The Second Age (Dominaria Supplement)

One or more images on this page are unattributed. Please include on this page the name of the artist or copyright holder, in addition to a link to the artist's website if available and appropriate. "Google" isn't a source; it shows web search results. "Pinterest" isn't a source; it's an aggregate of images copied or linked to from other websites. If you own this image, or it is covered by public domain, consider uploading the image to D&D Wiki. If the source of the image cannot be located or the copyright holder wishes for the image to not be on this page, then remove the image. For more information on copyright law, see D&D Wiki:Copyrights. Edit this Page | All pages with an unattributed image

The Second Age

The Third Council of Cartaan, The Fifth Conclave (1 SA, 863 CR)

Following the defeat of the Barbarian Hordes, humanity met in conclave the following spring in Cartaan to decide what to do. A loose Alliance was proposed and loosely agreed to. John of Illyria, proclaimed 'Sword of the West' after the Battle of Onea Ridge, argued heavily for a united West and was furious at the Conclave even though they gave him the head position in the Western half of the Alliance. Cartaan still managed to dominate the proceedings with its power, age, and allies, but John was the personality that stole the show. Another result of the Conclave was the proclomation of a new Age, for the West had emerged triumphant from the crucible of invasion.

The Illyrian Unification Wars (7-15 SA, 870-878 CR)

John, angered but resolved to work within the system, began a series of reforms to his army as well as infrastructure, trade, and defense reforms throughout his subordinate states. His primary concern was to revolutionize the Illyrian Army, previously based on the traditional system of bows, hoplites, and sword and shield hoplites with supporting horse. John developed and perfected a system of unified combat using the pike phalanx, a quantum leap over the traditional styles of the day. In statecraft, he labored for 6 years within the system and became more and more frustrated with Ineria, Ithraca, and the Norman Kingdom to his South. They barely accepted his laws and decrees and really only cooperated when offered money for projects. Finally fed up, John led his by now professional army (really a first outside the core of the Arcadian Army) in a series of punitary actions meant to bring them to heel. During this whole campaign, and the ones to follow, it should be noted that John fought at the forefront of almost all of the battles. As a younger man he was renowned as a blademaster almost without peer, and he'd proven it during the Barbarian Wars.

The Normans proved his longest campaign, and it dragged on for four years while the Inerians hassled John's supply line and twice attacked Mayne. The Normans finally surrendered and John absorbed their troops into his army and bid his commanders train them. The Norman cavalry, considered by many the best in the world, he incorporated into his elite corps and gave them special honors due their tradition and service in the Barbarian Wars. The Norman cities he left mostly to self-governance but installed guard forces and bid them pay a yearly tax. The Inerians buckled in a year, with the northern portion of Ineria surrendering after the decisive Battle of Port Finesta. Ithraca though, he feared would be his toughest task. The city was huge and well fortified, its citizenry having built it up during and after the Barbarian Wars. It was also well supplied by its fantastic port. John set about to lay siege to the city and invested it thuroughly across it's entire face. When the siege had dragged on for nearly two years, John knew he had to succeed soon or see his so far brilliant venture fail. He had accomplished all that he had without provoking the rest of the Allies: Cartaan and Cormyr had been mollified and the Hellenic States beaten back by his cousin Steven of Mayne in four pitched battles. In the end he turned to diplomacy and offered Beldron, struggling economically, increased rights to the Narrow Sea and rights to several island chains (unimportant by themselves but a sign of pride) in return for a blockade of Ithraca. His gesture, and his treatment of the proud Beldroni, earned him their respect and friendship and they did as he asked. Ithraca surrendered a month after the blockade was in place and Illyria was unified. After putting down a pair of rebellions in the Norman lands and having to re-sack the capital of Ineria, John was crowned King in Illyria at the age of 39.

The Conference of Sipani, The Sixth Conclave (15 SA, 878 CR)

King John, using his friendship with the Beldronis, arranges a conference of all of the leaders of the Alliance of Cartaan to discuss a revision of the system. His changes were almost uniformly rejected and Cartaan, nominal leader of the Alliance's signatories, ordered John to remove troops from occupied land, restore Inerian/Ithracan/Norman soveriegnty, and even to release Mayne from the Illyrian Compact (a treaty which bound the two cities together).

King John storms from the Conference, shouting that the others are throwing away a chance at unity and power beyond measure.

The Second Great War (16-27 SA, 879-890 SA)

The world takes the proverbial great breath before the plunge. In Illyria King John gathers his men, brought together under the esprit de corps of "The Four Nations Army" that the rest of the Alliance calls the as a slur. West of Illyria the armies of Cartaan, the Kingdom of Onea, Thorsnar, Dakia, Ak'kritaar, and the Athonian Hegemony form a "Grand Coalition" of armies in assembly throughout the lands. Their assembly is made tough by national boundaries and leadership sdquabbles despite the fact that all remain clear on the goal and Cartaan's nominal leadership.

The Isen Plains Campaign (16 SA, 879 CR)

The world of "civilized humanity" at this point extended roughly to the Aegis Mountains and after initial tense months with spy games in abundance, King John decided to strike across the Isen Plains in late-summer and hit at Onea. The Onean tribes were tenuously held together and John deemed their "coalition within a coalition" to be weakest target. Also, of the gathered Alliance armies, the Onean-led Army of the North was the least prepared for a fight. While he marched nearly 60,000 men north, his cousin Steven of Mayne moved south with 20,000 men and half the cavalry to wage a defensive campaign across the vast Plains of Argentum.

Although the Onean camps were at the west end of the plains and an advance on them represented a significant salient, John counted on the Ardile Fens - a range of hilly swamps formed by the River Isen's deltas - to stop any serious threat from the south. He advanced swiftly after his Norman cavalry wiped out their advance scout base at David's Junction and forced the Oneans to scramble to meet and try to stop him at the River Isen. The resulting Battle of Isen was an unmitigated disaster for the Onean-led force. John forded his cavalry 25 miles downstream and advanced his pike lines across the river. With the River Isen in full flow, the Army of the North couldn't flank the Illyrians, their advance covered the whole ford. John's men slowly pushed the Allied force back but not without losses. The day wore into early afternoon and Marshal Anderson, one of the few Oneans with a distinguished military record, remained confident he could stymie the advance through exhaustion at the river. At almost 2:30 exactly, John's cavalry arrived with a trumpeting of horns. At first they were a thunder on the horizon of dust and noise, but then they were sweeping into and around Anderson's hastily thrown up line and into his main block of men at the river. What had been a disciplined, though simple, defense turned into a route with startling speed. In the end Anderson sounded the retreat and his veteran core withdrew, ending the battle.

