|
|
| (One intermediate revision by the same user not shown) |
| Line 31: |
Line 31: |
| The Pantheon is petitioned for support, and They grant it, putting Their blessing behind the armies of the Ankyreans. The consolidation of power marks the end of the [[First Mortal Epoch]] as the war between the Indoron and Ankyreans comes to a stalemate. | | The Pantheon is petitioned for support, and They grant it, putting Their blessing behind the armies of the Ankyreans. The consolidation of power marks the end of the [[First Mortal Epoch]] as the war between the Indoron and Ankyreans comes to a stalemate. |
|
| |
|
| ===Second Mortal Epoch - The Age of Conflict=== | | ===[[Second Mortal Epoch]] - The Age of Conflict=== |
| The opposition to the Indoron, now bolstered by the power of the Gods, reforms as the [[Illuminai]]. They are composed of the precursors to [[Priests]], known as [[Luminaries]], and the [[Daru]]. A temple is built in the southeast in an area that would later become the city of [[Shallam]] after the Indoron raze the temple to the ground. | | The opposition to the Indoron, now bolstered by the power of the Gods, reforms as the [[Illuminai]]. They are composed of the precursors to [[Priests]], known as [[Luminaries]], and the [[Daru]]. A temple is built in the southeast in an area that would later become the city of [[Shallam]] after the Indoron raze the temple to the ground. |
|
| |
|
| Line 52: |
Line 52: |
| In response to the pleas of [[Qeddwyn]], but in fact in order to once again conceal knowledge of the leylines, [[Severn]] enacts the [[Grand Artifice]], ending the Second Mortal Epoch. | | In response to the pleas of [[Qeddwyn]], but in fact in order to once again conceal knowledge of the leylines, [[Severn]] enacts the [[Grand Artifice]], ending the Second Mortal Epoch. |
|
| |
|
| === Third Mortal Epoch - The Midnight Age=== | | === [[Third Mortal Epoch]] - The Midnight Age=== |
| ====1 - 49 MA====
| |
| * [[Abhorash]] is embraced as a [[Consanguine]] and the four houses of the Undead are established.
| |
| * The [[Demon Blade]] rises to prominence.
| |
| * The [[First Totem War]] takes place in [[Tasur'ke]], as the town angers the Hunter by expanding.
| |
| * Bloodloch is resettled by Abhorash.
| |
| ====50 - 99 MA====
| |
| * Lanos, the Lord of Truth, sacrifices Himself to seal off the Shadow Plane from spilling into the Prime Material.
| |
| * Through a ritual led by Haern, the Great Oak is awakened as a conduit of Dendara.
| |
| * Rahn is born from a mortal hero and the violent torture at the hands of an unnamed God, erupting from His volcano in a rage.
| |
| * The name of Chakrasul, the unnamed God, is revealed by a powerful lich named Amairgen through a necromantic ritual.
| |
| * The Sword of Lanos is shattered by Severn, leading to a crisis with the Shadow Plane that is promptly resolved. Lanos is confirmed as dead.
| |
| * The latest of many skirmishes between the failed Ankyrean experiment, Zsarachnor, and the displaced Llazuth rock the lower levels of Azdun. In the aftermath, a servant of Llazuth, Lachesis, is returned to the service of the Spider Queen, and the Black Keep is revealed.
| |
| * Lleis is awoken from the Mitrine stone in the Liruma scrubland.
| |
| * The failing Priest guild splinters, and the Luminaries are founded under the guidance of Sahmie Rhayse.
| |
| * Two of the landmarks of the War of Power are rediscovered, these being the Orrery and the Horologue.
| |
| * The Ankyrean citadel of Spinesreach is uncovered in the Tarea Mountains, much to the torment of Qeddwyn.
| |
| * An ancient sword, a failed precursor to the legendary Demon Blade, is uncovered beneath Hashan and subsequently destroyed after a resounding failure by the lich Amairgen to control it and the slaughter of many residents of the city.
| |
| * A faction of Sentaari, led by Clio Thetis, sacrifice their grasp of Kaido for their own Inner Spark, following after the Luminaries and becoming the Daru.
