Imperial Timeline of the Fourth Age

3138 - The Riven Times begin. Altea is beset by many demonic and unnatural beings unleashed by Zahak. Though Jarin’s ritual had prevented a full melding of the planes, dark spirits are still able to enter the world and cause havoc. Gallia is divided and turned against itself. Numerous warlords vie to seize the capital city from the harried Ranets. Meanwhile, in Khanaan, the greatest of the Hidden Goddess’s followers each founded a sanjak, or clan of mages. These clans would come to dominate much of Khanaan, subjugating non-magic users.    
3139 - 3162 - Reign of Justus. The young heir of Jarin, Justus was largely in thrall to his advisors, particularly the priests of Sol who insisted that the end of the world had come and soon the New Sun would dawn, transforming Vala and bringing about an age of wonder and beauty. Convinced that the wicked and corrupt needed to be purged for this transformation to take place, Justus instituted an inquisition intended to root out all evil, particularly demoniacs, who had exploded in number after Zahak’s ritual. In Brax, a demoniac warlord named Yarkun Blood-Written unites many of the horse lords and sweeps into Aldan to pillage. Justus meets Yarkun’s army at the Weeping Stones, where the emperor and much of the Undying Legion are destroyed. 
3162 - 3165 - Reign of Pharia. Not a true empress, Pharia was the High Priestess of the Cult of Sol. On hearing news of Justus’ defeat, she seized control of the court, declaring that the Empress Sun had revealed the imminent end of the world. Pharia’s fanatical devotees were tasked with gathering together all ‘impure’ people and items and burning them in gigantic bonfires. These frequent spectacles sent the populace fleeing into the hinterlands. When Yartuk’s horde at last reached Sacris, the legions surrendered and allowed the warlord into the city. Pharia hurled herself into the Crownfire and was consumed utterly. The flames then guttered out. With little opposition, and the people in despair, Yartuk declared himself emperor and his horde engaged in much rapine and looting, leaving most of Sacris abandoned and ruined. 
3165 - 3188 - Reign of Yartuk. Though Yartuk and his successors were not true emperors, these vile sovereigns are remembered as the ‘Blood Emperors’ for their sanguinary ways. Yartuk was well-known for feeding on slaves to sate his hunger. This would cause the many strange tattoos that covered his entire body to weep blood. These tattoos were said to have been made by Thule himself, marking out Yartuk as the ‘master of the visible world’ and ‘viceroy of the Rape God.’ Demoniacs from throughout the ravaged countryside flock to Yartuk’s court. Some of these demoniacs pledge themselves to the Blood-Written, while others secretly serve different Chaos Gods. Pavash, a demoniac pledged to Dakhama, poisons one of Yartuk’s ‘vessels.’ When Yartuk feeds on the afflicted slave, he is wracked by an awful sickness that causes boils to explode out of his skin. He is dead in moments.
3188 - 3207 - Reign of Pavash. In keeping with her devotions, Pavash nurtures a number of strange and vile sicknesses. She cultivates ‘gardens of rot’ where miserable wretches, afflicted with terrible maladies, are kept half alive as hosts for Pavash’s various diseases, which she would periodically release on isolated communities. Her scholarly bent kept her aloof from the conflict among the demoniacs, particularly Yartuk’s horde, which disintegrated and scattered across the north, pillaging Fendrel and Praesia. Aldan is wracked by several plagues, which last only as long as Pavash is interested in observing them. The ‘Pox Empress,’ a twisted and malformed thing herself, cures diseases as often as she causes them. One of her experiments must have proven too much, as she was found in her fetid chambers, transmogrified into a ‘bubbling, gelatinous mass of ever-bursting eyes and bloated organs.’ This horror attacked and consumed several terrified courtiers before disappearing into the tunnels below the Lotus Palace, which at this point was ‘accursed with flies and as noisome as a charnel pit.’ 
