Little is written of what the world was like before the mage wars over 400 years ago. It is generally understood the third hosue was strong, with wizardry schools popular in many nations. There were also other religions other than the that of the three houses. Ancient gods who ruled people's nature of good and evil.
The stories go that many wizards were irresponcible with their power, the powerful ones using it to force people to serve them. There were fears amongst the most aged of the mages guild that the knowledge of the arcane was becoming too widespread, it was not good for the people. They believed those who had their knowledge also had a great responcibility to see that it was not miss used.
Exactly what heppened next is not known, but powerful wizards began fighting eachother. They fought not only with extreemly powerful spells but also with armies. It was at this point the warmage came into being, their value in battle has been well known ever since. The war was centered around the lands of Ekilom and Tymal, then the most important and powerful continents. At one point the two sides occupied Ekilom and Tymal respectively, but those in Tymal were forced to retreat to Ryth'Okat. The last year of the war saw the most powerful spells known used in anger. The centre of Ekilom has always been a desert wasteland, at some point both Tymal and Ekilom wre reduced to the same condition entirely, and Ryth'Okat was smashed from one mainland into the many islands it is now. It took the help of the Elves to get anything growing again in Ekilom and Tymal.
It took all continents involved a long time to recover, and those few remaining wizards kept out of the way. They have since become exceptionally protective of their knowledge and share it with no-one. As a result the only powerful mages known of are those which have been alive since the war, apparently immortal humans. A number act as advisors to national leaders, it is however unknown exactly how many there are or where they live.
It all begin in Hepitaan. Deep reserves of both Mithril and Adamantine had been found under the mountain ranges of the nation. So the king Aldred called upon the help of the dwarves to mine it. The resources of Hepilias had recently run dry so the many darves living there all upped and moved to Hepitaan to begin work in these new and very deep mines.
King Aldred had only a daughter Princess Lyria who had just married Prince Sokan, second son of the king of Hepidonis. His closest other relative was his cousin the king of Hepilias. When Aldred died unexpectidly both families claimed right to the crown. Princess Lyria sat as Queen for a while as the nations argued, she maintained an uneasy peace between Hepilias and Hepidonis for 6 years. During that time, both drew up alliances with other nations based upon trade and relation. Over these years of cold war Ryth'Okat and Tymal sided with Hepilias while Horatana and Ekilom sided with Hepidonis. Only the elven nation of Eldaan remained neutral. Both sides amassed massive armies.
When Queen Lyria died, some suspect poisoned by an agent of Hepilias, everything was thrown into confusion. Within two months of her funeral the Hepidonis army began moving south, with hope of occupying the mountains before Hepilias could respond. Instead both armies met just north of the mountain range, this has been the front line now for 30 years.
Both sides placed as their priority stopping the other getting into the mines, as such resources would be a massive advantage in the war. Fortifications were build and traps, many magical, were put in place by both sides.
Each of the two nations has now committed its entire self to this war, it is a guarntee that neither side will back down. Attampts have been made by some of the more passive nations to negotiate a peace, the elves even offered to host such a conference, but it never happened.