The Curse killed many outright and drove the rest into ravening madness. The Curse manifested throughout Humanity, boiling the blood of the Titans and the Sons of Men. Loremasters have named this mighty magic the Blood Curse, and it brought with it the Doom of Ardan. After centuries of research, they devised a mighty spell, and finally unleashed it upon the Blessed Realm. Driven to a stalemate on the battlefield, the cruel and devious Magi of the Elves turned to vile Magic and treachery to defeat their foe. For nearly a thousand years the Man of Ardan waged the Wars of Spite against the Elves. In time, however, Ardan and the Sons of Men learned the lore of the All-Father and the Taming from the Centaurs and, tensions flared into war. The Men of Ardan first met the Elves when their realm was young, and the two races were always suspicious of each other. The Wars of Spite Close on the heels of the War of Stones came the Wars of Spite, fought for generations between the Men of Ardan and the Deathless Empire of the Elves. Dwarves would not return to the surface again until after the Turning. The strength of all of them was too much for the Dwarves to counter, and Thurin's children withdrew into the earth and sealed the doors of their halls. Trade with the Dwarves ceased, and the War of the Stones flared up again, but this time the Dwarves fought Men, Elves, and Centaurs all at once. After the Dwarves had fought the Giants to a stalemate, Magi among Elves and men finally learned the Runestones' power: by attuning themselves to the stones, they could alter their very destinies. The Greedy Giants sought to keep the stones for themselves, and the two races born of earth fought a long and bitter war. Thurin's children traded the secrets of stone and iron craft for Runestones, and all the peoples of the World prospered. While on their quest the Dwarves met and interacted with all the Children of the World: the Centaurs of the Vast Plains, the Elves of the Deathless Empire, and the men of Ardan. The War of Stones The first great war was the War of Stones, which began when the Dwarves finally came to the surface world, searching for the Runestones, the magical fragments of the Weltwyrdangssaga. Unfortunately, the first and greatest kingdom of Humanity was plagued by the wars and strife of this age, and finally destroyed by them. For a thousand years Ardan stood as the pinnacle of Human achievement. Ardan, the firstborn of the Titans, led his people out of the North and into the fertile grasslands, where they founded the Kingdom of Ardan, a Blessed Realm of art, prosperity, and peace. The first Humans were the thirteen Titans, so infused with their creator's power that they alone of Humanity was spared the scourge of mortality, and their powers were nearly as great as those of the All-Father's great companion Gods. The Age of Days saw the advent of Mankind, when the All-Father journeyed to a high valley and crafted his third race of children, Men, from the clay and soil of Aerynth.
Little is remembered of this Age, for it was dominated by a succession of terrible wars. The Elves and Giants would prove far less gracious. The Centaurs bore their mortality with honor, never doubting the will of the All-Father. Every Elf, Centaur, or Giant born in the New Age was bound to the count of years, doomed to age and die in their appointed time. Though the World was saved from the Dragon's lingering wrath, salvation bore with it a price. The Age of Days When Time began, the Sun and Moon and Stars were all set in motion, spinning slowly around the World, and thus every part of the World came to know the Sun, and Day was divided from Night.
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