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=The Turning Years= | =The Turning Years= | ||
| − | We don't have a calendar or exact dates thrashed out yet, but we have got an agreed narrative of local history. The earliest parts are very much broad strokes, while the more recent events are more precisely described and more localised to | + | We don't have a calendar or exact dates thrashed out yet, but we have got an agreed narrative of local history. The earliest parts are very much broad strokes, while the more recent events are more precisely described and more localised to the starting nation. (Main decision: [http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?761590-D-amp-D-5e-Let-s-build-a-setting!&p=19350267#post19350267]) |
==Mythic History== | ==Mythic History== | ||
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* The gods created intelligent life. | * The gods created intelligent life. | ||
| − | * The Elder Dragon God | + | * The Elder Dragon God gave the light side of the world to the dragons and their kin. |
* The warm-blooded elder race tried tunneling through the world to reach the light side, and were shattered into the current range of races. | * The warm-blooded elder race tried tunneling through the world to reach the light side, and were shattered into the current range of races. | ||
| − | * | + | * Chief-God overthrew Elder Dragon God. |
| − | * | + | * The Trickster God bound chief-fiend with a pact which also prevents the gods from intervening too directly in the world. |
| − | * The first sorcerers were created by drinking | + | * The first sorcerers were created by drinking Elder Dragon God's spilled blood. |
* The first warlocks were created by learning enough of the Divine Language to make pacts. | * The first warlocks were created by learning enough of the Divine Language to make pacts. | ||
* The first wizards were created by learning to shape the Divine Language into new magic. | * The first wizards were created by learning to shape the Divine Language into new magic. | ||
| − | * | + | * A great priest-ruler was healed by a travelling hero. |
==Before the Fall== | ==Before the Fall== | ||
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It's widely known that the current 'dark side' of the world was once the light and fruitful side, and ''vice versa''. It's also widely suspected that this has happened many times previously, back into prehistory. Several things are known or believed to have happened before the sides most recently changed: | It's widely known that the current 'dark side' of the world was once the light and fruitful side, and ''vice versa''. It's also widely suspected that this has happened many times previously, back into prehistory. Several things are known or believed to have happened before the sides most recently changed: | ||
| − | * Gnomes settled on the | + | * Gnomes settled on the plateau east of the mountains before other warm-blooded people. |
| − | * The Kumötib orcs settled on the plateau and the steppes | + | * The Kumötib orcs settled on the plateau and the steppes. |
* The elves had a great and flourishing empire on the far side. | * The elves had a great and flourishing empire on the far side. | ||
* On the far side there was also a magic-using culture that spoke the Old Mystic tongue and wrote in cuneiform. | * On the far side there was also a magic-using culture that spoke the Old Mystic tongue and wrote in cuneiform. | ||
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* Shortly after the flip: After the dwarves show up, many others from the new dark side follow: refugees from the fall of the elven empire, its neighbours and dependents. | * Shortly after the flip: After the dwarves show up, many others from the new dark side follow: refugees from the fall of the elven empire, its neighbours and dependents. | ||
| − | |||
* About 500 years ago: Mage guilds are founded, and rapidly become the exclusive preserve of wizards. At this stage, the guilds are just trade associations. | * About 500 years ago: Mage guilds are founded, and rapidly become the exclusive preserve of wizards. At this stage, the guilds are just trade associations. | ||
| − | + | * About 350 years ago: A great half-orc conqueror descended from the lords of the southwestern mountains unites most of the region, driving a fledgling elf state down into the coastal region. The conqueror crushes opposition ruthlessly, and establishes a strong empire centred on the starting nation. Slavery is abolished, and many modern institutions are founded. | |
| − | * About 350 years ago: | + | * About 275 years ago: The empire begins to crumble. Province after province drops off, either seceding without significant opposition or being conquered by others. In the absence of both mage guilds and imperial infrastructure, people turn to the previously-ignored insect-people for aid. A form of rudimentary communication is established, and the insect-people build great earthworks around many towns and cities in exchange for food and unimpeded travel. |
| − | |||
| − | * About 275 years ago: The empire begins to crumble. Province after province drops off, either seceding without significant opposition or being conquered by others. In the absence of both mage guilds and imperial infrastructure, | ||
| − | |||
==The Rise of the Magocracy== | ==The Rise of the Magocracy== | ||
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* About 230 years ago: The mage guilds start infiltrating the governments of the empire's successor states. Some states simply accept a guild as their sole supplier of high-level magic. Others are taken over completely, and become magocracies. | * About 230 years ago: The mage guilds start infiltrating the governments of the empire's successor states. Some states simply accept a guild as their sole supplier of high-level magic. Others are taken over completely, and become magocracies. | ||
| − | * About 150 years ago: | + | * About 150 years ago: The starting nation is taken over entirely by a guild specialising in the schools of evocation and abjuration. All public offices are made exclusive to wizards; the traditional quasi-military civic government is suspended. |
| − | * About 140 years ago: The mages in | + | * About 140 years ago: The mages in the starting nation dissolve the local bardic colleges and outlaw bardic rites and traditions. This mirrors similar restrictions in other magocratic states. |
| − | * About 120 years ago: The Dragonborn experience a mysterious religious renewal, and start settling in small communities around | + | * About 120 years ago: The Dragonborn experience a mysterious religious renewal, and start settling in small communities around the region. |
* About 100 years ago: Extremists in the coastal elven nation begin agitating for the restoration of the ancient elven empire. | * About 100 years ago: Extremists in the coastal elven nation begin agitating for the restoration of the ancient elven empire. | ||
* About 60 years ago: A faction appears which argues that gnomes, rather than elves, are due for an imperial age. | * About 60 years ago: A faction appears which argues that gnomes, rather than elves, are due for an imperial age. | ||
* About 15 years ago: A claimant to the half-orc empire appears, equipped with some of the lost regalia of state. She has attracted a reasonable following, travelling between the nations which are not full magocracies. | * About 15 years ago: A claimant to the half-orc empire appears, equipped with some of the lost regalia of state. She has attracted a reasonable following, travelling between the nations which are not full magocracies. | ||
| − | * Less than a year ago: The magocracy in | + | * Less than a year ago: The magocracy in the starting nation is challenged by a popular revolution. The movement is fostered by the Bardic Colleges, and warlocks and sorcerers rush to join it. After some brutal street-fighting, the civic militia defects en masse to the rebel side. The mage guild hires mercenaries to replace the militia. Many mid-ranking guild mages are killed before the surviving local guild leadership are recalled by their superiors. Since then, there has been wary peace between the mages and the ad hoc rebel government. |
[[LetsBuild5e:Main Page|Back to main]] | [[LetsBuild5e:Main Page|Back to main]] | ||
