Fourth Age
The Hammer of the Gods - 679 AD - Year 1 AM
As the Gods die, and the mortal races of Aetherius struggle to defend their hearth and home against the ravages of three mighty, endless armies. The Horde of the Breeding Pools of the east, the Undead of the Stele, and the Demons of the great northern rift maraud and pillage across the continent. The Hammer of the Gods represented humanity's last chance for salvation.
The great power of the Hammer of the Gods was revealed and battle ensued for control. For days, battle ensued by two different factions; The forces of Kinsarmar were determined to eradicate the Horde, and opposed were the allied forces of Khandava, Antioch, Celidon, Ithaqua, and Stavenn attempting to destroy the Demon rift and avenge our fallen Gods. Despite having the odds heavily stacked against them and holding the world at bay for several days, the Kinsarmarians lost their hold of the Hammer of the Gods and the allied forces began the last fateful march towards destiny.
Many battles were fought by the allied forces along the way, but the warriors survived them all and kept the march moving. At the last second, a final horde of demons charged through the rift to drive back the Hammer, but they were too late. A beam of blinding light connected the Hammer of the Gods, wielded by Aleutia, to the demon rift and a virtual torrent of fire burned and sealed the rift.
Overwhelmed by the power exhibited by the mortal races of Aetherius, the amassed forces of the Horde and Undead withdrew. The heart of the invasion has been crushed, however, and the world veers away from the edge of destruction. The death of the Gods and the unveiling of the mighty Hammer created by their fallen essence ushers in a new age: The Age of Mortality.
The Rise of the Sects - Year 2 AM to 8 AM
When the Gods died, their essence formed beings of pure energy that became known as entities. Entities form on Aetherius without personalities, memories, or distinct powers, and their primary focus in the early days of the Age of Mortality was to explore the world around them. It just so happened that, at the same time, mortals began to organize themselves around concepts, ideals, and faiths once again. It had been several years since the death of the Gods, but that longing to belong to something bigger than yourself is present in many people, and so cults began to form.
At first, cults seemed to resemble Divine Orders - a group dedicated to the protection of the weak and the innocent invoked the name of Protector, perhaps a nod to the fallen Vahin - but soon began to embrace larger, more complex ideals. These ideals began to attract the attention of the entities, who were becoming more familiar with the world. Many entities attached themselves to a cult and became something like a figurehead for the group, and as the cults grew in size and status, so too did the entities.
Soon, the Cult of Conquest became the first of the cults to achieve a significant amount of power and prestige in addition to attracting an entity. In the year 6 AM, Zhiash gathered followers of Conquest in the Areish Mountains at the cult's altar. A blood rite was performed, resulting in the transformation of Zhiash into Hastati, the first of the Ascendari.
Cults were energized by this event, each wishing to raise their collective faith and belief to the level in which an entity would join them - the subsequent decades would be marked by the rise and fall of these entities.