Within the week John was on the advance again, making short work of any rear-guard actions or skirmishing parties. He made for the large town of Perryville: a govenorate over the farming communities east of the Isen and a place he knew Anderson would have to rally and defend. John would not be disappointed in his expectations, and Anderson had made good preparations. The strategic crossroads and granary site was now occupied surrounded to the west by a triple-trench line and Anderson's cavalry was occupying both higher areas to the south and northwest of the town, ready to prevent a flank. John spent very little time preparing for the battle to come and, confident in his momentum, attacked on the third day. John sent his infantry foreword in a triple-acies (least experienced troops in a frontal line, then medium troops, then veterans) of about 12,000 men each. He held 10,000 in reserve and sent his cavalry force, almost 10,000 men, north to clear the hill and then flank Anderson. This proved to be a hideous miscalculation. When only troops attacked Anderson's lines, he recognized it and used his southern cavalry to break John's screens and harass his men all day. The frontal assault was also costlier than John imagined. His pikes got bogged down in the trench combat and his men were rained on by arrow-fire all day. The cavalry attack also met with setbacks, for Anderson's cavalry commander - an Arcadian mercenary - was a canny man. He laid traps in the manner of the Felixian Barbarians: spiked pits, logs to roll down the gentle rise of the vast hill, and balld of dried hay to be set alight and sent at the Illyrians. In the end, though he was forced to give up the hill, he held up John's cavalry until nearly mid-afternoon. He then harried them all the way to their flanking assault on Anderson, who was more ready. The Norman-led cavalry still broke his screening forces and got into his rear, but he was ready for this too and orchestrated possibly the best organized withdrawal in Dominarian history to this point. At the end of the day John had taken the town, but lost nearly 10,000 men (dead, the clerics could heal most others over time) in the process. Anderson was mauled as well, but had won a victory and both men knew it. He withdrew his army and had already evacuated all the grain, and after that went into camp in the Enoren Forest, the western border of Onea.

John stayed in Perryville for almost a month recovering and seeing his men healed. Despite the loss, the Illyrians took such a great amount of booty in armor and weapons that the battle would actually work to his favor in the coming years. It was into autumn by the time the Illyrians broke camp and John's diminished army, now just over 45,000 strong, marched east. Supply line harassment started to become an issue as he moved further east, but a remarkably good harvest served him well and made up any shortfalls. John's scouts found the Onean camp without issue, and it was actually a mundane line in one of the reports, detailing trees' myriad shades of color which gave John the idea which would net him Onea. As John neared the forest he had his best engineers begin constructing fire hurlers: vast catapults or scorpions built to fire resin or pitch soaked balls of dead prairie grass and sticks into the forest where he guessed Anderson would amass to break his pike lines and now distinct cavalry advantage. Anderson followed the script John had in his mind, and John for his part played right into the script Anderson had imagined - right up to the point where John's fire hurlers set the forest alight. The battle became a rout after a single massive charge, and John's cavalry caught the Onean command four days later in the forest. Anderson negotiated the surrender of his men, and in return for his service, John agreed not to sack Onea. The Onean troops now served John, and in showing mercy he had gained at least the acceptance of the Oneans.

The Ghosts of Argentum (16 SA, 879 CR)

During the Isen Plains Campaign, John's cousin Steven would lead a simply masterful campaign of defense and maneuver across the rolling plains of Argentum. Steven had 10,000 Mayener troops, 4,000 Illyrian pikemen, 3,000 Beldroni mercenaries, and 3,000 Ithracan skirmishers (formerly sailors and hunters mostly). Also he had about half of the Illyrian Kingdom's combined cavalry, nearly 8,000 men including 3,000 of the elite Normans. He took this immense force and wielded it like a dagger or a rapier. Steven had travelled the wide plains of the south as a young man as had many of his Mayener and Norman officers. They waltzed circles around the Alliance's Army of the South. The Army was made up of Cartaanis, Dakians, Thorsnari, some Ak'kritari troops, and the Thessalian forces. Most of the campaign involved Steven moving his army like a dancer, striking with savage speed and percision, and then disappearing like smoke. There were however, one pitched battle: Steven won his greatest victory of the War at Kotas' Mill.

The Alliance's 40,000 man Army of the South forced him to a fight at the crossroads of Kotas' Mill and intended to force him to do battle or forfeit all the land up to the old Norman Kingdom. Steven maneuvered to the town in acceptance and then set his men in the rocky plains before the town. The Alliance's forces, nominally led by a Cartaani Noble named Nathaniel of House Cartha, moved in blocks arranged by nationality against Steven. To their surprise and glee, Steven moved immediately to engage them, with his main battle line of Illyiran pikes and Mayener swords and spears seemingly intermixed. In truth though, the pikes were placed specifically to meet breaks between the Cartaanis and the Dakians on their left and Ak'kritaari on their left. His cavalry too fell within the wide umbrella which the large Alliance army sought to form, but they were arrayed to strike the "gaps" between the Dakians and the Thorsnari and the Ak'kritaari and Thessalians. Even with the strategy of striking at national breaks, Steven still relied on his men to win outright; for they had to or perish in their all-out assault. His assault surprised the Alliance, who had created a plan based on pushing him out with relatively low casualties. None of the constituent commanders wished to risk all-out battle this early in the war and certainly not against John's "rearguard". Steven's men struck precisely and with incredible force. His Mayeners held the middle while the Illyrian pikes drove in wedges and the thunderous charge of heavily cavalry broke the Alliance's Army into its constituent parts, although it was a near thing against the Thessalian Hoplites. The Battle of Kotas' Mill became a rout and in the end Steven's men killed nearly 15,000 to a "meager" 4,000 dead. After the battle Steven chased the Army in a headlong pursuit back to Alliance land, capturing thousands along the way. The rest of the year was spent harassing the Alliance all across their south.

The Battle of the Red Valley (17 SA, 880 CR)

John spent the relatively mild winter regrouping and travelling Onea. Then when spring came he marched south at the head of over 65,000 men, some of his Army garrisoning Onea alongside new Onean recruits, and Marshal Anderson sitting on his War Council. For John's part he was dead set on marching through the Gap of Argolis and taking the Cartaani Empire for his own. The Empire, as it was rightfully called, was the heart of human civilization and was much more densely populated then Illyria. Cartaan after all, had been the accepted seat of power since the great civil war of the last Age. Cities dotted the landscape with highways and aqueducts criss-crossing the plentiful farms and rich forests. Several small mountain ranges provided sufficient mining besides. Cartaan was the beating heart of the ancient world, but John said they'd become weak in their ways. There had been no major expansions in hundreds of years and the Barbarian Wars caught them completely by surprise. Now that it had come to war, John meant to unite humanity under his banner and proclaimed his goal to bring about a new Golden Age.

