Ancient Studies Foundation

The Ancient Studies Foundation or A.S.F. is an organization within the Unity Earth Sphere Alliance founded in order to collect, analyze, coroborate, and organize all known information about the Eladamri.

History

Studies of the Ancients began as far back as the First Chaotic Period of the Mage Wars, perhaps as little as 1,500 years after the Fall of Roads. However, much of the early work was basically theoretical, or any number of fancy words for "made up".

During the Second Age around the time steps were taken to record the events of the Mage Wars began, interest was ignited in what was then called "the progenitor race".

Work was scattered, though, sporatic at best. Information was found, then lost. Whole museums were erected, looted, and demolished. For nearly five thousand years, the general consensus was that no one really knew anything about the greatest civilization in history.

Up until the late Sixth Age, the Eladamri were known simply as "ancients" or "the ancient ones". In some circles they were even called "The First Ones". It was only in the late Sixth Age that their true name--what they called themselves--was finally discovered.

Though information about the Eladamri had been present for quite some time, no central repository had ever been set up. Different universities and governments held their own collections of documents and artifacts, with their own catalogues. No one knew enough to assemble a full picture of what had happened. Even the famed historian H. P. Galactis, author of the original Accepted Histories, had access to very little information when he composes his trites.

It was not until the Kamian Succession Wars in the early Sixth Age, when numerous universities and caches of artifacts had to be relocated, that researches began to realize just how much information had been gathered. As soon as peace was declared, the Alliance ordered the creation of the A.S.F.