Timeline
Jump to: New Beginnings • The World Ends • Racial Splits • Kanweh-Terah Beginnings • Reawakening
New Beginnings
Before the Territories, the Earth was connected. And without warning, everything changed.
The Great Arcane Reformation: The world is engulfed in multiple types of magic from unknown sources. The planet is taken by storm from this magic and the living creatures of Earth begin to change quickly. The event that triggered the world to change is simply called "The Intervention." Some scholars in other cultures also like to call it "The Great Arcane Reformation."
2033 C.E. (CURRENT ERA) / B.A.E (BEFORE ARCANE ERA
Zero Hour: The first nuclear warhead hits Joint Base Lewis-McCord Base in Tacoma Washington. After that, chaos. Dozens of nuclear warheads rain down on the western half of the United States and many are even able to make it to the East Coast. City after city was destroyed on the western half of the United States. The media and government go wild; the public panics.
30 Minutes after Zero Hour: Only a half-hour into the war, technology shuts down due to "The Intervention". A massive flow of power is felt from in around the planet as magic flooded the world and its inhabitants. The country goes into a national blackout as power grids are forcefully pulled offline due to arcane energies. All communication with other countries is lost. Tens of millions of individuals just vanish. Planes crash to the ground, empty cars swerve and crash, and trains collide or derail. Earthquakes, forest fires, flooding, and other natural disasters exasperate the situation.
1-5 M.A.E. (Modern Arcane Era)
(Note: Starts on January 1st of what would have been 2034 C.E. according to historians)
Immediately after the destruction of the mundane world, the fallout starts rolling. However, it has been altered to fit the needs of the new world, a world without technology. The fallout becomes a magical force, transforming many of those living into different creatures, from Elves to Centaurs to even Demons and Dragons. Many stay as human. Another huge tragedy strikes the land, as almost all Sapient races have their memories severely altered. Those within the direct path of what would have been nuclear fallout have become twisted over time: mentally, physically, or both. A few population centers are protected via a magic barrier, including New York City and Pittsburgh. As with the other events during "The Intervention," it is unknown how, or what created these barriers. Deities? Random Chance?
However, those living in these major population centers are transported to other parts of the country, confused and unaware of their new locale. By the end of the first day, the population of the United States of America dropped from 375 million people to less than 35 million Sapient people, less than 10 percent of the United States population. This day becomes known as the Great Arcane Reformation, formed by The Intervention. No one knows how many were utterly destroyed versus how many were transformed into feral animals, magical creatures, or even were absorbed into mana. It is still debated to this day by many scholars in the Territories.
Almost all types of 'modern' technology cease to work, and due to the alteration of memories, many of those alive had no idea how to use it. The little bits of technology that still functioned were "locked away" in various magical ways, including being surrounded by literal barriers of pure mana. The barrier-protected zones are completely inaccessible. Power plants, industrial zones, and the like are filled to the brim with arcane energies and the longer a Sapient spent time close to those barriers, the more likely they will become addled, or worse: killed or transformed like those on immediately following The Intervention. Some places are phased out of the world itself and just disappear. Even if a bit of tech is unsealed or unphased, Sapients still cannot determine its use. Much knowledge is just lost.
Families are torn apart, and those alive must make it the best they can. Clean water, food, and other necessities become scarce in many parts of the United States. Certain places also become desolate from the lack of care due to the population drop. A massive amount of animals also transform into magical or even previously extinct animals. A new world is reborn with very little knowledge or tech of the previous Earth.
Knowledge of the Pre-Arcane World has been fractured, but it doesn't take very long for the Sapient Races to realize what had happened to the world, but not to the full extent and many are polarized. Groups of people try their best to work ways to survive, confused and mostly unaware of their past, why the world was destroyed, and what is happening to plants, food, water…
Despite the destructive nature of the bombs that fell, they are still magical in nature. And life in those areas did not have an immediate death sentence assigned to it like it would if the warheads had not been altered - if they would have stayed nuclear.
The Earth itself, however, altered greatly. Spaces between areas grew and twisted. Some forests became larger while others shrunk. Lakes moved to new locations. The map was altered beyond what most people would recognize as the United States.
