The Third Age of Man

The Third Age of Man began with the foundation of the city of Zeth almost six millennia after the foundation of Thenos in Aebasa, over one thousand years after the Curse of Tongues was inflicted on humanity, leading to the Second Interannum. The foundation of Zeth on Aurea coincided with the rise of the Kingdom, later Empire, of Balguran on Gallorea. The Old Gods had returned to their creation as the Tuatha de Dannan became less and less involved in the world, though this time they directed their faithful in portents and granted power indirectly to their priests, instead of directly influencing events as they had done in the First Age of Man.

The Third Age of Man is dominated by the rise of the Great Empire on Aurea and its expansion into Duria, as well as its slow contraction from the continent in the last half of the Age. The conquest of Koramia on Duria and the re-emergence of the dwarves after the recovery of the Goblet of Gundagor in the last century of the Age seemed to ensure that this would be the final, lasting Age of Mankind, but events conspired to bring humanity low once more. First, the Mage-King of Lun Dorak, Lucasa, gained the Imperial Throne in Zeth and set to conquer Koramia before being defeated by a combined army of humans, elves and orcs in the Mage War. Then a dark conqueror from another dimension arrived and attempted to destroy Creation in a bid for not only godhood, but to become the sole god of all universes. Though both conquerors were thwarted, the damage had been done. The Crimson Plague raced across Gallorea and, eventually, into Aurea and Duria. The power vaccuum left in the Great Empire by the death of the Mage-King lead to the bloody Fourth Succession War, which saw many of the Empire's states wage war on one another. When the Crimson Plague struck Aurea, the Empire did not have the strength of arms or will to defend against the chaos inflicted upon them as the Danish barbarians raged unfettered across their once glorious Empire. Meanwhile, on Duria, the orcish horde assembled to defeat the Mage-King turned on its former allies, first defeating the elves of the Sapphire Wood, then ravaging Koramia itself.

Again, the Old Gods withdrew from the world, leaving their priests bereft of power and their creation to struggle without direction. A third Dark Age settled over humanity and this time it seemed that humanity might truly never recover.