A little under seven hundred years ago, the most significant milestone in recent history occurred. The founding of Rodin City marked the start of a new calendar in the Known World. All dates since then have been recorded as the year After-Rodin, or 'AR' and as such, all dates prior to that have been redefined as Before-Rodin, or 'BR'. Hence dates before the founding count backwards and since the founding count forwards.

The current year in the World of Rodinia is 679 AR.

The story of the Known World of Rodinia goes back over ten thousand years into the past. The first known event recorded in tales anywhere in the world is the arrival of the fey, which marks the beginning of that story. What occurred before that fades into legend and myth.

10,000 BR — 2,471 BR

The time between the arrival of the fey and the beginning of the First Age of Man is known as the period of pre-history. There is no written detail surviving of this time and all the information scholars are able to glean come from the verbal tales of fey and dwarf alike.

10,000 BR — The fey arrive in the lands now called The Known World.

Ten thousand years ago the first fey arrived in the lands of the Known World. It is not recorded where they came from, and if they know they do not tell. They settled the green and pleasant parts of the world, spreading unchecked across the lands.

7,000 BR — The dwarves appeared from their subterranean homes.

Perhaps three millennia passed before the fey peace was disturbed. This was when they first encountered the earth-dwelling dwarves. The two races did not get on well and immediately fell to fighting. So began the War of Air and Earth, where two races of The Light battled endlessly for nearly four hundreds of years. To this day, neither race has forgotten this terrible time which took and unimaginable toll on both races. Neither are particularly prolific and the wars took an awful toll on their numbers. It looked for a period of time as if the two races would wipe each other out completely.

6,600 BR — The orcs came up into the lands from the depths of the earth where they had been spawned.

Finally something happened which caused the two races to stop fighting each other: The orcs. The terrible spawn of The Darkness and Earth came up into the lands from the depths, first encountering the dwarves in their halls and subterranean fortresses but soon also encountering the fey on the surface. These new foes were so terrible and utterly opposite to both the fey and the dwarves that the two races of Light immediately put aside their differences and joined forces to defend themselves against the orc invaders.

Battles raged across the lands and under them as the orcs and their goblin and giant allies fought running battles against the allies of Light. None of these races could dominate the others and slowly, over the centuries, the battles drew to a standstill as each side carved out their own territories. Thus the War of Light and Darkness began.

6,000 BR — A tenuous balance was established between fey, dwarf and orc.

Orcs mostly stayed in the depths, deeper even than the dwarves would delve. The dwarves stuck to their subterranean palaces and strongholds and the fey frolicked on the surface. Giants made their way into the mountains, finding the remote places to be to their liking. Some dwarves followed them there and the small numbers fight endlessly. Some orcs remained on the surface, seeking out the desolate and uninhabited corners of the wilds for their homes; places the fey and dwarves would not wish to live. So was a tenuous balance established.

3,000 BR — Humans arrived on the shores of The Known World.

Around three millennia ago everything changed. The first humans arrived on the shores of The Known World. They landed on the western coastline of the western-most continent. Their leader was a great warrior called Khemit, and he named the land after himself, a name that has stuck for millennia. Khemit remains the oldest identifiable civilization in the Known World.

The humans were the unlikely union of fey and orc, sired in some far off realm, in some unimaginable way. The newcomers had all the warlike tendencies of their orc ancestry and some of the wisdom of their fey heritage. And they were prolific. They bred in huge numbers and very soon overwhelmed the lands. The deserts of Khemit were not the most hospitable place, but the humans settled them anyway, carving out an existence there. They drove the fey eastward across the sea, and the dwarves deeper underground.

2,500 BR — Humans moved east and discovered the Rodinian Continent.

Within a few hundred years the humans had utterly colonised the continent of Khemit. They looked to expand and their eyes turned eastward, after the fey they had displaced. A few brave settlers set off and soon discovered more lush, fertile and inhabitable lands not too far across the sea. They had found The Wildlands, and they began to settle there.

As before they encountered fey already there, and they pushed them out. The fey retreated to the east, many of them moving deep into forests which would not sustain the humans as well as the arable plains the fey were abandoning. So the humans colonised what is now called the Rodinian Continent.

2,471 BR — 350 BR

The First Age of Rodinia begins in 2,471 BR which is the oldest date any known, written historical record exists from. As far as scholars can tell, civilization at this stage was very basic, with no great organizations of people anywhere in the world, but with the humans gathered into small clans and families. It would take over a thousand years before the first, significant civilization was to form on the continent of Rodinia.