3207 - 3217 (?) - Reign of Ullan. A courtier of Pavash, Ullan was said to have been a demoniac of Nethrym. He weaved wondrous illusions that transformed the Lotus Palace, and all of Sacris, into a splendid, glittering pageant. Ullan was believed to have been a Rasna, though his face was always hidden behind a mask, or some other illusion. He was little interested in persecution, instead constructing a ‘mirrored chamber’ where he might host feasts and parties of increasingly strange and phantasmagoric nature. It is said that the reality beyond the mirrored chamber began to resemble Altea less and less, and the realm that Ullan ruled was not in fact Aldan, but a conjured facsimile that slowly began to draw all those who dwelt within it to some other, maddening realm. After one particularly bizarre masquerade, the entire ‘counter Sacris’ vanished, dragging Ullan and his painted, masked court into a mirror-realm of wonder and terror. The mirrored city is still said to exist somewhere within the Seeming, occasionally appearing in Altea only to vanish again. Much of Ullan’s reign is little recalled and the records are contradictory. 
3217 - 3244 - Reign of Midan. A devotee of Mora Fal, Midan emerged as the victor after skirmishing with a number of warlords over the ruins of Sacris. Midan was said to have enacted a ritual that blotted out the sun and transformed Aldan into a ‘kingdom of hungry shadows.’ How any vegetation survived years of darkness is unknown. The darkness only affected Aldan, the borders of which were wreathed in murky, misty gloom, warning all but fools away from the benighted kingdom. Midan attempted to extend his darkness to the rest of Gallia, only to be snatched up by ‘winged night’ and carried to a ‘black star amid the outer dark.’ The sun immediately returned to the skies. 
3244 - 3268 - Reign of Carius. By this point, Aldan was greatly depopulated and Sacris was mostly ruins. Carius, a devotee of Gojari, led his ‘caravan of bliss’ to Aldan and settled in the wreckage of the holy city. He began attracting settlers with promises of joy, debauchery and revels, and hosted yearly carnivals in the streets of broken Sacris. Cautiously, refugees returned to the city and assisted in its reconstruction. So long as Carius had something to amuse himself with, he refrained from truly monstrous actions and saw to the repair of the capital. He was crushed to death during an orgy that involved copious dream spore and paradise juice. Allegedly, Carius’ partner had been a wyvern. 
3268 - 3289 - Reign of Barchas. A corsair from the Free Isles, Barchas was a demoniac in thrall to Amon Shar, the Cremated God of destruction. He torched numerous towns as offerings to his god, and led raids inland from Loren, cutting swathes through the long-suffering landscape. He sought to claim Sacris and continue its repair, it is said, so that he might restore it to its former glory only to burn it as the greatest sacrifice to Amon Shar. He undertook many construction and resettlement projects, and when he began preparations to obliterate the holy city, his lieutenants, comfortable in their new positions, turned on their lord. Barchas was slain while inspecting the city’s walls, and his lieutenants set about fighting. The chaos that followed is recorded in fragments. 
3289 - 3294 - Reign of Lido, or perhaps Leto. Had the sacred Glimmering Rock hurled upon his head by a troll, after Lido/Leto urinated on the stone to prove his ‘disdain of all earthly spirits.’ 
3294 - 3307 - Reign of Gesha. Little recalled, save that she had a great love of horses and undertook many raids on Brax to acquire the best stock for her stables. A rival sent  a ‘demon’ into her favorite mount, which, while being ridden by Gesha, took off at incredible speeds. None could catch the beast and Gesha is said to still ride upon the possessed hell-steed, decayed and screeching and fused to the saddle. 
3307 - 3329 - Reign of ‘the Omitted Emperor.’ Nothing is known of this sovereign. The dates are only inferred from lacunae in records dating from this time. There is but a single allusion in Emesto’s Latter Annals, which state, ‘The Loom Priests made corrections and ensured that the error could not be repeated. No more must be said lest the moths be angered.’        
3329 - 3336 - Reign of Nulac. He was said to have attempted ‘foolishness’ with the Brass Tower in order to eliminate rivals and consolidate his rule. When the Keepers advised against his rash actions, he demanded their executions. The Keepers in turn sealed themselves within their college and ‘removed’ it from Altea. After this incident, Nulac entered the Brass Tower and did not emerge again. 
