THE PAST
Tralodren has a rich, vibrant past and ever-developing future. All combined, this history spans some 10,000+ years.
The Northern Hemisphere
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
Tralodren’s history is divided into unrecorded and recorded time.
Unrecorded Time
Unrecorded time deals with things following the Great Shaking, an event that establishes the present day's foundation. The time before this is more the realm of legends and myths, detailing the creation of all that came before.
Recorded Time
Recorded time records the years by means of another global event: the Divine Vindication. Anything before it counts down to the Great Shaking using BV (Before Vindication) for those years. Everything after the Divine Vindication counts up to the modern day using PV (Post Vindication) for those years.
UNRECORDED TIME
01
THE
BEGINNING
This was the beginning of everything. Myths and legends speak of two powerful and unknowable forces causing the existence of all things: everything that was, is, and ever will be was created from just these two entities.
02
THE
THANGARIAN AGE
Myths also speak of a time when the titans came to power. They ruled a great empire spanning many worlds, centered on their home world, called Thangaria. As the empire grew, it came to be ruled by the first gods, Vkar and Xora, who would later give birth to the pantheon.
03
THE
PANTHEONIC AGE
Following the fall of the Thangarian empire and the death of their parents, the children of Vkar and Xora took power and ruled instead, forming the pantheon. It was during this age that the gods created Tralodren and many of the races which came to live on the world. Each god also increased their realms, power, and influence, which they continue to do into the modern day.
04
THE
TITANIC AGE
The first powerful empire on Tralodren was ruled by titans who had migrated from Thangaria. They were the rulers of the world before any other race could dominate the planet. At first a peaceful people, they soon grew jealous of the gods and wished to be like them, then greater than them.
Mighty in nature and ability, they ravaged Tralodren in their battles with the linnorms in trying to forge their dreams of greater glory into reality. Ultimately, this drive would unleash some of the darkest times Tralodren has ever known and alter the course of the planet and its population forever.
05
THE
FIENDISH WARS
The time of the titans and their rule on Tralodren ended in a horrible series of wars brought about by their foolish actions to try to free some fiends from the Abyss who might aid them in their fight against the gods. Instead, their would-be allies quickly turned on them and proceeded to conquer all of Tralodren before warring among themselves in an effort to secure their new domains.
06
THE
DARK DECADE
Named for the ten years during which the fiends ruled unopposed on Tralodren after establishing their territories during the Fiendish Wars. It was known as a time of societal darkness and decay that threatened to wipe all that had been accomplished into ashes and memory.
07
THE
WARS OF LIBERATION
After a decade of darkness and oppression, the gods aided the people of Tralodren and brought about a time of liberation that would take another ten years to complete but would free the inhabitants from their fiendish masters while also removing the titans from Tralodren as judgment for what they unleashed upon the gods’ creation with the start of the Fiendish Wars.
08
THE
FIRST REBIRTH
While the people were free from their wicked masters and had nothing more to worry about from the titans, they were far from living in peace and plenty. Tralodren had been greatly ravaged; large swaths of its landscape had been burned and ruined, poisoned and corrupted. Worse still, there were plagues, famine, and hidden evils others would later find left behind by the fiends. Most of the cities were ruins or ash, the towns and villages decaying rubble.
Adding to this were the roving bands of monstrous races still seeking what mischief and pillage they could find. It would take some time to rebuild, which the population would do—slowly at first but in time recovering some momentum and a sense of greater hope and peace growing ever brighter on the horizon.
09
THE
FIRST GREAT DECLINE
Although many were looking to a more hopeful future before them, it wouldn’t turn out as bright as they’d thought. As more titanic ruins were explored, some dranoric magi unleashed a rapidly spreading plague which took its toll not just on people but also on wildlife. It would come and go in cycles throughout the next century, pushing back the gains that had been made across the races and nascent nations. And while the negative effects were finally stopped, it would take some time until the populations once again reached the point where they had been before this terrible onslaught arrived.
10
THE
SECOND REBIRTH
Poetically named for the various revivals and recoveries of populations and resources—and a sense of greater self-reliance and collective goals among the populace—this period of time helped raise society back to levels higher than had been seen before even the First Great Decline. The accelerated birth rate was suspected as some sort of boon given by Asora to help jump-start the people again and keep them from losing ground. The surplus of grain, fruit, and vegetables also helped people in having healthy children and being able to feed them and their new livestock, whose numbers also increased.
