Evolving Timeline of Narya Part II: Modern History of Sublanarya

For Part I: Ancient History of Sublanarya, click HERE.

The 2nd Epoch: Modern Narya (0 CE to 6667 CE (Present))

The first epoch, what Sublnaryan's call the "Ancient Epoch", is a time of great uncertainty, where reality and myth are intertwined, and the gods are locked in a series of brutal battles over the dominion of time and space. The space itself was constantly shifting in reaction to these battles, as gods can raise mountains and raze forests with ease, and time itself was warped by the destructive cosmic power of war on a scale beyond the understanding of mortals. It was a time that chaos reigned supreme and order struggled to gain a foothold. The current epoch is different.

In the current epoch, order has more than gained a foothold. It has put a boot on the jugular of chaos and the "Current Epoch" (CE) is one of some certainty. If the first epoch was defined by the struggle between order and chaos, between the authorities of the universe, the gods, and those who wish to destroy it, then the current epoch is one shaped by the struggle of good and evil. While both of these metaphorical and material struggles are of concern to the gods, the struggle between good and evil, right and wrong, are of much more consequence to mere mortals. After all, mere mortals are rewarded or punished based on their actions. Gods are all but absolute.

It is important to keep in mind when looking at the last seven millennia of Naryan history, told from a Sublanaryan perspective, that while the gods still guide the peoples of the material plane, the people are now, ultimately, the ones who shape the current state of the world. For better or worse, this is a time of civilizations, of kings and queens, of masters and slaves, and of armies and hordes. This is a period defined by the actions of mortals upon mortals.

The Current Epoch is tangible. Time and space can still be contorted but are less pliable. Years are 400 days long (10 moonths of 40 days) and each day is 25 hours long

Epoch II: Modern Narya

 (Summary)
1st Age: The Age of Wonders and Wandering

2rd Age: The First Dark Age: Rise of the Giants

3rd Age: The Age of Restoration

4th Age: The Second Dark Age: The Beastmen Invasion and The Holy Crusades

5th Age: The Tytanyan Age

Here goes:

1st Age: The Age of Wonders and Wandering
(0 CE to 3,300 CE.)

0 CE. The history of the modern era begins with iaurdin (great elves) of Saesun. They had survived, peacefully, on the small island of Saesun in the tumultuous period of the Wyrd Wars thanks to the incredible magical protection provided by metallic dragons. Their home had been a paradise as the world tore itself apart. With the end of the Wyrd Wars, the iaurdin were possessed with a desire to see the rest of the world. Leaving the sylvanar (wood elves) behind, they disembarked on a journey across the sea.

(WIP)

There were two parties: those who crossed eastward across the Dragon Sea to Thule and those who traveled to the west and south. The latter parties were never heard from again. Those that made it to Thule are the forefathers of iaurdinkind and the pioneers of modern civilization.

1-100 CE. Within a century of leaving Saesun, the iaurdin made contact with primitive humans and halflings of Thule, who may have mistaken them for gods. They also made contact with the early settlements of gnomes and dwarves. The elves, gnomes and dwarves bonded over their common interests and the Age of Wonders could begin.

100-1,000 CE. Within a thousand years of contact and with great cooperation, the three "keystone" races build the first cities across Thule. These cities and the network of settlements between them were centered around the Lakes of Silver and Gold, the Green Isle, ancient Albyon and even in the Hold. These cities were filled with ancient wonders lost over the centuries.

1,000-3,100 CE. The iaurdin and the dwarves become increasingly ambitious and competitive with each other. This inevitably leads to greater accomplishments of magic and engineering but also results in a series of petty wars of resources like land and rare materials. The dwarves greatest accomplishment was the city of Bryngalla and this period is considered the golden age of dwarven civilization. It was also during this time period that giants migrated from Mimia, the frozen continent, into the Hold. This would have serious consequence.

Meanwhile, 2,900-3,500 CE. Hamutians build the first human post-wyrd city, Aneb, along the River Yor. From there, they built the Hamutian Empire under the leadership of their king Namor-Ha. They had a unique religion. The legends of their religion take place before, during, and after the Current Epoch.

3,100-3,300 CE. After less than two centuries of bitter war between dwarves, elves, and giants, the latter are victorious. Bryngalla is destroyed and the keystone races are enslaved by the giants.

2nd Age: The First Dark Age: Rise of the Giants

(3,300 to 5,100 CE.)

3,300-5,100 CE. Elves, dwarves and gnomes are enslaved by the giants.

3,500-4,100 CE. Hamutians cross the narrow but treacherous Hamutian Sea and conquers the southeastern continent. They establish a capitol in river basin, Kuthkutta. The god-king Herezbek had twins; a girl T'Chalthra and a boy Magarda. To prevent civil war, Herezbek split the rule between them. T'Chalthra would rule as the god-king of the old kingdom in the west and Magarda would rule as the grand sultan of in the new kingdom. The system he created would create stability for six centuries but it would not last. This period of stability ends with a civil war.

4,100~4,200 CE. The civil war between east and west Hamut eventually split the empire in two permanently-- Ptah-Hamut in the west and Raj-Hamut in the east. During this period, slaves revolted against the weakened and stretched forces of both sides. Eventually, they escaped slavery and fled to establish the free state of Zafaria on the north-western coast (modern Nadjabad) of the south-western continent.

4,100-6,000 CE. Raj-Hamut establishes its own religious beliefs and practices, based on the last wyrd wars civilization of Sindahar, during this period, as they spread across their continent and even colonized southern territories of the Hold. This period is considered the "golden age" by Raj-Hamut and there are many famous battles between good princes, bad princes, gods, and demons during it. The only foreign power they were drawn into conflict with, until the second dark age, are those of their fraternal power, Ptah-Hamut.

