Humanoids first took to the skies prior to the great war when elves learned the secrets of spelljamming and mankind learned the science of flight. In the great war, spelljammers flown by elven wizards matched up with the propeller-driven machines of the humans, each equally matching the other. The magical defenses of the spelljammers proved more than enough to counter the planes of man. This advantage was no more once man invented the first atom bomb. With the destruction of the elven city of Darshariee with a single blast, the elves entered into talks with the humans, all the while stalling to allow time for the final preparations for their departure. The pride of the high elves convinced them that they could pull off an attack disguised as a mission of peace and finish the humans once and for all. They assembled their most powerful mages for one final assault, realizing that defeat was the alternative.

The elves arrived in a single ship. Mages lined the decks and combined their sorcerous powers weaving a spell of destruction such as the world had never known, draining them of their very life energies. The resulting rend in the fabric of the planes sucked the entire mannish capital into the abyss along with the elven ship. From the abyss poured horrors with a thirst for destruction, devastating those in their path.

Word was transmitted to the hidden outposts of the humans on the bor- ders of human lands. With the memories of loved ones that perished in the elven attack, the human generals sent out all their planes to destroy the elven cities. The battled spelljammers with heavy losses, but a formation of five bombers made it past the heavy defenses to the heart of elven country. They released their atomic payloads, scoring on their target cities. The elven cities of Gardeth, Raipah, Shellariah, Dreshdin, and Alladria were but memories in an instant. This constituted the glory of the elven empire.

The world suffered greatly from this exchange. The abyss drained the warmth of the ear into its endless void. Its foul creatures poured out upon the land, first with the human countries, but soon spreading throughout the world. Jera became a place where none could enjoy life. Crops died and people suffered greately. Starvation and disease became the rule. Many of the northern humans sought refuge underground where they could find shelter from the intense cold. They said goodbye to the light of day, many of them forever. They became over the centuries that passed the dwarves.

Many elves that could not otherwise escape left the dying forests and went beneath the ground as well, their hatred twisting them into something horrible. Many of them had suffered from radiation sickness and those that survived saw with horror what their folly brought upon the next generation. Many elves were born deformed. Whether it was from the radiation or from the magical instability caused by the elves none could be sure, but their skin grew black, in stark contrast to the fair complections of their race. These became the Drow.

Beneath the ground this war continued for centuries even to this day. The drow delved into the forbidden arts of black magic, the brewing of poison, and even necromancy in their quest to destroy the remains of the humans. They raided continually against the dwarves and the humans that had escaped the wrath of the elves.

The elves gathered up who they could into their remaining spelljamming craft and lifted to the skies in tears. The songs of generations would mourn the beauty that was Jera. The elves sailed to the sphere of Baripah, a desert world where life changed for the elves from a thing of beauty to that of survival. Though it was a horrible place, it could sustain life much easier than Jera in its current state. The elves swore to return, but not until they had amassed magical power sufficient to heal the damage that they had caused and restore it to its former brilliance.