Ilisara was formed from the breath of a titan. The titan left ten guardians in charge of the world: Varos, Duros, Selune, Anashta, Remedia, Hejong, Kerrigor, Vandun, Arth, and Esk.
After Ilisara was formed, the gods debated amongst themselves as how best to populate the world. Using their power, the guardians formed the primitive inhabitants of Ilisara. The first born were the Sun Elves, formed in Varos’ image. Then came the Dwarves, formed in the image of Duros. Recorded history loses sight of the record after the creation of dwarves, as before even the third race could be made, elves and dwarves fought amongst themselves for favor with their gods, the guardians. Hejong, one of the pantheon, saw the fighting as natural, and openly joined in it, picking both sides to teach the races nobility, honor, and tactics. The pantheon decided to wait before creating other races to observe the elves and dwarves.
Esk found warring barbaric and sought to find balance and peace between the dwarves, elves and all other sentient races. He wept for the pain, bloodshed, and loss of life, and his tears crystallized into several beautiful gemstones. Esk went to Varos and Duros and convinced them to lend some of their power to his gems; then, he had them gift the gemstones to the leaders of each primal race. For the elves, there was Ilterendi; for the dwarves, Mithrus. Legend has it other gemstones of Esk’s, called Tears of Esk are still hidden throughout the world, waiting for the right time to be revealed.
By arming the races with these gemstones, Esk believed that none would dare challenge each other, as use of the gemstones would result in massive destruction of both sides. The gemstones distinguished the races from each other, and for a time, made it clear that all races were loved equally by their creators.
Esk’s final gift was powerful magic that all sentient races would have access to. Esk felt this would ensure their survival and continued harmony. In a ritual, Esk sacrificed himself to create Arcana and make magic, elementalism, and divine magic accessible to all. See Esk's Request.
With the fall of Esk, the pantheon of guardians became divided, and an odd number. Their deliberations are decided by a majority vote, and their pantheon remains in power to this day, watching over the inhabitants of Ilisara.
Vandun believed that the great power bestowed to the races would eventually bring about the annihilation of all of creation. He also saw Esk’s tears as means for mortals to one day threaten the gods, and argued before the pantheon that the world should be destroyed, and to start over anew to undo the mess Esk caused. The other members of the pantheon disagreed, as Esk had sacrificed himself to balance the world. Vandun swore that he would be proven right, and while he respects the other members of the pantheon, secretly works against them using his mortal followers.
After Esk’s sacrifice, the world began counting its years beginning from 0. Anything that occurred before Esk’s sacrifice are considered the Dark Ages.
The third race, humans, were created after the elves and dwarves had proven that they could live in peace for three centuries. Varos and Duros worked together to craft the humans, with some input from Remedia, Anashta, and Hejong.
While these major players of the pantheon were distracted by their task, Arth and Vandun forged their own creation: orcs, goblins, and other monstrous creatures. By the time the others realized what had happened, the eastern realms were being overrun by armies of orc-kind, and the relative peace the world lived in was shattered.