Timeline of the Eleven Realms - Martlet di Rotstein Author

Key:
– A.P. : Age of the Primordials.
– H.Y. : Humanity’s Youth
– M.R. : Modern Reckoning. Measures from the start of the Celestians to modern times.
– R.S. : Realms Standard. The generally accepted measurement across the Realms and everywhere in contact with them. Measures from the defeat of the Demon General Martin to modern times.
– E.D.T. : Era of Dusk Tyrant. The current standard used for Chevaladin’s history. Measures from the defeat of the Bat-demon of the Void — not that many remember that in the first place — to the defeat of the Dusk Tyrant at Ash-star Tomb.
– A.D.T. : After Dusk Tyrant. The standard used in Chevaladin. Measures from the defeat of the Dusk Tyrant at Ash-star Tomb to modern times.

The Abyssal Age: From Eternity to somewhere between 15,000 and 5000 A.P.
– The world is created and time begins.
– The first of the Primordials, the Second-born, come into being when the Mage of the Blossoming Wind is commanded to part the waves of the Abyss and the Knight of the Shining Lake is granted dominion over the restrained waters.
– The Third-born come into being when light separates from darkness, the Light of Wisdom is granted dominion over day, and the Shadow of Unity is granted dominion over night.
– The Fourth-born come into being when land rises from the parted Abyss and life springs forth upon it, the Undying Bird stoking the flames of creation within the heart of Earth and the Ageless Hart governing the wilds that come to grow in their warmth.
– The final Primordial comes into being when the First Mage is born and given mastery over creation and with it the forces of Magic. The Abyssal Age ends as Humanity awakens in his shadow.

‘Best Knight’: I must ask, my lord, why is he the ‘First Mage’ if he was born after the ‘Mage of the Blossoming Wind’?
The Winter Swallow: Uh… Because shut up, that’s why.
‘BK’: My lord.
Mage of the Blossoming Wind: If I may interject, I’m not actually a wizard or any such practitioner of the Mystical Arts. It only seems that way to Humans when you can control a fundamental force of nature. My youngest brother was the first to truly harness magic.
‘BK’: So the answer is because Humans are fools?
MotBW: You said it.
WotL: … Wait. Didn’t that say ‘Shadow of Knowledge’ before?
TWS: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
WotL: Yeah. And I haven’t even been introduced in this conversation yet! What the hell?
MotBW: Did you try to cover up a mistake with extradimensional shenaniganry again?
TWS: No.
TWS: Maybe.

The Primordial Age: From somewhere between 15,000 and 5000 A.P. to 1 H.Y.
– The Primordial Age begins when the First Mage accepts Humanity as his own.
– The Seven Fallen Kings appear. The Primordials war with them until they are left with no recourse but to seal them beyond the Celestial Wall, undefeated but beyond the reach of Humanity.
– Corrupted by the whispers of the Tarnished King, the First Mage Falls to mortality and the Flame of Forbiddance is kindled.
– Humanity is granted of inheritance of the world. Incensed by this slight and spurred on by the whispers of the Tarnished King, the Shadow of Unity rebels.
– The Shadow of Unity allies with the forces of Upper Abaddon in the hopes of overcoming her siblings. She is renamed the Mother of Chaos.
– The remaining six Primordials seal the Mother of Chaos within the Garden of Serpents. He allies from Upper Abaddon escape and continue to run rampant on Earth.
– The First Mage dies. The Blessing of Blessings passes on to his son and with it mastery of Magic.
– Despairing at her brother’s death, the Undying Bird abandons Humanity to their own devices and sets herself to wander Earth forevermore.
– Angered by Humanity’s ambition without his brother to watch over them, the Ageless Hart sets the wilds against them, condemning all who enter the forests and mountains with death.
– In memory of her brother’s last wishes, the Light of Wisdom embarks on her quest to create a utopia for Humanity. She vanishes from history.
– Resolved by her loss, the Knight of the Shining Lake swears to lead Humanity into virtue, that they may flourish under their own strength.
– Saddened by his siblings’ arrogance, the Mage of the Blossoming Wind swears to watch over Humanity in his brother’s stead. To guide and to listen; to protect them from the other-worldly beyond their means.
– Most of the Realms are created by the Realmwright, starting with the Silver Realm and ending with Erebus.
– The King of Wisdom, heritor of the Blessing of Blessings, forges a seal by which to trap the Mother of Chaos’ lost demons. They are tracked down and locked within the seal.
– The Primordial Age ends with the birth of the Anointed One.

