ERA 2
Emberfall
The Transformation
After the devastation of the Divine War, Nirya slowly began to rise again. Much had been destroyed, and countless years were needed for the world to recover, rebuild, and find peace once more. Among the peoples who endured, the Asharians remained unwavering in their devotion to the gods. From the earliest days of Nirya, they had remained faithful and had never abandoned their path, even as darkness spread across the world and many other peoples lost their way. For their enduring faith, the Valthanars granted the Asharians a sacred gift, the Phoenixes, a divine reward for a people who had remained loyal to the gods since the beginning of Nirya. The Asharians also preserved the ancient language of Elmaen, which had been taught to them by the Valthanars at the dawn of the First Era. As the oldest people of Nirya, they carried with them a living connection to the earliest days of creation.Thus began a new age, one shaped not by the destruction of the past, but by what remained after it.
The Asharians
The Asharians are the only people of Nirya to whom the Phoenixes belong. Yet even among them, only the rarest individuals possess the strength to command one. Across the entirety of Era II, only eight Asharians succeeded in earning the respect of a Phoenix and forming a bond strong enough to command one. Such a bond cannot be forced. It requires an extraordinary strength of character enough for a divine being to acknowledge its bearer as worthy of respect. Those who achieve this become the rulers of Asharion, known as the Ashen Crowns. When an Ashen Crown eventually disappears, often after many years, the mantle does not simply pass to another. The succeeding generations emerge from the bloodlines of those who once carried the crown, awaiting the day when another Asharian is worthy of earning the respect of a Phoenix.
The Phoenixes
The Phoenixes are among the most sacred beings of Nirya, rising again from their own ashes rather than succumbing to the passage of time. Yet their immortality does not make them invulnerable, for a Phoenix can still be destroyed. When a Phoenix forms a bond with an Asharian, their souls become permanently connected. From that moment, the bond changes both of them forever, even reflected in the Asharian’s eyes, where the iris takes on the fiery orange-gold hue of the Phoenix. Their connection is eternal. If one of them dies, the other follows, making the bond between an Asharian and a Phoenix not merely one of power, but one of shared existence.
Elmaen
Elmaen is the ancient language of the gods of Nirya. At the beginning of the First Era, the Valthanars taught it to the Asharians, the first people of Nirya, as a language that would distinguish them from the peoples who would come after. For ages, Elmaen remained closely connected to the Asharians and to the divine origins of their world. As Nirya continued to evolve, however, a common language gradually emerged and spread among the other peoples and kingdoms. Elmaen remained an ancient language, carrying with it the memory of the gods and the earliest age of Nirya.
The Night of the Flaming Wings
The Night of the Flaming Wings became one of the darkest moments in the history of Nirya. In a single night, the Asharians were nearly wiped from the world, leaving only a small number of children who survived the devastation. The loss of the Asharians had consequences far beyond their people. Without their bond with the Phoenixes, the sacred beings could no longer sustain their existence within Nirya. One by one, the Phoenixes disappeared, leaving behind only the memory of their presence. The night changed Asharion forever and brought an end to one of the most ancient bonds in Nirya, between the Asharians and the Phoenixes.
Τhe Era of Emberfall
Asharion flourished during the Second Era, known as Emberfall (EF), an age defined by radiant flame, divine favor, and the soaring presence of the Phoenixes. Spanning 4,280 years, Emberfall marked the height of Asharian culture: a time when their temples blazed with sacred fire, their kings ruled in harmony with the gods, and the Phoenixes watched over the land like living stars. But the era came to its tragic close with an event remembered in sorrow across all of Nirya: The Silence of the Phoenix, the moment when the divine flames dimmed, the sky grew still, and the bond between Asharion and their celestial guardians was forever changed.