Chronology of Eldareth

A vast conflict spreads across Eldareth as the Primordial Titans rise against the young divine order. The gods fight alongside Giants and ancient Dragons, while the Titans bring the raw power of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air against them.

During the war, Lyrael, the Elemental Matron, is slain. Her death changes the balance of the conflict and leaves consequences that continue long after the fighting ends.

As the war continues, the Primarchs gather peoples already threatened or displaced by the advance of the Primordial Titans. They teach them how to better understand the elemental forces around them and help protect the settlements caught in the conflict.

Their guidance gives many of these early communities a better chance of surviving the war and rebuilding in the years that follow.

Following the hard-fought victory of the divine forces and their mortal allies, the Primordial Titans are finally defeated.

In the aftermath, portions of their immense power are bestowed upon five of the dragons who fought in the conflict, transforming them into the Dragon Ascendants. The three giant Jarls, Thalkor, Saaktar, and Thorden, receive portions of that power as well.

With the Titans gone, Dragons and Giants emerge from the Dawn War as some of the most powerful forces in the world that follows.

In the generations following the Dawn War, scattered human communities begin to grow and organize, drawing on knowledge passed down from the Primarchs and adapting it to the lands they inhabit.

These early societies lay the foundations for the kingdoms and empires that will later emerge across regions such as Calvessa and Célaine.

As early human societies expand into the foothills, they encounter dwarven communities establishing their first halls. Shared needs such as mining, trade, defense, and travel through difficult terrain lead to some of the earliest alliances between the two peoples.

These relationships are not always peaceful, but they lay the groundwork for centuries of cooperation, rivalry, and exchange between dwarves and humans.

The fleeing clans arrive in Eldareth and establish settlements in lands that will later become Vel'Nathar and Célaine. Over time, they build ties with the peoples already living there and make the Material Plane their new home.

Lerathae's role in their escape leaves a lasting mark on these communities, and she becomes one of their most widely revered deities.

As human migration into the region continues, the newcomers begin interacting more regularly with the established elven settlements. Trade and cultural exchange grow alongside occasional disputes over land and resources.

These early relationships set the pattern for centuries of cooperation, rivalry, and shared history between the two peoples.

As giants establish themselves across the northern lands, some groups in and around the Kharzai Steppes turn to dangerous forms of sorcery and alchemy. Over time, these practices alter both their bodies and their society.

These fallen giants become known as the Urghai, powerful ogre-kin who establish strongholds such as Gorhul-Tor and later become oppressors of the Orzhun peoples.

Created through experiments intended to produce resilient servants, the Orzhun eventually rebel against their masters and drive them from much of the region. During the uprising, Malgathar's influence reaches them with promises of strength and dominion, and many pledge themselves to him.

The violence of the rebellion and the purges that follow leave lasting damage across the Kharzai Steppes, creating the region that becomes known as the Blightlands.

Lessarith approaches these tribes with promises of power and freedom from their former bonds. Following her conflict with Yssarel, those who accept her influence are transformed through her will into the Ssith'katha.

The newly formed people establish themselves in Zalthyx, carrying Lessarith's influence into the region while developing a culture and identity of their own.

The Ul'Zar were colossal arachnids driven largely by instinct until Lessarith recognized their potential. Through her influence, the strongest among them gained self-awareness, ambition, and greater control over their own nature.

These transformed Ul'Zar became the Threzkathar, later known as the Ascended Brood.

After centuries of consolidation and the construction of strongholds such as the Obsidian Spine, divisions begin to weaken the major Ssith'katha powers. Internal rivalries, disputes over their divine purpose, and the difficulty of controlling large territories all contribute to their decline.

The dominions eventually splinter, beginning a long period of rivalry and political fragmentation across Zalthyx.

Bound by their oaths to Malgathar, the Orzhun unite as the Iron Horde under Uluug Khaan Karagul the First.

He leads the first War March beyond their homeland, striking at neighboring tribes and settlements across the Kharzai Steppes and surrounding territories.

The Horde marks conquered lands with black monoliths bearing a simple warning: Obedience comes too late.

After years of growing tension between the Sera'drin and parts of the Seelie Court, renewed conflict among the Archfey reaches the lands surrounding the Heartwood Tree. With the future of their people increasingly uncertain, many Sera'drin choose to leave the Feywild.

