Historical Timeline: Quinternia
- The Cycle before Time: The gods cast down the Great Devourer, a titan capable of ending the world, again and again in a millennia-long cycle.
- 1,000 P.R. - The Dark Litigation: A clever archdevil pulls a celestial legal coup, breaking the name of the former god of Law and Justice by trapping him within a paradox of his own legal code and usurping his portfolio, becoming the new god of Law of Quinternia, Principius Maximus.
- 900-400 P.R. The Rise of Law: The Temple of Principius Maximus becomes the preeminent authority in many civilized lands, with its main temple founded in Benevolence. The letter of the law rules all, becoming increasingly more complex and oppressive.
- 450 P.R. - The Founding of the Arcanum: Arcane wizards of many schools organize into a college of colleges, striking a mutually beneficial bargain with the inquisitors of Principius Maximus to police their own in exchange for a degree of autonomy.
- 400-200 P.R. - The Conglomeration of Chaos: Dozens of strange, terrible rogue wizards, cults, outcaste tribes, a red dragon tyrant, and more all settle in an area of remote vales and secluded mountain domains far from the influence of the Temple of Law, creating a concentration of chaotic threats to the world. This speeds up the Great Devourer’s waking cycle, at a time when the pantheon is not equipped to deal with it.
- 99 P.R. - Age of the Mistvales: The druidic Circle of Circles sends the silver willows as gifts to the many rulers of the Mistvales, creating a perpetual fog of fey stasis and suppressing the myriad threats of the Mistvales for a century, including slowing the Great Devourer’s rousing to a standstill.
- 1 P.R. - The Lifting of the Mists: Mortal adventurers, ignorant of the true threats resting in the Mistvales, discover the secret for destroying the silver willows and rolling back the mists. Various chaotic threats begin to surface from their long slumber as multiple parties recklessly work to tear down the Mists in pursuit of plunder. The Great Devourer stirs.
- 0 R.D. The Re-Ordning of St. Dumon: A mortal lawyer and adventurer discovers the current god of Law is actually the archdevil Dominus Rex. She uses his own convoluted codex of laws against him to strip him of his stolen godhood and cast him down, just in time to aid the pantheon in their fight against the Great Devourer. Multiple established gods give their immortal lives in the battle, but it is the mortal hero now known as St. Dumon, wielding a weapon forged specifically to mortally wound the Great Devourer, that ends the cycle once and for all. The pantheon is forever changed as multiple of St. Dumon’s worthy mortal allies take up the portfolios of the fallen gods, though St. Dumon himself legendarily turned down the offer.
- 1-1057 R.D. - The Long Peace: A millennia-long golden age is established throughout most civilized lands of the world, shepherded by the emissaries of Ahasitari, new god of Law and Justice. An uneasy truce is struck with the remaining threats of the Mistvales.
- 1058 R.D. - The Deluge: A great cataclysm deep in the western ocean causes a great tsunami to circle the globe, drowning millions and making its way hundreds of miles inland in some places. Few civilizations survive. This blow to their followers also severely weakens the Pantheon.
- 1059-1287 R.D. - The Drowned Age: A dark age descends upon the world. As the waters recede, many lands are overrun with monsters and monstrous humanoids adept at surviving in the ruin. In addition, the cataclysm, according to some scholars, damaged the fabric of the world, creating occasional rifts into the elemental planes (and worse).
- 1061 R.D. - In Service of Pyroclandaxan: Some survivors settle as refugees within the area formerly known as the Mistvales, now presided over by the mercenary red wyrm Pyroclandaxan, Son of Pyroclandaxas, She Whose Skull Hangs in His Hall. Whole communities are forced into “voluntary” indentured servitude in the dragon’s remote domain, while much of the rest of the world devolves around them.
