3rd Edition, Japanese translation
Lawrence Montoya and Ash Silverbranch
The following paragraphs are abridged, because I'm not actually writing an entire textbook. It's a small book, but obviously you can expect the actual chapters to be much longer than this wiki article, with much more specific information, figures, and information sources. The information present in the fictional textbook but absent from the article is mostly unimportant, and you can feel free to fill in the blanks with whatever you find plausible.
Preface[]
It is as difficult to find information on the history of magic from a humans as it is to find a human audience for such a textbook. The Illuminati (see Chapter 10: Covering Up Our History) do thorough work destroying information, but they don't seem so capable in preserving and dispensing said information. Though we were able to retrieve some documents from the Illuminati and O.R.D.E.R., the vast majority of our sources for this textbook are found from the Goblin Kingdoms and their detailed records on wars with humans. Considering our publishers, they were surprisingly cooperative. Despite the opinion of the authors of this textbook that describing every battle of every war humans fought against other species is a waste of time, it is somewhat fortunate that we have been conscripted to detail our mostly military efforts when that is the information we happen to possess in spades.
The authors of this textbook were hired by the two principle human organizations entrusted with the defense of Earth from demons and other magical invaders, the Illuminati and O.R.D.E.R. As such we were given certain parameters regarding our presentation of human history, and in the interest of being unbiased we will disclose our orders thus:
- A focus on mankind's military history against magical entities, particular the "Great Demon War".
- A focus on human history as opposed to the history of goblins, demons and the like, a disappointment to our nonhuman readers (of which there are significantly more).
- The nondisclosure of classified Illuminati operations (we couldn't find any information on them anyway).
Let it be known that the intent and purpose of this textbook is to educate agents of the Illuminati and O.R.D.E.R. in the history of mankind's interactions with the magical realms and not, despite the sales records of our two previous editions, to educate Human Civilization classes in the Goblin Kingdoms or the Netherworld. That being said, we are perfectly happy that our hard work is being read by more than the 0.00002% of the human population on Earth that is allowed to know about this world. As for how many humans on other worlds have gotten their hands on this text, we haven't the slightest clue. They sure didn't pay for it. But whatever world you live in, whatever species you are, we wish you godspeed.
Ash Silverbranch
Lawrence Montoya
Tripoli, Libya, Earth
Magical Development[]
Humanity's first experiments with the force we know today as "magic" largely occurred before the spread of any written language written today, and there are nearly no written records of how exactly the process of casting magic was initially refined. Fossil evidence suggests that initial use of magic was instinctive and rough; breathing fire, levitating, simple things like that. Initial attempts to create spells appear to have usually ended in disaster.
Even during the Great Demon War the complex and intricate spells we're used to today did not exist. Complicated spells and transfigurations could only be performed by beings like Sila Reges (see Chapter 3: The Life of Mortem Omnes Reges) who are limitless (or nearly so) in their control over powerful magic. Even then, beings like Sila do not appear to have understood how or why their spells did exactly what they did. Even now people are untangling some of Sila's enchantments so that they can be reproduced by normal wizards.
By the time of the Great Demon War literacy was far from common, a skill greatly beneficial in constructing and utilizing complex spells. Evidence suggests that those who could craft magical items or spells were wealthy and in high demand, and their presence would determine the fate of early wars and civilization. Every major prehistorical civilization shows evidence of the involvement of these early mages in their rise.
According to Illuminati records, early improvements in the use of magic by humans and other Earth species were aided by limited contact with an extraterrestrial species called Archons. Contact between humans and archons would increase following the Great Demon War.
The Life of Mortem Omnes Reges[]
It would be impossible to discuss either the Great Demon War or the subsuent elimination of magic from the Earth without talking about who they call 'The Demon Lord', a title Reges acquired by becoming lord of most if not all demons. It's a title that hasn't been repeated since the war, out of respect for his power. Leaders of demons since then have been referred to as 'Demon Rex'.
Information for this chapter was mostly collected through interviews with Mortem's surviving allies, including remote interviews with his wife, Sila Reges. We mention this to acknowledge the heavy possibility of bias for reporting the life of the Demon Lord, not that we have much information to begin with. Demons are often unwilling to cooperate with us, even Silverbranch, and there were no human witnesses to Reges' early life, especially any alive today.
The Demon Lord had an Infernal mother and a human father. For those who haven't read our textbooks on magical species, Infernals are a species of fiery creatures that reside underneath Earth's crusts- they are native to this planet same as humans and goblins, and so aren't truly demons, though they are often mistaken for them. No one knows the logic behind this coupling; the identity of the Demon Lord's father is completely unknown and none of his allies would say much about his mother. He grew up briefly in human society, but evidence suggests that early interactions with the half-infernal didn't end peacefully. The Demon Lord and his mother escaped to the Infernal cities, accessible by crawling through an active volcano. Down there he received the name Mortem, a name given to Infernals that were expected to die early. From that we can assume that the Demon Lord's life with the Infernals wasn't much easier, likely because of his half-human biology. Unfortunately for humanity he didn't fulfill the prophecy of his name and was able to rise to the challenges the Infernals put him to, eventually becoming a full member and eventually the leader of many of their cities.
