The History of the land now known as Britannia is a very long one, full of turns and surprising events. This will be a rough overview over the history so far.
Originally known as Sosaria, the land was very ancient and once it was walked by strange and wondrous beings, who built numerous underground labyrinths while civilizations rose and fell. The first to settle Sosaria was a race of beings, known only as the Ancient Ones, who managed to defeat the demons that were trying to claim this world as their own. Binding them to their will, some of these beings vanished to a higher state of being, while others became mortal. They settled the land, in harmony with nature and magic. However, on one fateful day, over half a million years ago, the mage Zog discovered a spell of ultimate power. Zog was foolish enough to try it, and all life died on Sosaria, wiping out every sign of the Ancient Ones. Zog, alone in his empty world, died shortly after.
It would take a long time before life returned to Sosaria, but eventually the land was re-settled by different races; mainly Humans but also Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes dominated the kingdoms that surfaced on the land, and civilization started to develop once again. In the following centuries Sosaria was prosperous with rich fields and livestock, and practicioners of magic were banished and the arcane arts, considered corrupting, were forgotten.
The great Age of Darkness began when Mondain, a young yet very powerful Wizard, became corrupted with all the power he had at his disposal. Mad with his thirst for more power, he murdered his father, created horrible beasts, and recruited bloodthirsty monsters to do his bidding with Orcs as his vanguard. He started a bloody war, determined to rule over all of Sosaria through magical means and power. Mondain's corrupting influence swept over Sosaria, and hordes of monsters roamed the land, while the seas were terrorised by horrors of the depths. Famine and pestilence gained ground. The Wizard himself was near invincible, and no one could end his rule of terror, as he had also allied with starwalking savage monsters, who would swoop down and devastate peoples and lands. It was a dark age for Sosaria, with the kingdoms strifing against each other and threatening to crumble under the restless attacks of darkness. The threat of Mondain brought a renaissance of magic, despite the risk of the dangerous arcane arts; scholars unearthed dusty tomes and started to retrain adepts hoping it will help to stop the spread of Mondain's influence. Finally, a band of adventurers killed Mondain, ending his foul rule. However, the forces released with his death were far more powerful than anyone could have foreseen; they deformed the land into a totally new configuration, thundering the continent of Sosaria apart.
While rebuilding the land, no one on Sosaria knew that Mondain had a young apprentice and lover: Minax the Enchantress. Swearing revenge for her mentor's death, she planned horrible things for Sosaria. Years went by, and the youth became an adult; then the time was right for her. She sent forth her hordes to burn down Sosaria, and once again a powerful band of adventurers eventually were able to kill Minax. With her gone, her armies on Sosaria were defeated.
What no one could have foreseen was that Mondain and Minax had created an even greater evil; they had summoned a great demon who was more powerful than both of them. When no one suspected a third evil to arise, the demon started his attack. First, islands rose from the ocean, where the demon located his lair. Vile acts were performed, which would have bitter consequences later, and the evil started to feast on Sosaria. Pirate fleets and sea monsters swept clean the seas, while hordes of monsters roamed the land, and the demon himself started to poison the very soul of the land itself, slowly starting to twist it to his bidding. For a third time, a mighty band of adventurers arose, who fought to defeat the demon. Going to the demons' lair, they fought their way through the guards and into the very depths of the island itself, where it is said the very stones on the ground rose up against them. None would ever speak of the horrors they witnessed before they faced the demon and at the last Age of Darkness was brought to an end.
Following the demons' defeat, the land was re-formed again when the forces bound in him were set free, forming the land to its current shape. Long years of poverty and need ensued as the land recovered from the horrors of the Age of Darkness; The local city-states were united to a single kingdom in the end, under the rule of Lord British, thus, the kingdom of Britannia was born, and the kingdom became politically and economically stable again, after all the horrors; thus began the Age of Enlightenment.
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