History of Illumina

This page breaks down a high-level outline of events in the World of Illumina up to where the story begins.

Pre-Ancient Times

The world was originally constructed - and thus ruled - by the Titans. Illumina's physical form was shaped by them, and so too were its first forms of life. The origin of the Titans themselves (along with the universe containing everything) was known only to the Titans and was a heavily guarded secret all the way until the Titans themselves passed away into the life force of the planet. Their existence and activities are mostly a mystery outside of the world's initial creation (only the fact that they created it is known, but how it was created is not). The length of time in this period is also unknown; it could have been centuries or billions of years.

Ancient Period

The Ancient Period starts after all Titans left Illumina.

The first recorded race to exist in the world was the Dwarves, as they were descendants of the Titans. Legends of Titanis being discovered happened sometime in this era. However, it's official discovery was not recorded, but was passed down via generations of Dwarves. In ancient times, Dwarves were not separated into sub-groups as they are today.

Trolls also appeared around this time, but it is not known if they were first as early trolls had no system of writing or recording at that time. At this time, Trolls were also not separated into sub-groups as they are today.

Human Historical Era

This is the era when Humans are first believed to exist, although their origins are not truly known. They settled on a small continent to the north, then known as Dawnvael, later raising a city there of the same name. It was a bastion of prosperity, peace and tranquility.

A Human religion called Zorathism (which happened to also be the first religion created) was formed in the early days of Humans, focused on pleasing the god Zorath. It was believed that Zorath gifted the world Nyxoth, a form of Anima which helped Zorathians in their daily lives with healing and other capabilities, but expected regularly-paced sacrifices in return. Generally those who were badly injured, 'infirm', or who had committed crimes were chosen to be sacrificed.

Many traveled the world in seek of knowledge, although sometimes this was met with hostility from local groups who saw them as a threat. Regardless, a large group travelled to central Vaelora to learn from the generally hospitable Trolls in the nearby Tir'gora Wilds as well as expand their influence to the non-religious Trolls in the area. Being relatively disconnected from Dawnvael, and thus the core or Zorathism present there, the folks living there became overly-content with their situation and, as the story goes, over-used Nyxoth for personal pleasure and convenience while all but halting sacrifices required by Zorath. This enraged Zorath, who called down a giant sword made of lightning and hurled it into the ground, creating a large and deep scar in the land and eliminating all life in a wide radius of it. This area is now known as the Zorath Scar. Life still does not survive close to the scar to this day.

Soon after this time, some of the few who survived abandoned Zorathism and moved to the Wuyun Plateau. Descendants of these Humans started Shenism, a religion that focuses not on a god, but instead on one's spiritual bond with the world. This was the second recorded religion created in the world.

The Trolls in the area adopted something similar, only somewhat more shamanistic in nature. This was never really viewed (even by them) as an organized religion though.

Around the same period of time, the Dwarves of Thaldor ran into troubles of their own. They came to believe Titanis had depleted, as their old methods of harvesting for strength it no longer worked, and they were unsure why (nobody knows to this day). One Dwarf figured out that personal strength could still be achieved via their weapons enchanted with it upon felling an enemy. This resilience and strength flowed from the weapon to its wielder, but had the caveat that it had to be recharged regularly. As a result, these Dwarves were driven mad by the lust for power and strength and began terrorizing the local populations for their own gains in this regard. The Dwarves of Vaelora thought differently though, and upon hearing of this decided to attempt to separate the themselves from those of Thaldor. Therefore, the Dwarves of Thaldor became known as the Bloodbane Dwarves (a reference to their brutal nature) and those in Vaelora became known as Hillstone Dwarves (a reference to their more peaceful, mining nature). Communication all but stopped between the groups after this split.

Current Times

The dawn of a new religion

At the beginning of this period, the events of a prophet named Dio the Dawnkeeper led to a long series of events that would change the world in profound ways. One day Dio stumbled upon the miracle of Solara, so named as a reference to the light and the sun, which combined the use of Light and Reagants to achieve magical effects such as healing, fire, wind, and enhancements like weightlessness, night vision and more. Dio, having for a long time wished for a more peaceful religion (and having strong distaste for the sacrificial ways of Zorathism) formed The Dawnkeepers, a name shred by both the religion and its followers. Over the next 50 years, the influence of The Dawnkeepers spread over the kingdom of Dawnvael, much to the chagrin of the Zorathians, who were slowly and surely being edged out.

The dusk of peace

Hostility between the two groups remained mostly verbal until Dio the Dawnkeeper's untimely passing at a parade held for the king. Dio had suffered a heart attack while attempting to keep afloat a large, heavy parade display levitated above himself and the King during said parade, a task which normally required very little effort from the Father of The Dawnkeepers. The display came crashing down, killing them both (and quite a number of others) in the process. The Zorathians pointed the finger and blamed The Dawnkeepers, stating this was a staged assassination and that the religion itself was "overblown" and nothing but "tricks". The Dawnkeepers fired back saying the Zorathians were heretics and deserved to die for their blasphemous words. The back and forth continued, and ultimately lead to the Dawnbreak War, which resulted in the ultimate destruction of the kingdom and the land around it, as each side tried to outdo the other and escalated to a point of no return. The land was cursed and poisoned by the end, and is now known as Duskvael. During the war, a rumor spread that the Zhulgar Trolls took the disaster as an opportunity to remove the humans from the planet entirely, and it was them who killed many humans by poisoning the land. In reality, that couldn't have been further from the truth.

Moving forward with vengeance

Eventually, the fighting came to a standstill and both sides, with losses mounting, realized they would fight to extinction if things continued this way. Therefore, the leaders of the two factions met, a peace agreement was had, and a pact was signed that forbade them from ever fighting each other again regardless of circumstance. It was time to move on.

Rebuilding Duskvael wasn't an option, as it was believed the land was far too damaged and corrupted to be saved. However, word had been sent about a new place the Humans could thrive and rebuild. The lush, green Verdane Forest would be perfect, aside from one issue. The Trolls had a capitol city there called Brak'Zhul. With nothing to lose, the Humans marched out of Duskvael to the port town of Umbrithar (where some few stayed behind to help those living there), where they loaded aboard a fleet of vessels and sailed across the Lorien Sea to Briskfjord. After telling their story to the locals, they resupplied and marched west through Iskald, then south through the Silverwood Foothills and through The Autumn Reach, finally arriving in Verdane Forest.

The Humans attacked Brak'Thar, who were woefully under-prepared as they never saw it coming, and quickly overran it and burned it to the ground in vengeance. This was known as the First Troll War.

The Trolls, both confused and outraged, prepared for a counter-attack for about 6 months. They then launched said counter attack from their now-capitol of the City of Zhul'thar (located to the south in Ruk'thar), sparking the Second Troll War. By this time, the Humans had fortified walls around what they now mockingly called Zhuldane, a reference to the old city that was once there, the new Human capitol city, which was built atop the old Troll capitol city. This counter-attack failed due to the fortifications, and the Trolls were pushed back to the border of Verdane Forest. The battle raged on for another year until both sides agreed to a ceasefire, citing mounting losses on both sides. This war has not officially ended, and the border is heavily guarded between the two zones.

This is where the in-game story begins.