The Age of Gods
Thain was once the domain of a pantheon of Minor Gods who were attracted there by a vast energy that emitted from beneath the island. Such was their hold there that the major Gods paid little attention. To compete for control of this island, they would have to invest more of themselves than they perceived worthwhile. Thus their voices became mere whispers in this land. The "Local Gods" however were rapidly unraveling the mysteries that veiled this energy source. As they grew in power and understanding they were able to use more and more of this energy for themselves.
Eventually they started to become petty and began to squabble between each other. Wars were fought on their behalf upon the mortal realm, and suffering became more wide spread.
At the height of their bickering, a powerful evil force spilled forth and consumed the land. Hordes of foul creatures never before seen in the land streamed forth from seemingly every cave, fissure, and hole in the rock. More came down from the sky. Others simply appeared amid bursts of energy or from the thin air itself. Only the strongest stood against this tide and they only like rocks jutting from the surface of a raging river, separate and helpless to change the course of the deluge.
It didn't take long before the Gods realized their grievous error. They had in fact created this evil with their own pettiness. All the waste, death, destruction, and strife they had caused with this energy had manifested itself. It became as a malignant pool like one that will form in the bottom of a bowl of rotting fruit. It dwelled in the hearts of the creatures that it called and seeped into the minds of men who's minds held shadows. It befouled everything it touched.
For the first time in an age, the Gods unified their forces to combat what they had unleashed. They gathered what little strength they had remaining and staged a massive series of attacks that finally drove the darkness below the ground. They had not yet won, however. In pushing back the darkness they had condensed it. What it held, it held with impossible strength and it still held too much influence upon the land. It was determined that it must be driven out at all costs.
An army was created the likes of which has never been seen, or will again. The Gods themselves manifested to lead the battle.
The Battle was on a scale that can only be called apocalyptic. Mountain were cast down, their roots torn asunder. The earth was rent and even the barriers between realms was torn. Emanation from it were felt around the world, although by this time the Major Gods had no power to intercede. Not one God survived the conflict. Each in their turn fell, but each did not fail to make the Enemy pay dearly. The final moment came when the last of the great among the mortal races stood alone at the ventralcal source of the energy that the Gods had so long controlled and had become the strength of the enemy. Calling upon the last of their magic and strength and fueling a mighty spell with their lives, the succeeded in capping the flow of energy and sealing it from this realm. There last whish, for it to remain so forever.
The ethereal remains of the Gods stayed within the land, without conscience, will, or focus. An unthinking mass was all that remained of the individual entities that were once so proud. Now, after an eternity of time has passed that mass has begun reforming into individual entities again. Some bare likenesses to their former selves, but none are what they once were. At the same time, the seals are weakening and strange crystalline structures have penetrated through the vault that holds the darkness at bay and into this realm, allowing it to seep forth in wisps and trickles. Once more foul creatures walk the land and great sources of power have emerged. Once again it will become the task of mortals to decide the fate of the Island of Thain, and possibly the entire realm. This has become known as the First Cataclysm.
The First Age of Heroes
Over the years the struggle of the newly-awakened gods and the infiltration of evil culminated in the great conflict of the Shadow War between the two most powerful gods: Andarus of the Light and Zentarus of the Dark. Beings of equal strength and diametrically-aligned powers (some even say they were two aspects of the same being), their struggle escalated and drew all other powers of Thain into its embrace.
As the whirlwind of destruction intensified, the heroes of the land realized that the war was threatening to destroy all of Thain in a Second Cataclysm. They managed to convince the gods to cease their struggle, but it became apparent that the old wards against evil had already been severely weakened. Only by sacrificing their very existence, did the gods manage to seal the rifts again. So passed another generation of gods into history and oblivion.
The Second Age of Heroes
Magic had fled the island, as had the sunlight, resulting in the dismal Darkwet blanketing the island for months; which scholars mark as the beginning of the second age. But slowly magic and light returned. Although greatly weakened the riftstones still spread their evil unto the island, and the power is still there for new gods to form and take on new persona's. Heroes are still needed to defend the Island of Thain. Many of the 'powers' about the island are fading with the death of the Aspect Dragons and ascension of Draxus Ultimax. A new age of heroes is dawning.