| |
| ====100 - 149 MA====
| |
| * The existence of the Grand Artifice becomes known to mortalkind.
| |
| * A visitation to Zahmekoses and followers by the shade of Habbak, the last Ard-Dhasan of Spinesreach, culminates in the opening of the citadel and resettlement of the city for the first time since the fall of the Ankyrean Order.
| |
| ====150 - 199 MA====
| |
| ====200 - 249 MA====
| |
| ====250 - 299 MA====
| |
| ====300 - 349 MA====
| |
| ====350 - 399 MA====
| |
| ====400 - 449 MA====
| |
| ====450 - 499 MA====
| |
| * Following complaints and insults from Eocik, a farmer of Spinesreach and harvester of secrets, the Cabal is founded within the citadel.
| |
| * Enslaved Dwarven labourers in the caverns of Bloodloch rediscover a rusted blade, likely that of the shattered Demon Blade. Escaping the clutches of the lich Amairgen with the weapon, the Dwarf ultimately surrenders it to the hands of Trabarg the Archaeologist of Shallam and Dorin Silverbeard, a forger of some repute.
| |
| * Ultimately, the blade is stolen by the Consanguine and bloodshed engulfs Hashan once again, after which Gar'losha himself awakes and retakes his blade, plunging it into his own chest and destroying both himself and his weapon.
| |
| * Djeir and the Black Lake are revealed far below Azdun.
| |
| * Alongside the return of Arion, God of Valor, and His Isle, war collides with the distant city of Ashtan in the form of shiploads of Nazetu. Only the intervention of Duiran prevented the Nazetu establishing a permanent foothold in the Bay of Balaton, and even afterwards it is known that Chakrasul walks the land once again.
| |
| * The Black Forest south of Thera rises up and consumes the village.
| |
| * The Syssin Defenders are formed in Spinesreach from the remnants of the Shadowsnakes.
| |
| * Arbothia is founded by displaced Therans.
| |
| * An attempt is made by Vasilus and Rosalind, among others, to cure the Yggdrasil of its corruption, with limited success due to the interference of Rellin and Sigfriend Cardinalis.
| |
| * A cure for vampirism is discovered when Zsarachnor tricks his rival, Belladonna, into attaining mortality once again.
| |
| * The spirit of Azaeru attempts to refound the Naldareth, calling on the Magi to reveal the Silver Spire and Kelsys and take up the burden of watching for the Children.
| |
| * The Grand Artifice is penetrated by a shard of the Sword of Truth, revealing the Misty Isles behind the facade of Ashtan-that-was.
| |
| * The shell of Mebrene is killed when a misguided attempt to purify the Flame of the Yggdrasil, made by Ayalaine, channels corruption into Rahn's form. Forges fail to light and the sun fails to shine.
| |
| * Necia, the Luminary tutor, is killed when Mebrene attempts to take them as a shell.
| |
| * Mebrene takes a sick child as a shell and is reborn as Auresae.
| |
| * The Sentinel tutor of the time, Vixen, is renamed Inesse by Auresae.
| |
| * Lencissa, the last leader of the Illuminai, is brought forth by Auresae to serve the Luminaries as a tutor; her long vigil over the temple has however driven her mad, and the Goddess is forced to seal off the elemental's memories. Now known as Lenci, she takes up a post in the guildhall.
| |
| * A ritual of remembrance for Tecpatl, a Rajamalan hero, frees Omei from Her prison.
| |
| * The Teradrim Sect is revealed within Bloodloch as servants of the Underking, Dhaivol.
| |
| * Two landmarks - the Fist of Dameron and Pillars of Maya - crumble to ruin.
| |
| * A Grook named Oloo, fervent campaigner for 'Free the Suicide Mice' and 'Live in harmony with the Beetles' movements, cordons off the Blood Falls, a landmark, for environmental reasons resulting from year-long marathons of blood-pouring.
| |
| * Iosyne returns to prominence.
| |
| * The Tree landmark is destroyed by lightning.
| |
| * The Crystal Cave is destroyed by an earthquake.
