Imperial Timeline of the Fifth Age

4132-4161 - Time of the Beast. Gallia was broken into five nations, all beset by the Beast and its servants, the ravan. The Ranet Dynasty was seemingly extinguished. However, some hope remained. In Gallicia, a paladin of Rheas named Lysander worked to restore his shattered order. In Heide, a Basai warrior named Casamir, pledged to a mysterious figure called the ‘Emperor of Ash and Bone,’ stood against the darkness. After years of fighting, Casamir secured Heide and marched through Praesia, accompanied by mercenaries as well as the Golden Legion of the ‘Sun Emperor.’ Casamir’s forces joined with Lysander’s and together they made for Sacris. The holy city was ruined and inhabited by ravan, who awaited the coming of the Beast. A terrible battle was waged, and the Aspect of Typhon, purveyor of dark and corrupt knowledge, tore its way through a rift. But Casamir and Lysander prevailed, driving Typhon back to the Sea of Chaos. It was then that the ‘Sun Emperor’ arrived, declaring that he had always been Ahriman, and that he had waited for a worthy rival. He demanded that Lysander and Casamir determine who would be the Illuminator. The Golden Legion that had served the ‘Emperor’ were revealed as his undead servants, bound to his will. Casamir turned on Lysander, declaring that he would be the new emperor and bring about the New Sun. The armies of Lysander and Casamir clashed, with the Golden Legion caught up in the glorious, hideous slaughter. The victor was unclear. Ahriman and Casamir vanished and the Golden Legion was destroyed. Lysander remained to complete the Cleansing of Sacris. The Keepers, who had long prepared for such a day, called forth the great palaces, schools and temples that they had phased into the Gloam to spare from ruin. The Crownfire within Red Dome burned anew. Lysander’s allies proclaimed him the Illuminator. But the paladin demurred, instead declaring that Vergil, the ‘Bastard Swan,’ would walk the Crownfire. The Keepers determined that Vergil, a Veldyn mercenary captain from Praesia, was of the Tizona family, distantly related to the Ranets. Vergil had already won acclaim when he engaged Ahriman in single combat and seemed to deal the entity a grievous blow. With his pedigree established, Vergil walked through the Crownfire and was mantled as Aldan’s first ever Veldyn sovereign. Lysander pledged his loyalty to the new emperor, and in turn was named grandmaster of the Rhean paladins. 
4161-4198 – Reign of Vergil. The Century of Darkness predicted by Queen Akhei-Bel still engulfed the world. Gallia’s new emperor worked to restore and strengthen his realm, waging many campaigns to drive ravan and other foul things beyond the Daeza Wall. In 4177, Vergil won a great victory against Rurik the Returned, a demoniac warlord who led a mighty horde of Braxian savages and abominations. With Rurik’s death, Brax began to fall under Aldan’s control again. Vergil met his end battling undead that had emerged from the Sinking Forest in Fendrel, throwing himself against the 'rotted hulk of Lord Kavag, who had consumed hundreds and grown to monstrous size.' The emperor’s body was not recovered. 