- 1288-1300 R.D. – The Planar Fracturing, The Rise of the Mortal Eidolons, The First Eidolon War, and the Sealing: Sudden planar rifts began to form throughout the land to the lower planes, a few at first but growing in number. As the very of the fabric of civilization and even the material plane itself seemed to be unraveling, new, heroic individuals began to appear in the land, wielding a new power neither arcane nor divine, but stemming from a new, unknown source associated with a mortal aspect. While many were individually powerful, the seven most powerful came together in a ritual that shored up the planar boundaries of the world. The Prime Eidolons then went their separate ways.
- 1300-1347 R.D. - Decades after the waters receded, the survivors’ descendants have slowly prepared expeditions and support to spread from the Mistvales, founding trading posts and clearing the way for their people to settle once more, led by the Vale Alliance. New Eidolons cease to be called, and survivors from the Eidolon War slowly age out.
- 1348 R.D. The Reclamation - The leaders of the Vale Alliance, funded by Pyroclandaxan, found the Reclamation, and continue to push back the wilds and reestablish civilization, led by the emissaries of Ahasitari, the Arcanum, and the Circle of Circles, and bankrolled by Pyroclandaxan himself, eager to be rid of the throngs of refugee descendents. The Eidolons, being full embodiments of mortality, have since receded in prominence as they’ve begun to reach the limits of their mortal lifetimes, as the phenomenon which gave rise to them seems to have been a one-time event.
- 1349 R.D. The Second Eidolon War Begins - The cycle of rifts and eidolons begins again. New eidolons are called, coordinated by the Circle of Circles to serve the Reclamation and push back the new and faster-forming rifts. The Reclamation continues to push into the Floodlands, running into the forces of L’Vreth the Black, an ancient, corrupted black dragon, and her demon-spawning plague of Insidious Ochre. Other agents discover a new, technologically advanced nation called the Dread Empire far to the west that is kidnapping eidolons.
- 1350 R.D. The Fall of L’Vreth and founding of New Radiance - The Scales of Vengeance and Radiant Aegis, allied forces of the Reclamation, slay L’Vreth the Black, freeing vast swaths of the Floodlands, including the foundations of Old Benevolence, from her reign and opening it for resettlement. The Fangs of Quinternia infiltrate the Dread Empire, discovering they’re in service to devils. They also discover the Dread Empire’s arrived several centuries ago from the Abyss unwittingly causing the Deluge and possibly the spontaneous appearance of the rifts. New Radiance is founded.
- 1352 R.D. - The Battle of Vergence and end of the Eidolon Wars, in which the abyssal rift is closed, the demon-infested city of Vergence is sent back to the Abyss, and the metaphysics of Quinternia are repaired, saving the multiverse from a cascade of destruction. The Eidolons are de-powered and rifts cease forming in Quinternia as the interplanar boundaries are repaired.
- 1353 R.D. - Moonfall - The Quinternian moon is suddenly changed, with a destabilized orbit that threatens to tear the planet apart. Radiant Aegis discovers a race of thaumivore elves living in stasis within the hollow sphere. They manage to restore the moon’s orbit and save many of the astral elves, relocating them to the Nexus mountains, though not before a close pass of the moon does moderate damage to the Ryotan Isles.
- 1357 R.D. - The fall of Pyroclandaxan: Pyroclandaxan hatches a plot to reassert control over Cinderton and the Mistvales, in a plot that kills thousands. Radiant Aegis, with inside help from his daughter Pyrannea, hatch a plot to attack Pyroclasm Peak and slay the great red wyrm, leaving Pyrannea in charge of the peak.
- 1359 R.D. The beginning of the cults: The cult of Tiamat begin infiltrating Pyroclasm Peak. Crusaders of Bahamut arrive in the Bright Empire from worlds away hunting Tiamat’s followers. Ancient dragons long exiled from Quinternia by the Deluge begin to return to the world. The cult of Ecstasis sees resurgence in Cinderton, Ryotai, and New Radiance. The cult of Blublubdablub begins infiltrating the outer Roytan isles and Old Benevolence.
