You asked me for my speculations regarding the pre-history of Oerth so here they are. The
period they cover is not strictly pre-history but pre-(any certainty about dates). I may of
course be very wrong about some of this!
In very ancient times (at least 50,000 years ago, maybe much earlier) the race of dragons
found its way to Oerth (or was created here on Oerth for those who believe in the theory of
parallel creation). The dragons brought with them or were followed by a smattering of other
races - probably naga, sphinxes, giant eagles and fey (Olo also thinks lizardmen). On the
other hand one of more of these
races may be indigenous. The dragons (or another divine entity)
then created (probably by manipulation of existing ape-like animals) the First Men. These
are the races that myths refer to as the Elder Races.
Also a very long time ago (40,000 years plus) a very powerful race came to Oerth maybe from
a different plane. The existing races feared the incomers and chose to hide from them.
This new race the legends refer to as Elder Gods (they could even have been, although I think
it unlikely, gods from our own part of the multiverse). In any event these beings liked
Oerth and decided to populate it with their own followers (the Younger Races). They created or used existing
portals to start migrations from other worlds. The Elder Races, however, saw what
they were doing and decided to drive them out. The Elder Gods had second thoughts about
their plan and were probably just about to withdraw when their ancient enemies the Markrabs
showed up. The Markrabs brought they own demon servants and desired Oerth for themselves. They
then set about exterminating everyone else including the Elder Races.
The Elder Gods then had a difficult choice because although they had the power to fight
the Markrabs I'm guessing they did not want to turn Oerth into a wasteland. They withdrew
from Oerth but were unable to evacuate all those they had encouraged to migrate here. In
some other plane they continued the fight with the Markrabs and were successful over time,
choking off the Markrabs ability to continue living on Oerth. This is what the legends refer
to as the Uttermost War (although several seem to confuse it with the much later War of
Magicks). In the short term, however,
the Markrabs made life on Oerth uncomfortable for everyone else so that existing
civilisations fell and the Younger Races could only just survive.
This is the period called the War of Domination.
At this point something interesting happened (if our speculations about the nature of Oerth
are correct). The Younger Races were cut off from both their sponsors (the so-called Elder
Gods) and their original gods in the rest of the multiverse. Whether they understood this or
not I presume their dire situation kept their religious beliefs going until miraculously new
(but familiar) gods appeared and helped them. Did the beliefs create these gods or did
pre-existing divine beings take the cloaks that were offered them? In any event the Younger
Races had some measure of protection and the Markrabs gradually faded from the scene. They
did not, however, take their servants with them (or their servants rebelled and refused to go).
The following
dates are speculative (give or take a few thousand years).
- 30,000 years ago - Demon Empires founded
- 20,000 years ago - Kingdom of Karak founded
- 13,000 years ago - Empire of Kelnore founded
- 7,000 years ago - Dragon Empire founded
- 6,000 years ago - War of Magicks - most civilisations destroyed
- 5,000 years ago - Fall of last cities of Dragon Empire
- 4433 years ago - Beginning of current calendar
Hope this helps. I am fairly confident we can get more accurate dates in due course
particularly if we visit some of the more ancient sites on Oerth (see
Ghinorean Successor States for more detailed updates).