Age of Mythology

Appx. 5,000BC-2500BC

With the end of the endless winter of the Hyborean Era and the revival of the Demiurge, magic returned to the mortal realms. Artisans rediscovered crafts long lost to many social extinctions, including mundanities like farming practices, leatherworking and forging metal. The first civilizations began to rise up and build cities, some of them reaching as many as thirty thousand people.

An unexpected side effect of Yggdrasil's revivification was that magic was centered not in the realms of the New Gods, but in Earth itself. The attachments between Earth and the god realms were renewed with a dangerous speed. Olympus could be seen by anyone and everyone in the ancient realm of Greece; Heliopolis was a city of light visible from Memphis. The future city of Osaka rose up around the very base of the Heavenly Palace, Takamagahara.

Adventurers forged new paths to long-lost cities. They plundered old ruins and tombs in search of not just riches but also lost knowledge. Many magical creatures, long asleep, sluggishly rose from their hibernation and emerged into the world. The lands were beset by unpredictable magical forces; ancient beasts dormant from the days of Ragnarok were stirred out of slumber. Legendary monsters from the godly realms walked the lands as fully realized creatures of flesh and blood. Many heroes were made for their exploits, and many more met the end of their quest at the hands of some ravaging beast.

Ironically, the end of the Age of Mythology would be at the hands of the New Gods themselves. The intrusions of their realms into Earth was upsetting the harmony of all Yggdrasil. Primarchs refused to release the refugees of Ragnarok back to Earth for safekeeping. Instead they made mortals more dependent on them; created cities of great wonder, where there was limitless food and drink, where mortals could live eternally in safety and comfort.

Gaea grew concerned when the gods began competing for the favor of mortals. They would beguile mortals and trick them into joining their magical realms. The promise of a literal paradise was too much to resist. Then the gods began forcing mortals into these realms in Earth, threatening entire cities with curses like drought and plague if they resisted.

When the gods themselves took to the field to pronounce judgement and even lead their people in war, Gaea intervened and threatened her children with the release of Atum, the God-Killer. The New Gods finally relented and settled a peace treaty at what would become known as the Convocation of the Gods. This withdrew the power of the godlings back to the realms of Yggdrasil, and their influence among mortals dwindled accordingly. Thus ended the Age of Mythology, and begun the Age of Humanity.