The Great War Time Line (Basic Edition (WIP))

The Great War Year 1 - 300:The Time of Infinite Wars
The Darkest Days of Human History, a time of chaos and strife. The technology of the formerly Southern States was put to terrifying use. Nations were brought to ruin, built up, and then brought to ruin some more. It was with sickening regularity that an army would leave it's city state, and then come back after victoriously destroying it's neighbor to find another of their neighbors had burnt their homes to the foundations in their absence.

Such a cycled continued until their were many armies but too few to give proper commands. Thus it was that homeless, desperate, and well armed men did what their baser instincts would bide them do. Civilization, all of it north of the spine, commits self perpetuated suicide for 300 long years.

Chaos, tragedy, fire, death, so few proper records of this era survived, but even if they had the words written on them could only fall short of the terrible times they were written in.

The Great War Year 300 - 500:The New World, Born in Fire
In such time the first indications of today's political landscapes begin to take shape. The lines of the Principalities are drawn in a recognizable fashion, albeit with two less states. The Lands that would be Eadhaolin are ruled by the Horse Barons, a people unified only by a common culture, the fractures of war are most apparent upon their verdant plains.

No lasting peace has been established anywhere yet, save for Imperator, a land where a great King rose upon the backs of his expertly led army and united his people. It is said that if he had but the stomach for further warfare the whole of the known world might have bent knee to an Imperator flag.

In such times of cooling conflicts, and a return to traditionally organized warfare, a then fledgling and loosely organized association of mages looked upon what their kind had wrought, and laid the foundations of a world where it would never happen again.

The Great War Year 500 - 700:A Calm in the Storm
After 500 years of perpetual conflict the first tell tale signs of change begin to show. In this time the Union as it is known today is born, and all conflict between it's boarders ceases. Eadhaolin is also born in these years, the final stone of Krak de Monutem is set and the charter of Law and Rule is signed by the Horse Lords.

The Conclave continues it's nigh unstoppable rise to power in this time, rallying thousands of war weary mages and other such supporters, becoming a force the world can no longer deny...

And so, with all the necessary tools of peace in their hands, the first world wide cease fire is called into effect sense the beginning of the war, and a council of Kings is called to summit over a lasting peace conference at the newly risen home island of The Conclave.

The Great War Year 700 - End: The Invasion of Atimar
At the cusp of peace, and sick of bloodshed, a new player pulls up a chair to the table as a massed fleet of soldiers storms the norther beach of Eadhaolin, claiming it in the name of the Imperium of Atimar. Swiftly their armies advance inland, fresh, well trained, organized, and hungry for conquest, the Knight of Eadhaolin meet them in combat, again and again, but their numbers are depleted by war, and the Invaders are too many.

The Union is quick to denounce the attack, moblizing arms and soldiers to aid their neighbors, confident in the defence of their flanks, until a second Imperium army lands on the thought to be insurmountable cliffs defining their northwestern shore. Off balance, out numbered, and completely unprepared, the Unioners are driven back into their heartlands, hounded by the relentless marching feet of the Atimarian Legions. Tripohlia burns and bleeds at the Legion's hands, as Gondolia too fell under siege. If it fell virtually all of the mighty river Try would be open to the Atimarians advance, and virtually all of the civilized world would be under threat.

Truly if not for the desperate last minute actions of a few brave men, a relief force of Eadhaolinian riders, and the main Union army the course of history might have changed drastically.

As it were eventually the Legion's advance was overextended and checked, and after a long hard fought campaign it was driven from back to the sea.

From there an allied counter offensive chased hounded their steps back home, bringing the war too their doorsteps.

Under siege, now outnumbered, and with no options in the matter, the Sovereign Emperor of the Atimarian Imperium, ultimately agreed to the harsh terms of surrender demanded by the Allied Leaders.

So Ended the Great War, and thus man knew a new age of peace. Let us hope he remembers how to live as such...

Took some liberties with Crom's nations, I couldn't find the specifics for them, so I just made stuff up to essentially serve as a sort of place holder.

I'm more then happy to work with any suggestions or feed back offered as I essentially see this as a long overdue rough draft.

Let me know what you think.

Reserved(?)

Good job, MN. If there are any inconsistencies, we'll fix them later.

Alright, here's how this is going to work. Everyone who has lore, especially those that have nations, that is relevant during this time needs to post it. The post should include the lore, the relevant time slot, and then we'll work on getting it to fit in right and make necessary changes or add more details to the time-line.

