Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Cyber-Dave Feb 05, 2015 10:04:17	I am in the process of building a homebrew Age of Arcana campaign (in which I hope to eventually run some 4e adventure conversions). The idea is that the dates in the timeline roughly match up to real-world dates/states of Europe, though the histories are obviously very different. I am trying to capture some aspects of real world European historical feel, but those aspects have been severely mutated in the "fantasy world blender." In any case, what I need to know is, if you were a player in a game and you read this timeline, are there any glaring omissions or leaps between historic states that you feel need to be explained by some sort of event?     Age of Arcana Timeline After Dawn ·         1 BD (Before Dawn)—The humans from across the Sandy Sea reach Aerth. ·         0 AD (After Dawn)—The Dawn Crusade, also known as The Dawn Age, officially begins. ·         49 AD—The city of West Ellohia is established. ·         107 AD—Conflict with the Eladrin reaches a fervent pitch and the Order of Purification is formed to exterminate witchcraft in Aerth. ·         213 AD—After 213 years, the Dwarven kingdom of Hammerdeep, located under Mount Dolom, sends out a proclamation of welcome to all dwarves looking to retreat from the encroaching Aviorite faith. ·         227 AD—The political ties between Old Ellohia and West Ellohia collapse due to the difficulty of traveling the Sand Sea and the growing self sufficiency of the New Ellohian empire. Nevertheless, some degree of trade along the Golden Path continues. ·         272 AD—The Dawn Crusade reaches the Hammerfast at the foothills of Mount Dolom, and the mountain dwarves seal Hammerdeep. ·         273 AD—The conversion of the hill dwarves of Hammerfast is decreed to be a success, and Hammerfast joines the West Ellohian Empire. ·         281 AD—The elvish retreat to Tír na Aval begins. ·         300 AD—Tír na Aval retreats into the Feywild. ·         508 AD—Infighting between the West Ellohian fiefdoms begins. ·         800 AD—The West Ellohian Church demands the Reclamation of Old Ellohia due to news of waning faith coming from the Golden Path. Some say that the Church hoped to use these wars to unify its fiefdoms and put an end to almost 300 years of infighting. ·         821 AD—The Reclamation ends in disastrous losses. The West Ellohian Empire officially relinquishes political power to its four major fiefdoms: Crealand, Élys, Luftland, and Tortugal. This is termed as the beginning of the Age of Politics. ·         829 AD—Crealand sends emissaries to to Hammerdeep from Hammerfast. ·         830 AD—The Ascendant Accords between Hammerdeep and Crealand are signed, and the Dwarvish Dragoons join the Crealish army. ·         1102 AD— Eléone Bailliu of Élys rediscovers arcane magic during a pilgrimage in the East and returns to West Elohia as a bard. Early bardic magic achieves acceptance in the church due to the way such magic is used to literally sing praise of Avior. ·         1262 AD—The practice of bardic magic mutates, and Nicolas Auguste becomes first evoker to use arcane magic in battle during a conflict between Élys and Tortugal. ·         1299 AD—As the practice of wizardry continues to grow, Gert-Jan ter Hogt becomes the first alchemist to enchant an item in Luftland. ·         1488 AD—Tortugal discovers the Sunset Isles. ·         1492 AD—Tortugal expels all “full blooded dwarves” from its borders (and uses half-orc slaves to fill in the remaining gaps in industry). ·         1493 AD—Tír na Aval returns from the Feywild. ·         1534 AD—The Crealish Reformation occurs, and Crealand officially separates from the West Ellohian Church. ·         1535 AD—Tired of living under an autocratic theocracy that no longer served the needs of either the merchant or arcane classes who were bringing prosperity to Luftlad, the Crealish Reformation inspires the Luftish Revolution. ·         1536 AD—The Luftish Monarch, King Klaus van Dijk, uses Tortugalian allies to try and quell the revolution. ·         1541 AD—After 6 years of brutal civil war, the newly formed Merchants’ Council and Wizards’ Council form the two party Luftish Republic; under their auspices, the Golden Age of Luftland begins. Relations between Luftland and Tortugal, however, have remained forever strained. ·         1542 AD—Luftland signs trade agreements and treaties with Crealad. ·         1543 AD—The Frankfurt University of Luftland becomes the first secular, arcane center of academic study. This is known as the beginning of the Age of Arcana. ·         1541 AD—Tortugal and Élys, feeling threatened by the Crealish-Luftish union, sign trade agreements and treaties of their own; this puts a permanent strain on Crealish- Élysian relations which, ever since the Crealis Reformation, had already begun to deteriorate. ·         1601 AD—The first practically, cheaply designed personal firearms are used during a battle between Luftland and Tortugal; soon after, personal firearms begin to drastically grow in military popularity.   ·         1660 AD—The Royal Society of Crealand is founded and becomes the second major institution of secular, academic study. Tortugal and Élys continue to make use of a less formal apprenticeship program of arcane study due to the West Ellohian Church’s growing discomfort with arcane magic. ·         1698 AD—Present Day.
#2 Nevvur Feb 05, 2015 18:12:14	I don't know enough about European history to even detect the parallels in your world, but the sequence of events seems to unfold naturally enough. Many of the events raise questions, like "How and why did bardic magic mutate?" but that's not info you need in a timeline anyway.    The only thing that stood out to me was how the bullet points near the end go 1541-1542-1543-1541. Probably just a typo?
#3 JohnLynch Feb 05, 2015 18:21:53	I also don't know enough but it's starting point is clearly the Crusades (at least I think it is). The timeframe between that and firearms seems to flow naturally and provides a good premise for the development of firearms in a magical setting. Good job.
#4 Cyber-Dave Feb 05, 2015 18:48:32	JohnLynch wrote:
#5 Cyber-Dave Feb 05, 2015 18:27:01	Nevvur wrote:
#6 Zardnaar Feb 05, 2015 18:48:34	The golden path is the silk road or a Dune reference?
#7 Cyber-Dave Feb 05, 2015 18:50:52	Zardnaar wrote:
#8 Zardnaar Feb 07, 2015 3:58:02	Tortugal seems to be Tortuga+Portugal and I recall you mentioniing an age of enlightment vibe so 18th century pirates? I also get a German state vib with French/German and Iberian imperial vibe along with a fantasy reformation thing or maybe Catholic/Orthodox split.