[Nix]

I also really like the idea for the Dawning Age. The other idea just doesn't work for me - it seems to mix and match nations around too much, and besides, screw Hoburgs.

It seems like many of the "old races" (like Yakshas) that would be more prominent in such a scenario aren't really part of the Dom 3 timeline at all - they were part of the reign of the old Pantokrator. That's what makes them all mystical and stuff. Therefore if there are such nations, they definitely ought to be declining, as the Dominions war can't really begin unless the Pantokrator is gone.