During the subsequent Age of Legend, Djall created Salamanzar to lead his Undead hordes while Gaia greeted the Beasts, a large number of races that resembled various animals. Among the evil races they fought were the Dvergar. Eight Beasts became particularly powerful mages and were called the Mystarchs. The Mystarchs discovered an evil force called the Shadow Legion and attempted to unite Beasts in opposition to it. However, the rule of the Mystarchs became oppressive and the Beasts rebelled, executing or exiling the Mystarchs and instead uniting under the leadership of the judge Solomon. The following twenty-three generations constituted a golden era during which all Beast races lived in peace and culture flourished under the rule of Solomon's descendants. However, the peace was shattered by the invasion of the Primals, who stormed Europe from over the Western Sea. They were repelled only through the intervention of the Faerie, who subsequently returned to Otherworld. Vinga, the first Vampire, then rebelled against Salamanzar and established the Blood Kingdom in Eastern Europe. Salamanzar was killed in the course of his campaign to retake Vinga's domain, and Vinga became the ruler of Europe. During the two-thousand-year "Bleakness," only a stronghold in the Great Forest in Western Europe remained free of Undead rule. A hero, Atan, then arose. Of an unknown Beast race, Atan learned magical arts in the Far East and returned to Europe with his followers, freeing Europe from Vinga. However, the People of the Skull and the Dvergar remained as threats.