This campaign would make or break King John's bid for power and eternal glory and he knew it. His army was at its zenith during the next 5 years and at it's core were 30,000 Illyrian veterans, plus 7,000 Mayeners, 3,000 Normans, 3,000 Inerians, 2,000 Ithracans, and now 8,000 Oneans trained in the pike phalanx John had used to unite Illyria. Aisde from them John had 14,000 auxiliaries and cavalry and his column of march stretched miles as he marched south from Onea towards the Gap of Argolis (now Nurim's Gap). Cartaan's most renowned General, Antinius, rode at the head of 45,000 Cartaani and 35,000 troops mustered that spring from Ak'kritar and Thorsnar after the planting. Antinius was a veteran of the Arcadian Arkerii Campaign, the Barbarian Wars, and was an advisor during Ak'kritaar's campaign against the Snaga Goblins. Furthermore, he was a vocal supporter of John's bid for a stronger alliance and had actually trained a corps of men called the Heironean Guard in Cartaan. Unfortunately for him the Council of Cartaan kept them in the city both because they believed the Gap of Argolis eminently defensible, and out of terror of Steven. In Antinius' favor the Gap of Argolis, though far more broad than either battle line, was a natural choke point and Antinius could easily block the road south and cover his flanks with cavalry. Antinius deployed across the road and into several forts he had constructed as pre-planned reinforcement bases the past fall and sent his cavalry out in force to scout and patrol. John however, would not pause to consider. He camped for one day to the north of Antinius and then attacked with his entire force the next day. John's men advanced as a single series of formation over 50,000 strong, with his cavalry and auxiliaries on his sides. Antinius hurriedly moved his reserves up from his pre-planned contingency positions, with John advancing implacably. The Battle of Red Valley, as it would be remembered, was a tour de force for John and his Army. The dense forest of pikes mowed down Cartaani troops and pushed them back with every step. The brutal fighting against the Oneans had taught them valuable lessons the Cartaani had only read about and the veteran troops would not be stopped. John's cavalry and auxiliaries had the hardest time of it, but they too were veterans, and they too clawed their way to a bloody victory. At the end of the day the battle proved two things above all: King John the Conqueror would not be stopped, and the days of citizen soldiers and levies was over - this Empire would be carved out by professionals.

The Treaty of Ak'kritaar (17 SA, 880 CR)

John and the Ak'kritaari come to a peace after the indecisive and bloody battle at Three Bridges' Crossing. Ak'kritaar becomes a subjugate principality but retains its political and military independance.

The Cormyri Campaign (18-22 SA, 881-885 CR)

Antinius moved south after the battle, nursing his army back into shape and literally screaming at the assembled Council of Cartaan when they met at the northern Cartaani capital of Teladon.

John campaigns through the Cartaani Reach and into the Cartaani Empire itself.

Several Sieges and eipc battles ensue XXXXXXXX.

The Fourth Council of Cartaan, The Seventh Conclave (23 SA, 885 CR)

After the Battle of Palmyra, John calls on Antinius and sues for peace. He wishes an end to the fighting and does not want to defile the city of Cartaan through a seige. He still wishes to form an Imperium but

The Conquest of Thorsnar (23-26 SA, 886-889 CR)

John next turns his attention to the Thorsnari, and after spending all spring offering them terms and recieving the heads of his emmisaries in return, he fights a bitter war through their forested lands. The Sylvan Elves fight alongside the Thorsnar, dragging out the fight until Steven crushes the Thessalians and Dakians at Kekyra and marches on the City of Glass. For the first time in centuries, humans an Elven army on the field at the Battle of the Cormyri Vale and Steven is beaten thoroughly. All the same, the Sylvan Elves refocus on Steven allows John to surround and force the surrender of the Thorsnari Government in their fortress on Attica Ridge. He follows it up by signing a treaty with the Sylvan Elves allowing them the right to self rule for a small tax each year. Historians wonder still whether he could have rooted them out of their forest realm and set foot in the City of Glass; and most agree that he could have done it, but they agree the losses would have been too high even for his extraordinarily veteran core. John's respect for the Sylvan Elves of the Cormyri Vale, which he prominently proclaimed and displayed (a first for a major human ruler), and his proclamation of their self-rule, would be respected for the next two Ages.

The Southern Campaign (26-27 SA, 889-890 CR)

John and Steven's combined forces march south towards the last remaining Alliance forces. Troops from Dakai and the Athonian Hegemony mass on Tharca Hill where their borders join and hastily erect palisade walls. At this point they have a reasonable expectation of making the war very costly for John, as his men have been fighting for nearly 10 years and the campaign in Thorsnar and the Vale was costly. The Battle however, is a rout. John advances under cover of heavy weaponry built for the sieges of the mighty Cormyri cities and a hail of arrows. He crushes their force by midday and then marches on Dakai by the end of the week. Dakai falls to a two month siege and the following spring John marches into Hellenic lands. Athon formed a coalition of the Hellenic armies and presented a solid front to John's advancing force. The Hegemony first met John near Delthos and beat him back after a day of battle. John moved to engage them again while they camped at the town of Delthos below the Oracles' Temple and forced them back. The Athonians sued for peace at this point, but the Thessalians and the hastily formed Sartan Coalition fell back to the ruined city of Appalonia and again gave battle. The last battle of John's grand unification of the West was four day slug fight. At the time no one realized it's significance, but this battle would be the final word on John's conquests as well as the first time an outside power had conquered the Hellenic States. Human history was being written during these four days but it wouldn't be until much later that anyone would realize it.

The first day was an indeterminate mess that raged through the north end of the city with the Illyrians and their allies gaining little ground. On the second day the Thessalian and Sartan defense of the ruins of the Hippodrome and Dragonstay should have become legend. John's forces were bloodied badly and the second day was a Hellenic victory. The third day was yet another indeterminate mess that swept over the battlegrounds of the last day and into the center of the city. The grand city squares and markets as well as the old Acropolis were bathed in blood. Dust choked the city well into the evening. All throughout the day the leader of the Hellenic men became clear: Hector, King of Sartos. The fourth day would feature a fight that historians still argue the truth of: as day broke and the two sides assembled along the lines they had clawed out the day before, King John and his cousin Steven stepped forewords from his lines and called a challenge to the Memnon, King of Thessalia, and Hector. John and Steven were accomplished fighters; they had adventured together in their younger days and both had fought at the front of nearly all of their battles. But the Hellenic regents were fearsome too, an image of the splendor of the first men and the rightful heirs to the warrior tradition that had catapulted man to power. The two sides agreed and set the time and place: midday, and inside the ancient Hippodrome built to commemorate the Lowland Elf War. The stadium, even destroyed, could hold most of the assembled armies and the mages of the two sides worked for three hours to rebuild the damaged portions, level the field, and even expand the banks of seating.

By noon the stadium was packed with the two Armies and the air was palpably heavy. Champions' Duels were nothing new, but this was beyond the pale. The Four Kings walked into the arena and the newly repaired gates slammed shut. The men met in the middle and saluted each other and their armies. Then they moved to the appointed lines and decided the fate of the world. The men fought like tigers, each with their own style and each a master of it. John fought Hector and Steven fought Memnon. The two pairs fought across the center of the arena, John's still unconventional long sword meeting Hector's long bladed spear and then recurve Kopis, and Steven's Axe and Sword meeting Memnon's Trident. John broke Hector's spear and then Memnon disarmed Steven's sword, Hector drew his fearsome adamantine Kopis and Steven immediately threw a dagger while he unslung his kite shield from his back. John fought Hector to a standstill in a whirl of longsword, Kopis, and shield while Steven and Memnon fought in a back and forth of lunge and riposte. The first break came when Steven shattered Memnon's trident, but Memnon smashed him across the face with the shaft and dealt Steven a crushing blow. Memnon snatched up Steven's sword and fought the dazed man back once, twice, and thrice before running him through. John screamed his rage and anguish and switched defensive to fight the two Hellenic Kings. He actually evened the odds relatively quickly, scoring a surprising hit on Hector and cutting off his shield arm. Hecotr slumped to his knees and managed to toss Memnon his Kopis before slumping into a pool of his own blood. The game moved into its final stage: John, the first of the blademasters, fought Memnon, last of the Myrmidon Weaponmasters. The two men were like matched dancers, or opposing hurrcanes. Each struck the other a dozen small wounds but still they fought across a rough circle of their own blood and their dead comrades. They fought for the future of humanity. John struck the final blow in a masterpiece of fighting glory. He sundered Steven's blade, the Spirit of Mayne, in single blow and then tripped Memnon's legs out from under him with a brilliant kick. The final blow of his finish was struck as the Thessalian King was falling: John's sword met his neck as he fell and his head hit the ground several feet away.

