FirstEra The Children of Balance Seek Their Destiny Timespan: Years 1-150 of the Era of Chaos (FE)
The Stirring of Ambition
For nearly a century after their emergence from The Ythraewyn, humanity had flourished under the protective wings of their elven mentors on Aelarion. The island had become a paradise of learning and cooperation, where humans absorbed millennia of accumulated wisdom with the eager intensity that would always mark their race. They mastered elven script with remarkable speed, learned to navigate the complex diplomatic relationships that kept Aelarion’s diverse communities in harmony, and proved themselves capable students in everything from metallurgy with the dwarves to the subtle arts of weather-reading with visiting traders.
Yet as the decades passed, something began to stir within the human heart - a restlessness that had nothing to do with discontent and everything to do with the fundamental nature Almariel, Lady of Light and Vorthar, The Dark Weaver had woven into their being. They were creatures of balance, born from the creative tension between opposing forces, and that balance included both the capacity for deep appreciation and the drive to create something entirely their own.
The first to voice what many were feeling was Theron Brightwind, a human whose aptitude for both elven poetry and dwarven engineering had made him something of a bridge between the island’s communities. Standing before the Ythraewyn on the centennial of the first human emergence, he spoke words that would echo through the ages:
“We are grateful beyond measure for the wisdom you have shared, the homes you have opened, the love you have shown us. But we are not elves, nor dwarves, nor any other people. We are something new, something that carries both light and shadow within us, and we feel the calling to discover what that means in a world of our own making.”
His words resonated through the Human community like the first note of a song that had been waiting to be sung. Within months, groups began forming around shared visions of what human civilization might become. Some dreamed of great libraries that would rival even the archives of the elves. Others spoke of cities built in harmony with the natural world, where dwarven engineering and elven aesthetics could be synthesized into something uniquely human. Still others felt called to explore the wild places of Eldara, the Shimmering Veil, to map uncharted territories and face the dangers that lurked beyond the safety of established settlements.
The Blessing of Departure
The elves of Aelarion, led by the wise Lady Silviana Moonwhisper, understood the significance of this moment better than the humans themselves might have expected. They had lived long enough to recognize the patterns of growth and independence, and they saw in humanity’s restlessness not ingratitude but the natural expression of a maturing people ready to take their place in the world.
Rather than discouraging the exodus, the elves chose to bless it. Lady Silviana convened the Circle of Aelarion, representatives from all the island’s communities, to determine how best to support humanity’s transition to independence.
“They came to us as gifts from the divine,” she proclaimed, her voice carrying the authority of centuries. “They have learned from us as children learn from loving parents. Now they seek to become adults in their own right, to test their wings in the broader sky of existence. This is not loss - this is the fulfillment of our purpose as their teachers.”
The dwarves (Dwarf) of the southeastern forge proved equally supportive, though their assistance took characteristically practical forms. Master Thorek Ironhand opened his workshops to any human who wished to learn the secrets of toolmaking and weapon-smithing that would be essential for establishing new settlements. His smiths worked overtime to equip the departing humans with everything from farming implements to the fine instruments needed for navigation and surveying.
Even the occasional visitors from The Underdark and Liralor, the Feywild offered their own forms of blessing. Underdark traders shared maps of dangerous regions to avoid, while Fey ambassadors provided gifts of seeds from plants that could grow in a variety of climates, ensuring that human settlements would have access to both medicine and beauty wherever they chose to make their homes.
Most significantly, the elves established The Covenant of the Eternal Welcome, a sacred promise that humans would always be received as family when they returned to Aelarion, whether for trade, diplomacy, or simply the comfort of reconnecting with their place of first learning.
The Great Departures
The exodus did not happen all at once, but rather unfolded over several decades as different groups found their courage and clarified their visions. The first to leave were the Explorers of the Northern Reaches, led by Theron Brightwind himself, who were drawn to the vast forests and mountain ranges that stretched toward the continent’s northern edge.
Their departure in the third year of the Era became the template for all those that followed. The entire community of Aelarion gathered at the harbor as three ships, gifts from the elven fleet, prepared to carry nearly fifty humans toward an uncertain but eagerly anticipated future. The Ythraewyn seemed to pulse with approval, its leaves shimmering with patterns of light that many interpreted as blessing upon the venture.
Young Ysalyn (Ysalyn The Fair), now barely into her teenage years by elven standards, stood among the well-wishers with tears streaming down her face - not tears of sorrow, but of joy at witnessing such brave hope made manifest. Years later, she would remember this moment as the first time she truly understood what courage looked like when it was born not from desperation but from faith in possibility.
The departures continued steadily through the following decades. The Builders of the Western Plains left in year seven, seeking wide grasslands where they could experiment with new forms of agriculture and animal husbandry. The Seekers of the Northern Shore departed in year twelve, drawn by dreams of coastal cities that could serve as hubs of maritime trade and exploration.
