The Shapers


Aonir's departure left Eo as a blank canvas, a canvas soon to be filled with all sorts of life forms. It is true that some primordial, elemental beings had already existed on Eo, but they weren't his creations. The first intelligent races born out of the Seed of Life would also be the ones to steer the world's course for the next tens of thousands of years: The Shapers and the Dragons.
Centring our measurement of time around an event that’s yet to come known as the Convocation, both first races appeared around the year 45.000 B.C. (Before the Convocation), yet their beginnings differed drastically. The Dragons, the more secluded of the two, mostly kept to themselves on the far East continent of Godeland from which they originated. However, the Shapers, also known as the Children of the Gods, driven by the thirst for exploration and knowledge, wasted no time broadening their horizons.
They emerged on Xu and were quick to establish their culture and society, and thanks to their immense magical capabilities, they expanded their reach to every corner of Eo. It was them who formed the first cities out of the bones of this world. They owe their name to the marvellous structures and artifacts they shaped. Stone, metal, glass, and even the invisible powers of dreams and thoughts adhered to their will.


It was around this time that Nor descended onto Eo and told the races of Aonir. This made the Shapers aware of the Gods, yet they did not seem worship them in a particular manner. They were a benevolent race, coexisting and observing the beings around them. Some of which, such as the Skergs and Minotaurs, would eventually end up serving the Shapers and helping them operate their marvellous constructs.
They would soon expand outside of the Xu, reaching the continents of Fiara and Urgath across the Sea of Dreams. There, they used their innate gifts to bestow the world with more of their marvels, creating entire forests comprised of crystals formed from their mere thoughts. It wasn’t long before they reached the faraway lands of Inenland in the West, and Godeland, the home of the Dragons, to the East where they would soon build settlement to research the giant lizards who, up until now, chose to live a quiet life in solitude.
Amongst perhaps their greatest creations was the City Ship, a place they called Daenai. Even though it had been constructed from crystals, metals, and stone, their magic allowed it to traverse the seas like any ship, paving the way for discoveries in lands yet uncharted on their maps – the Shaper were truly at their apex.
But for as mighty as their empire and knowledge was, one day came a trial that broke them, and with it, an enemy that would spell their demise. While conducting research in the middle of Xu, a Shaper couple made the discovery that would ultimately lead to their downfall – they uncovered the Allfire – the essence of all magic on Eo.
Having first brought the news to their people, the couple was revered. Though the Allfire was hard to master – requiring weeks, even months, to control even for skilled mages such as the Shapers – its benefits seemed countless: their magical prowess, as well as their lifespan increased exponentially, they became nigh invulnerable, and they were able to progress even faster than ever. They built a new city around the original source of the Allfire which would from then on become the centre of the empire – Danduil, the Citadel.


But the Archfire came at a cost. Soon, the once curious Shapers began craving more power, more control. Simply exploring the world around them wasn't enough, they needed to dominate it. The creatures they once observed were forcefully turned to slaves, their minds controlled and twisted by the Shapers. The leaders of their kind were fast to notice this and decided to punish the couple that brought this misfortune upon them. They were brought to the Citadel where a spell was cast on them, condemning them to an eternal slumber deep inside the inner layers of the city.
But it mattered little. The seed of greed had already established a firm hold around the Shapers’ hearts. Their empire soon reached even the most desolate places on Eo.
It was only then, around 40.000 B.C., that the Dragons rose from their nests in the high mountains of Godeland. Fearing enslavement and eternal Shaper domination, the Dragons took it upon themselves to end their tyranny – for the Allfire made the Shapers strong, and only the scorching flame of the elder Dragons, containing traces of its power, could stop them.
They flew from one part of the world to the next, fighting the Shapers at every encounter and burning their once great constructs to ash. As their cities disappeared, so did their empire. Once the dust had settled, the Dragons emerged the victor.
With their cities in ruin and the ones who abused the Allfire dead, the remaining Shapers had to flee. They soon found themselves scattered into four major groups. Over the coming millennia, these groups would remain hidden – reverting to barbarism, changing, and adapting to their new home.
Three of the groups fled to Fiara, one to the South, into the thick forests of Finonmir, one into the deep caverns beneath the Grimwarg and one into the perennial ice of the Windwall Mountains. That is the origin of the Elves, who inherited the Shapers’ strength of mind, the Dwarves, who were blessed with their craftsmanship, and the Humans, who inherited their thirst for knowledge, but also their thirst for power.
One sole group found their shelter in the mountains of Xu. Much like their brethren on Fiara, they remained hidden, and over time, they became people known as the Kathai and the Hazim.
For the next tens of thousands of years, the Dragons would rule the skies above the land, and all that was left of the once great Shaper empire were ruins, ancient scripts – but also the couple that brought the misfortune upon them, still resting inside the library of the Citadel - until the strings of fate would release them from their eternal slumber.