4198-4233 – Reign of Orias. A human son of Vergil by an unknown party, rumor claimed that Orias was a demoniac, a sorcerer or even a spirit in disguise. He continued his father’s campaigns, penetrating deep into cursed Fendrel. After grueling years of battle, his legions burned away most of the dead, driving them into the foulest bogs of the Sinking Forest. With the undead lords mostly destroyed, the living began reclaiming Fendrel. Many gospodars were granted coin and workers by Orias, who was determined to feed his growing armies with Fendrel’s rich produce. Orias’ success attracted many admirers, and he married Fadia, daughter of King Ruzar of Loren. This union once more joined Loren to Gallia, and the empire seemed poised to revive. Late in Orias’ reign, thousands of Orestian ‘Akritai’ began staging raids all along the empire’s coasts. These Akritai followed the teachings of the ‘Forerunner,’ an enigmatic figure who had ‘cleansed’ Orestes of its most corrupt and self-serving leaders. With the nation purified, the Forerunner called on Orestians to assert their strength, to travel the world and prove their supremacy to all lesser peoples. Those who heeded the Forerunner joined into ‘sacred bands’ and departed their home, searching for means to ‘strengthen the blood of Akamos.’ These warriors, part mercenaries, part colonists, were soon a major threat to many nations, including Gallia. Gathering his senators in the Chamber of Bells, Orias declared that the Century of Darkness had passed, and that he, as the ‘Illumined Emperor,’ would bring forth the New Sun and rule as Altea’s greatest sovereign. So saying, he mustered his ships and sailed for Orestes, intending to cut the heart from the Akritai. Orias and much of his fleet were destroyed in a cataclysmic battle in the bay of Anaxas. The ’Orphans of Orias’ appeared soon after, a cult proclaiming that the lost emperor would return as the transfigured Illuminator and at last defeat the wicked Ahriman. Then Orias would become the New Sun that would herald an age of peace and joy. The Orphans continue to await their savior.  
4233-4277 – Reign of Selene. The Illumined Empress, daughter of Orias and Fadia, was much more cautious than her father. She preferred to consolidate her position, sending aid to nearby nations still struggling to drive back beasts, monsters and brigands. Though the Long Dark was ending, the light of the New Sun was anything but brilliant. Selene sent legions to aid the Praesians in their conflict with the Iron League, which had seized disputed lands in the foothills of Dal Radha. The Empress also covertly supplied Grand Duke Edward of Rivalin in his clashes with Halgstov, which sought to reintegrate the rebellious province. Further, Selene dealt with the Ilix demoniacs that had come to occupy Arverion, in northern Avrasia. With Selene’s help, many of the Waking Church strongholds were destroyed, and the Cleansed forced into Karn Mor, the Stonelands, to contend with the wild highland Ilix. Selene died of a fever she contracted while touring the plantations of recovering Fendrel. 
4277-4283 – Reign of Justus II. Distraught at his mother’s sudden death, Justus was determined to destroy the lingering evils in the world, which he blamed for Selene’s demise. His great ambition was to reclaim all Polaris, the ‘White Reach,’ for Gallia, and cleanse the frozen land of the many abominable creatures that lurked there. Justus launched several expeditions to the north, and seized many holdings from the warlords and bandit chiefs that had come to dominate Polaris. But when Justus’ forces tried to advance south into Gelim, a great blizzard buried much of the Cloud Legion, forcing a retreat. Furious, Justus headed a punitory expedition against the snow orc witches, whom he accused of many evils, some of them undoubtedly true. Justus and his vanguard vanished while crossing the Worldspines. 
4283-4311 – Reign of Marcino. Called ‘the Philosopher,’ Marcino reestablished contact with courts throughout Altea, and even sent envoys across the Glass and Jade Seas. Marcino was quite fascinated with mystic matters, and believed that sorcery was the cure for the troubles still plaguing Altea. He developed a rapport with several great wizards of the Khanite mage clans, inviting them to the Lotus Palace. Against the advice of the Keepers, Marcino and his new associates planned a ritual in the Brass Tower intended to destroy everything tainted by Chaos within Gallia’s borders. The ritual caused the tower to vanish for 37 days, and for 11 of those days the sun turned red, and ‘shadows crept about in search of prey.’ A hogboon herd emerged from Erebus and ‘advanced unto the Burial Mountain,’ and ‘dryads were heard to weep in the Mother Groves.’ Comets of ‘bewitching and evil hue’ flamed in the skies, and mages everywhere reported nightmares, ‘visitations’ and ‘bouts of spell-madness.’ The Keepers scrambled to reverse the damage, and after ‘many sundry horrors,’ the Brass Tower was dragged back from whatever hell it had been hurled into. No trace of Marcino or his associates was found, though occasionally screaming, metallic faces appeared in the Brass Tower’s walls. The faces sometimes sung very odd and unsettling songs. 
