History of Sanctuary

During the time of the Descent much history and knowledge was lost. It was not until Sanctuary was established that people started to pick things back up and record the passage of time once more.

Surface Times

So Long Ago it Might be Myth

Long before and so forgotten that it might just be a myth, people once walked on the surface of Cygnaria.

  • The Year it All Changed
    The Convergence
    Era beginning/end

    Something sure happened. The surface become uninhabitable, but how is something not even most scholars really know.

The Descent

Uncounted Days that Stretched into Unknown Years

Exactly how long the Descent took is lost to time. But it was more than a generation for sure. History is a blur here.

  • Time Uncounted and Lost
    Migration to Below
    Population Migration / Travel

    After the surface became uninhabitable the sun dwellers came down below and wandered for what seems like time uncountable. All semblance of time lost to them without the sun and stars. History remembers this time only vaguely.

Age of Sanctuary

1 and beyond

From the Founding of Sanctuary onward, the measuring of time becomes more precise and history is once again recorded and preserved.

  • 1

    1 /1

    The Founding of Sanctuary
    Founding

    The cave system that holds the city is discovered and the first refugees decide that this is where they shall make their home. Groundbreaking on the first structures in Sanctuary. They began counting time again here, declaring the date of founding to be their first day of a new year.

    Location
    Sanctuary
  • 1

    3

    A Vicious People
    Military action

    As Sanctuary began to form, resources and land were needed for the city's construction. They attempted to bargain with the local goblinoid tribes that had inhabited the area since before them to trade goods so that both may prosper but the tribes would not deal with the people of Sanctuary. One attempt ended in bloodshed, the merchants of Sanctuary killed by one of the tribes and from there centuries of war and conflict would sprout.

  • 20


    First Contact with Nepenthys
    Diplomatic action

    After years of observation, the city of Nepenthys made itself known to the people of Sanctuary. An envoy of drow was spotted by Sanctuary, and since then, they have seen each other many times, but never for long.

  • 34


    First Recorded Mana Cavern
    Discovery, Exploration

    Far from Sanctuary the first record of a mana cavern and its crystal creation is noted. A small civilization forms in the large expanding cavern within the centre.

  • 60

    1 /3

    Beginning of Transmutational Alchemy
    Technological achievement

    Allen McAllister showcases his proof-of-concept for a device which allows the transmutation of common underground materials into lost rarities: first, by transforming raw mycellium into extinct cow's leather. The McAllister Alchemical Company is founded the same year

  • 73


    Cave Camberly Forms
    Founding

    The small civilization across the material from Sanctuary officially becomes military style school 'Cave Camberly'. It now hosts a small population but invites nearby cities young to study the arcane.

  • 97

    14 /6

    Discovery of The Unders
    Discovery, Exploration

    The passage to The Unders is opened up for the first time. Exploration begins, exploitation follows.

    Location
    The Unders
  • 138

    14 /9

    Great Shake of '38
    Geological / environmental event

    The great shake of '38. A very significant earthquake hit the city, changing some of the topography in the process. The cliffs were about 25 feet lower before.

    Location
    Sanctuary
  • 174

    26 /9

    Mopo made Maester
    Life, Milestone

    As the previous golden eyed heir to the House of Golden Eye’s wealth and prestige passes on, he makes the surprising announcement that a gnome shall succeed him, Mopo is granted the title Maester and the family is his to run until he passes on as well.

  • 219


    The Blue-Light Treaty
    Diplomatic action

    The leaders of the goblinoid tribes were invited to the city to sign a peace treaty with Sanctuary. Delegates from the Zhou family met with them inside the Sapphire Hold in order to sign the document detailing an end to the conflict and a hold on any future expansions from the city. While tensions were high, the expert diplomacy of the nobles kept the meeting peaceful and the treaty was signed.

    Location
    Sapphire Hold
  • 231


    The Dousing of the Blue-Light
    Military action

    Employees of the Greywind Ironworks were found dead outside the gates of the city. Butchered by the goblinoid tribes, these poor souls were mourned across the city, but after the mourning came the cries for vengeance. The treaty broken, the city saw little recourse but to reignite the fires of war and conflict between the city and the Goblinoid tribes started again in full.

