Timeline

The timeline is an attempt to organize the most important events in history.
== Era of Myths & Legends ==
Origins
(Sometime before 10,000 BYZ)	The world is created by Akhen. He fashions the first Exekians, Embal and Callidora. Callidora gives birth to Monaxia, then becomes pregnant again, but rebels against her husband and becomes the first Fomori. Her second child, Goran, returns to land in order to take a wife and meets his father.
The Exekians disappoint Akhen with their fickleness and petty disputes. Monaxia and his lover Lostris are transformed by Akhen into the first humans.
10,000 BYZ	The Mandorlin original manuscript is composed.
War Without End
(6,000-4,000 BYZ)	The Exekians and the humans engage in constant warfare with one another and amongst themselves. Described as an "eternal battle without victory, only defeat".
Near the end of this age, the fighting begins to wane as the Exekians opt to capture and enslave the humans rather than fight them.
Old Kingdoms
(approx. 4,000 BYZ-3,000 BYZ)	The Old Kingdoms: The Exekians dominate their island, but leadership is fractured into numerous petty kingdoms, all vying for more power. With the increasing use of slavery, however, the system speeds toward imperialism.
The Raid of Sylarat: Queen Skoga raids the city of Sylarat but her invasion is halted by the city's patron warrior, Ferdia. The wounded Ferdia escapes to the forest, where he encounters Edric, a deserter from Skoga's army. Edric tends to Ferdia's wounds and they have many more adventures together.
Gwydion's Disappearance: Gwydion, the most powerful mage ever to have lived, disappears without a trace. According to legend, his attempts to make himself into a god resulted in him becoming trapped in a Realm of his own making.
== Era of Empires ==
3,000 BYZ	Founding of the Old Exekian Empire: The Old Kingdoms are united under the first emperor, Taranis Kuhl.
Kluuda Year
(458 BYZ)	The Iskirrans attempt to wage war against the Exekians, who are weakened by the kluuda. Diplomatic maneuvering on the part of the Exekians leads to the Iskirrans turning their sights upon the Dardani, whom they raid, pillage, capture and sell into slavery.
Kluuda Year
(244 BYZ)	Kemet is born.
76 BYZ 	Matta's Mutiny: A slave uprising in the Old Exekian Empire headed by the Exekian abolitionist Matta. The rebels succeed in killing Caspar, the emperor's heir, and storm the imperial palace in an attempt to assassinate Emperor Rokanan. The revolt is put down and Matta is hunted and killed by his son Kemet. With his death, Kemet inherits his estate, including the last known original manuscript of the Mandorlin.
Kluuda Year
(30 BYZ)	Nechtan is born.
5 BYZ 	In the copper mines of Arza Vist, an Exekian overseer is injured in an accident. Several human slaves are punished unjustly, prompting a slave uprising. Among the rebels is a young Letholdus Stirling I. Managing to obtain guns and powder, the humans in the mine rise up against their captors and, in an event known as the March to the Forge, take control of the local production of steel and gunpowder.
Word travels throughout the Empire, and an underground trade of guns and other weapons begins. Slaves use them to rebel against their Exekian masters and escape captivity. The Empire attempts to quell the revolts, but is largely unsuccessful.
== Stirling Dynasty ==
Year Zero
(0 BYZ)	First Exekian War: Armies of escaped slaves have developed in the wilderness. They are united under the banner of Letholdus and declare war on the Empire. Launching an assault on the capital, the soldiers kill the emperor and raze the city. Over the next two centuries, the humans will kill or drive most of the Exekians south into the Shadowlands.
Foundation of Amarna and Zantium: The so-called "Slave Kingdoms" are gradually carved out of the remains of the Old Exekian Empire.
0-16 AYZ 	Reign of King Letholdus I: After defeating the Empire, Letholdus was declared unofficial king of the humans. His unnamed nation included Carthmere and the city of Bodai. He married Camilla and had one son, Cassius I.
16-58 AYZ 	Reign of Cassius I: Cassius' reign was the longest in Amarna's history. He was known as a great military leader who expanded the country's borders.
Second Exekian War (21-30 AYZ): Zemar is liberated and Hiberia is captured. The Exekians are pushed into the deep south.
58-88 AYZ 	Reign of Letholdus Stirling II: The reign of Cassius' grandson was marked by the resurgence of war with the Exekians and the consolidation of power. The official laws were written during this period, and the Temple was established as an institution.
Third Exekian War (63-69 AYZ): Crown Prince Erasmus Stirling II killed in battle.
Letholdus II approves first translation of Mandorlin into Amarnan (72 AYZ): It is based on documents dating back only about four hundred years. The scribes further alter the text, changing the stories and "updating" the Law to better suit the times.
88-100 AYZ 	Reign of Reginald Stirling: Reginald became king upon the death of his father. His nephew Cassius II went into hiding out of fear he would be killed to remove him from the line of succession. Immensely disliked by the Amarnan nobility, he was assassinated after just twelve years of rule, leaving no heirs of his own.
100-123 AYZ 	Reign of Cassius Stirling II: Cassius II assumed the throne upon his uncle's death, aged just fourteen. His reign was marked by unrest between his children, culminating in the slaughter of his son Stephen, Stephen's wife and infant child, as well as the mysterious death of his daughter Odette.