Midir opens a great passage into Eldareth, allowing them to cross with their families, possessions, records, and accumulated scholarship. On Ael'delar, they establish Alven'Nathiss beneath Syl'dareth, while the Evermist is woven around the surrounding isles to protect their new home.

Their arrival brings one of the Feywild's most developed traditions of wizardry into Eldareth and marks the beginning of a new chapter in elven history.

As surrounding territories are brought under a single rule, the Thessaric Empire is formally established with Thessaria at its center. Its growing administration, trade networks, and organized legions allow it to expand across Ethelra and hold territories that earlier city-states could not.

The empire becomes a major political and military force, shaping the region for centuries to come.

In the decades following the Second Elven Exodus, contact grows between the three elven peoples. Vel'Nathar becomes one of the principal regions where they meet, trade, and encounter traditions that had developed separately over centuries.

Their histories and customs remain distinct, but continued contact and their shared origins begin fostering a broader sense of kinship between the elven peoples of Eldareth.

Giznat goblins develop reliable methods for refining and controlling the magical mineral known as Galarium. Scholars and innovators soon expand upon these techniques, leading to rapid advances in arcane engineering and infrastructure.

Galarium-based lighting, transport systems, and increasingly sophisticated arcane constructs become widespread. Academies and institutions dedicated to its study flourish, helping drive a new period of magical innovation across the empire.

Building on advances in arcane engineering, mortal innovators use Galarium to construct the first skyships, large vessels capable of sustained flight and controlled movement through the skies.

Their creation opens new routes between distant regions and changes how goods, people, and military forces can be transported, becoming one of the defining technological achievements of the Age of Wonders.

Arcane institutions and imperial engineers work together on large-scale projects designed to better understand and harness the world's magical currents. They construct massive conduits and regulating stations around major ley nexuses, using Galarium cores to receive, conduct, and regulate power drawn from the ley network.

These systems provide power to major cities, support rapid arcane travel through portals and dedicated pathways, and become a central part of the magical infrastructure developed during the Age of Wonders.

As the Iron Horde expands westward into Ethelra, its armies turn against Vashkova, now ruled by powerful necromancer-lords. Seeking to break Vashkovan resistance and extend their rule farther west, the Orzhun lay siege to the Pale Gates.

The campaign lasts for nine seasons, with heavy losses on both sides and several Khans falling during the fighting. Famine and sickness eventually force the Iron Horde to withdraw, leaving the Pale Gates unconquered.

As Vashkova's practice of necromancy deepens, its rulers begin looking beyond the animation of the dead. Through forbidden rituals, ancient pacts, and increasingly dangerous experiments, they seek a way to escape the limits of mortal life entirely.

These efforts result in the creation of the first vampires, known as the Antediluvians. Their emergence introduces a new and powerful form of undeath into Vashkova and marks a major development in the region's necromantic traditions.

As reports of widespread necromancy and the emergence of vampires spread from eastern Vashkova, imperial authorities establish the Imperial Inquisition to investigate and suppress forbidden magic and those who practice it.

Its methods quickly become severe, with purges and harsh enforcement extending beyond Vashkova into other parts of the empire. The Inquisition's growing reach creates fear and resentment, particularly in the outer provinces, and contributes to increasing tensions with imperial rule.

Turning eastward, the Orzhun under Uluug Khaan Borukhai the Bold launch a great march across the steppes against the Xha'zin Empire. For three years, their armies besiege the dragon-warded walls of Shen Xha in an attempt to break one of the eastern powers.

As the siege drags on, Horde war shamans channel the accumulated wrath of the conflict into the First Shura, a colossal manifestation of war intended to destroy the Celestial Gates. The Eternal Emperor ultimately unweaves the Shura, and the Orzhun are forced to abandon the siege.

Before withdrawing, they leave black monoliths along the border bearing a warning: We will return.

Within the arcane institutions of the Age of Wonders, influential magisters begin promoting a more systematic approach to the study and practice of magic. Their methods emphasize observation, repeatable results, and standardized principles over intuitive, faith-based, or traditional approaches.

This period produces major theoretical works and increasingly formalized systems of spellcasting. It also leads many scholars to dismiss older or poorly understood forms of magic as unreliable, shaping the direction of arcane research for centuries.

