World Timeline
The Age of Order
The religions of Man claim this era as their point of genesis; the priests of Yllion reject the mortal historicity of Bhodlem and believe its relics and constructs to be god-forged.
| ca. -30,000 | A civilization called Bhodlem (the makers), whose vast empire stretched across the eastern lands—from as far north as the Luthani Hold to all the lands east of the Kel Urz mountain range. This Age of Order is recounted as an era of spiritual and environmental serenity, and of wondrous technological and social achievement. Functional relics from this time, though uncommon, maintain a magical potency. |
| ca. -20,000 | Surviving ballads of Bhodlem allude to a great drought and the subsequent famine and warfare that fractured that empire and led to its decline. The strife that ensued from the fall of Bhudlem overlaps with the dawn of Aeldan civilization. |
The Silwaran Hegemony
This era marks the golden age of Aeldan civilization.
| ca. -20,000 — 15,000 | Remnant cultures of Bhudlem encroach on the fertile Valley of Ildaer, causing territorial strife with the native Ela, a people untouched by the hardships of drought and war. The Ela permit the migrants passage in exchange for fealty and tribute. |
| Human and Volkmont nations develop under the guidance and influence of the chieftains of Silwaris. This period is marked by the growth of distinct human governments and subsequent regional skirmishes. | |
| ca. -14,000 | Foundation of the city-state Silwaris. |
| ca. -13,000 | With resources from the Ela chieftains, the lords of clan Urz of the Volkmont establish Urzan. |
| ca. -12,000 | The cities of man convene and establish the Hubrion Confederacy. |
The Tribulation
| Filial War | |
|---|---|
| ca. -11,100—11,000 | The Uarthé vie for control of Silwaris, sparking the Filial War. Warlord Mastradare il-Kamus crushes the Sentinels of Silwaris and installs himself as First King of the First City. |
| Insurrection against The First King plunges Silwaris into chaos; the city becomes a battlefield for a decade. | |
| With backing from the Uarthé, Endarrion the Cunning destroys his fellow governors, dissolves the confederacy and becomes Emperor of Hubrion. | |
| With the aid of the warriors of Urz, Inyaré chief Kierna Haud defeats the assembled forces of Uarthé and their allied tribesmen and slays Mastradare il-Kamus. Reluctant to indulge in more bloodletting, the Ela urge against execution; the Ashakré lords consent, while the Inyaré sue for death. In the end the major families of Uarthé are cursed and ostracized. | |
| The False Peace | |
|---|---|
| ca. -11,000—10,300 | The False Peace. Karphos il-Mastradare flees with his family to Hubrion, where he eventually joins forces with House Endarrion. |
| Second Filial War | |
|---|---|
| ca. -10,300 | Emperor Endarrion VIII and Karphos il-Mastradare invade Silwaran land, sparking the Second Filial War. They lay seige to the city of man, Gileander, which falls swiftly. Endarrion puts its population to the sword, horrifying Silwaris and its allies. |
| Endarrion and Karphos split their army and each marches into Ildaer, burning the realm on the way to Silwaris. The Ashakré chief Tamarath confronts Endarrion at the Vale of Wonders and defeats him; his army flees back to Hubrion and she gives chase. She lays seige to the capital city and burns it down; Endarrion is among the many killed in the fires. Urged by her generals, Tamarath lays waste to the outlying cities of Hubrion and salts the earth in her wake. | |
| Kierna Haud's forces confront Karphos on the plains of Silwaris, where Karphos unleashes his dark arsenal of Bhodlem technology upon the city walls. His magics backfire and the whole of the plains is engulfed in a poisonous fire. Silwaris crumbles and the Soulsiphon breaches the sky, raining destruction upon the valley. Very few survive the initial conflagration and the Ela are almost entirely wiped out. | |
| ca. -10,300 — 10,200 | The Century of Storms: The Valley of Ildaer is a ruined heap, abandoned by all but a few. The Soulsiphon's energy transforms the world ecosystem—spawning catastrophic storms, oscillating the power of magic, altering the climate. The intensity of the storms diminish every year for nearly a hundred years, until their more severe aspects are limited to the Poison Vale. |
The Poison Vale Diaspora
| ca. -10,300 — 10,000 | The Ashakré and the Urzan trek south to Kel Urz.
The Uarthé survivors and the refugees of Hubrion, pursued by the Inyaré and Silwaré, flee westward but are deflected by the plainsmen of Taldor and so turn south to Fairwood. Foundation of the Vigilant Gathering. Sapience of Daemonus Progenitor The Elys split, with a smaller group founding Elistrond and the larger group sailing to the southernmost reaches of Bereth to found Elysia. The Uarthé and Hubrion are driven from Fairwood by their Inyaré and Silwaré pursuers and sail to Ulmeth, where they subjugate the indigenous population. The first recorded mention of the Poisoned People, who harass the merchants of Freyald. |
The Age of Conquest
Pela The Mighty
| ca. -5,510 | Pela of Cailinth launches a campaign of conquest from his stronghold at Mezirnon. Within ten years he conquers all the land east of the Kel Mholn. His invasion of the Mholnish kingdom is thwarted when those people call upon their Urzan cousins and their Asharké allies. |
| ca. -5,480 | Pela pushes westward, conquering every hold he reaches until he is stopped short on the Fairwood Isthmus by the Inyaré and Freyaldi chieftains at the Battle of Blue Marsh. |
| ca. -5,477 | Pela and his eldest son, Arios Half-Aeld, launch a two-pronged attack on the Isles of Risma. Pela crushes the navy of Greater Risma and Arios burns the port capital at Volknar; afterwards he sends his generals forth to conquer the surrounding islands. |
| ca. -5,471 | Pela invades the Luthan Hold and marches on the city-state of Quas, while Arios sails his fleet from Tandria to the Strait of Athme. Pela's campaign is stymied by the Hard Frost, a profoundly bitter winter that kills a quarter of his forces. Arios's navy is repulsed by the Luthani fleet during the Battle of Athme. Empress Xira of Quas decrees she will reward any Luthan—regardless of status—who kills Pela land, great wealth and a title. |
| ca. -5,470 | Pela's army, assailed on all sides by Luthan warlords, retreats south and his train is ambushed by outlaws seeking to gain Xira's reward. Pela, two of his sons and three of his officers are killed in a night skirmish at the mouth of the river Niv. Yesha, Pela's nephew, drives the outlaws off and leads the army further south to confront the Luthans at the Battle of Onari Wood, where Pela's army is decimated and Yesha killed. Fleetfoot Yuan, an exiled knight of Qas, delivers Pela's head to Empress Xira. |
| ca. -5,465 | Arios continues his father's campaign, sacking Athme and invading the mainland until he lays seige to Quas. The city falls a year later and Empress Xira swallows poison before Arios's forces can breach the imperial keep. |
The Sycamore Accord
4500 - 5000 (ante Silwaris)
A treaty is reached — called the Sycamore Accord — between a handful of warring nations (Malkost, Glen Delyn, Corsha, Kel-Thekel, Argonheim, and a collection of human nations which would later become Avandell) against the Nendazi. This alliance ushers in the Restitution.
Events of note:
- Nendazi threat begins
- Malkostians driven from their homeland, Argonheim established
- Fall of Elistrond
- in 4571 the Sycamore Accord was drafted, which Avandell measures as the starting point of its calendar
- migration of “lower” forms from the Poisoned Vale
- Argonheim’s colony on Bereth rebelled, established independence
- first thaumaturgical colleges were founded in Larkos, Belos and Talonshire
- formation of the Ivory Council in Larkos