Timeline

*Irkot Kegeth* is the name given to the universe that Irkot exists in. This timeline will encompass all things dwarf from the first outing to the long march, and into modernity.

If you're confused by how dwarf time functions you can look here for dwarf timekeeping.

### In the Years Before - the Ritan Ashok (unknown - 0)

In the years before the Mountain Homes there was but one dwarf hold: Onol Bom, 'Mountain Home'. It was there that the first dwarf was carved, and where the last of the greatest lived. It persisted from a time before record to the start of the modern dwarf calendar.

### An Age of Founding - the Atöl Anam (0 - 999)

The Atöl Anam began when the dawi of Onol Bom began showing interest in the outside world. They'd accomplished feats possibly too great to be outdone by themselves, and so some dwarfs became ambitious. They sought a chance to do what their ancestors had done in ages past: become legendary.

* 0: harmless discontent brews from within Onol Bom as beardlings struggle to make names for themselves. This would continue to build up for many years after.
* 307-310: the discontent boils over. Beardlings, eager to make names for themselves, strike out into the wilderness in search for a mountain to settle. Their band of dwarfs was set upon by elgi, and in the process the expedition leader Gorgin Gingerbeard was killed. Two mountain homes would be settled from a dispute between two dwarfs, with Lam Bom settling in Onol Murak and Kel Bom settling in Onol Lisat.
* 330-357: deep beneath Onol Lisat, where the dwarfs of Kel mined, rocks came to life and waged war against the budding hold. This long lived conflict would be dubbed the Idmes Alnis. Iron shattered on impact with the creatures and steel only scratched their skin. Some among the dwarfs began to experiment and created the Kel alloy: a light, near-indestructible material modeled after a similar kind from Onol Bom. With weapons and armor made of this metal they brought their foe to extinction. Many disgruntled veterans were left to stew as Kel's war came to an end, rich careers of warmaking brought to a sudden and irreplaceable end.
* 359: during the period following the colonization of Lam and Kel many dozens of dawi came from Onol Bom to settle into these new mountain homes. It was near the end of this year, in the Thikut of Ngalak (although by their calendar this would have been different), that would see the ascendance of Onol Bom by means unknown to all who were left behind. Its disappearance turned from shock to curiosity, to myth, and then into legend, as future generations put Onol Bom on a pedestal of perfection.
* 383: the streak of ambition didn't quell with the founding of two new homes. More dwarfs, eager to create a hold of stone rivaling the pillars of Onol Bom, left to strike new earth. They settled into Onol Toras and began their diligent work, calling their new home Iton Bom.
* 409: rumors of a mythical gem circulated within Kel Bom. 'A remnant of the Ancestors!', some had said. Others claimed it was something very new and very powerful. It didn't matter what the truth was to some dawi: each rumor was connected by the presence of a potent gem capable of feats unimaginable. They left the hold and carved a home named Kadol Bom into Onol Lun, and began their hunt for the gem immediately.
* 508: just as the beardlings stomped from Onol Bom, so did the veterans march from Kel. They went far, far away, where no dwarf had yet lived. They carved a home into Onol Alnis and named themselves Ikor Bom, and set upon the surface dwellers nearby without delay. Umgi empires and wartback tribes would be their opponents for the next near-thousand years.
* 550: in the grand halls of Iton Bom a darkness stirs. Some dwarfs have seen it during their expeditions deep in the quarries, and others disregard such things as superstition. 'Ngalak? Ohhohoho! That be a beardling myth, brother!' Those who saw it grew increasingly anxious. One claimed to see prophecies. Another convulsed in his bed. It was growing to be a serious issue. Before Iton's king could think to intervene blood was drawn: the prophesier slew a dwarf who claimed him insane and urged all his followers to do the same. It was a year of blooded kin and undeserved tragedy. The sane came out on top at a great loss of life. Depressed, anxious dwarfs wandered the halls, begging the ancestors to undo the Kin Strife. The deepest quarries were locked and guarded by order of the king, and no dwarf of Iton Bom ventured that deep again.
* 576: as was a habit for the dawi, the stress of the Kin Strife boiled over. Dwarfs came together and looked eastward, to a place far from the loss of their kin. They began their somber march and settled into Onol Alud, and slowly discovered a lack of resources in the mountain. Determined to not abandon the earth they struck, they settled in for many long years without anything but iron and stone. They named themselves Romek Bom accordingly.

### The Era of Doom - the Stesok Anam (999 - 1100)

When the dawi scholars of centuries before pondered the end of their civilization, thought was given to the still mythical Ngalak and the growing greed of the surface dwellers. Perhaps a few speculated the fall to come from the earth itself, but for a people who called the dirt and stone their home, it was an uncomfortable reality made possible by the cruelty of mother nature. Much like how a hurricane erases an island of umgis, the volcanic eruptions of Onol Onor and Onol Zagith erased four mountain homes and led to the death of dwarf civilization as previously known.

