In the Beginning

20,000 years BCE

In the early history of Phoor (see Timeline), the world was dominated by two ancient and powerful empires: the Serpentmen and the Rakshasa, both of whom were deeply intertwined with the eldritch powers of the Great Old Ones. The Serpentmen, coldly rational and immune to the Old Ones' madness, erected vast cities and monoliths like the Monoliths of the Forgotten Seal, mastering arcane forces to bend nature and reality to their will.

The Rakshasa, fearsome and cunning, ruled alongside them, regarding lesser races as mere pests. For millennia, these two elder races warred, enslaved, and expanded, but as their empires grew decadent, the elven armies arrived from across the seas. The elves, wielding powerful magic and unrelenting resolve, launched a crusade against the serpentmen and rakshasa, driving them into decline and scattering their remnants. It was in this chaos that humans first began to rise, finding the ruined cities of the elder races and carving out territories of their own. Though the empires of the serpentmen and rakshasa were long gone, rumors persist that they now lie dormant, waiting for the return of the Great Old Ones to reclaim their world.

The Rise and Fall of Yaxun B’alam and the Olmoy Empire

786 BCE – The Birth of a City:
In the ancient times, when the world was still young and filled with mystery, Yaxun B’alam, a wizard of unparalleled skill and ambition, founded the city of Chan-Kaanul (present day Seregon)—the heart of what would become the mighty Olmoy Empire. He would start by driving out the tribes of the region, who were less than thrilled with the Olmoy, but were left with most of the Island of Moog. Chan-Kaanul was a place of grandeur and power, a testament to the Olmoy's mastery of magic and architecture. This city, nestled in a land where the boundaries between the mortal world and the realms of the Great Old Ones were thin, became the capital of an empire that would shape the fate of the region. He took over the four ziggurats in Chan-Kaanul and mastered their power. He built the Hall of Records with Kaanul’s Snare, a place to safely horde artifacts of the Great Old Ones. These would be all that remained a thousand years later.

765 BCE – The Fall of the Dwarves:

Yaxun B’alam’s hunger for power was insatiable. His empire expanded relentlessly, and his armies, infused with dark magic, marched against the dwarves of the Island of Moog (see Moog Dwarf), along with the indigenous tribes. These dwarves were no match for the might of the Olmoy. Yaxun’s forces crushed them, driving them deep into their subterranean stronghold known as The Domain. In their desperation, the dwarves sealed themselves within their mountain halls, cutting off all contact with the outside world. Yaxun’s victory was complete, and the Olmoy Empire stood unchallenged.

747 BCE – The Conquest of Moog:
Not content with his victories, Yaxun B’alam turned his gaze towards the Island of Moog. There, he found allies in the Drow Elf, the dark elves who had long lived in the shadows of the island. Co-opting these cunning and ruthless beings, Yaxun led the Olmoy in a brutal campaign that saw the island fall completely under their control. The once-independent Drow became servants of the Olmoy, the indigenous tribes slaves at best. The island was conquered, becoming a bastion of Yaxun’s growing power.

737 BCE – The Containment of the Olmoy:
The elves of Al-Strahal, ever watchful and wary of the Olmoy’s growing power, took action to contain the threat posed by Yaxun B’alam. Banding together with the remnants of the dwarven and indigenous forces, they launched a campaign to halt the Olmoy’s advance. On the Island of Moog, they managed to contain the Olmoy, stopping their expansion into what is now known as the Sultanate of Sahar. This marked the beginning of the end for the Olmoy, as their once-unassailable empire began to fracture.

607 – The Summoning of the Old Ones:

541 – The Siege of Chan-Kaanul:
Yaxun B’alam, refusing to surrender, retreated to Kaanul’s Snare, the labyrinthine network of tunnels beneath Chan-Kaanul. There, he made his final stand, vowing never to yield. In a decisive moment, his clerics lost their power as the remaining Great Old Ones were imprisoned and cut off from mortal access. Their ability to maintain the wards around Chan-Kaanul faltered. The elves and dwarves laid siege to Chan-Kaanul, systematically dismantling Yaxun’s empire. One by one, his followers fell, and his armies were destroyed. Chan-Kaanul, the glorious city he had built, was occupied by the forces of his enemies, who tore down most of his works and purged the land of his influence. See Fall of Chan-Kaanul. 

510 – The Last Gasp of the Olmoy Empire:
In the end, it was a group of Olmoy heroes who rejected The Old Ones,, known as The Miracle Five, who ventured into Kaanul’s Snare to confront Yaxun B’alam. In the dark, twisting passages of the labyrinth he had created, the final battle took place. The Half God, once the most powerful wizard of his age, was finally defeated. With his death, the Olmoy Empire breathed its last breath. The elves and dwarves returned to their homes, and the Olmoy, bereft of their leader and their strength, began to fade from history. Their cities were slowly abandoned, their people scattered, and their legacy became little more than a memory, taken by time, like the jungles that took their cities. .

The Aftermath:
The fall of Yaxun B’alam and the Olmoy Empire marked the end of an era. The structures they had built, the magic they had wielded, and the horrors they had unleashed were left behind, remnants of a civilization that had once sought to rule the world. The labyrinth of Kaanul’s Snare, now a haunted and dangerous place, remains as a testament to Yaxun B’alam’s brilliance and his madness—a relic of a time when gods walked the earth, and men dared to challenge them.