History: Difference between revisions
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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'''. | 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=== | ===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=== | ===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=== | ===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|Lost Lands archipelago]], and separating three major continents from each other. | |||
===Age of Divergence=== | ===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 [[Empire of Lagash|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. <!-- The dragons remaining in the Lost Lands evolve into the chromatic dragons, who remain in the Lost Lands, fighting among themselves, and with the wild dinosaurs of the region. --> | |||
<!-- * c. 450 BP:''' The orcs, descendants of a race of people from Lagash, travel across the broken Lost Lands and ultimately settle in Narbonne. --> | <!-- * c. 450 BP:''' The orcs, descendants of a race of people from Lagash, travel across the broken Lost Lands and ultimately settle in Narbonne. --> | ||
* '''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. 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. 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. | ||
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* '''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. 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. 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 | * '''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. | * '''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. | * '''862 PR:''' The Markov family rises to power in [[Charnheim]], making local humans the labor class, and the source of their vast mining wealth. |