Unlike the ancient races—the elves who were shaped by the elements, the dwarves forged from the bones of the earth, or the orcs who were born for war—the mortal men of Eldoria were not crafted by gods or titans. They were the forgotten, the overlooked, the unintended children of fate.
Yet from their weakness, they found strength, and from their mortality, they found purpose.
They were born to die, but in the short span of their lives, they would reshape the world.
The Origins of Mortal Men
Legends say that mortal men were never meant to exist. When the Titans of Light and Dark shaped Eldoria, they wove magic into the essence of every race—the elves with their endless lifespans, the giants with their connection to the sky, the dwarves with their affinity for stone.
But men were different.
• They were not gifted with immortality.
• They did not possess divine strength.
• They had no natural magic flowing through their veins.
Some scholars believe that men were created by accident, a byproduct of the gods' war, their souls forged from the echoes of fallen titans. Others claim they were born from the union of a trickster god and a forgotten deity of magic, their existence a secret kept even from the divine.
Whatever their origin, mortal men were fragile, short-lived, and weak compared to the elder races. Yet it was precisely because of these limitations that they became the most adaptable, the most ambitious, and the most determined of all beings in Eldoria.
The First Kingdoms of Men
While elves built their enchanted cities in the forests and dwarves carved their fortresses beneath the mountains, men wandered the lands as nomads, hunting, warring, and surviving against impossible odds.
It was not until the Age of Kings that they began to carve out their place in history.
1. The Dawn Empire – The First Great Kingdom of Men
The first true kingdom of men was the Dawn Empire, ruled by King Aerion the Bold, a warlord who united the scattered tribes of men through sheer willpower.
• His warriors wielded steel, a metal the elves considered crude but lethal in human hands.
• His armies moved faster than any other race, for men did not rely on magic or stone fortresses—they built and conquered, never lingering in one place for long.
• The Dawn Empire lasted for three centuries, but it was eventually shattered by a war against both elves and giants, who feared the rise of men.
2. The Ivory Dominion – Masters of Sorcery and Faith
Men did not only grow strong through war. Some sought the power of the arcane, founding the Ivory Dominion, the first human kingdom dedicated to the mastery of magic.
• The Dominion was ruled by Magelords, men and women who defied their mortal limitations by binding themselves to arcane forces.
• Their greatest achievement was the creation of the first human sorcerer-king, Vaelith the Eternal, who was said to wield magic even greater than that of elven archmages.
• The Dominion was destroyed from within, as its rulers sought forbidden magic that ultimately consumed them.
3. The Crimson Thrones – The Blood Kingdoms of Conquest
Not all human kingdoms sought enlightenment. Some, like the Crimson Thrones, rose through war and savagery, embracing strength, steel, and ruthless ambition.
• Their kings were known as Bloodlords, each taking the throne by slaying their predecessor in ritual combat.
• Unlike the orcs, who lived for battle, the Bloodlords fought for dominion, seeking to claim all of Eldoria for men.
• The Crimson Thrones fell when they invaded the elven forests, awakening an ancient curse that wiped out their armies overnight.
Though these early kingdoms fell, the fire of men did not die.
From the ashes of failed empires, new civilizations were born.
The Rise of Magic Among Men
Unlike the elves, who were born with magic in their blood, or the dwarves, who channeled power through their craftsmanship, men had to steal, learn, and adapt.
Over centuries, men discovered three paths to mastering magic:
1. The Path of the Arcane – The Sorcerer-Kings
The first human mages were those who stole magic from the elves, studying their rituals and glyphs in secret.
• Over time, human sorcerer-kings emerged, wielding power that rivaled even the archmages of the elder races.
• Unlike elves, who used magic as an extension of their being, humans bent it to their will, often at great cost.
• Some sorcerer-kings became legends, but many succumbed to corruption, their hunger for power consuming them.
2. The Path of the Divine – The Priesthood of the Ascended
While some men turned to sorcery, others sought power from the gods.
• The Priesthood of the Ascended was formed, a brotherhood of men who worshipped the divine and called upon their blessings.
• Unlike the elves, who communed with nature, human priests forged pacts with gods, offering faith in exchange for power.
• The greatest of these was High Priest Thalric, who claimed to have spoken to the gods themselves and returned from death after being slain in battle.
3. The Path of the Forbidden – Warlocks and Blood Magic
Not all who sought magic did so with noble intent.
• In the darkest corners of Eldoria, human warlocks sought power from demons, spirits, and forgotten entities.
• They practiced blood magic, sacrificing their own lifeforce—or that of others—to perform spells beyond mortal comprehension.
• Many of these warlocks were hunted down by their own kind, but some survived, their knowledge passing through secret orders and cults.
The Legacy of Mortal Men
Though they began as the weakest of races, men became the most unpredictable, the most dangerous, and the most ambitious beings in Eldoria.
• They tamed dragons, creatures the elves feared to control.
• They built empires, some greater than even those of the elder races.
• They defied the gods, breaking the natural order in ways no race had before.
And though they lacked the eternity of elves, the endurance of dwarves, or the sheer might of orcs, they possessed one thing that none of the elder races could match:
The Will to Rule.
For while other races clung to their ancient traditions, men adapted, evolved, and conquered.
And when the time came for the old empires to fall, it was not the elves, dwarves, or titans who stood victorious.
It was the mortal men.