11
THE
DRANORIC AGE
Soon enough, the dranors would rise to greater power on Tralodren, taking the place once held by the titans of old. And sadly, like the titans, they too wound up as despots in the end. Because of this, according to the Patrious and Kosma, the gods cursed them to a slow extinction and caused them to bring forth elves, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings in their attempt to escape it. But like the titans before them, they sought to wage war against their creators rather than repent and possibly free themselves from their curse.
Finally, the gods would have no more of it. Seeking to stop them from taking any more foolish actions akin to what the titans did in their rebellion, the pantheon decided to put an end to the dranors and their empire entirely, thus saving the other races from any further corruption and oppression in the process.
12
THE
GREAT SHAKING
In a single moment the dranors were wiped from the face of Tralodren, their spirits shuttled to the Abyss. And then the world was shaken; all of Tralodren was changed. The lands cracked and reeled, sliding into the now-growing ocean. Other parts were swallowed by magma and otherwise faded from existence along with the ancient race and the cities that dotted their once-massive empire.
The lands that remained were ravaged fragments of their former selves, washed by wild surf, gnawed by earthquakes, and consumed by hungry fires. Lava and lightning took care of the rest, as massive storms birthed from the event plagued the world for days. Finally, when the terror did subside, there was an empty calm upon the world, a sense of relief mixed with a growing uncertainty of what now awaited those blessed enough to have survived...
13
THE
THIRD REBIRTH
Much to their own surprise, pockets of survivors of the terrible divine judgment of the Great Shaking found themselves alive and trying to find a way forward on their greatly altered planet. And this they did, in a slow but progressive fashion, even as the aftershocks and turmoil of such devastation echoed across the world for a few more years, until finally things fell into a kind of stability that would become the new reality for the ensuing millennia.
14
THE
SECOND GREAT DECLINE
After some centuries the land had been established and the people had started making new progress on fleshing out and improving their lives and civilizations. However, as new groups would mingle and grow, so would diseases among them. The result was a series of cross-contaminations that took a toll on various populations, setting them back a few notches from their previous achievements. This in turn birthed fighting and small skirmishes, as with perfect timing, the monstrous races made new inroads and fought with increased linnormic and draconic attacks. All these events combined to whittle away any gains made with the earlier population growth, setting up another period of years darkened in their outlook.
A SUMMARY OF
RECORDED TIME
5479 BV-900 PV
This was a time of societal darkness, as those who’d survived the Great Shaking had to rebuild and repopulate the new world presented to them, being unable to reclaim or re-create any great civilizations until the arising of the origin cities.
The Time of Beginnings | (5479 - 3120 BV)
These years are fragmented in terms of recorded documentation, growing more detailed as time progresses. Encompassing the span at the very dawn of history for mortalkind, these were the centuries when the origin cities came to power, and all the other creatures, nations, and races that called Tralodren home began to flourish.
The Imperial Wars | (3120 - 3000 BV)
As the races grew in number and territory, they began to rub up against each other with increasing friction. In time, fueled by ambition, greed, and other dark traits, a period of global warfare soon erupted. Each nation either tried to defend itself from being taken over or was the one trying to do the conquering. The wars destroyed all the origin cities save Remolos, which was rebuilt and has remained inhabited to the modern day.
The First Great Unrest | (3000 - 2500 BV)
Taking advantage of the rubble and bedlam the Imperial Wars caused, a great wave of murderous migrations exploded from the lands beyond the Boiling Sea. From here came jarthals, ryu, and their offspring, along with more monstrous races who took over lands and ransacked ruins, slaughtering at will. The wave of death and violence spread from the south all the way to the far west and the extreme north. The whole expanse of their carnage- laden migration served as the seedbed for what would in modern days become the tribes, clans, and pockets of goblins, hobgoblins, ogres, giants, and lizardmen that now live across most of the Northern Hemisphere.
The Whispering Years | (2500 - 2250 BV)
Here the available recorded knowledge grows scarce, and any insight into this era is dim and fleeting, like straining to hear whispers in the wind. All that’s known for certain is it was a time very like the Years of Perdition, and all was depressed, in poverty and ruin. Further, the people were very faithful, looking to do penance to the gods for a release of the hardships many suffered during these years.
