The Eras

Scholars established official demarcations for Varia's history during the Second Era. While they have come under revision in the ages that followed, the general terminology and divisions have remained intact. The periods of Varian history are as follows: the First Era, the War of the Scourge, the Second Era, and the Third Era, the last of which includes the current age.

The First Era

The period of Varian history, whether known or unknown, from before the War of the Scourge has collectively been known as the First Era. Archaeologists and other scholars have uncovered vestiges of that bygone time; however, absolute dating has been a practical impossibility. Over the millennia, the minds of the continent managed to construct relative timelines, which at least provide the present a semblance of life prior to the War of the Scourge. Most postulations about life before the onslaught of the Corruption and Scourge have placed the time as remarkably more advanced than anything present in modern-day Varia, at least five thousand years after the conflict.

The War of the Scourge

While not technically an Era, the War of the Scourge appears as a vivid demarcation within any official history in Varia. The time of the conflict is often referred to as a "blank period" much like the First Era and, despite the temporal haze present during the war, had a relatively more discrete end point. This age saw the effective devolution of Varia's civilizations, which arguably brought the continent's denizens to near extinction. For those who lived through the debacle, Varia's populace as a whole no doubt suffered a massive hit to the standard of living that gradually grew to become the only known reality. This period of time came to an end when the Varian Coalition succeeded in banishing the Corruption from the continent and eliminated most of the Scourge.

The Second Era

Immediately following the War of the Scourge, the Second Era, also known as the "Era of Restoration," saw the reestablishment, if not reinvigoration for the likes of the kingdom of Avon, of Varia's civilizations. The alliances forged within the Varian Coalition allowed an extended period of peace to stretch across the continent as new settlements sprung from the once corrupted lands. This period also saw the founding of major organizations like the Arcane Society, the Order of Avalon, and the Sabers. These organizations, along with the surviving kingdoms, laid the groundwork for a new continental order; their intentions focused on the maintenance of peace and prevention of occurrences that may bring about yet another conflict like the War of the Scourge.
Furthermore, Varia's denizens looked to overcome the setbacks brought upon them as they slowly rediscovered advancements previously lost during the war. The Second Era lasted for approximately two-thousand years. It saw the rise of dozens of major states and kingdoms across the continent as well as various golden ages within them. However, with affluence came the circle of the greed and arrogance, nations that grew powerful gradually sought to expand or make claims once beyond their reaches, which inevitably sparked conflict around them. The escalation of these hostilities led to the First Varian War and marked the end of the Second Era.

The Third Era

The Third Era saw the outbreak of large-scale wars between the major nations of the continent. For the first time since the War of the Scourge, nations utterly crumbled and scattered during the early centuries of this time period, an occurrence that continued in the following millennia. Arguably, the warring states avoided the collapse of Varian civilization through conflict due to a series of geopolitical checks and balance, which included the Avon Accords among other agreements. However, no diplomatic talks could ever impose a simultaneous peace among the powerhouses in Varia for any long stretch of time.
Another notable characteristic of the Third Era involves the increased proliferation of instances of the Corruption and the Scourge. However, with at least history to guide them, the Order of Avalon imposed a greater presence in the continental areas beyond Grandia that, while curbed to an extent by the Avon Accords, still chafed on the powers of other nations. Scholars have theorized this marked change to have been brought about by the increasing conflict between Varia's denizens and at least have taken the opportunity to gain new insight into the characteristics of life in the First Era along with the circumstances that may have led to the War of the Scourge.
The present-day still belongs to the Third Era and retains the characteristics of the tumultuous times which sparked it.

Related Historical Events

• 2000
  The First Continental War of Varia Begins