  • 298

    14 /3

    Locking the Unders
    Disaster / Destruction

    Delving too deep unleashed something terrible. Too much to fight off, instead the way to the Unders was closed. The creation of the Undersgate and the distribution of its keys are all that saved Sanctuary from what lurks beneath.

    Location
    Undersgate
  • 299


    Founding of Amberlight
    Cultural event

    Citing dissatisfaction with the city's ability to handle disasters such as that from the Unders, Mirabelle Blake leaves her position in the city guard to found a mercenary security company

  • 302

    15 /8
    302

    22 /8

    The Week of Night
    Disaster / Destruction

    A critical shortage of the materials used for Fungalite refinement causes the Sundelier to go out for the first time since Sanctuary's founding. For seven days, the city is plunged into unbroken night

  • 302

    20 /8
    302

    22 /8

    When the Nightmares became Real
    Disaster / Destruction

    When the lights went out and fear followed suit, something else came along with, or rather many things came. Out of the darkness, a horde of insects born of chtin, nightmares and bone burst through the walls of the garrison, slaughtering creatures in their path as they flooded the warehouse district, attacking stores of unrefined fungalite. The exact nature of what followed has been lost, but to those who were there and survived, one thing was clear: the nightmares were real and were ravenous.

  • 303

    305


    Sealing of the Lights
    Cultural event

    The scattered and competing Fungalite refineries are, one by one, acquired and brought under a single umbrella by the priesthood of That Which Was. The House of Lights is founded as the sole, combined house of Fungalite refinement. St. Alicia appointed as its keeper.

  • 360

    7 /7 07:00

    Arrival of Subsylvan Refugees
    Population Migration / Travel

    Wood elves who have wandered the caves since time lost to memory stumble upon Sanctuary . The doors held open for them and the generosity of the city giving them a new home. They establish what eventually becomes Naturenook .

    Location
    Naturenook
  • 412

    23 /5

    First Expedition of the Ecological Institute
    Expedition

    A group of naturalists, ecologists, and druids gather for the first time. Holding the first meeting of what would become the Unders Ecological Institute. Their curiosity overrides the fear of what they might find, and they plan an expedition into The Unders via secret paths they still have not shared to this day.

  • 416

    13 /9

    First Issue of Ecologist’s Quarterly
    Founding

    The first issue of the scientific periodical is distributed in Sanctuary. Few read it, as it is written in dense Jargon rather than the common tongue.

  • 430

    3 /6
    430

    6 /6

    The Westwind Street Riot
    Disaster / Destruction

    A labor dispute at the Westwind Textile Plant escalates into a strike, and from there, into a full-scale riot. Hundreds are injured, dozens of buildings are destroyed, and sixteen are killed. It takes 3 days for order to be restored. One month later, Amberlight is granted an indefinite contract to act as a supplementary police force in the Ashworks.

  • 440


    The Warrens are Born
    Cultural event

    Following a record-low year of profits, the notoriously dangerous Eastreach Iron Mine is closed. One of the main sources of income in Castaway Catch is lost, and soon the mine's upper levels become housing for the destitute, its middle reaches a hiding place for criminals and hermits, and its lowest depths forgotten.

  • 480

    483


    Beginnings of the Cableway
    Technological achievement

    Freelance artificer Raff Mizzleton introduces his first proposal for a citywide system of miniature messenger constructs, travelling via cables charged with arcane energy. Over the next few years, the newly-founded Mizzleton Communications Company links important businesses and the homes of the well-to-do throughout most of the Uppers (and some parts of the Lowers), in what would come to be called the Cableway.

  • 488

    6 /6

    Exo’s Ascent
    Life, Relocation

    After growing up as the ward of Granny Gardenbeetle The tiefling known as Exo is released. His ancestral vow of a hundred years of service fulfilling. Eventually he makes his way to Sanctuary and builds a home, which will eventually become his bug shop.

    Location
    Exo's Vermin
  • 495


    Camberly Envoy Reaches Sanctuary
    Diplomatic action

    A Camberly representative reaches Sanctuary with a group for construction of a centre, after a few years a teleportation circle and main building will be available for Camberly to assist Sanctuary and vice versa.

  • 500

    1 /1

    500 years of Sanctuary!
    Cultural event

    The 500th Anniversary of the founding of Sanctuary! This is where Gameplay Begins

    Location
    Sanctuary