During that period of time, demons and humans could, with enough personal power, travel freely between Earth and the Netherworld individually. While on Earth the Demon Lord gathered a small party of allies and eventually claimed a few demonic towns, raiding and destroying nearby human villages. Eventually some human cities must have gotten sick of him, for they banded together and destroyed the Demon Lord's armies. He was forced to escape with his close allies into the Netherworld, and it's there that his preparation for the Great Demon War began.
The Great Demon War of 2800 B.C.[]
Once in the Netherworld, the Demon Lord found another realm in which he was considered an outsider, but not for long. The Demon Lord traveled around the Netherworld for a few years in search of power and served a couple odd roles to the various Rexes, and it was during this time that he found a magic ring inside an emporer's tomb. This ring summoned the Djinn known as Sila, granting the Demon Lord three wishes (the illuminati say this occurred 16 years and 4 months before the war with alarming specificity). We have no idea what the first two wishes were for, but the last one must have been for her freedom. It was soon after that when the Demon Lord made his grab for power. Through charisma, favors, complex power-ploys, a couple tricks and several displays of unimaginable cruelty the Demon Lord united the Rexes and smaller independent states of the Netherworld within fifteen years, the first and only known time the demons of the Netherworld had been united. As one of the few classes of demons that do not consume their parents upon birth, Archdemons were the only demons that considered heredity and family honor as much consequence, and their objections to being lead by a half-infernal, half-human eventually lead to their near extinction. Because of the longevity and limited reproduction of their species,
The Demon Lord's greatest destruction occurred in the beginning of the war. After achieving a spellcaster capable of opening massive portals between Earth and the Netherworld, and the invading demons took humans and goblins by surprise. While back on Earth the Demon Lord reconnected with his Infernal breatheren and raised another army from beneath the Earth's crust.
[The book then goes on for many paragraphs in excruciating detail about various battles of the Great Demon War and exchanges of territory that aren't really important, including the arrival and marriage to Mortem of Sila and the arrival of a small army from America lead by the Skin-Walker.]
The war raged for fifty years, but even after uniting and digging in their feet the forces of Earth were slowly losing. Lead by Gilgamesh the Hero King the humans and fairies used powerful magic to counteract the powers of demons and infernals, but it was of little help when a few Dragons came to the Demon Lord's side. The victory for the humans came very much out of left field, when a small force of extremely powerful humans were able to pierce through demon territory, kill a couple of the Demon Lord's highest officers and finally destroyed the Demon Lord. His death somehow negated his wife's powers as well, halting the flow of mass buff spells and battle-altering transformations that had put so much pressure on Earth's armies. Sila quickly escaped with a few allies and the Demon Lord's remaining officers fell into chaos, fighting amongst each other over who should rule. Without the Demon Lord to unite them their armies quickly fell apart and began destroying each other. One archdemon named igdrasius belial pompei (no idea why it's always uncapitalized) showed promise after gaining significant support from the demons, being seen as a return to traditional demon rule by the archdemons, but he was destroyed by the Skin-Walker.
Soon after, a spell of unprecedented scope and power was unleashed upon the Earth. Called the Veil by what little humans know of it and the Outcasting by everyone else, the spell banished most demons from Earth and drove the Infernals back into the ground. The ambient universal magic of Earth was cut off except for some "hot spots" that shrunk severely over the centuries, until Earth was effectively nonmagical. This spell of unknown origins is decisively considered the end of the Great Demon War.
You can read more about the exact nature of the Veil in Ash Silverbranch's book, "The Silverbranch Guide to the Outcasting".
Aftermath of the Veil[]
The Veil was a spell cast by humans, without the consent of other sapient species on Earth. Though the humans were confident in their ability to live without magic and desperate enough to win the war that they were willing to rid themselves of it, the goblins and fairies were less willing. Fairies were hit hardest; non-royal fairies depend entirely on drawing from the magic of nature to cast magic, and even today are completely bereft of power outside of hotspots. Early predation and minor battles reduced fairy populations by 75% within the first couple decades, pushing them back to the shrinking hotspots. Once humans stopped believing in fairies, cutting off the symbiotic ties between the two species, royal fairies lost their magic as well. Goblins were strong enough to have two more wars with humanity over the subject, but despite being magical themselves, the creation of magical potions and items was so central to their culture that they were unwilling to allow humans to strip them of it.
Times were harsh even for humans directly after the Veil. Though their magic did not completely leave them, humans struggled to adjust to their reduced ability to cast it. However, they adapted quickly, and when goblins and fairies struggled to force their magic to work humans developed more advanced agriculture and technology to compensate.
