Category:Relics

"Long is the strand of history."

- Al'Jibran



At a Glance
From the earliest days to the present age, the history of the world is exciting, rich in detail and totally engrossing. Take a trip into the past, whether it's thousands and thousands of years, or just yesterday. Recorded history of the known world is split into ages, each a distinct and fascinating period of its own.

Days of Thunder
Timeline: -700, 000 DR to -335,000 DR
 * A majority of glaciers left by the cooling of the mortal plane's oceans recede and sea levels lower enough for the first life to begin.
 * A rain of meteors fall to the mortal plane and the first Dragons appear shortly thereafter. Some scholars interpret the ancient texts as suggesting the meteors precipitated a dramatic climatic change, sparking the rapid evolution of proto-dragons into the various dragon species. Others claim the meteors were in fact falling dragon eggs, from which the varied races of Dragons and Dragonborn were born into this world.
 * Ancient artistic relics first indicate the belief in a Divine Pantheon along with the possibility of extradimensional realms.
 * First recordings of Dark Sun and Tiamat appear.
 * Goblins and Orcs rampage across the land and the first Genasi appear.
 * Hamadryads gene-memory first remember the cartography of the land.
 * The Hengeyokai known as the Akiri take control of the Spires of Akir.

Founding Time
Timeline: -335,000 DR to -140,000 DR
 * Tel'Quessir (Elf-Kin) writings place -335,000 DR as the origin of the Tel'Quessir race on the province of Tel'Quessir.
 * Fey-Kin such as Satyrs, Pixies, and Minotaurs first appear in The Wanderwastes.
 * The Wilden are first rumoured to be seen off the coast of The Wanderwastes but would not be seen by overlanders for another 30,000 years.
 * The first appearance of the Divine Pantheon on the mortal plane: Bahamut appears to the Dragons, inviting them to his realm in the Astral Sea as Melora appears to the Tel'Quessir. The Dragons take special interest in guiding the other mortal races, but their machniations are regarded as heavy-handed by most, resulting in sporadic conflicts between mortals and Dragons.
 * The nomadic Shadar-Kai emege and begin a campaign to stop the raids of Goblins and Orcs. The 700-year conflict results in the decline of Goblin and Orc culture from which it never recovers.
 * The first Dwarves come above ground in -20,000 DR and begin tempered communications with the overland world.

Dawn of Strife
Timeline: -140,000 DR to -120,000 DR
 * The empires of Andea and Dondea are founded by the newly emerged race known as the Deva, angelic humanoids who take The Near Reaches are their home.
 * The Tel'Quessir (Elf-kin), unsatisfied with their modest empire travel across the sea to Central Dominaria. Others seek a new promised land across and travel south across The Black Depths, never being heard from again. Not long after this expansion, a massive ideological civil war erupts amongst the Tel'Quessir as to who should rule the expanding kingdom. This fractures the race into the Wood Elves, Eladrin, and Drow. The Wood Elves stay in Tel'Quessir's forests, regarding it as their "promised land" while the Drow head underground seeking theirs. The Eladrin invest their resources into travelling to Central Dominaria and the schism between the three factions sees the collapse of Tel'Quessir's native lands.
 * Drow attempting to travel through The Underdark first encounter Lolth and Torog, much to their dismay. They are cursed and taken under the thrall of Lolth herself, forming The Nine Clans.
 * Mortals first begin to tap into the Realm of Dreams, communing with the Goddess Rem. The Kalashtar are first encountered by mortals.
 * A group of humanoids come under the corruption of the dark god Nerull, becoming transformed into the Tieflings.
 * In an effort to dominate the continent a series of Dwarves in The Steelsands declare war on their neighbours but quickly find themselves grossly outmatched. Facing defeat, it is in an act of desperation that these warmongers, lead by Sargen the Silent create The Warforged, becoming unstoppable automatons but losing their souls in the process. Humbled by his actions, Sargen orders his Warforged to hide deep beneath the earth and go into stasis until a time that his creations can be defeated.