The Treaty of Appalonia (27 SA, 890 CR)

John brings the leaders of every Hellenic city together and organizes them into a single district of Hellas. this district will become another subjugate principality ruled from the newly commissioned city of Appalonia.

The 1st Imperium of Man (29 SA, 892 CR)

Following a two years of consolidation, reorganization, and a few minor skirmishes, John I of the High House Illyria was coronated King of the Great Imperium of Man at the age of 53.

Notes for later: Common Reckoning invented to keep time, Houses invented as administrative units surrounding the capitals and sub-capitals of districts, the high and low councils invented, the first of the dragonsteel blades created ('Victor Blades'), the military heavily mixed and retraining begun, and a unified infrastructure planned.

The First Orcine War (31-32 SA, 894-895 CR)

Redface Halfhand leads the first major Orc invasion of Imperial lands. His initial lavafleet tactic was inspired and now considered legendary, but it did happen. He set off a massive eruption in the Nefriti Caldera on the eastern edge of the Imperium and his army rode hastily constructed metal ships on the wave of lava that spread an astonishing several hundred miles into Imperial lands and temporarily dammed the Daan River. Halfhand's "Army" had several initial sucesses, sacking Arietta and the fortified town of Rochester and then anihilating the VII Legion in open battle. King John organized a couter-attack of 4 of the remaining 7 new Imperial Legions to break the sieges of several cities, notably Ak'kritaar, and push back Halfhand's "Army".

His field commander was Scott "The Red" of House Stoddard, a Norman by birth who's father Robert had been one of John's best infantry commanders during the Second Great War. Scott had fought by his father's side and commanded 6,000 men by the Southern Campaign. Scott organized a two-pronged advance initially, and beat two Orc siege forces within a day of eachother. His advance then became three-fold and he out-manuvered Halfhand onto the volcanic ash flats while catching several of his savage raiding parties with cavalry. The Battle of the Ashen Flats was the last battle of the campaign, and the fiercest. Scott's and Halfhand's forces battered eachother until mid-day but Scott had positioned his men too well and caught too much of the Orc "Army" away from the main force. Redface Halfhand was killed some time during the battle and the orcs fell back to the mountains over the following week. After the war Scott was given the city of Thomasbridge (Later Nurim's Ford), the Citadel of Sentinel's Watch (Later Nurim's Watch), and the High Seat of Onea.

The Construction of the first Centara (34-41 SA, 897-904 CR)

John I orders and begins construction of Centara at the age of 58. The impressive capital is built on the River Isen in the center of the new Empire.

The Stoddard Rebellion, The Battle of The Crucible (35 SA, 898 CR)

Scott ruled Onea after the Orcine War but was dissatisfied with his position. He felt his family and himself had recieved unfair treatment based upon their service in the great War and the Orcine War and he began to plot rebellion. House Stoddard brought together a coalition of Ramosians, several minor Houses, and the III and V Imperial Legions on the then-eastern border of the 1st Imperium and marched on King John's under-construction capital of Centara. Lord Stoddard won battles at The Red Fork and Dunning Forest against Imperial Legions before King John was able to rally enough support to meet him decisively at The Battle of Aegis Plains before Centara (later called The Crucible). The battle lasted on and off for a week and, with King John's banners slowly coming in and three Imperial Legions on John's side, Scott was finally forced to press the attack or be overwhelmed. In his last battle, King John personally led the counter-charge and lanced Lord Stoddard through the heart.

After the battle the Stoddard's forces submitted. King John had every member of an Imperial House present in the Stoddard's host killed and appointed his own sons and cousins as regents of the western frontier. Bulwark, the Victor Blade he had given to Scott's father, he gave to the new House Steward, whom he charged with the maintenance of Centara and the manning of it's gates in perpetuity, a job they have performed faithfully ever since.

The Pax Imperialis (35-248 SA, 898-1111 CR)

With the end of the Stoddard rebellion, historians mark the longest and greatest period of internat peace that the Westlands have ever had. The Imperium, plus Beldron and Arcadia, experienced an incredible leap in technology and magic during this time as well as a leap in wealth and general prosperity. The population of the Westlands more than doubled during this time and by the outbreak of the Cabal Wars nearly 60 million people lived from Arcadia to modern-day Valmorra. This period of 213 years is perhaps the greatest contributing factor to the Second Age becoming the Age of Wonders. The feats accomplished during this time took Ages to replicate, and if not for the population and infrastructure boom the Flood War may have been the end of humanity. After the death of King John, the Pax Imperialis is often broken up into periods named for the "type" of Kings the soveriegns of the period were remembered to be.

Construction begins on King John's Wall (42 SA, 905 CR)

When the city of Centara was completed in 41 SA, King John held a grand celebration that lasted 6 months and featured parades from each of the 8 full Imperial Legions (The members of the III and V were branded and then reintegrated into existing legions. The VII was still in the process of re-constitution). King John spent an incredible amount of money comissioning caravans to be sent to every known village and town and offer anyone who wanted a trip to see their new capital. The singularly opulent gensture would pay dividens for generations. The city's magnificence could hardly be denied and the extravagance of the celebrations was absolutely without peer. On the new year, the celebration ended and John held a full assembly of the High and Low Houses as well as his Legionary and Fleet commanders and the several dragon riders now nominally in service to him. He laid out his long-term plans for the full integration of infrastructure, construction of highways and aqueducts, and the revitilization of cities still recovering from the horrors of two major wars in 50 years. The key to his plan was the construction of a massive wall on the northern boundary of the Imperium. The wall would be a project the new country could raly around, an investiture of work that would force nobles to unify, and a way to garuantee that the "dark powers" north of The Verge could never threaten the Westlands again. Money was remarkably not an issue, and the fledgeling Empire rallied around the project in the spring months of 42 SA. Construction started that summer, on King John's 66th birthday, on the massive fortresses that would guard key points while the wall's route was surveyed.

King John's Death (48 SA, 911 CR)

The death decree of King John I, read in every city and town in the land:

"Hear ye, and take notice. Let it be known that on this the 14th day of Obad Hai's Blessing, in the 19th year of his reign, his August Majesty John the Conquerer, first of his name: King of Illyria, Emperor of the West, and protector of the Southron Isles, died at the age of 72. He will be interred in the Royal Sepulcher this Monday next at high noon. Let all who are able wear white or blue this day in honor of our great King, and a life well lived! Following the interrment, the High Coucil will meet in the White Hall and not take leave until a new soveriegn is declared. All Hail the Glorious Dead! All Hail the Imperium!"