During the Age of Wonders, representatives of Vel'Nathar and Alven'Nathiss meet beneath the full moon for their first formal diplomatic and cultural exchange.

The Moonlit Treaty strengthens ties between the two powers and begins a period of closer cooperation in diplomacy, scholarship, and the study of magic. It also establishes a more formal relationship between communities whose histories in Eldareth had developed along different paths.

Around this time, a powerful theocratic empire emerges in the southernmost jungles of Zalthyx: the Xal'Tarothi.

Driven by strict divine law centered on the Pantheon, with Xal'Zorath as a dominant figure, they consolidate power under leaders who prioritize spiritual structure over secular ambition.

This empire establishes itself as a culturally distinct serpentfolk civilization of the Age of Wonders, existing concurrently with the Zsarthal Basin Empire to the north.

Beginning around this time, the Thessaric Empire's authority steadily weakens as provinces withdraw from imperial rule. The process accelerates over the following decades, reaching its height by 325 B.U.

Calvessa, Vel'Nathar, Tessarion, Célaine, Vashkova, and Ostheria complete their break from the empire and establish their own systems of government. Imperial authority is reduced to Thessaria and a small number of loyal enclaves, leaving the Thessaric Empire largely intact in name alone.

Vecantius Naraliss, Grand Magister of Planar Theory at the Arcane Concordium of Calvessa, becomes the first scholar to formally chart Val'Syra and document its nature as the Realm of Dreams.

During his research, Naraliss also records persistent and unusually stable echoes that appear to originate from somewhere beyond the known cosmology. Their source remains unexplained, but the findings raise the possibility that other structures or realms exist beyond those already understood.

Over the following decade, much of the once-fertile land is overtaken by twisted bramble forests, noxious bogs, and persistent unnatural mists. The spreading corruption gradually makes the region increasingly difficult to cross or inhabit.

The transformed region becomes known as the Bleakthorn Wilds, disrupting trade routes and making travel and exploration west of the Greyspires considerably more dangerous.

In the decades after the Upheaval, instability between Eldareth and the surrounding planes begins to manifest in new ways. More individuals are born with pronounced planar traits, while dormant planar heritage becomes more likely to surface.

These people become broadly known as the Planetouched. Their growing numbers are one of the clearest signs that the Upheaval permanently altered Eldareth's relationship with the planes.

After escaping centuries of Ssith'katha enslavement, the Vashkari return to the Vaash'toran Archipelago. There, they begin rebuilding their society around discipline, shared memory, and a determination to preserve their independence.

They establish a new homeland governed by the Accord of Purpose, carving settlements into the volcanic landscape and laying the foundations of an autonomous Vashkari nation.

As Eldareth continues to recover from the Upheaval, efforts begin to restore relationships disrupted by the cataclysm. Building on the earlier Moonlit Treaty, scholars, clerics, and envoys travel from Vel'Nathar to the Isles of Alven'Nathiss in a formal pilgrimage.

The event renews diplomatic ties between the two powers and strengthens cooperation between their scholars and magical institutions, becoming an important step in rebuilding old alliances during the Reckoning Years.

Across several regions, dream seers and others sensitive to unusual visions begin experiencing vivid, recurring dreams with striking similarities.

The dreams appear to warn of something approaching from beyond the known planes, prompting mages and diviners from different traditions and nations to investigate unusual magical disturbances and other signs of change.

News of the shared visions spreads among scholars and those who watch for planar and cosmic threats.

Breaches open across Eldareth, allowing aberrations and other Far Realm forces to enter the Material Plane. As the conflict spreads, the Dragon Ascendants create the first Dragonborn within Thuradun, the Forge of Wills, to strengthen the forces resisting the Incursion.

The tide turns in Vel'Nathar when Nyxarath attempts to cross into the Material Plane. The Celestine Obelisk is awakened and answers distant sister Obelisks, producing a psionic resonance that collapses the breach and disrupts the invading forces. The Incursion continues for a time afterward, but its momentum is broken.

Following their creation within the Forge of Wills, during the Incursion, the first Dragonborn journey to the Aldramar Isles, the domain of the Dragon Ascendants. There, they begin establishing permanent settlements across the islands.

