Time and History (Asleica Supplement)
The Age of Ancients[edit]
There are none who can say with certain knowledge when or how our world of Divernia came to be. Yet this has not stopped many modern scholars and other learned men and women from theorising. Is it fifty thousand years old, as some believe, or perhaps a number as large as six hundred thousand-or even more? Was it created by primordial beings as many religions preach? Or is there a more logical explanation? The definitive answer to the question of Divernia’s creation is not written in any book that we know of, for in the first age of this great world, known as the Age of Ancients, mortals did not document their experiences. This period of Divernia’s history ended in 3900 Bhe after lasting an unknown amount of time. What little we know of the Age of Ancients comes from a combination of scholarly magic, revolutionary archaeological techniques and the very few remaining decipherable cave paintings, several remaining burial cairns and other reclicts created at the time. From these resources we can say for certain that life on Asleican continent during the Age of Ancients was far more primitive compared to today. A barbarous time of various independent clans and tribes living directly off the land, without any knowledge of the working of metal or taming of beasts. However the use of elemental and nature magic was relatively common amongst these tribes, perhaps even more common than modern times. Mages draw this phenomenon too the stronger spiritual connection with the earth many of the tribes had compared to today. We can conclude that many ancient tribes were generally nomadic hunter gatherers, moving from place to place according to their needs, for example following game migration patterns, or to flee from a aggressive tribe or monster. It is extremely difficult to determine where and when the mortal races of the modern era appeared on this world, but it is widely accepted that they were born during the Age of Ancients. Much of any evidence that would’ve helped pinpoint any certain facts has been lost to time. The Age of Ancients presents a interesting challenge to those who wish to study the period, it is simply due to the huge amount of time separating the answers from us, and we still have yet to develop any magical or logical way to bridge that expanse and find those answers. However, it was during the later centuries of the Age of Ancients when mortals learnt the art of the forging of metals, the taming of animals and the construction of permanent structures.
The Age of Civilization[edit]
The period following the Age of Ancients saw the birth of the modern world as we know it, earning this period of time the title of The Age of Civilization. It was the Dwarvish race that ushered in this new period of history with the establishment of the Steelfist Empire in modern day Prirona. Dwarvish folklore tells that the Steelfist Empire was established by the unification of four powerful Dwarvish clans in the region, the venerable Greybraids of Herndarhiem, the Stormborn of Deepreach, the Duskaxe of Thanwhur and the Thunderforge of Stoneforge. These clans were united underneath the leadership of the mightiest warrior amongst them, the legendary Bharun Thunderforge. The Thunderforge dynasty would last for 900 years, and during this period the Steelfist Empire prospered, expanding its borders outwards building great mountain castles, paved roads that connected these cities and pulling great amounts of natural ore from Divernia’s mountainous regions. It was the first empire of its kind on Asleica. Far to the Northwest on the island of Highmount, the great dwarvish city of Murduan was founded by Asgruc Warbelt in 403 Bhe, The Dwarves of Highmount were the first to forge mail of linked rings and carved the Thousand Caves of Sandmail for their God, whose name is lost to time. When the Steelfist empire reached the western coast, the Warbelts defended their lands with ferocity, but lost against their numerically and technologically superior cousins. Thus the kingdom of Highmount was brought into the Steelfist Empire in 434 Bhe. The Steelfist’s undisputed golden age was during the rule of Emperor Rarith Goldhammer from 232 to 299 Bhe. His reign saw the Steelfist Empire expand to cover all of mainland Divernia, save the island of Tracotha, which was held by barbarian orcish tribes that came from the southern sea. Goldhammer’s glorious region was cut short when he was assassinated by agents of his oldest son and heir to the throne, Glorifas Goldhammer. Thus the Steelfist’s golden age ended in the bloody War of Betrayed Brother’s, which raged from 299 Bhe to 102 Bhe where the remaining son’s of Goldhammer waged all out war against Glorifas to bring him to justice. The war ended with a victory for Glorifas, but the Steelfist Empire was divided and war-torn. It was the beginning of the end of the Steelfist Empire.
During the War of Betrayed Brother’s the orcs arrived from across the western seas from their homelands on Concra. They would establish dominance in modern-day Mydia, and in later times the orcs would expand throughout the rest of Divernia and establish small communities in the forests and mountains of the land. The orcish expansion brought them into conflict with the weakened remnants of the Steelfist Empire in 45 Bhe, and after years of rising tension, total war broke out between the united Orcish tribes and the Steelfist Empire. The War for Mountains and Forests raged from 39 Bhe to 3 He, and at its end, Orcish kind was nearly extinct and the Steelfist Empire had crumbled into independent city-states. Thus ended the Age of Civilization in Divernia.
The Age of expansion[edit]
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