| |
| * The Rememberers, a group of oral historians, are revived by Qedddwyn and the Oracle Orechnai.
| |
| * Wsalaly, traitorous guardian of the Globe of Balance in Ashtan, is killed by Barrkesh of the Bahkatu. It is revealed that Wsalaly's abuse of the Globe of Balance was directly responsible for the destruction of several landmarks.
| |
| * Unable to reconcile the confusion within Himself, Dhaivol splits into Dhar and Ivoln.
| |
| * The Second Totem War takes place in Tasur'ke as Indorani and Bahkatu aggression spurs the populace to embrace undeath and destroy their totem. After the sanctifying of a monument to undeath and the subsequent vicious warring back and forth, as well as the emergence of a holy artifact called the Savage Crown, the defending spirits are destroyed and the monument is broken, leaving Tasur'ke covered in lifeless sand.
| |
| * Around this time, the secrets of Reanimation are discovered/developed.
| |
| * The settlement of Nuunva is revealed to the wider world when a search for a missing child wanders into it.
| |
| * The Chapel Gardens are stricken with a curse of undeath as traitors in the prison bend necromancy to their own ends.
| |
| * In a bid to take the power of the Silver Spire for themselves, Saayar of the Spellshapers of Ayhesa tricks the Magi into assisting in a grand heist. When Saayar explodes due to a miscalculation, the Silver Spire is destroyed in a vortex of power, and Kelsys is destroyed along with it.
| |
| * The Kerrithrim, a huge and terrible beast, is wakened by the violence. Shastaan is utterly destroyed in its emergence.
| |
| * Arion is badly wounded in an engagement with the beast, fading away before His follower's eyes after only a brief scuffle.
| |
| * Khepri is eaten unceremoniously when ordering the Kerrithrim to 'sit'.
| |
| * A unified army is assembled from the villages across Sapience, and a plan is proposed by Corporal Cazin of the Enorian Army - using catapaults, a team of warriors could be launched onto the beast, to cut into it and kill it from the inside out.
| |
| * Severn attempts to command the Kerrithrim while wearing the form of an unknown Goddess. The beast does not fall for His trick and the God loses an arm in the resulting scuffle.
| |
| * The combined assaults of Omei, Galleus, Chakrasul, Ivoln and Dhar avail them nothing, and Galleus loses an eye to the Kerrithrim.
| |
| * The beast is slain when Dreadlord Missari and the Azudim Warlord Mazzion survive the assault on the heart chamber and succeed in destroying it, and collapses beside the highway.
| |
| * Chakrasul merges with the essence of Khepri and becomes Ysmali.
| |
| * A second Master Crystal is revealed beneath the Globe of Balance as Alaihandra attempts to recruit Ianus of the Ascendril Circle into propping up the flagging guild of the Magi.
| |
| * Mitrine hunters in the Tundra accidentally trigger an explosive device in the lost Ankyrean Containment Laboratory, sending up a beacon and killing most of the group. A group of adventures move to the containment facility, and Atrapoema releases an Ankyrean biological war machine called Amalgamated Prototype - Amal for short. In his rage at discovering the loss of the Ankyrean Order, Amal killed many, only halting when confronted by Qeddwyn and ordered to stand down.
| |
| * The Dreikathi invade from the east of Sapience, sending a fleet of airships to invade Delos, bomb Spinesreach and Eleusis, and finally regroup and establish a beach head in Scidve. Polemarch Andalso declares that Sapience has been claimed in the name of the Autarch, and demands the unconditional surrender of the entire populace.
| |
| * The Aalen Forest is bombed with a terrible purple sludge, and mutations and death afflict all who live there.
| |
| * Ashtan is conquered by the Dreikathi and they begin brutally digging out the leylines once called the Seams of Balance.
| |
| * Having returned to physical existence and now seeking answers from His Brother Severn, Arion invades the minotaur village of Sterion and cuts His way into the Shadow Plane, vanishing from sight.
| |
| * Amal rises from the Great Rock and destroys a Dreikathi airship single-handedly, destroying the Shooting Star Inn, then clashes with Polemarch Andalso directly before being struck down.
