Post by Valen Storyteller on Feb 24, 2016 20:17:54 GMT
Very few know Eos' history further than a couple of centuries back. To the minds of most common folk, the Samaran Empire ruled from the start of the world until just recently, and now a new age is beginning. Those very studied or very long-lived have a clearer picture of the past, and may know some of the facts in this timeline.
Elder Age (-40,000 ->-15,000)
A time mysterious even for the elves and other long-lived folk. It is known that elves, as well as most other races of the world, arrived somewhere within this time, and that they were not the first inhabitants of the world.
While specific dates cannot be set, some ancient artefacts remain from this age, preserved by ancient magic or other powers. From what little can be known, it seems to have been a dangerous and unstable time, with planar intrusions, enormous wars and rampant psionics.
Ancient Age (-15,000->-7,000)
In the mind of most scholars, the Ancient Age is seen simply as the time of elven rule, stretching from the birth of their kingdoms all the way to their final downfall. The majority of these kingdoms were built in Eryx and Faytan, as well as several important Sea Elven kingdoms in the modern-day Sea of Turmoil and Bay of Valen. Elsewhere in the world, other ancient races and nations rose and fell, most of them completely unknown to the people of Valenpoint today.
In the Underdark, this age sees the great expanse of dwarven kingdoms, most of them in underground Eryx, and the first wars between these and the newly-descended drow.
An ancient war marks the end of this age, having brought about the destruction of the majority of the elven realms. As part of this war, Elves trained several tribes and fledgling nations of humans in the use of magic, and as the elves retreated, these magic-wielding humans began to forge their first empires.
Classical Age (-7,000 -> -2,500)
With the rise of the first human nations whose records still survive, the Classical Age is often seen as the start of written history, by the sages knowledgeable enough to have read these ancient documents. Of course, many elves know of history stretching millennia further into the past, but this knowledge is shrouded in secrecy, and kept even from many of the fair folk.
Throughout this period, human nations are founded and grow all through Eos. During much of this time, however, these nations are forced to submit to larger, older non-human empires.
-5,730: The Chitin Empire arrives, an empire of salamander-men brought to the region on flying ships. Their rulership is light and gentle at first, only setting up embassies and making ocasional demands from the polities who intentionally align with them. Trade is brisk, and opportunities abound for the nations who accede to the Chitin Empire.
-5,400: Worship of Aoskar rises. With Chitin dominance of wildspace, travel by Aoskar’s portals becomes the only alternative. Some nations become vast and powerful, turning into reasonable local opposition to the far-flung empire.
-5,119: Aoskar suddenly dies, destroying the human civilisation that had been built around his worship. The Chitin Empire are now absolute rulers of the Sphere, with no opposition in sight. Their rule becomes much harsher and more terrible, demanding thousands of captives to be delivered every month, and waging savage war against any who resist. Very few nations on Eos’ surface go through this period unscathed.
-4,130: The Thri-Kreen, the most significant client-species of the Chitin Empire, break away from their rulers and begin a series of wars, eventually wresting their freedom from a retreating Chitin Empire.
-3,930: Elves earn several big victories against the still-weakened Thri-Kreen, earning Eos its nominal freedom. They remain in the Thri Kreen Empire’s sphere of influence, and the peace between Elves and Thri-Kreen is best defined as a long-lasting state of cold war.
-3,500: An undead invasion boils forth, simultaneously attacking many places throughout Eos. It takes a union of Thri-Kreen, human, elf and dwarf to defeat them. The Dwarven Kingdoms are the worst-hit by the war, as the undead seem to use the Underdark to get around, putting them in direct conflict.
-3,280: The Thri-Kreen Empire retreats from the sphere entirely, having fallen under assault by Mind Flayers and unwilling to continue to assist in the war with the undead which now already lasts centuries. A few smaller nations of Thri-Kreen stay behind, the largest of which eventually forms the Kingdom of the Celestial Mantis.
-3,000: The Final battles of the war with the undead. Safeguards, relics and orders are founded in order to ensure this never happens again. By the current date, most of these are largely forgotten.
-2,600: A plane-walking nation of migrants arrives and sets up a first enclave at the northern endcap of the Valenpoint peninsula. In time they spread and weave powerful magic to alter the climate and terrain of the entire peninsula, perfecting it for settlement. Entire mountains are moved, and some cities are built upon flying islands held aloft by magic.
Middle Age (-2,500 -> 0)
The middle age was a turbulent time, as humanity began to wrest its place in the spotlight. It is marked by wars with goblin-kind and orc-kind, as well as the rise and fall of the Samaran Empire.
