History

The recorded history of Aqoris extends back over 6,000 years, according to tradition, though the accuracy of the legends and myths that recount much of this history is openly questioned by the Curators of the Guild, amongst others. 
The people of the known world do not know how the world was created or when. Civilization just gradually coalesced from the hunter-gatherer level, as in real-life. Many cultures and religions have their theories on how the world was created and at various points in time with legends dating from 6000 BF in Eirus, and the Divine Empire of the Ninh is said to be over 9,000 years old but there is no concrete evidence to confirm this. Even more simple "cultural traditions" and oral histories have much to say on the subject but no hard evidence. Some of these oral traditions are known to be simply inaccurate: the Inaloni Tribes of Eirus believe that the first man came into being one thousand years ago, when even the written histories of other continuous civilizations stretch back three to five thousand years.
== The Age of The Dawn Men ==
* Prehistory: A human-race known as Dawn Men, inhabit most of Aqoris. It is unknown where the Dawn Men first originated from, whether they were originally from Eirus or natives of Aqoris. 
* c. 12,000 BF: The Dawn Men spread out across Aqoris from the eastern Southlands up across the continent, even stretching as far north as what is now the Beyond the Border. 
* c. 8,000 - 6,000 BC: The Dawn Men form a shifting quilt of small kingdoms across Aqoris south of the Wall, gradually coalescing into larger kingdoms. Legendary heroes of this time period are held to be the ancestors of the Great Houses that rule the Kingdom of Aqoris in later centuries. The Dawn Men who chose to call the lands Beyond the Border began calling themselves the "Frost Folk" and remained clan-based, though the kingdoms south of the Border consider them to be barbarians, and derisively call them as such.
** Godrick Black Wolf builds Syderhill and founds House Syder.
** Harden the Grey builds Greycrest and founds House Slait.
** Jorah Greenhand builds a castle atop a goldmine in what would overtime become the city of Sunderly and founds House Highhand.
** Jaxar Rocke builds the castle of Ravenglass in the Lakelands and declares himself King of the Lake, uniting the region.
** House Syder gradually establishes more and more control over the rest of the North, so that in time they claim the title King of the Hills. 
** House Slait leads great wars in conquering the Borderlands, pushing the Frost Folk further and past the impregnable Titan's Mountains. They establish the castles of Iceguard and Thornhill in order to stop the Frost Folk from raiding south across the two gaps in the Titan's. They grant Iceguard to House Cherman, and Thornhill to House Donnering. They establish themselves as the Winter Kings of the Borderlands, founding the Kingdom of Winter.
** Sunderly grows to become the first and largest city in Aqoris, ruled by House Highhand. They establish themselves as petty Kings in the region. They eventually found a larger Kingdom called the Kingdom of Grain in the Southlands which was later absorbed by the Daradon's Kingdom of Field and Grain.
== Age of Steel ==
* 6000 BF: In the far south of Aqoris, along the Star River in the Southlands, it is said that the four gods of the Faith of the Four presented themselves to Arabirn Alas, a King in the region, and compelled him to found a great Kingdom and the Gods themselves crowned him the King of the Aqorisi. He founded the religion of the Faith of the Four and his followers became known as the Aqorisi. Under the banner of the Faith of the Four, riding horses and wielding weapons made of iron (allegedly granted to them by The Son), they overran and conquered all of Aqoris south of the Green Plains. In a migration lasting several centuries, they spread out from the Star River to invade the rest of southern Aqoris.
** The Aqorisi introduced the first full writing system to Aqoris, whereas before the Dawn Men had used only simple runes for tasks such as tomb markings. Thus the first full historical records in Aqoris began to be produced after the march of the Aqorosi: legendary oral traditions about kings who lived for centuries and warred with gods fade away, though of course, these later historical accounts can be politically biased and still do not form a totally accurate record.
** Over generations, the Dawn Men Kingdoms fell to the Aqorisi, despite the original Kingdom collapsing into several smaller Kingdoms after Arabirn's death, and many were simply wiped out but the most powerful among them decided to intermarry with the Aqorisi Houses. 
