A period in which the races war against each other for control of basic resources.
An Ether Vin by the name of Rijan Magar rose to power as a fearsome dictator in what is now known as the Federation of Tatsushi. He is believed to have been the first recorded case of Divinomancy, being a servant of Myrimar with unnatural prowess in combat.
The Draken Mir Etzli unifies the Draken Dir and Draken Mir beneath the Eastern Telzian mountain range. He rules for nearly three hundred years, expanding throughout the entire underground range, and leaving behind a legacy of Draken Dir and Draken Mir unity that persists to this day.
The first stable mutaphils, the Ursinoids, appear in the continent currently known as the Khainian Provinces, which create the first stable multiracial communities.
An unstable mutaphil named Nabu-bel-uzur in the continent currently known as the Khainian Provinces made the incredible discovery of Bronze, an alloy of Tin and Copper, which prompted a wave of technological and societal advancement.
The leader of the Ursinoid community, a man named Menkheper, rallies 500 members of his tribe to fight against a Confederation of mutaphil Tribes numbering roughly 2000. The ursinoids fought as heavy infantry with incohesive formations and armed with long bronze bardiches - their army would favor individual prowess over rigid formations, which suited their larger size and allowed them to dominate the battlefield.
The first recorded event of Elethian Magic was performed by Leasu Tufele, an Ursinoid, to build The Wheel, a circle-shaped world wonder that would later serve as the foundation of the Great City of Supan.
A second race of stable mutaphils appears in the continent currently known as Arbibia, the Melinoids, an expansionist race of badger-like creatures that spread throughout the known world with extreme agression.
A war between the Melinoids to establish a leader resulted in the split of the Arbibian continent. This happened due to the powerful essence of Eleth in that era coupled with the extreme generation of War Eleth from the Melinoids' temperament.
An Ursinoid force of 7,000 men is sent to Arbibia to help secure Ursinoid holdings in the area, and is attacked by a Melinoid force of about 10,000. The hammer of the historically successful Ursinoid incohesive formations find a ridgid anvil against the organized and cohesive Melinoid lines. Ursinoid forces soon find themselves encircled by a more mobile and disciplined force, leading to a disastrous rout.
Two Melinoid armies vying for power clash against each other, using organized War Mages for the first time. Each War Mage would directly enhance the abilities of their formations, improving their strength, cohesion and discipline. This battle of wills ends when one of the armies' War Mages is felled by another, leading to a loss of discipline and eventually a rout.
On the continent of Shaia, a diminutive race of Draken spawn, the Draken Sir, are discovered and brought to subserviance under Amer Kotar, the god-king of Shaia.
As Shaia and the Melinoid fight a destructive conflict across Draken Sir land, a powerful Draken Sir mage named Thibault Clair sacrifices himself and most of an unwilling Melinoid division to cast the intruders off their island. The spell fails dramatically, infusing kilotons of lift crystals under the island with power, forming the modern floating island between Shaia and Arbibia.
Pushed back to the shores of modern Lower Arbibia, a council of fifty Melinoid war mages forms to attempt a risky spell to turn the tides of the war. Instead, the spell malfunctions and wipes out nearly the entire remaining military strength of the Melinoid Empire, turning most into various flora.
To this day it is customary for every army to have at least one War Mage position, often ceremonial and seldom an actual War Mage, to improve and maintain the morale of the army.
The spell that the Melinoid war council cast, which turned beings into flora, threatened to spill over to the rest of the world. The God Elena Lidros intervenes and puts the entire continent in divine quarantine, a magical fog that prevents anything from leaving but not anything from going in, although the fog itself makes it hard to find land.
A combination of Ursinoid, Felinoid and Equinoid settlers explore and settle the Tatsushi and Shu continents.
On the eastern Shaian floating island, the Draken Sir build what is considered the first example of a true sky ship, which is promptly named after the eternal God Emperor, Amer Kotar. Over the next decades, an arms race erupts in western Drisenheim to build and explore with these magnificent creations.
A female Draken Sir named Noémie Iris Lefrançois starts advocating for more rights for the Draken Sir within Shaian society, creating a political movement named "The Rising Ideal". The movement is not immediately squashed by the God-King, allegedly due to the God-King's merciful nature during this period.