The Builder Kings (48-85 SA, 911-948 CR)

The two Kings of this 37 year period continue John's decrees and focused their reigns on finishing King John's Wall and building up the Empire's infrastructure: roads, aqueducts, and municipal buildings. This is not to say they were merely faithful scions of John's legacy though. These men were extremely powerful in their own rights, and in both cases were men who'd lived alongside King John. Both tried and succeeded in making their marks on history. King Ryan Furdock of Mayne, High House Illyria, succeeded King John and started what history now calls the Illyrian Dynasty. The Illyrian Dynasty was a succession of the Empire's first leaders who hailed form the power bloc that had backed King John and conquered the West. The Empire was vastly wealthy during this era, but almost constantly low on funds due to the enormous expenditure of money during this period. The incredible infusion of gold into the areas near wall, road, or fortress construction probably directly contributed to the formation of some of the new and bustling cities and towns formed in the era. The existing cities of the Empire benefited as well, growing slightly in size but greatly in basic technologies: mostly water supply, sanitation, and basic medicine.

King Ryan's Grand Imperial Tour (48-52 SA, 911-915 CR)

King Ryan started his reign with a grand tour of the Empire. Although King John's influence and programs had touched many parts of the Empire since his conquests, most of the vast nation had not seen him or his armies since the war, if at all. King Ryan wished to see every corner of the vast realm and saw the need to reinforce a picture of Imperial might and presence. King Ryan also, in his writings, cites a strong desire to codify and define his vast Empire - a task King John was content to leave to other men. It should be noted that until this point the Westlands had been an incomprehensibly vast area. No good maps of the entire Westlands, or even large parts, existed at this point. Much of King John's campaigning had been through the vast wilds in between centers of power. So King Furdock visited each and every provincial 'Seat' as they were coming to be called. At each Seat King Ryan met in conference with the local Lords, Thanes, Dukes, Marshalls, and other rulers. He took a careful accounting of all of the Houses in each Seat and then commissioned maps. A full Imperial Legion, still a new form of fighting force, followed him wherever he went.

In the wake of his tour King Ryan left a lasting impression of Imperial regality and power. He also left one thing further: the Seratocine Maps. Seratos of Ithraca was a mage and a cartographer who traveled with Ryan's retinue. The skilled artificer was commissioned to create mosaic maps of the Empire of Man in each of the early Imperial Seats. These maps, though extremely rough by modern standards, were the first full picture of the known world that many people would have ever seen. They were giant creations that always sprawled across a wall of the Seat's audience chamber. Soft red tiles showed the Empire, and brown and blue showed what world lie within knowledge beyond. Raised tiling showed the Verge, and other mountain ranges. Painted lined showed rivers and planned roads, and labelled boxed depicted major cities. These mosaics were extremely significant as unifying and culture shaping pieces of art. The sight of these mosaics over time in each Seat's hall started to Imperial western identity that has persisted for the Ages.

King Ryan completed his tour of the Seats and the early 'High Houses' of the Empire and after five years finally returned to Centara to claim the city as his capital. For this, each High House was bid come and bring as many of their banners and sworn lords as they could. This formal coronation erased what thoughts and movements strayed towards fragmentation in these early years after King John's Death. No less extravagant that his predecessor's victory celebration, King Ryan had a full Imperial Legion fall in on either side of the assembled nobles. These men had been recalled from active fronts specifically for a day of parade, but the effect on the assembled men was profound. The Empire of Man was now more united than ever, with an extremely strong center.

Imperial Highway Construction (50-82 SA, 913-945 CR)

This expansive project to build the basics of the Illyrian-Cormyri Imperial Highway system still in use today took more that 30 years to complete and was done in stages due to the remarkably wealthy Empire's many expenditures. The raised and stone-paved roads are mostly still in use today, as sucessor Kingdoms and the latter two Imperiums have repaired them when needed. The way-stones and guard towers would be a continuing project throughout the Pax Imperialis. This basic system of highways, connecting the largest Imperial cities to eachother and the coast would be the starting point for the later Great Ways: the highway and road system that would weave the Imperium together like arteries weave together a body.

The Imperial Universities, The Scholar's Conclave (57 SA, 920 CR)

Scolars and Professors from the Universities in Cartaan, Illyria, Mayne, and Athon gather for a council in Ineria to discuss the formation of a formal system of Universities throughout the Empire. The ideas of arcane schools was tossed around as well but no action was taken in that direction.

King John's Wall Completed (65 SA, 928 CR)

King John's great wall is completed in form, although construction would continue on fortresses and towers along the 8,000 mile wall for decades. In final form, some time during the 130s SA, the wall would feature an estimated 15,000 towers and mighty fortresses, along with several hundered gatehouses.

Early Legionary Fortresses (67-86 SA, 930-949 CR)

The first 12 Legionary Fortresses were constructed in the Imperial heartland and along the borders of the Empire. Each of these massive fortresses could house and maintain the 10,000 troops of an early Legion and consisted of a double-box design with lock-type gates (double gates with a killing field in between) on each of the 4 inner and outer gates.

The Philosopher King (87-139 SA, 950-1002 CR)

King Jordan I of Aryth, the first of his blood to rule, ruled for 52 years and broke away from the Imperium's militaristic roots to focus on enriching and "maturing" the Empire and its populace. The Imperial Legions were kept at 12 and aside from the massive and complex Imperial Aqueduct System, the "Philosopher King" did not carry on the massive construction efforts of his predecesors. The King did fund several projects, but these were grants as opposed to the massive Imperial Labor projects of the past.

The 1st Ecumenical Council, The Eighth Conclave (89 SA, 952 CR)

During the early years of Jordan's reign the first of the three great Imperial Ecumenical Councils was held. Church leaders from around the Empire as well as High and Low Seats gathered together to discuss the improvement and expansion of religious power and ability in the Empire. In the end, King Jordan I authorized a substantial grant to build and expand upon temples and monasteries throughout the land.

The Imperial Mages Guild, The Mages Conclave (95 SA, 958 CR)

Mages guilds from throughout the Empire gather together under the sponsorship of King Jordan I, who invited them and then asked them to band together and form a system of "Imperial Guilds" who can share knowledge and work together to take Dominaria to places it had never been before. In the end the Guilds worked out a system and under the sponsorship of King Jordan I they reorganized, built new guilds, and moved around Archmages and apprentices alike into the new system. This was the second of Jordan I's "great tasks" that he had set out to accomplish and he left a lasting legacy that may have done more to make the Second Age the Age of Wonders than any other single Soveriegn.

The Imperial Aqueduct System (97-149 SA, 960-1012 CR)

Construction begins on the massive and complex Imperial Aqueduct System. The building efforts would ebb and flow for 52 years but when finally completed they were undoubtebly the wonder of the world. Arcadia's own system would not be finished for another almost 40 years by comparison and in Beldron, each city built its own system of water collection and use throughout the Pax Imperialis.

The 2nd Ecumenical Council, The Ninth Conclave (103 SA, 966 CR)

In the spirit of the 1st Ecumenical Council, church leaders and Seats again gathered to talk about the new lands that explorers from the Empire and Arcadia alike had discovered in the east: the vast fertile plateau of Otaria. Most of the Seats agreed that the land was too far removed from the Empire to effectively settle and that a trans-Verge highway system, while possible, would be prohibitively expensive, hard to travel, and hard to protect. The church leaders then took the lead and proposed sending pilgrim caravans out to the new land. Arcadia was too embroiled in another war with the Emirate of Karnak and the pirates of Corsica to organize settlement, although settlers were flowing north from Arcadia and Karnak and east from Sura and Kwazarmia. There was a widely held view that to do nothing would mean another chaotic area like the southern isles or another "easterling state" like the Emirates and Caliphates, and while not inherently racist there was a rivalry between east and west at this point. In the end the Council did decide to move foreword with encouraging settlement of Otaria on a religious basis, considered the best option for putting down deep roots.

