Post by HDM Legacy on Jun 2, 2016 15:20:11 GMT
BD mean Before Darkening.
AD means After Darkening.
333 BD: The Miranian Empire is founded, a Republic uniting the the majority of the mortal peoples of Aipana under one flag. Only Morcavia, Scythia, Orm Aethel, the Gray Hills, and Sarmatia retain independence.
321 BD: Explorers from Aipana discover the southern continent of Aegia. Trade relations are soon established between the powers on the northern continent and the southern.
175 BD: The Aegian people, the southern continent's desert dwelling human population, are enriched by their trade with the Miranians. They develop a thriving Kingdom for themselves along the banks of the river Ineph, building their capital, Ro-Ateph, at it's mouth. They put aside their spirit worship, and begin worshiping the Miranian gods, under different names.
163 BD: The Ushadi War. The savage Lizardfolk of the Yechana Jungles first encounter the expanding Aegian Kingdom, and react violently. War breaks out. The Aegian army, composed mostly of chariots, is ill suited to guerilla warfare in the jungle, and is badly defeated. The Ushadi pursue the matter no further, and stay in their jungles. Racial hatred and fear develops in Aegia towards the Ushadi.
146 BD: The Aegians begin raiding Ushadi villages for slaves, using them as free labor to create great cities and tombs for the kings. Many Ushadi begin immigrating across the sea to Sarmatia in order to escape.
131 BD: Religious and cultural differences regarding the nature of Kuari, whom they both worship, develop between the sophisticated Sarmatians and savage Ushadi people. This sparks a civil war. The war ends in Sarmatian victory, with the Ushadi relegated to the fetid northern swamps, and the Sarmatians retaining control of their warm southern cities. The Ushadi thrive well in the primal atmosphere. Prejudice continues to simmer between the two races.
0 AD Winter: Athair's firstborn son rebels against his father, and is given the name Moloch. His power is so great the god Pyrhas grows afraid and betrays the other gods, including his wife Kuari. The ashes of Kuari's priesthood and lay folk blacken the Sarmatian Sea as Pyrhas' followers ambush them during the Festival of Fountains, burning them alive. Kuari, a gentle goddess of healing and mercy, is transformed by grief and rage from the aspect of a delicate water spirit into a fierce and warlike beast of the deep. Many priests of Tuor, God of the Earth are also slain, and the Temples of the Brothers are taken over by Pyrhas' Priests.
Other religions manage to prevent the slaughter of their faithful on the same scale that the Amazons suffered, though there are still casualties. Worship of Pyrhas is outlawed everywhere except Scythia, where he becomes revered among the goblinkind and maintains the respect of the cruel Fire Giants.
0 AD Spring: Civil war erupts once again in Sarmatia, with the female worshippers of Kuari, now called Amazons, and their one-time enemies, the feral marsh dwelling Ushadi uniting against the Church of Eternal Flame. The Amazons and Ushadi are victorious, and the followers of Pyrhas are driven to the shadows.
The betrayal of Pyrhas and his all male priesthood against the all female priestesses of Kuari causes a societal shift in Sarmatia, which becomes matriarchal. Men are viewed as naturally untrustworthy, deceitful, reckless, needlessly violent, and selfish. While not believed to be inherently evil, they are believed to be more vulnerable to it's corruptions, and thus unworthy of power.
Men are relegated to lives as concubines, lovers, cooks, secretaries, tailors, nurses, caretakers, and home makers while the women of Sarmatia become the monarchs, generals, administrators, spiritual leaders, and warriors.
1 AD Summer: The red dragon Anxalamaz and his spawn, corrupted by Moloch, attack the Province of Bergen. The Miranian Legions slay most of his myriad spawn at the First Battle of Andwil, but are themselves decimated by the ancient wyrm, whose fell flames are too great for them. Anxalamaz is ironically slain by a single bolt fired from the crossbow of Willam Aldrecht, a young Berg militiaman. The wyrm falls into the lake of Elsehn outside Andwil, and Willam becomes a folk hero. He is granted a title of nobility and governorship of Bergen by the Miranian Empire.