Witch of the Lake: I have so much to say here, I don’t even know where to begin.
‘BK’: ‘Blessing of Blessings’? ‘Anointed One’? That is not what I have heard you call them, my lord.
MotBW: Sophia most certainly did not ‘vanish from history’ and you know it.
WotL: And the entire methodology of the Realms’ creation and the importance of the order is left out.
TWS: So. In reverse order: I’m trying to be concise, I’m trying to be tactful, and Fidesel would yell at me if I said more.
Guardian of the Red King: Indeed I would. I would thank you if you were not enough of a headache as it is.
WotL: Who the Hell are you and how did you get in here?!
WotL: Are we not going to address this? Hello?

The Age of Youth: From 1 H.Y. to 1066 H.Y.
– The strife of the Anointed occurs. The Blessing of Blessings is distributed across all of Humanity.
– The Witch of the Lake is born.
– The four remaining Primordials enter counsel with each other and, under the Knight of the Shining Lake’s insistence, embark on a plan to provide Humanity with a perfect king of their own kind.
– The Red Ravager is born and granted the blessings of the Primordials. The Hawk Mage, the son of the Mage of the Blossoming Wind, takes him under his protection and guides him as he grows.
– The Witch of the Lake finds patronage under the Knight of the Shining Lake and through her, learns from the Hawk Mage.
– The Hawk Mage is sealed under the Binding of Brocéliande by his cousin, one of the Squires of the Shining Lake.
– The Realmwright declares herself the sole savior of the Realms she created and begins a campaign of conquest, ravaging the Realms beyond Earth.
– The Red Ravager is betrayed by his own subjects and struck down. The Knight of the Shining Lake places him in an enchanted slumber within her domain.
– The Ageless Hart, recognizing the inexorable spread of Humanity and tempering the ire in his heart, lifts his anathema upon them.
– The four remaining Primordials, despairing at their arrogance in trying to shape Humanity’s path, swear to nonintervention under the Camlann Accords. They each retreat to their own domains and the pathways between other-worlds are sealed.
– In the ensuing years, seven Champions are chosen from among Humanity, to represent the Primordials should the world face an hour of need. Some choices are better than others.
– The Realmwright is placed into an enchanted slumber by the True Administrator of Magmell, the Realm of Magic. The True Administrator follows her into slumber, to ever watch over the seal.
– The Age of Youth ends with the fall of the last remnants of the Red Ravager’s kingdom.

TWS: Ohoho! And the shoe is on the other foot. Oh man do I have so much to say.
‘BK’: Please don’t.
TWS: First off, I must ask, did all four of you just forget the whole point of the strife of the Anointed? That this whole Red Ravager business was basically trying to solve a problem that had already been fixed?
MotBW: Please don’t.
TWS: And did you ever consider that maybe constantly trying to prove the vice of his knights might not have been the best way to help your brother?
WotL: Please don’t.
‘BK’: You do realize the Tarnished Age is next, don’t you?
TWS: Please don’t.