** The Aqorisi family House Daradon, believed to be descended from Arabirn Alas himself, came to rule over the lands that it is believed Arabirn Alas came from and founded Stargarde on the mouth of the Star River. They, in time, would come to rule over the lands of the Southlands. In Stargarde, around this time, a group of learned men found the Sanctum of Stargarde, a place of higher learning and this grows into the Curator's Guild.
** In most of southern Aqoris, even regions that once bitterly resisted Aqorisi incursions, local elites of the Dawn Men eventually intermarried with Aqorisi invaders as a form of submission, rather than fight them to extinction.
** Thus, most of the later Great Houses considered "Aqorisi" are actually an Aqorisi/Dawn Men mix, including House Ross, House Highhand, House Rush, House Rocke, and House Boyce.
* c. 4,000 BF - The Aqorisi finally conquer the North, much later than the Aqoris due to their naturally well-defended location. The Aqorisi there intermarried with the Dawn Men Houses and became relatively native, holding many of the traditions of the Dawn Men. However, they are unable to push into the heavily defended Borderlands and the region remains incredibly in tradition with the Dawn Men, with the people there becoming the modern day Bordermen. 
== Age of Fire ==
* c. 6,000 - 700 BF - Over the centuries following the march of the Aqorisi, the original Kingdom collapses and hundreds of petty kingdoms form across Aqoris, eventually aggregating into several larger powerful realms, and ultimately, three large kingdoms. Some of the later Great Houses such as the Daradons or Rockes had previously managed to establish large hegemonies or high-kingships over large regions in the Dawn Age, but in this time period they turned into large, well-organized, and centrally run "kingdoms".
* c. 2,000 - 700 BF - The final "Four Kingdoms", as they were later known, coagulated from previous smaller kingdoms during this time period as they absorbed their neighbouring rivals. This process is roughly said to have finished anywhere from a thousand years before Barden's Foundation Wars to a thousand years before the events of A Shattered Realm (varying by region). The fortunes of each kingdom rise and fall then rise again over the centuries as they compete with each other for lands and power, fuelling constant and petty border wars throughout the continent.
** The Daradon's unite with House Highhand and declared themselves as Kings of Field and Grain and establish the Kingdom of Field and Grain in the Southlands. They quickly became the richest and most powerful of the Kingdoms on Aqoris.
** The Rockes united the Lakelands under one singular Kingdom, the Kingdom of the Lake, after warring and marrying into the smaller Aqorisi Kingdoms in the region.
* c. 1,000 - 800 BF - The Kingdom of the Hills launch their first great era of expansion, marching south through the Green Plains and invading the Marshes and the northern Domainlands. Feeling threatened by this expansion, the Daradons Kings of Field and Grain, briefly allied with the Kingdom of the Lake, launch their own expansion and march into the southern Domainlands and the southern Marshes. For several centuries, the Daradons and the Syders clash over this land with the borders of the two regions changing frequently. The Rocke's remained relatively neutral in their affairs following these wars and although they often had raids from the Northmen, they held onto their territory all the way up until Barden's Foundation Wars.
* c. 500 BF - House Highhand usurps House Daradon in a brutal civil war in the Kingdom of Field and Grain, believed to be caused by a string of bad defeats to the Kingdom of the Hills. The Daradons are severly weakened but remain a major House in the western Southlands and launch several attempts to reclaim their throne but the Highhand's had simply become far too powerful with Sunderly as a thriving city, surpassing Stargarde.
* c. 100 BF - Four generations before Barden's Foundation Wars, the Kingdom of the Hills launch their second great era of expansion, lasting over fifty years they warred against the Highhands for control over the Spear River and tried to push south into the Domainlands but were eventually pushed back to the northern banks of the Spear.
* c. 50 BF - The Kingdom of Field and Grain conquers the Kingdom of the Kraken Islands, incorporating the lands into the Kingdom as an administrative region.
* c. 20 BF - Aegadar of the Spear is knighted for his actions in defending against a Highhand counter-invasion across the Spear, attempting to push the Syder's out of the Domainlands. He takes the surname Boyce.
== Barden's Foundation Wars ==
* 5 BF: Barden Boyce, having dreamt of the Prophecy of The Bear, founds House Boyce of Newcastle and begins to build the Winter Keep. He would use the new city of Newcastle as a powerbase to stage his rise to power in what would become the Domainlands. 