Even though there are immense destruction and deaths, there are surprisingly very, very few corpses.
For the first week, there is surprisingly very little violence as people come together, no matter what shape or form they were in. No matter if they didn't remember one another.
Then, another blow is struck to Sapient-kind as the barriers blocking the US from the rest of the world are discovered. The United States (now known simply as "The Territories") is cut off from the rest of the world. Strong magical barriers physically block out Mexico and Canada roughly along the borders. Large mountains of Etheris Crystals rush forth from the surface of the land to create a physical barrier as well. Nothing can pass them, living or inanimate. It is also discovered similar barriers exist not too far off from shore, along the waterways surrounding the United States. There is, truly no contact with other lands. No one knows what is beyond.
Some materials and items can be salvaged, such as clothing, canned goods, basic tools, writing utensils; and even homes that had not been touched by the magic. And even though much of Sapient history has been forgotten, basic knowledge was retained with varying degrees. Cooking, hunting and farming, sewing, canning, and more. It was almost as if the American pioneers of the 1600s and tribal societies from around the globe had combined into a mishmash of knowledge, skills, and resources.
The climate goes haywire. The first winter after The Intervention is brutal. Many more people die from exposure and starvation. The magical radiation mutates even more creatures as the months went by, transforming many creatures even further along than the directed forced change of the Intervention.
Even though the Territories are in chaos, the world is in shambles, and people are no longer the same, they all had one thing in common. They are all able to communicate. Every single sapient individual who is old enough and able to speak is able to talk in a language soon to be known as "Common." And very quickly do the Sapient races take to keeping a written word as soon as was possible
The world Ends and then it begins anew through a magical lens
5 A.E. – 20 A.E. (Arcane Era)
(Note: Historical ‘Texts” from 5 A.E. – 200 A.E. are labeled as “very unreliable” by historians.)
There are still massive amounts of deaths taking place constantly throughout the Territories. Within fifteen years after The Intervention, another two-thirds of the remaining population die, many not leaving corpses.
It is discovered that very basic magic can be harness and used by Sapients. This is discovered by accident when a teenaged elven girl accidentally casts a very weak telekinesis spell to pick up a pencil just by concentrating on that desire. Soon after, the young girl is put on trial as a worshiper of those who many in her 'family' believed brought The Intervention. The girl is put to death.
Territorial disputes start to emerge in many groups and factions form. Compounds and clans form as Sapients try to reform civilization. There is mass migration to warmer areas. Some races attempt to build a society in earnest, finding what ruins aren't covered up and trying to rebuild using these old areas. Some races begin to prefer moving away from the cities and towns that once seemingly bound them as humans, especially the centaur and sphynx.
The population of the Territories drops even further to 9 million within the first twenty years after the Great Arcane Reformation, cutting the Arcane Era population by half, through death and 'disappearances'.
Those of a different Sapient race are unable to have hybrid children. Rarely is a child born of such a union, and it is always that of the mother. This makes replenishing the population much more difficult.
Historical writings are still fairly inconsistent and unreliable. New buildings start to be built as bricks and other building materials are recreated. New and old religions start to form.
Northern Appalachia is very much destroyed, and many societies within these lands are unable to survive due to a mix of the magical flux of energy along with the chemical plants in the valley that end up being damaged, leaking deadly chemicals in the area.
Many plants and animals that did not even exist previously in the United States become abundant and flourished once the world began to heal. Others that did became more common. And some simply disappeared.
Even flora and fauna that had gone extinct millennia before the dawn of humanity came into existence again to live beside more magically inclined creatures.
This process does not only happen with living creatures but inorganic materials as well. Many veins of copper, silver, and gold are dotted throughout the completely new Territories. Some ores are brand new, such as Mythril and Adamantine.
There were some veins of material that are pure magic. This magic is soon dubbed many names: Viz, Ether, Etheris… mana.
Magic can be mined from actual crystals. Similar, but not quite like the material the physical borders are made of, but weaker and able to be broken. But, of course, it takes time to discover and for the Sapient races to learn how to harvest such a resource.