The Beast Folk of Morcavia and Orm Aethel fall victim to Moloch's corrupting influence as well. Towns and villages across the two kingdoms report frequent attacks by maddened lycanthropes. The Lodges of Luasa dispatch a number of Sacred Huntresses to hunt down and either heal or give peace to the maddened creatures.
The farmlands of Westvale, breadbasket of Aipana, are taken by a blighting rot. Famine grips the continent, as even the Church of Eduna struggles to heal the damage done to the land by the supernatural crop disease. The Elves of Orm Aethel send the Circle of Twelve, their wisest druids, to Westvale. The land is healed, and druidism, once the sole domain of elves, becomes popular among the free folk.
1 AD: Fall: Seismic disturbances and maddening, otherworldly sounds herald Moloch's arrival as the Cult of Sublime Horrors summons Moloch into the material plain under Andwil, Bergen. The continent-spanning earthquakes also damage the underground dwarven city of Dahg Khurod.
The city is nearly destroyed, but the gods of light appear to aid the mortal armies fighting the Destroyer in the Second Battle of Andwil. Even together, Moloch is nearly too much for them. Ara, the Champion, manages to strike Moloch a terrible blow, but is sorely wounded in doing so. Luasa, Eduna, and Krol are magically banished to their spiritual realms by his power. Mortal warriors die by the thousands. Before Moloch can strike the killing blow on Ara, Solon, God of the Firmament, sacrifices his corporeal form in a terrific explosion that kills Moloch's body, banishing his spirit back whence it came.
2 AD: The Kingdom of Morcavia sends aid to Andwil, aiding the Miranian Empire in it's reconstruction. Cathedrals to Solon and Ara are built at the site of the Dark God's defeat.
13 AD: The Church of Solon forms the Knights Hospitaler, an order of traveling Templar officially dedicated to escorting the faithful on pilgrimages to the site of Solon's sacrifice, in honor of his valor. Unofficially the Knights Hospitaler serve as the Church's executioners, tirelessly hunting down creatures of darkness where-ever they lurk.
25 AD: The City of Arten is co-founded by Morcavia, The Miranian Empire, Gray Hills, the Federation of Sarmatian City States, and Orm Aethel on a small peninsula jutting out from Bergen, near the border with Morcavia. The city begins as an allied fortress and staging point against future invasions by the Dark God. In time in becomes a neutral ground for trading and diplomacy. Culture and art flourish as Arten becomes a mixing pot of different civilizations.
Aipana knows a long period of peace and co-operation.
337-501 AD: The Aegian Kingdom spreads, and becomes an Empire. It spreads across the eponymous southern continent of Aipana, conquering it's neighbors; mostly tribal barbarians and desert nomads, in a series of bloody wars. They complete the enslavement of the remaining Ushadi, destroying their jungle cities and earning them the hatred of their kin in Sarmatia.
511 AD: Aegia begins competing with the Miranian Empire in the global food market, initiating a price war. In a bid to maintain their market dominance, the Imperial Senate strikes a deal with the Halflings of Westvale Province, granting them independence in exchange for cheaper purchases of their grain.
533-540 AD: First Scythian War. The goblin folk and fire giants of Scythia invade Sarmatia, ostensibly after being paid off by the Aegians. The fight is a stalemate until the elves of Orm Aethel invade Scythia from the east, forcing the invaders home to defend their home turf. The elves swiftly withdraw to Orm Athel before they are engaged, and the Scythians give up.
545 AD: Slaves captured during the First Scythian war are systematically bred and sold as stock in the Miranian Empire. The Miranian Slaver's Guild is born. Wealth increases, and the ruling class becomes lazier and more hedonistic.
572 AD: Emperor Gaius Faxus dies of consumption at the height of a wine and drug induced orgy, and without an heir, gripping the Empire in scandal. Ties with the decidedly conservative Province of Bergen are strained, and the Province begins to peacefully sue for reforms. General Felix Equitius, an officer with a distinguished military lineage, is chosen as the new Emperor.
589 AD: Populist Senator Erik Friedli of Bergen is assassinated on the eve of a vote on his slavery reform bill. The Miranian Slaver's Guild is blamed, and anti slavery riots erupt in Bergen.
600 AD: Due to irreparable cultural differences, the Province of Bergen rebels against the Miranian Empire. A brief but bloody war expels Republic officials and military from the mountain kingdom, and the Bergs declare independence while abolishing slavery in their land in the process.
