Timeline of Mystara (Updated)
Chronomancy was known to the wizards of Alphatia, but all Alphatian chronomancers were destroyed by an unknown Immortal after they attempted to make contact with the long-lost techno-magical empire of Blackmoor. One investigator of this disaster believes the Immortals Rafiel and possibly Rad (a.k.a. Etienne d'Amberville) are defending a pre-historic secret somehow connected with the Radiance of Glantri. Rumors sometimes pass through Glantri that a local wizard has rediscovered the lost secrets of chronomancy, but this has never been proven.
Unobtrusive chronomancers have considerable freedom; furthermore, they might gain the cautious notice of Immortals from Energy or Time (particularly Ixion), who might be bribed at tremendous expense to reveal other secrets of chronomancy or Mystaran history. Immortals of Time carefully shunt chronomancers "around" critical events in history, so that all attempts to reach those times are missed by days, months, or years. Time travelers perceived as dangerously hostile to Mystaran history are located and destroyed without ceremony or delay.
Contents
6000 BC to 0 AC (Dawn of time to Thyatis)
1 AC to 900 AC (Begining of Thyatis until T$R books)
901 AC to 1013 AC (Roughly time of T$R Books)
1014 AC on (Post T$R MYSTARA timeline)
6000 BC: There is no true civilization in the Outer World. Humans are tribal hunter-gatherers, living mostly in plains and light forests. Dwarves are barbaric mountain and foothill dwellers, mostly goatherds. Elves are sheltered, protected and nurtured by the forest-spirits they worship; they do not need to work or suffer. There are no monstrous humanoids on the world to threaten the demihumans.
5000 BC: The childhood of the elves is over; the forest spirits stop sheltering them, forcing them to leave paradise and to seek their own futures. The first great elf civilization, Evergrun, develops on the southern continent in areas now under the southern icecap.
Far across the galaxy, on another world, a race of pale-skinned humans called the Alphatians begin to rise to preeminence and to study mighty magics.
4500 BC: Beastmen - reincarnated souls of evil beings - appear in the Borean Valley, a frozen land north of Blackmoor. These beastmen are wild, chaotic creatures that do not breed true; whelps may have some or none of the traits of their parents, may be of different size and appearance. This is all brought about by the magic of Hel, an Immortal of the sphere of Entropy, who wants to introduce more confusion, dismay, and death into the world.
4000 BC: The human Blackmoor civilization begins a meteoric rise due to its great success in developing powerful sciences and technologies. It conquers and assimilates all surrounding human tribes and quickly grows very powerful.
Another human civilization, the Oltecs, begins a more stately rise toward civilization in lands far to the south of Blackmoor. Protected by deep forests and sheltering hills, they do not have any communication with Blackmoor.
On the Alphatians' world, the Alphatians defeat the Cypris civilization... and begin to be assimilated by it.
3850 BC: A group of warlike, flatland tribes are colonized by the Oltecs. These tribes fiercely cling to their distinct heritage in spite of the Oltec conquerors.
3500 BC: The Blackmoor civilization is flourishing. It conducts trade and intermittent war with the southern elves, at the other end of the world. Four clans of elves colonize in the region near Blackmoor. Both the southern and the colonial elves embrace Blackmoor's technology. Blackmoor priests demand the extermination of the "unnatural" beastmen in the Borean Valley, and promote holy wars to hunt down and destroy those creatures.
Following a failed military coup, a rift occurs in the Oltec civilization; the more aggressive Azcan tribes declare their independence and begin to wage war on the Oltecs. According to modern Azcan histories, the hated former masters were overthrown and enslaved. In fact, the Oltecs and Azcans exist side by side for almost five centuries, alternating war and commerce, until outside forces literally destroy the world they know.
The widespread Neathar race is beginning to undergo development; the language in individual areas changes rapidly into very different dialects, and the independent Neathar tribes no longer recognize a kinship or a common origin among themselves.
On the Alphatians' world, the Alphatian/Cypris civilization uses its magical knowledge to begin colonization and conquest of nearby planets and exploration of the elemental planes.
3400 BC: To avoid the ongoing war in their homeland, some Oltecs migrate to the Savage Coast, settling the eastern and central shores. Manscorpions and tortles already live along the central coast, and aranea and wallara civilizations flourish on the western end. (RS)
3200 BC: The Blackmoor crusades drive the Beastmen farther north, into the land called Hyperborea; they adapt to the colder climate and survive.
3100 BC: Aquarendi elves seek the guardianship of Manwara, an Immortal of the Sea, and enter the warm waters to begin a new life.
3000 BC: Some Blackmoor devices explode, shifting the axis of the Known World in an event later called the Great Rain of Fire or the Planetshift. Blackmoor becomes the north pole and its civilization disappears. The elven civilization becomes the south pole; the elves are able to migrate to the area called Grunland (which now begins centuries of volcanic upheaval that lead to its being renamed Vulcania). These southern-continent elves, though suffering hardship, are not in immediate danger of extinction and so none are taken to the Hollow World.
Melting ice caps raise ocean level by several hundred feet. Lowland marshes and coastal plains along the southern edge of the northern continent are flooded.
Survivors of the elven colony near Blackmoor flee to the newly-formed Broken Lands; they burrow deep into the ground to survive the aftereffects of the Great Rain of Fire. These are the ancestors of the Shadow Elves.
Two races of humans come to the land that will later be called the Minaean Coast. From the east comes Tangor Man, driven from his home by climatic changes brought on by the Great Rain of Fire. From across the waters to the west comes Oltec Man on one of his great colonizing migrations.
The ice caps recede from the southern edge of the continent of Brun. Spirits are drawn in to merge with the world.
One of the most dangerous Blackmoor devices is left untouched in the Broken Lands.
The Great Rain of Fire is seen by Azcans and Oltecs alike as an important part of their mysticism: the End of the Fifth Sun. The Immortals magically transplant large numbers of these peoples to the Hollow World to save them.
The shark-kin, after spending thousands of years on the land, return to the sea.
