The History of Emysstria (General Timeline)

**Year Absolute:**

The Gods descend upon the world and form the continent of Emysstria.  Researchers have no idea when this actually occurred, all that is currently known is that it was over 2000 years ago, which is why this event is referred to as such.

None of the main pantheon can manifest on the physical plane without significant repercussions.  Because they possess so much pure magic, the world would be overwhelmed with their element if any of them materialized.  They instead rule from a higher plane.  Since they cannot directly intervene, they act through creatures of their faith.  There are some inconsistencies with this - some Gods intervene more often than others, and for different reasons.

**The Ancient Times:  years 0-1000 (approximately)**

* In the first 1000 years of Emysstria, different species originated in different lands, with each of the main pantheon having different jurisdictions over each land where their particular energy was more gathered.
* Each of the species possess every element (they would have to in order to exist as a true creature in this world) but in different amounts.

Physical incarnation of the original creatures is believed to occur in this order:

* Velos provides the physical form of the body with Terros,
* Rhein provides the blood and fluids with Vodr
* Cuetza provides the breath with Aer
* Uasor forges everything together with Pyro
* Mnemosyne provides the mind and soul with Mana
* Khali bestows life upon the body with Naturæ, which is why she is known as The Mother
	+ Goliaths, giants, and gnomes are more Terran
	+ Dwarves are more Terran and Pyro
	+ Elves are more Aer and Mana
	+ Humans are more Terros and Mana
	+ Sylvans are more Naturae
	+ Aasimar and Kalashtar are more Manal

In this time, there were words to describe the regions, but none of the borders of the nations had been standardized, and there was free movement across the land.  Instead of the centralized nations that Emysstria currently has, the land was highly divided into smaller communities, commonly on the basis on ancestry and familial connection. For more information on how the current nations were formed, check out the Colonization and Modernization of Emysstria page.

* Some relevant myths that stem from this time period include:
	+ Argos and the Death of Phelousche -> the second-to-last/second most-recent of the ancient myths -> leads into The Fall of Rhias
		- A fearsome water dragon named Phelousche created a stronghold in the area where Bursarziac currently lies due to the abundance of Vodr energy, and its lair was by the western sea.  It gradually absorbed the water from the lands, causing a drop in the volume of lakes and rivers throughout the land.  This caused the humans who lived there to suffer from severe droughts
		- Argos was a hero who had already made a name for himself through completing quests, and went to Phelousche after receiving blessings from Rhein (who did not take kindly to the dragon draining the lands)
		- Argos slew Phelousche, whose death cleared the land for the people and spread Vodr across the region.  The humans tracked the lengths of this scatter of energy in order to set a border, and created the nation of Bursarzia
		- The place at which Argos slew the water dragon was named Argosville, and it was founded as the first city of Bursarzia.  While he is favorably regarded, his actions and the veracity of his legend are now questionable.  Today, Argosville is the capital city of the nation, and has been since it was created.

* The Fall of Rhias, the Shadow Dragon -> the last and more recent of the ancient legends, and leads into the next time period (colonial), occurred around year 998
	+ Rhias the Shadow Dragon rose from the darkness of Dombre Island with the intent to feast on the entire world
	+ He was stopped by Argos and a team of other heroes (including the Holy Maiden of the Crystal Water, the Vodr Cleric Zynthea), with Argos firing the final arrow that sapped his physical strength away -> this is the Arrow of Argos
	+ Unbeknownest to them,

**The Colonization of the Dark Ages of Emysstria:  years 1000-1500 (approximately)**

* The events that led to the founding of Argosville/Bursarzia are said to have occurred around the year 1000, with the date set to 1010 in official records.  This marked the official end of the Ancient Times of Emysstria, as myths after this event are remarkably rare, although local deities did start to proliferate throughout the lands.
* Check this document for what occurred between the years 1000-1500:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ifn9Drr\_\_msumYUcDQ2qI\_EDgWXaQZ1l6aiWytYVjsA/edit?usp=sharing
	+ Bursarzia founded in 1012 -> The Knights of Bursarzia was founded in 1015
	+ Hestille founded in 1047 -> The Church of Uasor and the High Clerics were founded in 1040
	+ Corinth founded in 1154 -> the Royal Council was formed in 1155 and the Magi Association was founded in 1230
	+ Malterne founded in 1200, destroyed in 1457
	+ Tescaro founded in 1365 -> the central guilds had all formed by 1360
	+ Sylvonia founded in 1460 -> the Council of Sylvonia was founded in 1460

* A lot of information is missing from the ancient/precolonial time period, although not much is known about why. The formation of the current nations led to the cultures, artifacts, people, knowledge, etc. either being discarded or forgotten. In some cases, ancient ways were deliberately hidden or avoided in order to prevent information from falling into the wrong hands (one example of this is the Lazarus Pit, which was developed by ancient Gnomish magicians with most records on the subject removed or destroyed to prevent knowledge of them from spreading) -> this is one of the reasons for so much missing knowledge from this time. Due to this lack of documentation at the time, historians and archeologists are now doing a lot of work to rediscover ancient history.

**Modern-Day Emysstria:  years 1500+**

* The destruction of Malterne marked the end of the colonial period, as Sylvonia was officially formed as a Nation in response to this event
* By this time, the continent looked the same as it does now, and the world reached a period of stagnation
* Around 1500, new movements started forming
	+ Abyss Order:  A cult that does not belong to any specific region.  They are trying to overthrow the current world in favor of chaos and their own personal gain.
	+ The Claws of Rhias:  A cult that is working to resurrect the Shadow Dragon, with more people being secretly pulled into it over the past centuries.  The existence of this organzation wasn’t revealed until around half a century ago.

* The current campaign year is 1670.