The temples could no longer keep practitioners in check and so they retreated to the outskirts of civilisation. The Gods began to wither and die as magic progressed. This is why a Wizard's secret abode is referred to as a 'Dungeon'.ДЄnd such was the true origin of the magical university. They вЂjailedвЂ™ these practitioners, sheltering them in exchange for favors and oaths of fealty. The nobles, descended from the twisted tyrants of old, couldn't support this new, dark, and powerful magic outright for fear of the temples' wrath. They listened and learned from the mages who had distilled the powers given to the first outcasts, and with their aid developed more potent evils such as necromancy. When memory of them faded into legend they again began to offer powers to those who sought them out. The Obscure Powers that gave magic to man at the dawn of time had disappeared, but they were not gone entirely. Soon, just about anyone with the will and the coin could learn a simple spell. Those who studied the science of magic were called Wizards, and they refined these magics such that they were simpler and less dangerous. Men could now practice magic under the supervision of the Temples.Д«lood sacrifices were done away with and the processes distilled into their fundamental parts.

As revenge for generations of tyranny, the Nobles were forced to turn their Hag-brides over to the temple so that they would be cleansed on the pyres. The twisted nobles saw that the people had fire within them, and allowed temples to be built to appease them. Though the powers granted by the divine had started to dwindle, enough power remained for the people to rise up under the banners of their old Gods and with their combined might they threatened their malignant overlords. Using this same power they resolved to totally dominate the people.ДЄs the people suffered, the last of the faithful upheld the religious traditions of the Holy Men who had gone before. The Hags made blasphemous pacts with the Nobles, who banded together and drove out the Holy Men using the profane powers granted to them by their inhuman brides. The hags had not forgotten the betrayal of the first men however, for it was them that had made them outcasts. Now old and cunning, the hags taught them the secrets of magical powers. They became powerful, and grew jealous of those who held divine power and so sought out the hags. They were cautious, and determined to understand and control the world around them. These Nobles were not of the Holy Men, they were of the First Men, natural leaders since the age of myth. They gave their lands to those most able to lead the faithful, and so the noble caste was born. These men founded the first nations, and taught all living inside its borders to fear and reject the Arcane.Д®ven the holiest of men are still men, and as generations passed and the borders of their land expanded ever outward, they struggled to manage the land. These new Gods gave humanity the power to defend, heal, and feed the hungry. The Holy Men discovered powers granted to the faithful, similar to magic, but purer. Few remained to teach the next generations, but the next generations were taught, and lived unnaturally long lives.

They sold their humanity for their power, and so they were burned en masse in the cleansing fires by the first of the Holy Men.

Their black rituals required blood sacrifice and profane chanting and dancing to please the dark powers that granted them this magic. The early practitioners of magic were reviled. Thus was born the spark of magic, and so began the age of myth. To these outcasts, magic was taught by The Obscure Ones.

The wretched and filthy, deranged and misunderstood. These were the early days, the dark and foggy days. In the age before time, men were children to the earth. Most campaigns fall into 'The Balanced Age', unsurprisingly located in the middle. It's broken into ages that describe the stage magic is at, starting with an amount of magic characterised by 'low magic' settings (think Conan) and ending in 'high magic'. The text below is a generic timeline you can use as a scaffold to write your world into. This was originally a reply to a question posted on this sub.

Spellcaster university dragon turquoise