The Dark Times on Duria

Without divine healing, the Crimson Plague raged across the continent unchecked during the Dark Times, reducing some cities to as little as a tenth of their population in the course of a decade. Trade slowed to a standstill and the continent was cut off from Aurea and Gallorea. Several nations, including Koramia, were ravaged by civil war as inheritance was questioned and conquered peoples took advantage of weak crowns to claim independence.

Despite the chaos of the end of the Third Age of Man, Duria fared better than the other continents. During these dark times, the druids of the Calmerian Marches decided to go forth into the world from their seclusion and attempt to help humanity recover in the absence of the Elder Gods. They slowly spread across Duria, replacing the failing priesthoods in many places as judges and advisers as well as helping to curb the tide of the Crimson Plague. Many of the elves of the Webwood, no longer secure in their remote and well-defended forests, spread throughout human lands, often establishing small enclaves near major human cities. The dwarves of Gundag and Derlos also came forth from their hermitage, openly trading and settling in human nations.

Humanity on Duria endured the Dark Times and prepared for a long period of darkness and fear. And then only four decades after the Recession of the Gods, the Elder Gods abruptly returned.

The Fourth Age of Man had begun.