The Tarnished Age: From 1066 H.Y. to somewhere around 2050 H.Y.
– Magic begins to decay upon Earth.
– An immense fool is born.
– Said fool stumbles upon a power far beyond his measure and through it collides worlds so as to rekindle magic.
– Not content to leave well enough alone, the fool manipulates the power of the ‘Golden Marble’ to travel to Magmell, unintentionally opening the other-worldly pathways. As foolish as you’d guess, he continues ignorant of this fact and travels across the Realms, learning magic and generally adventuring while the world falls to ruin.
– With magic rekindled, some of Humanity find it within themselves once more and magi return.
– With the pathways open, gateways between Earth and the Realms begin to form, along with rifts leading to other-worlds. Ambitious folk from the both begin to invade Earth, hoping to take control of these gateways for their own gain.
– One of the Huntmasters of Herne swears an oath with one of the young magi of Earth and the two seek out the gateways themselves, attempting to seal them and keep the peace between the Realms.
– That fool decides to seek out legendary artifacts and stumbles upon the King of Wisdom’s seal. He then proceeds to have a very confusing summer.
– As the binding on the pathways continues to decay, the seal on the Garden of Serpents weakens and the Mother of Chaos threatens to break free. Promising the salvation of the world, she lures the fool whose fault all this is to her domain. He barely manages to escape by imprisoning her in the Mage King’s seal, which everyone afterwards agrees was probably a bad idea. The strain places him in a magically induced hibernation and the seal vanishes across the other-worldly pathways.
– The Tarnished Age falls when the gatekeepers of Earth fail and the first permanent other-worldly rift forms.

WotL: You know, there’s not much point in criticizing you when you’ve already done it yourself.
TWS: Ha ha! Another victory for the forces of immense, immense regret.
MotBW: Mm. Perhaps. I am not convinced it would have been better if you hadn’t, however. If magic did fail, then inevitably the Fallen Kings would return.
TWS: Yeah, well. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Or something. I should have been better.
MotBW: What will happen will happen. It is up to us to determine how we live with our choices. If not you, then some other may have done the same.
TWS: Are you seriously lecturing me on causal theory?

Age of Collapse: From somewhere around 2050 H.Y. to 2512 H.Y.
– The binding on the other-worldly pathways weakens to the point that magic floods Earth. Magi are now born among Humanity and monsters spawn naturally alongside mundane animals.
– The nations of the world attempt to suppress the magical outbreak. Magi and monsters both are captured for use in study and experimentation.
– Monster nests and other-worldly rifts proliferate rampantly in the rural areas of the world’s largest nations.
– The Great Collapse occurs. The monstrous population grows to the point where they overwhelm the Human nations and their mundane weaponry. Only the Seven Remnants survive, protecting the lingering pockets of Humanity that remain.
– Lattice-stones are discovered and the Seven Remnants fabricate weaponry using them. Hunting corps are formed to exterminate magical threats using these ‘manarails’ and ‘manablades’.
– The ‘Unlimited World Phenomenon’ begins. All iron in the world metamorphosises into Cold Iron and all further iron spawned is magically inert by nature.
– The last of the Old Ones is born. All succeeding members of the species are Steel-folk.
– The Realmwright awakens. The Champions of the Primordials are called to meet the threat.
– The Knight of the Shining Lake vanishes and her domain is left leaderless. Her squire-daughters and the Witch of the Lake share the burden amongst themselves. The Cutsteel is lost.
– The Golden Realm is created and the Battle-crows begin their long watch.
– The Age of Collapse ends as the Calamity Cycles begin, the Age of Collapse numbered as the first calamity of the first cycle.

WotL: Leaving a few things out, hmm?
TWS: Uh… It’s for the best right now I think. It might be problematic if this timeline fell into the wrong hands.
‘BK’: Like that has ever stopped you before, my lord.

Calamity Cycles 1 to 34: From 2512 H.Y. to 0 M.R.
– That fool that ruined everything wakes up and realizes he ruined everything.
– The Winter Swallow crafts an other-world of his own and retreats to the Crystalline Forest.
– The Winter Swallow meets the Witch of the Lake for the first time.
– The Winter Swallow meets the Mage of the Blossoming Wind.
– The Winter Swallow and the Witch of the Lake meet for the second time. Neither die this time and the Winter Swallow is inducted into the Ancients of Camlann on an honorary basis.
– The twelve Rounds of Winter are born.

