Historians disagree on a great many details of the history of
the Third Age.
It's not even clear how long
the Third Age existed. Some scholars estimate
the Third Age is roughly 3000 years old and others say it's as high as 10,000 years old.
There is a general consensus among scholars that establishes three or four eras, though admittedly the major events of the eras sort of bleed into each.
The
Demon Lords were all dead, but a great many of their demonic, undead, and mutant minions were roaming the wild.
Infernalism was rampant forcing the priesthoods of
the Nine to organize swiftly and unify.
The Barrier was still weak causing harsh winters and trickles of new
Void demons. Almost all
humans and humanoids were nomadic or semi-nomadic barbarians.
While life was harsh, one thing that most historians agree on and some Scarterrans (especially the
Cult of the Compact long for is that
the Nine's priesthoosd almost never fought each other and worked together well most of the time.
Warlord Era
Small nomadic bands gradually grew and merged into larger tribes. Some tribes began agriculture in earnest. Barbarians outnumbered civilized folk about 2:1 or 3:1 There were hundreds of warlords and small chiefdoms throughout
Scarterra. The grand alliance between the various priesthoods of
the Nine began fracturing as different priesthoods backed different warlords.
The Fakhari Era
Some of the warlords became powerful enough and claimed enough land to legitimately call themselves kings, but
the Fakhari humans dominated
Scarterra politically. While they didn't always conquer all the smaller kingdom and warlords, almost everyone had to pay
the Fakhari tribute. The various priesthoods of
the Nine fought each other viscously. Barbarians and civilized mortals were about equally numerous. Then
the Fakhari empire collapsed almost overnight.
Vampire Era of the Third Age
As different nations tried to fill the power vacuum left by
the Fakhari,
Vladimir the Conqueror and his hundreds of vampire children made their bid for world domination. Eventually Vladimir became so threatening the various priesthoods of
the Nine formed a truce to oppose him. The various free nations and tribes also allied against Vladimir. Vladimir faced coup attempts from some of his own vampiric children, and he had to deal with enemies from competing vampire bloodlines.
Note, the most
elves and
dwarves stayed neutral during the grand conflict of Vladimir versus all of
Scarterra and they were able to emerge from this era relatively unscathed.
It's not clear who among the umpteen factions united against Vladimir finally killed him. Vladimir's death was Year 1 of the Feudal Era (Maylar's
Zodiac year) and the current year is 1837.
Feudal Era of the Third Age
Civilized people outnumber barbarian people by a lot. The three major elven nations attempted a political surge to dominate the
humans nearest them and were eventually pushed back. Most of nations of
Scarterra use some variation of feudalism. Few will admit it, but they are using the feudal blueprint Vladimir forced on his vassals. Most of the most politically powerful nations are dominated by
humans.
Before the Feudal Era, historical records are incomplete and inaccurate, so it's not clear how long these eras lasted. The lines are blurred.
The early warlords had to deal with the fallout from
The Little Unmaking so it's hard to figure out where
The Little Unmaking ends and the Warlord Era begins.
At one point,
the Fakhari tribe were just another warlord tribe, and
the Fakhari still had to fight Void minions so it's blurry where the Fakhari Era began and ended.
Some Scarterrans say the tales of
the Fakhari were either greatly exaggerated or perhaps they were entirely fabricated. Most
elves and
dwarves scoff that
humans, and ancient
humans at that, could have magic and technology that far outstripped their might. Most fantastic relics and ruins attributed to
the Fakhari could easily be First or Second Age relics that predate humanity altogether.
It's also noted that Vladimir and his ilk did not come out of nowhere. According to them, they were plotting for centuries and building power in secret before they began making overt moves, so they were vampires prowling dark places in the shadows of Fakhari towers.
Because Scarterran scholars cannot agree on the nomenclature (much less a timeline) for
The Little Unmaking, Warlord Era, Fakhari Era, and Vampire Era, Scarterran scholars agreed to disagree and lumped all the time in
the Third Age before the Feudal Era as the Red Era.
Comments