Each group carried with them not just the practical gifts of their elven and dwarven mentors, but also something more precious: the accumulated wisdom of Aelarion’s multicultural harmony. They had seen firsthand that different peoples could live and work together productively, that diversity of perspective was a source of strength rather than division, and that respect and mutual aid could overcome even the deepest cultural differences.
The Foundations of Kingdoms
By the twentieth year of the Era, human settlements had spread across much of Eldara’s habitable landscape. What began as small, experimental communities gradually grew into thriving towns, and then into the first true human cities. The speed of this development astonished even the humans themselves - their shorter lifespans seemed to drive them toward accomplishments that would take elves centuries to achieve.
Ithilvaeth, the first major human settlement, became the capital of what would eventually be known as the Kingdom of Vanguard Reach. Built in a natural valley surrounded by ancient forests and mountains, it embodied the human genius for synthesis - elven architectural principles adapted for human proportions, dwarven engineering techniques applied to local materials, and completely original innovations born from their unique perspective as children of balance.
The city’s most remarkable feature was the Grand Assembly, a circular building where representatives from all the settlement’s districts could gather to make collective decisions. Unlike elven councils, which operated on the assumption that wisdom came with age and experience, the human assembly gave equal voice to all adults regardless of their years. This reflected a fundamental truth about human nature - their shorter lives meant that innovation and fresh perspective were just as valuable as accumulated wisdom.
Lenthiri, the capital of the Kingdom of Lenthir, demonstrated humanity’s remarkable aptitude for agriculture and animal husbandry. The humans had taken elven knowledge of plant cultivation and dwarven understanding of tool-making, then applied their own insights about balance and adaptation to create farming techniques that dramatically increased crop yields while maintaining soil health.
Most impressively, they had learned to work with both domestic animals inherited from other races and wild creatures that they gradually domesticated themselves. The Great horses of Westhold became legendary for their intelligence and loyalty, while the settlement’s wind-hawks provided both communication with distant settlements and early warning of approaching dangers.
Caernast, established where the Northern Shore seekers finally made their permanent home, became humanity’s first great port city. Here, human shipwrights combined elven understanding of wind and weather with dwarven metalworking to create vessels that were both beautiful and supremely functional. The harbor’s lighthouse, visible for dozens of miles at sea, became a symbol of human ambition reaching toward the horizon. Aided by the dwarves of Khalgrod Deep, this human settlement flourished with trade between all kingdoms.
Sylmaran Ruins represented humanity’s most contemplative and self-sufficient settlement. These humans were drawn not to the vibrant life that animated other communities, but to the deeper mysteries that others feared to explore - the boundaries between life and death, the preservation of knowledge and flesh, the secrets that dwelt in shadow and silence.
The Keepers were scholars and philosophers who found themselves uncomfortable with the boisterous optimism of their fellow humans. They sought the remote forests of the western coast where they could pursue their studies without the judgment of those who considered their interests… unsettling. They established Sylmaran as a series of isolated settlements nested deep within the Forest of Vyth, their libraries carved into ancient trees and their laboratories hidden in natural caves where the echoes of their work could not reach unwelcome ears.
The city became renowned for producing the most comprehensive treatises on anatomy, the most detailed studies of decay and preservation, and the most precise instruments for dissection and analysis in all the human kingdoms. Their scholars pioneered techniques for preserving specimens, cataloguing the progression of death, and maintaining vast collections of curiosities that other settlements would find disturbing.
Though their work remained scholarly and beneficial - their medical knowledge saved countless lives and their preservation techniques protected important documents - there was something in their intense focus on death and endings that made other humans uneasy. Sylmaran maintained strict isolation, accepting only the most dedicated students who shared their fascination with life’s darker mysteries. Even then, visitors often left feeling that there was something not quite right about the intensity with which these scholars approached their grim studies.
And finally, the Island of Noldruun, a mysterious island that seemed to call specifically to those humans who had maintained the strongest connection to The Ythraewyn and The Aetheric Weave (Magic). These were the humans who, even after leaving Aelarion, continued to experience vivid dreams filled with arcane symbols, whose touch could coax more vibrant growth from plants, and who seemed to instinctively understand the flow of magical energies that others could barely perceive.
Led by Lyralei Starweaver, a human whose silver hair had begun showing streaks of pure white despite her young age - a mark that the elves recognized as a sign of deep magical attunement - this group followed a series of shared visions across the eastern seas. They sailed for weeks through waters that seemed to shift between the normal blue of ocean and the ethereal silver-green associated with places where the boundaries between realms grew thin.
When they finally found Noldruun, they discovered an island unlike anywhere else on Eldara. The very air shimmered with visible magical energy, and the island’s central peak held a grove of trees that bore a striking resemblance to the Ythraewyn itself - smaller, certainly, but carrying the same sense of divine presence and connection to fundamental forces of creation. The island’s shores were lined with crystals that hummed with harmonic frequencies, and its freshwater springs seemed to enhance magical ability in those who drank from them.
