A Brief History of Ytarria:

In the year 1050 AD, a storm of biblical proportions appeared on Earth. Known now simply as the “Banestorm.”

The Banestorm was a collective spell of immense power that originated on a distant planet called Yrth and from a continent called Ytarria. The sorcery behind the spell was the combined effort of numerous and powerful Elven mages that, in their bloodlust to end a war, unintentionally opened a dimensional rift that transported thousands of different creatures to Ytarria, Man being just one of them. What was supposed to save the Elves, may prove to eventually destroy them.

Prior to the Banestorm, Ytarria was home to three intelligent races, Eleves, Dwarves and Orcs. Records only go back to around 200 BC and it is unknown how long they have lived on Ytarria or how they got here. The Dwarves and Elves oscillated between war and peace, but both sides were united in their hatred for the Orcs. The Orcs had always been at war, with each other and with Dwarves and Elves.

A group of nationalistic Elves, now known as “Storm Bringers,” that were driven from their homeland by an Orc army, had such hatred for the beasts that they sought to rid the entire continent of them. The method to accomplish this was the Banestorm.

The spell horribly backfired, or perhaps it didn’t. Entirely new races and species of life were picked up from other worlds and transported to Ytarria. Humans were but one of the intelligent humanoids brought by the storm. Such hideous creatures as goblins, kobolds, reptile men, minotaurs, giants and halflings, to name a few, were also transported here with the dimensional gate.

There were long years of conflict and choas as each species settled into their new home. Some would not make it. The reason why the spell might be considered a success is that the Orcs are no longer a serious threat to the lands. Man and his skill for war and conquest was able to do what the Elves and Dwarves could never accomplish, and they eliminated Orcs entirely from most of Ytarria. They have since retreated from the nations of man to the desolate wastes of the NorthWest.

Prior to the Bane, Dwarves lived under every mountain range in Ytarria, but as humans spread, the smaller dwarven communities were abandoned or driven out. Dwarves no longer inhabit the Fence of God and the mountains of Megalos. Dwarves commonly hold resentment towards all Elves for past wars but mostly for the Banestorm, even though Elves as a whole are not to blame, but rather the Storm Bringers, the ones who summoned the storm.

The Elves are slowly disappearing from the land of Ytarria. Most surviving Elves live in loosely organized small tribes of 20-100, usually as far from Humans as possible. Although the remaining tribes are almost always distrustful of Humans, there is a small minority that live amongst them, primarily in the larger cities of Megalos. Due to their, apparent, lack of organized political will and power, the Elves have been largely pushed to the sidelines on Ytarria. Unlike the Dwarves, they don’t have large standing armies or legendary weaponsmits and thus don’t have the respect of the human nations. Human racism towards Elves and Half-Elves is not uncommon and is often reciprocated.

There are exceptions, but the majority of humans transported here by the Banestorm were Christian men and women from Western Europe from around the time of the first crusade on Earth. They found their feudal culture well-suited to the challenges of this land. The calculated leadership of the first King of Megalos, Simon Menelaus, produced the groundwork for the Human nations of Megalos and Caithness.

There were many Muslims that accompanied their European counterparts, but were concentrated in the southern provinces of Ytarria. In the far north, those of Scandinavian descent still strive for a place in Valhalla and, in the land known as Sahud, humans of Asian and North American Indian descent have been discovered.

The Banestorm had no boundaries and seems to know no closure, as cultures are sometimes transported from different time periods as well as locations of Earth, and elsewhere. Who knows what will come next through the fold?

Although humanity now has more in common than ever, sharp divides and mistrust still permeate relations on the New Eden. With the transplant of Man on Ytarria, he brought along with him his Religion and prejudices. Christian and Muslim nations exist and there has been a great deal of violence between them in the century that Humanity has called this planet home.

It is now the year 2006 and it has been almost a century since the Banestorm first brought the visitors to Ytarria.