In the beginning, there was a world. A world barren and lifeless.
The Creator took pity on the world and gave it life. With the powers of the universe at his disposal he transformed the barren world into a lush paradise and gave it a name, that name was Elysium.

The Creator recognized that this new world was vunerable, and so created 3 divinities to care for the diverse creatures which soon evolved upon it. These divinities were given a specific purpose, and an aim.

First, he created Astarot, God Of The Morning Star. Astarot was to organise the creatures of Elysium into a lawful society, and to ensure that the species did not revert to savagery. Astarot looked for purity in the creatures souls and urged them towards peaceful living.

Secondly, he created Zharadan, God Of Judgement. Zharadan was to keep the species upon Elysium advancing in knowledge and spirit, and to ensure that the race for dominance did not halt. He had the hardest job of keeping the balance. For without balance there would be no progress.

Finally, he created Delvanea, Goddess Of Shadows to look after the weak and defenceless. Soon however Delvanea grew scornful of her duty and found more pleasure in watching the suffering of those weaker individuals. Breaking away she sought the most depraved creatures and sought to dominate Elysium.

For millions of years, Elysium evolved into a world brimming with activity and life.
The populations of the races within Elysium grew larger by the day, and eventually, the land upon Elysium became too little to hold them, and so they fought. Many battles followed, and many lives were lost all for the sake of land. Races were enslaved, and cruelty began to make its mark. Delvanea smiled, as the world became a living hell for some, and a paradise for the wicked.

The other divinities watched with horror, their minds swirling in confusion. They realised something needed to be done, but they did not know what. The race known as the Hakarren had conquered most of the lands due to their superior intelligence and strength, and so the divinities recognized that the race was too powerful. They needed to ensure that the races were all similar in ability.

Astarot and Zharadan joined forces to bring about a mighty change to the Hakarren. One rainy night, while the leader of the Hakarren was giving a speech to his fellow Hakarrens, both Astarot and Zharadan created a mighty force which exploded violently over the land, causing the Hakarren to lose their largest strongholds.

One by one, they dropped like flies, and the prisoners which they once held began to rebel against their now much weaker masters. With a great deal of their strength removed, they retreated to the north of Elysium where they set up a fortress in which they lived for many generations to come. The other races of Elysium, however, began to set up their own communities a great distance from one another, in fear that such a time should pass again.

Years passed, and the villages upon Elysium advanced into cities and towns. Now followed a golden age of peace and tranquility as each race grew stronger and rules in which people must live were formed. Agriculture increased, and food was plentiful while at the same time religion caught hold amongst the people after witnessing the effects which were brought about during the Hakarren reign.

The Hakarren did not wither away and die within their great fortresses however, and after spending much time training troops and increasing their wealth, they waged war upon the southern island, and began to once again set up their mighty empire.
Knights from a mixture of different cities, all grouped together to put an end to the Hakarren once and for all, and they began to draw up plans. Backed by Astarot, the Knights were given a name, 'The Elysium Brotherhood' traversed the great oceans between them and the Hakarren, before finally reaching their hated lands.

The Hakarren noticed this threat from far away, and with the backing of Delvanea, they began to learn the ways of the Sorcerer, creating devastating magic which would prepare themselves for the imminent invasion.

The Elysium Brotherhood massed outside the gates of the Hakarren, demanding that they immediately surrendered, but the Hakarren held too much pride. Slowly, but steadily, The Elysium Brotherhood marched their way into the stronghold which was the last retreat for the Hakarren.

However, to everyone's surprise, the orcish faction of the knights turned around and began savagly attacking their former allies. In minutes, The Elysium Brotherhood were being pushed back towards the sea by the Orcs, and a great amount of the knights fled to far away lands in fear. To the Hakarren's dismay, the orcs did not return to add to the Hakarren ranks, but instead marched straight back to their home lands.
No one knew why the orcs took this sudden stand against their old friends, yet no one dared question them after seeing their awesome might in combat, a force which could cause the elite soldiers from all over Elysium to flee in terror.

The invasion was a complete failure, and the Hakarren breathed a sigh of relief. The leaders of the many cities which assembled The Elysium Brotherhood were removed from their positions of power by the populace, and replaced with leaders who had ideas of world domination in mind. They had had enough of being in the defence all the time, and so created great armies which were sent out the lay siege to all the nearby cities, whatever the race of that city. Innocent people were slaughtered by the millions, and the cities which previously stood as a monument to the age of Light were torn to pieces.

Finally, the weapons were put down, as the people of Elysium realised that the battles were only wasting their resources. Three continents stood out from all those upon Elysium. In the north-western island, the Dwarves, Orcs, and Goblins settled, on the northern edge of their island were great ice mountains which provided them with much needed water during the summer time. On the southern continent, the Elves settled amongst the forests, rich with life, accompanied by the Centaurs and Hamakei. In the north-east, the Hakarren and Cyclops made their homes, amongst the rocky cliffs and terrain.

The Hakarren laughed at the stupidity of the other races, and now that they were weak and small in number, the Hakarren forces marched across the land. Bored with the constant attack from the Hakarren, Astarot decided to punish the Hakarren for their aggressiveness, and banished them to a dimension far away from our own.

The people of Elysium grew strong in their absense, and Astarot introduced a new race to the lands. This race was known as the Human race. Very quickly, they soon caught up with the other races and built huge villages on the southern island.
They formed an alliance with the Hamakei and began to learn the ways of magic.
Zharadan took a particular liking to the Human race, and gave them a powerful gift with which they could tap into any dimension they wished. Inexperienced, the Human race foolishly patched into the dimension that the Hakarren had been banished to and the Hakarren devised a plan in which to escape from the plane. Pretending to be trapped in the dimension by an evil force, the Hakarren persuaded the Human race to release them from the dimension, and so the Humans began to free the Hakarren.

Astarot soon realised what was happening, and removed the gift that Zharadan had given them, stopping the Hakarren from being released. However, some of the spirits of the Hakarren had escaped from the dimension and were now living inside the fortress which they had left behind. These "spirits" soon became known as the Specters, for they had little physical form. They could still be hurt, but were very weak in strength. Their lack of physical form did not stop their thirst for knowledge however, and the Specters became most proficient at magic.

Finally, peace once more swept over the world, and everyone was in wonder at how Elysium may continue...

Player histories:

Advocate

Leonassan

Nighthawk

Nurmek

Sakura

Stories:

Enemy; A Dwarven Tale

The Rise of Gralnak, the Great Worm

Hakarren Shadow

Shame of a Centaur

The Necromancer

The Tale of Szagan