1,023 BR

The Empire of Elam forms. It would last over three hundred years and dominate the whole of the continent of Rodinia in that time.

781 BR (1460 years ago)

The great chieftain Eldred finally succeeded in driving the orcs back into the Jagged Peaks, united the tribes of the lands, named himself king and formed The Kingdom of Albion. Albion remains the second oldest nation in the Known World, after Khemit.

720 BR (1399 years ago)

The Empire of Elam collapses. The nation of Elam remains but is relatively weak. Their emperor, Marlek, leaves Elam and moves into a desolate wasteland where he enacts terrible rituals and becomes a lich.

540 BR (1219 years ago) — Humans discovered another continent even further east.

With the entire Rodinian Continent settled by the humans, and the fey and dwarves driven on to the east or into the forests and mountains of the lands, the humans looked to expand once more. Now with the combined knowledge of the mage-priests of Khemit and the High Magi of the Elam Empire at their command, human mages rivalled their fey competition. Seven strong leaders, with a cadre of High Magi, set sail from the eastern shores of Athena and pushed on east until they made landfall. This land was green, verdant and lush. They immediately set about exploring and settling it.

The Seven leaders and their clans set off in different directions, pushing to the edges of the new continent which was, at that time, a single landmass. It would take about two hundred years for the new continent to be completely colonised by the newcomers.

350 BR (1029 years ago) — The Demon Prince walked the land.

The Demon Prince walked the land and there was blight everywhere. His Reign of Terror as it was known lasted but four months. He summoned hordes of his spawn from the depths of the Void and destroyed the great cities of men. So it was that the men and fey that shared the land finally came together to challenge him, as his armies approached the fabled fey city of Sylvandale, deep in the forests.

On the longest day of this year, the three armies of men, fey and demons met in the outskirts of Sylvandale. But the men, far from their homes, having faced defeat at every turn and with the unassailable might of the demon hordes marching towards them routed and fled. The resulting death toll among the fey was catastrophic, including complete destruction of the fair city of Sylvandale and the loss of all the Sylvarran, the legendary defenders of the city.

At that time the great wizard Titus arrived and turned the battle, too late for Sylvandale and too late for the legendary Sylvarran, but in time to save the vast majority of the fey race. Titus faced the Demon Prince alone.Using a great spell of immense power he banished the Demon Prince from this realm for one thousand years.

350 BR — 667 AR

After the catastrophic Reign of Terror the world entered a new age. Huge civilizations rose and fell across all the known continents. A thousand years passed until the Demon Prince returned once more and a brave band of heroes rose in the southern island of Mochica to defeat him once more. This time, though, they ventured into the Demon Prince's lair in the depths of the Void and destroyed him forever. Thus did the Second Age end.

323 BR — 177 AR. The Rainbow Empire existed for about five hundred years.

A thousand years ago the Lucarcian Continent was one land mass. A powerful, technologically advanced civilization called the Rainbow Empire came to exist here. The Rainbow Empire comprised 7 houses, each with their own colour, animal token and branch of magic. The capital was the fabled city of Antissa, which sat at the heart of the continent. The Rainbow Empire was the most advanced civilization in the world, with technology and magical advancement which has never been seen before or since. Antissa was the most advanced city which the world has ever seen. The seven houses were strongly in competition with each other to see who could advance the furthest and make the greatest discoveries and inventions, but they were ruled with a strong hand by the emperor from the Azure House, based in Antissa.

0 AR. 679 years ago.

The City of Rodin was founded. This marked a significant moment in the history of the world as the Rodinian Empire would form around this settlement — a civilization which would eventually give its name to the very world itself. This event was significant enough that the Rodinians based their calendar around this event, marking all events before this time as 'Before Rodin' (BR) and all events afterwards as 'After Rodin' (AR). As the Empire of Rodinia expanded across the continent, and its influence spread across the world, this became the adopted calendar of most of the world. Though this event was not considered by scholars to be significant enough to mark a new Age, it's still a very significant event in the History of the World.

135 AR. 544 years ago.

The lands of Honshu came under the control of one man, the Light of Heaven, Emperor of Honshu. The dynasty he formed survives and continues to this day.

177 AR — 502 years ago.

The Emperor Lucar, realizing that the Writhing Death was going to destroy the entire Rainbow Empire, ordered its destruction. This split the land into four islands and caused the end of the Rainbow Empire. A new empire was formed, called the Lucarcian Empire.

