Magic Crisis

"'Those of us who survived count our blessings. Without the sacrifice, the world would have ended.' - Unknown Author"The Magic Crisis was the cause of the rise of the islands, and the fall of the world. Little is known of the world before the Crisis, as very little survived. All attempts to search for relics of the lost world have ended in the disappearance of the adventurers into the dark void below.

Before the Crisis
Prior to the Magic War, all races existed in somewhat harmony throughout the ages. Magic, to this point, was widely accepted and revered. Many men and women enjoyed the benefits of the magic used without much concern for the consequences. During this time, Six Arch Mages led the world in all their dealings. They ruled as Kings of the Six Greater Kingdoms, but they also feuded with each other and mocked the Lesser Kingdoms for their inferiority. This was the fuel which led to The Magic Crisis.

The Crisis
The six Arch Mages declared war on one another, and pitted the entire world into chaos. Quickly after the beginning of the war, great magical siege engines were created and fought against one another in the Great Siege of Fire. Following the Great Siege of Fire, most of the world had been turned to ashes. The skies were filled with an impenetrable smoke which began to quickly kill all life left on the planet. Action needed to be taken swiftly, or all life would end in the haze of war. The six Arch Mages met atop the highest peak, which penetrated the smog, and discussed a resolution for the damage they've caused. After many painful days of discussion, they began to enact the ritual which would save the world from damnation.

The Resolution and Redemption
By enacting a great ritual in which many souls of magic users which lived across the world were imbued and sacrificed into the dirt beneath them, and the souls of four of the Arch Mages were used to raise this dirt from the planet, many pieces of land, including the peak they were standing on (modern day Freehold), raised from the ground into the air. All people who remained on these platforms survived and were raised to the heavens. As a result of this great sacrifice, all but two magic users left in the world had been killed, and the continuation of magic was uncertain. All people who survived, however, agreed to never again allow magic to dominate the world, in the Great Treaty of Freehold.