3336 - 3379 - Reign of Kadma. Apparently the son and heir of Barchas, he destroyed his remaining rivals and took control of Sacris. He attempted to revive the Undying Legion and array himself in the trappings of the old emperors, but without the Crownfire, there was no way of legitimizing his rule. He sent for many sages and sorcerers who promised to coax the fires into new life, but all failed in this task. By this time, Altea had mostly recovered from its ravaging, and the demoniacs had been largely forced out of civilized lands, which were rebuilding and repopulating. In Gallicia, a border count named Salez, distantly related to the Ranets, reclaimed the last keep from a demoniac warlord and declared Gallicia to have been ‘purified.’ Buoyed by success and rallying Gallicia to his side, he launched a ‘reclamation’ to take Sacris from Kadma. The fighting was fierce, but after a four month siege, Kadma’s captains killed him in his bedchamber. The gates were opened to Salez, and it is said that the Crownfire ignited at this very moment. The conqueror stepped through the flames a few days later in a grand ceremony and became the first ‘true’ emperor in many years. 
3379 - 3398 - Reign of Salez. Taking the regnal name Sileas, he married an Aldani of old and noble blood. Salez ‘restored’ the House of Ranet, though scholars have suggested that this was largely a political gesture, as Salez was in fact from the House of Aguin, which was a cadet house of the Ordene family, which was related to the Ranet’s through a cousin, a baroness named Zaleda Ranet. These questions of bloodline did not much concern Salez’s adoring followers, who were instrumental in subduing Aldan’s demoniacs and reclaiming the countryside. Most of Salez’s reign was spent in reforming the legions and repairing Sacris. He died at the the age of 89, to much lamentation, and was buried upon sacred Mount Haru, among the marble tombs of former emperors. 
3398 - 3447 - Reign of Adanz. Son of Salez, Adanz sought to extend his father’s legacy and launched invasions of Loren, Fendrel and Brax. Loren fell within the first years of Adanz’s reign, and Fendrel, after many years of war, agreed to a treaty that would secure the independence of the estates while recognising Aldan as ‘first among the five kingdoms.’ It was Brax that proved the most stubborn, as many demoniac warlords still commanded great power and were loath to submit to a ‘weakling’ emperor. Adanz died during one of his many campaigns to seize Brax, falling down dead in his tent while a squire armored him. He never produced an heir, which caused brief anxiety and fears of civil war.  
3447 - 3475 - Reign of Eudice. Sister to Adanz, she acted quickly to secure the Silver Throne and fend off challenges. More cautious than her brother, she withdrew troops from Brax and instead sent emissaries to the ‘pure-blooded’ chieftains of the plains, offering her hand in marriage. She wed one Chagart, a great warrior whose tattooed body and half-shaven scalp caused much consternation and amusement in the Lotus Palace. With Chagart’s assistance, the legions tore Brax free from demoniac control, and sent the twisted hordes fleeing into the Worldspines. Chagart was made ‘Prince of Brax’ and was considered co-ruler. With Brax under Aldani control, Eudice declared that the empire had been restored, and arranged great celebrations in the capital. Some suspect that, due to her age, her children, of which there were several, were in fact war orphans that Chagart had acquired after careful inspection and testing. Few dared voice such suspicions. Eudice died in her sleep, a rarity for a Gallian sovereign. 
3475 - 3531 - Reign of Melio. He consolidated the empire, and sent aid to Praesia and Heide, which both still dealt with demoniac raiders striking from the Worldspines. Melio’s assistance won him much respect, and Gallian legions are credited with restoring order to the Heidan and Praesian borderlands. Many keeps and fortifications were constructed under Melio’s orders, and the famed Towerlands in Heide were extensively refurbished and expanded, much to King Torber’s relief. Melio, eager to restore trade and bring greater wealth to his domain, sent envoys across Altea and beyond, even inviting sorcerers from Khanaan to send an embassy to his court. Like his mother, Melio died of natural causes, and his passing was greatly mourned. His tomb on Mount Haru is considered almost ostentatiously large. Its construction continued for over two decades after Melio’s demise.