608 AD: Antonio Velasco, Lord Governer of Andilla, attempts to invade Bergen on the Empire's behalf, and his army is routed at the Battle of the Bloody Peaks. He dies, crushed by his own horse.
615 AD: The nation of Scythia attempts a naval invasion of Bergen at it's only seaside city, Dernen. They are caught unawares by the Sarmatian Navy, and soundly trounced by the combined forces of both countries in the Battle of the Weeping Waves.
622 AD: The legendary High Elven island city of Caer Mirael implodes in the Gloomfrost Sea north of Morcavia. There are no survivors. High Elves across Aipana vanish into their secluded, secret cities.
623 AD: Sailors and fishermen report the appearance of strange whirlpools in the sea, and gaping pits along the northern coast of Aipana. The stories are dismissed as superstition and old Wive's Tales.
645 AD: It is a bad year for sailing. Numerous fishing trawlers and merchant vessels disappear off northern Morcavia. Queen Ekaterina Viselan, Second Sword of Ara, organizes a co-operative naval expedition with Sarmatia's legendary Admiral Aella Zabat to investigate. The fleet suffers heavy losses during a battle with nightmarish creatures bearing the Sign of Moloch. It ends in a draw. Morcavia begins a draft.
646 AD: The Miranian Empire's economic conflict with the Aegian Empire escalates into a full blown war. Bergen remains neutral. The Sarmatians don't officially declare war, and simply allow their privateers to ravage Aegian shipping. The Scythians align themselves with Aegia.
651 AD: Emperor Cato Equitius is slain by the Aegians and Scythians at the battle of the River Ineph. Most of his army, conscripts from Isenfiodr, are killed during the rout. When news of the many deaths reaches Isenfiodr, the Clansmen rise up. Led by the Volsung Clan, the barbarians rebel against the Miranian Empire, claiming unwillingness to bleed their sons and daughters in a war of greed halfway across the world for people they do not know.
654 AD: Unable to fight a war on two fronts, the Miranian Empire signs a truce with the Aegian Empire, and attempts to re-conquer Isenfiodr. Emperor Marcus Equitius, Cato's Son, leads the war.
Winter 658 AD: The city of St. Aleksander is attacked by the Destroyer's armies, and wiped from the map overnight. Ekaterina mobilizes Morcavia's Grand Army, which marches to the northern highlands. Construction of the Norgarde Line, a heavily fortified system of trenches, fences, towers, siege engines, and bunkers stretching across the entire northern province, begins. Ekaterina calls for aid from Bergen, Etrusca, Orm Aethel, Gray Hills, Sarmatia, and Andilla. Only Bergen and Sarmatia muster their troops, but inclement weather stalls their march to the Line. Marcus Equitius defies the Senate and allies his Legion with erstwhile foe Chief Thjolstoff Volsung, marching with him to Morcavia's aid.
Spring 659 AD: The incomplete Norgarde Line suffers a night attack from the Destroyer's minions. The center breaks, and an army of horrific creatures move on the nearby city of Sterianu. Queen Ekateria, General Marcus, and Chieftain Thjolstoff , supervising the construction of an adjacent section of the Line, march their combined armies nonstop for three days to overtake the Destroyer's minions. They catch them as they take the city. Ekaterina's lover, Lord Consort Sergei Akromov, and son, Pavel Viselan, are found dead in the Temple of Ara. Ekaterina vanishes. With their beloved queen and commander missing and her family dead, the armies of Morcavia begin to rout, but are rallied by Thjolstoff and Marcus. They manage to retake the city, and prepare for a protracted siege within it's walls. They leave the XIII Legion in charge of the line.
Summer 659 AD: The allied armies of Sarmatia and Bergen arrive outside Sterianu, led by High Matriarch Atalante Kolyos and King Gerhardt Aldrecht. They find the enemy defeated, the line finished, and the churches of Solon, Ara, and Sepran burning across the land. The XIII Legion has vanished without a trace. Storms spread across the sky, and the Blood Goddess Achlys manifests on the mortal plain for the first time over endless fields of Moloch's dead. She declares victory. The Veil, a supernatural wall of fog, immediately appears around Morcavia. The allied armies retreat from the area, and Morcavia becomes a hermit kingdom. The Churches of Solon and Ara designate Achlys a Dark Power, and the hardline Andillan branch outlaws her worship in their province. Her worship also becomes illegal in Bergen.
