The Epochs

:Neal has updated his Ages Document: here on patreon.
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Ages are vaguely defined time periods of the history of The World. The end of the Age of Might and start of the Age of Iron differ from region to region.
==Age of Mist==
Length: Unknown
Starts with: Creation of the world
Ends with: Gods leaving the world and the start of the written record
Defined by: Gods walking the land, interacting with people, high level of magic readily available to be found. Impossible magics and bizarre creatures that are never seen again. A god may appear in your living room one day and give you a holy quest ranging from saving the world all the way down to, “here is a lost child who prayed to me for help, make sure they get home OK.” Much of the information from this time was lost or never recorded to begin with.
Magic: Artifacts and the extremely powerful unique items created here.
By the people of the world this is considered prehistory, where there is no record of what occurred. The Age is said to have "begun" after the creation of the first people in Ancient Arcadia and then eventually Ancient Bravo. When the gods created people, they were created with already existing settlements and bronze-age technology, making a true understanding of history difficult by future archaeologists.
(Unconfirmed)The land of Lantia was created and civilization thrived. For reasons unknown, the land moved to the north pole of the world where it froze over. Ever since it has been known by the name "Glacia". The land and the souls of those who lived there becoming cursed by the gods
According to The Legend of Keldin, the Age of Mist ended with the War of Creation with was said to be a time of turmoil and strife. The deaths of the Winter Gods prompted the other gods to swiftly end hostilities. As this is a legend, its accuracy is unknown.
==Age of Heroes / Age of Magic==
Length: ~1000 years
Starts with: Civilized peoples of the world setting their own course 
Ends with: A terrible war where god walk the land once more at the head of armies.
Defined by: Like so many other ages of this world, this one goes by different names depending on who you are talking to, when the conversation is being hand, and the context of the conversation. The two listed here are the most common ones, but don't be surprised if you see other names for this time. Very high power individuals and parties leading the general masses. The rapid rise and fall of city states and micronations. Spellcasters, especially those innate arcane ones, come to great power and forge fantastical magical items. Gods coming to earth with epic quests.
Magic: High powered magical items are created. Most of the variants on a theme are created here, e.g. Sword +3 vs goblins, Sword of Fire, Frost Brand Axe, etc. 
==Age of Might / Age of Faith==
Length: ~1500 years
Starts with: Survivors of the war returning to their places of origin and seeding societies that will soon bloom. 
Ends with: Terrible earthquakes that reshape the land and the restructuring of vast swaths of magic. Breaking of Arcadia physically felt in the Arcadian Isles
Defined by: Charismatic leaders who surround themselves with many high power individuals. The first real empires of the world grow and grow, fueled by leaders who never age and are resurrected upon their death - usually some divinely inspired entity like a cleric, a paladin, or a simple person to whom the gods speak directly. This age see the rise of wizards as a class, and with them the schools, infrastructure, and traditions of magic that will last millennia. Major cities can finally bloom and often have wizard towers for communal use and safe teleportation. They are based on a few famous towers from the Age of Heroes. 
Magic:  The bulk of magical items / weapons / armor are created here. 90% of +1 and +2 weapons are from this time. 75% of +3. 40% of +4. Barely any +5s.
Empires rose and fell, trying to unite all lands under one ruler. In Arcadia was the Empire of Vodan. In Bravo was the Eastern and Western Empires. In the Dardens & Rabara was the Ferrin Empire. However there were many more empires currently unknown to history.
==Age of Iron / Age of Humans==
Length: ~1500 years <-- well would you look at that. 
Starts with: The infrastructure of the last age ruined, and civilization almost reset.
Ends with: Great empires with lasting power that have gobbled up all the available territory. 
Defined by: Chaos and the rebuilding of a destroyed world, many small kingdoms, a search for ancient magic and power. Anger at the gods. Humans as the most adaptable of all creatures thrive and they spread across the lands. Distrust of all things magical among the common folk. Strong decline in magical organization, but maintenance of education and tradition
Magic: Few magical items are created in this time of chaos, with great undertakings to find the magic of previous ages that was lost.
The Breaking of Arcadia that began the age saw the gods preventing the use of all resurrection magic in the world. The Arcadian Isles themselves saw major topographic changes. Arcadia was split by canyons, half of Bravo sunk into the sea and was covered in jungles, Caldonia was frozen over.
==Age of Empires==
Length: ????
Starts with: The collective civilization of the world under empires headed by leaders with ancient magics but fueled by ordinary people with mundane tools at their disposal. 
Ends with: ????
Defined by: While some of the campaigns we are about to see will actually take place in the Age of Mist or the Age of Heroes, this zone holds the potential future for many campaigns. I will leave those 
Magic: The charges of great consumable magic items (staves, wands, etc) are slowly used up and depleted. New permanent items are exceedingly rare, and others are beginning to break and crumble, leading to an age of declining magical infrastructure.
Known to have started with the creation of the Voraci Empire and Drekkis Empire. Historians haven't agreed yet when it exactly starts.
==Age of Strife==
Koibu: No much is known about this age, but times are hard. Is this right after the age of empires? Is there an age in between? Is there an age after this? We'll have to see. I have notes on what I think the driving forces of the world might be at this time, but it's too far out to really know anything for certain.
A far future age of the world. It is unknown how long it is after the Age of Iron, and how many ages are in-between.
The world looks much like it has always done, but access to magic has greatly diminished. There doesn't appear to be any clerics/paladins anymore, plus those who cast Arcane Spells are outlawed. The elves and dwarves have withdrawn from interacting with humanity almost entirely.
It is an era where might makes right, where it is the power of mundane armies and fighters are the peak of power, not wizards.
Category:Lore