First Necrotic War
Timeline: -120,000 DR to 119,700 DR
 * Stirlar the Imperishable and his Skaven allies wage war against the combined kingdoms of Central Dominaria, The Near Reaches, Tel'Quessir, The Steelsands, the Wanderwastes, the Land Across the Sea, and the Heartland, becoming the first global conflict. Many towns were decimated and abandoned as a result of the war and parts of the world are left permanently scarred by its foul magics. Stirlar is defeated but the event results in widespread distrust between the nations. As such, trade is cut off and the mortal plane goes into a period of isolation.

The Scattering
Timeline: -119,700 DR to -3,200 DR
 * Following the events of the First Necrotic War, races fan out from Central Dominaria into new lands, seeking to escape further conflicts.
 * Engaging on a "Second Pilgrimage", many elf-kin seek to travel across The Black Depths to find the remnants of their ancestors. These ships vanish, the cause being a mystery, and they are never to be seen again. The ancient Eladrin city of Niccasar is finally abandoned.
 * As a collateral damage from the First Necrotic War, the Raven Queen, a god of death, destroys Andea and Dondea, fracturing the Deva people.
 * The Tieflings, fastest to rebuild after the First Necrotic War, take control of The Heartlands.
 * Lolth casts a curse that prevents all travel in or out of The Underdark called "The Silence of Lolth", further isolating the different mortal races.. The only mortals able to break this veil, the Drow, continue to travel between the extradimensional plane and the mortal one.

Era of Upheaval
Timeline: -3,200 to -205 DR
 * The first human nation of Neverwinter appears.
 * Satellite cities around Neverwinter struggle for control in Central Dominaria, leading to the belief that the human race will be short-lived by most Fey or Elf-kin.
 * The Kingdom of Kirkdom is founded by a family of psionic human monarchs.
 * Seeking to dispatch their enemies in one masterful stroke, the stone soul Genasi of Isstossef rerouted the Narrow Sea so that it ran from west to east, draining the Elemental Eyrie of its ocean. The massive ecological change resulted in an instability in the plates and resulted in the explosion of the the volcano of Zalta, reshaping the land once more and swinging the balance of power into the hands of the cindersoul Genasi.
 * The Tieflings abandon Nerull as their patron deity.

Crown Wars
Timeline: -205 DR to -30 DR
 * Following the annexation of land held by the "short-lived" humans, the Republic of Pallanaise sparks a conflict with the Kingdom of Kirkdom in a battle for control of Central Dominaria. Expecting the humans to relent to their magical might, they are shocked when the rest of the human duchies side with Kirkdom, galvanized when the kingdom of Neverwinter is destroyed in a crossfire between Kirkdom and Pallanaise (an event of propaganda used by both sides). A massive conflict emerges that lasts for 100 years until the beginning of the Second Necrotic War.
 * The renowned Tower of Lyne, a refuge for the downtrodden, is destroyed in a ritual conducted by the illusionist and sorcerer Moor. There are no survivors.

Second Necrotic War
Timeline: -30 DR to -26 DR
 * The Second Necrotic War was a centralized conflict that erupted between the secretive Cult of Vecna and the kingdoms of Central Dominaria. The heroes of the war, The Fate Dancers, were a group of for-riches adventurers who brokered peace between the opposing armies of Kirkdom and Pallanaise to take down the Cult of Vecna, winning the war and ushering an era where nations and peoples sought to work together for the first time in almost 10,000 years.
 * Lolth is captured by her brother Torog and travel through the Underdark's portals begins again.

Age of Adventure
Timeline: -4 DR to Present
 * Dissatisfied with the aloof and often meddling behaviour of the Gods, many mortals begin to go to war in veneration of their own patron deity. The "pantheon" is broken into a disperate group of gods of which worship is varied.
 * Newly titled "Adventurers" seek to travel the world in a journey for power, fame, or truth.

Era of Dark Sun
Timeline: ??? (Future)
 * In the not-too-distant future, the world is ravaged by a cosmic flare unleashed by the God of Annihilation Tiamat. Mortal forces, seeking to survive in the devastated land, do battle amongst themselves and time-travelling foes.