- 1365 R.D. - The Pantheon Expansion and the Inquisition - Due to the threat of outside deities interfering with Quinternia, the gods of the Pantheon expand, welcoming Waldan O’th Woods into their ranks. Al Haj elevates St. Tirsa as the Angel of Death. The Church of Ahasitari begins rooting out cultists of the most harmful alien deities.
- 1380 R.D. - The Apotheosis of the Bright Empress - Realizing a decades-long plan to bring her people more thoroughly into power in Quinternia and cooperation with the other world powers, Aria VIII achieves a technomagical godhood, existing both as a physical divinely manifested technomagical mechanism in her cathedral in New Vigilance in the Bright Empire and as a deity, she quickly convinces the other gods of the Pantheon to allow her to sign the Divine Compact, taking her place as the Bright Empress, Goddess of Civilization. She immediately establishes her priorities as the protection of all civilizations across Quinternia (particularly her native Bright Empire) and supporting Ahasitari in driving back the disruptive cults of non-native gods, particularly the cult of Tiamat.
- 1385 R.D. Draconic Civil War - Pyroclasm Peak erupts in civil war, as long-infiltrating forces of the Cult of Tiamat, lead by dragons returned to Quinternia that had been exiled by the Deluge, subvert and attack its forces. Their initial push, while damaging, is not the resounding victory originally envisioned, and leads to decades of brutal guerrilla fighting throughout the jungles around Thunder Run and Pyroclasm Peak.
- 1390 R.D. - The Pantheon Crusade Begins - The Church of Ahasitari, supported primarily by the faiths of al Haj, Isthalia, the Bright Empress, and Bezzelendor, declares war on the followers of Tiamat, as well as several other dark cults seeing a resurgence in Quinternia. The Inquisition reaches all out war in Thunder Run and some back streets of Cinderton.
- 1400 R.D. - The Age of Worlds - An interplanar astral vessel known as a Spelljammer crashes on Quinternia, further opening it up to influences from across the multiverse.
- 1401 R.D. - New Enemies in the Crusade - The cult of Blublubdablub declares the rights of their followers to worship openly on any land within sight of salt water, in defiance of the Pantheon Crusade. The Cask of the Absorbed begins to infiltrate Quinternia.
Historical Timeline: The Thrice-Exiled Empire, The Dread Empire, The Bright Empire
- The Godswar: The gods imprison Tharizdun, the Elder Elemental Eye, within the world of a particular material plane.
- The Arcana Wars: Conflicts between many nations lead by jealous rival arcanists cause mass devastation, loosening Tharizdun’s bonds to allow him to act in the world, and his cult to work toward his full release.
- The Lands Rise: The great Eladrin arcanists sunder the world, casting the continents into the sky, and escaping the arcane devastation below, but further working to free Tharizdun. Unbeknownst and unintentionally, they are cast not just into the sky, but into an empty, air-themed layer of the Abyss.
- Vigilance is Founded: The last human refugees found a new nation at the western edge of the main sky continent, welcoming cast-offs from all races but establishing the order of the Oathsworn. General Argus Arigulus is named Emperor Argus I.
- The Lords Alliance: Several descendants of noble merchant families settle in the more habitable southern regions south of the mountains from Vigilance, setting up a great coastal defense system to protect from the Maelstrom, upwellings from a constant storm far below the continents. Vergence is founded as the economic and trade capital of the empire, with Vigilance serving as the political and military hub.
- The Arigulan Dynasty: Argus I’s descendants rule the human empire with fairness and honor, much to the chagrin of many of the southern noble families, some of whom dabble in Infernalism.
- The Craggen Invasion: Vigilance, capital of the Avernian Empire and hub of their military, is wiped out in a surprise attack from an overwhelming force of hobgoblin airships known as the Craggenwafte. The few survivors, including the Imperial Heir, escape, making their way to their dwarven allies in the mountains and eventually establishing a redoubt at Vergence.
