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The following timeline covers only the major trends affecting the major regions of Aestas. Dates are reckoned using the "Imperial Year", dating from the official founding of the Keller Empire by Varatos I, as the Keller Lands remain the "standard" for comparison.
History of Aestas
History of Aestas
The following timeline covers only the major trends affecting the major regions of Aestas. Dates are reckoned using the "Imperial Year", dating from the official founding of the Keller Empire by Varatos I, as the Keller Lands remain the "standard" for comparison.
Age of Abominations (unknown) - Ancient Aestas ruled by various transient species from other worlds, such as Illithids, Aboleths, and other similar things. Towards the end of this period, proto-humanoids developed along with various mammals, and were altered and tampered with by unknown elder races. None of these races were intelligent at this time. At the end of the period, dragons were the dominant species for a time.
Age of Elves (100,000 to 50,000 years before modern era) - Elves were the first to develop civilization and magic, as well as technology. Displacing dragons at the top, Elves experimented with manipulating everything around them - from the genetics of the other species of Aestas to the very fabric of reality itself. Towards the end of their age, a great war was fought against enemies from the Age of Abominations. It is unclear exactly what species this was, but the war shattered moons and shaped continents. This war is usually referred to as the “Sundering of the World”, and it led to the creation of the ring around Aestas and the “Band of Night” which divides Aestas to the present day.
Age of Legend (50,000 to 15,000 years before modern era) - The Elven war plunged Aestas into a millennia long ice age, an era without written records or known civilizations. Giants, Dragons, and the Gods walked Aestas, while the various races uplifted by the Elves simply tried to stay alive. The proto-goblinoid races thrived in the low light of this era, and might have succeeded in wiping out the humanoid lines, had it not for the development of Dwarven civilization. The Orcish lines also remember this period as a sort of chaotic golden age, perfect for their physiology and outlook.
Age of Dwarves (15,000 to 5,000 years before modern era) - The first race to develop metallurgy and technology, the Dwarves had moved underground during the ice age. Here they developed the first cities, then the first kingdoms, and eventually fought a series of endless genocidal wars against the orcs and goblinoids. In the process they frequently enslaved the early humans, using them as laborers and occasionally as fighters against the goblinoids. This interaction between Dwarves and Humans would serve humanity well when the Dwarven race began to decline.
Age of Man (5,000 to 2,500 years before modern era) - Under the influence of Dwarven technology and techniques, humans passed rapidly from a neolithic period into the first permanent settlements over the course of a few centuries. Mastery of metallurgy, magic, and the decline of the Dwarves led humans to assume their current preeminence. Their racial restlessness led humans to expand across the face of Aestas, driving the goblinoid races almost to extinction, and forcing the orcish breeds into increasingly marginal living areas. The second half of this period saw large human states first develop around various river valleys on both major continents.
Current Era (2,500 years ago to present) - Aestas is thoroughly dominated by humans, who have created several continent-spanning civilizations. These civilizations interact at a distance through trade networks, but all have share highly developed societies with a sophisticated grasp on technology, magic, and basic scientific principles. Most other races, including Dwarves, Elves, and Orcs exist either within the context of human civilizations or pushed to the edges. Goblinoid races have been forced to exist in hiding or underground save in a few isolated regions of the world. Likewise, most major predators have been hunted nearly to extinction - few dragons or giants remain in human lands, for example.
RECORDED HISTORY OF THE "KNOWN WORLD"
-2500 IY to -1000 IY: The first true kingdoms develop around the Known World, warring, trading, and expanding. This era later becomes known as the "Age of the First Kings". This period marked the establishment of the various ethnic states that form the modern world - the Pershamon, Gemiri, Alastin, Hyspedean, Alikai, Sarradan, Hillayet, Noladen, and Sevastin proto-states all coalesce during this period.-700 IY to -600 IY: Persha nomads sweep east from the Great Steppe, conquering huge swaths of settled lands west of the FarSpar Mountains. This era of rapid conquest is consolidated by successive rulers, eventually evolving into the modern Pershamon Empire.-450 IY to -215 IY: King Fermas Vorokhoi, centered on what is now known as Pine March, rises to power in the Keller Lands by defeating his neighbors. Vorokhoi's empire, built on tyranny, military power, and necromancy, threatens the freedom of much of the Known World. His domain is now referred to as the "Dark Empire".
-212 IY: A coalition of the armies of the Pershamon Empire, the Kingdom of Gemir, the Alastin Empire, the Noladen Hordes, and the Kingdom of Alikai manage to barely defeat the Dark Empire in a series of closely fought battles in the western Keller Lands. Fermas Vorokhoi's capital city is besieged, captured, and razed to the ground.
-105 IY: The Kingdom of Alikai defeats an army of Noladen barbarian forces at the "Battle of Tuntur", adding the northern plains of the eastern Keller Lands to its territory. This doubling of size and population sets it down the road to empire.
