Eras and Timeline

INCOMPLETE DRAFT

The history of Gimahn is vast, much knowledge was lost in the Age of Storms, and everything prior to that era (and indeed some events in the early Age of Storms) is considered mythology if it is even remembered at all.

The time before Gimahn.

• Event: The birth of The Sun and The Moon.
• Event: The creation of Gimahn to entertain the celestial children.

Time of the First Men and Beasts

• Some goddamn shenanigans that's what's up. A whole lot of mythology getting done right in hur.
• The Mirage is discovered by Garria, wisest of the First Hares
• Event: The War of Turmoil
• Event: The death of Magic (I guess bad things happen when you kill a god of magic) Existing magic remains, but new magic is not created. The gates to the Mirage are sealed by its denizens.

Mostly city states and surroundings. lots of powerful heroes and high fantasy and epic odysseys happened in this era

• Event: Birth of the New Gods in the wake of the old gods defeat (technically some of the ancients ascended to godhood during the War of Turmoil, but they were a little too busy to unpack all that much less celebrate ok)
• The great dwarven hero Dandrin Stonehew builds the magical bridge, Bilrifa, to connect Arda with Salkan in order to win a bet with the giant chief Trolfarn Graytooth as to who has the longer stride.
• Event: Founding of Haneul (floating city of the gods)
• The Packborn leader Karskar Moonsong is exiled and set adrift, he reaches the shores of Arda, sparking interest in his homeland of Urbarran. After recruiting a party to retake his homeland from a usurper, trade routes are established across the sea.
• Piracy becomes a problem and tales spread of notable captains engaging in mighty battles across the shipping lanes.

The time of Clashing Empires and Technomancy

• The magic inherent in the blood of heroes begins to thin out over generations. What magic is left is used to create engines of war and weapons.
• Event: Haneul Usurped by Jellanile (the Ancient of the Sky)
• Some dynasties attempt to assert themselves through strategic marriages of those with the most powerful magic.
• Vast spreading empires grow out of kingdoms, and control of the great bridge, Bilrifa, becomes a source of conflict due to the influence over trade with Salkan.
• A series of bloody wars spread across multiple continents.
• A great magical explosion lays waste to the land surrounding Bilrifa, leaving it lifeless and desolate and the bridge itself nonfunctioning. With that route to trade closed, the focus turns to the sea.
• Mighty naval battles begin to wage war on the seas, pirates become more subtle scavengers and opportunists, picking away at derelict ships and damaged vessels.

The time of devastation and lawlessness

• Magic becomes quite rare with only a few carefully cultivated blood lines reliably producing mages. Any rumors of new mages are actively investigated so that new mages can be taken to various strongholds. Magic is viewed with suspicion or even as an unfortunate curse since mages are employed purely for war research.
• The wars that plague the races of Gimahn become an annoyance to the gods, and angered by the amount of smoke filling her sky, Jellanile convinces Varunak and Bav Catha to help her clear her domain with a great storm. They create a hurricane that sweeps across the world. Great cities crumble and nations are wiped from the map under the great storm's assault. The storm lasts a year and a day before one of the great elder oaks is split asunder.
• Envoys from the Mirage steps forth from the split oak, and engages in negotiations with the gods and the ancient of air. The great hurricane ceases that same day.
• Unwilling to completely release the mortals from their punishment, Varunak continues to assault the oceans with storms.
• Somehow the pirate ships of the northern seas seem able to withstand the storms. They must use smaller vessels and stay close to shore, but their ability to sail at all is seen as some sort of miracle.
• Rumors of a pirate god able to withstand the divine might of the storms begins to spread. Pirates declare their deity is the sea itself.
• In the seas along Arda's central coast, a mighty human adventurer named Erefon declares he will defeat the storms and set sail to one of the now legendary other lands. He hatches a plan to distract Varunak and sets sail. Despite massive damage to his vessel and the loss of his charts he manages to make it safely back to port carrying treasures and stories of far off lands shrouded in darkness and filled with treasure from the heavens.
• Emboldened by his prior success, Erefon sets sail once again, determined to try and find his way to those dark lands for more treasure. This time Varunak is prepared for his attempts to fool him and sinks Erefon's ship.
• Erefon somehow returns home, riding a dolphin and carrying with him a single gold necklace with hammered moons as proof of his trip's success.
• Erefon sets sail again, but this time he does not return. He is immortalized in legend, and inspired by his stories more and more adventurers begin to set sail despite the storms.
• As more adventurers continue to sacrifice themselves in attempts to sail, Varunak feels pity on them and withdraws his storms from coasts, keeping them restricted to the deeper oceans.
• The continents remain cut off from each other, the nations of the first men struggle to recover, and though they occasionally return to war, it is without the same firepower and devastation as the technology of the prior age is lost and forgotten.

A time of slow recovery

• The Croaker falls from the sky, and while starving creates the stars. He is found by Kesmirl a daughter of a once mighty bloodline. She aids him, and in return he allows magic to return to Gimahn and helps her establish the first bardic college.
• With the bardic college and old libraries being discovered, there is a small resurgence in technology, leading to improvements in smithing and mining.
• Discovery of an ancient weapon leads to The Croaker becoming injured by an errant shot. He becomes so incensed he focuses his magic on ruining such weapons.
• Between old bloodlines and new surges of magical energy, magic begins to experience a resurgence. It is still rare, but not unheard of, and begins to lose old stigmas
• The resurgence of magic also leads to an increase in monstrous creatures from the wilds, and more doorways to the Mirage opening. This creates new hazards for men both civilized and wild. The greatest concentration of magic becomes known as The Wilderfont.
• The kingdoms are still small, and fielding armies are impractical, but mercenaries in the form of adventurers emerge to handle the growing dangers that emerge from the magically infused wilds, inspired by songs and tales of ancient heroes.
• The Devourer is slain by a Queen of the yuanti. She assumes the slain god's form and becomes the new Devourer.

When the great kingdoms were formed, the current era. Began 500 to 1000 years ago.

• With pressure taken off of the population centers, some kingdoms begin to thrive and are able to field armies to both establish and maintain their borders.
• The Wilderfont remains untamed and dangerous, and no nation dares to claim it.
• On Arda, the kingdoms and most of the population remain clustered around the central regions of the continent.
• When a love struck bard kills a royal heir to run away with his betrothed, war is ignited when one kingdom harbors the couple from the wrath of the slain prince's father. The nations form a tangled web of alliances: the Black Feather Coalition and the Blood Oath Alliance, and The Long Quarrel plagues the continent of Arda.
• The Blood Rains begin. The dead begin to rise unless they are consecrated and given proper burials to their chosen deities. Cults dedicated to The Devourer begin to grow in number.
• After 50 years the war ends as kingdoms draw hasty truces in response to the blood rains and the surge of undead, though by the end of it, most people have forgotten why they warred to begin with.
• A decade after the Blood Rains began, a group of adventurers kill The Devourer, as well as Den Mother Bura. A new Devourer is born, but the Blood Rains end. The undead still rise, though not as frequently.
• The Albino Kraken begins to terrorize the pirate infested waters of the North Sea as well as its shores with its cultists