On the Alphatians' world, Alphatian aggression is gradually supplanted by Cypric self-absorption; other-planetary conquests and colonies are left to fend for themselves as Alphatian study of magic turns inward.
3000 - 2500 BC: Formerly arctic areas of the Known World, including most of the lands covered in the Gazetteer series, slowly become habitable as the ice recedes from former polar regions.
2900 BC: The Immortal named Garal Glittergold created the gnomish race, planting colonies of them in the land that would later become Rockhome and the mountains of the northern continent.
2800 BC: New elven nation on the southern continent land of Vulcania divides on magic vs. technology. A separatist branch of the southern elves, led by Ilsundal the Wise, decides to abandon Blackmoor technology and return to the nature-oriented magic of their ancestors. They begin a long migration northward in the hope of finding the lost colony of elves that had settled near Blackmoor.
Azcans and Oltecs on the outer world have practically vanished, dispersed across the world and culturally transformed in every case. A small number of survivors take refuge in the caves of a mighty plateau. These are the ancestors of the modern Atruaghin Clan. This plateau, although impressive, is nowhere near as grand as the one that now stands in the lands north of the Sea of Dread. They retain a dim memory, retold and altered into myth and folklore, of Azcan and Oltec glory and strife. They also remember the mysterious disappearance of many kin.
2500 BC: Gnomes and dwarves enter the Northern Reaches region and settle in its hills and mountains as the continental ice sheets recede.
The Taymora humans settle the southern shores of the northern continent.
Climatic changes due to the axial shift have rendered the lands of Blackmoor and the elves uninhabitable. In Vulcania, the elvish civilization is losing its battle with the elements; it has forgotten most of its magic and its Blackmoor technology is failing. A second separatist group of southern elves begins its long march northward.
2400 BC: The land that was Hyborea is now warming up; the Beastmen migrate to the area that was once Blackmoor, which is now the northern pole, and thrive there. They are beginning to breed true, in recognizable species. The tribes gather at Urzud.
A great volcanic explosion occurs in Vulcania, destroying the remnants of the southern elvish civilization.
A human culture, the Antalian tribes (descendants of the Neathar) are flourishing in the area later to be called Norwold. They are a blond, warlike culture with bronze weapons and armor.
2300 BC: Ilsundal's elves have crossed the Strait of Izonda to the Immortal's Arm, then headed east along the Savage Coast. Another group took another route through the Adakkian Sound, where they rejoined Ilsundal's band and continued with them.
Elves arrive in and settle the eastern and central Savage Coast. They live alongside, but not among, Oltecs. (RS)
The Sheyallia clan turns south, onto the Serpent Peninsula, and settle in the forest. The Meditor and Verdier clans, disliking the increasingly rainy and hot climate, sail east in search of better lands.
2200 BC: Some elves break off from Ilsundal's migration and eventually find their way to the frozen valleys of Glantri, where they settle. A few survivors from the second migration from Vulcania also reach Glantri and settle among their cousins.
Some Tanagoro colonists from halfway around the world reach the Serpent Peninsula and decide they like they abundant rain forests. However, the elves regard their slash-and-burn agriculture with horror. Eventually, they work out a compromise: the Tanagoros keep to the coastlines and forest fringes, while the elves withdraw deeper into the forest.
2100 BC: Meditor and Verdier elf clans leave Ilsundal's northward migrations and settle in southern Traldar lands (Karameikos).
The main force of Ilsundal's migration reaches the Sylvan Realm, far to the west of lands such as Karameikos and Thyatis.
2000 BC: The Beastmen have now evolved into the modern species of orcs, goblins, ogres, giants, and trolls.
The Ethengars arrive on the fertile lands of the Steppes.
First human settlements in the coastal and island lowlands of the Northern Reaches.
Elven and human mages settle in the forests of the western Savage Coast, supplanting aranea; they name their land Herath. Enduks are created on the Orc's head Peninsula and begin building the civilization of Nimmur. (RS)
2000 - 1750 BC: An agricultural settlement flourishes along the River Nithia. It swiftly becomes the seat of a fast-growing culture.
Tribal humans, swarthy descendants of Oltec and Neathar tribes, also settle in the coastal and island lowlands of the Northern Reaches, in the Ethengar Steppes.
Antalian colonists migrate southward into the lands later to be called the Northern Reaches.
1900 BC: On the great continent to the east of Alphatia and Bellissaria, a nomadic, cavalry-based race of warriors grows strong. These are the Jennites, copper-skinned descendants of an Oltec expeditionary party; their language and customs have evolved far away from their Oltec origins.
1800 BC: The dwarfish race on the Known World is slowly, inevitably dying out. The Immortal called Kagyar the Artisan takes all remaining dwarves in the Known World. Half he transplants to the Hollow World, and half he reshapes into a new dwarven race. Now there are no remnants of the original dwarven race on the outer world. Some of the "new dwarves" are returned to the Northern Reaches, where the largest dwarf colonies had been, and eventually become the Modrigswerg clans; others are planted in the Rockhome region. Both groups are given false memories and believe that the Modrigswerg dwarves also originally lived in the Rockhome lands.
In the Sylvan Realm, Ilsundal creates the first elvish Tree of Life and becomes an Immortal.
The Steel Wars divide the humanoid tribes. Plague, famine, and massacres ravage Urzud, and the population dwindles.
1750 BC: The earthquakes that rock the Sea of Dread drastically change the Serpent Peninsula. The Tanagoro culture collapses into warring tribes. They tear the original Atruaghin Plateau from the mainland, forming the Ierendi islands.
Copper-skinned people fleeing the earthquakes the destroyed the original Atruaghin Plateau join light-skinned Urduk tribesmen, descendants of the Neathar tribesmen, in the Great Waste.
1750 - 1500 BC: The human tribes along the River Nithia progress from Bronze Age to Iron Age metals technology. A jackal-headed creature named Pflarr achieves Immortality.
1725 BC: King Loark of the humanoids organizes an army of humanoids known as the Great Horde. They migrate southeastward into the lands of men, ravaging as they go, continuing Loark's Quest for a Blue Knife. Great waves of hill goblins, trolls, and giants especially begin moving southward into areas now occupied by human settlers.
