The war between Order and Chaos had been raging for ten thousand years. The clash between the two forces had left countless ruins scattered across the shattered Kolo World. Most of those remnants had ultimately been obliterated by the passage of time and the opposing forces, but those that had possessed great power or had been built more recently could still be found. These remnants included the demon caves within the various Order kingdoms, as well as the ruins of human towns in the lands of Chaos.
Aside from sanctuaries protected by holy power that could stand amid Chaos for a thousand years, such as Kasuan Temple, the human ruins found in the wilderness were basically no more than three centuries old. Anything older had already been reduced to ashes by the Chaos Tide.
The town ruins before them were one such "young" ruin. According to Veronica, the town had been built three centuries ago. It belonged to no kingdom, but had been constructed by the great merchants of the Kingdom of Tarus and the Beacon Fire Kingdom. That century had been the "Dawn Era," when Order had overwhelmed Chaos. The Chaos surrounding the Dark Marshes, Barren Wilderness, and Shadow Jungle had once been driven back to the southernmost edge of the continent. The great traders of the two kingdoms had then opened a magnificent trade route along this path. The distribution markets they built stretched across the plains and hills like a string of pearls, and one-fifth of the continent's wealth had flowed through this great artery.
In the ornate verses left behind by the bards, great swathes of text tirelessly depicted the elegantly dressed merchants, beautiful dancers, adventurers, mercenaries, and centaur warriors who had wandered here from the grasslands in search of opportunity.
Until Chaos came, and the