There are many other changes in the Territories. Technology evolves and knowledge is rediscovered in many ways...
However, the society we are to set our attention on does not know about all of these changes.
There is a small group of Sapients that used to be connected to the Elven race. They are called Kruksen. And even among their race of Kruksen are they hidden, separate, protected. Their land in the Wilds is changed beyond recognition from what it was known before: The Appalachian Mountains. Earth is upheaved and moved. The actual *size* of areas is altered: shrinking and stretching. Trees become enormous, plants become overgrown, animals and beasts of all types run free... The land is wild. Just like the people.
racial differences and splits
21 A.E. - 148 A.E.
(Note: Historical ‘Texts” from 5 A.E. – 200 A.E. are labeled as “very unreliable” by historians.)
At the beginning of 21 A.E. a small group of Elves changes.
The transformation is physical as well as mental. They grew taller. Their ears become longer and can move similarly to felines. Their pupils retract and begin to be able to give off a faint glow. Many of their teeth grow pointed, sharp, as their jaw strengthens. Some of the more colorful elves, those with bright pinks and blues as hair and eye colors - dull and darken - become more muted - more "natural". Their senses become sharper and they become more adapted to living in the wild. The Appalachian Wilds
And they are something very special about them. Without being fae, they can transform into animals. True natural shapeshifters.
These animalistic forms are dubbed "ahmnive." These four-legged creatures resemble a drake and a canine hybrid. They have venomous pincers and are agile and strong.
Due to their isolation, the Kruksen societies as a whole evolve in a much different way than those of different races. They can no longer speak Common. They could only speak their own specialized language: Kruks. At the beginning of the Elven Split, these Kruksen have no written language. Also, this new spoken language does not comprise only words but includes many guttural, animalistic growls, chirps, and hisses. Language has more depth than ever before.
They are very tribe-oriented. Hunting in their shapeshifted form is preferred for many, but some individuals enjoy hunting with bows, arrows, spears, and even swords. Guns are lost to them, dissipated in the very essence of magic that created the Kruks themselves. Shamanism becomes important as the discovery and use of magic evolves. They hunt side by side with many feral animals and could even communicate with them on a very basic level. They use what was left of old buildings to create their new world, but so little remains, much architecture to be built from scratch yet again.
Despite the immense chaos, this specialized group finds ways to set up their own magical barrier around their vast land of wilds, stretching it out from what used to be known as West Virginia to parts of Virginia. It is debated through whispers that the barriers were created by the strongest of deities, whether to protect the Kruksens inside or those outside, it is not known. Eventually, sects are formed even within the Kruksen race: societies surrounding baronies and oligarchies, tribes that keep to themselves and believe all technology is inherently evil, small groups that believe permanently shifting and becoming one with nature is how their kind is meant to go, and even some that move themselves physically farther out - hoping to break the barrier they created to see the coast of the ocean. Much later, some groups do make it out and venture to seek other races, but this is much, much later on. And, unfortunately, by this time, the Kruksen are a feared race. A race surrounded by mystery and myth. In these times, it takes much effort for the Kruks with the drive to go beyond their own borders to show other races their good intentions. No need to fear what you don't know. This is not of your time.
Long before that, however, these groups separate themselves even more than before. They distance themselves from one another, trying to "rediscover" new ground. And for the first few centuries of this new world, the Kruksen evolve slowly. Setback after setback causing loss of life keeps them from flourishing. This new world was cruel to all species and races in its early years, and the Kruksen were no different.
Some groups create smaller, less powerful barriers around their land. They are now not only separated from other races but now apart from the rest of their own, only visiting through festivals, ceremonies, and for trade. Your group is not one of these… yet.
And this very process is what formed the community of Kruksen you were born to when the barrier around the Lake has formed many years ago. (Lake was previously known as Summersville Lake) Your tribe is known as Kanweh-Terah Trev. Meaning "The Family of the Kanawha" but also "The Kind Tribe of the Vista."
