Rao now laid trapped within the diamond, and the victory celebration lasted for several weeks, but when it was over, the council found a weakened empire ready to fall apart, colonies slipping from their grasp day after day, their once mighty army now starving in far away lands.
The imperial council called a meeting with the high priests and generals, debating behind closed doors for over three days about the fate of their crumbling empire.
After the debate, the decision was announced to all the ascan citizens; the council had decided that they had invested too much time and effort on battles and meaningless conquests, ignoring the true destiny of the heirs of Miszhná, which was to ascend in power and knowledge so that they may become one with the gods. Based on such reasons, the council would call back any troops outside Karnar, and use the soldiers to aid in the reconstruction of the lands affected by the hand of Rao. With these words, the council was effectively dissolving the empire, not that ascans care much about it after the past years, now all that they wanted peace.
But not all ascans were happy with this, especially Ascal Merloth. He claimed that the council was breaking apart everything a lot of men died to protect, and tried to stop them. But now it was done, and there was nothing anyone could have done about it; during the next few months, all ascans soldiers stationed abroad returned to Karnar.
The next decision was to dismiss most of the army, leaving only enough soldiers to keep the peace and defend the lands of the ascans. When this was done, General Ascal came before the council and resigned, calling them traitors and swearing revenge on them. The council ordered the guards to capture him, but nobody dared apprehend the slayer of Nimbac.
And so the Golden Era began, all borders were closed and nearly no commerce was established with foreign lands, the ascans devoting mind and body to self development. It was an era of enlightment, shadowed only by certain border squirmishes with the band of brigands led by former ascan general Ascal Merloth, who somehow managed to become immortal (for further details on Ascal's immortality, go
here) .The power achieved during this era was truly impressive, up to the point where all violence was frowned upon, and all crime vanished from Karnar. The army was limited to ten fighting monks, the Kactar Lemni (sacred warriors) and a few soldiers and city keepers.
Even with the lack of greater military forces, any invaders were dealt with quicly and harshly, facing armies of magical creatures, powerful wizards and priests, mighty soldiers and the nearly invincible Kactar Lemni , with such powerful forces, the ascans did not suffer a single defeat in over two thousand years (except with the forces of Ascal, that is).
The wizards and priests became an incredible power, arming the ascan soldiers with highly magical weapons and armor. Powerful artifacts were discovered, and after two thousand years of development, the ascan culture reached its peak, easily surpassing the power of the council of immortals.
Such was their power, that they soon became arrogant, questioning the power of the Ancient Ones, striving to surpass it. Two factions formed near the end of the ascan civilization; one of them, headed by the council, urged the people to turn away from religious practices, saying that man (ascan man, at least) should not kneel before them, for he was a god himself, able to bend reality around him trough the practice of magic, and that the Ancient Ones were keeping them blinded trough faith so that they could not further their power and knowledge. The other faction was headed by Terlaxes, Supreme priest of Ascan, and said that man should further himself with the help and teachings of the Ancient Ones, hoping to become one with them.
To prove their point, the sages and wizards of the council created a terrible creature, one that would eventually bring about the end of the ascan civilization. This creature was Morfos (form, see
ascan concepts), a creature created by men without the help of the Ancient Ones, born without purpose (soul), but still capable of rational thinking.This creature torn apart the ascan civilization, considered to be the greatest human triumph by the council, and seen as a monstrous and sacrilegious creation by all priests. The debates that arised from its creation lasted for years, no faction convincing the other.
And then, in the year 2,012 of the golden era, Terlaxes decided to take action before angering the Ancient Ones any further, and sent two Kactar Lemni at night to destroy Morfo. Unfortunately, the council discovered the plan, killing Dashkan the greatest Kactar lemnis while the other escaped to the temple. The council gathered its men and stormed the streets, clashing with the soldiers of the temple.
Civil war had erupted all over the capital city, covering the streets with blood.
And in the heavens, Acron smiled as he watched this. His son Asckura was destroyed by Ascan for creating purposeless beings, and now the favorite creatures of Ascan had comitted the same sin. He decided that they were to be destroyed for their arrogance.
Ascan wept a bitter tear as an enormous beast made of pure Apeiron rised from the ground near the ascan capital, and razed the city in a few hours, impervious to any attack. Once the capital was destroyed, Acron sank all of Karnar beneath the waves, leaving a few small islands as mute reminders of the great culture that once stood there.