Lord Caspar Balemyre, head of a cadet branch of his family, and Mayor of the Morcavian District of Zalau in Arten, vanishes into his country estate and is seldom seen after this. His son Iban takes over the family's affairs in the city, and re-affirms their support for the Church of Ara.
660 AD: Their hand forced by Marcus Equitius' popularity, the Republic Senate moves to normalize relations with Bergen. The two countries build embassies in each others' capitals, and strike trade agreements. Isenfiodr is also allowed their independence, though they refuse an embassy.
701 AD: Scandal erupts in Bergen as Prince Frederick Aldrecht finds his betrothed, Beatrice, abed with an Amazon High Priestess. He slays both of them in a fit of jealousy and rage. Bergen's alliance with Sarmatia disintegrates overnight. Realizing his evil, the Prince immediately forswears his title and birthright, going into exile as a hermit.
His younger brother Prince Josef marries Lady Helena Balemyre, grandaughter of Lord Caspar Balemyre of Zalau, instead. Bergen begins shipping heavy siege engines and ammunition to Morcavia through Arten, to fortify the Norgarde Line. The worship of Achlys becomes legal in Bergen, though remains unpopular. House Balemyre begins builds the Temple of the Fang and Sword in Zalau, and abandons their faith in Ara.
Alternative lifestyles become increasingly unpopular in Bergen as a result,and are synonymous with disgrace and dishonor;disruptive of the natural order, and societal norms. Neither the Crown or Church of Ara take sides, but noble and commoner alike become more hostile. Populations of expatriate Bergs grow markedly.
707 AD: Second Scythian War. The nation of Scythia allies with Morcavia. The Church of Solon immediately declares a Crusade against the Scythians, and allies with Sarmatia, dispatching their Knights Hospitaler and Brotherhood of the Cleansing Rain to destroy the goblins and their allies.
723 AD: The Battle of Blackforge. The Armies of Scythia, Morcavia, and Aegia engage the allied forces of Sarmatia, The Miranian Empire, and the Church of Solon in a titanic battle outside the Scythian capital. The Crusade seems lost, until the Elves of Orm Aethel arrived unexpectedly, and flank the Morcavian and Scythian archers. The Hobgoblins and their allies are broken, and sue for peace. The Church agrees to permit the Scythians an alliance with the Kingdom of Blood, and the Scythians agree to break off their alliance with Aegia. Aegia agrees to trade concessions favoring the Miranians, and the Morcavians agree to stop fortifying their border with Orm Aethel.
898 AD: Second Aegian War. After decades of bleeding the Aegian Empire's economy dry with their trade policies, the Miranian Empire declares another war. After a short and violent naval conflict unofficially aided by the Sarmatian Navy, the Blood Eagle and Dragon Turtle Legions, led by Emperor Julian Equitius, sack the chief port and capital City of Ro-Ateph, burning the entirety of Aegia's merchant and remaining naval fleet.
The fields are sewn with salt, the treasuries looted, and the entire population enslaved. The Pharoah and his family flee, but are cornered in the Tomblands, where they call upon their ancestors for aid. The dead rise, and the Emperor and his troops only escape due to the heroic sacrifice of Lord Governer Alejandro Velasco of Andilla.
Despite the heroic nature of the gambit, the loss of their beloved leader embitters the Andillan people against the Empire. They rebel, and the Senate, noting a populace tired of war, decides not to refuse them their independence.
899: The Miranian Empire collapses, and is rechartered under the guidance of Emperor Julian Equitius as the Etruscan Republic, for the largest ethnic demographic inhabiting the remaining land. The noble caste, including the Emperor, is stripped of power. Several reforms are enacted under his guidance, including free education, medical care, and the easing of economic sanctions on the ruined Aegian Empire. After the horrors he has seen in the war, Julian becomes an advocate of reason , peace, and common sense in the Senate, and often criticizes his senatorial peers for their lack of interest in the common man.
