This one, the second Era of this world... the aptly called Age of Pursuit...

  The Centra were gone but the world would continue, still bound to their will but

  now without their guiding hand. Instead, it would be all that they had left behind that

  would now set a new curse for the world after them. Once the Centra had claimed this

  world to themselves, thanks to their mastery of all sciences, magics and technology

  that provided them with the unparalleled (hateful profanities to some and cause for

  divine worship to others) that ran rampant across the entire planet to this very day.

  All that they built and accomplished, all that defined their very existence; an entire

  empire spanning across all continents, all seas and the one sky, was left behind for

  those that would eventually follow.

  Who would dare guess how long it came to pass since the world woke up one day in

  complete silence, the sound of their rulership absent, before life would finally resume

  its course? With no more thunderous machines or hovering cities, and with no more

  Centra to command it all, an entire world was now free. How long for the first races

  to sprout forth and begin their own curse, and does any of it matter?

  Eventually, of course, they did. And little by little they grew. At first, little more

  than animals scrapping for food but in time they would master several forms of

  hunting and fishing, and from there they would evolve to the races of our current time.

  Slowly but surely, that was how the current races of this world came about. Humans

  and those that would later call themselves the Nharkim as well as countless others;

  Twinkledinnes, Sandrackar, Maruic, Dreibos and many more. And for an exceedingly

  long time, they were just that, tribes of fishermen and hunters struggling to find shelter

  from the heavy rains. Nothing more than primitive and superstitious creatures, each

  with their customs and fears for the world may have been silent, the Centra absent,

  but fear still roamed the lands and kept all living things in check, regardless of beliefs.

  And would continue to do so for aeons. I would claim it still does so, even today, if

  only for the less privileged.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Our current Era really began, as always, with an apparent meaningless action of

  not much importance, but enough to start the largest of all chain of events. That small

  gesture that opened the way for what would define our world to this very day; the Era

  of Pursuit began, the moment a member of the small and meek tribe of Twinkledinnes,

  one of the tiniest races one could ever hope to meet, decided to venture forth into one

  of the forbidden zones. Any area where Centra remnants were known to exist were

  best avoided - a taboo.

  What was the motive that drove such a small creature?

  That is now lost to us, dissolved in the ebb and flow of time but the result of such an

  action defines all things today. Into one of the Centra ruins that Twinkledinne went

  and when he came out, he did so with something in his hands. That very moment,

  where this small creature showed there was not only nothing to fear from those areas

  but there were also rewards to be picked up, that was when this Era truly began.

  Word began to spread, and the veil of fear and superstition was lifted. All tribes,

  in time, came to learn that there was nothing to fear from venturing into Centra

  territories. No longer were these Centra remnants cursed places, to be feared and

  avoided for either religious reasons imposed by most tribes or the mere common sense

  of the passing traveller. No. Now anything Centra was a place to be actively sought out

  and where fortune could be found. One by one every tribe of every race got into this,

  offering handsome rewards to anyone presenting them with anything made by Centra,

  even to those outside their own race.

  And so, greed was ironically enough, the will that broke any previous isolation and

  made most embrace outside relations. But what brought all the races together would

  also tear them apart. At first, most things were bought and sold as decorum, but as

  time went on and the races kept evolving and learning from these finds, their value and

  their importance kept increasing.

  From the study and learning of these Centra finds, most races began evolving,

  building, finding cures for the sick and easier ways to withstand the cold storms.

  It became obvious to all that this was their future, that the finding of more and more

  Centra technology, or anything concerning it, was their new path.