1722 BC: The Great Horde of King Loark ravages Norwold and learns Norse culture, sending the Antalian culture there into a dark age; the Immortals Odin and Thor send intact communities of Antalians into the Hollow World. (The descendants of the outer-world Antalians eventually become the men of the Heldann Freeholds.)
1720 BC: Akilla-Khan conquers the southern steppes of Ethengar.
1711 BC: Great Horde reaches pre-khanate Ethengar. Akilla-Khan allies with King Loark against the Ethengarian nomads.
1710 BC: The Great Horde of King Loark invades the Ethengar Steppes and enslaves the primitive Ethengars. King Loark's horde is joined by Akilla-Khan's humanoid horde. Together they ravage the steppes.
1709 BC: Akilla-Khan betrays King Loark in exchange for lands west of the Dol-Anur. The Great Horde is defeated at the Battle of Chongor, in ancient Ethengar. King Loark's Great Horde splinters; the trolls head east, the goblins south, and the rest of the Great Horde is driven out of the steppes into the Broken Lands and settles there.
1700 BC: The elves of Glantri discover, in the Broken Lands, a strange artifact from the lost Blackmoor civilization. They tinker with it, and the artifact explodes cataclysmically, sending impenetrable clouds into the sky (which last for years), and spreading a strange rotting plague among the surviving elves - those who were far enough away to survive.
The elves shelter themselves in the deepest caves of Glantri. They find an incredible series of caverns there and begin a years-long migration. The traveling tribes are separated from one another. These are the ancestors of the Hollow World's Gentle Folk, Icevale Elves, and the Schattenalfen. A fourth group, led by an elf named Atziann, had no survivors save that king. Some emerge, years later, hundreds of miles south, past the Broken lands. Some perish.
The catastrophe forms the Land of the Black Sand in the Ethengar Steppes.
Elsewhere, a series of great volcanic eruptions and earthquakes split several large land masses away from what is now the Five Shires and Atruaghin Clans area; aboriginal (Neathar-descended) peoples called the Makai and lizardmen called Malpheggi are stranded on the new islands. The Taymora civilization is destroyed. The plateau under which the surviving Azcans have been living largely collapses, killing many of them and leaving the survivors in a shattered, hostile land.
Meditor elves are stranded on the newly formed Minrothad Isles.
The local cataclysm rakes the Broken Lands and buries the Great Horde. King Loark dies, and his horde breaks apart. Giants, trolls, and gnolls are driven south into the Northern Reaches in successive waves of migration.
Goblinoids settle in the Yazak Steppes. (RS)
1691 BC: Baka betrays Akilla-Khan and drives his humanoids into the Broken Lands.
1690 BC: Akilla-Khan builds a fortress in the Broken Lands, and starts raiding Glantri and Ethengar borders.
1688 BC: Akilla-Khan retires from the world and becomes an Immortal, He takes the name of Yagrai. Unaware of the truth, Ethengarians rejoice. Baka declared Khan of all Ethengars.
1681 BC: Baka Khan is poisoned. The Ethengars war over his successor. The War of Succession starts.
1680 BC: Land masses split further, forming 10 islands south of the Five Shires.
Verdier elves build ships and join their cousins, the Meditor clan, in the Sea of Dread.
1675 BC: Tahkati Stormtamer unites the tribes that are now known as the Children of the Horse and leads them in conquest of the other tribes that now make up the Atruaghin Clans. Eventually, he becomes an Immortal.
1650 BC: Atziann, king and sole survivor of a clan of Glantri elves who had been driven underground, comes across the Hollow World Azcans, emerging near Chitlacan. Fascinated by these people, he spends several years among them (in disguise) and studying their ways before leaving to pursue his dream of Immortality.
1600 BC: Tensions erupt between the two largest Jennite hordes: One horde, the more traditional of the two, has woman warriors, while the other has virtually enslaved its women. The Immortal Tarastia enjoins the more traditional horde to conquer the other, but the resulting holy war all but destroys Jennite civilization. (By the time the Alphatians reach the Known World, six centuries later, the outer-world Jennites have regressed to stone-age barbarism, their previous glory all but forgotten.)
1500 BC: Nithian culture begins its climb to greatness. One colonial expedition led by the Nithian Traldar clan travels to the lands now known as Karameikos. As these colonies spread out, they become the first humans to inhabit Darokin.
The Immortal Pflarr creates a jackal-headed servitor-race he calls the Hutaaka. He uses many of them as agents, heralds, and servants throughout the known world; he plants a large colony of them in mountains south of the Nithians.
Modest Bronze Age human cultures in the eastern lowlands of the Northern Reaches.
Sophisticated gnomish and dwarven cultures co-exist with primitive giantish clans in the western uplands of the Northern Reaches.
The elf, Atziann attains Immortality and adopts the Azcan form of his name, Atzanteotl, "Atziann the Divine." He begins whispering to the priests that rule Azcan society and selected subterranean elves, turning them to evil and entropy. Only Atruatzin, the Azcan priest-king, who would later become Atruaghin, resists the Immortal.
A group of halflings pause in their northward migration at Thanegia Island. Dismayed by the unrest in the land, they quickly move on.
On the Alphatians' world, the civilization has achieved total mastery of its environment; the great universities are at the peak of their powers and just beginning to indulge in serious scholastic competitions and squabbles.
1494 BC: A terrible plague strikes Chitlacan, killing almost two thirds of its population. Atruatzin, himself a survivor of the disease, and his most faithful followers are driven out of Chitlacan by his philosophical and political rivals (who follow Atzanteotl). They settle in the fortress of Quauhnahuac.
1484 BC: Driven by the whispers of Atzanteotl, and his own fear that Atruatzin might reclaim the throne, the treacherous Azcan usurper leads an massive assault on Quauhnuac. Everyone found in the fortress is slain or sacrifices, but there is no trace of Atruatzin or his inner circle. The priests curse the land on which Quauhnahuac is built, and sow salt among the ruins.