The Settlement of Otaria (105 SA, 968 CR)

The first of the eastword-bound caravans, the first mostly Ramosians and Oneans and Dakians, leaves Ak'kritaar and travels east by way of the free city of Whitebridge in Andor. More settlers join the caravan there and in the end almost 7,000 people travel in a massive convoy east. More convoys would follow, but few ever approached this size.

The Great City of Light (XXXXXXXX)

The original settlement convoys and caravans meet with the Daru, ally with them, and together expand Darishten (capital of the Daru) into 'A Great City of Light'. It's Western given name is Paladonia. The Pardic Barbarians are also encountered.

The Great Kings (139-171 SA, 1002-1034 CR)

This period is defined by a pair of kings, father and son, who set the stage for the "First Golden Age": more than 50 years of unequaled progress, exploration, and magical/technological advancement.

The Great Way (139-170 SA, 1002-1043 CR)

Possibly the greatest construction project of the Age, but overshadowed by the grandeur or King John's Wall, the Great Way was a system of roads meant to unify the Imperium completely. Stone paved roads would stretch to each and every walled city, town, or village, and magically compacted dirt roads would run to every census town, village, and settlement. Bridges too were built by the hundereds, easing passage through areas typically reliant on fords and the ebb and flow of local rivers.

The Imperial Mercantile Guild, The Merchant's Conclave (143 SA, 1006 CR)

The great merchant families, Trade Houses, and buisness consortiums of the Empire met in conclave in Athon and Mayne during 143 SA to try to decide on a unified system of trade to compete with the massive Spice Guilds of the East and Farm or Mine Guilds of Arcadia. In the end they form the Imperial Mercantile Guild with the blessing of the crown and plan together to compete on the growing world markets.

The Imperial Ports (145-160 SA, 1008-1023 CR)

With the creation of the Imperial Mercantile Guild, the ten largest port cities in the Empire were given the title Imperial Port and their docks recieved massive makeovers. Harbors were dredged, stone docks and quays were set and laid, standard berthing and drydocking systems were built as well as giant oxen powered cranes of eastern design to haul cargo effectively. These ports became the envy of the world outside of Karnak, Whitebridge, Venicia, Rishdan, Visserene, and Sipani; these cities were really the only ones that could compete.

Legionary Expansion and "Dispersion" (155-170 SA, 1018-1033 CR)

The number of Imperial Legions is expanded from 12 to 18, with 6 designated as Praetorian Legions and based in massive new fortresses near the Empire's largest cities. Imperial fortresses in the interior of the Empire were dismantled and the Legions that had been based there were now based at new fortresses on the border. Also, Imperial troops were dispersed across the border and the interior of the country into the many way-forts and watchtowers of the Empire. These troops provided stability, border security, and enhanced the policing abilities of High and Low Seats. Remarkably, there are few recorded events of local corruption or bullying.

The First Golden Age of Mankind (172-230 SA, 1035-1093 CR)

Dominaria's magitechnological peak, the great cities of the Empire and even elsewhere advanced to their peak.

Peace and unparalleled prosperity allowed for stunning advancement across the Imperium. Magic provided water in plenty anywhere, and Mages worked with Engineers to fashion wonders beyond imagination. From the glorious Centrality to the advent of airships, Dominaria hit it's magitechnoligical high water mark.

The Age of Wonders

The city of Cartaan, the grandest city on all of Dominaria.

The Last King (230-248 SA, 1093-1111 CR)

The greatest Age of Man thusfar comes crashing to the ground in the halls of burning Cartaan, and King Andrew takes the line of Kings with him among the ranks of his Goldenshields.

Paladonia (123 SA, 986 CR)

The country of Otaria, and its twin peoples (Daru and Westerners), expands and flourishes across the extremely fertile plateau of Otaria. They erect cities, each dedicated to a God and graced with gigantic statues and elegant monuments. It's not a perfect place, but Religion is closer to the surface here than anywhere else, and the industrious spirit of expansion as well as the dedication of immigrants keeps Otaria stable and peaceful. About 20 years after the foundation of the city of Paladonia the country is officially renamed Paladonia.

The Paladin Lords (129 SA, 992 CR)

The Grand Heirophant of Pelor appoints four Lords to be his wardens, they are given the honorific Paladin. In the north a Lord is appointed over the Dhazanti Reach, to guard against incursions by the horse lords and to ensure traders are kept safe. In the west a Lord if appointed over the Shatterplains, the long fingers of the Verge that stretch from the mountians. From a series of watch fortresses built into the mountains the Western Paladin was to guard the realm against Orcs and other foul things from the Verge while keeping trade with the Dwarves and the Grey Elves open. In the east a Lord would ward over the Arixo wastes and watch the frontier with Sura. In the south a Lord would watch over the Pardic mountains and the Arixo wastes, keeping trade open into Arcadia and the Caliphates.

The Eastern Rennaisance (150-221 SA, 1013-1084 CR)

The growth of society in Otaria and a healthy trade in goods and intellect with the East propelled learning forewords and gave a flourishing world another boost.

The Pardic Wars (221-223 SA, 1084-1086 CR)

A century after the city of Paladonia was built, the Arcadian Emperor Alexi Darmanti launches an invasion of the southern parts of Paladonia to take land and valuable mining areas. Daru and 'Paladonians' vs. Arcadia, Arcadian forces led by a Selucian: Titus Selucius. Pardic Tribes fight on both sides.

Arcadia was reeling from an internal power struggle, a series of degenerative civil wars that had seen the army and infrastructure reduced far from their peak. The powerful due of Alexi and his cousin Titus had recently united the country, and with one hand on the government and another on a freshly mobilizing army, the two plotted to consolidate their power. The two of them used the general fears of the uncivilized lands of the Felix Regions to get the new senate behind an invasion into Pardia with the goal of pushing into Otaria eventually. Although the war would end with no territorial gains for the Arcadians, it would unify the population in fear of the northerners and blood a fresh new army.

The Pardic Campaign (221-223 SA, 1084-1086 CR)

A series of battles in and around the Pardic Mountains decide the war and the Arcadians are driven out of Otaria.

The Rise of the Cabal (226-230 SA, 1088-1092 CR)

The long whispered words of the dark temptress Phage brings the Eastern Paladin to his knees. His fall from grace is slow but inevitable at the tip. Pride and tradition give rise to excess and debauchery among his ranks as they battle a new ferocious wave of trolls and orcs from Arixo. The fall into occult comes rapidly as they push back the monstrous armies and break down the creature's dark Temples. The secrets and dark gods within only fuel the fire, and before the campaign's end most of the army has fallen. The army marches home after the last troll stronghold was taken, and then unleashed a wave of unheralded butchery and mayhem. They now killed for the Gods they discovered in the Wastes, dark beings who desired not only worship...but sacrifice. Gods who promised power beyond the golden graven images of Pelor and Hieroneous.

