The world is Earth. Long ago, humans shared the world with another race of beings, one human-like but vastly older, wiser, more beautiful. And immortal. For the sake of jealousy, the humans went to war with this other race, and by sheer force of numbers drove them away, down into the depths of the earth. According to some mythologies, the Sun as god chose the humans over this other race to further the world, and so helped chase them away.

In the darkness, this race turned their backs on the Sun and embraced Lord Kahbid, the god of the dark places. With his help, they survived. They flourished. They passed down their history and stories to the next generations who came so slowly, and among them grew a deep desire for revenge.

At the seeming height of human dominance over Earth, these people came out of hiding, used magic, force and illness to conquer. Paris, Milan, Washington D.C. and all the other large cities in the world fell fast and hard to their control, leaving only the country humans free, and not for very long. All the buildings already there were converted to use by the conquerors. To an outsider, little would seem to have changed, save for the faces on the people.

This race keeps their secrets to themselves, and as a result very few humans know anything about them. This, however, is perfectly fine as far as the subjugators are concerned.