====== The History of the World ======

The history of the prime world has been divided into three "ages" by historians,
plus a one-thousand year "dark age" from which no records remain.  In actuality,
these ages consist of several distinct eras, ranging in size from only a century
to more than a millennium.  A brief breakdown of the eras follows:

//Calendar years are denoted with a roman numeral for the "age" followed by the
year.  Example: "III:1090" is the year 1090 in the third age.//

==== Era 0 ====

This period of time is unknown to even the gods, as it is the time before the
gods arrived at the [[twenty worlds]].  It ended when the gods gave the [[heaven
spire]] to the [[prime world]].

==== Era I : ca. I:1 - I:864 ====

This era consisted of the rise of the first civilization.  Very few records
remained for the priests and scholars of 864 to use as a basis for the new
calendar they were trying to develop.  Thus, the year 864 was chosen as the best
approximation, and was based more on legend than fact.  The actual length of
this era has been estimated as anywhere from five hundred years to two thousand
years.

==== Era II : I:864 - I:2108 ====

This era saw the founding of the first [[spire kingdom]] at its beginning, and
the collapse of that same kingdom at the end.  One of the many contributions of
this kingdom was the founding of the first wizard's council: [[gûlaraî|the order
of the gûlaraî]].

==== Era III : I:2108 - I:2631 ====

After the collapse of the first [[spire kingdom]], a descendant of the first
line of spire kings reclaimed [[heaven spire|the spire]] and its lands as part
of the new [[Brúlan]] kingdom, forming the second [[spire kingdom]].  At the end
of this era, a young member of the [[gûlaraî]] named [[Nakam Alkat]] was framed
by the [[Ainagûl]] [[Psalor]] and cast out of the order by his peers.  In the
end, [[Nakam Alkat]] got his revenge on the order, causing the beginning of
their end, and [[Psalor]] was cast out by his deity.  In the resulting chaos,
[[Brúlan]] was weakened and overtaken by orcs.

==== Era IV : I:2631 - I:2902 ====

After a brief [[spire kingdom]] ruled by orcs, the kingdom of [[Kéaralor]]
("Bright Hill-lands") reclaimed [[heaven spire|the spire]] for the humans and
founded the third [[spire kingdom]].  This is also the time of the [[Pioneers]]
and the [[D'Hari campaign]].

Early in this era, [[Nakam Alkat]] was killed by a sword-wielding hero.  Before
his death, though, he made a pact with [[Hades]] to insure his "survival".
Thus, late in this era, [[Nakam Alkat]] returned as the undead [[Dark Mage]].

In addition to inciting the barbarians to move on the civilized world, the "Dark
Mage" deceived many prominent priests into thinking that their gods have turned
their backs on them.  The result lead to the downfall of more than one nation.
When the [[spire kingdom]] itself began to falter, the aged king confronted the
[[Dark Mage]] himself.  In an act born of desperation, the king called upon his
divine-given power over [[heaven spire|the spire]] to burn the mage from the
face of the world.  This succeeded, but the vane use of the gods' greatest gift
forced it to crack, jolting the land around it with a massive earthquake.

The stunned spire king was then easily slain by the barbarian king (working with
the [[Dark Mage]] at the time).  The barbarian then took the [[Dark Mage]]'s
sword of fire: [[Alakîr Lubár]] for his own, not knowing that the mage was able
to transfer his essence into it as he was being burned.  Shortly thereafter,
when the deceived priests began to denounce their gods, more than one god grew
angry.  In a great tribunal, the gods decreed that the magic shall be stripped
from the world as a punishment.

==== Era V : I:2902 - I:3902 ====

Without magic, the world suffered greatly.  Many nations supported in part by
magic were left unprotected against the advancing barbarians.  Many magic-based
creatures grew sick or died, leaving a world populated almost exclusively by
humans.  In an effort to protect their races, [[Corellon]] and [[Gruumsh]]
construct two gems to contain the essences of their respective races: elves and
orcs.  The result was a gradual transformation to humanity for both races.
Similarly, the dragon gods constructed the eight orbs of the dragonkind to keep
the dragons alive.  Unlike the two other gems, though, the orbs allowed for all
true dragons to remain alive, albeit at a significantly reduced power level.

