In the beginning, there was only a swirling void of chaos. Suddenly, the void became self-aware. The chaos could not tolerate it, and a tremendous release of magic occurred, which shattered the substance of the sea of chaos into an infinite number of sparkling shards: Stardust. This Stardust is the fundamental stuff of creation, from which everything else would be formed. The remains of this stardust provide the power for magic, even today.
Over time, millennia beyond counting, The Stardust began to condense under the influence of the various outer planes. As this power reached a critical level, the gods were born. Where the Stardust was drawn towards the raw elemental power of the inner planes, dragons came to be. Seeing this, the gods combined their powers and formed the world. The left over energy from this great effort formed the vault of stars overhead. The gods captured the light from the stars and formed the very first souls, encasing them in forms drawn from the substance of the world below. These were the races that we still know today, including men, dwarves, goblins, and elves.
Since the dragons were born at roughly the same time as the world and its gods, they do not consider themselves mortal beings like the creations of the gods. Though of course, they can still die through violence, accident, or illness. Magic is a fundamental part of their being. As time went on, dragons would take the form of mortals and walk among them, mostly out of curiosity. A few even produced offspring with them. These were the first true sorcerers, beings who were mortal but with the blood of dragons in their veins. They could cast spells with little thought or effort. Over time, the mortals turned their wonderful minds to studying this power, and became the first wizards. The elves were the greatest of these, with centuries to work out the words, gestures, and materials that would create each magical effect.
The humans saw the power that the elves had achieved, and wanted a shortcut. They found it in lesser magical beings, such as devils, fey, and angels. These warlocks combined their own power and knowledge with that of their patrons. In addition, large numbers of aasimar and tieflings were born, as well as a new crop of sorcerers with unique powers. Meanwhile, the goblinoid species began to unite. They started to regularly lose fights to humans, elves, and even gnomes wielding magic. Seeing this power as coming from chaos, they chose to embrace order instead. Goblins chose to focus on industry and machinery, hobgoblins chose to focus on warfare and governance, and the bugbears chose to focus on meditation and the acquisition of knowledge. This combination made them a force to be reckoned with the world over.
Orcs found their strength in stealth and speed, trading and raiding. They spread out from their island homes across the seas, amassing a huge armada of ships. They found magic in their beloved music, becoming the first true bards. They raised sneaking and thievery to a high art, becoming rogues of great renown.
The dwarves became a force for creation, pulling out the treasures of the world such as metals, gems, clay, wood, and glass and turning them into works of art. In competing for resources and customers, they became mighty warriors. These mercenary forces were feared across the globe.
All of this happened without much notice from the mighty dragons. Ruling over every corner of the world, they viewed mortals only as sources of food and wealth. They were secure in their power, wielding both magic and physical might to keep control of the face of the world. This all changed with the revelation of the Triad. While 16 of the gods had been known to mortals since creation, three were unknown. The gods of magic, industry, and nature coalesced from Stardust with the influence of the Astral Plane, the Feywild, and the Shadowfell. This meant that they had no place in the original creation of mortal souls, making contacting mortals almost impossible. Finally, the Triad of gods worked together and revealed themselves to three humans. These humans formed new cults which began to spread rapidly, upsetting the established order of the world. The dragons noticed, and began attempting to destroy the new orders. This triggered the Dragon War.
Slowly but steadily, the various races of the world allied with each other, contributing their strengths to pushing the dragons back. Eventually, dozens of the great wyrms were slain, and they were confined to the Starheart Mountains in the south. With the dragons defeated, the great powers then turned on each other, or inward. The elves overthrew their royal family. The orcs abandoned their overland trade routes, retreating to the seas. The goblinoids conquered a vast territory, driving out the gnomes. The dwarves returned to their city states, fractioning and building walls against the rest of the world. Humanity scattered, although the champions of the triad returned to their homes, forming the three nations known as the Great Powers in the process.
The sole surviving artifact of the unity birthed by the Dragon war was the Guild of Magicians. Recognizing that knowledge of magic was what began the world's rebellion against Dragon kind and made their victory possible, all peoples united to preserve the practice of magic, explore its possibilities, and ensure its responsible use.
The dragons, for their part, are still licking their wounds. In truth, they learned almost nothing from the war, still convinced that mortals are unworthy of their respect. They curse the gods, blaming the Pantheon for their ill luck. With no mortals to press into service, they created the Dragonborn. This allowed them to further retreat into the insular politics of their council. The Dragonborn, in the meantime, have been growing steadily more numerous and more powerful, and gaze from their mountain homes across the lands lost to their masters, that they regard as their birthright. With the other peoples all but lost to bickering and suspicion, perhaps the time has come to claim them again.