3531 - 3566 - Reign of Pulchis. Called ‘the Fat,’ he made opulent use of his realm’s growing wealth, and spent much of the money his father had saved. His greatest delight was food, and he hosted many extravagant feasts. Agents scoured Altea for new delicacies to grace the emperor’s table, even venturing into the Abyss to secure the rarest and most exotic fare. During one feast, where the guests swam in a pool of water ‘filled with gold dust and playful spirits,’ Pulchis was presented with a ‘rainbow-hued fish of prodigious size taken from the Sea of Myrmex.’ The fish was floated over to Pulchis on a lacquered platter of balsa wood. Before he could eat it, the fish leapt off the plate and tore Pulchis’s face off. The stampede that followed claimed 12 lives. 
3566 - 3589 - Reign of Tarquis. Called the ‘Unsmiling,’ Tarquis blamed the debauched and degenerate court for his father’s death. He instigated a lengthy austerity. Nobles were encouraged to inform on each other if any evidence of ‘luxury’ was found, and food throughout the empire was rationed, the excess gathered in gigantic storehouses as ‘safeguard against famine.’ Spies ensured nobody ‘indulged excessively,’ and many fines were levied for all manner of minor picadilloes, such as ‘eating live oysters’ and ‘drinking sweet wine cooled with snow during summer.’ Tarquis even ended the capital’s Carnivalia, alleging that it encouraged ‘drunkenness, sloth, wantonness and insanity.’ These policies naturally made him unpopular, and throughout his reign there were several riots and raids on the storehouses that housed the empire’s ‘emergency’ food. Tarquis remained unmoved by his people’s anger, stripping his palace of luxuries and wearing only roughspun gray robes to demonstrate his commitment to austerity. Tarquis died when a courtier, who had been fined most recently for ‘wearing too sheer and unchaste fabrics,’ dosed Tarquis’ morning gruel with dream spore. Allegedly, this was to teach the emperor how to enjoy himself. Instead, Tarquis suffered an attack of mad laughter, running about the palace, pointing and cackling at things only he could see, before tumbling off a balcony and falling five stories to his death. 
3589 - 3637 - Reign of Cerano. Faced with a restive and angry populace, Cerano abolished his father’s austerity laws and made a show of his generosity, bestowing many gifts on his courtiers and opening the storehouses to the poor, flooding the markets with cheap food. This proved a rash move, as soon after a blight in Fendrel saw a sharp decline in the wheat harvest. Further, a plague that originated in Loren spread to Aldan. Famine followed, and numerous riots erupted across Aldan. Cerano was so afraid that he fled to Gallicia, hoping to wait out the plague. He left a legate in Aldan, a member of the Gaunt Legion named Patrus. Harsh methods were used to quell the populace and restore order, but when Cerano wished to return to his capital, Patrus claimed it was not safe and told the emperor to remain in Gallicia. When Cerano insisted otherwise, Patrus, who had much support in the legions, declared that Cerano, by fleeing his duties, had proved himself incapable of rule. Patrus seized the throne. Cerano led an abortive attempt to reclaim Sacris, but was defeated in Fendrel, at Spider River. The deposed monarch fled to Gallicia, and, soon bereft of support, slit his wrists. 
3637 - 3655 - Reign of Patrus. An aggressive ruler, the soldier-turned-emperor was accepted into the Crownfire and took this as a sign that Sol favored him. He launched an invasion of Praesia and one of Heide, succeeding in occupying both nations. He extracted heavy tributes from the conquered kingdoms, which he used to fund further wars with Orestes, Locia and even the Amathine Isles. Patrus personally led many of his expeditions, and the Gaunt Legion became preeminent in Gallia. By the end of his reign, Patrus had taken several Locian cities, a dozen Amathine islands, and the Northern Dominion of Orestes. While riding through the Orestian city of Nikas in triumph, moths settled on Patrus’ brow. He was said to have turned his horse about and gone cantering out of the city. His soldiers, skilled as they were in the arts of tracking, could not locate the vanished general. The Crownfire went black a short while later, and Patrus was presumed to have died. His captains began squabbling over succession, leading to the period of the ‘Steel Emperors,’ in reference to the origins of these sovereigns, which were all military. 
