During the battle with the abomination many civilizations joined in the fight even though the cost was very high. Only the gods could withstand the might of the abomination raging across Awlidan. The people that fought along side the gods lost many of their numbers, entire civilizations were brought low. The other races, the demi-races, joined in the battle with the humans of Awlidan and they too lost many of their already low populations. The races scattered; humans, elves, dwarves, and even halflings and gnomes lost many of their numbers and had to retreat or become extinct.
What the abomination started, the Cataclysm of the battle nearly finished. Whole civilizations were scattered or destroyed. The elves retreated to the darkest forests left on Awlidan. The dwarves left for the deepest caves under the world’s surface. The gnomes found shallow caves in the hills and mountains to continue their study of technology. Halflings became nomadic, traveling form place to place fitting in wherever they could. Humans suffered the worst even though they still outnumbered the other races by a great deal.
The colonies, the civilizations, the settlements of humans all over were destroyed. Even the largest countries, the powerful empires, and advanced societies were laid low by the Cataclysm. Humans were forced to start over in small groups and settlements. Man was forced to relive its worst and earliest times. Only the lucky and most adventurous groups were able to find ruins to settle in. Other groups became nomadic, barbaric, and very hostile. Many humans ended up living in caves until they were able to rebuild their settlements into villages, towns, and cities.
Even though the Aspects fought for the side of man during the Cataclysm, the battle very nearly destroyed Awlidan in its wake. Lands were destroyed, continents were shattered, and mankind struggled to survive the aftermath. The war was so devastating, it is said that an Aspect had lost his life by the hands of the abomination. Man paid the price for its ignorance, and so did the gods.
Two payments were set forth for the Aspects to fulfill, a debt to be paid for their direct involvement in the mortal realm. The first payment ushers in the new age, the Age of Man. No Aspect will interfere with the happenings of the mortal realm in any way, shape, or form. The Aspects were forbidden to answer prayers, to grant powers to their worshipers, and strictly forbidden to touch the mortal realm at all. They could do nothing but watch and hope they would be remembered. The Judge’s sentence was a thousand years of Man, with no help from the gods.
Mankind was left alone in their darkest hour. The lands, the settlements, the people were devastated and called to the gods for guidance. There would b no response from the Heavens. Man was left to fend for themselves, many failed, some succeeded, and still others took these tragic times as a sign.
For many the absence of the gods, the silence of their Word, was a realization. Many believed that the Cataclysm ended the gods’ reign in Heaven. Arguments broke out, which quickly turned to fighting over whether the gods still existed. Eventually Awlidan experienced its first Holy War.
The lands became split between devoted followers of the Faith, those that refused to let go of the gods and their laws, and those that believed the gods were dead. The devoted argued that the gods fought for mankind’s survival and they deserved their devotion and worship now more than ever. They came to the defense of their followers and deserved the devotion of the faithful and the gratitude of those that survived. Others say that the gods released their power during the Cataclysm as one final gesture to mankind and that destroyed them. This divine energy was released to destroy the abomination threatening Awlidan but also to empower the human race so they would prevail and continue on after the gods were gone. The war was fierce and threatened to do the very thing the monstrous creature from the stars failed to do.
The gods’ devoted followers took up arms and branded their weapons against those heretics that refused to believe the truth. The new religion known as the Children was formed. The Children were an organization dedicated to holding the torch until the gods returned. They believed that the gods would not return until all the non-believers were either brought into the light or sent to the eternal darkness. The Children were ruthless in their hunt for the barbaric heathens that did not believe in the gods’ true Word. This was a test by the gods, a test of mankind’s faith, a test of their devotion and their appreciation for what the gods did for them. The Children would bring this Word to the rest of the world.
The Children spread throughout their homeland conquering land after land. Their continent was located in the western hemisphere far south of the equator. The Children began to sail from their own home seeking other lands to spread the Word. This proved to be far more difficult than they first imagined.
The Children sailed in all directions seeking new lands to sterilize. Their one goal was to spread the Word to all people throughout Awlidan and bring all nonbelievers under the laws of the gods. Only then would the gods return and bring new life and wisdom to the world. What they did not expect was the opposition when they reached the other lands of Awlidan.
The Children and their arrogance did not account for the growth and expansion of the other civilizations around the world. The conquerors spread to these lands with minimal numbers, thinking they had enough forces to handle any society they came across and bring them to their own way of thinking. They quickly conquered the islands surrounding their own continent but form there, their Holy War became far more difficult. The other lands around Awlidan had advanced societies as well and many were able to repel them.
The Holy War spread throughout the world giving way to the First World War. This World War lasted for decades when the Children finally had to withdraw back to their homeland. Their numbers were dwindled and their resources were close to depleted, the Children were defeated but refused to be forgotten. They became zealots of the new religion and continued the conflict with the rest of the world. They began to send small groups to other lands to start an uprising of the Word and try to gain new followers. They thought they could continue their Holy Crusade by destroying the heretics from the inside. The Crusade continued for centuries and the Children refused to give up their cause.
The Millennium was coming to a close and not much had changed. The Children continued their crusade against the other lands of Awlidan. More and more people were joining the Children and their cause, strengthening their colonies in other lands. All the lands around Awlidan continued to grow. Settlements became colonies, colonies became societies, and societies became countries and empires. Man was beginning to finally live without the interference of the gods. Those that wished to believe in the gods did so, those that did not believe did not worship. Man’s new world was about to change one again, a new Age was dawning. With the end of the Millennium comes the Age of Silence.