5,050-5,100 CE. The first dark age's final period ends with the birth of Tytanya, who would become the Queen of the Iaurdin, and ends with her successfully leading a coalition of hulderfolk, elves, dwarves and gnomes to successfully overthrow the giants, destroying their civilization, and freeing themselves to become the dominant powers of the realm.

3rd Age: The Restoration Age
(5,100 to 6,000 CE.)

5,100-6,000 CE. The iaurdin travel back to Saesun. The sylvanar, led by the immortal King Opheros, welcome them as long lost kin and the iaurdin rebuild their civilizations along the coastlines of the sacred isle. They establish Queen Tytanya as the immortal Queen of the Iaurdin and live peacefully alongside each other.

Meanwhile, the dwarves restore the cities of Bryngalla and Rothgard. They also establish Durnhold under the leadership of their new leader and prophet Durn, Son of Urd. This is considered the silver age of dwarfkind.

It is also during this period that dwarves taught the upcoming humans of Thule the building blocks and technology to kick-start their own civilization in exchange for labor and alliances.

Most gnomes prefer to live in seclusion from the rest of civilization, a strategy that helped protect them from many of the dark times to follow, but others chose to help rebuild dwarven and elven civilization.

This age ends with an invasion of beastmen from the west.

5,800-6,000 CE. A snake cult takes over Ptah-Hamut. They were led by Apep II, a gargantuan serpent who claimed to be the descendant of Apep and Wadjet, and ruled cruelly for two centuries before a slave army helped overthrow the ruling party. The slaves responsible were freed by the new god-king and they joined the free Zafarians of Nadjabad. Those slaves colonized the peninsula on the southern coast of Albyon that is modern Jalatia.

 

4th Age: The Second Dark Age: The Beastmen Invasion and the Holy Crusades

(6,000 to 6,500 CE)

6,000-6,400 CE.  A horde of beastmen led by the god Kalibos invade Thule, crushing all resistance in their path, enslaving and/or butchering all peoples like animals, and leading to the greatest destruction of the current epoch.

Some dwarves escaped the horrors of the surface world by digging themselves deeper into the earth and discovering the Underdark. There they found drow (dark elves), deep gnomes and duergar (dark dwarves) who had escaped the giants into this realm during the first dark age.

Other dwarves and human refugees sought assistance from the elves. The iaurdin and sylvanar allowed the dwarves to colonize Rock Island to the north and allowed humans to live alongside them on Saesun's mainland. These humans would create many small kingdoms but two would emerge as dominant powers; the kingdoms of Ailand and Uthoria.

6,200-6,667 CE. The Holy Imperium arrives from the distant kingdom of Xalhotecca to turn back the tides of chaos. Alongside both Zafarian and Hamutian forces, they form the Unbroken Coalition and drive the Beastmen back. After slaying Kalibos and driving his remaining beastmen back into the Hold, the Imperians establish the settlement of Croma. This settlement would grow into a small holy empire that rivals the Hamuts and holds back evil from beyond the Thunderfall Mountains to this day.

6,400 CE-6,500 CE. A war breaks out in Saesun between Ailand and Uthoria. It escalates as metallic dragons pick sides and dwarves of Rock Island exploit the war for profit. The war comes to an explosive end when the sylvanar elves attempt to intervene to defend their lands and King Opheros is slain.

Queen Tytanya of the iaurdin makes a pact with Red Typhon, a dragon lord, and summons his army into the material plane. The chomatic dragons and iaurdin make quick work of the human armies of Saesun but they do not stop there. The metallic dragons are wiped out and the dwarves of rock island are forced to evacuate or die. In exchange for their alliance, Rock Island becomes the new home of the chromatic dragons, Smolder.

This alliance is called the Tytanyan Pact and is the most significant, powerful and dangerous political entity of the present. For this reason, the last century and present day are considered to be part of a new age:

5th Age: The Tytanyan Age

(6,500 to 6,667 (Present Day))

Over the last century and a half, the Tytanyan Pact has colonized Nuar-Land in the south-western region of Tazlani and conquered the western kingdoms of Thule. Those kingdoms have been reincorporated into the colony of Albyon. 

In response to the aggression of the Tytanyan Pact, the "thousand kingdoms of Thule" have consolidated and formed the Free Kingdoms of Thule. They are a pro-human alliance that stands against what they see as a pro-elven expansionist agenda from the iaurdin.

Zafaria, the descendants of Hamutian slaves that colonized the Jalatian Peninsula and Nadjabadi Coast, have become a neutral party between the various kingdoms and empire. Zafarians serve as the major trading power and control the Zafarian Sea.

Ptah-Hamut is in decline but hopes to play the Holy Imperium against Raj-Hamut as, over the last century, the three powers have reached a stalemate.

Tazlani remains unconquered, uncolonized and unmapped. It is the home to the catfolk and many small primitive civilizations.

The Hold is more dangerous than ever and remains a threat; it hosts barbarians, giants, beastmen, undead and monsters from the Wyrd War.

Beyond Sublanarya? The oceans are considered extremely dangerous. It took the Holy Imperium nearly two centuries to reach Sublanarya from their distant homeland and, in the time it took to reach Thule, they lost much of their history and culture in that odyssey.

Besides the Imperian homeland of Xalhotecca, in the strange jungles of Matal, the only known places:

Mimia, the icy continent that surrounds the disc world in a ring, is the home to giants and aberrations that are best undisturbed.

The mythical sea of Geleda, a place of legendary heroes and monsters, is lost.

What else lies beyond the dark waves of the great oceans? What lies beyond the edge of the world?

Stay tuned and thanks for reading.