TNT Etherbank
The oldest publicly known records still in existence on Earth point back to the "Iron Age" as the first in which advanced civilization began to rise out of the once scattered warring clans of old. The one book left which speaks of such a time is kept safely in the vaults of a dungeon hidden deep beneath the elfish city Tithe. No human has seen it since the dawning of the Golden Age. This book is called the "Eorn." When translated from Dwarfish it reads:
"It was 2970 IA when first we surfaced in Etherbank. We had chiseled our way down many narrow subterranean rivers from our home under Mount Bohrlos in search of precious ores when we found a passage to the surface. It looked as though it had been previously used long ago by some giant race of beings. We had no trouble making our way through the passages. This new land was strangely peaceful compared to our once highly thought of homeland. The ore veins ran stronger than we had ever seen. We mined gems and silver as though they were coal and soon found ourselves very wealthy. A great dwarfish city was founded in this new place which we named Dol Galad, and so the Silver Age began. Civil war broke out between Dol Galad and the dwarves of Mount Bohrlos. The passage to Bohrlos amidst the fighting caved in leaving us in Etherbank to fend for ourselves. At first it was a joy, and we lived in peace and drank to our hearts' content. Our mines expanded across the continent to Mount Virdun in 60 SA. Soon enough, however, we found ourselves facing new adversaries of a higher caliber than we had ever experienced. These new creatures had pointy ears and eyes which pierced darkness. These we called elves. While our axes were broad, they were no match for the craft of the elves and Virdun was lost. The elves captured hundreds of dwarves, herded them into forced labor, and established a city in 111 SA where ours had once stood tall and called this disgrace Tithe. Where they took our ore across the great water we don't know. Fear spread of the elves taking Dol Galad and the passage to Bohrlos of Koroth was reopened after much struggle. When we reached the great halls of Bohrlos, we found not a single dwarf among them. They had vanished, but some of their records had not. They spoke of human clans merging and forming the city, of Arkdun north of Bohrlos. They formed two major clans known as the Templars and the Unholys, which tore the city in two. A great captain among men, named Ferumbras, united the clans only for a short time against the dwarves just long enough to found Arkdun. We now know that the humans were responsible for this atrocity. The dwarfish city was completely ravaged and plundered by the humans in search of wealth. As soon as the halls had been plundered, the factions began to war yet more vigorously than ever before over their new-found treasures. Each built a great fortress outside of the city to plot their next attempt to defeat the other clan. War persisted between the factions through the entire span of the Silver Age. Great warriors came and went with the passing of time. We dwarves kept to ourselves for as long as we could before we were rediscovered by smugglers, from Ehriz, who spread the word to Arkdun and the Faction overlords. Surprisingly enough the humans of Arkdun did not attack us as we predicted. They missed their old supply of ore and crafts of dwarfish quality and opened trade to us immediately in 340 SA. Times again were good. Explorers discovered Etherbank by sea soon thereafter and established friendly relations with Dol Galad and founded the city of Slatia in 420 SA directly above on the surface. The elves of Tithe immediately recognized this new invasive colonization of Etherbank by the humans and launched a massive attack in 421 SA, but were greatly surprised and thwarted by the strength and craft of the battle-hardened humans of Slatia who had migrated from Arkdun in search of peace. For a long time the humans and dwarves of Etherbank coexisted. The two races formed an alliance against the elves and vowed to one day retake Mount Virdun."
However, this would never be the case. This passage ends with the Great Collapse of 1040 SA in which its keepers were killed. More than 3000 dwarves drowned in an incident which destroyed almost in its entirety the majestic dwarfish city of Dol Galad. As the city expanded, caverns were carved ever-deeper into the depths of Etherbank. In 899 SA it was discovered that Dol Galad in its outer limits had breached the seabed. Talk of catastrophe spread like wildfire. Many dwarves retreated into the wilderness of Etherbank leaving their friends behind. These dwarfs created a new city to the east of Slatia which they called Falthalas just south of Mount Virdun and Tithe. Massive support columns were constructed to keep the weight of the seabed at bay above the massive city. Just as things began to calm down, disaster struck and the roof of the great city of Dol Galad split wide open. A great deluge would see the end of thousands of dwarves and countless relics of ancient dwarfish craftsmanship said by some to still lie at the base of this great subterranean lake. The Eorn was saved and immediately put in a vault by Slatian royalty, but was discovered to be missing shortly thereafter. The humans of Slatia helped in what ways they could, but were busy fighting off a new enemy. It is said by many that the elves are responsible for the unleashing of the drakens. Whether it was intentional or not has yet to be discovered. A deadly race of sentient lizards now lies east of Slatia which is completely bent on the destruction of humanity, starting with Slatia. The drakens quickly invaded and conquered the dwarfish city of Falthalas, claiming it as their own. Bandits and rogues thickened and became rampant as Slatia's control over Etherbank softened with the coming of the drakens. Corruption spread throughout Slatian authority as top smugglers and druglords gained influence. The draken waves crashed upon Slatias walls ceaselessly. Slatia's manpower began to thin as its walls weakened. Suddenly as though sent by some supernatural force three mysterious cloaked sages appeared across the lands opening portals at each of the cities' temples. They would later be named Orky, who opened Slatia's portal, Xanitex, who opened Arkdun's portal, and Tajis, who opened Weatherwind's portal. These they said went to a place called the "other side." Though they themselves did not recognize such a title, even the greatest of warriors called them Gods. Mysterious travelers appeared from the portals, slowly at first. These foreigners brought with them strange powers previously unseen. Their ability to reincarnate baffled even Slatia's most esteemed elders. Soon enough Slatia had been re-secured, and Arkdun saw new wars. This would be called by many the dawn of the Golden Age. It is currently 3350 of the Golden Age. War rages across Koroth as tensions rise yet again between the factions.