903 AD Summer: The City of Arten looks forward to a bountiful harvest. . .
AD means After Darkening.
333 BD: The Miranian Empire is founded, a Republic uniting the the majority of the mortal peoples of Aipana under one flag. Only Morcavia, Scythia, Orm Aethel, the Gray Hills, and Sarmatia retain independence.
321 BD: Explorers from Aipana discover the southern continent of Aegia. Trade relations are soon established between the powers on the northern continent and the southern.
175 BD: The Aegian people, the southern continent's desert dwelling human population, are enriched by their trade with the Miranians. They develop a thriving Kingdom for themselves along the banks of the river Ineph, building their capital, Ro-Ateph, at it's mouth. They put aside their spirit worship, and begin worshiping the Miranian gods, under different names.
163 BD: The Ushadi War. The savage Lizardfolk of the Yechana Jungles first encounter the expanding Aegian Kingdom, and react violently. War breaks out. The Aegian army, composed mostly of chariots, is ill suited to guerilla warfare in the jungle, and is badly defeated. The Ushadi pursue the matter no further, and stay in their jungles. Racial hatred and fear develops in Aegia towards the Ushadi.
146 BD: The Aegians begin raiding Ushadi villages for slaves, using them as free labor to create great cities and tombs for the kings. Many Ushadi begin immigrating across the sea to Sarmatia in order to escape.
131 BD: Religious and cultural differences regarding the nature of Kuari, whom they both worship, develop between the sophisticated Sarmatians and savage Ushadi people. This sparks a civil war. The war ends in Sarmatian victory, with the Ushadi relegated to the fetid northern swamps, and the Sarmatians retaining control of their warm southern cities. The Ushadi thrive well in the primal atmosphere. Prejudice continues to simmer between the two races.
0 AD Winter: Athair's firstborn son rebels against his father, and is given the name Moloch. His power is so great the god Pyrhas grows afraid and betrays the other gods, including his wife Kuari. The ashes of Kuari's priesthood and lay folk blacken the Sarmatian Sea as Pyrhas' followers ambush them during the Festival of Fountains, burning them alive. Kuari, a gentle goddess of healing and mercy, is transformed by grief and rage from the aspect of a delicate water spirit into a fierce and warlike beast of the deep. Many priests of Tuor, God of the Earth are also slain, and the Temples of the Brothers are taken over by Pyrhas' Priests.
Other religions manage to prevent the slaughter of their faithful on the same scale that the Amazons suffered, though there are still casualties. Worship of Pyrhas is outlawed everywhere except Scythia, where he becomes revered among the goblinkind and maintains the respect of the cruel Fire Giants.
0 AD Spring: Civil war erupts once again in Sarmatia, with the female worshippers of Kuari, now called Amazons, and their one-time enemies, the feral marsh dwelling Ushadi uniting against the Church of Eternal Flame. The Amazons and Ushadi are victorious, and the followers of Pyrhas are driven to the shadows.
The betrayal of Pyrhas and his all male priesthood against the all female priestesses of Kuari causes a societal shift in Sarmatia, which becomes matriarchal. Men are viewed as naturally untrustworthy, deceitful, reckless, needlessly violent, and selfish. While not believed to be inherently evil, they are believed to be more vulnerable to it's corruptions, and thus unworthy of power.
Men are relegated to lives as concubines, lovers, cooks, secretaries, tailors, nurses, caretakers, and home makers while the women of Sarmatia become the monarchs, generals, administrators, spiritual leaders, and warriors.
1 AD Summer: The red dragon Anxalamaz and his spawn, corrupted by Moloch, attack the Province of Bergen. The Miranian Legions slay most of his myriad spawn at the First Battle of Andwil, but are themselves decimated by the ancient wyrm, whose fell flames are too great for them. Anxalamaz is ironically slain by a single bolt fired from the crossbow of Willam Aldrecht, a young Berg militiaman. The wyrm falls into the lake of Elsehn outside Andwil, and Willam becomes a folk hero. He is granted a title of nobility and governorship of Bergen by the Miranian Empire.
The Beast Folk of Morcavia and Orm Aethel fall victim to Moloch's corrupting influence as well. Towns and villages across the two kingdoms report frequent attacks by maddened lycanthropes. The Lodges of Luasa dispatch a number of Sacred Huntresses to hunt down and either heal or give peace to the maddened creatures.