Year 119 - Birth of Marcus Roland.
Year 123 - Birth of Lygia Roland.
123-162 AYZ 	Reign of Letholdus III: The last surviving child of Cassius II, Letholdus III, otherwise known as "the Raven King" orchestrated the deaths of his siblings and their families in his quest for purification of the royal line. Paranoid and cruel, he imprisoned and tortured his wife, believing she had been unfaithful to him, and was obsessed with his own warped ideas of purity. He is best remembered for having forcibly subjugated the free city of Kataru.
Year 127: Livia Agravain is born.
Year 142: Luther Arimanes takes control of the city of Melekess.
Year 143: Marena Roland and Ardath Dastagir are born.
Year 145: Leonard Gorrister is born.
Year 149: Zantium is conquered by Iskirra. An attempt at providing aid to the Zantines by Amarna falls flat, as the knights sent to fight the Iskirrans never reach the battlefield.
Year 155: Errik Nimdok obtains the grimoire; Bithia Nimdok is killed; Miri Nimdok is abducted by Selca Dukani; Adrian Vandiir and Inanna Hoole kill Vanessa Molyneux; Adrian kills Inanna.
Year 160: A plague epidemic in Melekess kills thousands.
Year 161: King Luther Arimanes is murdered. The primary suspect, Adrian Vandiir, escapes custody and disappears.
Year 162: The prophet Vormund founds a new religion, Vormundism.
163-179 	Reign of King Tristan: Tristan, the grandson of Letholdus III, is crowned king of Amarna. He is already married to Deirdre Crimwall and has two sons, Aldous and Claudius, and a daughter, Helen.
Year 164: Laura Stirling is born.
Year 165:
* Lucan Zosimus becomes Lord of Tyr.
* Vormund and his adopted son Ethan are arrested. Ethan is hanged, but Vormund falls ill and dies in prison before he can be sentenced.
* Leonard Gorrister leaves Amarna, sailing to Melekess.
* Marcus Roland is freed from the galleys after he saves the life of an important official. He goes on to train Leonard Gorrister.
Year 170:
* Luther Arimanes is briefly resurrected, then killed for good by Cyrus Spyridon.
Year 178: King Tristan Stirling is assassinated by a Vormundist. Tristan's eldest son Aldous ascends the throne and seeks revenge.
Reign of King Aldous
(179-208 AYZ)	War of Succession:
* Prince Claudius Stirling contests Aldous' right to the throne on the grounds that they are twins, and therefore share a birthright. Claudius favors peace whereas Aldous favors war; they each garner support. Before the end of the year the War of Succession breaks out.
* In an attempt to gain more allies, Claudius declares that if he becomes king, he will end the persecution of the Vormundists and the Exekians. Lord Gavin Zosimus, who has kept his religion a secret for over fifteen years, joins Claudius.
* After a disastrous battle which results in the death of Gavin Zosimus, Claudius goes into hiding.
* Aldous takes the Zosimus family hostage and destroys their estate. Beatrice Zosimus is separated from her children.
* Vincent, Gavin's ward, escapes with the help of the family's falconer and a stable boy.
* Balian Zosimus is taken to a remote location where he is forcibly trained to become a knight.
* Laura and Melanie Zosimus are sent to Carthmere as hostages.
Year 183:
* Aldous arrests Helen, who is revealed to have been spying for Claudius. Under torture, she reveals he is living under the alias "William Harding" in a remote village.
* Claudius is captured and brought in chains before Aldous. Aldous tortures and humiliates Claudius before sentencing him to death.
* Returning to the capital, Aldous finds his sixteen year old cousin Frances has been declared queen in his absence. She willingly steps down and submits to imprisonment, pleading her innocence. Her father Sebastian however launches a failed attack in an attempt to free her, only to be captured himself. Sebastian, Frances, and her husband Zachary Guildford are all executed for treason on Aldous' orders.
* Helen becomes a permanent prisoner of the crown. She is prohibited from leaving Castle Vallon without special permission from the king, and he forbids her from marrying, making any children she might have automatically illegitimate.
* Aldous marries Laura Zosimus.
Year 186:
* Nechtan joins forces with Zimreon, officially forming the Clan.
* Kluuda year. John is born.
* The Fifth Exekian War is instigated by Aldous, who hopes to eradicate the Exekians once and for all. He brings the pregnant Queen Laura with him.
* With the human retreat, the New Exekian Empire turns its attention to other matters, namely the forces of outliers Nechtan and Zimreon.
Year 187:
* Richard is born.
Year 190: Eleanor is born.
Year 202: Laura dies. Aldous imprisons John in Castle Vallon.
Year 202:
* Eleanor marries Logan Brynner.
* Kai Brynner is born to Eleanor and Logan.
Year 208: Aldous dies of an infected wound obtained during an accident while hunting.
208 AYZ -Present	Reign of King Richard: Richard is unmarried and dying of Rheims disease. Next in line is his niece, Princess Kai, aged six. Kai's father Logan is an ambitious Iskirran. In desperation, Richard frees John and names him heir in the event Richard dies before Kai comes of age.