"Nate, it would be nice if we knew a little history." They asked for history they will get history.
PRESENT DAY (within the past year)
Decline of most nation-states, particularly BELMRIC, the MORIAD, OROSTRANTHY, the MERELUNDS, and VELENHEIM. Civilized power is at an ALL TIME LOW
Expansion of the GOBLIN WASTES. Expansion of the SWAMP OF MONSTERS. Expansion of the DEEP FOG of the MERELUNDS. Colonization of ABAZIDUN by the dwarven KING OF DIAMONDS. Destruction of the SEAT OF WORMS and the WHITESKALD WOODS by skeletons. Disappearance of the SEVEN PRINCESSES OF THE MORIAD. Rumors that the TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL has been reinhabited. Goblins, beast-men, demon cults, vampires, slaad, and other monstrous forces make deeper incursions into what remains of civilization.
RECENT PAST: LAST 100 YEARS
Almost complete dissolution of the kingdom of OROSTRANTHY, now commonly called THE GOBLIN WASTES, due to constant marauding by goblins, beastmen, and the forces of Urizen
War between BELMRIC and VELENHEIM related to disputes regarding the southern border of Velenheim ends in a LOSS for the white elves. Establishment of various border castles, among them THE SEAT OF WORMS.
The wizard ILLITH VARN leads an army of beastmen against SOLEMN CRY, capital of OROSTRANTHY. His subsequent defeat, retreat into the CANYONS OF MISERY AND DESPAIR, and beheading. His head, his body, and the SKOROS ORB, the source of his power, is lost in the labyrinths.
QUALLMAR of the SWAMP OF MONSTERS defeats the TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL. Utter rout of the cultists within. Pope Xarcander X publicly beheaded in Quallmar.
LAST 300 YEARS
Resurrection of ORCUS in a shrine on the eastern coastline. Subsequent war between the forces of OROSTRANTHY and forces of ORCUS leads to his defeat and burial in RAPPAN ATHUK, THE DUNGEON OF GRAVES.
The CHURCH OF ELEMENTAL EVIL once again reinhabits their TEMPLE in the SWAMP OF MONSTERS.
The DOOM OF KIZAAD, once capital city of the MERELUNDS. The city is abandoned.
DEIRREGEX the BLACK DRAGON arrives from the north. The frost giants of the HATEMOUNTAIN are forced to retreat to the arctic KRAAL. War between Deirregex and the white elves of VELENHEIM leads to the decline of the white elf empire. A subsequent reliance on necromancy to bolster their ranks.
XAL-ZAX THRUUL THE BLIGHTED MALICE, also known as THE RED DRAGON, arrives from the west. His spawn multiply and inhabit what comes to be known as the SWAMP OF MONSTERS.
AZHARDHUL the BLACK DRAKE is slain by the martyred maiden SAINT COREME. His amassed wealth leads to a golden age for OROSTRANTHY. Subsequent building of the SILK WALL to protect Orostranthy from the forces of Urizen.
LAST 1000 YEARS (More or less all occurring simultaneously and in no particular order,)
A golden age for BELMRIC leads to period of extremely silly clothing, still mocked today.
Arrival of AZHARDHUL the BLACK DRAKE from the north. Enslavement of all mortals south of Olomoc and east of the Moriad under his reign. Forced worship. Mass murder.
Founding of the MORIAD by KING BLOOD I
The GREAT BEASTMAN WARS between the GOATREICH and human civilization. The GOATREICH is annihilated, their cities burned and fields salted. Beastmen are forced into wilderness.
The VAMPIRE KINGS of the MERELUNDS begin their SLOW WAR. Only KIZAAD stands apart.
The ascendance of the UNDYING KINGS of VELENHEIM. Their alliance with the frost giants leads to a golden age for the white elves.
Birth of ABJECTA, QUEEN OF MAGGOTS in BELMRIC, subsequent burial in the BLACK PIT. Nevertheless, the DIPTERIC ORDER is established.
The DARK ELVES establish a surface kingdom, are briefly unstoppable, before abandoning for reasons unknown.
The TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL, a force of terror in the swamps south of the Merelunds, is routed for the first time.
Reign of the SKY WITCH in the MOUNTAINS OF HUNGER. Ends in revolution, she declares her subjects ungrateful and disappears along with her flying fortress.
Secret war between SLAAD and CHASME breaks out into open battles between frog and fly. Period of plague.
UILLEATH THE FATHOM WYRM destroys LOTH ARMANEA for the second time.
LAST 2000 YEARS
Continent-spanning empire "ULDRU" linking what is now KIZAAD to BELMRIC to OROSTRANTHY declines due to internecine warfare, rumors of demonic influence. Remaining nation states vie for power.
A golden age for LOTH ARMANEA through alliance with the BLUE ELVES.
Long cross-ocean war between ULDRU and the PHARAOHS of the PSYCHODESERT eventually leads to victory for Uldru.
BEFORE THAT
The goblins build HAVITH ORR.
UILLEATH THE FATHOM WYRM emerges from the depths and destroys LOTH ARMANEA for the first time.
FENRATH THE WOLF and IZORIDES THE WITCH marry, subsequent devouring of her children, divorce and separation into own realms.
Period where owning demons was extremely fashionable, leads to sudden mass slaughter and the second GREAT DEMON WAR. A Pyrrhic victory for humanity.
Founding of BELMRIC by BELM, his leaving.
That time when the SUN PRINCE decided to establish an earthly empire, burns great swath of the earth in holocaust.
EGG MOON hatches, thence LAMDRU, who promptly sequesters self in the mountains west of ULDRU.
Establishment of ULDRU on the backs of various broken nation states.
Building of the TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL by Pope Ultralith I.
Founding of OLOMOC
10,000ish YEARS AGO
WAR between the DEMON LORDS and the GODS. MURDER of the PRINCES OF ELEMENTAL EVIL: OGREMOCH, IMIX, CRYONAX, ANCIBIN, and ALLADRA. Execution of URIZEN by the FAIRY QUEEN MARYBELLE. DEFEAT and DEATHS of ZUGGTMOY, ORCUS, and LOLTH. DISAPPEARANCE of DEMOGORGON, LORD OF REALITY. A subsequent golden age for HUMAN CIVILIZATION.
Ascendance of the various gods: BELM, IZORIDES, FENRATH, FNORN, NITO, and others. Retreat of the DRAGONS into wilderness. A golden age for the gods and the mortals who serve them.
BEFORE THAT
An AGE OF DEMONS lasts for years unnumbered. All mortal civilization is subjugated under the great DEMON LORDS. The DRAGONS roam uncontested. The earth grows old.
BEFORE THAT
Whence the great demon lords? They say that the first spell was the creation of earth, cast by the demons at the beginning of time. But some say they arrived from somewhere else and that the earth was already old when they came, that there were times when elves ruled over the earth, and more ancient human civilizations, and an Age of Water, a Reptile Age, and others. But according to the gods, their arrival marks the beginning of time, and to ponder times before that is heresy. Anyway the truth is gone, and only strange people search for it.
