The Ashenforge
The Ashenforge are an ancient race of Dwarves. Their clans have trekked the stars for millennia. Once proud warriors, they have since turned their skills towards mining and salvaging deep space rocks across the known universe. Living amongst the stars in various nomadic clans of ancient starships. However, with the awakening of the demon realm, a flame has spurred within the hearts of the Ashenforge. The ancient warriors have unfurled their tattered old banners and unlocked the doors of weapon vaults long forgotten. They have decided to take back the ruined worlds that once belonged to them. Their campaign will be no easy feat. So few of them remain, and so many enemies still knock at their doors. But their stubborn determination has kept their race alive for this long, and they don’t intend to change that now.
The Beginning
It is unknown when the first Ashenforge Clan was formed in the Galactic Realm. However, it is certain that the dwarves of the Ashenforge thrived across the galaxy long before humanity. Originating from the planet Aes, a world rich in minerals and resources, the Ashenforge took a liking to the act of mining. What started as simple interest soon blossomed into mastery as the centuries went by, turning the Ashenforge into experts at their avocation. Alongside this growing dedication to the mines came incredible craftsmanship, as the dwarves accessed resources unobtainable by many others. So delicate and refined was the process of removing the mineral davium, for example, that only the most skilled of miners would dare attempt such a feat. Using davium and various other materials, the Ashenforge were able to quickly construct all manner of space-faring vessels and expand across the stars. At first, the dwarves targeted the planet’s richest with more resources for their ever-growing hunger for new stones and metals. However, as further centuries flew by, the Ashenforge colonized entire systems of worlds. They formed clans to safeguard each cluster of systems and continue forging their way across the galaxy. Their craftsmanship became legend with many of the other races that crossed their paths. Entire civilizations paid the Ashenforge generous sums for the construction of temples and cities. Their dedication to their forges was only matched by their desire for new materials to flood them with. The Ashenforge legacy was skyrocketing to success. However, their future would take a dark turn upon their encounter with another powerful race of the time, the Stargazers.
The Great Void War
For a race at the pinnacle of its evolution, it appeared to the Ashenforge that none could stand in their way. That is, of course, until they met the Stargazers. A race of elves who, similarly, were making great strides across the Galactic Realm. Even upon the first meeting of these two superpowers, the air was tense with anticipation. In many ways, they were similar, the dwarves and the elves. Both possessed incredible talents for craftsmanship within their races. Both saw the beauty in the galaxy’s many worlds and resources. And both had an almost supernatural desire for knowledge. However, where they differed, was their trust in the Celestial. Where the Ashenforge resisted tapping into the powers of the Celestial Realm, the Stargazers embraced it.
To an unfamiliar individual, they might wonder why this small discrepancy would cause the several centuries of warring that would nearly tear the galaxy asunder. To explain, first, a breakdown of the Celestial Realm is necessary. The Celestial Realm is a land of Angels and Demons vying for control in an endless battle that has lasted since before time itself. To tap into this realm is considered taboo by many of the races within the Galactic Realm, as the hubris of a few mortals often leads to the death of many. The Ashenforge have heeded the warnings of the races they have encountered and even refuse to employ any celestial weavers within their ranks. In fact, to even suggest utilizing the powers of the Celestial Realm would result in excommunication from all of the separate clans. This stark contrast to the Stargazers’ total submersion in the Celestial promises caused more than a few heated words and slanders between the two races. The Stargazers desperately attempted to pull the Ashenforge into the dark embrace of this uncontrollable power, but the dwarves would not be swayed. Stubborn was their nature, after all.
As is so often the case where words failed, war spoke for them. Gone were the days of glorious cities constructed overnight. The forges of the Ashenforge glowed red hot with the creation of imposing war machines and destructive wargear. Both of these factions brought the full weight of their arsenals to bear on one another. Worlds that had taken centuries to develop were wiped out in a matter of days. Entire systems ceased to exist, wiped off of any star map for generations to come. For the first time, the Galactic Realm knew the true taste of war and its dire consequences. With each passing decade, less and less of the Ashenforge remained. They had taken a bloody toll on their foe, but so equal in power were these two factions that the toll was returned upon them just as well. It wasn’t just the Galactic Realm that shuttered under this seemingly never-ending war. After all, the Celestial Realm is linked to the galaxy of mortals. The sheer volume of bloodshed fuelled the demons with unyielding power and ferocity, the likes of which the angels had never seen. The scales of balance within the Celestial Realm are ever in flux; a simple tipping of them could spell disaster for those in the Galactic Realm. And so it did.
