History

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Recorded history in the world of Izaria stretches back to the Sundering of Lagash, with a few fragmented records reaching before that, as well as myths and folk tales that sketch the earliest history of the plane. Many of these stories are held, with slight variations, by multiple cultures in Izaria, allowing scholars to reconstruct a timeline of the history of Izaria.

Timeline

History in Izaria is almost inevitably divided into five "ages", an extension of the three-age system created by the pre-Sundering poet Askra of Kish extended to encompass the years following the Sundering of Lagash and the emergence of the Helsingfyrd Pact, Republic of Carcola, and the Azure Empire in its wake.

Modern history is measured using the Pact Reckoning system, which marks the number of years since the foundation of the Helsingfyrd Pact, the oldest nation to persist into the modern era. Years marked using this system are noted with the abbreviation PR. Years before the foundation of the Helsingfyrd Pact are marked with the abbreviation BP for "Before Pact".

For events that cannot be accurately dated to a specific year, approximate dates are given using the abbreviation "c." for "circa". The current canonical year for the setting is 1287 PR.

Little is known about the first three ages of Izaria, besides a few scattered ancient fragments from the poets of Kish, especially Askra of Kish, who is quoted below, as even date estimates are inaccurate so far back.

Age of Gold

First of all the Maker, face lost to time, who made the perfect disc of Izaria as his home, watched as a race of mortals arose in the East and wandered throughout the world. And they lived like later gods, free from the sorrows of the heart and fear of death, for they were like children, attended to by their Faceless Maker, who lived with them in the grass and under the sky. Naked and dumb they were, and when they died, it was as though they were overcome with sleep, and had all good things; for the fruitful earth unforced bare them goods abundantly and without stint. They dwelt in ease and peace upon their lands with many bounties, in gratitude for the Maker, who looked out for them, and of two kinds they were: human and dragonkin, yet none was yet distrustful of the other. It is said that some echoes of this era still ring in the forgotten lands of the East. This was the Age of Gold, whose joy will never be recaptured.

Age of Silver

But after the mortals spread throughout the world, their creator, Christopher Bale, grew proud and resented the Maker's hold over his creations. He fought the Faceless Maker and drove him from existence and stablished dominion over mortals. Then Bale, lord of Time and Space, broke the flat plain of the Maker, and Winter first bit the fields, and summer burned the hills, and the mountains rose like teeth from the land. The world began to cleave and separate into different lands, and the beings of the plane began to cleave and separate into different kinds. These new mortals were spiteful, and could not keep from quarrelling with one another, nor would they revere Bale as they revered the one who came before him. In sadness, Bale separated himself from the mortal plane and ruled henceforth through his archons Tamanno, Burdash, and Talapas, never to return himself. This was the Age of Silver, where sorrow was introduced to the world.

Age of Bronze

Other gods followed the lead of Bale, and turned towards high and remote places, leaving the lowlands for the gods who did not retreat, and their mortal followers. Such began the nations of Kish, Lagash, and Erytha, which quarrel to this day. This time is terrible and strong, and the nations love the works of war and practice magic on themselves to grow their strength. The dead refuse to die, and machines walk. Few have time for art or philosophy, save for the furtherance of their god's glory. This is the Age of Bronze, and we hope for a better world to come.

  • 660 BP: The Sundering of Lagash. The Empire of Lagash collapses in a mysterious event, and the world undergoes a geologic catastrophe. Waters flood the central continent, forming what would later become the Lost Lands archipelago, and separating three major continents from each other.