* 1 BF: Barden begins his Foundation War with the founding of the Domainlands, although at this point he was not a King. He managed to rally the Houses of The Domainlands under him, bar House Maeson of Winter's Rock who were defeated into extinction, and began to garner support from Houses of the Kingdom of Fields who were unhappy with the Highhard rule. Many houses in the Southlands pledged secret fealty to Barden.
* 1 AF: Barden is proclaimed as King of The North by the Domainers and fully begins his Foundation War by launching a war against the Highhards with the support of rebel Southland Houses. By the end of the year, House Highhard is extinct and House Durham is proclaimed as Wardens of The South by King Barden for their support in the war. House Ross becomes Lords of Sunderly. 
* Barden declares war on the Kingdom of The Hills and the Kingdom of The Lake. He marches his army to Syderhill, seat of House Syder and begins a siege that would see the ancient House become extinct. King Barden gave Syderhill to an officer in his army called Sir Carl who created House Carlisle. Barden named him Warden of The North. His main army then moved into the Lakelands and engaged in a two year long war against the Lakelanders under King Jaxar VII Rocke.
*2 AF: The Lakelanders are decisively defeated at the Battle of The Lake and King Jaxar surrenders to King Barden. Barden was surprised and had great respect for the Lakelanders due to their skill in battle and defiance so he made Jaxar Warden of The Lake, creating the Lakelands as a region of the Kingdom of The North and ending the Kingdom of The Lake. The Kingdom of The North was now fully founded and the Foundation War ended. 
*Barden also created the High Council to assist in ruling over the five regions of the Kingdom. He founded the Bronze Cloaks as well to serve as his personal bodyguard, made up of nine of the best Knights in the Kingdom. He made several Laws barring ventures south into the Aqoros due to his Prophecy. Barden dies in 30 AF and Joros I Boyce succeeded him as King.
== The Reign of The Boyce Dynasty ==
* 102 AF: Prince Joros Boyce ascends to the throne and becomes King Joros II Boyce. Many events during his reign are thought to be mythical due to the lack of information.
* 119 AF: An event occurs in the Southlands where a group of wild men crossed over from the Aqoros Peninsula, described as feral beasts. They attacked farmers and those who were unlucky had their flesh eaten from their bones while still alive. Joros responded by sending 300 of his best knights and House Guard commanded by Lord Commander Gerrard Durham of the Bronze Cloaks to disperse these men who they believed to be a loose band of Alba warriors. The army returned, brutally defeated, which troubled King Joros who assembled a great army to stamp out the feral men.
* 120 AF: In response to The Crossing from Aqoros Peninsula, King Joros apparently ordered his army to build a stone wall to connect to Stargarde as a means to stop more things from crossing north. King Joros signed a decree that the southern wall would be manned at all times and a Lord of House Daradon proclaimed he would manage this. Joros also set a law that no man should ever cross south by land or sea then refused to speak about what had happened and ordered it to never be mentioned in his presence again.
* 124 AF: King Joros II dies and his son, Digby I Boyce, becomes King. There is a lot of theories surrounding his reign, the most popular being that he was the King who conquered the Borderlands and brought them into the Kingdom. Another one is that King Digby ordered the building of the southern wall after the supposed events that took place in his fathers' reign. Whether he truly did conquer the Borderlands or build the wall, it is accepted he was a great King and is legendary as a Warrior King in folktales and songs.
*215 AF: King Bradyn I Boyce, known as Bradyn the Pious, removes the Northern Throne and replaces it with the Throne of The Four to symbolise his alliance with the Faith. His brother launches the Summer Rebellion, executing his brother and restoring the Northern Throne as well as setting into Law the rights of the Faith. 
=== The War of The Bears ===
* 300 AF: Dannis Boyce ascends the throne as King Dannis I Boyce. He was 30 at the time of his coronation and even in childhood, displayed symptoms of madness. As such many in the realm wanted his younger brother, Prince Kaegan to ascend the throne and have his mother act as regent. This was considered as going against Law and Tradition so Dannis took the throne. Also the Great Fire of 300 AF takes place, which erases much of the written history of the Kingdom of The North as well as any information that existed pre-founding. The first of King Dannis' city-cleanisngs take place the year after. 