With their newfound blood rage, the demons surged forward upon the celestial defenders, and the realm of mortals experienced another first. A tear in the fabric of reality and time split its way across the Galactic Realm. This tear, so enormous in scale and devastation, would forever be known as the Great Void. Its scar on the galaxy would remain even to this day. From this rift poured millions of demons, and the war between mortals and celestials began. The next few decades of fighting would show the Ashenforge and Stargazers the error of their ways. For while the races had endangered their survival by warring with each other for so long, the demons brought them to near extinction. Neither race had seen such slaughter before; the demons cared not for politics or neutral worlds. They destroyed all in their path. They butchered innocents and soldiers alike. In a final act of desperation, the two races realized that the only way to stop this menace was to unite. And so they did.
Enemies fought alongside each other for the first time in two thousand years, against a common foe. Warriors who had dueled against each other across thousands of worlds now stood back to back against an endless sea of demonkin. It took another thousand years of desperate fighting to finally push the demons back into the void. Inch by painful inch, the defenders of the Galactic Realm gained ground once more. With a final battle upon the planet of Ultima, a world that sat on the outskirts of the Great Void, the Great Void War came to its climactic conclusion. Heroes of legend from both races fought against a fragment of Kornak, the Demon Lord of Wrath himself. Nearly all of them died. It was the final combined strike of Thronic Grayforge, Forgefather of the Grayforge Clan, and Aiduin Natsunami, High Roju of the Natsunami Clan, that banished Kornak back to the Celestial Realm.
The Aftermath
After three thousand years of fighting, the Ashenforge were tired. Their race was all but erased from existence. Upon the blood-soaked ground of Ultima, Thronic Grayforge of the Ashenforge and his new companion Aiduin Natsunami of the Stargazers spoke for the first time as friends. No longer did they see each other as simple allies belonging to different factions or races; they were all brothers and sisters in blood now. But they knew it would not last. Old Scars would begin to ache with time, and history would be forgotten. In an attempt to delay the inevitability of their factions clashing again, they agreed upon a simple truce. The galaxy would be split into two domains. Each faction would be free to sail their half of the galaxy unencumbered but would never cross into the others. A hundred separate declarations and decrees were drawn up, detailing this mutual agreement, and both faction leaders gave their signatures in order to seal this truce forevermore. These documents were then spread across the galaxy to the races that remained, so all would understand what had transpired. That was the last time Thronic saw his friend. He embraced Aiduin as a brother would and said his farewells. Ultima would forever mark the halfway point between their territories, and so neither race would ever return to the ravaged dying world.
A New War Begins
It is now the year 5250, or so that is what the Solar Calendar states. For the past six thousand years, the Ashenforge have led a peaceful, isolated existence. Returning to the few worlds that still remained under their control, they have continued to pursue their interests in the crafts. Aes was destroyed long ago, and so they have settled elsewhere. Often living out of large mining vessels in a more nomadic nature. New Clans have arisen, though the fabled Grayforge Clan still remains. The truce with the Stargazers has been honored for countless generations. The Galactic Realm had healed, or at least almost healed. A new war has arrived. At first, the Ashenforge felt it stir like a droplet of rain in a large body of water. But where the first ripple stretches itself across the surface, more are soon to follow. Soon enough, Void Rifts began to tear their way into reality across the galaxy, and once more, the realm of mortals was thrust into never-ending war. Thronic and Aiduin were right. History was forgotten. The forges once again burned aglow with the creation of devastating weaponry. Old grudges came to light. The truce between Ashenforge and Stargazers crumbled to dust. Now the Ashenforge march upon the worlds that were once theirs seeking to reclaim what they believe is owed to them. Now it is time, for retribution.