In a corner of the world, which is considered central by some and remote by others, lies the land of Atkasia. With its mountains and thick forests to the north and east, plains to the west and in the center, its swamp to the far south and an outlet to the sea in the southeast, Atkasia contains the grounds for one of the unique histories of the world. It is unmatched in diversity and diversity's unity within itself, and this all begins with the story to follow.
Millennia upon millennia ago, when the inhabitants of Atkasia had not yet reached their current level of civility, the land consisted of many wandering tribes, each one battling the others for relatively small-scale control. There were no permanent settlements in these early years; survival was the common goal shared by all the people. The weather was harsh. Blizzards frequently came upon the plains. Savage beasts roamed every acre of Atkasia, and the nomads, intelligent as they were, were in no way organized or well enough equipped to use these creatures as a food source. The delicate balance between each species was uninterrupted, as little technology other than simple machines existed. Organized religion did exist, though it was little more than a few simple nature deities. No beings had yet learned to harness the power of magic, a force both enlightening and helpful as well as degrading as destructive. The few beasts whose species was born with this gift were the early masters of this force, manipulative as they were not.
Eventually the Neolithic era of Atkasia came into existence. The people learned to farm, herd and harness basic magical spells in the rare case of a few individuals. Small towns began to appear, and, towards the end of this age, even cities and civilizations emerged. The level of technology dramatically increased, and more efficient tools aided in development of already increasing standards of productivity and living. Groups of people now had the capacity to control larger areas of land. Organized warfare was commonplace. Centers of religion were established, both separate and in coalition with accompanying civilizations. Few of these monstrous establishments, however, were created by Men; most were the creations of Elves, as they are of the elder of the civilized races of Atkasia. A few were made by early Dwarves, though they were, and still are, an extreme minority in this land. The rest were more than likely constructed by even more ancient, and possibly more civilized, races that dominated the land before the Elves ruled supreme.
Then, perhaps due to magic, or possibly a force far greater than magic beyond the comprehension of people then or now, the magic that existed in Atkasia was divided in the beings that possessed it; many of the beings that were the original holders of this all powerful force then lost their power and magic was scattered throughout the land. Much of the magic, in all of its forms and disguises, was directly bestowed upon various living things. A portion also poured into the earth, increasing her fertility and capacity to support life. Some became entangled with the elements of creation, creating the elemental properties of earth, water, fire and wind and the accompanying elemental beings to act as guardians of their life-giving sources of energy. The rest was lost; it was gone from the spectrum of reality forever, and henceforth its non-existence weakened the overall effect that magic had on the world.
Many new beings now had the opportunity to become masters of magic. This would be performed involuntarily in the case of less intelligent creatures, but many Elves, as well as Men, began practicing the art of magic and using it to fit their own needs. From this came a new specialized group of individuals that would become known as the Mage Knights. At first these Mage Knights were looked upon with superstition; most people had not yet developed understanding as to the enormous potential that the manipulation of magic had. Eventually, however, the Mage Knights, or mages, became well-respected individuals in nearly all settlements, both great and small. There was, of course, the ever-present level of ignorance held by the people that continued a certain level of distrust between the mage and the common citizen.
The Mage Knights soon found that they could use their knowledge of magic, which by now had progressed to a strict and ritualized form of study, to not only manipulate inanimate objects, elements of creation and the very fabric of magic itself, but also the minds of lesser beings. They learned to use other creatures (first ones of lower intelligence, but this would change) for their benefit via manipulating and regulating their thoughts. This group of Mage Knights became know as the Tamers, and their knowledge of mind-manipulative magic increased rapidly. Over the course of a few centuries (little time in the grand scheme of things), they could control, or "Tame" many beings of even greater intelligence than themselves. Although by this time most people had forgotten about the great division in magic, the Tamers found that beings that were once the possessors of magic were particularly susceptible to control spells, as they had no magical immunity due to the great switch in power that the division had caused. These creatures were used for work such as construction and other hard labor as well as for military purposes. Ferocious beasts became part of the battle line of many an army.
