History of Ostelliach

Pre-Breaking

... 0 PB

The time when the temples still belonged to the gods and the flow of The Web was unfettered.

  • -774 PB


    Scriptorium Soiram founded
    Cultural event

    The (estimated) founding date of Ostelliach's oldest surviving institution, the great library and scholarly center of Scriptorium Soiram in what is now called Illuvia, southwest Ostelliach.
      The Scriptorium Soiram would go on to be integral to the continuing existence of Ostelliach after The Breaking as well as a cultural, historical, linguistic, and arcane bastion of knowledge that welcomed any who wanted to learn.

  • -725 PB

    -708 PB


    Creation of Rowan Mechanism
    Construction beginning/end

    The ambitious creation of the city of Rowa's base, a great slow-turning elegant series of metal mechanisms created as a test of artificing and smithing prowess by scholars of the Scriptorium Soiram.   The plates were created the assistance of Ohx Electrum by the peoples of north in what would later be Arnun-Ohx, and served as the base for the city created explicitly to support academics and creation, exploration and invention, historical study and dreaming of the future.

    Location
    Rowa
  • -520 PB


    Arnun-Ohx Established
    Founding

    The Electrum City, the Smith's Goal, the City of Creation: Arnun-Ohx is officially established.   People had long lived in the area and been building proud, architecturally gorgeous and arcanically imbued structures for some time, thanks to the talented Orcish smiths and their Ohx Electrum they so prized from The Twins mountains to the north. In fact, they had already been engaging in ambassadorship with other cities such as Rowa for centuries. This date marks the official unveiling of the name and the Orcs opening their arms to outside travelers establishing homes in their lands.

    Location
    Arnun-Ohx
  • -310 PB


    Sadora Rowa Established
    Founding

    The founding of the town of Sadora Rowa, sponsored by and under the protection of the established city of Rowa in the far south.   Sadora Rowa was established as a scholastic site to mirror Rowa and gather information about the northern half of Ostelliach. It also was created to serve as a waystation for travel to Arnun-Ohx in the northwest, given Rowa's political partnership and deep gratitude to the Orcish smiths there for their instrumental part in the creation of the scholastic city near Scriptorium Soiram hundreds of years prior.

  • -235 PB


    Founding of Fort Avidium
    Military action

    The creation of the great fort that would later (after the creation of Cities of Mercy and Wrath) be renamed The Tryst. The structure has always represented a prison encampment and military stronghold; rebranding and pivot to rehabilitation coincided with the drive to populate the area when the cities were founded later and the decision to keep the plateau isolated was reversed due to its prime location in the center of the continent.

    Location
    The Tryst
  • -181 PB


    Founding of Cities of Mercy and Wrath
    Political event

    The founding of the cities that would later be referred to as the geographic (but not political/social) capitals of Ostelliach. These cities would become important centers of trade, cultural exchange, and export as well as some of the most socioeconomically divided, least united places in the entire continent.

  • -170 PB


    Fort Avidium renamed The Tryst

    The military-fort-turned-prison was renamed The Tryst shortly after the founding of the Cities of Mercy and Wrath as the decision to keep the plateau restricted was reversed and the focus moved toward rehabilitation and more public-friendly branding.

    Location
    The Tryst
  • -154 PB


    Mother's Gift planting begins
    Geological / environmental event

    After the founding of The Cities of Mercy and Wrath, a decision was made to create a truly massive farmland south of the plateau with the intent of making a national breadbasket fit to feed all of Ostelliach (with distribution planned to filter through the new cities, of course). The first crops were to be wheat and a hearty local tuber used for spirits, medical unctions, and winter rations.   The first tilling and plantings of these fields coincided with the creation of the dual cities of Sun and Silo that were to serve as national warehouses for the stock before distribution.

    Location
    Mother's Gift
  • 0 PB


    The Breaking
    Disaster / Destruction

    The Breaking, when all gods seemingly left Ostelliach's reach, all temples exploded, and the cataclysms of the current world began.

After-Breaking

0 PB and beyond

After the Breaking, the rending of the Web, the severing of the connection, the loss of the gods. The time our story currently takes place in, when natural and magical cataclysms rage and access to the flow of arcana is earned through sacrifice and chance.

  • 0 AB


    The Breaking
    Disaster / Destruction

    The Breaking, when all gods seemingly left Ostelliach's reach, all temples exploded, and the cataclysms of the current world began.