The Years of Restoration | (2250 - 1600 BV)
This time period was a shorter version of what had happened in the Time of Beginnings: rebuilding and repopulating the lands and world that had been ravaged by the Imperial Wars and then the First Great Unrest. This was when new kingdoms arose, independent cities emerged, and nations began to define themselves anew. There were still a few minor skirmishes here and there, but the general trend was of an upward nature. In time much of the scars healed and smoothed over, setting the stage for a new era dawning over the horizon.
The First Great Ascent | (1600 - 1155 BV)
On the heels of the Years of Restoration, the improvements didn’t stop once things were restored. Indeed, many new discoveries were found, and the knowledge of all was increased, from the lowest of peasants to the greatest of kings. Progress in architecture, art, and the sciences soared at this time. In addition, a number of social and political matters were addressed so as to help bring about what’s been called “Tralodren’s Golden Age.”
For the most part what marks this age is the rise of mages. People began to understand the nature of magic, and many found they had the ability to wield it. While just fledglings in skill, well below even what present-day apprentices can master, they grew in understanding and recorded what they learned. It was during this time that the Tarsu, the first school and organization of mages, was founded. In time they would give birth to the rise of the wizard kings. During this age, however, they were scholars and scavengers of lost knowledge and magical insight.
The First War of Spoils | (1155 - 1097 BV)
As the Tarsu began to teach students, others began to rediscover the dranors and sought out their ruins with fervor. Lost treasure, hidden secrets, and forgotten mysteries from long ago all caused a massive campaign funded by merchant, faith, and king alike to try to gain as many of these artifacts and riches as possible. While not a true war in the sense that no one fought battles against one another for these so-called “spoils,” the drive to get them was equal in pitch to the energetic din of combat. Eventually, this craze died down as many of the known sites were picked over, and very few—if any—new locations were found to keep the flame of looting burning.
When true mages started to appear, it marked the beginning of this age. More skilled than their previous teachers, they had begun to approach the talents of most mages in the present age. The Tarsu also became more political at this time, gaining much influence from the royal, rich, and highly esteemed citizens who had joined their ranks.
The Second War of Spoils | (802 - 743 BV)
As with the First War of Spoils, new discoveries of ruins and secreted wealth led to searching for artifacts, riches, and tempting insights into greater magical power. However, this time it became a more wide-scale event, as many kingdoms, headed or influenced by Tarsu members, pushed the issue for their own gain. As with the previous collection of spoils, this craze burned out when the trickle of locales dried up and was picked over.
It was during this age that mages first ascended into wizard kings, taking up ruling their own territories as kings and queens and starting to amass followers and subjects as a true ruler would. Seeing their rising power, many turned to them for aid instead of the gods and their priests. This caused a decline in the faithful and worship of the pantheon in favor of the wizard kings—who took this growing attention to rise closer toward a divine rank with each new generation of devotees.
The Years of Perdition | (640 - 590 BV)
This was a chaotic time with the rising of wizards and the fracturing of faith and society. Poverty and other calamities came upon the land, forcing many into crime and other vices that further added fuel to the fire. The Gartaric Knights were created to combat these troublesome matters. For forty years they waged a massive campaign, gaining support all over Tralodren in a war against crime and injustice. These wars led to a massive recruitment and decreased unrest on a large scale, helping cement the knighthood into one of the oldest and most respected institutions in the world.
The Great Apostasy | (490 - 365 BV)
While the Gartaric Knights were respected, not many people held to the old ways as had their ancestors before them. As more and more people turned from the gods to the wizard kings, the temples and priesthoods faltered, shrank, and then faded. Many smaller shrines and places of worship were converted to serve the wizard kings instead. With the increase of this new godlessness of the masses, many faithful saw a great threat on the horizon and dreaded the day when it would fall upon them, taking out the last bastions of fealty to the pantheon.
Fenningway's Crusade | (465 - 455 BV)
Alarmed by the falling faith of his peers, a zealous gnome named Josiah Fenningway organized a militia group to combat the rising tide of the wizard kings. His plan was to turn people back to the truth and the gods, but it was a short-lived venture.
