View source for Chapter I - The Alatharya

-1-
 
The alatharya  are reputed to be the oldest of the sapient
races of Avendar, with a history stretching back to the
dawn of time. As legend has it, the alatharya were once 
the chosen people of the gods - gifted with both phenomenal
strength and formiddable intellects. Using these gifts, the 
alatharya spread across the surface of Avendar, creating a 
civilization of legendary proportions.
 
For how long the alatharya remained as the masters of
Avendar is unknown - but they remained long enough for
the ruins of their wondrous cities to still occasionally be 
found here and there - monuments easily thousands of years old.
 
Amidst this mythical setting, though, the alatharya were not 
destined to remain the lords of the earth. Using the magic that 
the gods had given them, the alatharya grew mighty in both 
knowledge of Avendar and their study of  the planes and 
structure of the universe. Unsatisfied, though, with the limits
the gods had placed on their power, the alatharya sought ...
more.

-2-
 
Delving into the power that upheld the very firmament, the
alatharya began to tap the quintessence -- the source for both 
magic and the divine planes, on which the gods dwelled. But 
when the alatharya attempted to use their newfound powers 
against the gods, they discovered the depths of their folly.
 
Anticipating the hubris of their first creation, the gods turned the
schemes of the alatharya against themselves.  Great was the vengeance of the
gods the alatharya had scorned, and greater still was the punishment they
bore.  It is written that within the course of one year, not a single of the
their great cities or temples remained.  The great forces of magic were
split, in an event which historians now know as the Sundering.  No longer
bound as a single force, magic was free to run rampant across the surface of
Avendar in the form of torrential, earth-shattering storms.  Beings of
divine fury and unholy wrath were let slip from the heavens, ransacking and
destroying the creations of the alatharya.  
 
For the alatharya themselves, they bore the harshest punishment of all. 
Stripped of their intellect and wisdom, the alatharya found themselves
wandering the earth, no longer with the wit or ability to grasp the magic
which was the gift of the gods.  

-3-

History loses all sight of the alatharya for a period of time, until they
are depicted in an early aelin text, which portrays them as nomadic savages,
living a bleak and furtive existence in pockets of Avendar.  

The alatharya of today average about eight feet in height, but no longer
have the magical or intellectual gifts of their forebears.  They are known
for their silver and gold-tinted hair,which is often in contrast to their
harsh demeanors and lives.  Alatharya are found all over the main continent
of Avendar, though they are most typically found as tribal plainsmen, or in
small bands in forests.  Heir to a heritage they cannot comprehend, the
alatharya now substitute their strength and size for the magic and the gifts
of the gods they have lost.