Here, the magically-gifted humans established The Kingdom of Noldruun, a realm dedicated to the study and cultivation of arcane arts. They built the Great Observatory at the island’s highest point, where scholar-mages could study the movements of celestial bodies and their influence on magical tides. The Crystal Gardens became centers of learning where humans developed uniquely human approaches to magic - techniques that balanced the elegant precision of elven spellcraft with the bold innovation that characterized their race.
Most significantly, Noldruun became the repository for humanity’s growing understanding of their own dual nature. The island’s mages were the first to theorize that humans’ balance between light and shadow made them uniquely suited to magical practices that drew from multiple sources simultaneously - something that more specialized races found difficult or impossible to achieve safely.
The Peaceful Expansion
Throughout these first 150 years, humanity’s expansion across Eldara remained remarkably peaceful. The humans carried with them the lessons of Aelarion’s harmony, approaching other inhabitants of the continent not as conquerors but as potential neighbors and trading partners.
When human explorers encountered the elemental enclaves - settlements devoted to Feron, Aevari of the Earth, Pyrael, Aevari of Fire, Galeon, Aevari of Air, and Valora, Aevari of Water - they approached with respect and genuine curiosity. These ancient communities, populated by earth elementals, fire elementals, air elementals, and water elementals respectively, had maintained their own cultures for millennia under the direct guidance of the Aevari themselves.
Rather than seeing these enclaves as obstacles to expansion, the humans recognized them as opportunities for learning and mutual benefit. They established trading relationships that enriched both sides - human-grown crops and manufactured goods in exchange for elemental knowledge and magical expertise. Several young humans even received permission to study within the enclaves, returning to their own communities with deeper understanding of the fundamental forces that shaped their world.
The humans also encountered various communities of other races scattered across Eldara - Halfling villages hidden in hills and forest groves, dwarven mountain holds that maintained independence from the Aelarion forge-clans, even the occasional elf (Elf (Wood)) who had chosen a life of solitude in the wilderness. In every case, the human approach was consistent: respectful greeting, patient negotiation, and the establishment of mutually beneficial relationships.
This peaceful expansion was made possible in large part by humanity’s unique nature as children of balance. They could understand and appreciate the perspectives of races aligned more strongly with particular elements or philosophical approaches, while their own flexibility allowed them to find common ground that might have eluded others.
The Seeds of Future Glory
By the end of the Great Exodus period, humanity had established the foundations of what would become a continental civilization. Five major kingdoms had taken shape - Verdant Reach in the northern forests, The Kingdom of Lenthir in the eastern plains, Sylmaran Ruins along the western coast, Caernast where humans had learned to mine and smith from dwarven refugees, and Noldruun, the mystical isle.
Each kingdom reflected different aspects of humanity’s balanced nature and different influences from their teachers on Aelarion. Verdant Reach emphasized harmony with nature and sustainable growth, their cities built within the forest canopy itself. The Kingdom of Lenthir focused on abundance and prosperity through revolutionary agricultural techniques, their golden fields feeding much of the continent. Sylmaran valued solitude and the pursuit of esoteric knowledge, their scholars producing works of medical and philosophical importance that were respected but rarely sought after by those of lighter temperament. Caernast became renowned for masterwork weapons and tools that rivaled even dwarven craftsmanship, their mountain forges blazing day and night. Noldruun developed into the premier center of magical learning, where humans explored the unique arcane potential of their balanced nature.
Trade routes connected all the kingdoms, with Aelarion serving as both inspiration and neutral ground where representatives could meet to resolve disputes and coordinate mutual aid. The Covenant of the Eternal Welcome proved its worth again and again as human diplomats, scholars, and artists made pilgrimages to the island where their race had first learned to dream of greatness.
Most importantly, these first kingdoms maintained the multicultural harmony that had defined humanity’s origins. Elven advisors were welcomed in human courts, dwarven craftsmen found eager apprentices among human artisans, and the elemental enclaves became sources of wisdom that enriched human understanding of their world.
The future seemed bright with unlimited possibility. Humanity had found its place in the world through courage, wisdom, and respect for both their teachers and their neighbors. They had proven that the balance between light and shadow that defined their nature could be a source of strength rather than internal conflict.
None could foresee the shadows that were already beginning to gather at the edges of this golden age, or the whispers that would eventually turn humanity’s greatest strengths into the sources of their downfall. For now, there was only the joy of achievement, the satisfaction of dreams made manifest, and the endless horizon of what the children of balance might accomplish when they worked in harmony with both their own nature and the broader community of conscious beings that shared their world.
The Great Exodus had ended. The age of human greatness had begun.