1470 BC: The Chochomecs (an Azcan tribe) desert Atacalpa, migrating to Oltec lands of the east.
1468 BC: Atruatzin and his loyal companions find a resting-place, where they establish a temple to the old gods. They name it Mictlan, the "Land of the Dead."
1420 BC: The underground elven wanderers stumble upon Mictlan, and overthrow the humans. Those elves who have been seduced by Atzanteotl declare that the temple is sacred to him, and he has given them victory over their enemies and a place to call home. These elves become the Schattenalfen. Most of the elves are uneasy about this alien Immortal, but they are weary, and so they settle and build the city of Aengmor. All of Atruatzin's followers are slain; he alone escapes.
1410 BC: Atruatzin reaches the surface world in his quest for meaning in his life. He finds the lost descendants of the surface world Azcans and Oltecs living in the shattered lands north of the Sea of Dread.
1400 BC: Within a few generations, the Traldar settlers have suffered enormous population losses (through bad winters, animal attacks, and disease), have lost most of the materials and time necessary to forge metal (and consequently have forgotten how), and have reverted to a pre-agrarian lifestyle. They now fall under the domination of the Hutaaka humanoid people from the northern mountainous region.
Denwarf, golem-like leader of the Known World's dwarves, settles his people in the great cavern called Dengar and disappears into the lower caverns.
A group of Schattenalfen are driven out of Aengmor (by the will of their patron). They retrace an earlier expedition's path to the Hollow World.
Atruatzin, who now calls himself Atruaghin, unites the warring tribes he lives among. His skill as a warrior and leader makes the a challenging, but not impossible task. The newly unified people begin to call themselves the Children of Atruaghin - the outside world calls them the Atruaghin Clans.
1395 BC: After an unsuccessful bid to unseat the Kogolor dwarves, the Schattenalfen move on to settle near the Azcans, with whom they immediately make war. Atzanteotl delights in and encourages the instant, uncompromising enmity among his followers.
1310 BC: Quest for Steel; Wogar Tribe migrates west from Blackmoor to a great lake, called the Cradle.
1305 BC: Prophecy from King Wogar's Great Shaman; Wogar Tribe moves south, along a major river, following the Great Shaman's floating gri-gri.
1300 BC: The halflings from the southern continent, long-abandoned by their friends the elves, and increasingly endangered by the ever-growing human population, make a mass naval migration to the northern continent. They settle the area later called the Five Shires, which they name Faerdinel. They become friends with a declining, pacifistic clan of elves called the Gentle Folk.
In the Savage Coast, goblinoid hordes decimate elven and Oltec civilization. Those humans and elves who remain fall to a savage, semi-nomadic existence. (RS)
1299 BC: Vestland trolls miss a turn and pop-up in Broken Lands. Trollhattan is founded. Bagni Gullymaw eats an elephant. Nithia enslaves the Black Moon horde of trolls.
1296 BC: Ogres kill King Wogar's Great Shaman at the Battle of Khuzud, and flee with his treasure. They settle in the Sind Desert and learn local culture.
1290 BC: The outer-world Shadow Elf city of Aengmor is "destroyed" (actually, merely surrounded by lava and made uninhabitable) during a volcanic eruption; many Schattenalfen escape, burrowing deeper into the crust of the earth. Actually, this is part of a grand scheme of Atzanteotl, their patron.
1270 BC: Great Drought dries up the ogres' wells in Sind. The ogres migrate east, devastating and enslaving Sind villages.
A great goblin horde lead by Wogar drives through Hule. They ravage the land, slaughtering many people and enslaving the others. Their reign of terror ends when Hosadus, a young holy man, convinces the horde's leaders that the sacred blue knife they seek lies to the east, beyond the Black Mountains - beyond even the Great Waste. Wogar and most of his horde move on, spurred by the unexpected revelation. The remainder stays in Hule as followers of Hosadus.
1269 BC: Ogres settle in Broken Lands. They found Ogremoor.
1265 BC: Ahmanni Turtlerider and Atruaghin become lovers. Atruaghin's ageless nature becomes apparent, making marriage between them impossible.
1263 BC: Wogar becomes an Immortal. His tribe continues along the coast to Atruaghin. They learn the use of feathers, war paints, light cavalry tactics, and scalping.
1262 BC: A small band of Urduk explorers from Sindh stumble upon the ancient city of the Karimari, and convince them to reduce their isolationism.
1260 BC: Atruaghin leaves the Atruaghin Clans to explore the surface world in a search for the nature of his seemingly eternal youth. He appoints new chiefs to each of the Clans and establishes the Words of Atruaghin that his people live by to this day.
1259 BC: Tahkati Stormtamer, now an Immortal, agrees to help Atzanteotl in destroying the work that Atruaghin has done in uniting the Atruaghin Clans.
1257 BC: Wogar Tribe, Red Orcs, conquers and enslaves the people of the Atruaghin Clans. Their rule is oppressive and savage. Tahkati Stormtamer realizes that he has been betrayed by Atzanteotl and breaks all ties with the Immortals of Entropy. He vows vengeance.
1254 BC: Wogar Tribe splits into three nations. One settles south of Atruaghin, another in the Five Shires. The last goes north, and torches a trading post called Akorros, then moves to central Broken Lands.
1190 BC: Descendants of the Great Horde resurface in the Broken Lands. The Tribes meet again and discover the Rock of Oenkmar and a knife they mistake for one of their legendary artifacts. End of the Quest for a Blue Knife. Truce proclaimed.
1104 BC: Underground elves discover the Refuge of Stone and take the name of shadow elves unto themselves. Building work begins on the City of Stars.
1100 BC: Nithians lead by Minroth colonize the islands later to be called the Minrothad islands, and found Harbortown.
Nithians under Prince Ramenhotep establish the colony of Thothia on the Isle of Dawn. This is the eastern extent of Nithian colonization.
1090 BC: On the Alphatians' world, the Followers of Flame begin their serious rivalry with the Followers of Air.
1050 BC: Great wizards of the Nithians, inspired by the Immortal Pflarr's servant race (the Hutaaka), create the gnoll race by magically blending trolls and gnomes. But they've been deluded that the results might be an equivalent servant-race for the Nithians; instead, the gnolls turn out to be savage, strong, warlike, and prolific. They rebel; they escape and later invade Karameikos. Nithian priests visit the Shamans of Oenkmar. Atzanteotl is increasingly offended.
