Though in a constant state of flux and bordering on chaos these lands had always been fairly peaceful. Yes there were conflicts and skirmishes between clans and tribes, however each race had an understanding of the territories and, for the most part, stuck to them: The dwarves held up in the west, elves wandering through the south, gnomes and halflings smattered about surrounding the two, with the ogres to the north, gnolls and goblins towards the east, and hobgoblins and orcs camped firmly in the middle. Meanwhile, humans roamed about building villages and cities all throughout the continent. Underneath them all, waiting and brooding, dwelled the Drow.
For centuries the dark elves spread their empire in the Underdark, taking territories that overlapped every race though completely unnoticed. They bid their time and waited for the perfect moment when calm would settle in and the civilizations could be caught off their guards. This moment came over six generations ago when the lines were drawn and the humans made an unspoken truce with the more chaotic races of ogre, orc, and hobgoblin. Finally the Drow had their opportunity and they took it with a fierce hand, first barricading the dwarves fan under the earth, then scattering the elves from their homes. As their last act of dominance they focused all of their strength on wiping out the human race, for they knew that, of all the allied races, the humans were the ones that would be able to rally the others and lead a revolt (the Drow admired them for this trait, however feared them for it much more).
Once their major cities were destroyed and the leaders of the individual factions were assassinated, the survivors fled and began a long and dangerous game of hide and go seek. The humans were put on the run as the Drow made it known that any race harboring them would be treated as an equally appauling species and destroyed just the same. With the lack of discipline from the humans now, the orcs, hobgoblins, ogres, and other races began vying for the abandoned properties, though the Drow assumed control of the entire continent at this point as their were no other dominant empires to contest their power. Now began the creation of Vlos’eairthil and the plunging of the world into (what the enlightened races call) the Dark Days.