I'll be posting up some general stuff about the Conclave, Sciras, Kailzimoth, and I'll take over Almeoth-Mardeo and Weisshaupt since it doesn't look like BI wants to come back. I'll probably also have to take Peril and the rest of Tuv's works as well. Crom's got Imperator, Eadhaolin, and the Orhal. Bronx has the Mearc. MN has the Union, Atimar, Dra'Ghul, and 'The South Lands', whatever that is.

That said, a basic version of the timeline should be kept like this, because it gives a really good look into general history and from a specific point of view (From the Southern States, particularly as opposed to Atimar). I'm thinking that we really shouldn't change how anything is until we're sure the events are major enough to mention. Maybe we'll edit the second or third reserved posts by MN for a literal timeline, rather than the general one shown.

Now then, for my input:

Conclave:
New World, Born in Fire
Several of the most powerful and resourceful mages of the day allied together under a common belief that magic should be controlled, although the concept wasn't very new. Most governments held very powerful grips on their magical forces. Many groups and institutions of magic held the same belief long before The Fall, though that sentiment disappeared for the most part afterward due to the need for base survival and the demands of war.

This alliance of mages quickly brought other like-minded groups together. Early on this alliance, then dubbed "The Pact", organized itself, pooled resources, conducted business, and built relationships wherever possible. They began reaching out to add more to their small numbers.

Initial resistance to the Pact was light; in areas where mages were relatively free from government and had congregated into "Guilds", guild members freely joined the Pact or conducted favorable business in the hopes that this fledgling organization could thrive and a central power of magic could be formed.

Some guilds believed that mages should be free, even from other mages. Indeed, there were several organizations that had profited from long years of war that towered over the Pact and held great deals of regional political sway. They actively undermined the Pact and made sure to spread propaganda to known guilds and governments in order to halt their progress.

More controlling governments or those who took such propaganda to heart sought to arrest or kill members of the Pact, stating that their actions were dangerous and in cases violated their sovereignty. The Pact usually simply avoided those areas and in return worked to undermine the business and relations of the hostile political groups.

In addition to the leaders of the Pact being some of the most powerful individuals at the time, they were also some of the most cunning. For magical artifacts and services, they would offer deals at great personal loss to the organization, draining their reserves. With their opponent's business undermined and unwilling to compete at such levels, they used agents they had secretly planted into unassociated guilds, guild leaders they had befriended, and other publicly unassociated organizations to strike business with their opponents. While they slowly drove the market and drained some of the more powerful organizations of their resources, they began to take less and less personal loss as the risk of competition decreased until they began to turn a profit.

They also began a wide campaign of displaying the skill of the leaders of the Pact. It was made known that they were a very powerful lot, and the Pact encouraged the thought that its members were a group of the elite. Children exposed to such thoughts dreamed to become members whether or not they were born with the Sense.

Tiered hierarchies of the Pact formed with the higher levels being invitation-only. A self-perpetuating system was formed that drew in young and old talent alike while ensuring members at every rank of the organization strove for excellence in the hope of furthering their status. The Pact's leaders began to be compared to royalty; for the vast majority of people, reaching a high-rank position of the Pact was the only feasible dream to obtaining the kind of power their governments enjoyed.

However, the Pact didn't have a very long or wide reach. It was very regional even though it had expanded greatly. This situation became problematic as its actions could no longer be concealed within any of the nations they operated in. Since their size and movements could no longer be ignored, the leaders of the Pact sought out a permanent base of operations, preferably on unclaimed land.

Several nations, disturbed at the amount and power of the Pact within their borders, feared that they threatened their rule; the Pact may wish to overthrow the government, or they may be bought out by an enemy to do so. Some took passive precautionary measures to check the growth of the Pact while others boldly arrested and exiled members. In extreme cases, Pact members were framed for grievous crimes or violence and killed. The Pact began to unravel as it fractured into small groups fighting for their lives or fleeing into hiding.

While this occurred, a couple of the leaders investigated a fisherman's tale of a mountain-island deep at sea. According to legend it was the remnant of one of the continent's largest peaks before the Fall. Just as the problems facing the Pact demanded that they invest their efforts in more fruitful searches, they found the mountain-island.

The Pact pulled all of its resources towards the coast, leaving only essential supplies and individuals inland. Elemental mages of great skill were sent to the mountain-island to shape the land. The tip of the mountain was carved off and used to create a plateau with sheer cliffs facing the sea. Areas were kept as-is to continue shipping supplies and people to the island. Day by day, the mountain-island became a home and fortress to the Pact. In light of their move to a central base of power, the prime leader amongst the Pact rechristened the organization and the island itself as "The Conclave".

Whew, that was a lot, and there's certainly more. Just had a creative burst, and one must harness them when able.

This is a fantastic idea MN. Its got my creation juices flowing to.

Now a few thoughts on the above posts.