1027 BC: On the Alphatians' world, sporadic violence breaks out between the Followers of Flame and Followers of Air.
1010 BC: On the Alphatians' world, a temporary peace results from one academian's proposal of the Flame vs. Air essay debate.
1009 BC: On the Alphatians' world, Emperor Alphaks I arbitrarily declares the Flames to have won the debate. Outrage, protest, rebellion and revolt result; the Followers of Flame war with the Followers of Air.
1000 BC: The Broken Lands are overpopulated. Broken Lands orcs, ogres, trolls, gnolls, and goblins migrate outward, especially southward, displacing other humanoid tribes before them. All forces join and raid Rockhome; they are defeated by dwarven King Blystar III. Minor raids go on for 500 years.
Orcs from the Broken Lands invade and conquer the region now known as the Five Shires. Their reign is brutal, to say the least.
Gnolls cross southern Darokin and invade Traldar lands, destroying their Golden Age. Most of the Darokin humans flee north, right into orc territory, where few survive. The Hutaakans retreat to their valley while the Traldar and gnolls practically annihilate one another. By the time the gnolls retreat, the Traldar population is 20% of its pre-invasion amount. Many seafaring Traldar, led by a lesser king named Milen, flee south across the Sea of Dread, and reach the southern continent to the east of what would later be called the Hinterlands. They travel far upriver, and establish a new kingdom there.
Elsewhere, nonhuman tribal movements pit tribes of orcs and goblins against the dwarves.
Gruugrakh gnolls, fleeing their Nithian masters, first come to the Plain of Fire and settle there.
The Nithian Empire is at its peak; it is the first post-Blackmoor empire in the world. It features monumental architecture, large urban complexes in the delta region of the River Nithia, conquest of neighboring states, establishment of more remote colonies, and the development of sophisticated arts and culture. Colonies are planted in the Makai islands (south of the Five Shires area), where they conquer the aboriginal natives. The humans of the Northern Reaches areas are conquered and enslaved by the Nithian Empire. The Nithians, made curious about the southern continent by the Traldar flight in that direction, transport many Northern Reaches slaves to Harbortown and thence to the southern continent, to colonize there. This is the southern limit of Nithian expansion, and it isn't very successful; The Northern Reaches slaves soon rebel and slay their Nithian overlords. These tribes carve out their own territory in the southern continent, and are the forefathers of the Thyatian, Kerendan and Hattian tribes who later found the empire of Thyatis.
Black explorers from Tangor find and colonize the Pearl Islands.
On the Alphatians' world, the war between the Followers of Air and Followers of Flame reaches its zenith. The Followers of Flame are defeated. Alphaks is banished. Old Alphatia is destroyed; the Followers of Air come to the Known World to settle on the great continent they name Alphatia, bringing along natural strains of wolf and tiger lycanthropy. They proceed to build a mighty empire based on magic.
1000 - 610 BC: Orcs, part of the migration from the Broken Lands, invade the Five Shires region and enslave the halflings. The Gentle Folk elves of the Five Shires region disappear or are destroyed by the orcs. Over a period of four hundred years, the halflings are conquered and reconquered by orcs, dwarves, and bandits of different races; eventually they reclaim their land and establish a strong kingdom.
900 BC: Atruaghin returns to the Hollow World briefly. He visits the ruins of Quauhnahuac and uses his ever increasing power to create Atruaghin's Mystic Conveyor, a powerful magical artifact the links the Known and Hollow Worlds.
800 BC: The ice finally recedes to the north of Glantri.
Elves led by Mealiden Starwatcher leave the Sylvan Realm via the magical rainbow; they carry nine seedlings of the tree of life with them. They land in the forested regions of what would later be called Thyatis, but are driven out by the warlike humans there, and flee northward. The Callarii clan settles in Traladara territory; most of the rest settle in a windy steppes area. Elvish wizards begin to alter those steppes with their magic, changing the land nearly overnight into terrain where a mighty forest could flourish. In the process, they drive orcs from the open lands to the west.
One of the elf-clans, the Shiye, listens to the guidance of the elf-immortal Eiryndul and makes a dangerous crossing to the continent of Alphatia, where they set up their own kingdom in the deep central forests of that continent.
Using the artifact he constructed at Quauhnahuac, Atruaghin returns from his exploration of the Known and Hollow Worlds to lead his adopted people in a revolt against the Red Orcs. The conflict is savage, but in the end the Children of Atruaghin are successful.
Deep in the southern continent, the Milenians, descendants of the Traldar, are flourishing, conquering the surrounding tribes, and establishing a strong empire.
Human clans begin building permanent settlements in Darokin.
795 BC: Atruaghin recalls the memory of that great plateau that once stood in the lands of his people. Using magics and powers that he has acquired from his travels throughout the Known and Hollow Worlds, he calls it back into existence that the Children of Atruaghin might never again fear invasion. Atruaghin, having completed the Path of the Polymath, becomes an Immortal in the Sphere of Thought in recognition of his lifelong struggle against entropy.
792 BC: Atzanteotl begins to turn Danel Tigerstripes against Atruaghin and his followers. Atruaghin sends Hattani Stoneclaw, leader of the Bear Clan, to prevent his corruption. The intervention is too late, the Children of the Tiger begin to worship Atzanteotl and Hattani Stoneclaw becomes an Immortal.
700 BC: Thanatos, Immortal of the Sphere of Entropy, helped by the Immortal Ranivorus, corrupts the pharaoh of the Nithians. The pharaoh turns the Nithian empire toward worship of Entropy.
The Nithian colonists in Thothia turn away from the Entropic faith of their homeland and increasingly turn to a new form of mysticism.
Nithians arrive on the Savage Coast. They interbreed somewhat with Oltecs Elves of the eastern coast establish settlements in and around what will eventually become Torreon and Narvaez. (RS)
Mealiden is acclaimed king of Alfheim.