* 337 AF: The War of The Bears begins with King Dannis attempting to assassinate his brother Prince Kaegan and his family at a feast in the Winter Keep. Lord Wyllam Rocke is able to warn the Prince and they leave the city while King Dannis executes several Lords who he perceived as rebellious. The Lakelands under Lord Wyllam rise up in revolt, followed by House Durham and House Perle who lost family members in the massacre. House Knigh pledges to Prince Kaegan and begins the Defiance of Seawatch, the longest battle of the war.
** The Rebel War Council orders Lord Tylar Pinewood and his forces to capture Eskdale, seat of House Pyke who joined the Royalists. The Pinewoods are ambushed at Eskdale and massacred. Lord Hugar Pyke then takes his army to Eden's Rest, seat of House Pinewood, and razed the town as well as the castle. He had every Pinewood executed and slaughtered hundreds of commonfolk. He then began to march to Syderhill to escape deep, rebel-controlled land. Kaegan in return demanded the execution of Lord Hugar for committing a horrendous act on commonfolk and causing House Pinewood's extinction. He moved his host at Ravenglass to intercept the Pyke's before they reached Syderhill and ordered the Lesser Houses of the Lakelands to use skirmishing forces to harass the Pyke Force.
** After hearing news of the Borderland-Northmen Army linking up in Syderhill, Dannis began to conscript the people of Newcastle to crush Arkridge. This conscription incited even more riots and many Boyce soldiers defected to the Rebels and joined the Defence of Seawatch. Thousands of commonfolk were massacred by the King's Men and Lord Ethon Carlisle and Lord Olivar Lanser refused to commit their men to massacre civilians and Dannis had them executed as traitors, including every Carlisle and Lanser soldier who did not swear loyalty. After the massacre, King Dannis ordered his army of 15,000 Boycemen to move to Syderhill and join forces.
** Hearing this, most of the Houses of the North under the new Lord Daltas Carlisle, rebel against Dannis and join the rebel side. Out of honour, he allows the Slait Army to leave Syderhill who split up to then retreat toward Newcastle, with the other half retreating back into the Borderlands. The Northern Army then marches to meet the Pyke Force who are trapped between the two approaching armies and defeated at the Battle of the Fields, just outside of Syderhill. Lord Hugar is killed and the remainder of House Pyke surrenders. Kaegan orders Lord Daltas to take the Carlisle Army north and lay siege to Greycrest. He would take half of the Lakeland Army to Newcastle and Lord Wyllam would lead the other half south to relieve Durham.
** Kaegan was also informed that The Free Cities of Eirus were willing to support the rebel cause with naval and logistical support in the Eastern Expanse which greatly improved Rebel control over the eastern coast.
* 338 AF: The Battle of The Tyne takes place earlier in the year as well as the Siege of Greycrest and the relief at Arkridge.
** Battle of The Tyne: Prince Kaegan felt confident his army could best the smaller Slait Force led by Sir Harald Slait, camping at Hexham with the Brask Army. They were soon going to be relieved by the Royal Army led by Lord Commander Cayle Boyce. His Army then surrounded the Royal Host at Heckham, numbering around 35,000 Men. Despite his smaller force of only 20,000 men, Kaegan believed he would be able to beat the Slait's first, then the Royal Army would switch allegiance. The Prince's army clashed with the weakened Slaits and crushed through Hexham. House Brask joined the rebel side officially and the Slait Army wasa routed. The Royal Army and Kaegan's Army then fought and Boyce fought Boyce and many deserted to the Prince's side. However, the hard-line loyalists fought incredibly well. Prince Kaegan met his younger brother on the field and the two were forced to fight due to Lord Commander Cayle's oath as a Bronze Cloak. Kaegan wounded Cayle and offered him mercy. Cayle surrendered and the Royal Army was defeated. Cayle was held prisoner for the remainder of the war.
** Borderlands Campaign: The Carlisle Army was stuck fighting the Bordermen who refused to surrender. Despite losing Greycrest, the Bordermen continued their fight against the Carlisles and hundreds died on both sides. Towards the end of the year, House Cherman switched sides, allowing the Carlisle Forces to march south to help at Newcastle and leaving the forces of House Lanser and House Cherman to garrison the Borderlands who were nearing defeat at the end of 337 AF.