3655 - 3679 - Reign of Gael. A member of the Gaunt Legion, Gael sought to retain Patrus’ holdings, but in the chaos following his disappearance, Gallia lost its new territories one after the other. To prevent the legions turning on him, he sent them to battle the Iron League dwarves on some fabricated pretext. So began the Mountain War, a brutal conflict that lasted on and off for many years. After sacking a dwarven hold, Gael acquired a crystal ancestor, which he attempted to interrogate about dwarven weaknesses. Soon after, Gael died in ‘great agony’ as his heart slowly turned to stone. No magical remedy could be affected. The crystal ancestor was returned to the dwarves and the conflict ended. 
3679 - 3704 - Reign of Remar. With the Gaunt Legion occupied in withdrawing from the Worldspines, Remar, a general of the Diamond Legion, took the Silver Throne. He was deeply paranoid of betrayal, and sent to Locia for a battalion of Kulroq bodyguards, a number of whom accompanied Remar at all times, including into the privy. Even this was not enough, and Remar commissioned a great enchanter from Khanaan to create a suit of magical armor that would fit ‘like a second skin’ but be stronger than steel. The mage labored away and at last presented Remar with his armor. He thereafter resembled a ‘statue made of quicksilver,’ covered head to toe in magical plate. He refused to ever remove his armor, and the resulting smell was said to have been quite repulsive. The armor, it was claimed, even made it unnecessary for Remar to eat or sleep. This was said to have driven him insane, and he attacked his bodyguards in a rage. They retaliated, but apparently could not kill the emperor, who had been reduced to a shrieking, invulnerable madman. After slaughtering dozens of servants and soldiers, he fled, bloodied and raving, into the city’s underworld. He is still said to wander there, mad and sustained by his cursed armor.  
3704 - 3713 - Reign of Lyartes. Acting quickly to claim Sacris after Remar’s vanishing, Lyartes of the Thunder Legion moved against his rival generals in a number of skirmishes that soon raged across the empire. He eventually became convinced that the secret to ultimate victory lay in the Bent Tower, but the Loom Priests refused to grant him access. He thus attempted to besiege the tower and claim the Silk Prophecies. A cloud of moths descended on him and ‘took him away.’ His followers dispersed soon after. 
3713 - 3748 - Reign of Arto. Arriving in the chaotic city from the borderlands, Arto of the Gaunt Legion set about restoring order and proclaimed himself emperor. He was linked to a number of audacious assassinations, and paladins of Rheas eventually determined he was pledged to Rakith, and was in fact a werewolf. Many of his lieutenants were similarly afflicted, and Arto had plans to eventually infect the entire military elite with lycanthropy, creating a dynasty of werebeasts that would enforce its rule through terror and slaughter. Working with the Deathless Legion, the paladins assaulted the Lotus Palace and slew Arto and his supporters. No member of the Deathless Legion would take the throne, so Decimus, a paladin, was chosen as a regent. 
3748 - 3771 - Reign of Decimus. Only seeking to stabilize the empire, Decimus kept aloof of politics and conspiracies and instead sought a worthy emperor, undertaking many tours of Gallia and the lands beyond to select a suitable replacement. While on one of these tours, he was diverted to aid a Braxian garrison in turning back a horde of frostlings, so-called snow orcs. Before leading the decisive charge, he gave instructions to a commander in the Cloud Legion. Decimus was slain by a frostling shaman who took the form of a ‘monstrous ice-drake with skin of glass.’ Yet the horde was broken, and the commander who received the instructions, Maric, declared himself regent. 
3771 - 3778 - Reign of Maric. The instructions given to the commander urged him to continue the quest to find a worthy emperor. Maric was told to send scouts across the land and summon all potential sovereigns to Sacris and test them. Maric did so half-heartedly, largely indulging his interests in gambling and horse races, which he sponsored often, including the now-famous Brocade Race, named for the cloak of fine brocade, worth many gold pieces, presented to the winning racer. At one such race, the victor, a young man named Pero, declared himself a descendent of House Ranet, and asked to be made Maric’s heir. Maric swore to determine the boy’s worth, only to order his assassination a few days later. For this treachery, Maric’s heart was ‘consumed by the Castellan's fire.’ Two years of chaotic war between the legions followed, a period generally appended to Maric’s reign. 