610 BC: Inspired by the example of Atruaghin and his people some two centuries before, the Hin revolt against the humanoids and reclaim their place as an independent state. The modern Five Shires are born.
600 BC: Three warrior-tribes from the southern continent (the Thyatians, Kerendans, and Hattians), hard-pressed by the Milenians to the south, migrate to the northern continent.
572 BC: The hin formally organize their land into five semiautonomous Shires, each ruled by an elected Sheriff.
556 BC: A boy named Yav is born to an elven mother and a Tanagoro father in the Serpent Peninsula. He is the strongest seer yet known in the area, and his many timely warnings of hurricanes and other disasters make him a hero.
529 BC: A series of abuses by the Serpent Peninsula seers cause a major revolt. Elven purists slaughter every seer they can find. Some take more extreme measures, killing people of mixed elven and human blood regardless of their precognitive abilities. The unrest ends with the power of the seers broken and the Sheyallia elves fleeing the wrath of the Tanagoro people. Yav vanishes; it is thought the elves killed him.
528 BC: 3,000 Sheyallia elves fleeing from the Serpent Peninsula stumble into the Plain of Fire and discover the intricate networks of caves and tunnels beneath. The settle, war with the gnolls, and eventually cooperate with them.
500 BC: The Traldar are in the midst of their Dark Age. Communication between communities is infrequent. Local dialects begin to differ widely. The national epic of King Halav is the only thing which gives the people a sense of unity. Linguistic changes are already advanced enough that the people consider themselves Traladara, descendants of the Traldar, the people of King Halav.
Elsewhere, the Nithian Empire, having incurred Immortal dislike, abruptly ends; the Immortals alter the climate, divert the headwaters of the River Nithia, promote social unrest, deny magical powers to their clerics, and take other actions which cause the Empire to collapse catastrophically. The Immortals use magic to ensure that almost all trace of the Empire is wiped from the face of the Known World. The colonies are systematically destroyed - except for Thothia, which has already turned away from the Entropic faith which led to the destruction of Nithia.
Ancestors of modern Alasiyan peoples withdraw to desert basins and establish a nomadic culture. Weak mainland human tribal cultures in the Northern Reaches are at the mercy of giantish clans. The remaining Black Moon gnolls scatter east and west.
In the Ierendi islands, the Malpheggi lizard men, doomed to extinction by a parasitic plague brought by the Nithian colonists, wipe out the Nithians before dying themselves. This is part of the Immortal plan to destroy the Nithian Empire.
By now, the steppes where Mealiden's elves settled have become the mighty Canolbarth forest.
By now, the Thyatians, Kerendans and Hattians have conquered and assimilated the human tribes who opposed them; they are now in full control of the region which will one day be called Thyatis.
Yav, known as Mulogo, convinces the Tanagoro people of the Serpent Peninsula to sail across the Western Sea and settle on the Immortal's Arm.
Herath wars with Wallara; manscorpions betray the enduks and take possession of Nimmur; Nithians disappear, leaving little evidence other than a few relics and pyramids. The Red Curse is created, but confined by Herathian mages in portions of the eastern Savage Coast. (RS)
493 BC: Queen Ubdala of the Broken Lands raises Great Horde again. She recruits goblins and gnolls in the Altan Tepes, and marches north.
492 BC: At the battle of Sardal Pass, they are routed, the orcs utterly massacred. Ubdala dies. Hordes routed south and west, crowding Cruth mountains and Altan Tepes. Gnomes kicked out.
490 BC: Kobold clans are driven into the uplands of the Northern Reaches from the west. They overrun and exterminate the gnomes, and occupy their subterranean kingdoms.
480 BC: Yav leaves the Tanagoro and sails back to the Serpent Peninsula to search for what was causing the unnatural greed and selfish thoughts (not to mention precognitive abilities) of residents.
452 BC: Mahmatti Running Elk becomes an Immortal after becoming one of the most powerful shamani ever to exist atop the Atruaghin Plateau.
450 BC: Dwarves arrive along the eastern Savage Coast and build small colonies. (RS)
400 BC: The prophet Mulogo (actually Yav) reappears and leads the People of Yav from the Immortal's Arm back to Thanegia Island.
350 BC: Mealiden abdicates the throne to follow Ilsundal's path to Immortality. Alevar of the Grunalf clan becomes king of Alfheim.
322 BC: A Schattenalfen attack annihilates the southern Azcan city of Axateotl for the seventh, and last, time.
251 BC: A legendary gnome craftsman named Glimreen Gemeye discovers a jet engine artifact of the destroyed Blackmoor civilization.
250 BC: Mealiden becomes an Immortal of the Sphere of Energy.
200 BC: Tritons fleeing from their devilfish enemies enter the Sunlit Sea and establish the Kingdom of Undersea in the waters between the islands of Ierendi and Minrothad.
By now, orcs control the land to the west of the Streel River, as far south as Akorros. The also control the Broken Lands, southern Glantri, and most of Ethengar. Humans control the areas south of Akorros; elves control Alfheim to the east.
Alphatians begin settling the region of the Peninsula of Esterhold. They use their magic and sophisticated military forces to drive most of the Jennites back several hundred miles and enslave the rest.
The centuries-old Milenian Empire begins to weaken.
192 BC: The Alphatians, annoyed by the piratical activities of the Thyatian tribes, launch a campaign to conquer Thyatis.
190 BC: The Alphatians complete their conquest of Thyatis; Thyatis is now part of the Alphatian empire.
150 BC: The outer-world Shadow Elves contact the humanoid tribes of the Broken Lands, spreading their hatred of the above-ground elves and persuading the humanoids to attack Alfheim.
Tortle civilization rises on the central Savage Coast. (RS)
100 BC: The Milenian civilization has grown soft and decadent. It enslaves surrounding tribes and nations; most soldiers in the Milenian army are conscripts from conquered tribes. The Immortals decide to preserve the Empire in its earlier, more heroic form; they transport to the Hollow World all Milenians who adhere to the earlier Milenian goals and desires. Depriving the Milenians of their few remaining true warriors and uncorrupted government leaders sends the empire to its doom even more swiftly.