The farmlands of Westvale, breadbasket of Aipana, are taken by a blighting rot. Famine grips the continent, as even the Church of Eduna struggles to heal the damage done to the land by the supernatural crop disease. The Elves of Orm Aethel send the Circle of Twelve, their wisest druids, to Westvale. The land is healed, and druidism, once the sole domain of elves, becomes popular among the free folk.
1 AD: Fall: Seismic disturbances and maddening, otherworldly sounds herald Moloch's arrival as the Cult of Sublime Horrors summons Moloch into the material plain under Andwil, Bergen. The continent-spanning earthquakes also damage the underground dwarven city of Dahg Khurod.
The city is nearly destroyed, but the gods of light appear to aid the mortal armies fighting the Destroyer in the Second Battle of Andwil. Even together, Moloch is nearly too much for them. Ara, the Champion, manages to strike Moloch a terrible blow, but is sorely wounded in doing so. Luasa, Eduna, and Krol are magically banished to their spiritual realms by his power. Mortal warriors die by the thousands. Before Moloch can strike the killing blow on Ara, Solon, God of the Firmament, sacrifices his corporeal form in a terrific explosion that kills Moloch's body, banishing his spirit back whence it came.
2 AD: The Kingdom of Morcavia sends aid to Andwil, aiding the Miranian Empire in it's reconstruction. Cathedrals to Solon and Ara are built at the site of the Dark God's defeat.
13 AD: The Church of Solon forms the Knights Hospitaler, an order of traveling Templar officially dedicated to escorting the faithful on pilgrimages to the site of Solon's sacrifice, in honor of his valor. Unofficially the Knights Hospitaler serve as the Church's executioners, tirelessly hunting down creatures of darkness where-ever they lurk.
25 AD: The City of Arten is co-founded by Morcavia, The Miranian Empire, Gray Hills, the Federation of Sarmatian City States, and Orm Aethel on a small peninsula jutting out from Bergen, near the border with Morcavia. The city begins as an allied fortress and staging point against future invasions by the Dark God. In time in becomes a neutral ground for trading and diplomacy. Culture and art flourish as Arten becomes a mixing pot of different civilizations.
Aipana knows a long period of peace and co-operation.
337-501 AD: The Aegian Kingdom spreads, and becomes an Empire. It spreads across the eponymous southern continent of Aipana, conquering it's neighbors; mostly tribal barbarians and desert nomads, in a series of bloody wars. They complete the enslavement of the remaining Ushadi, destroying their jungle cities and earning them the hatred of their kin in Sarmatia.
511 AD: Aegia begins competing with the Miranian Empire in the global food market, initiating a price war. In a bid to maintain their market dominance, the Imperial Senate strikes a deal with the Halflings of Westvale Province, granting them independence in exchange for cheaper purchases of their grain.
533-540 AD: First Scythian War. The goblin folk and fire giants of Scythia invade Sarmatia, ostensibly after being paid off by the Aegians. The fight is a stalemate until the elves of Orm Aethel invade Scythia from the east, forcing the invaders home to defend their home turf. The elves swiftly withdraw to Orm Athel before they are engaged, and the Scythians give up.
545 AD: Slaves captured during the First Scythian war are systematically bred and sold as stock in the Miranian Empire. The Miranian Slaver's Guild is born. Wealth increases, and the ruling class becomes lazier and more hedonistic.
572 AD: Emperor Gaius Faxus dies of consumption at the height of a wine and drug induced orgy, and without an heir, gripping the Empire in scandal. Ties with the decidedly conservative Province of Bergen are strained, and the Province begins to peacefully sue for reforms. General Felix Equitius, an officer with a distinguished military lineage, is chosen as the new Emperor.
589 AD: Populist Senator Erik Friedli of Bergen is assassinated on the eve of a vote on his slavery reform bill. The Miranian Slaver's Guild is blamed, and anti slavery riots erupt in Bergen.
600 AD: Due to irreparable cultural differences, the Province of Bergen rebels against the Miranian Empire. A brief but bloody war expels Republic officials and military from the mountain kingdom, and the Bergs declare independence while abolishing slavery in their land in the process.