MN

Could we refer to the "Union" not as the as the "Union" but instead as the "Sword States"? It fits them, sounds great, and is something you had indicated you were willing to do before. In addition, it would end future confusion with the Union of Solidarity when I finally get them up and running.

Chaos

Chaos the economic model the Conclave used to beat their competitors is essentially monopoly. It is a strong economic tactic employed by companies such as Microsoft and Wal-Mart. However, it requires a large amount of resources at ones disposal in order to implement. As such it might make more sense for that to take place in the Calm Before The Storm as opposed to when the Conclave originally built themselves up. Monopoly is a tactic employed by the strong to crush weaker competition that can't afford the sacrifices the bigger company can afford. So it would make more sense for them to use it as an established power instead of a growing one. Additionally I think we should make these more of a regional history as most of the nations today did not exist a thousand years ago. You can see an example of that idea in my history piece. Also could I have Peril as I really liked the idea for that and had some thoughts on them.

My Own Piece:

I've been toying with the idea that Imperator could be the descendant of an old empire. I was thinking about a great empire that could exist on another continent and be introduced at a future date (once the site is totally up and running with a huge following ect ect). The Empire withdrew from the continent as a result of the immense toll the constant warfare took . It's descendant (people who did not wish to leave the world they settled and probably had little connection to their homeland to begin with) would create Imperator.


Time of Infinite Wars:

A great race of people from across the ocean take leave of Ara'niel; abandoning the the self-destructing continent to its age of war. Those stubborn settlers who refuse to leave or merely get left behind united under the banner of a great lord said to have been raised by wolves. They begin to etch out a kingdom in the center-west region north of the Spine.

The New World Born in Fire

A new nation is formed. It's capital is a great fotress bastion born from the architectural knowledge of their learned descendants. Wide swathes of land soon come under the influence of the nations wolfshead banner. The kingdom begins to stretch wide, both east and west, as the industrious people make use of the technology and resources left behind centuries before. Many flock to the nation in search of safety and security. The nation does not expand indefinitely, perhaps retaining the lessons of their forefathers, and stops short of becoming the makings of a new empire. The nation contends with hostiles forces from the outside for many years but all remains calm within their own borders. The people rest easy behind the high walls of their cities and their seemingly advanced technologies.

This all changes with the coming of the Great Enemy from Over The Mountain. Hordes of war hungry mutant men from the south of the Spine spill over into the kingdom and consume all in their path. One, by one, the tall walls the people of the kingdom had depended on to protect them fell. Their cities begin to twinkle out like stars in the sky. Eventually even their bastion city and capital comes under siege. Uncountable numbers of mutant men are slain in the great conflict that ensued but eventually nearly all the city sat awash in flame. The great technology and architecture that defined the kingdom washed away with the fire. Eventually the mutant men are turned back from the capital and quickly return from whence they came below the Spine. Departing as quick as they came. Leaving the survivors the task of picking up the pieces and starting anew.

A Calm in the Storm

The people of that land recover slowly over the century. Eventually, they coalesce around the remains of the formerly great bastion. The nation of Imperator -or impervious- in the Old Tongue is formed. The names origin is unknown but its appropriateness is never questioned. Peace is returned to the land albeit uneasy and prone to short episodes of chaos. The technology and architecture of the lands forefathers is all but erased by the Great Enemy from Over The Mountain. Its people neither lament nor truly remember its passing. It was faith on such things that led to the great catastrophe of their age. It was with intention that Imperator bore little semblence to the larger kingdom its land once was apart of. A new ethic of self-depedence and indepedent accomplishment is born. The survivors of that land teach their children to respect and trust their brothers but to remain self-sufficient in all things. Distrust of foreigners becomes staple throughout the land. These hardworking and skilled people have no need of others. They quickly repair what can be salvaged though much is forced to be left in ruin.

The Invasion of Atimar

Over time Imperator rises to a position of strength in the land. It's productive people propelling it to a status of power afforded by few other kingdoms. It's manufactured wares were sold across the the lands and the kingdom mantained itself in high repair with pride. The nations army, while not the largest or most powerful, is noted for its ability to draft a great host of well trained irregulars from among the common people. What's more it was noted for being one of the only nations with the raw resources and industry available to arm those forces should the need arise. That fact was put to the test when the Imperium of Atimar -perhaps the last great testament to the world before The Great War- invaded the plains of Eadhalion. For many the war seemed another mans problem but a great debate soon took place in Imperators capital city of Imperia - the city where the mutant beasts were finally drive back. A few were concerned that an Atimar victory could lead to another Great Invasion of the land and bring destruction untold of for a centuries time. At first many were skeptical. But as the Imperium pushed deeper and deeper, and the cities of the Sword States began to burn, the number of concerned quickly grew in number. Finally the king made a decision. Should their be a war, better it be fought on the soil of their neighbors, as opposed to their own land he declared and war was announced. The conflict was long and many of Imperators people were killed. After many years of war with Atimar a peace accord was struck. The cost was great, the cost to other nations even greater, but as the Great War finally came to a close the kingdom of Imperator remained indepedent and its lands unscarred by war.

