The Allitoian people seem to have been the original inhabitants of central Rhean, and to have then been displaced by the Yarrin-Rheen war and subsequent migrations of refugees. A peaceful folk, the scattered Allitoians were easily conquered by the more warlike Simeans, who had already established holds in the north.

The Rheen people are said to have come out of the north and west long ago, the first human civilization to walk this continent--which is why it is named for them, Rhean. It is certain that they knew elves, and learned much magic from them, although they also feared and envied the sylvan folk for their long lives. Their associations with other cultures are not known, for Rhe had safely located itself far to the south before having a written history. Originally only scattered bands surrounding various warlords, Rhe began to become organized into city states as the Yarrin people first wandered into the area. In time, these were unified under the first Emperor, Xeramon. At first eager for growth and trade, Rhe encouraged Yar to settle and become prosperous.
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However, as time passed, the same fault rose up in Rhe that had first driven them away from the elves: envy. Envy of psionics, of metal-rich mountains, of fertile plains caused Rhe to become increasingly hostile toward the Yarrin nation. In the Yarrin year 55, 110 years after Xeramon's reign, Rhe made war upon Yar. The war proved to be the most vicious and destructive either people had ever seen, with magic and psionics being used just as swords and bows, and creatures from other realities marching in the armies. The war would be fought for 160 years and would end with vast areas wasted, and the people of Yar scattered to the winds.
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Some years into the war, four Rheen students of both the priestly and magical arts made an astonishing discovery. They found a way to use power buried in the universe toward their own ends. These four went to the emperor and suggested that the Rheen people had a higher destiny, out in the universe, rather than fighting a war they could not win. The emperor refused, and the four were imprisoned. However, the Rheen mages failed to understand who they were dealing with. It was not long before the four had escaped. Realizing, no doubt, that they would never have peace in Rhe, they made plans to leave and exile themselves from their native land. Before leaving, it is said (by Jorgenus) that they conspired to steal four of the great treasures of Rhe: the keys of existence, one for each element. They managed to do this , and then three headed north from Rhe. The fate of the last is unknown.

The three who left Rhe traveled to the land south of the Great Lake, where they parted company. It seems, however, that they recruited various followers here, and also left some word as to where they were going, should any Rheens wish to follow after them. Indeed, it seems as if at least one was expecting someone to follow after. At any rate, from Jorgenus and certain chroniclers in the land about the Great Lake we have their names and something of their destinations: Ahkment, who left to the northwest, saying that he was seeking a great body of water which legends related was in land as a lake but salty as a sea; Khelanox, who meant to travel north til he found a secure place, and Uriel, who traveled around the lake to the west, but who left word for his followers to find him "In the forest where shadows are thickest".

These same chroniclers relate that eventually there were those who came searching for Uriel, but not for the other two. However, Khelanox took several people with him when he left, among them the warrior Armehn and the priestess Vereln.
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Little now is certain of those times, with so much lost in the war. Here, in Eleya'ayern, these facts at least shall be preserved, so that tommorrow will not be without them. For if there is one thing that we now know, it is that these events are never done; the beginning of a story foretells its end.

Edalyn eMenea, Tester of the Castle, 282 Y

I. Of the Origins of the People of Yar

As with all humans who now dwell upon the continent of Rhean, it is believed that the Yarrins came to this land from Jardaa, crossing the land bridge in the far northwest as refugees. Yarrin (as well as Rhean) myths speak of great "wars of the gods", which could well represent a terrible calamity that caused humanity to flee its ancestral home. It is generally thought that the Yarrins followed the Rheens to this new land; however, the distinction between these two peoples must have been established prior to this, as historical records begin in Rhean and indicate the two separate groups. Apparently, the Rheens moved across the continent first and encountered both elves and dwarves. The elven meetings apparently went well at first; sages agree that Rhean magic was learned from the elves. However, it is apparent that the natural Rhean tendency towards greed, suspicion, and secrecy soon alienated the elves. The results of this are clear: the Yarrins did not meet the elves, and as a result have only stories of the faerie creatures.

The Yarrins apparently wandered generally south-east, following the Rheens, and arrived in what was to become their new homeland in approximately Yarrin year -500, some two centuries after the Rheens had settled in this same area. At this time the Rheen nation consisted only of a few scattered city-states with no unified government. The Yarrins likewise lacked a national government, and instead governed primarily through large extended families--the tribes. Cities were founded primarily as centers for trade, although some were fortified against attack.

In these early years relations between Rhe and Yar were mostly peaceful. Rhe was more advanced but lacked artistry and was metal-poor, so each nation had a trade base. While their were some outbreaks of violence, these were generally no larger than one tribe or city-state attacking another, although Yar was more internally peaceful than Rhe.

II. Of the Nation of Yar

Some 400 years after the Yarrin people first settled the Savan'Sol [Plains of the Sun], a warlord of Rhe, Xeramon, unified the city-states and declared himself the first Emperor of the new Empire of Rhe. It soon became apparent that this new empire was not going to be content with peace. In the 55th year of the Empire of Rhe, Yar drew up the Compact of the Twelve Tribes, which established a national government. It has been suggested that this was due to clairsentient precognition; others have said that it was simple common sense. Whichever, in Yarrin Year 55 Rhe attacked Yar, beginning the most destructive war recorded in the annals of humanity.

III. Of the Great War

This war has been known by many names: the War of the Two Powers, the War of World's Tears, the Yar-Rhe War. It lasted 160 years, and its lasting effects are still visible to this day. While it is unclear exactly why Rhe began this war, it does seem clear that it was for purposes of subjugating Yar. Space was not a problem, and trade had always been fairly even between the two powers.

The early years of the war were fairly coventional. Rhe's armies advanced quickly at first, but then came to a halt as the superior training of Yarrin warriors began to prove more valuable than the numbers Rhe could throw into combat. Sixty years into the war (YY 115) a new menace appeared: demons. Summoned from the realms of the gods by Rhean wizards, these powerful creatures tipped the balance of the war towards Rhe. It is said that this was the beginning of the end for Yar. Certainly, this act crystallized the future to some extent; the writings of Dyvin, among others, indicate that it was at this time that the College of psionicists began to predict the downfall of Yar and the fleeing of its people.

Based upon these prophecies, the leaders of the tribes began work on the Tomorrow Castles in YY 120. These were planned as repositories of the knowledge and culture of Yar. Yar also began scouting to the north to locate sites for other castles and to establish waystations and routes for refugees. Meanwhile, the tone of the war was growing more desperate--for both sides. The Yarrins were giving ground slowly, but had taken to concentrating their attacks on the Rheen mages and warlords. The use of psionic clairsentient and psychoportative disciplines was invaluable in establishing the locations of these targets and then reaching them. The Rheens, on the other hand, lacked the means to effectively counter psionic powers, and thus used their magic to attempt to give the Yarrins too much at home to worry about. The result of this escalation was many strange and powerful items and even living beings created for the war and then cast out into the world. These include the blink dogs and displacer beasts, and the dopplegangers.