Timeline[]
- 150 B.R. Ensorcelment of the Satyr; Fall of Bachan (Satyr)
- 147 B.R. Departure of the Dryad (Dryad)
- 131 B.R. The city of Tazoon declares itself independent from the Vandus Confederation and renames itself “The Free City-State of Tazoon”.
- 112 B.R. The Withered Aegis breach the magical protections around Draak and sever it from the Dralk portal network. Three adults manage to flee to safety, but every hatchling at the Academy is slain. The three survivors, wracked with guilt, swear to remain and keep watch over the ruined city. The loss of so many hatchlings – almost an entire generation – is a crippling blow to the dragons and brings a renewed sense of fury to the Lunus and deals another blow to the relations between the two largest factions.
- 101 B.R. Appearance of the Shadow Dragon and Selenia the Brilliant, domination of the Entombed Will and command of the undead of Draak is entrusted to the myloc Enslavers.
- 78 B.R. The Great Barrier is Constructed (Withered Aegis) – The massive fortress and earthenwerks constructed by the Withered Aegis effectively partitioning the Eastern Continent from the Western.
- 76 B.R. First Siege of Aughundell (Dwarves). It lasts nearly ten years until the Gnomes under the command of Albus Tagley arrive and relive the beleaguered Dwarven city.
- 74 B.R. The Dwarven Ale House known as the Bitter Pickle is destroyed in a raid by the Withered Aegis.
- 56 B.R. Rachival is attacked by an army of undead led by a powerful Lich named Sulthas Boneripper. The Battle is won by the Gnomes in the end, but their army is weary and greatly weakened.
- 54 B.R. Second Siege of Aughundell (Dwarves). Besieged by a force twice as large as before, the Dwarves are driven back into their mountain. The Elves, led by one of their greatest generals, a spearman named Attios, arrive and drive off the besieging army. Hadan Ironfist becomes King of the Dwarves after his father falls defending the gates to Aughundell.
- 49 B.R. Feladan is attacked by the undead and much of the eastern Feladan Forest is burned. The attackers are driven off, but not before they do great damage to the forest and to the eastern walls of the city.
- 37 B.R. Construction of Hadan's Wall (Dwarves) – The great wall that runs from the distant north near Morning Light to the south near Selen, it was commissioned by King Hadan in 47 B.R., but was not completed for another ten years. King Hadan’s goal is to prevent additional attacks against individual cities, allowing the races to concentrate their defense.
- 33 B.R. The first generation of Automatons is constructed by Gangaf Tagley in his research lab in Rachival. They are simple and can accept but a few basic commands.
- 24 B.R. A massive attack against the wall near Aughundell concentrates the combined armies of the Gnomes, Dwarves and Elves. While the battle is raging, additional undead breach Hadan’s Wall in the north and in the south. When word reaches the generals of the Gnomes and Elves, they withdraw from the battle to defend their homelands. The Dwarves, without additional support, are driven back by the massive horde of undead. In a twist of fate, the Gnomian general, Albus Tagley, the Elven general, Attios, and the Dwarven King, Hadan, are all slain during the series of battles along Hadan’s Wall. Dralnok Hammerfist succeeds Hadan as King of the Dwarves.
- 23 B.R. Third Siege of Aughundell (Dwarves) – The third and final siege of the city of Aughundell by the Undead Hordes. This siege was complete and many among the remaining Living Races believed the Dwarves to have been lost. This Siege lasted until just after the Battle of Tazoon and the retreat of the Undead Hordes.
- 21 B.R. Fall of Rachival (Gnomes). The Gnomes claim that fallen souls were being collected by the Withered Aegis and forced to fight against their own kind. This claim is not taken seriously and dismissed by the scholarly community in Tazoon.
- 20 B.R. A human army under the command of a young captain named Ryson Stormbringer attempts to relieve Aughundell, but is met on the plains to the west and suffers great losses.
- 18 B.R. Fall of Feladan (Elves). The Elves bring stories of the fallen being returned to fight for the Withered Aegis, of souls corrupted and twisted by necromancy. This corroborates earlier claims by the Gnomes and the scholars of the day vow to find a way to stop this desecration. They begin working together to find a way to thwart the Withered Aegis’ abiltiy to collect fallen souls and bind them.
- 16 B.R. Kirasanct is attacked by armies of the undead, but they are thrown back with great losses and are unable to breach the high walls and magical defenses of the fortress. Dalimond is also attacked by armies of the undead and is partly burned before the invaders are thrown back.