| |
| * Weeks of guerilla warfare and outright conflict, as well as the singular efforts of Villi of Spinesreach in picking off Dreikathi troops, result in the driving-back of the Dreikathi, and through the theft of an airship followed by the machinations of an elemental eld'akathi, the continent of Albedos and the city of Delve made known to Sapience. The eld'akathi also spreads their power in benediction, passing knowledge of the Albedi tongue - previously called Herolian - to the people of Sapience.
| |
| * Dhar departs to examine the mystery of the Albedi dead. A revolt occurs within the Underking's Halls in His absence, led by the power-hungry Verkai. Edhain, Dhar's Order, as well as His High Priest Jirair, enter the Halls of Judgement to fight back Verkai but are repulsed.
| |
| * Haern attempts to cleanse the Aalen with divine fire, resulting in the wounding of the God and the emergence of blood-red stalks from the purple sludge.
| |
| * A terrible disease rises up from the stalks. Known as the Aalen Bloom, it kills many with no apparent cure.
| |
| * When the Hunter attempts to speak to the assembled people of Duiran about the nature of His wound and His work in the Aalen, it becomes apparent that He is cursed to silence. Calling upon Auresae, the congregation learns that the Artificer's mark is on Haern's geas. The sudden reappearance of Severn, wielding the stolen blade of Arion, once the Sword of Truth and now the Axiom, throws proceedings into violence, and it takes the sacrifice of a slave named Danerran to distract the Artificer long enough for His Sword to be broken and the Artificer driven off.
| |
| * With the breaking of the Axiom, Lanos' essence takes the broken body of Danerran as a shell and is reborn as Damariel. He frees Haern of His geas and speaks of Ohlsana, the Shadow Mother, and the true death of Arion. It seems that the God of Valor sacrificed his essence to fuel that of Lanos during their long imprisonment in the Axiom and the Shadow Plane.
| |
| * A sarcophagus is uncovered in mysterious circumstances below the Mhojave Desert, guarded by a terrible Gorgon. Touching this sarcophagus consumes the blight of the Aalen Bloom, as well as something deeper, from the bodies of those who do so.
| |
| * The first Idreth is born as Korvok Irontooth and Lauri pass uncovered Ankyrean writings to Spinesreach and Conduit Eleanor sucessfully undergoes the process.
| |
| * Ysmali is destroyed by the accidental assistance of Niuri, as the Goddess of Mystery attempts to assist Her Sister and instead overloads her. The sad remains of Khepri form a crazed beast, swiftly caged, and the essence of Corruption takes Empress Irijali of Djeir as a shell, returning Chakrasul to the realm.
| |
| * Seeking to fill the void left by Varian's silence, Galleus looks into the Ark of the Celestine and ascends to a higher echelon, leaving His domain of Air untended. Following raging storms in Spinesreach and the uneasy cessation of weather patterns, the spirit of Air takes root in Bokag, once-king of Hashan, and is reborn as Maghak.
| |
| * Iosyne is betrayed and murdered by Her sister Omei and brother Maghak. Omei takes Her eyes, and Maghak takes Her heart.
| |
| * The planar orrery is rediscovered under Spinesreach, and the vengeful spirit of its Ankyrean tender is wrested from the young girl it was possessing and placed in a mindless shell. The spirit, Vusbati, shares with assembled Spireans some details of the Disturbance and the true origins of the Atabahi.
| |
| * After meddling by two odd, mysterious Kelki and the assistance of Xavin, the Iernian Fracture yawns wide beneath the Putoran Hills, consuming the Naldareth facility housing the Ascendril guild in the process.
| |
| * Baelak Shipbreaker, Nazedha Emperor of the Western Isles, makes landfall on Sapience. After allying himself with Bloodloch, his Nazedha Empire demands the obedience of the other three cities, only to be swiftly denied.
| |
| * Shastaan is cleansed of its Thrim infestation by the Ascendril magi and a group of Kelki called the Pact. Strange, deformed cultists and the men responsible for opening the Fracture are also found, and killed, during the purging. A settlement is built over the ruins, named Mournhold by those living there.
