Good day folks! As I had mentioned a while back, Evernote has finally pulled enough nonsense that I'm leaving it in the dust. I've previously talked a bit about my local history, but I've never completed a full upload of this as it is a lot of working in tables which I'm not a huge fan of in HIVE... but, since I mean to make good on my intention to leave Evernote, I've finally completed pulling this over.
So, with all of that said - my entire foundational history is below. This has been a huge help for me as a dungeon master, as I can look at these various events and tie them into the current events of my campaign whenever I need to. Most of it I don't actively use, and honestly, probably won't ever actively use... but it's nice to have them as ideas if I do need anything!
Local Histories (Last 5,000 years)
Date | Event Description |
5,000 BCE 0 EF | Panetan Faror (25 year old human warlock) conquers the continent, after a bloody 8 year campaign. Names his newly conquered continent Esphar. |
4,923 BCE 77 EF | Panetan (now firmly a tyrant), creates the Throne of Emperors, in a dark ritual meant to grant him immortality. The ritual goes awry (elven scholars claim a hero's sacrifice by a noble elven prince, but it's anybody's guess what the truth is), and Panetan and all of the participating warlocks die. The Throne is created, though instead of providing unending life, it grants a significant boon to lifetime and abilities. Panetan's son, Emperor Masarak Faror (male; 28yo), succeeds him. |
4,751 BCE 249 EF | Masarak founds the city of Mach'Lithe around four great schools of magic, and builds in it the Spire of Knowledge - the greatest school of unified magic ever constructed. A central meeting-ground and learning facility for every variety and flavor of magic - including the divine, and several schools of magic since deemed lost - such as Chaos, and Time. |
4,514 BCE 486 EF | Lenaquam (the Red Forest) is invaded by aggressive underground elves, who warp and twist the ancient place. Human settlements in the area are abandoned, after several armies sent to deal with the problem are lost. |
4,301 BCE 699 EF | Masarak dies (650 years old). Empress Danetae Faror (21 years old) ascends |
4,116 BCE 884 EF | The city of Graness (north western ruins in Sallivanoss) is destroyed by unholy magic which rots any flesh in the area. Even the greatest clerics and spellcasters of the time are unable to cleanse the area. Instead, they contain the unholy site as best they can. |
4,008 BCE 992 EF | Empress Danetae commissions exploration airships |
3,982 BCE 1,018 EF | The continent of Elchedel is discovered, and trade is established via airship. |
3,840 BCE 1,160 EF | Empress Danetae (477 years old) is presumed killed in an airship accident over the vast and dangerous ocean. None of the 163 ship's crew are recovered. Emperor Tamorac Faror(45 years old) ascends. |
3,813 BCE 1,187 EF | Emperor Tamorac oversees construction of an unparalleled Teleportation Circle - connecting the City of Magic, Mach'Lithe to the continent of Elchedel. Magic sees a golden age in Esphar. |
3,350 BCE 1,650 EF | Emperor Tamorac dies (535 years old) of apparently natural causes, Empress Revasha Faror ascends. |
3,261 BCE 1,739 EF | Celestial Event: Angel falls from the heavens after several days of heavy aurora activity seen all across the continent (art and lore in nearly every culture reflect this). The being is said to crash into Esphar Bay with force enough to cause a massive earthquake across the entire continent, and heave into being the Espharan Spine mountain range, splitting the core of Esphar in two. The region is abandoned for many years, as several cities are wiped out entirely and tens of thousands of lives are lost. No body is found, though cursory exploration is done. |
3,017 BCE 1,983 EF | Elven city of Siquilil [edited to Liliuqis] (central Calh'Lagh) is destroyed; Punished by the Fae Queen for daring to establish a permanent portal to the Feywild. |
2,654 BCE 2,346 EF | Empress Revasha Faror dies (731 years old) by assassination. Her entire family line is killed as well, in the single largest assassination contract in history, ending in the bloody murders of some 230 men, women, and children. The Faror name is stomped out, in a night known from that day onward as the Raven Night (due to the Ravenlords guild of assassins - seen as the largest players in the events of that night). The Emperor's Palace is magically sealed without a valid heir to the Throne. Esphar spirals into chaos. |