WotL: Oh. You’re just going to leave these basically blank.
TWS: Look. Suffice it to say, a lot of things happened and a lot of the aren’t necessarily relevant to our current problems. We’d be here all cycle if I tried to actually make a history of these.
‘BK’:
TWS: I was also asleep for most of this time. If I actually gave a history of this, there would be literal thousands of entries consisting of ‘The Winter Swallow falls asleep’ and ‘The Winter Swallow wakes up and tries to figure out why the world is in danger again’.
WotL: I do take issue with the fact that you left out the part where you killed me the first time we met.
TWS: IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I SAID I WAS SORRY!
WotL: Ah yes. You ‘accidentally’ rose from your throne, charged across the room, and stabbed me in the chest. My mistake.
‘BK’: … My lord. I think my sisters and I need to hear your explanation.
TWS: Uh. Yeah. Another time. It’s a whole thing, quite frankly.

Age of the Celestians: From 0 M.R. to 2000 M.R.
– The Age of the Celestians begins with the Mnemogony and the birth of the Celestians (Mystic-folk).
– The Great Unifier Gaius Augustus Severian Henri Primus rallies his people and forms the first Celestian nation of Alfaia.
– Alfaia expands until it conquers all of the lands east of the Great Rift, forming the empire of Laurentia.
– Laurentia explores beyond the sea and comes into contact with other Celestian nations as well as founding colonies of its own. The Stratosian League is formed.
– Explorers from Rhakotis Pharos first encounter the Ash Dragons. The War of Judgment begins.
– Phoinikhanan explorers find land beyond the Great Sea and establish the Extramaris Territories.
– The last Stella-maria lays siege to the Celestial Ark in the hopes of defeating Ashmedai and forestalling the Tarnished King’s destruction of the Stratosian League.
– The Age of the Celestians ends with the Starfall and the start of the Wolves’ Winter.

MotBW: Remind me again, what was the Great Unifier’s actual name?
TWS: Sigh. Another one to chalk up to ‘I didn’t think it would stick’. I’ll have you know I called him Henri sarcastically and Severian as a joke. Apparently the Celestians thought those were some kind of honorary titles.
WotL: Stop with the extradimensional mischief! Just because you didn’t get it right the first time doesn’t mean you can just go erase things willy-nilly.
TWS: I can if no one notices.
WotL: I… I can’t deal with this right now. Just move on.

Age of the Forge-knights: From 8000 M.R. to 10,000 M.R.
– The Last Stand of the Forge-knights: Only one hundred strong, the Order of the Jeweled Sword lays siege to the Azi-kin under the Stormtide twins. They are slaughtered to a man buying time for the evacuation of the capital and their captain’s destruction of the Pair Nosidadeni.
– The Pair Nosidadeni is destroyed by the captain of the Order of the Jeweled Sword. Her partner, a young Mountain-folk who has since abandoned his name embarks on his eternal quest to forge ‘a blade that can bring dawn’s golden glow to an unending night’.
– The Golden Cutsteel is lost in the Garden of Serpents.
– The Age of the Forge-knights ends with the extinguishing of the final mana-forge in

MotBW: Skipping ahead again, hmm?
TWS: If it becomes relevant, I’ll add in the other three Ages. I mean, what am I supposed to put for the White Age? ‘Weather update: it’s still snowing’?

Age of Wisdom: From 10,000 M.R. to 12,000 M.R.
– The Bat-demon of the Void emerges and stalks the cities of the sages. In their fear, many turn to offering sacrifice of their own kind, replacing nightly raids of hundreds with a single death.
– The Dragon-mage of the Morning-star assembles the Heavenly Champions to slay the Bat-demon.
– The Bat-demon of the Void is struck down, but its dying curse ensnares the Dragon-mage of the Morning-star.
– The Sorceress of the Crimson Fox-bird attempts to save her companion, but the Bat-demon’s curse spreads to her. The Dragon-mage dies and the Sorceress is corrupted into madness. Her remaining companions are forced to seal her within the Chaos Stone.
– The Age of Wisdom ends with the scouring of the Citadel-folk’s, well, Citadel known as Ourias’ Stand and the burning of its library.

