The Ayrithians once called the Aymoh plains their home. There, they thrived as the kingdom of Ayrith until a plague of undeath nearly wiped them out. A group of 500 survivors followed a priest named Garias, who spoke to one of the gods in their pantheon in a fever induced vision, and fled east on foot to escape.
According to legend, the Ayrithians were then led to the Raven's Vale forest by a raven, who appeared to Garias, the priest of the Ayrithians, in a vision. Though initially reluctant to follow a messenger of Motus, the raven-god of war and cruelty, the Ayrithians had no choice but to heed the bird's call. Wandering through the frozen wastes, the Ayrithians eventually settled in the Raven's Vale, where they thrived for many decades. Some, however, settled in the Aderrang Highlands along the way, refusing to follow the raven any further and founded New Ayrith.
The Ayrithians are known for their strong belief in a pantheon of gods, with Motus being an antagonistic deity. Due to this, the Ayrithians were initially hesitant to follow the raven, who they saw as a harbinger of war and destruction. However, they soon realized that the raven was a guide, leading them to a new home where they could thrive and prosper. They thrived for decades in the vale, only ocassionally being in conflict with a local ogre population.
Unfortunately, the Ayrithians' idyllic existence in the Raven's Vale was not to last. The forest was home to the rare and corruptive mineral Ebonthyst, which slowly corrupted both the land and the people who lived there. Despite their best efforts to resist the mineral's corruptive influence, the Ayrithians eventually succumbed to its insidious effects, leading to a dark and tragic chapter in their history that would lead to the birth of a dark empire.