- The Breaking of Chains: An unwitting mortal pawn breaks the lock on one of the chains, causing a great cataclysm on the main continent where it is anchored, and unleashing Tharizdun, whom begins the process of destroying the continents.
- Escape from the Abyss: It is discovered that when the Eladrin broke the world and raised the continents, Tharizdun’s chains embedded in them pulled them into a layer of the Abyss, where the inhabitants of Zhia unknowingly had been imprisoned all this time. While the mightiest heroes of the Oathsworn and their allies fought off the resurgent avatars of the mad god, technicians worked to save the remaining populations of the world, which had crowded into the mile-wide brass dome of Vergence. A great technomagical ritual carved off the tip of the continent containing the great domed city of Vergence and shifted it to a new material plane, landing in the middle of an unoccupied ocean, and sending tsunamis around their new, unknown globe.
- The New Oathsworn Empire: The remaining Oathsworn and their allies find a new city in the middle of the ocean of a new world. Great difficulties arise from the lack of food and resources for such a large and desperate population in the middle of the ocean, whom number no fishermen amongst them. Moreover, the magical lodestone which powers their airships ceases to function in the new world, forcing them to fall back on other technologies, while the pantheon traditionally worshiped by them has no presence in this world. Great hardship ensues for several years. Nascent infernalists offer a solution and are summarily rebuked and imprisoned. Problems are solved and a hard but survivable life is established.
- The Exodus of Dispertion: Several disparate peoples, including multiple orc tribes and the remaining Craggen, set off across the sea for parts unknown, to found their own nations far from the dominion of the Avernian Empire.
- The Corruption of the Seas: Remnants of the abyssal Maelstrom, carried with the continent to the new world, and combined with the magical echoes of shifting an entire city to a new world, slowly begin to fester and infect the waters and seafloor around Vergence. They are held at bay for a time, though a permanent solution remains out of reach. Food once again becomes scarce as the fishing becomes tainted.
- The Infernal Compact: As the populace becomes more desperate, the current monarch, influenced by her consort, turns to Infernalism to help combat the Abyssal threat. The Oathsworn are forever tainted.
- The Maelstrom Returns: Abyssal energies and chaotic elemental forces begin to tear through their new home Material Plane. Vergence is overrun with demons and corrupted elementals, and the Avernian forces abandon it, crossing the sea and founding a new capital on the continent in the devastation of the floodlands.
- The Eidolon Wars: The Thrice-Exiled Avernian Empire continues to build up its bulwarks on the western coast of the Quinternia’s main continent, sending its mortal and infernal forces out to conscript slaves and acquire war materiel to fuel an eventual return to Vergence to fight the Abyssal threat, potentially opening their own rifts to the 9 Hells in the process. The current half-devil Imperial heir acquires the service of Vrathis, the Prime Eidolon of Consciousness, actively recruiting, conscripting, and enslaving new Eidolons in an effort to control the rifts, allowing ones that lead to their infernal masters to flourish while closing others.
- The Infernal Purge and the Rise of the Bright Empress: Aided by the Fangs of Quinternia, an elite unit from the Reclamation and Radiant Aegis, The Hidden Empress Aria Arigulus, Eighth of her hame, casts down her half-devil mother and purges all inferlists from the Empire, reclaiming it as The Empire of the Oathsworn, and taking the title Empress Aria the Bright, the Eighth of her Name, Restorer of the Empire.
- The Second Eidolon War and Beyond: Though young, she briefly became an Eidolon of Peace after undergoing the planar alignment ritual, and led the Oathsworn forces personally in the allied fleet at the Battle of Vergence. She continues to work hard restoring her Empire to what it once was before the Exodiae, and nourish alliances with the Reclamation, New Radiance, and Ryotai.
- The beginning of Apotheosis: Sparked by a visit from Klyntar the Gatekeeper, Aria shifts her plans from wanting to reinstitute the old gods of the Oathsworn, and instead sets out to become a new god of her people, as well as all civilizations around the world.