3778 - 3793 - Reign of Leo. A general of the Diamond Legion, Leo seized the capital from Maric’s lieutenants and declared himself emperor. He immediately faced challenges from the ‘Heir’s Avengers,’ a group, likely supported by rival generals, that demanded the slain Pero’s claims be recognized by the Senate. Leo brutally suppressed these dissenters, and replaced many members of the Senate with Diamond Legion officers. He even attempted to get the Deathless Legion disbanded, which resulted in a brief siege of the Lotus Palace, only ended when Leo swore to uphold the Undying’s rights ‘for all time.’ He adopted a son who was allegedly descended from the Ranets, and attempted to have the Senate recognize the boy as heir. The many former officers in the Senate were outraged that Leo had not considered them and a brawl broke out. During the chaos, someone stabbed Leo in the stomach and he died before aid could be rendered. His son vanished soon after this. 
3793 - 3814 - Reign of Teles. Emerging from the senatorial combat as the victor, Teles, formerly of the Diamond Legion, destroyed his rivals and made all others in the senate swear loyalty to him. He embarked on a quest to have all legion generals acknowledge him as master of the empire, and intended to institute a new law that would make the emperor’s successor whoever happened to be commander of the Diamond Legion. Sporadic civil war raged across Gallia, though after a decade of conflict, only the Gaunt Legion resisted, retreating to the craggy mountains of Gallicia and raising support among the local people. Despite extended attempts to expunge the Gaunt Legion, resistance continued for many years. After some years, a young woman named Elona was revealed to Herax, general of the Gaunt, in a vision he attributed to Sol. The girl was said to be a ‘true-blooded’ Ranet, her parents isolated barons ruling the highest mountains. Herax, seized by zeal, was determined to place Elona on the Silver Throne. Rallying Gallicians and others around him, Herax marched on Sacris and, following years of brutal conflict, defeated Teles on the banks of the River Anahi and claimed the capital. 
3814 - 3821 - Reign of Herax. As Elona was still a child, Herax ruled on her behalf, extracting vows of loyalty from all the legions, and securing blessings from all the major cults to ensure no power group would dispute Elona’s authority. Herax inflicted vicious reprisals on any he thought might challenge Elona, such as when he torched the entire Yvel Estate in Fendral after its baron made disparaging remarks about Elona’s heritage. Yet for all his cruelty, Herax remained utterly devoted to Elona, carefully ensuring she was educated in all arts, and stepping aside as soon as she came of age. Upon her 20th birthday, Elona walked into the Crownfire and ended the reign of the Steel Emperors. 
3821 - 3878 - Reign of Elona. At first, the young empress heavily relied on Herax for advice, and many of her early decisions bear his ruthless mark, such as the slaughter of a community in Loren who worshiped the ‘ever-youthful spirit of the boy-emperor Pero,’ who was deemed of true Ranet blood, unlike Elona, who was a ‘changeling drawn out of the Shadow Sea.’ Yet as Elona matured, she curbed her harsher impulses and increasingly refused Herax’s counsel. Some feared the old general might attempt a coup, and so, acting on the Senate’s advice, Elona banished her former guardian to the Free Isles. Herax would spend his remaining years in a tower upon a lonely rock. Elona herself grew more isolated, refusing to emerge from her chambers for days and communicating via scry glass. Some believed that Herax had recruited the aid of an Amathine sea cult to curse Elona and drive her mad with visions of the Drowned King. Increasingly isolated, Elona one day dismissed her advisors and sequestered herself in the Lotus Palace’s Spring Pavilion. There, she donned her heaviest robes, draped herself in jewels, and hurled herself into the Emerald Spring, a holy pool dedicated to Veres. Her body was not recovered. Tradition claims that not long after, a ‘sea-devil that light refused to touch,’ emerged from the depths and devoured the tower, and part of the island, that Herax was imprisoned within. 