Newcomers reach Skothar's southwestern shores. They come from the continent of Davania, fleeing the collapse of the Milenian Empire and seeking to establish a colony where their way of life could survive. They find the coast already inhabited, and ask and are granted permission by the nearby natives to settle a stretch of wilderness between two rosperous Jennite cities.
In the Lost Valley of the Hutaaka, the descendants of the Traldar finally free themselves from Hutaakan rulership and begin warring on their former masters. This racial war is destined to go on for another 1,100 years.
50 BC: The decadent Milenian civilization collapses utterly under the attacks of surrounding tribes.
2 BC: Lucinius Trenzantenbium, a Thyatian-born, Alphatian-trained wizard, kills the Alphatian wizards in Thyatis and declares himself King of Thyatis; was breaks out between Thyatis and Alphatia.
0 AC: The economies of both Thyatis and Alphatia have been wrecked by the war; the two powers conduct a peace treaty in the city of Edairo, the capital of Thothia (on the Isle of Dawn). Later, in Thyatis, General Zendrolion Tatriokanitas assassinates King Lucinius and several other kings gathered there, and crowns himself Emperor of Thyatis, Ochalea and the Pearl Islands. The Thyatians celebrate for weeks. Thyatians do some trading with Minroth islanders.
The Traladara begin a period of regrowth as trade is slowly established with southern peoples. Peaceable demihumans (the Callarii elves and the Highforge gnomes) settle in Traladara territories; warlike demihumans (goblins, hobgoblins, orcs) do as well, in lesser numbers.
Early Alasiyan agricultural settlements along coastal plain and interior desert oases.
1 AC: Yav reappears once again, attempting to fix an artifact. However, the fix drains all ambition from the Tanagoro.
21 AC: Ansel Darokin declares himself King of Darokin, beginning the reign of the Eastwind Kings.
39 AC: The Flying City of Serraine makes its maiden flight.
67 AC: Orcs living near Lake Amsorak wrest most of Darokin from its human inhabitants in this bloody summer. The humans and elves of Darokin join forces to drive the orcs out; they're successful. Thousands of orcs flee into Nagpuri, slaying and pillaging as they overrun the lands. Nagpuri's warriors must contend with orc troubles for the next decade.
87 AC: Aden I, King of Darokin, is killed by orcs, ending the Eastwind reign.
88 AC: Orcs make major gains against the leaderless Darokin humans, forcing the Elves of Alfheim to support Corwyn Attleson as a compromise choice to lead Darokin. The reign of Darokin Kings begins.
100 AC: Descendants of Makistani tribal nomads enter Ylarum from the north and settle the Ust-Urt Valley.
Celedryl of the Erendyl clan is crowned king of Alfheim.
Goblinoid hordes sweep the Savage Coast again. Tortle civilization falls, and humans, dwarves, and elves remaining along the eastern coast are prompted to build permanent settlements. (RS)
100 - 150 AC: Three prominent families rise to power in the Asanda plain - the Pratikutas of Putnabad (which includes present-day Jaibul and Jalawar), the Rastrapalas of Shajarkand, and the Mahavarmans of Nagpuri and Gunjab. Throughout the century, successive generations gain and lose power and ground in almost constant struggles for control.
122 AC: In Darokin, Corwyn I dies after a long and successful reign. His son, Corwyn II, assumes power.
150 AC: Thyatians begin colonizing into the southeastern coastal plain and the foothills of the Altan Tepe range in Ylarum, enslaving and assimilating, and scattering the indigenous population.
179 AC: The Pratikutas seize control of the entire length of the Asanda River and most of the Salt Swamp - despite internal problems with revolts and rebellions.
186 AC: Rajah Vijay Pratikuta dies, leaving Putnabad to Sarad, his only son. Rajah Sarad's weak rules loses all but a fraction of Putnabad's territory. Newly-powerful families rule in Jalawar and Jhengal. Other rajahs suspect these new rulers are shape shifters.
200 AC: Rockhome dwarves begin colonizing into outside lands; they are usually welcomed into human communities.
250 AC: The Alphatians begin colonizing into the northern and central coastal plain of Ylarum, enslaving and scattering the indigenous population. Some of the Ylari driven out by the Alphatian and Thyatian aggression migrate to Darokin. The Alphatians also found the colony of New Alphatia on the Isle of Dread; Alphatian magic is adapted to seafaring needs.
Alphatian settlers colonize the side of Trader's Isle left uninhabited by the Minroth traders. At first they fight, but soon trade wins over war.
Nomads driven from their homelands in Ylarum by Thyatian colonists make their way into Darokin and then into Sind. They bring with them single-humped dromedaries, fine horses, and techniques for making flying carpets. Some settle in Sindhi towns. Many more find kindred spirits in the Urduk nomads west of Sind and add their herds and desert traditions to those of their new-found brethren. Rajahs seeking to strengthen their armies with Ylari warriors try to attract Ylari settlers to their lands.
276 AC: Human and elf cultures in the Isles of Dread meet and establish trade.
284 AC: Minrothian and Alphatian cultures clash on Dread Island over slave trading issues; elves force the humans to make peace.
293 AC: Last of the orc tribes driven from Darokin.
300 AC: The water elf trading port of Seahome is established on Alfeisle in the Minrothad isles.
330 AC: A group of humans exploring deep underground finds the shadow elves and rekindles their interest in the surface world.
360 AC: Minroth traders carry slaves for Thyatian Empire; halfling slaves are introduced to the Isles of Dread.
390 AC: Disastrous humanoid raid on Alfheim. Some orcs captured.
395 AC: The Flaems, an offshoot of the Alphatians from the original Alphatian homeworld, settle the Glantri area where they discover the Radiance. They bring natural strains of bear and boar lycanthropy.
400 AC: Ostland raiders range south to Thyatis and north to Norwold. Mainland Northern Reaches tribes are victimized by the sea raiders and by giantish clans.
The Flaems discover that other, enemy Alphatians are in possession of the mighty Alphatian empire to the east.
The Traladaran village of Marilenev begins doing more trade business than fishing and begins slow, gradual growth from the increasing trade. Thyatian clerics learn the "Song of King Halav" and commit it to writing for the first time.