The God-King of Shaia was faced with a new, severe problem with revolt of Bellegarde and his followers in that the sky-ships of the Draken Sir, while capable of carrying average sized troops, could only be manned and maintained by the Draken Sir, due to the nature of their design. The mostly enclosed decks of the ships were used against them, as the Draken Sir could maneuver around them, rapidly boarding and commandeering the God-King's ships.
A particularly large and pesuasive Draken Sir, Milo Bellegarde, took control of the Rising Ideal movement after his assassination of Lefrançois' most recent successor, Lilian Girault, and stirred the Draken Sir to full, bloody revolt against the God-king.
A revolutionary Draken Sir named Abeau Bourcier leads the Draken Sir against the Shaian God-King, comandeering many of the existing Sky-Ships. The God-King, Amer Kotar, responds through a genocidical campaign of terror, culling the Draken Sir numbers to an unsustainable population.
The God Coriatanas, saddened by the destruction of the Draken Sir, declares the 13th of the Month of the Smith as a day to remember the ingenuity of the Draken Sir.
In the east of Drisenheim, Draken Mir, Draken Dir, and Chussaine appear from below the mountains into a massive, newly-formed mountain valley that soon forms the craddle of Eastern civilization.
After the catastrophic detonation of the lift crystal deposit beneath the mountains, the newly formed crater quickly filled into a lake. The resulting lush valley allowed for the Draken to flourish and progress in the area. Their rapid expansion from beneath the mountains quickly led to intense conflict with the Ether who had previously thought themselves the only inhabitants of the region.
Acronoids, a race of semi-shapeshifters able to change the color of their skin, are systematically killed and eaten by the Draken Mir across the eastern seaboard.
As the slaughter of Etherborn and Mutaphils continue in the south, the Draken Dir near modern-day Banalim find themselves disgusted by the brutality of their Draken Mir cousins juxtaposed with their good relations with the northern Mutaphils. This causes a cultural schism that results in Etherborn and Mutaphil migration northwards, toward a more tolerant region.
Banilim becomes the sanctuary for unstable mutaphils across Drisenheim.
A period of roughly 500 years wherein the foundations of the modern nations were laid following the rise of the First Telzian Empire.
The First Telzian Empire is officially brought into being by a Chusaine gate mage, Sayra Ayda, who was declared the first Empress of Telzia.
A considerable army of Draken Spawn resist Sayra Ayda's Telzian empire and move to prevent her expansion into their lands. This army, calling itself the Feysian Legion, believed itself to be guided by the hand of Feysus.
After many years of conflict, the nation of Shu manages to invade the First Telzian Empire, and annex most of western Telzia, at the hand of the Ursinoid Dabris Runcala, the 5th king of Shu.
The Draken Spawn under the Central Telzian Mountains banded with the Telzian Remnant to prevent Shu from moving into their mountain homes. This allowed not only for Telzian reorganization, but laid the foundation for Draken independance beneath the mountains.
The Draken Mir Chancellor of the First Telzian Empire, Aivo Calitan, establishes the kingdom of Bresos on the northern island of Telzia, in an effort to avoid annexation by Shu.
Beaten back over the course of two decades, the First Telzian Empire lay as a shattered wreck. With Shu forces continuing to annex and occupy Telzian provinces, Chancellor Aivo Calitan abandons the Imperial cause and founds Bresos, a kingdom that he attempts to consolidate away from the war. Whether his motives are selfish and power driven or compassionate for the Telzian people is up for debate. After this blow, General Priori Daunsilov, the most popular of the remaining leaders in the Emperor's legions, deposes the aging Emperor Raius Intagu. Daunsilov was not initially declared Emperor, but the regent council was never seen to favor another.
Then-Emperor Priori Daunsilov, through a combination of significant diplomatic effort and personal charm, marries the de-facto leader of the Commune of Etrana under the Central Telzian Mountains, a Draken Dir named Ahto Saar, bringing the Commune of Etrana into the fray against the Shu Empire.