** Relief at Arkridge: Lord Rocke's forces were able to relieve Lord Durham's. The Ross-led army soon turned around and retreated to assist in the defence of Newcastle from the approaching Army led by Kaegan. House Knigh and some Boyce defectors were still defying the King's siege and surviving, but were beginning to run out of supplies and were nearing famine. 
** The Ross and Tarbor Army was able to reach the capital and join the newly formed Royal Conscripts. Over 50,000 men were ready to defend Newcastle from 25,000 men led by the Prince from the west and 20,000 men of led by Lord Wyllam Rocke and Lord Dayron Durham. The Rebel Leaders met to discuss the best tactic and they decided a long-siege was needed to be able to penetrate Newcastle. They had the Free Cities Navy blockade Newcastle from sea and surrounded the city by land, causing widespread commonfolk revolts and weakening the defence. However, they soon realised that the Knigh's would not be able to withstand for long and they decided on an attack in the new year.
** The Siege of Newcastle begins. Prince Byrron would also fight valiantly in the battle and proved himself a capable fighter and tactician, leading a smaller group of elite fighters to break through the Royalist lines and assist the defenders at Seawatch prior to the main assault in the hopes that the Rebels in Seawatch would be able to sweep through the north of the city as well. The Rebel Army decided on an all-out attack on the walls, this was largely successful and the Rebels took control of several portions of the city wall but it was not enough to defeat the remaining Royalists. In the last hour of the Siege, the Carlisle Army, having left the Lanser Army with the newly aligned forces of House Cherman to garrison the borderlands, arrived and swept through the lightly defended North and broke the defenders out at Seawatch, and crossed the River Tyne. The Boyce, Carlisle and Knigh's then marched south onto the Winter Keep and stormed it. King Dannis was killed by Sir Asten Knigh during the fighting. Soon after the bulk of the Royalist Army surrendered upon seeing the Rebels raise their own banners above the Winter Keep.
*** Ascension of Kaegan III: Prince Kaegan made his way to the Winter Keep and assembled the surrendered Lords. He sat on the Northern Throne and granted them a pardon. The Lords named him as King Kaegan III Boyce, ending The War of The Bears. Kaegan pardoned Lord Commander Cayle Boyce and allowed Cayle to command his Bronze Cloaks. Kaegan also reinstated House Ross under Lord Rodrick's son, Rupert Ross, as Great House of the Southlands and Wardens of the South, a title previously held by House Durham during the rebellion. House Durham was given a great amount of gold by Kaegan and also pledging that Arkridge would be rebuilt at the expense of the crown. The Golden Age had begun.
=== Golden Age of House Boyce ===
* 339 AF - 351 AF: With the War over, Kaegan set about to rebuilding the fractured Kingdom. The son of Lord Tobin Slait was betrothed to marry one of his twin daughters from Mariya Rocke and the other twin daughter was betrothed to the young Sir Asten Knigh. Kaegan would introduce vital land reforms which allowed the commonfolk to sustain better lives and greatly improved the wealth of the Kingdom. It lessened the effects of the harsh winters as grain production was drastically increased. Raids from the Clans of Alba would stop due to the strong presence in the Borderlands and the overwhelming sense of unity. Trust in House Boyce was at a high and the realm was prospering. Lord Wyllam Rocke served as his Adviser to the King and the duo were invaluable to the realm. Kaegan reformed the High Council, which his brother had disbanded. In efforts to build order and security in the war-torn city of Newcastle, Kaegan founded the City Watch of Newcastle, a law-enforcement military organisation which wear all white uniform and colloquially known as the White Cloaks due to the white-coloured capes they wear. He appointed Lord Godrick Knigh as the first Lord Constable of the City Watch. Kaegan dies in 351 AF and the throne passes to his son, Byrron II Boyce. 
* 351 AF - 375 AF: Reign of Byrron II Boyce and continuation of his father's legacy and the Golden Age. The Realm continues to prosper and grow under the King. No major wars are fought and Alba raids do not happen. He dies in 375 AF and the throne passes to his eldest son, Harlow I Boyce.
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