| |
| * The corruption of Dendara comes to a head, and in an effort to purge it of the Shadow that taints it, Lleis sacrifices Her life to merge with the plane. The Great Oak is revitalized in the process, Dendara is cleansed, and the spirits of the Praadi come forth, reforming the Shamans from the tatters of the Druid guild.
| |
| * The ancient edifice of Stormcaller Crag is reclaimed by Maghak and settled by Trolls from Hashan.
| |
| * The Nazedha Empire invades Sapience in full force, sending units of highly organized and powerful soldiers to seige the mainland.
| |
| * Their alliance with Bloodloch does not last long as the Nazedha turn on the mainlanders.
| |
| * The Dun Fortress is conquered and rededicated to the strange Chaos God of the Nazedha, Lanu Du.
| |
| * The Revelation of the Dark Spire of Nazedha is made known, shocking those scholars of Enorian who recall Sahmie's Revelation and the Age of Enlightenment.
| |
| * Prince Tolonar turns to Lanu Du and the Nazedha for power, becoming lord and regent of the Dun Fortress.
| |
| * The Entropic Acropolis, an alien shard of the Chaos Plane, along with its three strange and terrifying Lords is discovered to be accessible from the Dun Fortress.
| |
| * After a vicious, bloody, gruelling war, the Nazedha are repulsed, in part due to contracting the Aalen Bloom that once decimated Sapience. Baelak retreats back to his islands, leaving the Balaton Bay conquered by the Nazedha and founded as a new settlement.
| |
| * Iosyne is reborn in the depths of Azdun as a malignant and terrifying force, taking the name of the Malevolent. Llazuth proclaims the rebirth of the Dark Empire over the mangled corpse of Zsarachnor.
| |
| * The Sect of Blades is founded in Delos, for the glory of warriors.
| |
| * Abhorash returns, dissolves the Imperium of Blood for their crimes against the Consanguine, and institutes the Dominion with himself at its head.
| |
| * Dhar lays seige to Chakrasul's Tiyen Indoron, setting it to the flame.
| |
| * The Pious Wards of Delve are opened to foreigners, offering insight into the absent Albedi Gods.
| |
| * Emissaries of the Dark Empire tour each of the four cities, reawakening old conflicts.
| |
| * Iosyne's meddling in the Shadow Plane results in a plague of darkness afflicting both the Goddess and Her Order.
| |
| * As Iosyne succumbs to the Shadowbound plague and is replaced by a strange and unstable double, Ati stirs in ancient Farsai. Revealed to be the progeny of the Shadow Mother, Ohlsana, the creature possesses the Spirean doctor Janus Anfini after killing its own priest in an attempt at attaining a physical form.
| |
| * Severn intervenes directly to assist Moirean of Iosyne's order in understanding that her Goddess tapped into the Shadow Plane and succumbed to Ohlsana's corrupting power.
| |
| * Strange, floating jellyfish appear across Sapience as Katia of the Pact accidentally blows a hole through the planes, only narrowly prevented from becoming a total catastrophe by the Ascendril guild and Belgarion.
| |
| * Severn's intervention in Iosyne's Shadowbound state results in the return of the Goddess, although Her followers still suffer the debilitating effects of the Shadowplague.
| |
| * The threat of the strange jellies becomes apparent as they begin to nest, spawning in far greater numbers and demonstrating remarkable shapeshifting powers. The very fabric of the planes seems to warp around the pearls of their nest-spires, and intervention by Teani of Duiran and the Stormcaller Research Society is disrupted when bipedal, aggressive entities appear to seize the nests. The creatures are fought off and the jellies destroyed, and it seems stability has been returned to the Prime Material.
| |
| * A rebellion occurs in Spinesreach at the hand of the mysterious anti-republic shadow broker, Vex.
| |
| * A cult of insane Kelki is discovered under Mournhold, and the birth of a new Kerrithrim is only barely averted by an armed force of Enorianite and Duiranite warriors.
| |
| * The Kobolds of Siha Dylis reopen their settlement in the dungeons of Azdun, having rebuilt after Iosyne's rebirth ruined their realm.