Two Ether Vin brothers, Agamedes Pytheas and Kallistratos Pytheas, an Earth and Fire mage respectively, discovered a magma lake under the mountain range of Commune of Etrana. With the magma's high temperature, they accidentally add carbon to steel and they create high carbon spring steel. With their newfound knowledge of steel and its properties in mind, and thanks to the recent invention of the treadwheel crane, they set out to create bigger bloomeries, increasing the temperature that can be reached and thus yielding better quality materials and at a faster rate. Steel now easily surpasses all other metals in quality and becomes mass-produced in all aspects of society.
With the discovery of high-carbon spring steel, the newly founded Second Telzian Empire, led by Ether Vin Emperor Arnaldur Therish, conquers a significant portion of Central Drisenheim to include, Shu, Evehia, Sipur, and portions of the Durpacian Caliphate and Tatsushi.
With the rise of Artificers, great magical craftsmen, technlogy is implemented more frequently in every aspect of life, with war and imperial expansion driving innovation forward.
Funded by his clan, a renowned artificer of the Alton Clan, Virius Bardas, creates the first suit of Eleth-powered armor, and equips himself and a small number of trusted compatriots with this impenetrable plate before marching and quickly seizing Saca, the capital of the Second Telzian Empire, and slaughtering most of the existing nobility. He shortly declares himself Emperor Virius I.
Elements of heavy Zeivan cavalry became a major component of the Third Telzian Empire. The 27th Royal Cavalry Regiment gained renown for being extremely skilled and effective in warfare. Other nations are quick to copy this cavalry-focused doctrine.
The Second Empire of Telzia, during its forced restructuring into the Third Telzian Empire, had lost its foothold in Tatsushi along with most of its holdings in Shu, Evehia, and the (modern day) Caliphate. Determined to regain this territory and armed with mastercrafted siege engines and biofaerically enhanced shock troops, the eastern holdings are quickly retaken. After the bloody cavalry campaign to the east, Virius I turns his attention once again to Tatsushi.
With the rise of Virius I, nations begin recognizing the various Artificer guilds as major geopolitical powers over the coming centuries.
A new land mass is discovered by the nations of the east, and a race for expansion and colonization begins.
Darsius Mason ventures out from Tatsushi toward the west on rumours from local fishermen about another continent. After a 150 day voyage, he re-discovers the continent of Arbibia, and sells this information to the Third Telzian Empire.
Two armies, one from the Third Telzian Empire and one from the Central Tatsushian Kingdom, battle each other for the conquest of the Arbibian continent. Seven soldiers consume the large Elethian magic reservoirs and become very lethal War mages as they fight one another. The result is a pyrrhic victory for the Third Telzian Empire.
Led by one Vasila Valtera, Shu declares itself as a nation in response to the war between the Third Telzian Empire and Tatsushi fighting their wars on Shu soil. Valtera, a Felinoid of some renown, leads the people of Shu in a successful movement to remove foreign conflict from their shores.
A Kelderci inventor named Felix Michael Haagensen invents the first automatic crossbow, a crude invention which can only fire five bolts before a lengthy reload. Warfare changes over the next century forever.
The Ether Zel Antonio Supan discovers the island of Larpacia, and upon it, the Great City of Supan, a sprawling metropolis of winding streets and incredible architecture, inhabited by a small number of Meldrelco. Historians suspect that this city was a testbed for Oase due to the advanced design, and the suspicious similitaries to numerous chapters of "A Guide On Building a Prosperous and Effective City: Centuries Through Good Planning" found throughout the city.
Period of relative peace due to the relative strengths of the four major empire: Telzia, Sipur, Shu, and Meridia. Characterized by significant technological growth and a cold war between the four Empires.
Birth of the Caninoid Astra Lauriesen, minor noble of the Federation of Tatsushi. Leaving behind a life of privilege, she eventually becomes the second in command of union forces during the Fall of Meridia.
Birth of Vitilianus Attiliades, son of an Unaian corporal, who would go on to lead the forces in the last portion of the Fall of Meridia.
Fall of Meridia to undead threat of unknown origin throws world into chaos. Massive losses of manpower to undead catalyze tenuous peace and massive technological development.
Animals and plant in undead-occupied land begin themselves to turn undead. What was initially thought as a rogue spell turns much darker, as reclaimed land is hostile and uninhabitable.