2,654 BCE 2,346 EF | In the months following the assassination of the Emperor's bloodline, The Council of High Magic meets in the city of Mach'Lithe, a council of the greatest mages in Esphar. Whatever happens at this meeting is unknown, though the results are self evident - Mach'Lithe, and much of the central southern section of the continent is shrouded in an unearthly shimmering veil. Nobody is ever seen leaving the veil, and Mach'Lithe is considered lost. The fleet of airships as well as the Great Circle connecting Elchendel to Esphar (Trothguard, modern day) is lost. |
2,595 BCE 2,405 EF | Elven-Human city of Kishenam declares itself a sovereign city-state. |
2,393 BCE 2,607 EF | Warpriest Bejenett Quilar leads the city of Belimal in a 'cleanse' of the local elven population. The forests of modern-day Doth Domar are cut down or put to torch, and the local elven population (those that are not quick enough to escape) are mercilessly butchered. |
2,392 BCE 2,608 EF | The city-state of Kishenam declares war upon Belimal, upon hearing of the massacre. |
2,373 BCE 2,627 EF | After nearly a decade of fierce fighting, Warpriest Bejenett enacts a plan resulting in a devastating divine magic being unleashed upon the capital city of Kishenam itself. The city is struck by a pillar of holy fire large enough to be seen from every corner of the continent (and well beyond) |
2,354 BCE 2,646 EF | A group of heroes - aided by an alliance of human, elf, and dwarf nations - manage to kill Warpriest Bejenett. In the same year, the Emperor's Palace is unsealed and the Guiding Few (a group of monks said to know secrets passed down from the very first Emperor) declare a new Emperor. He is proclaimed Liam al'Faror. The heroes are among some of the new Emperor's first and most vocal supporters. (Liam is 34 years old at this time). Emperor Liam re-establishes Esphar as a Kingdom, by conquering the multitude of individual kingdoms in the central section of the continent around the Emperor's Palace. |
2,331 BCE 2,669 EF | Emperor Liam recruits the heroes, seeking their aid in securing the rest of the continent and ending the chaos caused by the fall of the last Emperor. The heroes agree. |
2,313 BCE 2,687 EF | Aided by the heroes, Emperor Liam succeeds in securing the last autonomous kingdom on the continent. He renames it Trothguard, and as a reward for their service, the heroes are given vassal kingdoms - many named after the heroes themselves - which establishes the modern names for the kingdoms in Trothguard. |
2,243 BCE 2,757 EF | The Wall of Enidine is completed, in response to mounting aggression from the wild elves and fae of Salivanoss' northern forest (marked on map as 3 crescent shaped ruins). |
2,232 BCE 2,768 EF | The elven & fae threat in northern Sallivanoss is quelled, though the forest itself is twice as large as it once was, and two of the three fortresses in the Wall of Enidine are destroyed. |
2,214 BCE 2,786 EF | The cities of Styx and Berain (central Esphar) are connected via an ambitious underground tunnel system, providing the safest and fastest route through the Spine Mountain range. |
2,107 BCE 2,893 EF | The elven nation of Haron and the kingdom of modern-day Shae'Han become one, and the elven city opens itself to the predominantly human nation. |
2,085 BCE 2,915 EF | Doth Domar, Arabeth, and Sallivanoss rebel, and the 'West-march War' begins. |
2,019 BCE 2,981 EF | Emperor Liam al'Faror is overthrown and killed, ending the 'West-march War'. Empress Tadella Begranan ascends. The Empress is an Archmage; the first Emperor with that title, and she openly encourages the practice of magic (including divine magic). The College of Larshan (#16 on the map) is begun the same year. |
1,892 BCE 3,108 EF | The Well of Dreams is discovered in Aaval; an ancient portal to the Astral Plane. A second magic focused university is established in Aaval, partly to study the Well. |