Crom, as a response to what you've said, I'd have to say that what the Conclave has now and has for quite a good while is a monopoly. What I described wasn't necessarily a monopoly. The Pact utilized a large network of diverse resources to economically and politically bleed their opponents while bleeding out themselves. Afterward, they successfully moved their opponents business into their own hands and funneled what they got into their resources, often reselling any magical resources they received. Thus they began to operate on less of a loss than their opponents and continually drove down the price their opponents were willing to deal business on, which mean driving down the price they got their resources for. They used this technique to try and weaken larger organizations that wanted them gone. It was very much a double-edged sword approach, which necessitated that they continually build themselves up while this happened. It didn't grant them huge success, they didn't topple over the larger organizations, they just bought themselves political power long enough to survive and get known.

The Pact didn't operate like a monopoly, it operated like a scheming middle-man. It wasn't until the Conclave was well established that they began pulling on what was left of their political power and began to truly display its potential in the period of A Calm in the Storm. If this still doesn't sound good, let me know so we can work something else out.

As for Peril, I had some ideas of my own, but feel free to take it up. We can collaborate at some point concerning them.

Great work on the lore you've put forward. The thing about the prominence of the wolf figure struck me because I actually had thoughts once about writing a beginner RP campaign that was titled "The Ebon Wolves", which referenced that wolves are very prominent in and around the Black Mountains. Did you write something before that mentioned it, or did we just have some unconscious creative agreement going on?

Also, I'd really love to see where Eadhaolin's borders are (Or even have a consistent spelling =P). I need to know so I can figure out where to put the things I've been thinking of.

Ok first off, Great Lore stuff Crom, can't wait to read more.

In response to your question, I'm open to the idea, though I think it's fairly clear in the above which Union I was referring to, I do like the nick name 'Sword States' but it seems more flavorful then practical. That said I will take into consideration other Unions in the future, and see to clarifying which one I'm referring to.

As for the specifics of my nations, I'll reserve the space here for the UPT post, I really need to get to sleep now, though I should get something up tomorrow.

Admin wrote:As for Peril, I had some ideas of my own, but feel free to take it up. We can collaborate at some point concerning them.

Sounds fantastic.

Admin wrote:Great work on the lore you've put forward. The thing about the prominence of the wolf figure struck me because I actually had thoughts once about writing a beginner RP campaign that was titled "The Ebon Wolves", which referenced that wolves are very prominent in and around the Black Mountains. Did you write something before that mentioned it, or did we just have some unconscious creative agreement going on?

I'm not sure but I definitely have thought about wolves being important in the Black Mountains before so kudo's to both of us regardless.

Admin wrote:Also, I'd really love to see where Eadhaolin's borders are (Or even have a consistent spelling =P). I need to know so I can figure out where to put the things I've been thinking of.

Here: https://rokk.rpg-board.net/t4p30-the-map-of-ara-niel

The Principalities of Tryvold

Time of Infinite Wars
There is a myth that was the Principalities, it tells us that there once was a Great King of a Great Land, Lord of the rivers Try, and vold, and all the land about them.

All in his land bent knee to the King, for he was a loved and respected Monarch. He had a loving, beautiful wife, who bore him 5 sons and heirs.

But then came the Fall, and the King fell with it, caught in a hunting trip a little too far north.

When chaos descended upon his lands, 5 not one leader emerged, each wit his supporters, and detractors, the five heirs and would-be, brothers arguing bitterly over their respective inheritance and the fate of their peoples.

Chaos was thus compounded by yet more chaos harsh words led to harsh responses, and civil war consumed the land, and marauders from outside ravaged the undefended boarders, and the lines drawn on the map were washed away in blood.

Disgusted with their kin, the brothers each walked a separate both away from each other, each seeking to lead whomever would listen to their own respective salvation.

Though to this day that merely remains an unprovable legend, though with a certain...measure of truth too it.

Where one ends and the other begins, we may never know...

The New World Born in Fire
Whatever the case of it's origins, for truly only The Way of the Blade survived the early days of the Great War, five powerful factions eventually emerged in the lands of Tryvold, Rothsguarg, Rushcilion, Kurgoria, Decatham, and Tripohlia.

Often and fiercely were wars waged between these five sovereign states, whose fondness for the Blade earned the moniker The Sword States.