The undead horde reaches Hiatros, capital of Meridia. Even with full mobilization, the city is unprepared for a siege, especially by such a single-minded foe. The defenders are noted forever more for their unparalleled bravery and sacrifice, but defeat is inevitable.
An emergency session of the State Council is called. Meridia reveals shocking projections of civilian and military casualties, and warn that Meridia could be overrun within the year. Over the following two days, Shu, Sipur, Tatsushi, and Telzia pledge peace until the undead threat can be dealt with.
A relatively unknown Captain Vitilianus Attiliates of the Fifth Engineering Corps in Unaia receives news of this undead threat and mass mobilization from Central Drisenheim. His superiors disregard the importance of this event, and Unaia sees this as a valuable opportunity to pounce on Sipur. Two days later, nearly the entire Third Company of the Fifth Engineering Corps storms the sky ship Skyweaver and commands the crew to set course for Meridia.
Initial from Shu, Sipur, Tatsushi, and Telzia arrive in Meridia, totaling fifty divisions. Over the next fourteen years of savage total war, nearly three hundred division from the Union will see combat in Meridia. Casualties are high, with retreat difficult and logistics stretched thin, but Union forces make the undead bleed for every inch of ground.
The Skyweaver arrives in Meridia, being quite a morale booster to Union forces, and ahead of Union skyships by over a month. Captain Vitilianus Attiliades refuses to be placed under Union command, but the Skyweaver is quickly set up to be used as a mobile command center, and begins ferrying supplies and relieving encircled troops.
Four days after the final supply corridor to Hiatros falls, the walls are breached. Only 15% of the population was evacuated beforehand. The death toll amongst the remaining civilians and troops in the encirclement is nearly total. The Skysweeper is instrumental in evacuating over 250,000 troops from the city before its fall.
During a visit to the Meridian border, Balatian separatists assassinate Emperor Carl II, throwing Shu into disarray and demarking a civil war as inevitable.
Diplomatic talks between Shu and Balatia break down. In the early morning hours, twelve divisions of Shu regulars enter Balatia, to be opposed by merely three divisions of loyalist Balatian troops.
Despite public calls for peace and neutrality, eight divisions of Tatsushi shock troops enter Balatia, while Tatsushian ships enforce a neutral zone in Balatian waters.
Taking advantage of the disarray of the Balatian Civil War, Shukin forms a brutal provisional government that enforces a near-total dictatorship, claiming to represent "free and independent" people.
With Tatsushian support proving pivotal and Shu forces stretched thinly, Shu and Balatia come to an agreement of Balatian independence. External observers condemn the usage of Meridian refugees as a bargaining chip in peace talks.
Four Shu divisions enter Free Shukin and enforce a bloody crackdown under order to pacify Shukin by any means. Nearly a hundred thousand civilians, rebels, and refugees are killed in just over a month of indiscriminate warfare. The campaign ends in a strategic victory for Shukin, as the provisional government remains in power.
For reasons yet unknown, every known intelligent undead instantaneously reverts to a primal state similar to that of most undead, effectively ending the war. Land that was lost to the Undying Lands is unreclaimable, and the Four Empires lick their wounds. In a mere fourteen years, Meridia is decimated to it's core, with 80% of it's population dead or maimed, while Shu is irrevocably splintered, drastically shifting the balance of power in central Drisenheim. The Telzian Empire appears as the clear victor, if any should be called such, suffering the least damage and gaining significant territory.
The Telzian Empire begins construction of the Meridian Bypass, a modern wonder of road stretching from central Telzia to Balatia. Widely seen as a negotiation tactic with the Kingdom of Sipur and Shu in an ongoing trade war, the Meridian Bypass' stated goal is to lower the attrition of trade ships by undead sea monsters, and takes fifteen years to complete. To this day, Telzia subsidises caravans that use the Meridian Bypass to retain significant economic control over Meridia, Shu, and Sipur.
A coalition of Khanian and Tatsushi forces invades the eastern half of Arbibia, ostensibly after a Khanian diplomatic envoy is masacred. Coalition forces are quick to embargo the island and make significant progress in seizing large population centers, but pay a heavy toll to Arbibian guerilla forces. Coalition forces remain in eastern Arbibia to this day, being unable to fully crush an insurgency fought by a generation of Arbibians.