The Fall of Nephilim Civilization

Before Gods, angyls and daemons ever set their eyes upon the Mortal Realm, before humanity evolved full sentience, there were the Nephilim. A race of giants who were proud and strong. The fact they have Soulsight implies they might have once come from the Heavens, but no one knows for sure, and there are no Nephilim alive who remember. What is known is that thousands of years before the Wars in the Heavens, this race of giants ruled the Mortal Realms. Whole civilizations rose and fell during this forgotten age.

The fall of the Nephilim would come from their own arrogance as they crucially underestimated newcomers to the Mortal Realms; Daemons. Using their insidious magic, the first portals from the Underworld to the Mortal Realms were formed. Allowing daemons to invade in large numbers, eager to devour all the fertile souls they could get their claws on. The Nephilim took up arms against this threat. While the daemons were monstrous and numerous, against the vast army of giants, they were no match. They fled back to the Underworld once more.

The Nephilim assumed the threat had passed and this arrogance would cost them everything. For daemons are crafty, patient, and they do not age. They changed tactics. Crafting portals where ever they wished they would enter Nephilim cities and town covertly. They would poison water supplies, taint food. Babies would be stolen. Kings assassinated, and the resultant civil wars would slay countless Nephilim lives. The daemons were slow with their sabotage, never attacking the same place twice and never often enough for the Nephilim to catch wise.

It took centuries but the daemons efforts took their toll and the Nephilim civilizations found themselves on the decline. The daemons grew bolder, raiding villages and towns, crushing their garrisons and carrying off the rest to be enslaved and devoured in the Underworld. By the time the daemons invaded in full once more, the Nephilim rulers found they simply didn't have the manpower to resist them! No amount of courage can make up for being outnumbered a hundred to one!

After a valiant last stand, the Nephilim were defeated! The Mortal Realm now belonged to the daemon. The surviving Nephilim were enslaved. Many would die in captivity, dwindling their numbers further. The belligerent daemons cared little for their wellbeing, for they found more enjoyment with the young race of humanity more. 

The War of the Heavens and the Novalim

This tragic state of affairs would come to an end following the intervention of the Celestial Host. An alliance of angyls and Gods that routed the daemons in what would become the First War in the Heavens. The Gods liberated the Nephilim and their human counterparts. The Nephilim population was utterly decimated and the Gods wished to assist them in restoring their numbers.

The Gods reasoned they could repopulate them better if they were smaller. After much debate the Nephilim agreed. The strongest of them willingly allowed their essence to be extracted as 'materials' for the Gods to work with. The plan was these recently dubbed Novalim to be guided under their true Nephilim counterparts. The plan nearly became undone at the outbreak of the Second War in the Heavens. In fear of restored daemonic control, the Nephilim hid themselves, waiting out the terrible conflict.

After the war, the Nephilim would come out of hiding. They were horrified to see the world so unrecognizable in the wake of Godfall. The very continents themselves were different, their cities all but evaporated. While they were grateful for the Gods driving the daemons to the Underworld, it came at the cost of what was left of their world.

The Present

While some Nephilim maintained ties with the Gods and assisted the newly christened Benelim, many others cut their ties out of resentment. Regardless of where they stood however, the last of the True Nephilim struggled to find their place in this new world. Unlike the Benelim and Maelim, the True Nephilim have a greater sense of independence, not as bound to the Gods desire or corrupted from Godfall.

The result are beings that function as a wild card in the affairs of the world. The True Nephilim are still giants, creatures of raw strength and ancient intelligence. Some lend these skills to the Benelim, others to the Maelim. Some become leaders and warlords in their own right. Still others clash with humans, and many others simply wish to be left alone. 

The only thing that unites all True Nephilim is the hatred of daemons. Even the most bitter and twisted of their number would rather die than work with them.