The reign of the Wizard Princes began a little over 80,000 years ago. Three thousand years earlier the Valeri discovered and "freed" the only other indigenous sentient species on Elara, the joKara. The joKara were parasites, and could only survive outside of their natural environment by taking an Elaran as a host, where all that was the host was lost. Despite this, the Valeri and the joKara lived semi-peacefully for a time. Soon, tensions began to rise as joKaran jealousy and megalomania called for the extermination of the Valeri in what was called The Cleansing. This left the joKara-possessed Elarans as the most powerful beings on the planet. Only the elves and the dwarves could have stopped them at this point, yet neither chose to do so for unexplained reasons. The joKara failed to destroy the elves and dwarves, as well, also for unexplained reasons.
Once the Cleansing was complete, the two dozen or so joKara that were left were unmatched magically. They quickly enslaved the other Elaran cultures such as the Delsharans, the Kalans, and the Kesilnari, who lacked even rudimentary knowledge of magic, and were no match for the newly appointed Wizard Princes.
Because no joKara queen was known to survive, the Wizard Princes' number remained unchanged for the next 80,000 years, the parasite taking a new host when it needed. Virtually the entire world remained under their control, their slaves being magically dominated by their masters. And to avoid another war, the Wizard Princes never shared their knowledge or powers with the Elarans.
In the thousand years leading up to the Great Cataclysm, the magic of the joKara began to wan. Unbeknownst to them, Pelinor Kyndra, one of the Grey Eight, had been performing magical rituals that was affecting the amount of Essence in the world (the source of magic). With their magic fading, in-fighting and political intrigue began, causing dissention amongst the Wizard Princes. With the joKara now beginning to kill each other off in an attempt to gain more power for themselves, the Elaran people began an uprising. The year 579 KY saw the end of the Wizard Princes, as either they were captured and killed by their former slaves, or they retreated into hiding. It is unknown how many may have survived. What is known is that any survivors would need to continually take a new host every hundred years or so to stay alive.