The Eastern Colonies Fall (229 SA, 1091 CR)

This new army sweeps into eastern Paladonia in the spring of 229 SA ahead of its own news. they march on cities that fling their gates wide open and into towns ready to rejoice at their coming. By the time word reaches the rest of Paladonia, all of the East lay under the shadow of this new force. Only the Fortress Monastery of St. Celestine remained untaken. The east's new capital of Telleador, still under construction and already a wonder to behold had fallen, as had Amoria and Faldo's Reach. All who would not bend the knee, and some that did, were put to the sword; and a new order was set. The dark whims of fallen paragons were the law now. As news of the terrible siege reached the rest of Otaria, Paladonians and Daru alike marshaled their men to life the veil of opression from the east.

The Battle of St. Celestine (230 SA, 1092 CR)

The Paladin Lords of the North, South, and West rallied their men and prepared during the particularly harsh winter of 229-230. When the snow broke in late Pelor's Dawn the combined armies marched on the darkness brewing in the East. But Phage and her ferocious puppet had not lain idle, and the fortress of St. Celestine had not survived the winter. Dark banners now hung from the wings of St. Celestine, a wonder of the Eastern Rennaisance, and the sounds and evidence of dark excess littered the alabaster walls. Determined to root the evil from the East like a rat from its warren, Rashar the Crimson - Heirophant of Kord and Lord of the West - pushed the other Lords and leaders of the Daru to press the attack.

The fortress of St Celestine provided a formidable target. It sat atop silver and limestone mines and the monolith of rock it was carved from jutted over the Ellesmere River to it's east. The warren of tunnels would provide a near endless fallback for the Eastern forces should the two walls be breached, and may contain escape routes. Despite the unknowns, Rashar was filled with righteous rage and urged his fellows forth to the walls. Such was the passion of his argument that even Harold the Everbright - Heirophant of Pelor and Lord of the North - and King Ogunwë of the Daru could not refuse him. The battle that followed was a three month meat-grinder. The Paladins launched assault after assault against the walls and even breached them several times, but the Cabal and their growing coterie of undead would not be dislodged. In the end the Paladins withdrew back across the River Daru to lick their wounds and prepare for a far longer war.

The Stain Spreads, the Conflict Widens (230-237 SA, 1092-1099 CR)

As the smoke cleared from the siege of St. Celestine, the Cabal already looked afield. Phage, the Eastern Paladin, and their chief generals and priests set their sights on the near-abroad. Upper Sura and Selucia are the logical next steps, and the raiders and agents had already been sent out while the siege focused the war. Felix though, far removed from the Cabal's known sphere of influence, would be the first to fall. Orgunash, King of the Kark'ando Orcs and Goblins of Whitepass, and Jarnak, King of the Eastern Mountain Troll Tribes, had long set their sites on Felix and were more than willing to follow Phage's guidance when she visited them. She held council at Castle Krag, the ancient keep of the Kark'ando Orcs, and convinced the beasts of the Eastern Spur to unite.

As their agents moved afield, the Cabal continued its nightmarish advance into the rest of Otaria. Legions of abominations and undead bolstered ranks of fallen paladins and hardened veterans from the Arixo campaigns and the Paladin Lords struggled to find an answer to the Cabal. Some tribes of Pardic Barbarians as well as the Moon Brother Daru tribe sided with the Cabal as well, complicating the issue.

The Cabal in Felix

The Orcish-led goblin and troll assault into Felix is as overwhelming as it is brutal. It's not immediately recognized for what it is, a Cabal plot, especially when several other barbarian and orcish tribes join into the fray..

The Felix Campaigns (232-237 SA, 1094-1098 CR)

Arcadia is slow to mobilize its men but at the behest of Nicholas the Hunter and Stephanie of the Greenwood, two famous rangers from the Northern Foothills, the Selucian General Magnus Selucius gathered his city's men and marched to tyros to gather more men and send messengers to Arcadia. Magnus marched north in the summer of 232 with the III and half of the V Legion in tow and fought nearly to the death to keep the main road north to Pandepacia open. More Arcadian forces would join them, but not until the following spring. By that time Magnus was laid up with grievous wounds and Nicholas had taken over command of the paltry remains of the General's force. The new wave of Arcadian troops moved north but were unable to hold anything North of the now heavily contested city of Pandepacia. As the fighting drug on intermittently, Nicholas, Stephanie, and their companions won many victories across Felix. They rallied the Dwarves of the Red Ridge and the Dwarves of the Kingdom of Granith to Arcadia's cause and led the attack that killed Warmaster Fargath Blacktoof of the orcs and Lillith the Cabal Sorceress. They were the heroes that kept the defense going, and when the Cabal forces finally pulled back to their captured land in late 236 and the fighting subsided, it was Nicholas, Stephanie, and their companions who were hailed as heroes.

The Cabal in Selucia and Sura

A five year campaign of terror and raids drives parts of Selucia, a key Arcadian province, and Sura, a key ally and trade partner of the Caliph, into chaos. Battles are few and far between at first, but as the Cabal's success grew and it's power waxed Warlords rose up and became emboldened beyond small raids and terror. Arcadia and Sura commit more and more troops into trying to fight and control the situation.

The Caliphate Intervenes (235-237 SA, 1096-1098 CR)

After 5 years of aid and loans to Sura, the Southern Caliph launches a massive invasion of Upper Sura at the behest of the Northern Caliph. 45,000 men cross the border and fight a series of battles around Al'Raqba and Tar Ebban, two southern cities that fell early to Cabal Warlords. Soon thereafter, the fight moves deeper into Sura and the Arixo Wastes. XXX

The Daru River Campaign (238-240 SA, 1099-1101 CR)

In light of the usurpations and many grievances inflicted by the Cabal, the Arcadian and Caliphi armies decide to form a pact and destroy the Cabal. Caliphi and Arcadian armies meet at Rishdan and march up the Daru River, rooting the Cabal out town by town and cave by cave, fighting increasingly large battles against the Warlord Khemer the Red, a Pardic Barbarian fighting for the Cabal. The two forces' outriders eventually boxed him into the Dalmer Pass and spent the final 6 months of the campaign rooting him out of the Arixo Wastes before capturing and executing him.

The Treaty of Fort Arixo (240 SA, 1101 CR)

Generals Magnus Selucius and Nicholas Orcbane of Arcadia met with Sheik Abu Fasr al-Halwa (Nasir abd al-Salamu) in the ruins of the old Arcadian Fort Arixo and laid out terms to bring war to the Cabal and the Pardic Barbarians together. Both sides acted fairly unilaterally, that is without command from their sovereigns, but both commanded the men and respect to make good on the deal and they knew it. This partial break from authority would spell trouble down the line, but in an incipient way that historians still debate. The campaign never fully derailed but many debate whether it could have suceeded - especially given the quality and kind of the original Cabal's forces.

The Cabal War (240-243 SA, 1101-1104 CR)

Otarians, Arcadians, and the Caliph's forces rally together to fight the Cabal, now firmly in control of Eastern Otaria, Northern Selucia, and parts of Sura.