The Lake itself is seen as blessed by the pantheon that quickly formed in the minds and hearts of the Kruksen. The area surrounding The Lake is known as Kanweh - a word that sat far back in the memory of those who had been alive before the Arcane Reformation.
The River (was once known as The Gauley River) that connects to the northeast and the southwest of The Lake can flow without issue through the barrier as well as the fauna that dwell in and around it. However, no Kruksen may pass this magical boundary of your Trev….yet.
This is the land of the Kanweh-Terah Trev, and you are a part of it. This is your home and you have yet to see the world beyond the barrier. None of the hundreds of members of your tribe has. Perhaps one day the barrier will be lifted.
21 A.E. - 60 A.E.
(Note: Historical ‘Texts” from 5 A.E. – 400 A.E. are labeled as “very unreliable” by historians.)
Table of Events:
| Year (MAE) | Type of Event | Event | DetailsNote: These years are very broad, as much information has been lost or forgotten. |
| 21 | Creation | Kruksen Split | Kruksen spit from Elven race proper through magics unknown
|
| 24 | Discovery | Ore veins found | Many types of ore and gem mines very slowly start to be discovered that did not exist before - created by the influx of magic (example: gold, silver, iron, copper, ruby, sapphire, diamond) |
| 25 | Discovery | Mythril vein discovered | First mythril vein to be discovered in Appalachian Wilds - difficult to mine |
| 26-50 | Catastrophe | Racial populations are still falling due to the constant changes in climate, famine, and magical fluctuations even though there are many births. Life seems to just not be able to thrive amongst the Kruksen. Kruksen begin to form tightly packed population groups and form strong communities. Buildings that were not protected or taken care of all fall into severe disrepair. Vegetation and wildlife take over these areas. There just aren't enough Kruksen to populate every town in the Appalachians and even if there were, they begin to prefer living in the wild. Many historical writings are considered inconsistent at this time Birth rate is still in the negative, many still find it difficult to survive in the arcane world. More population numbers drop. Please are literally just trying to survive at this point | |
| 51 | Separation | Many of those Kruksen surrounding Summersville Lake truly begin to adapt and hierarchies start to form. Many of the groups that were founded separate now that there is a small population growth and Kruksen begin to thrive. Some groups head west and others head east and south. Those who stayed around The Lake continue to enjoy her benefits. | |
| 56-58 | Invasion | Only a few short years after Kruksen groups begin to spread out, the Baron Sawnit, whose tribe quickly claimed much of the Eastern Appalachian Wilds, tries to forcefully invade the Summersville Lake area. They, thankfully, are thwarted. However, this is where the Kanweh-Terah Clan feels they must separate themselves. Many of their own died, and they didn’t it to happen again. Much of this war is unknown, lost to time. | |
| 59 | Society | Laws & Government Formed |
|
| 59 | Discovery | Adamantine Discovered | Strong metal that cannot be mined traditionally |
61 A.E. - 148 A.E.
(Note: Historical ‘Texts” from 5 A.E. – 200 A.E. are labeled as “very unreliable” by historians.)
Table of Events:
| Year (MAE) | Type of Event | Event | Details: Note: These years are very broad, as much information has been lost or forgotten. |
| 61 | Discovery | Mid-Sized Etheres Veins Discovered | Larger Etheres Veins discovered throughout Wilds
|
| 72 | Religion | Different religions begin to form
| |
| 92-93 | Weather | Appalachian Drought |
|
| 100 | Rediscovery | Art | Music and the arts have time to grow |
| 101 | Rediscovery | Water-Wheel & Rotary Wheels | Powerful animal-driven rotary wheels and water wheels are used around the waterways of the Wilds |
| 102 | Rediscovery | Currency | Decide that a universal currency may be helpful!Mythril, gold, silver, and copper |
| 103 | Growth | Harvest & Population | Year of plenty
|
| 104 | Commerce | Paper Production | Paper production in larger quantities - not just for special occasions |
| 105 | Outside Event | Unknown | Something big happens on the outside of the barrier. Many people are curious, but none act. |
| 110 | Discovery | Large Etheres Veins |
|
| 110-111 | Catastrophe | Large Scale Event |
|
| 112 | Recovery |
| |
| 113 | Religion | Noticeable increase in Pantheon as sects becomes more segmented | |
| 114 | Society | Ahmnive-based | Even more is learned regarding the control of the Kruksen feral form, making hunting and surviving in winter much easier |
| 124 | Holiday |
| |
| 124-135 | Growth | Time of plenty | |
| 136-148 | Social and Territory |
|
Kanweh-Terah beginnings
149 A.E. - 249 A.E.
(Note: This is a very brief summary and definitely does not include every discovery or historical event that happened during this time.)
