The Pre-Colonial Era is defined largely by the dominance of the few select nomadic tribes that rose to power within the Archaic Era. The most prominent of these were the Taiuarja, who would "settle" (in reality, they simply set up a network of caravans, no real formal city was established) the area now named after them, Tai'Un. Even in ancient times, it was a center of commerce not only for the Taiuarja people, but between other external tribes as well. There suggests significant archaeological evidence that not only basic necessities such as food or water was exchanged at the markets of the Pre-Colonial era, but deeply personalized items such as jewelry, religious artifacts, and tablets with information of interest. Most of these tablets, beginning around 2000 B.F., use a similar system of runes regardless of what location they are found, suggesting the developement of a written universal form of communication. While it was obviously quite crude and utilitarian in nature, these pictographs were very effective and perhaps even genius in their immediate comprehensibility to nearly any individual.
A few non-nomadic communities would pop up around this time, but they were much smaller to their traditional counterparts. However, this is not to say that the people of the Pre-Colonial era had no penchant for "civilization". Several writings and even monuments have been found scattered around the sands from this period, lending a clearer picture of the histories of the time. Not many conflicts tended to break out since there was little attachment to any particular area, nor a clear lordship as was the case with other continents. The only clear institution was the tribally agnostic Temple of the Light, a group which dwelt solely at the structure of the same name. Established in 1984 B.F., their clerical records are the primary source for scholars looking to research the Pre-Colonial Era.
In 1889 B.F. the first recorded instance of an external empire's citizen entering Tellia occurred. A few sailors from the kingdom of Formere, due to a navigational error, sailed directly into a storm not too far from the northeast coast of Tellia, and sequentially washed up there. After surveying some of the local wildlife, they determined they were in an entirely new place altogether and sailed back to report to the king of Formere, Inistal III. Inistal took a great interest in this new opportunity for empire, and sent many subsequent expeditions. He denoted it simply "Newland", and the name stuck until 1426 B.F.
It is in 1853, with the first successful expedition to establish a colony concluded, that the Pre-Colonial era is generally said to have come to an end. Astarchus was formally established on paper as a colony of Formere with the founding of the city of Astol.