The Previous Age (5000PA)
The period of civilization during which the cities of Vaiackuria and Durkarr were built and prospered. Not much is known of these times except that magical experimentation was a central concern in Vaiackuria.

The Stillness (1000PA – 0CA)
Little is known of this age except that any attempt to glean information on this time with divination magic is met with nothing but darkness and feelings of cold.

Saint’s Landing (0CA - 1830CA)
It is widely believed that the Greater Pantheon arrived on Ere early in this era, bringing with them the first mortal races; humans, hailene and halflings to live in the world, as well a powerful supernatural beings; dragons, titans, giants, sphinxes and the like (called Saints in lore and song from the age) to protect and guide the transplanted demi-humans until such time that they could fend for themselves.

During this age, the gods walked among mortals and performed great works and miracles to make the hostile world more livable for their followers. The Saints also went among the mortals, teaching them the ways of magic, building and combat. Though the world was still young, dangerous and untamed, it was as a golden age to those who lived in it.

At some undetermined time, most of the Saints took their leave to take up residence on the moons and sun where they could build their own palaces and live as they chose. The gods as well withdrew the bulk of their influence; save for Justicar who still dwelled in Illium, surrounded by his adoring hailene. Only the dragons stayed behind to protect the mortals from the still potent dangers of the wild.

Draconic Control (1830CA – 2043CA)
For centuries, the dragons remained as the guardians for demi-humanity; watching them grow as cultures and innovate in ways the Saints never expected. Then Ghazhuulphear, a gold dragon of great power and charisma rallied his fellows among the nations of Gold, Blue, White, and Silver around the banner of subjugating those they once protected.

With the nations of Red, Green, Bronze, Copper, Brass and Black abstaining in disgust, Ghazhuulphear and his general, the blue dragon Cryzandia embarked upon a two hundred year campaign of slavery and terror that gripped most of the mainland in what would come to be known as Draconic Control.

As years turned into decades and memory of the time when humanity was free began to wane, a new goddess joined the ranks of the Greater Pantheon. Dey, the Grey Hand promised absolution for all sins committed in order to restore freedom to the mortal peoples of Ere. Her champion, the general remembered only as the Mother of Blades, built and led the final army to march against the dragons and throw them down.

In the end, the demi-human races won their freedom, forming the Vishnari Alliance that would eventually span the continent. The Gold dragon nation was stripped of its status and the Blue was driven from the continent by the remaining, repentant nations.

Vishnari Empire (2516CA – 3017CA)
Five hundred years would pass before the intricate treaties and agreements that made up the Vishnari Alliance finally cemented their control of the mainland. This Empire was like none the world has seen before or since, spanning from coast to coast as well as the Kimeian Isles. Prosperity reached to all the citizens of the Empire and elite guardsmen protected all but the most remote villages against the ravages of spirit beasts.

Magic was a priority among the rulers of the Vishnari and they spend millions of gold pieces on constructing a central academy dedicated to the study and development of magic. Airships, powered armor and other enhancing items were common parts of military instillations by the height of the Empire.

It was around this time that the language of the Saints, now known as ancient, became totally supplanted in popular usage by the common tongue, now known only as Common. This was no mistake, as Vishnari educators spent almost a century developing and encouraging the spread of common, which could be more easily adapted to changing culture than its predecessor.

The Hailene War of Ascension (3017CA – 3032CA)
Meanwhile, on the island of Illium, the hailene were facing dark times. Justicar had left at some time between 2600CA and 2602CA, drawing distant like the other gods of the Greater Pantheon. The hailene, who as a people prided themselves on being the chosen people of a god, now faced a crisis of faith.

A ship without a rudder, the hailene grew convinced that their abandonment was the fault of the Vishnari and that by conquering the Empire, they would return to his good graces. Centuries of research into magical means to wage war followed, placing the hailene ahead of the technological curve compared to their peaceful, Vishnari neighbors. Evidence even suggests that the first research into the nature of divinity sparks was conducted in laboratories on Illium.

The hailene began their war for ascension in 3017 with a lightning pace. Those they did not destroy, they enslaved, forcing them to work to develop and construct even more powerful weapons to bring to bear against the Empire.

