Hi Adam,
The present-day nations of mankind trace themselves back to five distinct tribes, the Daneans, Itheans, Kemivorns, Ulrukans, and Zaharans, who entered the contintent of Aureopos from the north, west, south-west, south, and south-east respectively.
The earliest records of all of those peoples indicate that the elves and dwarves already had established civilizations at the time of their earliest records.
No one civilization in the game world has a true archive that spans all of history. The Auran Empire marks the present day as Imperial Year 381. Written elven records trace back to 4,000 Before Empire. The first written records that the elves have memorialize “the Fifth Turning since the Day Without Night,” and that marks the start of recorded history. However, the elven records were badly shattered by the Fall of Argolle, circa 1,650 BE.
Written human records only trace back to circa 1,650 BE, so no one is exactly sure of the precise timeline.
From the official HISTORY:
The recorded history of Aurëpos begins four millennia ago, when elven chroniclers first memorialized their race’s history on clay tablets. Before then, we have only myth and legend to draw upon. From such dubious sources we can identify several semi-mythical ages. The first of these, known as the Age of Marvels, is said to have begun with the creation of Cybele in the center of the Cosmic Sphere. Legend maintains that the Age of Marvels lasted for 100,000 years, during which the mortal inhabitants of Cybele were introduced into the world by their creators and flourished under their guidance.
The Age of Marvels is said to have ended with the Predestined War, a mythic struggle described in the holy books of both Empyrean and Chthonic powers. All our religious sources are unanimous in claiming that that the Predestined War ended when the Table of Destiny was shattered. Chthonic theology claims that Iskara shattered the Tablet to liberate men’s will from the shackles of fixed fate. Empyrean theology teaches that the destruction of the Tablet was a terrible accident that destroyed the ordered harmony of life and law that characterized the Age of Marvels. Given the tragic nature of history, we must, of course, believe the latter to be the case.
In the aftermath of the shattering, these same sources recount, Fragments of the Tablet plummeted down onto the world. There they were found by creatures of Iskara and turned to sinister purposes, ushering in the Age of Abominations. The tales of this time are the stuff of nightmares and dark folklore, best left shuttered in the recesses of the mind. This reign of darkness, of humanity enslaved and preyed upon, is accounted to have lasted 20,000 years, until the Day Without Night, when a million suns blazed in the heavens and Ammonar restored law. An anniversary of this mythic event is recorded in the earliest elven annals and marks the beginning of recorded history.
The Imperial calendar counts the first Imperial Year as the year that Audarius Tarkaun acceded to the throne. Events prior to the founding of the Empire are noted as BE (Before Empire). Note that the Fall (circa 1650 BE) caused significant loss of records for a period of about twenty years. Its date and all dates prior to it are approximate.