The last vestige of civilization, kept alive despite its lack of magical
defenses, was the Tower of the Lords, [[Maíl Lúral]]. This great tower finally
was overtaken in the year 3028.  Beyond this point, no written records remain.
Tradition says that this era was exactly 1,000 years long - however there is
some controversy about this figure among historians.

==== Era VI : II:1 - II:112 ====

This era began when the thousand-year "dark age" was ended by the gods.  In a
sudden influx of mana, many features that once were dominated by magic were
found to have changed.  Where the ruins of the original spire city lay, a city
sprang up almost overnight.  The people nearby immediately settled it and called
it [[Larum]].  Meanwhile, many a surprised human found their features gradually
flow back into those of an elf or orc.

The newly-revived elves were lucky enough to possess not only their racial
weapon: [[Mancú Rilmaeg]], but also the great gem of Corellon: [[Luinmîr]].  The
wielders of these two artifacts were a man and woman who were wed and formed the
great elven kingdom known thereafter as [[Formlondë]].  The orcs, similarly
armed with the [[gem of Gruumsh]], formed their own alliance, though it was not
as strong due to their in-fighting.  Never-the-less, they posed enough of a
threat to the elves to fight the great battle of [[Barámon]] (the spire hill),
when both races decided to claim the still-cracked heaven spire.  The orc's
leader, known as the "one-eye", was slain in this battle by the elvish king
armed with [[Mancú Rilmaeg]]. In the end, the orcs were barely beaten back and
the elvish queen called on the power of [[Luinmîr]] to heal [[heaven spire|the
spire]]. This all took place in the year 112, and the fourth [[spire kingdom]]
was born.

==== Era VII : II:112 - II:854 ====

With the heaven spire restored, the [[Dark Mage]] re-formed.  The wielder of
[[Alakîr Lubár]], a prominent barbarian, found himself overtaken by the [[Dark
Mage]]'s mind, and travelled back to the [[Dark Mage]]'s still-standing castle.
While the mage rebuilt his body and power, the elves rebuilt the Tower of the
Lords and named it [[Minas Moríant]] ("Tower of Bridging Darkness").

When the human hero [[Brant]] of the North Hills found the great sword
[[Kelva]], the humans were able to reclaim [[heaven spire|the spire]].  Due to
the elves' short tenure and the peaceful exchange that occurred, historians
consider the elvish [[spire kingdom]] and the human kingdom that replaced it to
be one and the same. Meanwhile, by the year 119, the [[Dark Mage]] had
established his usual foothold, and had made yet another deal with [[Hades]].
This time, his twelve closest followers were transformed by the god into
[["demonwraiths"]], creatures half-demon and half-undead. Then, the [[Dark
Mage]] constructed a magical medallion and scepter for each, plus a master set
for himself.

Armed with these, the twelve terrorized the world until the year 140, when the
[[Dark Mage]] was struck down suddenly by the combined power of the wizard
[[Kwalish]] and the time-displaced [[ozzie|Lord Ozzie]] (see Era X and XI).
[[Kwalish]] then destroyed the master medallion, causing the simultaneous, but
temporary, discorporation of the twelve [[demonwraiths]].  Seeing no easy way to
destroy the scepter, and fearing its power would eventually revive the mage,
[[Kwalish]] cast the master scepter into the timestream, hoping it would never
be found. [[ozzie|Lord Ozzie]] then burned the [[Dark Mage]]'s corpse with the
sword of fire and returned to his own time with the sword.

The twelve leaderless [[demonwraiths]] tried in vain to summon their master, and
eventually went into hiding to await his return. They did emerge, though, and
acted on their own at the end of this era.  In a series of battles, ending with
the great [[Dagórmarth]] (Battle of Doom), the [[spire kingdom]] was brought to
its knees and the great sword [[Kelva]] fell into the hands of the
[[demonwraith]]'s leader.