Age of Divergence

  • c. 650 BP: The world is ruined, full of surviving tribes and half-fallen empires led by mad mages and demigod viceroys now separated from their divine patrons.
  • c. 600 BP: The proto-Ochre Flame religion emerges among surviving humans that live around the volcanoes of the Carcolan continent, which is far more volcanic and hellish than it will later be. Due to the harsh conditions they live in, they view themselves as already living in hell, and that their living conditions are a form of divine punishment for the hubris of Lagash. However, they try to prolong their lives as long as possible, because they believe that death inevitably draws one into a "lower" or more fearsome hell, with the volcanoes as paths between the hells. This harsh religion gives the tribesmen the strength to survive in such a marginal climate.
  • c. 550 BP: Affected by the magical residue now (and especially the Lost Lands), some survivors of the Empire of Lagash see their children become elves, who are more magically attuned.
  • c. 500 BP: Metallic dragons cross over from the shattered Lost Lands to the Azurean continent, led by the mythical Kukulshen, Azure Navigator. Many of them are worshiped as living gods by dragonkin, who forget many of the predecessor gods.
  • c. 350 BP: The agricultural vampires, descendants of the Cult of Ekekkia, and the lycanthropes, descendants of the followers of Ulfgar, fight in the proto-Helskari continent, with surviving humans caught in the middle. Some vampires adopt the lycanthrope lifestyle, and vice versa as cultural cross-pollination occurs during the wars. Multiple undead empires and vampire dynasties arise, to eventually collapse under the weight of lycanthropic invaders. One such dynasty is centered on Riksmal, fallen due to unchecked vampiric reproduction.
  • c. 300 BP: Humans, the dominant race throughout most of the world, begin to slowly decline in population as their competitor species are more adapted to a world of magic. This process continues to this day.
  • c. 200 BP: The first undead start to decay into specters, as they lose the ability to form new memories and their bodies decay. Some undead seek to prolong their youth eternally, through various means.
  • c. 100 BP: The first tieflings emerge throughout the world, in an unknown process, possibly linked to infernal pacts, portals, or Weave corruption.
  • 1 BP: The Helsingfyrd Pact is formed in the city of Helsingfyrd between the vampire-led Kingdom of Orenaf and lycanthropic Ulthic tribes, ending generations of warfare between lycanthropes and vampires, uniting them under a common state.