This is where the Kanweh-Terah group believes it is time to split from the rest of Kruksen society. Due to the constant territorial wars and aggression of the wild tribes and the expansionist ideology of the baronies, this smaller group of Kruksen fortify their home around their lake. Using massive amounts of magic from their strongest sages, priests, and shamans, they build a fortifying magical barrier that separates their society from the rest of The Wilds. It takes an incredible amount of energy to create such a wall - and it expands into the river, the sky, and deep into the earth. The barrier was created to be selective - only Sapients cannot cross. Other fauna and flora may, and weather, air, and other environmental changes are able
(Note: Historical ‘Texts” from 5 A.E. – 200 A.E. are labeled as “very unreliable” by historians.)
Table of Events:
| Year (MAE) | Type of Event | Event | Details: Note: These years are very broad, as much information has been lost or forgotten. |
| 149 | Warfare | Plans to defend the Vista's Lake begin | |
| 151-153 | Society | Barrier is completed | |
| 153-155 | Society | Kanweh-Terah Trev is official |
|
| 156-160 | Society |
| |
| 160-180 | Building | Architecture |
|
| 185-186 | Magical Event | Catastrophe |
|
| 187-195 | Magical Event | Huge Etheres expansion as magic surges from the “Storm”
| |
| 195-206 | Illness and Discovery | Medicine |
|
| 207-214 | Growth | Etheres | Enormous surplus of food! Animal & plants proliferate. Large population growth |
| 215-220 | Discovery | Medicine and Magic | Magic and mundane healing are able to be woven together much more fluidlySages & priests become very powerful both literally and socially |
| 227 | Discovery | Etheres | Much larger deposits of Etheres are able to be uncovered and become a renewable resource as it replenishes themselves randomly |
| 228-249 | Society & Growth |
|
quarter Millenia Reawakening
250 A.E. - Current Day
(Note: This is a very brief summary and definitely does not include every discovery or historical event that happened during this time.)
By blessing or by a curse, some unknown force released and relinquished some of the Old World's history. Its literature. Its ruins. Wards surrounding old population centers were weakened, allowing these still pristine cities to be accessed once again in the same condition they were when the rest of the Territories fell. Books were unearthed in mass and could be translated easier. Some older technology could be accessed and used that couldn't before. Some were still barred off: no flying, no space, no internet that connected the world. This historic event is called the "Quarter Millenia Reawakening."
But most of this had not been seen by your kind. Most.
Table of Events:
| Year (MAE) | Type of Event | Event | Details Note: These years are very broad, as much information has been lost or forgotten. |
| 250 | World-Scale Event | Quarter-Millenia Celestial Rediscovery | Many parts of the Territories start o uncover and rediscover old tech and information. Society begins to rebuild itself around what old-world information is discovered. The Appalachian Wilds are not privy to much of this rediscovery. The Kanweh-Terah clan is blessed (or cursed) with very little of this knowledge |
| 251 | Rediscovery | Electricity |
|
| 253 | Discovery | Ruins | Some ‘ruins’ of the old world have been uncovered within the Kanweh-Terah clan. Those weren’t there before, right?
|
| 255-257 | Infrastructure | Irrigation & Sewage | Irrigation, sewage, waste, and sanitation systems reworked |
| 259 | Celebration | Happy Times! |
|
| 260 | Discovery | Etheres | Etheres Is able to be refined into a liquid form |
| 261-Current Day | Various | Many changes happen, discoveries and made, and inventions are created (or recreated!)Perhaps you will create or discover something on your own? |