4311-4329 – Reign of Gaspar. Repudiating the ‘duplicity of sorcerers,’ Gaspar, a great admirer of Gallician cavaliers, sought military acclaim. A man of action, he personally led the Deathless Legion into battle, fighting alongside the Triarii in Brax, the Ondos Mountains and haunted Fendrel. Gaspar planned a grand conquest of Dal Radha alongside King Augustine Marcellus of Praesia. The sovereigns intended to defeat the Iron League and then march into Heide, where they would aid Halgstov in subduing upstart Rivalin. With the Kingdom of Heide restored, the three nations would join in a union that would usher in a glorious new age, belying the elf queen’s dire prophecy. Alas, the Illumined Emperor was crushed by a mighty troll called up by Iron League druids, and the whole invasion of Dal Radha was scuppered. 
4329-4336 – Reign of Palina. Not long into Palina’s reign, it was discovered that the empress had been ‘consorting with mirrors,’ and had been replaced by a Rasna changeling. The mirror elves intended to advantage themselves of the chaos following Gaspar’s demise, seizing control of Gallia and at last having their revenge against Man. Palina’s true nature was uncovered by the recently-formed Guild of Lictors, greatly increasing the organization’s esteem. The Palina changeling and her hidden elf supporters were destroyed in a days-long siege of the Lotus Palace. Palina’s demise prompted a vicious purge of the ‘elf-touched’ across the empire. 
4336-4358 – Reign of Festus. An uncle of Palina, many accused him of being another changeling, and rebellion flared throughout Gallia. Festus made extensive use of the Gaunt Legion in suppressing dissent, and after years of fighting he was finally acknowledged as a true Illumined Emperor. His habit of lining roads with crucified bodies earned him the epithet of ‘the Carpenter.’ A ruthless and stern man, he was found dead in his bathtub the night before a planned victory parade which would have seen the execution of the entire family of Count Bertrand, a Gallician noble who had long opposed Festus. The mysterious ‘Lanterns’ were implicated in the emperor’s demise, though his death was officially the result of a heart attack. 
4358-4379 – Reign of Hortensia. Widow of Festus, Hortensia was accepted into the Crownfire and declared Illumined Empress. Though not as overtly harsh as her husband, she was vicious when necessary, blinding and banishing her own brother to the Free Isles when she heard rumors that he intended to usurp her. Hortensia worked to secure Gallia’s borders, placing bounties on beasts and brigands, and encouraging the resettlement of ruined towns and wasteland. During her reign, a Praesian prophetess named Immaculata began to preach that Ahriman would soon return, and that only the Illuminator could defeat him for good. To prove she was the Illuminator, Hortensia planned a pilgrimage to all the great shrines of the empire. While travelling to the Hill of the White Mare in Brax, brigands led by tyrant knights of Thule attacked the caravan. The aged empress perished in the melee, which some claimed was instigated by agents of Ahriman and the Beast at work in the empire. 
4379-Present (4384) – Reign of Adrian. Still a young man when recalled to Sacris, Adrian had been studying at the Manteion, the Great Library of Locia. Inheriting a frightened and fractured realm, Adrian had to rely heavily on his senators and Chancellor, which critics feared would lead to corruption. The empire, hardly recovered from Hortensia’s death, seemed poised to lurch into yet another crisis, and only Adrian’s wit and charisma forestalled yet another civil war. But for how long could the emperor hold back the darkling tides, which had only receded, not vanished? 
The Long Dark has ended, but the New Sun has not truly risen. It is unclear whether the Fifth Age shall end in jubilation or despair, as the Beast grows its Fifth and final head, completing the work it began at the start of the Age. Though the Silver Throne is tarnished, it may yet shine brightly. Adrian is unsure of himself, but increasingly assertive, desiring to once more extend Gallia’s influence over all Altea. Still, many threats lurk both within and without the empire, and the future of the realm is hardly certain. Adrian might yet involve himself in affairs across the world, but he remains untested, and no doubt enemies of every variety seek to undo the young and ambitious emperor.     
Category:History