In this period the lands of Donolith was born, when a cunning minor noblemen exploited a loophole in a recent treaty between Rothsguarg and Ruscilion to declare independence, claiming a large swath of land from both states, successfully playing the anger of both factions off against each other. History tells of this, but it is still many years before anyone cares to put the sovereign lands of Donolith on any map...

The first incursions from the waste begin, as blood drunk barbarians from that cursed land encroach on Decatham lands, raving about a prophecy foretelling the rise of their dark gods who slumber beneath the Eternal Lake. The Manage to Pillage their way to the step of the Darrow, before a combined army of Tripohlia, Kurgoria, and Decatham slaughtered their advance. The moment might have been more inspiring, if the Kurgorians didn't immediately turned their swords against their one time allies once the last wastelander had fallen. Invariably Decatham and Tripohlia carried the day, and a non aggression pact was signed between the two powers, who eventually collaborate to build the central keep of Derak`Den, a check and bastion against future warbands from the wastes.

A Calm in the Storm
Nigh 500 years sense the beginning of the endless cycle of war the lands have found themselves in, a bold and noble young Prince of Tripohlia calls a meeting of his 7 fellow Princes, of which Stralinoth is the newest.

On the Slopes of the Hollow Mountains he calls the meeting to order, aside from Royalty, only their squires and a few escorts can attest to the historic events that occurred there in.

Before his brothers, the young Prince Kain, professed a chance encounter with the High Father Thainious upon the banks of the Try river. He spoke of the words they shared their in, of how the King of Rivers grew wearied of his people spilling the blood of their brothers, of the future of a people so divided, of the future of a people perhaps united...and most ominously of a looming threat growing greater then ever before or sense in the Wastes.

As his impassioned drew to a close he called his fellow Princes to sign a ledger penned with Thainious' ideals in mind.

Many scoffed at the notion, especially Tripohlia's elevated status detailed in the ledger. Decatham was one who did not, Stralinoth too saw the merit of it.

Kurgoria nearly spit upon it in disgust, while the other three in opposition made to leave before Kain called them to a halt by baring his blade.

Kerak, the All Blade, lost physical reflection of Kain, whom the Prince took his name after, was held aloft in his hand as he issued a challenge to his detractors and supporters alike. All would come against him, and if any of the seven should land a killing stroke, all that was Kain's, would be theirs', if he won clear however, they would sign his ledger...

None could resist such a temptation, especially not when the words were bound by the purity of the dueling ring which no one could deny.

And so they fell upon him, 7 master swordsmen, who were in turn beaten by Kain with relentless and perfect precision, until only he, and the Prince of Kurgoria were standing.

He spoke again at that, with words so famous they bare mentioning here.

"The High Lord told me you would bend knee last, and he offered me this promise to pass along to you, "You will submit to the Unity and love I offer you Princeling, or by the Blade the rivers shall turn against you, the veins of my mountains shall run dry were ever your picks fall, your blades shall shatter in combat, your hammers shall break upon their anvils, and all your people shall know that they are my children no longer..."

The then Prince of Kurgoria, a pious Noble man, felt an unmistakable shudder in him as Kain recited the words of a God with all the weight and significance of a God himself, and before he properly knew what he was doing he found himself on one knee before Kain.

Thus the Union was born, and a year later it would be tested, as the Prophecies of Thainious provided true, and a legion of Wastelanders spilled out from their twisted lands, over running the River Wardens, and besieging the people at Dunoth.

United together for the first time on the field, the armies of Kurgoria Tripohlia, Decatham, the token archers Donolith could field, and a few remnants of the River Wardens made their stand atop the then three layered walls of The Den.

Of the three walls, two were overrun completely before the battle was done, what the enemy lacked in organization and proper equipment it more then made up for in sheer weight of numbers, fanatical devotion, and more then their fair share of mana sensitives...

It was as the final layer of walls were penetrated that Kain met the Warlord of the Horde, a warrior of massive size, easily 8 feet tall, with a great chest plate that held a great and ominously hellish glowing grapefruit sized jewel embedded in the center of it.

The battle nearly drew to a stop then and their as the titanic forces of walking gods fell upon each other.

Eventually Kain's blade won the day though, clashing against Jewel of his foe's chest plate, the resulting explosion of power knocking him off his feet, permanently singeing a black sunrise across the once pure blade of Kerak, and killing the Warlord were he stood.

Almost immediately his army fell apart at that, whatever organization they had disappearing as they forgot their faith and their courage taking to flight before the renewed and relentless slaughter of the Tryvoldian blades.