| |
| * A delegation of Grecht from the distant and vast empire of the Dehkay Plateau visit the cities of Spinesreach, leaving behind a small settlement in the Northern Tundra known as Arget Efri. Soon after this, the renegade Grecht of the Siroccian mountains open the gates of their Arget Massai atop Mount Sheine.
| |
| * Attempting to wrest power from the Source of Knowledge, Niuri is betrayed by Ivoln. The Gods watch in silence as Her hands are cut off and She is cast into the Source, destroyed almost entirely by the raging power of the rift.
| |
| * The madness and corruption of Dendara are expressed once again as the ancient and cannibalistic spirits of Prophet's Hollow war with the ancestor spirits of the Praadi and the Sentinels. The Pride is gifted with new training to combat the aberrations that pour from Dendara's broken heart.
| |
| * Mortal experimentation with Niuri's salvaged hand leads to the wounding of Vrennin and the plaintive dissolution of a fragment of the Ultraist's spirit, as a ritual to anchor the fragmented Goddess goes awry.
| |
| * A [[I.F.F.|cat comprised seemingly of pure energy]] appears in strange locales all over the land, including havens and private homes. Aside from the shockwaves produced by her meows, she seems to behave like a perfectly normal cat.
| |
| * A loud crash of collapsing stone rocks the [[Morgun Forest]], scaring away massive flocks of birds. Finding nothing else amiss in the woods, adventurers attempt to inspect the [[Monolith]] only to discover impenetrable brambles in their path.
| |
| * The intense, buffeting vibrations produced by the cat awaken the emergence of rather friendly, [[Ankyrean Underlings|jellybean-shaped creatures]] from beneath the city of Spinesreach.
| |
| * The overgrowth around the region of the Monolith recedes. Adventurers investigate and find the [[Tecpatl's Cradle|realm of Dreams]] spilling into, but contained by, the [[Prime Material Plane]]. The environs rapidly aged and overgrown by the woods, explorers are intrigued by the scenery until a loud, recorded voice informs them that the master is out, so to speak.
| |
| * Seduced by a voice believed to belong to [[Omei]], Cannan Flyer is lured to [[Tecpatl's Cradle]], escorted by various Carnifex and Duiranite Councilors. Trapped within the Cradle, all but Cannan are informed they are sheep for sacrifice, and as he is invited to play the [[Moonlight Calliope]], Omei attempts to fill his body with Her essence. Cannan, for all intents and purposes, becomes a God for several minutes, killing most of the audience until the Divine energies rip him apart. In the aftermath nothing more is heard from Omei.
| |
| * Fascinated by tales of Cannan's temporary godhood, [[Eiger]] and [[Early Sindele]] man a grave-robbing, outsourcing adventurers all over Sapience under the pretense of an archaeological expedition. Reaching the top of the tower in Tecpatl's Cradle, Eiger Sindele is killed, her body inadvertently integrating with Omei's essence at the point of impact, effectively forming a new vessel for the Goddess.
| |
| * [[Lorenzo]] returns to the [[Great Rock]], where he single-handedly bests [[Bearnath]] in a knife fight and becomes the den's new leader. Adapting the moniker of "Crow Man", an ancient title last used in the Indoron era, he proceeds to reform the beast cultists, uniting them in a fanatic worship of Omei, and enslaving the [[Beastlord]].
| |
| [[Category:Aetolian History]] | | [[Category:Aetolian History]] |
The following is a summary of the events that comprise Aetolia, the Midnight Age. Owing to less-than-stellar notekeeping and the nature of sporadic volunteer work, this timeline's completion or 100% factual accuracy is never guaranteed. Every effort has been made to maintain the game's history to the best of our volunteers' abilities.
Copies of this timeline are available in-game from Herolt, the Decipherer.