The Plains of Blood

The fight against the Cabal turns bloodier and bloodier as it progresses, with all sides increasingly resorting to magic. The Arcadian and Caliphi forces fought well against the Cabal but constant supply problems, due both to harassment and arguments back home, hampered the progress of the campaign.

The Betrayal (242 SA, 1103 CR)

The Western Paladin is laid low by his greatest warrior: the hero known as the Scion of Pelor. The hero fell to bloodlust and anger, the rage that filled him at the sight of evil eventually corrupted him and the men he led. His assaults on the Cabal and their allies became more and more brutal until the Western Paladin finally confronted him. The two argued at length, each man pleading with the other and at the edge of heartbreak at what must come next. Scion slew his friend and mentor before the Statue of Angelina the Merciful on the road to Amoria. The instability and infighting among the Western Paladin's ranks derailed the campaign and as the North and South reeled in confusion a new force formed in the West.

The Great Pit (243 SA, 1104 CR)

As the war began at St. Celestine and then dragged on and spread in all directions, the Cabal began to work in secret. At the behest of Phage and their dark Gods they began to dig in the wasteland outside their capital of Aphetto. Tens of thousands of slaves and prisoners labored in the pits and fought in the arena for the amusement of Aphetto's decadent citizenry. The labor continues unabated for more than a decade, with many backs and prodigious magic spent to open a great rent in the earth. Then finally the Cabal unearthed their prize. The dark Gods, prothean beings long ago defeated by the Lords of Good would have their revenge. A world largely loyal to good would now feel the wrath of the scourge of the protheans, the greatest weapon ever crafted by the Dark Ones in eons past. The great "Flood" from the books of Pelor and Correlon Larethain would revisit the world.

The Council of Catralon, The Tenth Conclave (244 SA, 1105 CR)

The lords, generals, and high priests of the Empire of Man meet in Catralon to discuss the release of the Flood and the Empire's reaction. They agree to mobilize and make ready, but are wholly unprepared for the onslaught.

The Flood War (243-255 SA, 1104-1116 CR)

The Fall of Cartaan (250 SA, 1111 CR)

Also think about Mayne (may still be a Tionne stronghold?), Illyria, Catralon, so forth. The last King of the Empire dies here. Think about Centara.

The Dark Age (255-425 SA, 1116-1391 CR)

An age of unparalleled darkness and strife and an Age in which much of what was was lost. Centuries would pass and another Imperium mature before the heights of the first were reached again.

The Caravan Tribes

The first breed of people to leave the cities that survived the Flood War and venture out into the unknown and unconquered wilderness. Many of these caravans would dissappear never to return but the ones that survived brought the first trade and news to many isolated cities and settlements.

The Hill Tribes

While some chose to wander the spaces between the fortress-cities others chose to settle and make their own cities.

City States

The cities that did survive the war and the plagues and famine after it usually formed states of their own. Much of the 'Dark Age' was recorded in the halls of independent city states.

Rise of the Island Kingdoms

Some of the only untouched places on Dominaria were islands. For all of their ferocity and guile the Flood semmed averse or unable to cross water. The Kingdoms in the Southern Seas and Western Beldron grew independantly and traded with each other and the port cities that did survive the war.

The Kingdom of Nurimania

Nurimania rises in Onea and becomes the greatest nation of the Dark Age. The men of Nurimania build the Colossus and will eventually build Nurim's Wall and Nurim's Reach against the Ramosi Empire's 1st Dynasty.

The Year of Ten Kings (465 SA, 1431 CR)

The year 1431 held little significance to those living in it, but historians record it as 'The Year of Ten Kings'. The year is significant because its the furthest back the 10 old royalties can be traced back to. On top of that, the first major building project after the fall of the second Imperium begun this year. King Arlond of Mayne began a bridge ofer the Isen river this year. Dominaria had been recovering from the Dark Age for decade, and two generations had begun to scratch out a new living in the Westlands. that life was hard and dangerous, but the last remnants of the Flood and the plagues had faded at this point. So humans began to return to 'normal' interactions; which is to say they started to scheme and vie for power again.

The Year of Ten Kings is also significant in that it's here that most well documented histories start. The Flood War was so massively destructive and the Westlands slid back so far that it could be said history almost restarts here. In the Ages since many works have been recovered from the times before, often at great risk, and give insight into the specific people and what happened to them. But most of what current historians have to work with is the knowledge that happened to survive the Flood War in the cities that never fell. Works that survived the war intact outnumber those recovered by explorers and adventurers tenfold.

The Congress of Cartaan

In a temporary wooden fortress before the shattered ruin of land that once held Cartaan, the Ten monarchs of the west and many of their lords met to treat with one another and try to establish trade and boundaries. This meeting is not recorded to have gone well, and this is the last time many of these men saw each other off of the battlefield.

The War of Four Kings

The Ramosi 1st Dynasty, Kingdom of Nurimania, Empire of Mayne, and Kingsom of X contend for supremacy in the shattered west.

The High Age

This 'Age' before the Second Golden Age was a time of incredible progress and expansion. Militarily and socially the Second Imperium exploded into the histories in these decades. The development of high social strata and the reestablishment of mages' guilds alongside the new and powerful Imperial government led to this stability and violent expansion. This Age can be separated from the later Golden Age mostly by body count.

Three Capitals

As the Imperial throne solidified its power and started construction of a bold new capital, the Imperium gave respect and some deference to the power of old Cormyr and the needed resources of Ramosia.

The Centrality

The modern location of the Centrality is chosen and the original foundations laid.

Roads Through the Bleak

The second great age of road building begins as the Second Imperium solidifies.

The Northern Campaigns

Up into Strakenland and such and then east through the Zantar Gap into Ruul and then Tunguska.

The Beldroni War

To get beldroni nobles and such out of the Westlands, the Second Imperium never actually managed to claim everything they kicked Beldron out of.

The Second Golden Age

An age of rediscovery and unparalleled magitechnological expansion.

The Beast Wars

Egged on by forces unknown, humanity faces an onslaught of beast and demi human forces.

The Dragon Wars

Warnings by the few Dragons bonded to men led humans to the source of the onslaught. The Dragons of Dominaria had had enough of humanity's dominance and meant to exterminate them. War rages across the face of Dominaria: west, east, and north.

The War of the Tetrarchy

As the Dragon War grew most bitter and the remaining beast nations yet ravaged human lands the western humans broke at the seams. The strain broke men and men lined up behind four banners.

The Treaty of Janis

Beldron separates itself from the Second Imperium, now vastly different that the one that conquered it. The Beldroni also make treaty with the Dragons of Beldron, the "Dragon Dynasties" of Beldron would follow.

The Treaty of the Centrality

The three remaining Imperial factions make treaty after the Cormyri capital is razed and their men join with Illyria.

The Great Orders

As an end to the war, the first Orders of Dragon Riders are formed among men. This results in a rift between the Dragon Elders and the younger Warriors, a conflict which drives divided amongst Dragons well into the Fourth Age.

The Council of the Centrality and the Turn of an Age

The 11th Conclave is convened in the Centrality and a much weakened Second Imperium declares victory as well as a new Age. It is at this Conclave that the Mages' Council forms out of many of the powerful Guild heads present.

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Campaign Settings → Dominaria → History