0 IY: The Alikai monarch King Varatos announces to his court that he is the incarnation of the sun god Aurintuli, and the Alikai have been chosen for a divine mission. In a ceremony held in Alikai City, the official Founding of the Keller Empire by is celebrated with the coronation of Emperor Varatos. This launches a long series of military and diplomatic campaigns aimed at bringing the Keller Lands together under the rule of a single monarch and a single faith.
Circa 100 IY: The unification of the Western and Southern Keller Lands into the Empire is completed during the reign of Varatos II, marking the greatest extent of Keller imperial control of territory, stretching from the Hillayet Sea to the Mayhar Peninsula. This is now regarded as the "Golden Age" of the Keller Empire, which reached its largest extent during this period.
200 IY to 300 IY: The Keller Empire experiences a period of wealth, power, and decadence. Nearly all of the greatest engineering works, such as the Imperial Palace, the Solar Basilica, and the Great Arsenal are built during this period. Construction of the Keller Imperial Roads, connecting all of the provincial capitals to Alikai City, is completed as well, making it possible to travel swiftly from any part of the empire to the other in comparative safety and comfort.
475 IY to 485 IY: After years of tension, Keller Emperor Sennach III launches a crusade against the Pershamon Empire. Initially quite successful, the invasion leads to a decade of expensive and disastrous campaigns back and forth across the Farspar Mountains. Neither empire is powerful enough to conclusively defeat the other in open battle. These campaigns, initially fought on the open plains of the Pershamon heartland and then in the valleys and mountain passes of the FarSpar Mountains, later become known as the "War Among the Peaks".
485 IY to 505 IY: Several southern Keller principalities (Sarradastros, Gemric, and Terathmin) reject the legitimacy of Sennach III and his dynasty, due largely to the cost and failure of the "War Among the Peaks". These rebellious provinces negotiate a separate peace with the Pershamon Empire. This action starts the "Twenty Years War", a civil waraggravated by religious and regional divisions, and covertly encouraged by the Pershamon. The Western and Southern Keller provinces attempt to form independent kingdoms while still fighting off the Keller Empire.
505 IY: Internecine warfare escalates to a climax, culminating in the near-destruction of the Keller Lands during the "Great Scourging". Imperial mages send devastation upon the rebel heartland using summoned spirits and extraplanar entities, while rebel mages in Terathmin invoke an elemental response, damaging much of the Keller Empire with storms and earthquakes. Neither side is able to continue the fighting long after this, and the Keller Civil War grinds to a halt. The Pershamon Empire, already exhausted by decades of struggle, is content to simply seal the mountain passes and ignore the devastation. The population of the Keller Lands is greatly reduced by the destruction and the plagues that followed, and large swaths of land fell into ruin.510 IY to 600 IY: The chaos of the Keller Civil War left the remaining nations and their populations with a hatred of mages and magic in general. Local priests banded together with local militias and began hunting down and destroying magic users, alchemists, even harmless lunatics who were rumored to have mystical powers. These small bands communicated and cooperated, eventually forming one of several regional armies now referred to as “Crusades” or “Inquisitions”, depending on their mode of operation. This period is referred to as the “Wizards Purge”, and it lasted for many years.
600 IY: The surviving magic users of the Keller Lands, hoping to avoid final destruction at the hands of armies, gods, or rampaging mobs, agreed that something needed to be done or they and their art would be lost forever. Various powerful rulers and high priests realized that magic was too useful to ignore, but it needed to be governed and controlled. To that end, a handful of the most powerful magic users in the Known World gathered together in Moon Shoals, one of the only remaining intact centers of magical research and power. After years of debate, the gathered wizards agreed to something called the Atoros Accords in 600 IY. Named after the moon representing the Keller goddess of magic, the Atoros Accords laid down a series of general principles and rules to be followed by magic users within the Keller Lands. It was sanctioned by the priestly hierarchy of Komusta (goddess of magic) and Aurintuli (supreme deity of the Keller pantheon). The idea is that if the magic users of the world keep a voluntarily low profile, they will be free to conduct their own affairs as they wish. 610 IY to 820 IY: For about two centuries, the various states of the Keller Lands stabilize into patterns of trade and warfare, as the postwar chaos slowly settles.The two greatest powers are the Republic of Gemric in the south, and the Keller Empire in the north. Numerous other states orbit these two powers in various combinations of alliances and enmities. Despite constant political turmoil, the Keller Lands grow in population and wealth, beginning to explore the Known World and the oceans around it. All the while the Pershamon Empire, lacking a credible external threat, grows content and passive in its power. The ruling dynasty grows softer and decadent as the decades go by. Around the edges of civilization, new barbarian threats grow in the wilderness, especially in the abandoned regions away from roads, rivers, and cities.
828 IY: After the intelligent and cunning Keller Regent-Empress Vanaira spends decades on political and military reforms, her son takes the throne as a teenager. Emperor Ramallan III assumes full control of the Keller Empire on his 18th birthday, and has his mother executed for treason shortly afterwards. He renames the empire the "Ascendant Keller Empire", and begins a formal crusade to reunify the Keller Lands under the Linealist Church and his reign. His ascension is marked by military campaigns in the west, annexing parts of Mismallon and Tempelhoff.
830 IY: The present day.
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