A combined fleet of relieved Ruschilions and Rothsguarg would harrying the retreating wastelanders all along the river's edge. Despite the insistence of the High Prince, the maddeningly glowing Orb of the Warlord would never be found.

An Army of Stralinothians would show up at The Den the morning after the battle. They would complained bitterly about all the excitement happening so far from home.

The Invasion of Atimar
Three generations would pass, and the world would stand at the cusp of peace before a forgotten people from across the New Sea, would land upon the shores of Eadhaolin, proclaiming a manifest destiny. Coming in undeniable numbers, with magics great and terrible, they would relentlessly and meticulously advance inland the Knights of Eadhaolin only able to slow them down as they progress unabated up to the banks of the Vast and might Try River.

Mobilizing to aid their neighbor against a common threat, the armies of the Union would spill onto the plains of Eadhaolin for the first time as friends instead of foes, using their mastery of the water ways to out positions and check the greater advances of the massive Atimarian armies.

It was then that the Atimarians opened up a new front in the war, tragically upon Tryvoldian soil, outflanking the Kurgorian armies that had previously bottle necked their former attempts into Union lands. Retreating and sounding the alarm, the Kurgorians eventually had no choice but to abandon their capitol, retreating south via the Try river, to hold up in Gondolia alongside the Stralinoths.

Dividing their forces an eighth of the Atimarians crossed the eternal lake, putting Tripohlia to the sword as the rest marched south to crush the last viable military force in the Union and outflank the main allied front in Eadhaolin, as well as capture the majority of the Try River, an undeniable asset to the future of their campaign.

Even as this was going on a combined fleet of Rothsguarg and Rushcilion danced desperately about the larger Atimarian fleet, preventing them from opening up yet another front barely by the skin of their teeth.

At this point the only hope left for the Union lay in the defenders of Gondolia, and the main Union army, complimented by a token force of Eadhaolin Knights, pulled from the Eadhaolin front thanks to relief forces from Imperator.

Climatically the battle for Gondolia began, in many ways a battle to decide the future, and Climatically it ended, the Princes of Kurgoria and Stralinoth fighting side by side as opposed to against each other for the first time in history leading heroically from the front in the thickest of the fighting.

And then the Prince of Stralinoth fell, smote by a bolt of arcane lightening bast upon him by the Exalted Magi of the Imperium. In the midst of battle the Prince of Kurgoria took up his fallen brother in arms sword, rallying them men and pushing them into a battle frenzy, even as the relief forces broke shore on the Western Bank, outflanking the Atimarian army, which for the first time in the war, found itself outnumbered.

A retreat was called, a celebration was sounded even as the desperate High Prince called the main army on too relieve his home. Upon the streets of Gondolia a great red stone commemorates the place Kurogia and Stralinoth shed blood together for the first time, the exact furthest distance inland the Atimarians ever made it.

Epic sir.

Okay so there has been talk as of late that the time line in it's current form will not suffice due to difference of opinion in regards to the fact that the current nations have been around too long.

Which is fine, though I think that might be due to clarification errors on my part, and the liberties I took with Eadhaolin that I would be more then happy to see Crom alter or change however he liked.

In regards to the UPT the initial legend of it's origins I established was mostly, if not entirely, merely an interesting myth that occurred to me as I dealt with starting the task of starting the Union's timeline off. Honestly I figured it was in fact, just a myth, and the real origins was just similar to the standard Great War early chaos.

I'm unhappy with what I've written for the Conclave, so I'll be re-writing it (though I'll keep some information/concepts similar).

I'm also beginning to really lean towards magiphobia being extremely prevalent immediately following the Fall. Mages become more and more prosecuted, in instances where the technology of the south survived, the survivors of the Fall likely destroy it out of fear. Powerful enough mages, especially in the now Wastes (with MN's approval), separate themselves from society and form groups to defend themselves from a deeply distrusting and paranoid populace. Magic's place devolves strongly back towards the older days where most of the mages were perceived as "evil". This was strongest in the Wastes, which helped to destroy the land until all of the geopolitical structure broke down as well.

General Timeline

The Time of Might

A time of technological mastery and omnipotent sorcery. Man travels across the Realms of Kar’kaish through all manner of means and connects themselves across the world via the land, sea, air and magic. Humanity languishes in grand metropolises that scattered the globe and maintain relations with all manner of fantastical creatures and beings. Humanity ascendant is poised to become one with the gods and already men begin to plot as to how they might join their creators amongst the stars.

The Fall

The continent of Avalanor –the greatest and most developed of the realms- suffers a great catastrophe. Titanic waves, the size and girth of mountains, rise up and crash over the continent. Countless lives and endless millennia of toil are washed from the annals of history. The tremendous aftershocks of the sinking continent wrack the Realms of Kar’Kaish rending the very world apart. In shock humanity attempts to find recourse but is instead pitted against yet another calamity of nearly equal proportion. A ceaseless plague that sweeps the land killing all in its path.