In this time, Varian creates the brothers - Severn and Lanos - and the Triad of Haern, Lleis, and Dhar, who begin the Cycle and create the souls of life. In the proto-realm of Varian's Divinity, the Ankyreans are first created and given a world to inhabit, shaped by a quartet of Gods representing each of the four Core Elemental Planes - Mebrene, Slyphe, Galleus and Ivoln. The first of the mortal races are created to serve the Ankyreans and during this period, many of the racial origin stories take place. The people of this time were sentient, but swayed easily by the power of the Gods. Near the end of this epoch, Dhar and Ivoln merge to form Dhaivol, formalizing the Ritual of Union and creating the concept of Ivolnite undeath.
At the onset of the Age of Providence, the first civilized settlement of mankind - Bloodloch - is dug and founded by the Dowaf, precursor to the Dwarves, who are among the most developed of the mortal races. Soon thereafter, Spinesreach is built by the Ankyreans as a bastion and storehouse of knowledge. Next, Stormcaller Crag in the Tundra is built, and later the sprawling underwater city of Kelsys is founded, overseen directly by Slyphe. As favoured children of a Goddess, the Kelki are granted insight and power beyond other mortals, making Kelsys a bastion of advanced technology.
The Consortium is formed by the Ankyreans to research the great secrets of the world, and following experiments with the leylines, they discover the Dreikathi, alerting them to their presence. A great war breaks out as Ankyreans and Dreikathi clash, both in the material world and within the ley. This precipitates the mysterious destructive event later called the Disturbance. The great war ends with the collapse of the leyline transit and the destruction of the Court of the Consortium.
Yggdrasil, the World Tree, is planted in an attempt to mend some of the effects of the Disturbance. Fearful of further disturbances, Varian conceals knowledge of the leylines from His children. The great war signifies the breakdown of the social order between Ankyreans and the "rellyw", marking the end of the Second Immortal Epoch.
Following the great war at the end of the Second Immortal Epoch, the Gods are confused and scattered, and most of the Ankyreans are dead. The remaining Ankyrean tribes begin subjugating the "lesser races" and begin forming their own small empires. The Endorone cult forms among the subjugated dwarves, studying the power of life essence and deriving techniques to use in conflict with the Ankyreans. A splinter sect within the Endorone beseeches Chakrasul for aid, and She teaches them the forbidden magic of the Chaos Plane and the corruptive force of Necromancy. In Hlugnic, the language of "high" dwarves, "endoron" means "mage". Other races begin using the modified form, "Indoron", as shorthand for "despair".
The Endorone conquer Bloodloch in a vicious civil war and drive out the disloyal dwarves, but then collapse under internal stresses as the Chakrasulian cult displaces the original Endoron and embraces their role as bringers of despair. The Indoron move on the rest of Sapience, intending to conquer it.
A man named Idar Karif unites several scattered settlements as "the armies of the Light", and builds his Castle of Illumination. He then pitches his armies against those of the Indoron. The forces of Light harry the Indoron from the southeast, whittling down their forces as their once-green recruits become veterans in facing the dark magi. Facing resistance for the first time in a long time, the Indoron retreat into Bloodloch and the surrounding lands, fighting running battles against enemy regiments.
Idar Karif meets and marries Catiana, a lady of mysterious origins, and the crusade against the Indoron becomes more brutal. Soon, Idar becomes paranoid, even towards members of his own closest circle, and he casts them out of his Castle. Internal schisms continue to form within the armies of the Light, as Lady Catarina's presence drives Idar and his men into their own extremes of mad devotion. At its height, Idar Karif murders every person living in the Castle of Illumination and throws himself from the parapets to his death.
Lady Catarina is revealed to be an invocation of Chakrasul as she takes the Castle of Illumination for Herself, rechristening it Tiyen Indoron and removing it from mortal knowledge and sight. Fuelled by the sacrifice of Idar Karif's men, a black rain of corruption falls over the south, tainting land and mortals both and swaying them towards corruption. The Dark Empire rises from the now-fertile ground, beneath the black banner of the thirteen-pointed star. The remaining Indoron armies, led by the brutal Yetrent, assist the Dark Empire in pushing back the unified forces of Light with Goddess-given powers. At this time, the Dun Fortress is constructed in the western Vashnars, and the dungeon of Azdun is built underground.