  • 82 AB

    87 AB


    Evo Erosion
    Plague / Epidemic

    The Evo Erosion was a fungal disease/plague that ravaged Ostelliach for nearly 5 years shortly after The Breaking, when The Web remained inaccessible and healing/warding was unavailable to much of the population.   The plague targeted mostly people with human ancestry, leading to the view of humans as potentially dirtier or less reliable than other species. It also led to a wider distrust of Myconids and people living in The Netherwell region despite the fact that no evidence was found linking the fungal jungle to the specific infection.

  • 138 AB


    City of Sammen Founded
    Founding

    In the wake of post-Breaking, many people were forced from their homes, fleeing natural disasters or political upheaval. A relatively stable Ostelliach beforehand had not seen a need for diasporas or asylum, but in the tumultuous aftermath, groups ended up fleeing, settling, fleeing, resettling. One geographic area in the Softscale proved a safe space for respite and over time attracted a few groups permanently settling.   This group of groups formed a town they called Sammen, "together" in the local Giant tongue, and started a society dedicated to the lost and displaced.

    Location
    Sammen
  • 145 AB


    AHARRG Founded
    Founding

    The creation of the Ad Hoc Adventurer's Recruitment & Resettlement Guild by renowned philanthropist and adventurer Hiram Exanthia. Originally located in a small shop in the City of Wrath; the massive guild hall would come some time later.

  • 210 AB


    First documentation of Arcane Heap
    Geological / environmental event

    The first documented record of the scrap pile that would grow to become the Arcane Heap in the Forged Basin of central Ostelliach past the Sullen Tributary of the Broadlysle River.   Historians theorize that the heap began appearing around this time due to:

    • Artificers and mages discarding scores of items and material that no longer functioned post-Breaking
    • A proliferation of new crafting attempts and subsequently trashed prototypes as people scrambled to discover a new form of artificing that could reconnect to The Web

    Location
    Arcane Heap
  • 235 AB

    237 AB


    AHARRG Permanent Guild Hall built & City of Wrath smiths restructured
    Construction beginning/end

    The dedicated creation of the large guild hall adventurers know today took a little over 2 years to complete, as it coincided with a greater effort to control the air pollution in the City of Wrath, rerouting ventilation systems through one central flue in the guild hall at the city's heart.

  • 397 AB

    399 AB


    Finite Archive deliberations
    Gathering / Conference

    The Finite Architects were a gathering of hundreds of scholars and (ex) magic users from all around Ostelliach. They sequestered themselves at the Scriptorium Soiram in Illuvia for 342 days and nights to find the answers to how to reconnect with magic, rejuvenate the gods, rebuild the temples, or do anything at all to stem the cataclysms spawned from The Breaking.   Yielded 2 things:

    • Safe rebuilding of the temples to stabilize magical occurences in those areas
    • Creation of the ritual later referred to as Godcrafting that allowed people to reconnect with The Web to use magic again

  • 399 AB

    401 AB


    Rebuilding the temples
    Construction beginning/end

    Per the recommendations of the Finite Architects, the temples of Ostelliach were rebuilt and repurposed, marking the beginning of a new era of (relative) stability enabled by the temples quelling the magical entropy of the areas around them.

  • 411 AB


    Warmhearted Cold Metal forms
    Founding

    Warmhearted Cold Metal (WCM) was created by a collection of Warforged tired of exploitation and casual abandonment. Led by this group and joined by artificed constructs that had gained sentience after being discarded, they marched on the Cities of Mercy and Wrath and put on heated demonstrations at workshops in the area demanding artificers exhibit respect for their creations.   This protest coincided with the announcement of the creation of Jona's Wall in response to as the rapid growth of the Arcane Heap in the wake of Ostelliach being able to access The Web once more. This growth of arcane trash included a massive proliferation of newly-created Warforged that were then hastily scrapped by new or inexperienced artificers who created hastily, without regard to proper stability of their creations or understanding of the gravity of creating life in such a way.

  • 412 AB


    Creation of Jona's Wall
    Technological achievement

    The creation of Jona's Wall, empowered by the discoveries by the Finite Architects to reaccessing The Web. The wall is a massive artificing achievement in warding against the encroachment of the Arcane Heap and Forged Basin into Mother's Gift.

    Location
    Jona's Wall
  • 457 AB


    Creation of Expatria
    Founding

    The formation of Expatria, the floating city of community, socialism, anarchy, and boats.   Located in the far north of Ostelliach in the Sea of Traitors, Expatria is a floating commune of ship wreckage, an armada built out of flotsam and jetsam to prioritize mutual aid over capital or individualistic culture. Though a very friendly society, the rest of Ostelliach tends to roll their eyes at them and see them as betrayers, despite the fact that the rest of Ostelliach doesn't have a real country or state culture for them to even betray.

    Location
    Expatria