The Time of War: Age of Terror 01-350

The plague burrows into the continent of Aran’niel, resurrecting its victims as flesh eating monstrosities, and nations begin banding together to halt the plague. The coalition suffers internally and soon infighting and bickering divide the broken world even more. Total war consumes the land as all do what they can to survive the seemingly unstoppable hordes of undead.

The Time of War: Age of Strife 350-800

The terrible disease of the past age ceases its heartless slaughter of man and the undead are at long last pushed back to the most isolated parts of the world. Men begin to move toward rebuilding what was lost. Notable areas of civilization emerge and forgotten people from across the ocean return to the continent. Some begin to talk of a great age of reconstruction. But liberal ideals of camaraderie and progress, relics of an age long past, are incapable of taking root in this bitter world. Self-interest grabs the hearts of men. Strife consumes the land as the surviving powers of the last centuries become inevitably pitted against one another. Mankind engages in a catastrophe of their own creation.

The Great War: Age of Night 800-1000

Humanity is broken and exhausted. Civilization has become all but extinct. Wild beasts, demons, wicked mages, fell creatures, bandits, warlords, and the wilderness rule the continent. Humanity, with nowhere to go but up, begins to reform itself at last. Various kingdoms begin to establish a sense of stability in the world and organizations committed to order begin to rise in power. Conflict becomes common and brutal but without the scale or energy of centuries past. A final battle is fought between the young nations of the new world order and the last great vanguard from ages past. Set before an uncertain future people remind themselves of the old adage that it is always darkest before the dawn.

The Time of Dawn: Age of Twilight 01-??

While I like the concept of a more world-wide relationship with what happens, completely changing the Fall is a bit much. This history might work a lot better if it was the time-line of another continent entirely, like the 'plague' brought about by Noman reaches the other continents.

As for incorporating it into Ara'niel, I like the ideas that you present but it's a bit of a drastic change from what we've all thought of so far.

Can you remind me of the details of the current canon fall?

MN wrote a piece about it. Noman was a prodigee, a buried Death God kept fucking with him, got him to find a scythe that twisted life into the undead, went crazy, started turning a craptop of people, starting wreaking havoc, some gods got together and were like 'this is not kewl, we're the gods of the people, we need to do something' so they got a ton of people to sacrifice themselves to build up enough power for a mage to confront Noman and kaboom half the continent.

Well we can incorporate that into the above timeline. I wrote in generalities for just that purpose. Huge kabloom caused massive disaster that sunk half the continent. Undead go batshit crazy without Noman to direct them and humanity fights them off for a few centuries before they die out. Seems to make sense to me.

The method is different. The kaboom kills off the undead, it doesn't start them rising up. Your timeline doesn't deal with the issue of the shit-ton of displaced people (though that can easily be edited in). I feel as though instead of the idea of taking what we have and editing it into your timeline, we should rather take what you wrote and edit it into MN's timeline. Do away with some of the histories, bring some new ones in, etc. Your timeline has a nice ring of "Oh shit, fuck fuck FUCK SHIT FUCK DAMNIT FUCK SHIT AAAAHHHHH" to it, which isn't as prevalent as I'd like in MN's timeline. There's also much less permanence as to the nations and societies that are around. What I don't like is how drastically different it is. I'll mull over it some, see what I like and don't like specifically and then post about it to get everyone's thoughts on the matter.

I'm a little miffed that we're considering retconning so much history after all the work we put into it ,and the sleepless caffeine fueled nights I crammed most of those posts out now being forever wasted as time I could have spent sleeping but didn't...

Not to mention the fact that pretty much everything I've been working on would now need SERIOUS reevaluation seeing as they had all been built with the previous canon in mind.

Final judgement is withheld until Chaos gives his final say, but as of right now I don't like it.

I don't plan on retconning your whole big Tilbury piece. We've already talked about having some issues that things you're written about the general timeline don't really add up with how the world is supposed to be. Crom's timeline works pretty well with this, and so does yours, though yours breaks down once we get more specific (like certain countries remaining since the end of the Fall to the present day, which is supposed to be extremely hard and shouldn't be focused only on the Wastes and the east).

It's not a matter of saying "Your work is completely disregarded now." It's more of a "Hey, this has some elements that work better than these. How about we try and figure out a happy medium here?"