==== Era VIII : II:854 - II:1929 ====

Without the sword [[Kelva]], the heirs of [[Brant]] were unable to reclaim
[[heaven spire|the spire]], and no [[spire kingdom]] existed during this time.
The greatest nation in the world became [[arral_empire|Arral]], in the plains of
[[thentao|the "southern" continent]].  The [[demonwraiths]], armed with the
sword and guarding [[heaven spire|the spire]], surprised everybody by doing
nothing.  The elves form the [[Rimtiír]] ("watchful numbers") to keep tabs on
the twelve, but nothing changed for centuries.

In the year 1719, the [[demonwraiths]] found the master scepter and revived the
[[Dark Mage]].  In one of the greatest mistakes ever made by the overconfident
mage, the spire was abandoned.  For years, the twelve ravaged the world,
bringing it to its knees by the early 1800's.  Then, in 1821, a hero named
[[Egmont]] of the great vale (the coastline where [[Larum]] was) succeeded in
wresting the sword [[Kelva]] from the [[demonwraith]] leader.  The elven king
[[Taulauren]], armed with [[Mancú Rilmaeg]], and the dwarvish king [[Môrgli]],
armed with the axe [[Rûklil]] joined forces with [[Egmont]] to vanquish the
twelve once and for all.  This quest consumed the remainder of [[Egmont]]'s
life, and when the hero finally died in 1866, only eight of the twelve had been
sealed in their makeshift tombs.  [[Egmont]]'s grandson, [[Osbert]], though,
carried on where his grandfather had left off and brought the final four down by
the year 1927, when [[Osbert]] died.

Meanwhile, the [[Dark Mage]] was faced with a diminishing roster of
[[demonwraiths]] and so in 1898 made a pact with the orc one-eye. The orcs then
began heated attacks against the human nations.  The current [[Ainagûl]],
[[Aurén Ilay]] responded by taking steps to destroy the mage.  [[Aurén
Ilay|Ilay]] constructed ten artifacts, designed specifically for use by the elf-
king [[Taulauren]].  With these artifacts, [[Taulauren]] would have been
powerful enough to destroy the [[Dark Mage]] in combat. However, unknown to
[[Aurén Ilay]], the [[Dark Mage]] had acquired from the orc one-eye the
[[Luinmîr|gem of Corellon]].  Its power was such that no elf could harm its
wielder.

In February of 1929, the [[Dark Mage]] refused to grant the orc one-eye certain
promised provisions and so the orcs rebelled against the mage.  As punishment,
the mage killed the one-eye and massacred hundreds more.  This act so angered
[[Gruumsh]] that the god defied the agreed rules of divine intervention and
confronted the [[Dark Mage]] himself.  [[Hades]] noticed the intervention and
granted the mage the power to confront [[Gruumsh]] on the same power level.  The
result left a badly beaten and enraged [[Gruumsh]] fleeing for his life.

Seeing their opportunity, [[Aurén Ilay]] sent [[Taulauren]] against the weakened
[[Dark Mage]], but the elf-king found himself powerless against [[Luinmîr]].  In
desperation, [[Aurén Ilay]] stepped in himself and struck out with the [[Demon
Dagger]], specially enchanted to imprison the mage.  Meanwhile, [[Gruumsh]],
blinded by his rage, diverted a handy, nearby meteor to impact directly onto the
[[Dark Mage]]'s castle. So powerful was this impact that it devastated not only
the castle, but all land for sixty miles in all directions.  Ironically, the
[[Dark Mage]] was safely imprisoned at the time and so avoided the blast.
[[Aurén Ilay]], though, was not as fortunate.