177 AR — 674 AR.

The Lucarcian Empire survived almost five hundred years. The emperor banned the High Magic which had led to the creation of the Writhing Death and Lucarcia became a stable thriving place. The five Noble Houses looked after the main areas in the newly split continent. The ruling Azure House controlled the Spine of Ursum. The Ebon House controlled the Tail. The Ruby House controlled the Head. Manabas was under the control of House Snow and Ibini in the north east fell under the control of the Jade House. The Empire of Lucarcia continued on, with each emperor ruling with a powerful hand. The technologies which the Rainbow Empire had discovered were slowly lost and the powerful magic which the previous empire had come to wield slowly dwindled — with the study of arcane lore banned no one was able or willing to keep these things maintained as they had been. The Empire of Lucarcia, though stable and safe, slowly diminished.

246 AR — 471 AR

The Rodinian Republic was established in 247 AR, 432 years ago, when the King was driven out, and a system of consuls was established in its place. The consuls, initially restricted to the nobility but later opened to peasants, were elected officials who exercised executive authority, but had to contend with the Rodinian Senate, which grew in size and power with the establishment of the Republic.

The Republic of Rodinia was a generally peaceful place which put the development of technology, science, medicine and culture at its forefront. This took the Republic far ahead of its neighbours in terms of advancement. The Republic lasted some 200 peaceful years until slowly internal strife became its greatest threat.

In 465 AR, 214 years ago, three men took virtual control of the Republic through military prowess, senatorial support, and immense fortune, forming the first Triumvirate. Each of the three was elected consul before they began to struggle with each other for power. Octavian emerged victorious from the resulting civil war, and was made dictator for life after refusing the title of king. He took on too much power too soon for some of the senators, however, and was murdered in 470 AR. Octavian's designated heir, Tiberius, defeated all rivals at the Battle of Rodin in 471 AR and assumed almost absolute power.

472 AR. 207 years ago.

Tiberius designated successor, Augustus, took power without any bloodshed in 472 AR after the peaceful death of Tiberius. Augustus named himself Emperor of Rodinia and no one complained. So was the Rodinian Empire formed.

The Rodinian Empire was already far in advance of its neighbours technologically and scientifically. It now turned its attention to its military might. Within the reign of the first Emperor, Augustus, Rodinia was ready to conquer. It started with the relatively easy targets of Nubia (which fell in 487 AR) and Nung (493 AR) in the first Emperor's reign and continued on from there.

Next on the list was Kurgan, who the Rodinians wanted for their vast natural resources. However Kurgan was frequently raided by Dardania and the Dardanians were too strong to risk upsetting — though not as strong as Rodinia itself. So Rodinia made a pact with Dardania and became allies with them. From this position it was able to attack and conquer Kurgan without any great risk. Kurgan fell in 505 AR.

Over the next century the Rodinians went on to conquer Tana Toradja, Semang, Elam and Weissland, often with the support of their allies the Dardanians. They also began probes into Kiltland, Marlek, Nagastan and even Maya but never made any significant efforts to conquer these lands.

During that century the Dardanians had constantly continued to raid into Kurgan, stealing the Rodinian resources from under their noses, breaking the terms of their alliance. Eventually this activity proved too much, and anyway Dardania was clearly the next on the list, so the Rodinians invaded Dardania in 622 AR, just 57 years ago. This was their last conquest, though most observers assume it will not be their last.

The Empire of Rodinia has now conquered most of the main continent of what they have arrogantly named the World of Rodinia. They have stopped short of conquering the savage Kilts, the orcs and undead of the lands of Marlek and have so far been unable to tie the Nargastani horsemen down long enough to conquer them.

The Rodinians have recently began to test out the defences of the mountain fortresses of the natives of Honshu. They have discovered that the men of Honshu are brave and fierce warriors whose technology and tactics in combat possibly matches their own. There is much discussion in the Rodinian senate about the wisdom of this campaign but for now the Emperor is keen on seeing how strong the Honshu defences are so it continues to distract the Rodinian army.

In recent years the Rodinians have discovered the Athenians — a race from the east, across the Steppes of Nargastan — who seem to have a similar level of technology, medicine and science. They are also too far away to war with, due to the countries of Nargastan and Marlek being in the way, so they have set up trade agreements with the Athenians, fed by a couple of trade routes across the Steppes of Nargastan. The Rodinians trade much of the natural resources which they claim from their occupied territories and in exchange gain luxury items like silk from the far off Lucarcian Empire, and spices and other exotic goods.