Even if we go through a complete rewrite, like the magic system (which was more like a first real version), then we'd still have the main stuff: The Fall of Tilbury, the Invasion of Atimar, Founding of the Conclave, stuff like that. Crom has edited some of the things in his timeline it seems, so all these events jive really well together. We just need to figure out what works best with what we want to happen, which has always been "Shit hit the fan" which devolved into worse shit hitting whatever efficiency of fan that amplifies the notion of the scenario being worse.

Additionally the wording is general. We tend to try and write from a neutral historical perspective and it's more fun if the historians of the realm had no real idea as to what happened. Then you can have different theories and idealogies such as fanatics who think the Fall was caused by the Gods damning us for our arrogance, or pious fellows who believe the plague was sent to purge us from our sinful use of magic, or mages who think it was caused by reckless use of magic, or citizens who feel advanced technology was to blame. As for the plague coming beforehand that is a serious issue worth discussing. From how I had imagined the Time of Might I thought it made more sense for the plague to come in the backdrop of some terrible disaster and a shell shocked people. Thoughts?

It's also worth remembering MN that the real benefit from the forums is our ability to piggyback on our ideas. You'll notice Chaos and I weren't writing a timeline until you hopped on it and organized it the way you did. Nothing you do is wasted.

Crom, for the historians part, yeah, that's very true. However, it's our job to figure out and pin down exactly what DID happen. Then we can go about and decide what people think happened. It's one of the problems I have with your Mortii post, in that you don't define anything, you just have an account of it. Everyone else can have an account of it, but as the designers, we need to know what's going on explicitly.

The big issue of before versus after for the 'plague' (not really sure it was a plague, just Noman going scythe crazy, but if the power of the scythe was more of a plague, so be it) is that the Fall only happened because of it. If there was no Noman making tons of undead, the continent wouldn't have kaboomed.

It is canon that some of the undead survived the kaboom, though their presence is towards the Dra'Ghul Archipelago. It wouldn't be retconning much to say that they also survive everywhere else, there's just no presence of them in the south (north of the Spine) because they were eradicated.

Indeed. But I've mostly been writing this with the non-designers (players) in mind. Plus its useful to keep things vague because then it's easier to retcon when necessary and build mystique in the audience. But in striking that balance with the vaguer timeline presented how about this for an idea.

Noman was on Avalanor which was some Atlantis-esque continent. Everything MN wrote as canon goes down there. That is the disaster that causes The Fall and the shattering of the world. Tilbury is one the land masses half-sunk in the aftershocks of the cataclysm (causing the massive refugee crisis). The scythe is shattered releasing a deadly plague of death energy that then snakes its way into the various landmasses across the world causing the Age of Terror and the start of the Great War.

At that point we have a canon established as GM/designers. We have a vague timeline that suggests a lot but gives lot of flexibility for us. We have a timeline with a global perspective. We have a timeline that is neutral and really says jackshit so players and organizations can do what they want with it. We have something that relays the fuuccck, shit, damnnit, fuck fuck, oh christ, fuck, jesus, damnit, shit, fuck feel we wanted for the timeline and solve the issue of nations existing for a long time that shouldn't in the other timeline.

Hmmm....

Pluses: New continent, which is pretty cool. The destruction of something that should otherwise be indestructible, which gives flavor to just how powerful the kaboom was. Originality in that where this happened did not happen where we are focusing; all too often the fantasy cataclysms happen right damn where everyone else already is.

Negatives: Retconning the location of the kaboom (can be a plus but is bad for a few reasons), the nature of the undead rising, removing what reasons there are for there to be people living in certain areas (The plague would have gotten them, there can be no survivors!).

It also sounds like you're moving the location of Tilbury. Tilbury was part of the area of Ara'niel that sunk. The map of the continent did not always look like that, after all.

Admin wrote:
Negatives: Retconning the location of the kaboom (can be a plus but is bad for a few reasons), the nature of the undead rising, removing what reasons there are for there to be people living in certain areas (The plague would have gotten them, there can be no survivors!).

It also sounds like you're moving the location of Tilbury. Tilbury was part of the area of Ara'niel that sunk. The map of the continent did not always look like that, after all.

On the issue of the undead rising I don't think we really retcon anything so much as add to the story. Let's imagine everything MN wrote as canon happening but simply relocate the event to Avalanor and change the name of some of the nations that fought. Noman and Gerald have their Battle of the Gods and the ensuing battle destroys the continent. Massive fissures and tidal waves result from the aftershock shattering many other landmasses in the Realms of Kar'Kaish. The scythe is obliterated and the resulting dark energies create splinter plagues of undeath that evolve and operate independently of Noman. This complete The Fall.

At that point we jump to the 'realm' of Ara'niel where the sinking of Tilbury precipitates a massive refugee crisis toward the mainland and allows the plague take hold. This starts the Age of Terror.