By 3031CA, almost a fifth of Ere’s population was dead and another two fifths were in slavery. The gnomish race was all but dead; the few survivors who made it across the Emaru River were too few to sustain a bloodline. Minotaurs were almost as bad off, save for the tribes that fled into the Genmide mountains to fight hailene on their terms. By war’s end, even the reclusive and isolationist dragons were drawn into the battle as the hailene began seeking out their ancient hatching grounds and stealing eggs for experimentation.

Even with the power of the mighty dragons behind them, the Vishnari forces were still on the brink of annihilation at the hands of the hailene offensive and their devastating Dragon Slayer living ships.

Hailene victory was almost assured – save for the intervention of Dey. For a decade, the hailene had systematically enslaved or exterminated the goblin race – favored of the goddess of duty. On 4WtR, 3032CA, the last goblin died in captivity over the Sea of Thespis. Dey’s retribution was swift, smashing Illium to pieces with a surge of force from on high, generating a tsunami that crippled both the hailene and Alliance fleets and ended the War of Ascension in one stroke.

Age of Tragedies / Western Wars (3032CA – 3896CA)
The chaos in the wake of the war was almost total. The eastern regions of the Vishnari Empire had been under hailene occupation for fifteen years in some places and the newly freed citizens had all but forgotten how things had been before hailene cruelty. Crops had withered, fields had fallen fallow and whole villages had been reclaimed by the wild. No sign of the original governing body could be found. Even in the relatively untouched regions to the west, the war had broken down much of the unity built up during the Vishnari era.

All across the mainland, separatists began to tear apart the remnants of the old empire, forming countries of their own. Callen, Chordin, Novrom and Rizen all came into being fairly quickly following the demise of the empire. Elsewhere, the transitions weren’t so smooth or long lasting. In Genmide, the minotaur refuges were driven from their temporary homes in the mountains by coalitions of dwarves and humans, who in turn turned on one another. Three centuries of mage-kings in Minde Forme was washed away in a revolution that ultimately could not govern effectively.

Thousands were left homeless to die in the wilderness or in the city streets of sickness. Old allegiances, such as those between the sylvan races and demi-humanity fell away and even the elves of Vini Tresolm suffered a schism. Eventually, Calderia, the Great Green Expanse, and Vini Tresolm would declare their own nationhood. Finally, a peace accord, signed in 3472CA, solidified national borders, though this did nothing to quell the civil war in Minde Forme, or the growing aggression of the Calderians.

From their declaration of sovereignty, the Calderians began dispatching raiders into Callen, Te’ran and Rizen to take slaves and commodities. More brazenly, they moved to take land along the Calleni border. Skirmishes along the borders became an almost constant fact of life in the west. The centuries of conflict became known as the Western Wars.

The Ashing of the Green (3897CA – 3901CA)
In 3897CA, slaves from Rizen provided the arcane magic hating Calderians with a way to invade the much hated land of the Great Green Expanse. Calderian soldiers and dos demane undead teleported into the great forest by the hundreds, cutting down and putting to the torch every living thing.

They were fouled, however, by the guerilla tactics and difficult terrain the races of the green utilized. Both Sylph and Dey returned to walk among the people to rally them to battle. With the powers of two goddesses brought to bear against them, the Calderians were forced to commit to a losing war of attrition.

But the Regents of Calderia had one last card to lay down. Rumored to be an artifact scavenged from the hailene war, the device unleashed a vicious stroke of energies beyond description as mere magic. The devastation obliterated the Green Expanse, corrupting and turning to ash every living thing, friend or foe. Over the course of a single night, where the sky all over Ere shone white and the moons could not be seen, one hundred thousand sentient lives were lost.

When the sun rose, Calderia’s army was gone and in the place of the Great Green Expanse, was a new, alien landscape, dry and unforgiving, pulsing with the malicious power unleashed by the regents: The Ashed Lands. The ruins of at least twenty villages and cities dotted the landscape.
The horror of the event struck the world hard. Even Calderia recoiled from what had happened that day.

Present (3901CA – Present)
The current year is 4428CA, nearly 4,500 years since Saints Landing and 527 years after the terrible events of the Ashing of the Green. The following are important dates and events of our recent history:

4425CA – Discovery of the second per-Saint’s Landing city, Vaiackuria.