The story of Allods Online begins on the planet Sarnaut. The largest continent, Yul, was inhabited by many remarkable civilizations: the elven kingdom of Airin in the northwest, the Zem tribes in the southern desert, the orcs of the eastern lands, and the migrating Aro tribe. The Aro were led by the Great Mage Tensess, who brought the Aro to the ruins of the June kingdom, the first kingdom of humans, which had disappeared under a mysterious curse. In the ruins of the June, the Aro waged war with the orcs. Under Tensess' leadership, the Aro were victorious, and the Kanian civilization was established.

Another hero of this great war was the Great Mage Nezeb. Both mages, battle-scarred and hungry for power, battled for leadership of the Kanian people. Tensess emerged victorious and banished Nezeb to deserts of the Zem, where Nezeb become leader of a nomadic tribe called the Ugra. With a new army, Nezeb launched his armies upon the Kanian lands, conquering a portion of the Kanian lands. From this victory, Nezeb formed the Xadaganians, an independent and strong human country, spurring an enmity spanning millennia.

In the year of 4015 of the Old Era, the Great Cataclysm struck Sarnaut. The planet was shattered and allods, islands from the planet's remnants, emerged. The Allods Gold in the Astral, the space which surrounds Sarnaut's remains. Millions perished until the Great Mages discovered a way to sustain life on these Allods, ensuring the survival of some civilizations. The cause of the Great Cataclysm remains a mystery despite the Conclave of Great Mages' attempts to pass the disaster off as the forces of Creation and Destruction striving for equilibrium. With the passing of the Great Cataclysm, Sarnaut moved from the Old Era to the New Era.

The Conclave of Great Mages consisted of the wisest and most ancient mages of Sarnaut. Though they are bound to the Rules of the Conclave, they had free access to arcane and esoteric lore available only to the Conclave. In the third millennium of the Old Era, the Great Mage Skrakan led the Council. He apprenticed a number of mages, two of which became his most prodigious pupils: Tensess and Nezeb. 500 years after the first confrontation between Tensess' Kania and Nezeb's Xadagan did Skrakan bring the warring Great Mages to heel. Yet, Tensess and Nezeb's influence grew too large for Skrakan to control, and a schism split the Conclave. From that point onwards, there was no Conclave. There was only the Mages of Kania and the Mages of Xadagan. From the endless war in the eighth century of the New Era, two opposing factions were formed: the League, led by the Kanians, and the Empire, led by the Xadaganians.