The First Great Human-Aem War

Pre-existing Hatred
The Humans and Aem have hated one another since before time was ever written down in words. For an unknown amount of time before the first scroll was ever written, Humans and Aem have fought one another for the control of fertile lands, for control over ore veins, and for control of precious resources. Blood has spilled between these two peoples at every meeting they had with one another, no one side gaining the upper hand for long.

The Aem viewed humanity as a primitive, undeveloped race of barbaric beings of lesser status than their own, who ruined the land and wasted resources. To the Aem, humans were nothing more than a scourge on the world that deserved to be eradicated from existence.

The Humans viewed Aem as demonic zealots that enslaved everything they viewed as less than themselves, whose ego would not allow them to live peacefully with any other species. To Humanity, Aem were little more than a prideful race that care only for themselves.

Turmoil
The first rumblings of massive war began to emerge in year 5, when a village of Arganyan hunters discovered a light-green pigment in some cave walls. Digging this substance out and heating it in their fires, hoping to use it to flavor their foods, they found that it was a metallic substance that could withstand some piercing and even some blunt force. Mining this metal in large quantities, the Arganyans were the first people to begin smelting and then forging Copper-based armors. This trade began to spread to other human people, primarily the Septmena and Kaiimon, which allowed them to wear strong armor to defend against the superior Battle-Magi of the Aem. Many small attacks where promptly conducted against Aem settlements in the north around year 9, allowing humanity to gain the upper-hand.

As Copper began to be discovered in other Human-controlled lands, more and more armor was forged to defend humanity, and weapons too began to be forged of this resilient metal. Aem around the world began to be pushed back, unable to discover the secrets the humans kept from them. This pressure put upon the Aem would climax in year 10, when a Garrken warrior discovered an ancient sword wedged into a rock in the middle of a forest.

The First Charge
In year 10, in broad daylight, humanity attacked. Lead by Eregoth, wielder of the God-touched sword the Aetherius Blade, armies around the world attacked Aem villages and cities, with Eregoth himself attacking the home city of Azürièl, champion of the Alaem. These surprise raids marked the beginning of the first Great Human-Aem War, in which hundreds of thousands of Aem across the world were slaughtered by the well-armored humans. The only victory came by Azürièl himself, in which he slew Eregoth using the Bow of the Euroi and claimed the Aetherius Blade. Losing an arm in the battle, Azürièl declared war on all humans, and his victory and power rallied all Aem to his side, and his possession of the Bow of the Euroi commanded that the Euroi join him and fight alongside the Aem.

Unification and Domination
With Azürièl's call to arms, Aem around the world united under his command and began to form formal armies out of what remained of their people. Azürièl was gifted two of the Orbs of Devastation - one by the Thaem, and one by the Flaem. Finally, he also released the Magi Eye from its underground crypt, wearing it around his neck. With these five artifacts in his possession, he lead a march of destruction against the Humans, whose armor stood no chance against the divine weaponry that Azürièl now possessed.

As the years passed, humanity was pushed to the edge and the moral of the Aem became stronger, unbreakable - the lands that would one day be known as the Septmena Homelands, as well as those of the Arganyan Homelands, were under the complete control of the Aem by year 58, with its human inhabitants slaughtered, and the survivors enslaved. The Kaiimon and Garrken Homelands would then follow in Aem control in years 64 and 67, respectively. The final bastion of humanity, the northernmost continent inhabited mostly by Rowa, was able to withstand massive attacks for the entirety of the war, using the natural dangers of the land to their advantage.

However, in year 69, the northernmost continent of Wuunderheim experienced one of the hottest summers ever recorded, where glaciers began to melt themselves, and now snow fell upon the land. This warm weather eliminated the defence the Rowa had relied upon, and allowed the armies of Azürièl to march unmatched and conquer the last resistance force that stood in defiance. Slaughtering all warriors of the proud race of humans, the Aem claimed victory in the first Great Human-Aem War, and from that point on all humans would be slaves to the mighty Aem and their Grand King Azürièl.

Enslavement
The victory of the Aem came with the enslavement of Humanity. Nearly all of humanity was enslaved by various Aem, even in their ancestral lands, whilst a few manged to escape this travesty and went into hiding beneath the surface, where the watchful eyes of their captors could not find them. Humans were treated as animals, forced to labor under any circumstance their masters saw fit, and killed at any moment, even if just to please the victorious Aem. Breeding for humans was also outlawed, by order of Azürièl, in an effort to cause the extinction of their hated foes.

Spread of Culture
With the Aem now united under the kingship of Azürièl and humans forced to spill the secrets they held out from them for decades, cultures began to mix and advance. Aem cracked their slaves into revealing the secrets of copper, eventually using their slaves to combine copper with a new metal they called "Tin," forming an even hardier metal known as Bronze - of which they outfitted their armies with, further tightening their grasp upon the human slaves.

However, the remnants of non-enslaved humanity benefited most from this mix of culture, as they learned from the Aem (through espionage and theft) how to read and write, and even how to properly use magic - some of these hidden humans even became as proficient as Aem Magi when it came to magic usage, forced to excel through the tough life they had to live.