The scrolls herein contain not only the history of Elanthia as passed down through the ages, but the place the great House of the Rising Phoenix has held throughout that history.

This all ended with the coming of the Unlife in the forms of the Ur-Daemons. The door had been opened by who or what is unknown, but the Darkness was before us...

"The Unlife feeds on destruction, upon the deaths of individuals and societies with equal fervour. It is a thirst unquenched and unslakable. Indeed, the more it consumes, the more it seems to require. It has no source, but it is everywhere, waiting for a tool to open the door and allow it to enter."

-Part I: The Unlife,
by Lord Maruko Ashimine

This darkness appeared in the form of the Ur-Daemons. They fed on mana and chaos. Unspeakable horrors poured forth from the bowels of the earth, unleashing their hatred and foulness upon our ancestors. When the peoples of the Land beheld the Darkness, they fell in sorrow and blood, fear and pain. Their lives were extinguished in an instant and their bodies used for the swelling armies of demons. Darkness was devouring the delicate flesh of society, until nothing was left. All was seemingly lost.

The Drakes became worried at the progress of Evil and were moved to stop it. The emperor Drake banded his lessers and the arkati under him and battled the Ur-Daemons with a fervor. The Drakes and the Arkati walked the lands and tremendous battles between both sides ensued, but the Ur-daemons would not so easily be driven back.

These wars lasted for centuries and many on both sides perished. The Drakes and Arkati fought these minions, killing Ur-daemons, unlife commanders, unholy spirits and monsterous Ordainers. A few tales remain of this age, one such is of Ronan.

"There Ronan sat, mounted upon his great stallion, battling the Ordainer Daemons in droves and even they showed hesitation in those dark souless eyes, for they felt fear and the Arkati Ronan had melted into their nightmares."

-Visions and Musings,
By Loremaster Archon

In the end, the Ur-Daemons were driven back, making a final stand before the portal leading back to their own dimension. This final battle blasted the landscape for hundreds of miles, leaving it barren landscape, though twisted and fragmented by the impossible power released during the battle, fell silent, as if mute, calm once more. One is believed to remain and he is known as Marlu.

Continue to Next Section:
II. A. Ascension and the Schism

Return to Phoenix in History Index