3878 - 3921 - Reign of the Six Harmonds. Elona had no issue, and had failed to groom any successors. House Ranet split into competing factions, each with its would-be emperor. Confoundingly, the claimants all bore the name ‘Harmond,’ and there is little to distinguish them save the brevity and confusion of their tenure upon the Silver Throne. During the period, Heide was engulfed in civil war, as Gustav and Sergius Rohun battled for their father’s throne. Gustav, the younger sibling, was triumphant, and Sergius sent word to Gallia, asking for help in recovering his birthright. But Gallia was in no position to help. Instead, Sergius turned to the marcher barons who had settled on the Avrasian border. Rather than try to unseat Gustav, Sergius chose to carve out his own kingdom from Avrasia. He seized Merebourg and drove many Ilix into the mountains, proclaiming himself King of Avrasia. In the following years, Avrasia would be divided into north and south, as Ilix and humans struggled for mastery of the wartorn land. 
3921 - 3933 - Reign of Castus. The Harmondian Era ends when Harmond VI, ‘the wise,’ is torn apart by spore-mad devotees during a seance intended to contact Jadak. Castus, obsessed with the Silk Prophecies, tries to cultivate his own moon moths, filling whole rooms of the palace with them. He had magicians and scholars from across the world attempt to spin prophecy from the moon silk, but without success. Castus, called the ‘Winged’ for his habit of walking around covered in fluttering moths, is ultimately found smothered by his beloved creatures. 
3933 - 3949 - Reign of Mormo. Little is known of this emperor. The Keeper records merely state that he ‘took off his face and caused great consternation’ at a dinner hosted for envoys from both north and south Avrasia. The ensuing panic saw the Red Pavilion burn down. Mormo, and several dozen others, were lost in the blaze. 
3949 - 3954 - Reign of Armonia. Another obscure monarch. Armonia was discovered to be a ‘mirror-double’ created by the Rasna to destroy the empire from within. She and her whole family were slain when it was found that their ‘shadows had too many arms’ (?). 
3954 - 3957 - The Blank Years. No reliable records survive from this short period. The years are only inferred. It is believed that the Keepers determined that the rash of incompetent emperors was due to a ‘snarling of time.’ Acting on the advice of the Loom Priests, the Keepers enacted a ritual at the Brass Tower that purged the ‘untime’ from the cycle and allowed the correct ‘continuum’ to resume. Artifacts from this dangerous ritual, such as phantom people and vanishing buildings, recurred for some years afterwards. 
3957 - 3989 - Reign of Clarion. A former acolyte in the temple of Rheas, Clarion worked to restore order and purge the ‘defects’ created by the Blank Years. He sent envoys to both northern and southern Avrasia, attempting to broker some sort of truce between the rival realms. While Clarion was distracted with diplomatic matters, the Orestians crossed the Ondos Mountains, apparently determining that the chaotic empire was ripe for invasion. Clarion confronted the Orestians at Tynford in Fendrel. Though the Orestian advance was thwarted, Clarion met his end after insisting that he lead the final charge. 
3989 - 4037 - Reign of Malthus. Far more cautious than his predecessor, Malthus arranged for peace with the Orestians, ceding them much of Gallicia in an act that greatly angered the legions. At the same time, Malthus played the rival Avrasian courts against each other, hoping to gain concessions from both. Frustrated by Gallia’s lack of commitment, King Juventus of North Avrasia (or Arverion) sought help elsewhere. He was approached by a ‘heretical’ priest of Sol who promised Juventus great power if he would elevate the church to a preeminent position. Juventus, desperate to conquer the south, agreed. It emerged that the priest was in fact a devotee of Eos-Adrana, the ‘God of Dawn and Dusk’ whose worship had caused such chaos in Second Age Gallia. How the cult had endured through the ages is unclear, though it appears to have decamped to Avrasia and won over a number of isolated Ilix mountain lords seeking new and curious things to impress their jaded peers with. The theocratic Solian church soon took charge of affairs in Arverion, and Juventus ended all negotiations with Gallia. Ultimately, Malthus was slain by a disgruntled Gallician noble who had lost his domain to the Orestians. 