After preaching his messages and gaining more successes against weaker wizards, he was killed in 460 BV in a reprisal attack by a more powerful wizard queen who had grown tired of his efforts. For five years his followers traveled all over the world spreading his message, but they met with little success. At the end of this period they had either lost their zeal, been killed, or been silenced by fear.
During these centuries the wizard kings rose to their greatest heights. With such mastery of magical power and insight, which raised many to the rank of a divinity, they turned an envious eye toward each other in plotting for still more. Kingdoms and empires were their playthings, for no ruler dared touch them; all feared their power and ire. Faith in the gods reached its nadir. Temples were turned into houses for the glory of the wizard kings, and cults had begun to spring up around them, seeking to deify these mages for their great accomplishments and mere presence. Other rulers and some brave souls, however, would soon rise up to challenge the continual crushing domination under the wizard kings’ heels.
The Second Great Unrest | (405 - 370 BV)
Hard times became even harder when the wizard kings began to purchase large armies comprising the monstrous races that had made up the First Great Unrest and unleashed them on their enemies and weaker mages. All over the world these mercenary armies battled for their magical lords. Only by the efforts of the Gartaric Knights, other faithful warriors, and the remaining priests did the armies eventually shatter, and a fragile peace was able to return.
The Elven Cleansing | (380 - 300 BV)
This period was named for the bold actions of the Elyelmic emperor Dinous, who began a pogrom of slaughtering all mages and magically inclined individuals in the Republic of Colloni. It was a bloody affair but effective in ridding Colloni and its territories of any magical taint. Those who were not slaughtered in this campaign fled to more tolerant lands.
Dinous' War | (295 - 180 BV)
Seeing the success of his war, Dinous made his case to the other nations, offering to join forces to attack all the mages and wizard kings wherever they resided. Not all of these leaders took him up on the offer, but those who did waged a massive war against the wizard kings and the lower-ranked mages who followed them.
The war had found much success, when in 186 BV Dinous was killed by a fiery sphere falling upon his palace. The attack stilled the efforts of the other nations over the next six years as all learned the true threat of what they were facing and how they could all be next should any of their sworn opponents choose to make them an example.
This first series of battles were fought sporadically and took care of many of the lesser mages and weaker wizard kings across the world. With their knowledge captured by the victorious wizard kings, these conquerors grew even more powerful. No one dared interfere with these battles, as they feared to back a losing mage or, worse yet, risk the ire of both warring parties. So the wars continued, the numbers of mages fell, and the power and prestige of the victorious wizard kings grew.
The battles increased in frequency, duration, and intensity as more- skilled wizard kings began to raise massive armies to fight their foes. Cities and kingdoms were pushed aside in these battles like so much rubbish, and the victors grew ever more powerful. Many people were displaced, whole terrains were decimated, and new hardships, such as famine and disease, began to cover the world in a sickly shroud. To all who lived through these years, it seemed as if hope itself was dying.
Finally, all the fighting had winnowed away all the lesser mages till only a handful survived to battle for supreme rule over all. Continents were shaken, whole populations were slaughtered, and the world looked as if it were destined to become a terrible, hellish waste. The wizard kings didn’t care. Each battle brought them closer to their goal of total supremacy.
Eventually, these remaining wizard kings made their final press for total control of the areas in which they lived. As these plans for dominance grew, so too did the carnage they spawned. The battles they unleashed were something Tralodren hadn’t seen since the time of the titans and greatly displeased the gods. Seeing that nothing would change without their intervention, they brought about the end of the fighting and set their focus on dealing with the real root of the issue (as they saw it).
The start of this age is assumed to begin with the return of magic to Tralodren in 373 PV via a handful of mortals who once again came to understand the workings of magic, despite Dradin’s efforts to remove it. The pantheon was concerned, but— once they found out that Dradin had nothing to do with this event—they allowed it to continue under a wary eye. It was agreed that if wizard kings should ever again arise, even under the hindrances placed upon them by Dradin, then serious action would be taken.