1,648 BCE 3,352 EF | A magic resistant plague strikes Trothguard. Sources speculate on many causes, some blaming the Empress herself, some claiming it comes from the cursed lands of Mach'Lithe, and some have other even more outlandish claims. Before the end of the year, whatever the cause, the plague claims Empress Tadella. Her daughter, Empress Danetea Begranan ascends. (Historically she's known as Danetae the Second) |
1,641 BCE 3,359 EF | The plague is defeated, though the continent's gryphon population is driven to near extinction when their beaks and talons are found to be an effective cure to the sickness. |
1,343 BCE 3,657 EF | The Immortal Court is founded in secret - a criminal empire that specializes in sale and procurement of dangerous spells and magical / cursed items. Rumors later surface suggesting the Empress is involved in shadowy and criminal dealings - though nothing is ever proven. |
1,045 BCE 3,955 EF | Empress Dantea dies of apparently natural causes. She is best known for ending the plague that ravished Trothguard. Emperor Sigran Begranan ascends. |
881 BCE 4,119 EF | The 'War of Heroes' begins, as Emperor Sigran is called out for being a tyrant (the second such person to hold the seat of Emperor). |
863 BCE 4,137 EF | Sigran Begranan is killed, and the 'War of Heroes' ends. Sigran's brother, Emperor Beturin Begranan ascends. Beturin had been an invaluable member of the team to bring his brother down, and is celebrated as a hero. |
308 BCE 4,692 EF 0 LF | After a largely peaceful and uneventful rule, Emperor Beturin dies unexpectedly. He has no heir, and the Guiding Few again magically seal the Emperor's Palace, as chaos again breaks out. This event is known as 'the Last Fall' |
0 BCE 308 LF | Current Era begins with a peace treaty established by the kingdoms that cropped up in the years since the Last Fall. Taking again their historical names created in 2,313 BCE, the modern kingdoms are established. |
Current Campaign Year: 117, CE (SA) / 425 LF.
In-world this date is reflected as 117 SA (Since Accords), but if we were looking at years since the fall of the Empire, the year would be recorded as 425 LF.
> the Current Age, which officially began after the Peace Accords 117 years ago. (308 years since the Last Fall of the Empire). For most common folk, the recognized year is 425 LF, and it is currently (at start of campaign) the first official day of Fall, the 23rd of Harvestwane.
These many years later, the Emperors and Empresses of Trothguard are known and remembered largely by nicknames and titles given to them - not by their full actual names (unless you're a historian). The titles the common folk of Trothguard refer to are:
- Panetan Faror: The Tyrant. The First Emperor. Throne-Maker.
- Masarak Faror: The Redeemer.
- Danetae Faror: The Explorer.
- Tamorac Faror: The Bureaucrat.
- Revasha Faror: The Angel Empress.
- Liam al'Faror: The Rebuilder. The Conqueror. The Peacemaker.
- Tadella Begranan: The Archmage. The New-Blood Empress.
- Danetae Begranan: Danetae the Second. The Doctor. The Healer.
- Sigran Begranan: The Second Tyrant.
- Beturin Begranan: The Last Emperor. The Hero Emperor. The Plotter. The Tyrant-slayer.
Collectively, Trothguard was ruled by Emperors/Empresses for a total of 4,692 years.
Calendar months:
- 1. Frostfall (January) - A bitter, cold month when winter's grip is strongest.
- Thawbloom (February) - As temperatures begin to rise, the first signs of spring appear.
- Greenshade (March) - Nature awakens, and forests burst into vibrant greenery.
- Stormreach (April) - A tempestuous month marked by thunderstorms and rain.
- Firesurge (May) - The heat of summer intensifies, and wildfires are common.
- Suncrest (June) - The longest day of the year, a time for revelry and festivals.
- Emberfall (July) - The hottest month when flames and fire magic are most potent.
- Aurorasky (August) - The month of celestial events, with meteor showers and shooting stars.
- Harvestwane (September) - The time of bountiful harvests and feasting.
- Mistshroud (October) - As mists and fog roll in, the veil between worlds is thin.
- Ironchill (November) - The first frost of winter settles in, and iron weapons are forged.
- Starbirth (December) - A month of magic and wonder, when stars shine brightest.
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