Age of Echoes

  • c. 50 PR: The elven migration from the Helskari continent begins, with many departing the Pact for the Carcolan continent or the Lost Lands, as elves are often targeted by vampires as prey. Some vampires follow along, including an offshoot of the Helskari de Spruys family known as the Spruce family, which settles near the future site of Westport.
  • c. 150 PR: Gnomes emerge from elves who have settled in the Lost Lands due to increased exposure to magical Weave energy. Some return to the continents of their ancestors' origin.
  • c. 500 PR: Halflings evolve from isolated human populations via island dwarfism in the Lost Lands.
  • c. 600 PR: As vampires decay into spirits, vast plains in the Helsingfyrd Pact become choked with these undead spirits. Many vampires go to desperate measures to prolong their senility, and some discover bleedstone/spellstone, a magic-infused mineral that seems to alleviate symptoms of senility.
  • 728 PR: The Azure Empire is founded by Primeros, a golden dragon who unites many dragonkin city-states under his rule in the southern continent.
  • 862 PR: The Markov family rises to power in Charnheim, making local humans the labor class, and the source of their vast mining wealth.
  • 987 PR: The Republic of Carcola is formed. Led by Isaiah Bliss, the elven colonies successfully revolt from the Helsingfyrd Pact, forming a prosperous and cosmopolitan republic based around agriculture and magical research.
  • 995 PR: Now at its height, the Republic of Carcola annexes the Moragan Islands as a strategic sea outpost against the Helsingfyrd Empire.
  • 997 PR: The Practicants of Undead Physick are formed as an international guild of mortals specializing in the enhancement of undead lucidity. They are mostly located in the Helsingfyrd Pact and recruited by the Helskari undead elite as medical professionals.
  • c. 1000 PR: Edwin Spruce, a vampiric inventor of elven origin, emerges in the Free City of Westport .
  • c. 1050 PR: In Charnheim, House Williams is established as human enforcers under House Markov, providing a corrupt intermediary class, getting humans to accept vampiric rule and blood tithing.
  • c. 1150 PR: The Helsingfyrd Pact's navy declines in Ostholt and relocates to the ancient, abandoned city of Riksmal, now controlled by mortal necromancers.
  • 1199 PR: The Crisis of Vellingham takes place, and causes desertification, ecological collapse, and political instability in Carcola as magical anomalies begin to multiply in the area around Vellingham, and the winds grow unstable.
  • c. 1200 PR: Thri-kreen begin to emerge in the growing deserts of Carcola, leading to conflict with the locals, and a rise in Carcolan migration towards the coast.
  • c. 1205 PR: Due to the turmoil and internal migration caused by the Crisis, the Ochre Flame becomes an evangelical religion. The Ochre Flame consolidates religious and political control in Carcola, banning the practice of magic and other religions.
  • c. 1210 PR: Due to the banning of the practice of most magic in Carcola, many mages migrate towards the Azure Empire under Primeros, who welcomes them as sources of innovation that could strengthen his state.
  • 1213 PR: Edwin Spruce eliminates all rival vampire families and becomes Lord Protector, head of state of the Free City of Westport.
  • c. 1215 PR: Driven by Carcolan magical refugees and funding from the Azurean state, Omphalos rises as the cultural and magical heart of the Azure Empire, leading agricultural, magical, and canal innovations.
  • c. 1220 PR: The Azad-Kish, a decentralized group of anti-Ochre Flame resistance fighters emerge in Carcola, often fighting amongst themselves as often as they fight the Ochre Flame. The Ochre Flame uses their presence as an excuse to increase control over Carcolan society.
  • c. 1225 PR: In Carcola, Lake Ransom near Carcamesh begins drying up, revealing ruins and attracting thri-kreen swarms.
  • 1229 PR: Lex Dorian becomes First Apostle of the Ochre Flame and unofficial architect of Carcolan state ideology.
  • c. 1230 PR: The Seraphai emerge as a paramilitary inquisitorial magical order in Carcola, distinct from clerics of the Ochre Flame, seeking to enforce religious conformity on the Republic of Carcola. They are the only group licensed to practice magic in Carcola, using it to undermine other magic-users.
  • 1243 PR:
    • In Carcola, the Dorian Reforms begin, guided by High Apostle of the Ochre Flame, Lex Dorian. This formalizes the growing power of the Ochre Flame religious movement, and legitimizes the Seraphai, a paramilitary inquisition group who serve as legal enforcers of the Ochre Flame's will.
    • The Transfer begins: a mass population transfer effort by the Carcolan state to the tropical islands to its southeast to relocate refugees from the drying inland regions of Carcola to more fertile regions. This sparks conflict with locals of these islands, who form the League of Vana in resistance.
  • c. 1250 PR: His rule secure, Edwin Spruce isolates himself from Westport politics, and begins experimenting with spellstone automation and undead machinery.
  • 1251 PR: Safeharbor becomes the most populous city in Carcola, usurping Vellingham's spot, due Velligham's desertification-induced population decline, and Safeharbor's strategic location on the coast and ocean-influenced climate causing it to be a hub for inland refugees, traders, and the growing Carcolan Navy.
  • 1254 PR: Welf Rock, an island off the Carcolan coast, is militarized and transformed into Fort Welf, a hub for population relocation in The Transfer and military control.
  • 1259 PR: In the Azure Empire, Proximus succeeds Primeros and shifts imperial focus from rulership to arena combat, gaining the love of the masses but not the elite.
  • 1264 PR: The Azure Empire conquers the Principality of Narbonne, subjugating orcs and tieflings from this region under Azurean rule.
  • 1266 PR: The Kaab Syndicate is founded by Malleus Kaab, a dragonborn in the Azure Empire who has made his fortune publishing newspapers, a new technology.
  • c. 1275 PR: Edwin Spruce becomes increasingly paranoid and reclusive, obsessed with mental decay and control over mortality.
  • 1287 PR:
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