Back to Races

Encients

The eldest race in Battal. Originated shortly after the Darkstorm (as a perfect balance of Furniture, Kryatures and Sjkarblae) and mysteriously disappeared only couple of centuries later. Due to the fact that they were the only race during The Hierarchy that seemed to have any skill in recording history, the only record of them consists of their undecipherable (but presumably very powerful) rune carvings. Also, there is the oral tradition of the Nevelost, but most other folk agree that this is very, very boring.

The Encients were known for their great knowledge of high elemenstation, item crafting and architecture, often referred to as the Epic Ways. The exact cause of their end is uncertain but it is generally accepted that their own power destroyed them. Don't try telling that to the Nevelost though, they have their own ideas.

All that remains of them is ruins, powerful artifacts and arcane tombs. Oddly enough, evidence suggests that most of their ruins were never cities, they specifically constructed ruins and filled them with (by modern standards) priceless items. Some fans speculate that, being born in the Darkstorm, the Encients had basically "been there and done that" for just about everything and got bored quite easily. So, after they got bored of building something, they carved runes in whatever it was until they got bored with that, then just filled the partially constructed ruins with some garbage and left.

It is possible that the last of the Encients did not expire, but went below the grove of Merrigold (long before a city was founded there or Silverstone was mined) and entered the Underkingdom where they became the Slightly Older Ones. Another theory strongly hinted at in Book 13 and a Half suggests that the seemingly innocuous Murpelts are actually the Encients, continuing to survive and manipulate events long after everyone thought they had vanished.

Not a single piece of ELotH:tES canon directly describes anything that happened to the ancients, they are only referenced as historical facts (such as the archaic War of the Encients).