608 AD: Antonio Velasco, Lord Governer of Andilla, attempts to invade Bergen on the Empire's behalf, and his army is routed at the Battle of the Bloody Peaks. He dies, crushed by his own horse.
615 AD: The nation of Scythia attempts a naval invasion of Bergen at it's only seaside city, Dernen. They are caught unawares by the Sarmatian Navy, and soundly trounced by the combined forces of both countries in the Battle of the Weeping Waves.
622 AD: The legendary High Elven island city of Caer Mirael implodes in the Gloomfrost Sea north of Morcavia. There are no survivors. High Elves across Aipana vanish into their secluded, secret cities.
623 AD: Sailors and fishermen report the appearance of strange whirlpools in the sea, and gaping pits along the northern coast of Aipana. The stories are dismissed as superstition and old Wive's Tales.
645 AD: It is a bad year for sailing. Numerous fishing trawlers and merchant vessels disappear off northern Morcavia. Queen Ekaterina Viselan, Second Sword of Ara, organizes a co-operative naval expedition with Sarmatia's legendary Admiral Aella Zabat to investigate. The fleet suffers heavy losses during a battle with nightmarish creatures bearing the Sign of Moloch. It ends in a draw. Morcavia begins a draft.
646 AD: The Miranian Empire's economic conflict with the Aegian Empire escalates into a full blown war. Bergen remains neutral. The Sarmatians don't officially declare war, and simply allow their privateers to ravage Aegian shipping. The Scythians align themselves with Aegia.
651 AD: Emperor Cato Equitius is slain by the Aegians and Scythians at the battle of the River Ineph. Most of his army, conscripts from Isenfiodr, are killed during the rout. When news of the many deaths reaches Isenfiodr, the Clansmen rise up. Led by the Volsung Clan, the barbarians rebel against the Miranian Empire, claiming unwillingness to bleed their sons and daughters in a war of greed halfway across the world for people they do not know.
654 AD: Unable to fight a war on two fronts, the Miranian Empire signs a truce with the Aegian Empire, and attempts to re-conquer Isenfiodr. Emperor Marcus Equitius, Cato's Son, leads the war.
Winter 658 AD: The city of St. Aleksander is attacked by the Destroyer's armies, and wiped from the map overnight. Ekaterina mobilizes Morcavia's Grand Army, which marches to the northern highlands. Construction of the Norgarde Line, a heavily fortified system of trenches, fences, towers, siege engines, and bunkers stretching across the entire northern province, begins. Ekaterina calls for aid from Bergen, Etrusca, Orm Aethel, Gray Hills, Sarmatia, and Andilla. Only Bergen and Sarmatia muster their troops, but inclement weather stalls their march to the Line. Marcus Equitius defies the Senate and allies his Legion with erstwhile foe Chief Thjolstoff Volsung, marching with him to Morcavia's aid.
Spring 659 AD: The incomplete Norgarde Line suffers a night attack from the Destroyer's minions. The center breaks, and an army of horrific creatures move on the nearby city of Sterianu. Queen Ekateria, General Marcus, and Chieftain Thjolstoff , supervising the construction of an adjacent section of the Line, march their combined armies nonstop for three days to overtake the Destroyer's minions. They catch them as they take the city. Ekaterina's lover, Lord Consort Sergei Akromov, and son, Pavel Viselan, are found dead in the Temple of Ara. Ekaterina vanishes. With their beloved queen and commander missing and her family dead, the armies of Morcavia begin to rout, but are rallied by Thjolstoff and Marcus. They manage to retake the city, and prepare for a protracted siege within it's walls. They leave the XIII Legion in charge of the line.
Summer 659 AD: The allied armies of Sarmatia and Bergen arrive outside Sterianu, led by High Matriarch Atalante Kolyos and King Gerhardt Aldrecht. They find the enemy defeated, the line finished, and the churches of Solon, Ara, and Sepran burning across the land. The XIII Legion has vanished without a trace. Storms spread across the sky, and the Blood Goddess Achlys manifests on the mortal plain for the first time over endless fields of Moloch's dead. She declares victory. The Veil, a supernatural wall of fog, immediately appears around Morcavia. The allied armies retreat from the area, and Morcavia becomes a hermit kingdom. The Churches of Solon and Ara designate Achlys a Dark Power, and the hardline Andillan branch outlaws her worship in their province. Her worship also becomes illegal in Bergen.
