The Age of Uprising, or the 1st Age, was the period of time up to the end of the 1st Great War, when Aery 2 slew Gethalyn (the year 01242). It is called the Age of Uprising because the war was motivated by a desire to overcome oppression. It should be noted that this began a convention of naming ages based on the human experience.
Catalysts
The time of antiquity was mostly marked by expansion and exploration of the races. Humans were at first thought to be the only inhabitants of Lesser Galwyndor until the Veninar elves made contact with them in the year EE 712. Prior to this, however, humans had shared the continent with ogres, trolls, and goblins, and the humans had centuries of experience in fighting these races. Once the elves made contact, what followed was a massive migration of humans into Greater Galwyndor, where they quickly spread across the continent establishing settlements. Many humans took to raiding and forcing other races out of their lands as they had done with the other races on Lesser Galwyndor. The most prominent example on Greater Galwyndor was when the Ganennites took what would become Torminal from the dwarfs and the jrel. This behavior angered many of the other races.
As a response, warfare was waged against humans, and it was discovered that humans had no knowledge of magic. Seizing a prime opportunity for retribution, many sorcerers traveled to the smaller continent, beginning in the year EE 860, and quickly subjugated humans there. Some sorcerors also managed to find allies in the other races, who aided them in their subjugation of humans.
For three hundred and sixty years they ruled without issue; the commonfolk were no match for them and their powerful magic from across the sea despite having experience in battle against the other races. Things changed after a party led Blanor the Burl successfully sabotaged a tower rookery belonging to the mage Saretis. The Burl's victory inspired many similar acts, even promoting rivalry among competing spellcasters. Skirmishes and sabotage escalated, culminating in the 1st Great War.