The First Age of Man

The First Age of Man is generally judged to begin with the foundation of the first city, Thenos in Aebasa, 6626 years before the foundation of the Great Empire. The First Age lasted two and a half millennia before the Great Darkness settled over humanity, sending humans on all three continents into their first Dark Age.

Human scholars of the Fourth Age tend to know very little of this time period, particularly of events on Aurea and Duria, though recently some dwarven and even elven scholars have been filling in the vagueness. The First Age was a time of fantastic heroics, tremendous magic and often direct interference in mortal affairs by the gods. Perhaps most importantly, this was the period in which the dwarves were first forced underground by orcish hordes as well as the time where elves were first taught the secrets of immortality.

By the end of the First Age of Man, the gods had grown so frustrated with their attempts to directly manipulate human civilization that they withdrew their blessing altogether. Except in a few regions, humanity collapsed into barbarism and ignorance during the Great Darkness, which lasted almost 2000 years.

Timeline

Original article: First Age of Man Timeline

Imperial Year	Aebasan Year	Neptaran Year	Event
6625 BI	1 AT	5875 BF	Beginning of the First Age of Man with the foundation of Thenos in Aebasa.
6071 BI	555 AT	5321 BF	The Fall of Kalazar results in the conclusion of the War of Dark Sorrow between the orcs and dwarves. The few remaining dwarves flee into the mountains and caverns near Kalazar.
5950 BI	676 AT	5200 BF	The Revelation of Amairgen: About this time, Amairgen becomes the first druid and is later murdered by priests of the Old Gods. As a result, his disciples go into hiding, initiating The First Anchorage.
5706 BI	920 AT	4956 BF	Danu and her disciples discover the secret of Immortality and being their search for a culture to share it with.
5618 BI	1008 AT	4868 BF	Danu and her disciples find the elves, and choose them to pass on the secret of immortality, triggering the dawn of the First Age of Elvenkind; by this time, worship of Danu has spread amongst the humans.
4725 BI	1901 AT	3975 BF	Dwarves attempt to return to their above-ground homeland, only to discover it ruled by humans. The War of the Sun begins.
4649 BI	1977 AT	3899 BF	Dwarves are pushed back into their mountain homes by humans during War of the Sun, and the main thrust of the dwarven attack is repulsed. Dwarves still make periodic raids on human settlements, but never again truly threaten human civilization.
4125 BI	2501 AT	3375 BF	The First Age of Man has concluded by this time.