A Primer

Welcome to The Great Downward Engineering Company, the pride of the Valley, and the scourge of the Abyss.
But let's back it up a notch.
==== When are we? ====
The year is 1796E. "E" meaning five, as this is the fifth era. Eras last until some catastrophe rocks the world, and those who're left to carry on decide to start the count over again.
First Age (A), Second Age (B)
* Nothing is known about these eras. There are some creation myths, and some gods claim to herald from these times, but they're probably lying.
Third Age (C), The Age of Grandeur
* Not much is known about this age, except that the living races prospered and built great cities. Few structures survive and a few pieces of art. No magical items at all exist from this time. Religious scholars believe that people "lived as gods", and that the line between mortal and divine was fuzzy at best. No one quite knows why this era ended, or how long it was, but considering these days there's a very firm line between mortals and gods, that probably featured.
Fourth Age (D), The Age of Glory / The Age of Decline
* If you wanted to live in floating cities in decadent utopias, this is the age for you. People used their knowledge of prophesy and the future to build idyllic lives for themselves, and things were good for the most part. In 1231D a cataclysm occurred, ruining everything forever. Magic became much less powerful, prophesies unwound themselves, and everything got all messy. People recovered and tried to rebuild, but it did not go well. Finally, a showdown between some mortals (who were trying to wrest the powers of the divine away from the gods), and the gods (who were not down with this at all), ruined everything even further, and ended the age in 8442D.
Fifth Age (E), The Age of Loss
* Here we are, 1796 years in to it. Times are rough. The gods (even the lesser ones) are enigmatic, powerful and controlling. Magic is a powerful force, but more often a tool of destruction rather than something used to benefit the common person. 
* Day to day life is (usually) pretty sedate. For every swordsman, or assassin, or apprentice wizard, there's a hundred farmers, ranchers, traders, or bureaucrats that do mundane jobs and keep the world turning. 
* On the 124th day of 1790E (a scant 6 years ago), a group of adventurers foiled the plans of Orcus, local god and demon-lord of the undead. The 124th day became known as "King's Day", and is now an annual midsummer celebration of the Valley's recent successes.
* Our story starts on the 127th day of the year, after the celebrations have died down, and people have sobered up. Somewhat.
==== Wait. Why do eras matter? ====
* In the Black Flag Company, we'll be travelling to some older parts of the world. There we might be looking at the history of the world, as well as some changes that it's undergone.
==== Will there be time travel? ====
* Gods I hope not.
==== Wait, the 127th day? How is that a date system? ====
* It's a Valley thing. The Valley has some really weird ideas about dates, honorifics, government, and gods. For those interested, the planet has a perfect orbit. There's 364 days to a year, and 91 days to a season (in the Valley, the first day of spring is also the first day if the year).