-2,050: The people who will become the founders of the Samaran Empire arrive from another world. At the start, they are a single city-state of about 12,000.
-1,400: The religion that will become the Samaran Pantheon begins to stabilise into its current form. Though at first worshipped only in a single city-state of out-worlders, the faith quickly spreads over much of Faytan.
-1,230: The Years of Blight begin with numerous humanoid (orcoid and goblinoid) raids throughout the sphere. It lasts for centuries and brings many of Eos’ nations to its knees.
-1,120: Baklunish immigrants, from the world of Oerth, arrive fleeing the destruction of their homeland. They soon settle on the landbridge between Eryx and Faytan, founding the city that will become Myrrean.
-1,050: A flotilla of elves finds the sphere while fleeing from an orc fleet. They report its existence back to the Imperial Elven Navy, and the sphere is soon visited by an entire elven fleet which stamps out local humanoids over a few decades.
-1,002: The end of the First Inhuman War sees the elves become the dominant power in wildspace, though few of their nations on Eos still remain.
-900: To the astonishment of many, a small city-state conquers the great city of Sammarach and founds the Samaran Empire, which soon begins to spread throughout Faytan.
-700: The Samaran Empire expands into Valenpoint, Eryx and wildspace, where they become the greatest contenders with the Imperial Elven Navy for control.
-150: Waves of plane-walking and spelljamming migrants begin to arrive from distant Abeir-Toril, as their world is wracked by a long series of catastrophes which, by all reports, continue to this day.
-120: A Planar Rift is opened and Demons invade the Samaran Empire’s heartland. The Empire’s capital is soon sacked, and the Empire’s long contraction begins, starting with Celaria’s declaration of independence.
-115: Celaria’s war of independence from the Samaran Empire is won.
-60: The Empire has little control over much of Valenpoint. From this point onwards, their legions and sky-fleets are rarely seen in the region.
-30: The last Imperial Governor of Valenpoint dies of natural causes. No replacement is sent.
-15: The last sighting of a Samaran sky-fleet near the Valenpoint Peninsula. From this point onwards, the region is in fact completely independent.
-5: An undead army emerges throughout the Valenpoint peninsula. An alliance of nations defeats it, and at the end of the conflicts, a new, loose Federation is founded. A new calendar is started in honor of the occasion.
1: Present day
Elder Age (-40,000 ->-15,000)
A time mysterious even for the elves and other long-lived folk. It is known that elves, as well as most other races of the world, arrived somewhere within this time, and that they were not the first inhabitants of the world.
While specific dates cannot be set, some ancient artefacts remain from this age, preserved by ancient magic or other powers. From what little can be known, it seems to have been a dangerous and unstable time, with planar intrusions, enormous wars and rampant psionics.
Ancient Age (-15,000->-7,000)
In the mind of most scholars, the Ancient Age is seen simply as the time of elven rule, stretching from the birth of their kingdoms all the way to their final downfall. The majority of these kingdoms were built in Eryx and Faytan, as well as several important Sea Elven kingdoms in the modern-day Sea of Turmoil and Bay of Valen. Elsewhere in the world, other ancient races and nations rose and fell, most of them completely unknown to the people of Valenpoint today.
In the Underdark, this age sees the great expanse of dwarven kingdoms, most of them in underground Eryx, and the first wars between these and the newly-descended drow.
An ancient war marks the end of this age, having brought about the destruction of the majority of the elven realms. As part of this war, Elves trained several tribes and fledgling nations of humans in the use of magic, and as the elves retreated, these magic-wielding humans began to forge their first empires.
Classical Age (-7,000 -> -2,500)
With the rise of the first human nations whose records still survive, the Classical Age is often seen as the start of written history, by the sages knowledgeable enough to have read these ancient documents. Of course, many elves know of history stretching millennia further into the past, but this knowledge is shrouded in secrecy, and kept even from many of the fair folk.
Throughout this period, human nations are founded and grow all through Eos. During much of this time, however, these nations are forced to submit to larger, older non-human empires.
-5,730: The Chitin Empire arrives, an empire of salamander-men brought to the region on flying ships. Their rulership is light and gentle at first, only setting up embassies and making ocasional demands from the polities who intentionally align with them. Trade is brisk, and opportunities abound for the nations who accede to the Chitin Empire.
