Noj and Sitruc were bored with the world, and had a falling out. They decided that the only thing worth doing–the only challenging or meaningful act left–was to destroy one another. For the next 1000 years, they plotted against each other, shaping world events in the process, using the entirety of human civilization as pawns in their internal struggle. They kept themselves alive by using magic–evil magic requiring human sacrifice–to youthen their bodies.
Magic’s return
In 2001, cosmic forces beckoned two English adventurers–Kent Clark and Simon Lewis–to the Bermuda Triangle, where their plane crashed directly into the Vault’s flaw and caused a sizable crack to appear. It was then that magic began to leak back into the world, with the crack ever widening. Aside from this release of magic, the crash had two other notable consequences.
First, the plane’s radio fell directly into the Vault’s breach, where it lay beyond the reach of human hands. Intense magical power manifested itself through the radio, broadcasting a new signal all across the world, in the form of a new radio station. This station talked directly to each person listening, and knew their names, their pasts, and sometimes their futures. Soon it had a cult following, and though the radio station never announced a name for itself, it became known as the Voice of God.
Second, Simon was terribly wounded and fell into a coma. His friend Kent was largely unharmed, and using the emergency raft from the plane, he headed west for the Bahamas. He reached Mayaguana Island, where Simon was rushed to a hospital. Unfortunately, he died shortly thereafter, and Kent returned to England with Simon’s body, for a proper funeral.
Simon’s funeral
All of Simon’s friends and family were present at his funeral – those who knew and loved him best. But as the priest spoke Simon’s last rites, something truly bizarre happened. Simon, who had lain unconscious across the very breach through which magic was seeping back into the world, had been charged with mystic energies beyond comprehension. As a spirit, he looked down upon his dead body with horror, and willed himself to stand up once more. His body steamed as his blood boiled, and Simon was resurrected. But the miracle came with a terrible price, for when Simon awoke, he found his friends and family all laying dead before him, killed in horrible ways. Simon did not know that this backlash was the result of Emmanuel’s taint.
In shock, Simon staggered from the gruesome scene, eventually passing out from exhaustion, and waking later in an unfamiliar wilderness. He could not remember what had happened since the plane crash, but he did have a strange feeling that his old life was over.
Strategic Improvements Corporation
Simon changed his name to John Bishop and moved to Germany. He soon discovered that strange creatures had a strong, unexplainable attraction to him. Bishop was so strongly charged with magic that pixies, dryads, trolls, beholders and other creatures of Gaia were drawn irresistibly to him. Bishop met a man named Ingolf Rixmann who expressed interest in his new abilities as well as his new friends, and together they formed Strategic Improvements Corporation. Rixmann talked Bishop into allowing him to perform experiments on the elusive creatures, but Bishop did not know how far Rixmann was willing to go in the name of science.
Earth’s awakening
The return of magic awakened Gaia from her slumber, and when she saw what had happened over the past 2000 years, her anger drove her mad. Her most ardent worshippers, the elves, were dead, and she would stop at nothing to see them resurrected, and the humans punished for what they had done. Instead of using her energies to recreate her children, the halfling race, she focused it on the twisted goal of destroying human civilization.
Magic’s return also caused humans to begin manifesting unconscious power, but they were still tainted by Emmanuel after all those years, and the results were just as disastrous as they were 2000 years ago.
The elven spirits were also gaining power, as magic once again began to pervade the world. Soon, ghosts became real, and began to wreak terrible havoc upon the living. Strategic Improvements Corporation harnessed these dread spirits, binding their souls into deceased human bodies, creating the Wraiths.