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The Old Ones Many thousands of years ago, before the Age of Chaos, before the ancestors of Elves and Dwarfs knew speech or song, the world was visited by travellers from the uttermost reaches of the universe. In Elven legends this mysterious race are dimly recalled only as "The Old Ones". They came from beyond the stars by means of an inter-dimensional gateway which they opened above the north pole of the world and through this gateway came their silver ships. Here, in the Warhammer World they discovered the ancestors of the Elves and the Dwarfs and nurtured them. However, they did this secretly, always remaining hidden and only revealing themselves to give guidance and teach the arts of civilization. Thus they were worshipped and passed into legends as creator gods. For what purpose the Old Ones did these things remains a total mystery. The Cities Of The Old Ones The Old Ones built fabulous cities and temples far away from the regions inhabited by the developing races of the Warhammer World, in the western continent known today as Lustria. The cities were secluded and hidden deep within the equatorial rain forests where the climate and humid conditions best suited the alien metabolism of the Old Ones. Arcane Technology The Old Ones were masters of the world in those days, and perhaps even masters of the entire universe as well. Their technology was advanced beyond imagination and their command of the power of magic was complete. Indeed magic and science were one and the same thing to the Old Ones. Both were just different aspects of the same galaxy-spanning arcane technology which is beyond our comprehension. The polar gateway was a device created by means of this technology as a portal between the dimensions of reality. Catastrophe No-one knows what terrible catastrophe befell the Old Ones and destroyed the ordered world they had created. Since their knowledge was complete and their technology perfect, the answer must lie with the Old Ones themselves. The gateway, which was the source of all their power in the world and their means of contact with their place of origin, collapsed onto the north pole. This created a region of seething energy, a wasteland drenched in magical power. Worse than this, the collapse of the portal opened up a gaping hole into another dimension inhabited by daemons. Thus began the Time of Chaos, when daemons poured through the hole into the world where they wreaked havoc. The polar region became the dreaded Realm of Chaos that persists to this day; a place where daemons dwell and raw magic flows towards over the globe like the tides of the sea. The Old Ones who inhabited the world were destroyed in the catastrophe, perhaps devoured by the daemons, perhaps wiped out trying to resist them. No-one knows their fate. The Old Ones and their deeds were forgotten. The Elves and Dwarfs whom they had placed on the ladder of civilization miraculously survived the Time of Chaos. Perhaps this alone testifies to the last despairing efforts of the Old Ones before they perished. |