- 15 B.R. Battle of Chiconis. A great battle fought to the east of the city on the plains near the sea. A massive force of undead as well as many previously unseen monsters cross the Bay and begin massing for an attack. The dragons descend upon them and the battle rages for many days before the undead are thrown back into the sea. Scholars from all of the magical schools gather in Tazoon to begin working on a way
- 14 B.R. An Army of undead sneaks past the guard of Dalimond and Chiconis and begins plundering its way down the DalimondPeninsula. Along the way many locales are infested, blighted, and corrupted. Eventually the army reaches The Observatory and sacks it.
- 13 B.R. A human and gnome army under the command of a battlemage named Dreveon attempts to retake the Observatory, but they fail. They build a system of ramparts and siege engines and lay siege to the entire section of the peninsula.
- 11 B.R. The Protectorate is formed by an outspoken and great leader of the Elves named Latronicus Abiectal. Latronicus is one of the great Heroes to emerge from the Fall of Feladan and is greatly revered within Feladan-in-Exile.
- 2 B.R. The Eight greatest scholars of the day gather in a secret location outside of Tazoon and begin preparations for the massive spell known as The Ritual.
- 0 A.R. Ritutal of Everlasting Completed.
- 8 A.R. A Horde of Undead move west from the city of Aughundell. They are met on the plains east of Tazoon and a fierce battle ensues. The humans and elves slowly lose ground to the invading forces.
- 9 A.R. The Undead Horde reaches the walls of Tazoon and envelopes the city. Some forces push on westwards to the Tower of Nature. There, they begin blighting the land, but are unable to capture and destroy the tower itself.
- 10 A.R. Battle of Tazoon; Lifting of the Siege of Aughundell (All)
This is the darkest of all Istaria's history, at least to this day. In fact, we are unsure whether we are truly out of this age today. During this time Maclir lead the undead hoards on a march of Istaria. Much of the information I have obtained from this era is hearsay, and some are merely drunken ramblings. One thing I am sure of is that at some point certain travel gates were brought down. One such gate isloated the city of Sslanis. It is unclear as to who actaully brought the gate down, but one thing is clear, it kept the hoards from marching through Lesser Aradoth.
Although the Saris avoid direct conflict during this war many other races were not as lucky. Some we have not been able to make contact with to this day. One race we have managed to contact again is the Dwarven race. The story of how the Dwarves fared during this horrendous time is perhaps the most awe-inspiring story of all. The Dwarven city of Aughundell is a marvel of engineering with its towering walls and hidden tunnels, but to truly understand what they went through I feel it is best to tell you a story that I overheard one night.
It is no secert that Dwarves like ale; with that being said it is fair to say this particular dwarf was being himself this night. He began to relate the story of how the Dwarves defended their city of Aughundell during the siege of the Withered Aegis.
"We knew the day would come when we would need the high walls of Aughundell! Thats why we built it were we did; we Dwarves are not fools you know. We built it right on the slopes of Mt. Grenaden. We built those walls with the finest Dwarven craftsmanship. It can withstand any force, be that man or beast!" he exclaimed as he slammed his glass on the table.
"These were not men though; they were the undead.... We held our ground though; The vermin would charge our walls and break on them like water! We would funnel them into narrow passages where in the confusion we would regroup our forces. Oh but we didn't have one wall, or one layer of defense. We had them as far as the eye could see! Although that does tend to make trade a little confusing," he said with a chuckle. "We held our ground though...the battles were long and tiring, but they kept coming back again and again! Even though we Dwarves are as mighty as we are we did eventually have to errrr...regroup, in the caves and passages under the city." he said in a hurry, as he hoped no one caught on to the true meaning behind his statement.
"We held our own though, we did. We did it by ourselves too!" exclaimed the tipsy Dwarf as he pounded his chest.
History has a large degree of truth to it. Although, some drunken exaggerations are present. The Dwarves did in fact hold their city in one way or another for over 50 years until the Withered Agegis's sphere of influence was lifted from them. Others were not so lucky however. The home of the Gnomes, Rachival, fell 32 years ago. The Gnomish army was literally crushed once they were cut off from the other Living races by the Undead Hoards moving to the south. The gnomish refugees made a desperate run north to Tazoon. Even to this day the Gnomes have not been able to reclaim their ancestral lands. Many of their lands, including the city of Rachival, are actually still under the control of the undead hoards to this day.
