Before the last Ice Age, the Old World, that of the continent of Gyla, was populated by the first great empires of humanity. These empires had displaced the Elders who originally enslaved humans, and had grown great in size and magical knowledge.

The Years of the Moon is counted from the founding of the first Temple of the Moon in Ideria. This was roughly 3,000 years ago, or 1,700 BB. The exact date is lost to time, for there was confusion over the years between the fall of Ideria and the founding of the Five Kingdoms, and between the fall of the Five Kingdoms and the writing of the Habisfern Scrolls.