Age of Feuds: From 12,000 M.R. to 14,000 M.R. or 2000 E.D.T. to 1 E.D.T. or -2020 R.S. to -20 R.S.
– The Dusk Tyrant emerges in Chevaladin, steadily conquering all of the feuding nations of the land.
– The Dusk Reaver attacks the realm of the Ember King, spurring him to action.
– The Storm Warlord embarks to Earth, bringing the land that would become Tycortua under his control.
– The Ember King meets the River Sage and she joins him on his crusade.
– The Ember King and the Storm Warlord fight. Their duel ends in a draw at the arrival of creatures under the Dusk Tyrant’s control. They agree to join forces in the hope of slaying the Dusk Tyrant.
– The Demon General Martin brings the Realms under his heels, sending his Lieutenants to the ends of the World seeking a means by which to resurrect his slumbering goddess so she might rule the world as is her right.
– Lanturia falls and the Ancient-folk are all but wiped out.
– The Silvercross sisters are scattered across the world. Catherine alone finds her way to their intended destination of Déraciné. Regina is lost upon Chevaladin and Morrigan is lost upon Marivento.
– The Ember King meets the Crystal Queen and she joins his cause. The Champions of the Four Corners are assembled in full.
– The Champions of the Four Corners lead their assault on Ash-star Tomb. The Dusk Tyrant is slain by the Ember King, Ignatius Valentia.
– The Age of Feuds ends with the Ember King’s official coronation as the Emperor of the Sunfire Empire, uniting the continent of Chevaladin.

TWS: Anything missing?
MotBW: Almost certainly, but this will do for now.
WotL: We really need to settle on one calendar system.

Age of Embers: From -20 R.S. to 2000 R.S. or 1 A.D.T. to 2000 A.D.T. or 14,000 M.R. to 16,000 M.R.
– The Hero of a Thousand Nations achieves victory over the Demon General Martin, sealing him away and forcing his goddess back into slumber.
– The Dusk Tyrant returns, starting the War of Cinders.
– The Sunfire Empire falls and the royal line is slaughtered.
– The Scalebound emerges from the north and defeats the Dusk Tyrant once more. The War of Cinders ends.
– The former Sunfire lands shatter into several smaller kingdoms, each vying for control of the surrounding lands. Only the land immediately surrounding Sunfire’s capital of World’s Eye remains under the control of the remnants of imperial government, forming the Kingdom of Pazyerra.
– The Gray Knight of Viemer kills King Wilvan of Pazyerra in single combat. The Crown of the Ember King remains pinned to the wall of the Pazyerran throne room by the knight’s lance since.
– Chephirah Camdyn kills Sanborn of Montiamon in single combat. The Forest-folk banish her across the Forest of the Dead in punishment.
– The Riptide Captain achieves supremacy among the Sea Scar pirates and begins raiding the southern seas.
– The Saint of Swords defeats the Riptide Captain in single combat. The Riptide Captian’s supremacy is shattered as she recovers from her wounds.
– The Demonblade of Austall carves his way through the north in an attempt to draw the Saint of Swords’ attention.
– The Saint of Swords defeats the Demonblade of Austall in single combat and he flees across the Far West Ocean.
– The Riptide Captain, seeking atonement for her past, becomes a privateer of the Perloran navy and she captures her former crew.
– Aaron Roland Crownguard falls ill and dies. His younger brother Levi takes up his sword and position.
– The Queen of Tycortua vanishes in Thicket Forest.
– The Auran general Cyrus is murdered. The Auris Empire blames Montiamon and declares war upon them.
– Allard Fortunata and Erica Greenmaiden enter the service of Princess Adelaide of Tycortua.

TWS: And there we go. Modern times. Look at that.
‘BK’: Not to quibble, but I seem to recall finding documents in your study that detail events beyond the so-called ‘Sealing War’.
TWS: Please Carn, don’t talk about that. I really don’t want to mess this up.