Drawing on their connection to the Ascendants and the elemental nature of the archipelago, they develop the foundations of their culture and social structure, with reverence for the five Ascendants becoming an important part of Dragonborn society.

By 600 U.R., communities across Eldareth are rebuilding from the Incursion while continuing the much longer recovery that began after the Upheaval. In Ethelra's major successor states, damaged infrastructure and disrupted institutions are restored or replaced, while new settlements established through the Western Exodus continue to take root in Avermont.

Trade routes reopen, scholarly work expands, and exploration begins again as people seek to understand the changed world and rebuild what was lost.

As the Western Exodus brings increasing numbers of settlers to Avermont, new communities begin expanding into lands traditionally inhabited by the Tavaska and Rakkari. Some settlements are established over ancient groves, sacred sites, and territories already used by local communities.

Disputes over land, resources, and differing customs lead to growing resentment and localized conflict across the frontier, establishing tensions that will shape later relations between the settlers and Avermont's indigenous peoples.

Following the establishment of Dragonborn society in the Aldramar Isles, some groups begin migrating to other regions of Eldareth. Exploration, access to particular resources, spiritual callings, and a desire to carry the teachings of the Ascendants abroad all contribute to this movement.

Over time, these groups establish smaller enclaves in distant lands, marking the growing presence of Dragonborn beyond their island homeland.

Across Eldareth, reports of vivid and unsettling dreams become increasingly common, particularly among those with magical ability or psychic sensitivity. At the same time, planar scholars record stronger planar influence and other localized anomalies in parts of the Material Plane.

Whether these trends are connected remains uncertain. Researchers compare some of the dream accounts with known phenomena associated with Val'Syra, while others focus on the wider instability affecting Eldareth's relationship with the surrounding planes.

Centuries after the Upheaval disrupted ley lines and devastated many known Galarium sources, signs of recovery begin to appear. In regions where magical currents have stabilized, some deposits slowly begin regenerating over the following centuries.

At the same time, explorers and scholars develop new methods for locating Galarium within the altered landscape, uncovering post-Upheaval formations and veins that were previously inaccessible.

The renewed availability of Galarium gradually restores access to one of the world's most important arcane resources.

By this period, the Xal'Tarothi have consolidated their authority across the southernmost regions of Zalthyx. Their theocratic system, governed through strict divine law centered on the Pantheon, is firmly established, with Xal'Zorath holding particular prominence.

At its height, the empire stands as one of the major Ssith'katha powers of Zalthyx, maintaining its distinct religious and cultural identity as the Zsarthal Basin declines to the north.

After decades of developing their society across the Isles, the Dragonborn begin formalizing many of the institutions and customs that have emerged since their settlement there.

The Five Great Clans establish the Aldramar Citadel on Myrddrathis as the seat of the Aldramarlith, their governing council. Sacred sites such as the Twin Temples of Io and Ao, the memorial valley of Khor'Thalas, and the arcane academy of Khal'Zorith are also established or formally consecrated.

During this period, major cultural traditions including the Rite of Becoming and the Convergence of the Five Clans are given more formal structure, helping define the enduring shape of Dragonborn society.

Building on the resurgence of Galarium and the recovery of older arcane research, artificers and engineers in Tessarion construct the first functional skyships made since the Upheaval.

These early vessels are few in number, difficult to build, and closely monitored due to the risks involved. Their success marks an important step in recovering the advanced arcane technology of the Age of Wonders, though widespread skyship travel remains far from practical.

As Concord settlement expands farther inland, Seravon develops around principles of law, oaths, and regulated growth. Its defensible position and proximity to sacred paths make it an important center for Concord authority.

Fortified settlements and relic courts strengthen its role as the spiritual and judicial heart of the Concord in Avermont, while its borders remain close to older Tavaska and Rakkari territories.

The region just north of the Obsidian Spine, known as Southreach, develops into a difficult and increasingly disputed frontier. Settlers from the Concord nations move into its jungle valleys in search of territory and resources, bringing them into conflict with Tavaska tribes protecting sacred groves and Dawncoil communities seeking a place to settle.

With sites tied to both Ssith'katha and Tavaska history, Southreach becomes a region where several peoples compete over land, access, and influence.