The Wars of Power begin as the Dark Empire mandates the construction of the landmarks and the forces of Light discover how to manipulate them.
Within the Citadel of Spinesreach, the Ankyrean Order is formed in an effort to combat the Dark Empire, with the shadowy Syssin working behind the scenes to further the reach of the Order.
The Pantheon is petitioned for support, and They grant it, putting Their blessing behind the armies of the Ankyreans. The consolidation of power marks the end of the First Mortal Epoch as the war between the Indoron and Ankyreans comes to a stalemate.
The opposition to the Indoron, now bolstered by the power of the Gods, reforms as the Illuminai. They are composed of the precursors to Priests, known as Luminaries, and the Daru. A temple is built in the southeast in an area that would later become the city of Shallam after the Indoron raze the temple to the ground.
Guided by a conclave of the Ankyrean Order and the united Gods, a circle of seven Spirit-channelers ambush and annihilate Yetrent's physical form, trapping him as a wretched spirit. With the fall of Yetrent, the core of the Dark Empire's magical forces collapse, and eventually Bloodloch itself is besieged. Imal, Yetrent's second-in-command and the current leader of the Indorani, evacuates a portion of his followers from Bloodloch and enacts the collapse of the caverns to deny the forces of Light from a total victory over them. A small pocket of Dark Empire loyalists survive in areas like Azdun and the Dun Fortress. Mysteriously, Llazuth and her Black Keep are hidden away beyond the veil to preserve the secrets of the Empire.
A small group of mortals led by an Ankyrean called Azaeru, calling themselves the Naldareth, seek succor in Kelsys, using dire warnings of a prophesied threat to gain entry and influence. This group is capable of channeling power from the Elemental Planes - Azaeru is in fact a renegade of the Order, and becomes responsible for teaching rellyw to channel the elements.
The Naldareth inscribe Azaeru's apocalyptic visions onto the walls of the Silver Spire, and begin to preach of a coming destructive force that the woefully under-prepared city could not hope to stand against. Panicked and afraid, and unable to contact their Matron, the Kelki allow the Naldareth to install themselves in the Silver Spire. They are trained in making use of the elements and form the core of the Naldareth guild, led by the Eye of Eternity and his followers.
Meanwhile, in the Misty Isles, mystics rise up and begin tapping into the leylines as fuel for their magicks. Ashtan is founded there as a haven for scholars and mortal magicians, and is cloaked from the Indoron by powerful illusions. Their isolation is short-lived, however, as the Nazetu arrive from the Western Isles and lay siege to Ashtan.
The First Child is revealed to be a summoning of the Indorani as they assault the Silver Spire, dashing themselves against the newly-built defenses of Kelsys. The city takes extensive damage, and the Naldareth depart for a more defensible area - the city of Shallam. They shroud Kelsys in a protective veil called the Lutha Kelma to hide them from the Second Child.
Scattered after the attack from the Nazetu, the mystics of the Misty Isles attract the attention of the Ankyreans, who observe them and rediscover the properties of the leylines that were once hidden from them by Varian. The Ankyreans use this knowledge to construct the orrery and leyspike in Spinesreach, and it is during this time that the skill of Lycanthropy is derived from magical techniques pioneered by the mystics. The first Atabahi flee Spinesreach and hide in Three Rock Outpost, founding the Atabahi Rout.
Yrtez and the Conclave of Magic create the Consanguine through dangerous experimentation and flee the Citadel, sparking the Ankyrean civil war. Around this time, Azaeru, first of the Naldareth, dies in an experimental accident, succeeded by a nameless and arrogant acolyte. Alaihandra, a mortal Naldareth, prophecies the Grand Artifice and is ignored by the current Eye of Eternity. She safeguards five memories to survive until the Midnight Age.
Riven by civil war, the Ankyrean Order begins to collapse, though the fall of the Ankyreans is gradual and spans many years. During this period, the stories of the Seluno brothers take place.
In response to the pleas of Qeddwyn, but in fact in order to once again conceal knowledge of the leylines, Severn enacts the Grand Artifice, ending the Second Mortal Epoch.