Another city that has suffered the sting of defeat is Feladan. Former home to the Elven Council, this city fell a mere 27 years ago. Feladan was once a beautiful city located in the vibrant Feladan Forest. For the Elves, the city walls of Feladan were their last line of defense, and they gave the Horde a fight for every meter of land they conquered; more Elves died in the defense of the city than in any other battle of the Lament combined. Humans gave what they could to the Elves in the way of material and troops, but no amount of effort the Humans and Elves could muster could turn the tide. In the end, the Undead Horde captured the city and drove the last of the Elves from their ancestral home to the walls of their city of refuge, Tazoon, where the Elven Council now resides. Today, Feladan is a twisted shadow of its former self. The Forest is dark and lifeless, a swirling blight maelstrom now twists the Elven architecture into a caricature of its former magnificence. A massive undead fortification literally divides the fallen city in two, using the city itself as a barrier to the Blasted Wastes and a Withered Aegis stronghold deep within eastern Frontier.
We are not sure when it happend, but at some point we began to lose contact with other living races. A fate more horrible than death awaits many of them. Through powerful acts of horrendous magic and mental domination the Withered Aegis was able to control the Welgers and Satyrs. They are used as mere pawns in the tide of battle now. While we are aware that these two races are directly under the influence of the Withered Aegis we have also lost contact with the Dryads, Orcs, and Goblins and fear the same fate has engulfed them. Only when the dark veil of the death is lifted from the lands will we know the true fate of these races.
After the defeat of Feladan, came the Ritual. Shrouded in secrecy, it was this ritual that has given us the gift of everlasting life. However, what we as gifted know of the effects, we must also realize that the 'gift' affected those who were involved in the actual performing of the Ritual in a much different way.
As I'm sure you are well aware, Tazoon was the last stand of the Living. Refugees flocked to the city, and it was after the fall of Feladan that we were sure certain death awaited this city as well. There, a short ten years ago we held our grounds, all the Living races in a collective effort. The undead were closing around the city and we feared the defeat and fall of the Living was at hand. We had one last weapon however. A Hero of the legendary Protectorate, Ryson Stormbringer, gave his life for us. He detonated a powerful artifact designed to destroy the undead and creatures from the Realm of the Blight. The blast was so powerful it turned the tide of the battle; we believe it even killed Torrin Macalir himself. The battle was over, it was the first sound defeat of the Withered Aegis, the only defeat.
The effects of this defeat are very noticeable in the structure of the Withered Aegis. Where once different sects had been united under the leadership of Macalir, now each sect leader, whether they are an original member of Macalir's necromantic cabal or a powerful, sentient being from the Realm of Blight, controls his own portion of the hoard with little reguard for his allies.
After the battle of Tazoon, the full effects of the Ritual began to take hold on our world. Soon, the living races found themselves blessed with the effects of immortality, and with the influx of the newely gifted, we began taking the war back to the Withered Aegis.
Since its fall, the city of Feladan became a stronghold of the Withered Aegis, and was a dangerous staging ground that the enemy could use to lanch new attacks upon the Empire. With it's placement a little to the south-east of Tazoon, and at the southern foot of the Great Wall, it was essential that Feladan be freed from the grasp of the Withered Aegis, and especially before their armies became stronger.
The key finally came with the development of several large machines called "ethereal substanciators". These machies had, in theory, the ability to cleanse the blight from the land around Feladan, and seal the blight portals. With a goal in sight, the gifted charged forward in several highly coordinated raids. In less than a month, the blight was repressed.
The Liberation of Feladan did not come without cost, however. The Withered Aegis, in retaliation, unleashed a horrible plague upon the living races. This plague, called Zymosis Morbidae, was a bane to all gifted, both adventurers and crafters. It spread with the greatest of ease amongst everyone, untill a cure was finally discovered.
As the Liberation of Feladan was under way, the Gifted were also hard at work finding ways to free the other 'subjugated races'. Four large mineshafts were found around istaria, all collapsed upon themselves. Upon their discovery, the gifted started work on rebuilding these tunnels.
Each tunnel had a portal, which upon use brought the traveler to several blighted islands. It was obvious by the ruins upon them that these islands were the lost Satyr islands. After much exploring, a machine was found on each island, guarded by the minions of the Aegis.
Through careful planning and extensive work, the gifted came across the means to destroy those machines, and in doing so we finally freed the long lost Satyr race.
With the Satyrs freed, it was time to find the Dryads, who had dissapeard many years before. Again, thanks to the gifted of Istaria, the remains of a large 'rainbow' bridge were soon found just west of the Tower of Nature, deep inside the Western Deadlands. Quickly the gifted set to work, and upon construction of the magical bridge, the lost Isle of Hues was soon found. In the center of this island, lies the great dryad tree, and through a great ritual, the Dryads were awakened, returning back to the prime.
Next: Age of Empire
Source: community.istaria.com