[The book also talks about other creatures such as tanuki, selkies, and kappas, but their populations never grew large enough to engage humans in any significant warfare. Their stories generally go the same way: They don't like humans getting rid of magic but can't do anything about it, and so they retreat to the shadows of the world.]
The Goblin War of 2700 B.C.[]
50 years after the Great Demon War the armies of humans and goblins alike were weak, but goblins fought back against the Veil regardless. The goblins had taken a greater hit to their armies during the war, and the humans still had enough spellcasting power to drive the Goblins back. After this war the Goblins mostly lived in Europe and what is now Russia.
[The book describes the battles in detail, but it isn't very important. Goblins fought uselessly with potions and alchemy that fared less well in magically weakened areas than actual spells.]
The Goblin War of 1100 B.C.[]
Over a thousand years later, after the Bronze Age and into the Iron Age, the goblins once again attacked humanity. The goblins had invented guns far before humanity was considered to have invented them, though these primitive firearms still relied on alchemy and magic to manufacture. Humans had their own technology, magically-produced in hotspots and otherwise, and were able to drive goblins back to a few small civilizations. After this war treaties between humans and the few remaining goblin leaders were forged that remain in effect to this day, that goblin cities would be permitted exist in hotspots on the outskirts of human civilization.
The Fairy War of 500 B.C.[]
A short war between some city-states in Europe and the Fairies occurred during what we would call the MIddle Ages. Many people don't consider this a war so much as an extended period of obnoxious and ocasionally deadly hostility between the two populations, whose significance is mainly in the birth of many European myths and folklores. This tomfoolery ended when a descendant of the heroes who defeat the Demon Lord slew the current Fairy Queen.
The Goblin War of 700 A.D.[]
Though conventional Goblin civilization was being tightly held in check, a half-demon half-goblin named Narlor the Conqueror rose an army of goblin dissenters and began attacking cities in China and India with the aid of a dragon that he rode, the only known person since the Demon Lord to have been capable of riding a dragon. The descendents of the heroes that defeated the Demon Lord united to repel and slay Narlor, and after that founded ORDER, the organization dedicated to keeping humanity safe from magical foes and maintaining their dominance over Earth.
Covering Up Our History[]
In the early 1000s many human civilizations began to encounter problems regarding demand for the return of magic and superstitions, though these opinions were small in number at first. To counteract this, the descendents of the mages who originally cast the Veil formed an organization currently known as the Illuminati, lead by a (potentially immortal) man named Merlin. Yes, THAT Illuminati and Merlin. No it has nothing to do with lizardmen, that is deliberatre misinformation.
The work of the Illuminati was to convert humanity's knowledge of magic to religion, superstition, and eventually fiction. The main goal was to remove the idea that magic could be brought back to humanity and that we went to war with demons or goblins from humanity's history. Simultaneously they increased humanity's affinity for science, making an effort to solve the univere's questions without magic so that humanity wouldn't need it.
By the time the genre of fantasy novels was established by the Illuminati, particularly The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the fictionalization of the magical world was complete. Humans would go on to create their own conflicting flawed views of the magical world, copying each other, and creating their own propaganda for fun. At this point humans would only be willing to believe magic existed in the first place by seeing it first hand, and even then the idea that it could be brought to everyone who never occur to them. Humans didn't want to believe in magic anymore, becuase believing in magic would be seen as stupid and ridiculous, because humans now believe that they made up goblins and fairies and magic themselves as fictional concepts.
Soon after the Illuminati did this work they mostly disbanded, keeping only a few members active at a time and mind-wiping those who leave after their service is done. The members we talked to are mostly in charge of maintaining and selectively distributing sensitive Illuminati materials, and sometimes checking in on ORDER, and aren't engaged in any active duties.
Future of the Veil[]
Though humanity's dominance over the world is unquestioned, there are many in magical circles who believe that in some way the Demon Lord is still alive and may return. Sila's loss of power after the war is extremely mysterious, and could indicate that Sila had possession of his soul immediately after his demise. It would certainly explain where at least one of the Demon Lord's wishes went. After nonhumans were beaten into submission and hiding themselves out of fear, ORDER only exists to prepare for the unlikely event that the Demon Lord returns.
Unfortunately, as you can see this book covers nothing of what has occured in the Netherworld since the Demon War. If you want to see a history of the Netherworld since that war, we recommend the book "The Netherworld: A Diverse History of Go Fuck Yourself". Having never ceased the perpetual warfare of their planet since their engagement with the humans, there seems to be no indication that demons will be able to overcome the Outcasting anytime soon. After all, most powerful demons cannot cross into Earth at all due to the Outcasting. The vast number of powerful demons entering Earth are those known as Succubi and Incubi (collectively referred to colloquially as Sirens), who seem to be more interested in integrating into human society than fighting them. Additionally, the corrosive fog of the Netherworld has caused an epidemic of lung disease for an unknown amount of time, making the vast number of demons ill-suited to an attack on Earth.