Slowly at first mortalkind was awakened to their latent ability as knowledge and insight were increased across the globe. Added to this was the growing influence of the Tarsu, which had remained together through the Divine Vindication and the Age of Ash. As their ranks swelled, once more they sought ways to further spread the awareness of and acceptance for magic. These efforts would take some time, since many were still against the mages and any sort of return of magic in general, fearing a return to the dark days that they’d so recently clawed themselves out of. But as the generations passed, so too did some of the fear and ill will among those who were magically inclined, to the point that even academies were opened across the Northern Hemisphere for wizards’ education. And this happened seemingly without major opposition from priests, rulers, or even much of the general populace.
But magic wasn’t the only thing growing across the world. Trade and commerce would explode, built on a solid and secure foundation and favorable conditions brought on by years of peace. And along with the increase in trade and commerce grew the power of the people and organizations and nations who controlled those channels and resources. It was speculated by one scholar looking back on the timeline of this era that the gods must have wanted to provide a recompense to those who had previously suffered through so much. And thus his commentary inspired the name of this period.
The Great Silence | (753 PV - 760 PV)
This event is better marked and known by those who followed the shamanic religion. For in one day they lost contact with the power of their worship, forever silencing it and their shamans. In the ensuing seven years some sought answers, while others slowly changed their beliefs or stopped believing in anything altogether. It would mark the end of anyone on Tralodren being able to access something that was first discovered and adapted some ten thousand years before.
As to the reasons why it occurred and if the shamans would ever regain their power and abilities, there are no end to the stories. Some hold it to be a punishment from the gods for straying from their worship; others say it had something to do with the takeover of Arid Land by the Elyellium; still others think that the shamans finally wore out or even used up whatever power or abilities they had been tapping into for so long. None know nor will ever know for certain, which makes the loss all the harder to accept for those who once knew the shamanic religion, beliefs, and practices so intimately.
This was a bittersweet time on Tralodren. The world was torn from many wars and had to heal. People returned to the faith of their ancestors, rejecting the ways of the wizard kings, which had left them disillusioned and their lives and lands ruined. Over time the nations were rebuilt, and all returned to the state of peace that had been in existence before the horrible wars and the wizards who had caused them came to power.
The start of this age is assumed to begin with the return of magic to Tralodren in 373 PV via a handful of mortals who once again came to understand the workings of magic, despite Dradin’s efforts to remove it. The pantheon was concerned, but— once they found out that Dradin had nothing to do with this event—they allowed it to continue under a wary eye. It was agreed that if wizard kings should ever again arise, even under the hindrances placed upon them by Dradin, then serious action would be taken.
Slowly at first mortalkind was awakened to their latent ability as knowledge and insight were increased across the globe. Added to this was the growing influence of the Tarsu, which had remained together through the Divine Vindication and the Age of Ash. As their ranks swelled, once more they sought ways to further spread the awareness of and acceptance for magic. These efforts would take some time, since many were still against the mages and any sort of return of magic in general, fearing a return to the dark days that they’d so recently clawed themselves out of. But as the generations passed, so too did some of the fear and ill will among those who were magically inclined, to the point that even academies were opened across the Northern Hemisphere for wizards’ education. And this happened seemingly without major opposition from priests, rulers, or even much of the general populace.
But magic wasn’t the only thing growing across the world. Trade and commerce would explode, built on a solid and secure foundation and favorable conditions brought on by years of peace. And along with the increase in trade and commerce grew the power of the people and organizations and nations who controlled those channels and resources. It was speculated by one scholar looking back on the timeline of this era that the gods must have wanted to provide a recompense to those who had previously suffered through so much. And thus his commentary inspired the name of this period.
The Great Silence | (753 PV - 760 PV)
This event is better marked and known by those who followed the shamanic religion. For in one day they lost contact with the power of their worship, forever silencing it and their shamans. In the ensuing seven years some sought answers, while others slowly changed their beliefs or stopped believing in anything altogether. It would mark the end of anyone on Tralodren being able to access something that was first discovered and adapted some ten thousand years before.
As to the reasons why it occurred and if the shamans would ever regain their power and abilities, there are no end to the stories. Some hold it to be a punishment from the gods for straying from their worship; others say it had something to do with the takeover of Arid Land by the Elyellium; still others think that the shamans finally wore out or even used up whatever power or abilities they had been tapping into for so long. None know nor will ever know for certain, which makes the loss all the harder to accept for those who once knew the shamanic religion, beliefs, and practices so intimately.