Long ago, before humans had appeared on the planet, there were a group of creatures that lived in complete harmony with the earth and all the plants and animals that inhabited it. Strikingly beautiful, magnificently athletic, incredibly intelligent, wonderfully artistic, and gifted in the magical arts, these creatures were the
Maníans. They controlled all aspects of life on the planet, and through centuries of work and spellbinding, created a utopia to live in. It was a time of peace, magic, and prosperity.
Most talented of the Maníans was a young girl named Ariadne. She excelled at spells that most Maníans could not dream of, surpassed her peers in the schooling, and was soon the youngest Manían on the Council of Manía. Everyone had high hopes for her.
It was not long before a male Manían the same age as Ariadne, named Julius, fell in love with her and tried desperately to woo her. Ariadne, after many long months, finally succumbed to his charms, and she too fell in love with him. Time passed, and after the two were married, they left Raylik, the capital of the utopia, to travel the globe. On their journey, they learned the customs, spells, and fighting styles of Maníans that many had forgotten about completely. However, when they returned to Raylik, they learned there had been a massive shift in the society.
A group of Manían sorcerers, called the Hu (pronounced like hue), had created creatures that had all the same features of the Maníans but their stamina, their extreme beauty, and their magical talent. The Maníans used these creatures for farming, for gladiatorial entertainment, and anything else the Maníans found too back-breaking or dangerous to do. Both Ariadne and Julius were furious, because these Men of the Hu (The Maníans called these creatures Man because in their language, "ía" means "magic." Only creatures that can harness magic, like the Maníans, carried that honor on their name. Because Man were so similar to the Maníans, they simply dropped the "ía", and Man was born) were making the Maníans lazy. So, for the betterment of their race, the two began to plot to destroy them.
What none of the Maníans knew was that the Hu Men had retained the intelligence of the Maníans during their creation. Somehow, they learned of the plot to destroy them, so the Hu Men decided to escape their creators by capturing and destroying Raylik. When their army gathered from Manían cities everywhere and began fighting, they outnumbered the Maníans in Raylik ten to one. The Maníans were caught completely by surprise, but still rallied together despite the huge numbers before them. As expected, the Council of Manía appointed Ariadne as their strategic commander, and her battle plans saved the Maníans from many a loss.
But, during one battle, while Ariadne was consulting with her generals, she received word that her beloved husband, Julius, had been killed on the front lines. In her anguish, she fled the battlefield and mourned for many days in a nearby forest.
After a week, just as the Hu Men were gaining ground against the Maníans, a band of hideous creatures burst from the treeline, led by a young Manían on a horse. It was Ariadne. She had spent those seven days not just mourning her deceased love, but creating these monsters out of pure magic, just meant to defeat the Hu Men. They certainly fulfilled their purpose. When the Hu Men saw they had lost more than three-quarters of their warriors and had no chance of victory, they surrendered, hoping that they would be spared. But, Ariadne was not merciful. In her anger and depression, using her magic, she slayed all of the Hu Men bu two, one man and one woman. Upon these two, she lay a curse that cleared their memory, removed their extreme intelligence, and forced them to live on an earth that was merely a shadow of what it used to be. However, she also blessed them, saying that they two would be the ones to rebuild the entire Hu Men race. The man was named Adam, and the woman was named Eve.
Then, Ariadne and the few Maníans that had survived the slaughter hid Raylik and the other Manían cities from the eyes of Adam, Eve, and all of their descendants. The Maníans have not been heard from since.
The rest, as they say, is history.
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