Lord Caspar Balemyre, head of a cadet branch of his family, and Mayor of the Morcavian District of Zalau in Arten, vanishes into his country estate and is seldom seen after this. His son Iban takes over the family's affairs in the city, and re-affirms their support for the Church of Ara.
660 AD: Their hand forced by Marcus Equitius' popularity, the Republic Senate moves to normalize relations with Bergen. The two countries build embassies in each others' capitals, and strike trade agreements. Isenfiodr is also allowed their independence, though they refuse an embassy.
701 AD: Scandal erupts in Bergen as Prince Frederick Aldrecht finds his betrothed, Beatrice, abed with an Amazon High Priestess. He slays both of them in a fit of jealousy and rage. Bergen's alliance with Sarmatia disintegrates overnight. Realizing his evil, the Prince immediately forswears his title and birthright, going into exile as a hermit.
His younger brother Prince Josef marries Lady Helena Balemyre, grandaughter of Lord Caspar Balemyre of Zalau, instead. Bergen begins shipping heavy siege engines and ammunition to Morcavia through Arten, to fortify the Norgarde Line. The worship of Achlys becomes legal in Bergen, though remains unpopular. House Balemyre begins builds the Temple of the Fang and Sword in Zalau, and abandons their faith in Ara.
Alternative lifestyles become increasingly unpopular in Bergen as a result,and are synonymous with disgrace and dishonor;disruptive of the natural order, and societal norms. Neither the Crown or Church of Ara take sides, but noble and commoner alike become more hostile. Populations of expatriate Bergs grow markedly.
707 AD: Second Scythian War. The nation of Scythia allies with Morcavia. The Church of Solon immediately declares a Crusade against the Scythians, and allies with Sarmatia, dispatching their Knights Hospitaler and Brotherhood of the Cleansing Rain to destroy the goblins and their allies.
723 AD: The Battle of Blackforge. The Armies of Scythia, Morcavia, and Aegia engage the allied forces of Sarmatia, The Miranian Empire, and the Church of Solon in a titanic battle outside the Scythian capital. The Crusade seems lost, until the Elves of Orm Aethel arrived unexpectedly, and flank the Morcavian and Scythian archers. The Hobgoblins and their allies are broken, and sue for peace. The Church agrees to permit the Scythians an alliance with the Kingdom of Blood, and the Scythians agree to break off their alliance with Aegia. Aegia agrees to trade concessions favoring the Miranians, and the Morcavians agree to stop fortifying their border with Orm Aethel.
898 AD: Second Aegian War. After decades of bleeding the Aegian Empire's economy dry with their trade policies, the Miranian Empire declares another war. After a short and violent naval conflict unofficially aided by the Sarmatian Navy, the Blood Eagle and Dragon Turtle Legions, led by Emperor Julian Equitius, sack the chief port and capital City of Ro-Ateph, burning the entirety of Aegia's merchant and remaining naval fleet.
The fields are sewn with salt, the treasuries looted, and the entire population enslaved. The Pharoah and his family flee, but are cornered in the Tomblands, where they call upon their ancestors for aid. The dead rise, and the Emperor and his troops only escape due to the heroic sacrifice of Lord Governer Alejandro Velasco of Andilla.
Despite the heroic nature of the gambit, the loss of their beloved leader embitters the Andillan people against the Empire. They rebel, and the Senate, noting a populace tired of war, decides not to refuse them their independence.
899: The Miranian Empire collapses, and is rechartered under the guidance of Emperor Julian Equitius as the Etruscan Republic, for the largest ethnic demographic inhabiting the remaining land. The noble caste, including the Emperor, is stripped of power. Several reforms are enacted under his guidance, including free education, medical care, and the easing of economic sanctions on the ruined Aegian Empire. After the horrors he has seen in the war, Julian becomes an advocate of reason , peace, and common sense in the Senate, and often criticizes his senatorial peers for their lack of interest in the common man.
903 AD Summer: The City of Arten looks forward to a bountiful harvest. . .