4037 - 4074 - Reign of Praxis. Forced to contend with a disintegrating empire, Praxis faced revolt from his own legions, who were angry not only at the detente with Orestes, but the growing lawlessness that was spreading across Gallia. Numerous petty nobles had taken advantage of Malthus’ vacillation, staking out their own fiefs and refusing to acknowledge higher authority. Though generals had urged Malthus to act, he had instead sealed himself in the Lotus Palace, plotting his grand schemes. Praxis was more assertive. He took command of the Gaunt Legion and journeyed through the empire, putting down revolts and destroying brigands. Praxis’ ultimate goal was to unite his divided realm and march on occupied Gallicia, driving the Orestians back across the Ondos. Meanwhile, in Arverion, the temple of Sol had been overtaken by a fanatical group called the ‘Cleansed.’ Serving the ‘Waking Church,’ the Cleansed sought to prepare the way for the coming, final dawn that would ‘awaken’ all those who witnessed it. But first, fire was needed to purge Vala of its evil and leave it new and pure, ready to witness and receive the glory of Eos-Adrana, dawn and dusk, first and final light. The Cleansed had all but turned King Holmar into their puppet, and their vicious fanaticism sent streams of refugees into South Avrasia (or Hyn Tayd), greatly angering the Ilix, who felt little charity towards their human neighbors. The Cleansed targeted the dwarves and frostlings, who were stirred to migrate into the plains of Brax, leading to further discord in Gallia. Rumors of ‘abominations’ filter into Heide and High Halgstov, and a fearful King Otto sends requests to Gallia for help. Emperor Praxis agrees to help in exchange for Heidan aid in reclaiming Galicia. Heidan and Gallian forces thus unite with the Ilix of Hyn Tayd, and a massive invasion of Arverion begins. The cornered Waking Church calls up terrible powers that transform many of the Cleansed into burning monstrosities. The unleashed energies scour much of Avrasia, and the allied armies are forced to retreat. Praxis immediately begins planning a second invasion, but suffers an apoplexy before he can issue any orders. 
4074 - 4103 -  Reign of Leo II. One of Praxis’ generals and commander of the Diamond Legion, Leo worked quickly to stem the tide of demoniacs and infernals that were spilling from Arverion. He also began efforts to drive the Orestians from Gallicia, determined to secure his rear before marching on northern Avrasia. However, when word reached him that demoniac hordes had breached southern Heide and were advancing into Praesia, Leo was forced to act. He led a massive force through the Worldspines, concluding an unusual alliance with the snow orcs. The plan was to strike at Merebourg and the ‘Ash Maw’ that had opened up there, which some feared was a prelude to the Beast. However, the Cleansed had somehow learned of Leo’s approach and ambushed him as he moved through the mountains. To prevent the demoniacs from inundating the Worldspines, orc sorcerers called forth a massive avalanche that buried the demoniacs, but also swept Leo and his vanguard away. 
4103 - 4132 - Reign of Karleen III. With demoniacs rampaging across the north, Karleen was hard-pressed to salvage her realm. The daughter of Leo II, Karleen first moved to assist the Gaunt Legion in their protracted conflict with the Orestian occupiers. Finally, after years of vicious fighting, the Orestians were driven across the Ondos range. But the long conflict had weakened the empire considerably. Karleen did not believe her legions had the strength to march on Avrasia again. Instead, she planned to meet the enemy at Asphodel Fields and break the Cleansed and their minions. As word came of Stellansport’s destruction, Karleen made preparations for the inevitable conflict with the Waking Church’s burning horde. In their rush to claim Sacris and the Silver Throne, the Cleansed swept through Praesia, but left much of it intact, tearing a path directly to Gallia. Karleen’s great army, consisting of most of Gallia’s legions, clashed with the Cleansed at Asphodel Fields, as planned. But the sheer scale of the onslaught, bolstered by countless infernals and abyssal horrors, overwhelmed the defenders. Karleen was slain while rallying her troops, and with the empress’s death, her legions scattered, each obeying separate commanders. At Karleen’s death, the Crownfire guttered out, and with no heir to claim the SIlver Throne, darkness fell on the broken Empire of Man, heralding the end of the Fourth Age, and the beginning of the Fifth, the Time of the Beast.
Category:History