After the War of the Many created a desert of ash splitting the world in two, the elves set control over the west while the eastern lands became a battleground of various races viaing for land and survival. The orcs fighting the gnolls, fighting the goblins, all of whom taking arms against any and every human they came across. The last of the civil states to the east of the Vale was thrown into chaos as the rules began to change: the status quo of clans ruling territories and only skirmishing over boarders was no longer the norm. Now different savage races began to form small truces as groups set up camps and settlements all across the dying lands. The entire time these truces were being formed, the City Behind the Wall said nothing. Did nothing. As their people outside were hunted and scattered they never moved their pieces outside of the homeland.
Forced to fight for themselves, the humans outside the walls realized that if they were to survive then they must do so on their own. Learning from their savage enemies - how to build defenses and using their methods for hunting wild game - the humans fortified their homes and farmlands while also scouting and killing any straggling goblins and the like unlucky enough to stray too close to the settled areas. Eventually, the other races learned to stay away from the human territories (just like the years before) and chose to simply fight amongst themselves as the less intelligent creatures were much easier to overcome than organized men.
Once the dust settled and the humans were able to live in an uneasy peace, the stories of the mages began to flourish: hiding behind their Wall, showing no courage or care as they hid and coward (only carrying of their precious books and scrolls) while the rest of the men were left to slaughter. The people began to despise those who claimed they had the power to protect yet did nothing of the sort, and soon hated them just as much as they hated the savages that attacked them on a near daily basis in the past. From that point on, any and all treasures that even vaguelly reminded them of the treasonous ones that left them to the wilds were destroyed in great celebrations as books, scrolls, and staves were burned in effigy.
Eventually sick of simply being a defensive race, the settlements began to form small mercanous forces who traveled the western lines disabling any clans they came across and securing any villages who were threatened. Over time, the humans were able to expand their secured borders along the territories of the orc clan Ragerock (who had managed to overcome the wilds after the war and claim territory along the Breach) creating checkpoints so that refugees from the west could safely complete their travels to Langen in the south-east. Occationally these outlying settlements were raided for slaves and trophies, however these were considered acceptable loses as the orcs only came a couple of times between full moons and otherwise left them alone (and were nearly unmatched in their strength and numbers).
It has been just over two generations since the settlements and garrisons had began to transform into villages and towns. Even the main sanctuary has now turned into a near thriving market where gnomes, halflings and just very recently dwarves have come to peddle their wares. Humans have just begun to carve their place back in this world once cast into darkness. Still, this world is not what it used to be and will never be able to return to its former glories. The golden age has been abandoned and the time of harsh reality and sacrifice has arrived.