-5,400: Worship of Aoskar rises. With Chitin dominance of wildspace, travel by Aoskar’s portals becomes the only alternative. Some nations become vast and powerful, turning into reasonable local opposition to the far-flung empire.
-5,119: Aoskar suddenly dies, destroying the human civilisation that had been built around his worship. The Chitin Empire are now absolute rulers of the Sphere, with no opposition in sight. Their rule becomes much harsher and more terrible, demanding thousands of captives to be delivered every month, and waging savage war against any who resist. Very few nations on Eos’ surface go through this period unscathed.
-4,130: The Thri-Kreen, the most significant client-species of the Chitin Empire, break away from their rulers and begin a series of wars, eventually wresting their freedom from a retreating Chitin Empire.
-3,930: Elves earn several big victories against the still-weakened Thri-Kreen, earning Eos its nominal freedom. They remain in the Thri Kreen Empire’s sphere of influence, and the peace between Elves and Thri-Kreen is best defined as a long-lasting state of cold war.
-3,500: An undead invasion boils forth, simultaneously attacking many places throughout Eos. It takes a union of Thri-Kreen, human, elf and dwarf to defeat them. The Dwarven Kingdoms are the worst-hit by the war, as the undead seem to use the Underdark to get around, putting them in direct conflict.
-3,280: The Thri-Kreen Empire retreats from the sphere entirely, having fallen under assault by Mind Flayers and unwilling to continue to assist in the war with the undead which now already lasts centuries. A few smaller nations of Thri-Kreen stay behind, the largest of which eventually forms the Kingdom of the Celestial Mantis.
-3,000: The Final battles of the war with the undead. Safeguards, relics and orders are founded in order to ensure this never happens again. By the current date, most of these are largely forgotten.
-2,600: A plane-walking nation of migrants arrives and sets up a first enclave at the northern endcap of the Valenpoint peninsula. In time they spread and weave powerful magic to alter the climate and terrain of the entire peninsula, perfecting it for settlement. Entire mountains are moved, and some cities are built upon flying islands held aloft by magic.
Middle Age (-2,500 -> 0)
The middle age was a turbulent time, as humanity began to wrest its place in the spotlight. It is marked by wars with goblin-kind and orc-kind, as well as the rise and fall of the Samaran Empire.
-2,050: The people who will become the founders of the Samaran Empire arrive from another world. At the start, they are a single city-state of about 12,000.
-1,400: The religion that will become the Samaran Pantheon begins to stabilise into its current form. Though at first worshipped only in a single city-state of out-worlders, the faith quickly spreads over much of Faytan.
-1,230: The Years of Blight begin with numerous humanoid (orcoid and goblinoid) raids throughout the sphere. It lasts for centuries and brings many of Eos’ nations to its knees.
-1,120: Baklunish immigrants, from the world of Oerth, arrive fleeing the destruction of their homeland. They soon settle on the landbridge between Eryx and Faytan, founding the city that will become Myrrean.
-1,050: A flotilla of elves finds the sphere while fleeing from an orc fleet. They report its existence back to the Imperial Elven Navy, and the sphere is soon visited by an entire elven fleet which stamps out local humanoids over a few decades.
-1,002: The end of the First Inhuman War sees the elves become the dominant power in wildspace, though few of their nations on Eos still remain.
-900: To the astonishment of many, a small city-state conquers the great city of Sammarach and founds the Samaran Empire, which soon begins to spread throughout Faytan.
-700: The Samaran Empire expands into Valenpoint, Eryx and wildspace, where they become the greatest contenders with the Imperial Elven Navy for control.
-150: Waves of plane-walking and spelljamming migrants begin to arrive from distant Abeir-Toril, as their world is wracked by a long series of catastrophes which, by all reports, continue to this day.
-120: A Planar Rift is opened and Demons invade the Samaran Empire’s heartland. The Empire’s capital is soon sacked, and the Empire’s long contraction begins, starting with Celaria’s declaration of independence.
-115: Celaria’s war of independence from the Samaran Empire is won.
-60: The Empire has little control over much of Valenpoint. From this point onwards, their legions and sky-fleets are rarely seen in the region.
-30: The last Imperial Governor of Valenpoint dies of natural causes. No replacement is sent.
-15: The last sighting of a Samaran sky-fleet near the Valenpoint Peninsula. From this point onwards, the region is in fact completely independent.
-5: An undead army emerges throughout the Valenpoint peninsula. An alliance of nations defeats it, and at the end of the conflicts, a new, loose Federation is founded. A new calendar is started in honor of the occasion.
1: Present day