The crater left by the impact quickly filled with sea water, sending an enormous
geyser of steam into the atmosphere for days.  All life on the eastern half of
[[Immenri]] was snuffed out.  Those left alive on the western half were either
killed or forced to flee within a year by the sudden climactic shift.  The great
nation of [[arral_empire|Arral]], along with the [[Syiin Empire]] both collapsed
when earthquakes and downpours cast several cities into chaos.  It should be
noted that magical protections became undependable when vast quantities of mana
were diverted by the gods to stem any further destruction.  Within ten years,
the [[Arral Empire]] was in ruins and its surviving populace were fleeing the
encroaching desert.

==== Era IX : III:1 - III:356 ====

This era is characterized by the formation of numerous nomadic and barbaric
tribes and the painfully slow restoration of civilization.  With the shift in
climate, the lands previously inhabitable became all but unlivable.
[[immenri|The northern continent]] became arctic tundra and the great plains of
[[thentao|the main continent]] became a [[sea of sand|vast desert]].  The strips
of land along the north and south of the main continent as well as [[n'galt|the
eastern continent]] became the main centers for life.

==== Era X : III:356 - III:1105 ====

At the beginning of this era, the great warrior, [[Scardore, Lord]], unearthed
the [[good trio|good trio of might]] and brought four rival barbarian tribes
together to form the kingdom of [[Backbone]].  He declared that although the
heaven spire was lost in the explosion, this kingdom would become the new
[[spire kingdom]] and he constructed a scaled-down spire in the mountains
overlooking the city as a symbol.  The mountains themselves were dubbed the
"Backbone of the world", thus the kingdom's name.

[[Scardore, Lord|Scardore]]'s reign lasted for only a few years before he was
assassinated and the [[good trio]] stolen.  Never-the-less, the kingdom
flourished under his dynasty, and slowly it grew, inspiring the formation of
other nations as well.

In the year 1094, a hero magician named [[Sorgul]] was trapped by [[Hades]] and
forced to become the thirteenth [[demonwraith]]: [[Solgar]]. Through him,
[[Hades]] was able to free the [[Dark Mage]] in the year 1098.  The twelve
[[demonwraiths]], whose imprisonment spells had faded over the years, were also
freed during this time. Thus, the great kingdom of [[Backbone]] fell to the
twelve.

In 1104, [[Solgar]] was restored to his true form by his goddess Bast.  Together
with the heroes [[ozzie|Lord Ozzie]], [[Rathwyn]], [[Sly]], [[Karelia]],
[[Cale]], [[Strachan]], Lord [[Norwood]], [[Tarialaî|Tarialaî Thoranna]], and
[[Wacarnelian|Wacarnelian Medibeard]], [[Sorgul]] was able to retrieve not only
the [[good trio|good trio of might]], but also the [[disks of odin|three disks
and the eye of Odin]], and the three [[racial weapons]]: [[Kelva]], [[Rûklil]],
and [[Mancú Rilmaeg]]. With these tools, the heroes were able to permanently
destroy the [[Dark Mage]]'s master scepter in 1104 and vanquish the mage and his
twelve [[demonwraiths]] in 1105.  (For more details, see [[Recent|Recent World
History]]).

==== Era XI : III:1105 - present ====

Only three years after the defeat of the [[Dark Mage]], the world was thrown
into a new kind of chaos when the [[Shadowlord]] overthrew the Elemental Lords
and converted the [[Elemental World]] into pure Shadow (a substance comprised of
an equal mixture of all six elements).

This had the effect of altering the nature of magic throughout the [[twenty
worlds]].  While most wizards were able to adapt to the new magic, the time it
took some of them upset the balance of power considerably.  Because of this, the
[[council|Council of Wizards]] were unable to meet for over a year.

Now, the events throughout most of the world are characterized by reconstruction
in the face of the devastation brought by the [[Dark Mage]].  With the fall of
the kingdoms along the north coast of [[thentao|the main continent]], the most
prominent kingdoms became [[Rota]] (on [[N'Galt|the eastern continent]]), and
the [[spindrift|Spindrift isles]].