650 AR — 29 years ago. The Chaos Wars raged across the Kingdom of Albion.

The minions of The Demon Prince tried to help him return to Albion but the work of a small group of heroes called the Fellowship of the Sun stopped his evil schemes and he was banished from Albion for a further thousand years. These times were known as The Chaos Wars.

Huge armies of humanoids under the banner of the Demon Prince ravaged the northern territories of Albion. At the same time the armies of the Easterners launched a huge offensive into Albion's eastern flank. The kingdom was sorely pressed. The Fellowship of the Sun confronted and killed the Demon Prince's first lieutenant. He was a shapeshifting demon who had murdered the king and had been masquerading as the sovereign for the last year.

The heroes then completed the complex and dangerous rituals needed to bind and banish the Demon Prince for a further thousand years. The heroes were all knighted by the new king, Jarrad I, and were granted huge tracks of lands in the north east of the country.

Thus ended the Chaos Wars.

667 AR. 12 years ago.

A group of brave heroes on the island of Mochica encountered a powerful sect of The Demon Prince there. They stopped a terrible plot in that land and discovered it had far reaching implications across the entire Rodinian Continent and perhaps on across The Known World.

They successfully neutralised this greater threat on the mainland, dealing the cult a huge blow that they might never recover from.

The group decided to take the fight to The Demon Prince himself. Using incredibly powerful arcane rituals and help from the Church of the Sun they opened a portal into the Void and stepped through.

There they managed to find the Demon Prince in his banishment. They fought him and killed him. Thus ended The Second Age.

667 AR. 12 years ago.

It is unknown what the exact implications of this monumental achievement are to the World of Rodinia. Certainly since this event the influence of the arch-demon has been reduced, if not removed. Can he return from this destruction? Only time will tell.

What did occur though, was a terrible series of events in the Lucarcian continent that almost unleashed the Writhing Death for a second time.

Spring to Summer, 675 AR. 4 years ago.

The five hundred year old Lucarcian Empire was crumbling. The noble houses waited, poised for the death of the venerable and childless emperor, plotting to gain an upper hand in the inevitable civil war that was looming.

Corsairs stole a priceless artefact from the sinister Trade Lords, leaders of the Guild of Master Merchants and Sea Farers. Reynard Ferrand and a group of ex-slaves attempted to retrieve the artefact from the corsairs and in doing so learned that they had attacked all the interests of the noble houses, trying to destabilize the empire. It wasn't clear but it seemed the Jade House had somehow been spared these attacks.

Reynard and companions tracked the corsairs to their base on the cursed island of Granita where they faced and defeated them, recovering the artefact in the process and discovering to their horror that the ancient Writhing Death had been released again.

Autumn 675 AR to Spring 676 AR. 3 years ago.

The old Emperor of Lucarcia died, leaving the empire in chaos. The noble houses were at odds.

Kita, Mosi and Okoth travelled the world trying to work out how to close the gate to the Void that had been opened on Granita. They went all the way to Albion to talk to the Archmage and there learned that Darius Snow was an expert on this subject. They located Darius and found out that the ritual to close the gate could be acquired in the ruins of the sunken city of Antissa. They travelled there and recovered the ritual at great peril.

Meanwhile, Reynard and Tanithil travelled the islands of Lucarcia and managed to gather the support of all the noble houses to come together to tackle the Writhing Death. He gathered the fire-wielding Pyromancers of Cansae, the undead Dread Guard of Selkie, the shape-shifting Nanuk of Stoneheart and the Jade Assassins of Ibini, along with a sizeable force of mercenaries from the Guild.

The combined forces of the crumbling empire met at Granita and successfully managed to close the gate and stop the Writhing Death. In the process Kulul Jade and her assassins turned on the rest of the group, confirming the fact that the Jade House had been treacherous from the start.

Unknown to the rest of the empire, Queen Lily Jade released Naga Lord Vasukini into the lands through the gate and a new, even more terrible threat was now growing in the jungles of southern Ibini.

677 AR. 2 years ago.

Lucarcia transforms from an empire into a republic. In recognition of his actions over the last two years and his efforts to save Lucarcia, the nobles of the continent voted in a new First Consul, Lord Reynard Ferrand, and confirmed the transition of the continent from empire to republic.