These Tamed, of course, were always controlled against their will. Many beasts lost their lives when under control only to never be aware of their own deaths. Eventually some people came to the realization that Taming was unethical, and some of the Tamers gave up their practices to study other fields of magic. The Elves were probably the first to do this, as Men for a time felt they needed to use Tamed beasts to catch up with the Elves in the building of empires and civilizations. However there were still the purists that insisted on continuing their studies as Tamers. This clash of morals created a great distrust among the people of Atkasia. There were those who wished to follow a code of decency, which excluded the control of other beings' minds. This group of people consisted largely of warriors that wished to prove their strength in battle without help from Tamed beasts, as well as mages that had decided to change their ways from those taught in the path of the Tamer. The other group was the Tamers and those who had no objection to their practicing of their art. These people believed that whatever contributed to their own growth should be allowed, and beast Taming was just another tool to use for this purpose.
Over the years the two groups had less and less respect for each other's ways of life. Battles and wars erupted across Atkasia, and this continued for over five hundred years. These wars would later be known as "The Wars of the Tamed," and the effects of these wars can be seen to this day. Century after century the two groups continuously fought battle after battle. This caused the Elves of Atkasia to flee the land's interior. They fled to where most people believed they originated: the woods and mountains of the north. In the end Atkasia was a torn land, both physically and politically. Much of what the people had created thus far was destroyed, and much of what was learned had to be learned once again. Civilization had declined. Both sides of the conflict, though heavy with loss, remained.
The history of the church of Atkasia largely overlaps incidents of the Wars of the Tamed. Towards the beginning of these wars, there was said to be a boy born to peasant parents whose name was Alhanrin. Alhanrin was a child of exceptional intelligence and supposedly was able to perform acts that were supernatural even in the eyes of a people exposed to magic. He was of a group of people uninvolved with the wars that were occurring nearby and was brought up to be pacifistic. One year there was a drought that dried up all the lakes in one area of Atkasia, and this affected both sides of the war in addition to Alhanrin's clan. It was said that Alhanrin made drinkable water appear from the remains of a dried up lake where many Mage Knights had failed, and this saved the people from thirst. One greedy warlord, however, wished to claim credit for what Alhanrin, then twelve years of age, had done for reasons having to due with the war. He falsely impersonated a mage, and he accused Alhanrin for committing a crime worthy of execution. No one is sure what this crime was; many believe this warlord, named Grantis, killed Alhanrin himself. Never the less, at age thirteen Alhanrin was executed. After his execution a group of people began to record all that Alhanrin had accomplished in his life, including all the miracles he had performed. Over the years these records became more and more familiarized, being passed on from generation to generation. Although Alhanrin never wished for it, he became associated with one of the major gods of a polytheist religion. The god's original name was forgotten, and soon he became known simply as God. Soon after all other gods were declared false, and hardly anyone objected to this. Many people in the late ages believe this was largely due to the fact that the people were too busy fighting and worrying about the Wars of the Tamed to care much about religion. Alhanrin became the icon of many deities of this new religion (practiced at full-scale towards the end of the wars), which came to be known as "Alhanrism." The central church of Alhanrism, which still remains, is located in the south-central region of Atkasia, and is considered to be an independent city-state. The Elves, however, never largely adopted Alhanrism. This religion is, for the most part, associated with the Men, and the Elves continued to practice several polytheist religions from ancient times.
Referring back the Wars of the Tamed, when it subsided the survivors continued to dislike each other. They were, however, wise enough to try to prevent another large-scale conflict from arising again. They separated themselves; the descendants of the original Tamers went west, while their opposers went east. Slowly these two groups, virtually considered nationalities at this point, created nation states. The nation to the west became know as Kunhaeris, a derivative of a term from Tamer spell casting. The nation to the east became known as Avrimoire, named after a commander of a late War of the Tamed that is believed to have wanted the two groups to separate. The griffon became the symbol of Kunhaeris, as the griffon was one of the first of the large beasts to be tamed, and griffon canyons are abundant in the wilderness surrounding the nation. The dragon became the crest of Avrimoire, as dragons have somehow managed to not be largely Tamed as a race while many creatures of their intelligence met their doom in the hands of mages. The dragon therefore represents freedom; freedom from the tyranny of the Tamers, although this ancient prejudice, though largely existent, is sometimes used as an excuse for bitterness in the late ages.
The two nations did continue to quarrel long after the Wars of the Tamed. Many conflicts today have little to do with this ancient war, such as trade disputes and other political uprisings. But sure enough the old conflict continues to play a role in the lives of the citizens of Kunhaeris and Avrimoire, and old grudges remain.
