Long before the drifting continents, the storm‑charged skies, and the living ocean as mortals know it, Thalmaris was a single supercontinent surrounded by a calm, stable sea. This era is known as The Pre‑Tide Age, a time when magic was predictable, geography was fixed, and civilizations rose to heights modern cultures can barely comprehend.
The Pre‑Tide Age lasted tens of thousands of years. Its civilizations mastered Tide Magic, Storm Magic, and Deep Magic in ways that modern scholars consider impossible. They built cities that touched the sky, temples that reached into the abyss, and machines powered by the Tidal Cycle itself.
When The Shattering occurred, nearly all of these civilizations were destroyed. Their ruins remain scattered across the world — buried beneath jungles, sunken into trenches, or drifting on broken islands.
Modern cultures know only fragments of their greatness.
Scholars agree that four major civilizations dominated the Pre‑Tide Age. Each mastered one of the primordial forces and shaped the world in their image.
The Thalmarian Dominion was the oldest and most stable civilization, named after the Tidefather himself. They built their empire along the coasts of the supercontinent, using Tide Magic to control water, heal, transform matter, and stabilize landmasses.
Peaceful, philosophical society
Mastery of water manipulation
Cities built on living coral
Tide‑engines powering infrastructure
Prophetic dream‑temples
Rituals tied to Aeluna’s phases
Created the first Tide Engines
Stabilized coastlines for millennia
Developed healing magic that modern Tidecallers cannot replicate
Built floating cities that drifted along controlled currents
The Dominion collapsed during The Shattering when Reverse Tide ruptured their tide‑engines, causing catastrophic magical backlash. Entire cities dissolved into water.
The Marisi Empire was a militant, storm‑charged civilization that dominated the highlands and mountains of the supercontinent. They worshipped Maris, the Stormmother, and believed strength was the highest virtue.
Stormforged warrior caste
Lightning‑charged fortresses
Skybridges connecting mountain cities
Storm‑reactive armor
Pressure‑training arenas
Invented stormforging
Built the first sky‑cities
Created storm‑steel, a metal that modern smiths cannot replicate
Controlled weather across entire regions
During The Shattering, the sky fractured. Storms intensified beyond control. The Marisi Empire was torn apart by celestial anomalies, lightning storms, and collapsing skybridges.
The Depth‑Kingdom of Xalathuun was the most mysterious civilization, located in the abyssal trenches and caverns beneath the supercontinent. They communed with Oruun, the Deep Memory, and built their society around truth, ritual, and ancient knowledge.
Cities carved into abyssal stone
Leviathan‑bone architecture
Memory‑vaults storing ancient truths
Silence‑temples
Ritualistic culture
Created bone‑forged relics
Developed memory‑magic that allowed them to record history perfectly
Built pressure‑resistant structures that still exist today
Communed with leviathans
When The Shattering occurred, the trenches collapsed. Abyssal pressure surged. Entire cities were crushed. Memory‑vaults shattered, releasing dangerous truths into the world.
The Orimandrel were a civilization of sky‑architects who built floating cities, celestial observatories, and star‑powered machines. They studied the moons, stars, and celestial tides, believing the sky was the key to ascension.
Floating citadels
Starflow navigation
Celestial engines
Moon‑aligned rituals
Sky‑titan communication
Built the first floating cities
Created celestial engines that harnessed moonlight
Mapped Starflow patterns
Predicted celestial anomalies centuries in advance
During The Shattering, the sky collapsed. Celestial engines overloaded. Floating cities fell. Starflow became chaotic. The Orimandrel vanished almost entirely.
Beyond the four great powers, dozens of smaller civilizations thrived during the Pre‑Tide Age.
Volcanic smiths who mastered fire‑tide fusion.
Jungle‑dwellers who used plant‑magic to shape living cities.
Island‑engineers who created artificial drifting landmasses.
Nomadic horse‑clans who used wind‑magic for rapid travel.
Water‑seers who interpreted ocean voices.
Priesthoods dedicated to protecting leviathans.
Each left behind ruins, relics, and magical traditions that modern cultures rediscovered.
Pre‑Tide technology was a fusion of magic and engineering far beyond modern capabilities.
Powered cities, ships, and machines.
Metal forged with lightning.
Weapons and tools made from leviathan bones.
Machines powered by moonlight.
Buildings designed to withstand abyssal force.
Devices that tracked drifting stars.
Modern cultures can only replicate fragments of this technology.
The Shattering destroyed nearly all ancient civilizations. Its effects included:
Landmass fragmentation
Ocean awakening
Storm intensification
Abyssal rise
Celestial collapse
Magic destabilization
The Pre‑Tide Age ended in chaos, leaving behind ruins, relics, and mysteries.
Ancient ruins remain scattered across Thalmaris.
Found in shallow seas.
Found in highlands.
Found in trenches.
Found floating or crashed.
Found near volcanoes.
Found in magical waters.
Explorers risk their lives to uncover ancient secrets.
Ancient civilizations mastered magic in ways modern cultures cannot.
Used to reshape coastlines.
Used to control weather.
Used to preserve memory.
Used to power machines.
Ancient magic is dangerous and unpredictable.
Relics from the Pre‑Tide Age are powerful and rare.
Control water flow.
Contain lightning.
Store memories.
Amplify moonlight.
Create force fields.
Relics are highly sought after by factions.
Modern cultures inherited:
Magic traditions
Ruins
Relics
Rituals
Technology fragments
Cultural myths
The Pre‑Tide Age shapes modern Thalmaris more than any other era.
Ancient ruins are awakening. Relics are activating. Memory streams are shifting. Scholars believe the ancient civilizations left behind a final message.
Some believe a Second Shattering is coming.
Others believe the ancients predicted ascension.
Others believe the abyss will rise.
Others believe the sky will fall again.
Whatever the truth, the past is returning — and Thalmaris must be ready.