Rogue Alphatian wizards attempting to develop a hardier, more powerful Alphatian race create fast-spreading magical strains of the curses of vampirism and lycanthropy.
401 AC: A two-month epidemic of lycanthropy in Alphatia results in thousands of werecreatures and dozens of weretypes. The newly-formed Alphatian Center for Disease Control acts quickly to limit the effects of the epidemic.
406 AC: The magical strain of lycanthropy stabilizes into seven primary weretypes - wolf, boar, tiger, bear, bat, fox, and giant hawk.
410 AC: Minroth traders unwittingly help spread the new vampirism and lycanthropy throughout the seafaring world, including the Kingdom of Undersea.
411 AC: The first wererat awakens to intelligence and the stunning revelation that he can take human form. He calls himself Mrikitat.
415 AC: Weresharks first appear in Undersea, triggering an epidemic of lycanthropy among the sea peoples.
419 AC: Normal seals carry lycanthropy to the sub-polar regions of Mystara.
421 AC: Thelvyn Foxeyes is born in the Fleamish highlands.
425 AC: Minrothad traders unwittingly introduce lycanthropy to Sind. The disease threatens to overrun every level of Sindhi society. Weretigers are especially prevalent. Other shape shifters already in Sind see this as an opportunity to unite their kind - dopplegangers and mujinas allying with lycanthropes - and seize complete control of the area.
Ka the Preserver, an Immortal, fears this would irrevocably alter Sindian culture and transplants nearly half of the Sindhi population to the Hollow World before the shape shifters can effect their takeover. Ka gives false memories to those he transplants - memories of an outer world Sind once ruled by shape shifters called chambahara, or "deformed animals."
Those left behind also receive false memories of a devastating plague that killed half the Sindhi population. They are left with many shape shifters to contend with, as Ka transported only a fraction of the shape shifting population to the Hollow World. For a while, a Sind ruled by shape shifters becomes a reality.
437 AC: Thelvyn Foxeyes discovers the armor of the Dragonlord in the Blackmoor citadel Dragonwatch. He becomes the second Dragonlord of Mystara.
443 - 445 AC: Expeditions of elves and humans attempt to purge Dread Island of all lycanthropes; human population is decimated; this time is called the Silver Purge. Similar events take place in Undersea, during the Night of the Long Knives; many weresharks flee to deeper waters. Werecreatures know this time as the Great Persecution.
442 AC: Thelvyn Foxeyes comes to the accidental realization that he is actually a Gold Dragon enchanted into the form of an Eldar elf. After a journy to the home plane of the Great One, the spell is broken. The time of the Dragonlord is over. Thelvyn becomes the Dragonking.
445 - 450 AC: Lycanthropes fleeing from the Great Persecution establish colonies on every continent.
450 AC: Malf Quickhand leads a halfling slave revolt; newly-freed halflings take ships and migrate to the island they name Open Isle.
Traldar arrive in the Savage Coast region. They establish several city-states on the eastern shores of the Gulf of Hule. Traldar who settle on the western shores are absorbed into existing human cultures descended from the Oltecs. Humans of the eastern coast begin to establish permanent villages and begin to intermingle with elves of the region. (RS)
451 AC: Mrikitat establishes a nation of wererats in the sewers beneath the City of Thyatis.
Sindhi mages led by Maga Aditi, a name-level female magic-user, unite and overthrow the shape shifters. A brutal purge follows. Elaborate tests and carefully plotted traps expose a great many shape shifters - dopplegangers and lycanthropes alike - who are promptly executed. When the dust settles, the magic-users of Sind establish their own caste, the Jadugeryas, and claim themselves high-born, like the Himayas (warriors) and Rishiyas (clerics).
460 AC: Wereseals join the list of persistent weretypes.
475 AC: The forest elf trading port of Verdon is founded on Alfeisle.
478 AC: Ostland is united under King Cnute the Bold.
488 AC: Hadric Corser, the Great Uniter, brings the remaining Minroth humans together; founds the city of Minrothad and lays foundation for an organized trading federation.
491 AC: Mrikitat the wererat attains Immortality in the Sphere of Time.
500 AC: Thyatian and Alphatian colonies in Ylarum begin what will become three centuries of warfare. The Alasiyan tribes are constantly feuding.
Conflict between Alphatian and Thyatian empires begins; Minroth traders maintain neutrality and dominate merchant shipping for both sides.
Traders bearing vampirism and wolf, bear, and boar lycanthropy settle in Traladara's deep woods and flourish there.
Big Chief Sitting Drool unites the Broken Lands. Siege of Corunglain. Orcs threaten Darokin City.
Three of Cnute's sons colonize the mainland near Ostland. Troll and giant raids are discouraged by punitive expeditions.
Humans move into the areas that will eventually become Eusedria and Robrenn; some elves and dwarves ally with these humans. Lupins and rakasta form permanent settlements along the central Savage Coast, in lands that will eventually become Renardy and Bellayne. (RS)
501 - 504 AC: Darokin blames the elves for an attack on a farm near the Alfheim border, and battles Alfheim in the Elfwar.
502 AC: Corunglain freed. Darokin Punitive Expedition massacred and devoured in Trollhattan. Scandal in Darokin.
510 AC: A Northrock chief named Qeodhar organizes his people and persuades the Alphatian emperor to accept his nation as a subject territory of Alphatia.
520 AC: The halfling trading port and capital city of Open Isle, Malfton, is established.
Second Punitive Expedition from Darokin is massacred in Kol. First caravans attempt to cross Broken Lands.
522 AC: Second Siege of Corunglain. Villages torched.
523 AC: In Darokin, Corunglain falls to the orc armies of Big Chief Sitting Drool. Thousands are killed and the entire city is looted. Enslaved population taken back to Broken Lands.
525 AC: Third Punitive Expedition from Glantri and Darokin. Sitting Drool brought back in chains.
526 AC: Sitting Drool traded for slaves and gold taken from Corunglain, causing great political uproar in Darokin. Truce with Darokin and Glantri.