A new Senate was formed, based losely upon the format of the Athenian Senate. The fledgeling republic had a lot of work ahead trying to build a constitution.

Spring to Summer 677 AR. 2 years ago.

Naga aberrations were encountered in Northern Ibini. A hunter from that region made his way to the capital to warn the new Senate about the threat but they were too busy with the new constitution, so Okoth and Mosi were sent to investigate.

They discovered the Naga were very dangerous and appeared to be capturing women and children and carrying them off. The Naga reached Manabas and Okoth gathered the Nanuk and hill folk to fight them. The battle went badly and they were forced to retreat.

Okoth returned to Lucar to update the Senate and a plan was hatched to find out where the captives were being taken. Kita offered herself up as bait and was taken to the breeding pits of southern Ibini. Okoth and companions followed her and rescued her. They returned to Lucar to get help of the Senate, but the Senate passed a vote of no confidence in Reynard. He resigned his position and he and his friends set sail for Ibini to deal with the Naga themselves.

Reynard reached the breeding pits and Tanithil telepathically forced a nest of raptors into the Naga hordes resulting in utter carnage. The group reached and killed the Naga Mother, stopping the breeding program and rescued the remaining captives.

Returning to Lucar they found the capital under siege by the Naga. As the defenders held them off as long as they could Reynard and team entered the underground base of Vasukini and in a titanic battle they killed him, though Okoth was slain in the confrontation.

As soon as the Naga Lord was killed the remaining Naga turned on each other and soon destroyed one another. The threat was ended and the republic was safe once more.

Finishes 677 AR. 2 years ago.

Jaeden, the young son of a nobleman in the southern capital of Littlebrook, becomes squire to the Grandmaster of the Sun. As he does so he makes an unlikely bond with a street rat, Alfred. Meanwhile in the north, a young orphan from Albion is captured by the Feral and rescued by a patrol from Honshu. He is taken back east and there is placed in a Monastery of the Way and renamed Chi. Deep in the fey forest of Sylvandale a young half-fey, Thia, is appointed to archmage Alandriel as an apprentice, but struggles to manage even a simple incantation. During each of their apprenticeships, each meets an old man called Caerdic. He takes on different roles in each of their lives but is a mentor to them all.

Jaeden, soon after winning his spurs, is ordered to escort a noble's daughter on a simple trip north. They are ambushed and she is killed, leading to Jaeden's expulsion from the order of knights. Meanwhile, Chi is tasked with returning to his homeland of Albion and, as a Ghostwalker of Honshu, beginning the process of sabotaging that land's interests. At the same time, Thia's mentor leaves Sylvandale unexpectedly, seeking out the answer to a critical question. Thia, not knowing where he's gone or what the question is, follows him.

All three meet on the road to Mount Macarack where their different quests merge. They discover they all know Caerdic and that he was responsible in one way or another for bringing them together. Caerdic then appears and encourages them to help him stir the Feral for an assault on the north of Albion. With all three disillusioned with the kingdom, they all agree.

Jaeden fights Tor, the leader of the Feral, for the right to invoke the combined masses of the hordes to attack the town of Thistledelve. They do so, though Tor is displeased with the result. There Tor meets his old friend Lady Fortuna and the two are forced to fight.

Jaeden, Chi and Thia realize that Caerdic has manipulated them to his own ends. Bringing all their information together they determine that Caerdic might in fact be the ancient mage, Callindrill, returned from the dead. The only way to be sure is to travel to his tomb in the desert. They do so, discovering that Callindrill has indeed left his tomb, and appears to be some sort of powerful lich.

At this stage, driven in the shadows by Callindrill, the Feral attack from the north of the Kingdom whilst the Easterners assault from their lands. Ghostwalkers are in the capital city and the queen's life comes in danger. The heroes team up to save the queen and then are granted an audience by the king.

They explain that the only way to save the kingdom is to destroy Callindrill. They travel north to Dragon's Perch where the lich is endeavouring to raise the spirit of the ancient dragon as a dracolich, to become steed to the ancient king, Eldred – who he has also raised as an undead.

In a huge final fight, they destroy Callindrill, sending his spirit home to his tomb. But they know to destroy him permanently they need to find his phylactery, so they race to the desert to find and destroy it before Callindrill reforms.

679 AR.

Today is the 7th day of the Rat in the year 679 AR.