* 999: from deep beneath the earth activity stirred. Dwarf seismologists all across the western homes (Lam, Kel, Iton, and Kadol) observed massive spikes in seismic stirring. Their frantic yells only served to confuse the few dawi who could hear them, and moments later the ground tore asunder and magma poured through the ravines. The Stesok Anam had begun.
* 999 [Lam Bom]: the least prepared for the Stesok Anam was Lam Bom, who despite having halls of metal and smoothed stone, did not think any earthquake could shatter their home. They were proven wrong and magma seeped through the cracks, melting their many years of stone crafts and all dawi who lived within. An undeserved, wasteful end, as far as deaths go.
* 999 [Kel Bom]: in complete contradiction to its sister hold, Kel Bom was the most prepared. When the magma first poured in the breaches were covered by Kel plates. When they grew bigger, bigger plates were placed. This was the year's theme until the entire hold, save for the deepest halls which were lost immediately, was protected in a thick layer Kel alloys. They likely remain there still, entombed for eternity to come.
* 999 [Iton Bom]: when the earth quaked and their stones held, the dawi of Iton mocked a vengeful earth. They made efforts to stem nearby magma veins and, once the lava had stopped lapping at their walls, they made preparations to aid the other homes, fates yet unknown to the dwarfs of Iton Bom.
* 999 [Kadol Bom]: a maniacal devotion to finding the fabled gem had taken the dwarfs of Kadol Bom by this year. The Stesok Anam did not change this. They did everything in their power to stall the tide of magma, to patch the many holes in their hold, all to stall for a few precious minutes longer in their deepest mine, where the dark was heavy and candlelight flickered out without cause. When the magma surged through the halls and into the mines, the dwarfs of Kadol Bom survived by the efforts of an anonymous dwarf, who found a fragment of the gem in the final hour. He used its power to move the survivors of Kadol Bom to a distant arctic mountain. He and the gem were lost in the process. Thikut Bom would be settled from those who remained of Kadol Bom, and they would resume their mission by attempting to recreate the gem's power.
* 1000-1100: these years passed by quietly. The other holds who survived gradually learned of what transpired and mourned the loss of their ancestral holds. It was a depressing century, with thousands of works carved and written about the loss.

### Long, Fitful Years - the Romek Anam (1101 - 3007)

Here were the years of dawi brought low, of remembrance and veneration of ancestral lines lost to fire and abyss. During this long period the remaining mountain homes would struggle with the loss of their kin and, eventually, succumb to various obstacles.

* 1109: the earth responded to Iton Bom's survival with something much more sinister than magma. From the deepest depths, from cracks in quarries locked away after the Kin Strife, abyssal creatures approached. Iron gates were breached and intense fighting took place throughout the halls. These were days of heroism, where dawi put in their all to save their kin from a dark that did not rest. When the last dwarf fell in battle the magma flooded in, burning all that was dwarf in the halls.
* 1200: in this year the dwarf Zarut Ashokzuden of Romek Bom, driven mad by inconsistent timekeeping and records falling between the cracks of traditional timekeeping systems, began his life's work of remaking how dwarfs see time. It was an arduous task that met much resistance from many dawi scholars.
* 1452: two and a half centuries had passed since Zarut took on his project. It was completed this year and slowly adopted by the dwarfs of Romek Bom: had there been any other holds left standing they may have adopted it too. His life's work transitioned from the creation of a calendar to meticulously updating each record, grudge, and tale left behind by the ancestors.
* 2530: after two thousand years of isolation the dwarfs of Romek Bom saw no reason to reveal themselves to the surface dwellers. A minority thought differently, and unfortunately among them was the etar Datan Relonzatthud, who in the middle of this year revealed the mountain home to the nearest umgi faction. Trade commenced, and for a brief time things were awkwardly pleasant. A small guild led by Maka Gorrik elevated themselves into a clan in opposition to the etar's open doors policy. It would grow and wane in strength as rumors circulated the mountain home.
* 2691: an elgi infiltrator is found in the hold's vital nurseries, where new dwarfs are carved over the course of months by winded runesmiths. She was tried for subterfuge and executed under the nose of the etar. The dwarfs responsible were punished, which set the final nail in Datan's political coffin: he was henceforth known as the 'Oshnirik' (meaning Traitor King) by any who were bold enough, which turned out to be many angry dawi. A repeat of the Kin Strife was bound to occur in the coming centuries.
* 2824: the growing civil unrest leads to an attempted coup, which fails and leads to bloodshed. The responsible Clan Ringbeards was declared illegitimate and cast from the hold. An assassination attempt by elgi in the same year leads to the Oshnirik being confined to a wheelchair. The most powerful clans enact a racial ban on all knife-ears and their sympathizers, and evicted by force any who resided in Romek Bom. The Oshnirik is forced to watch as whatever diplomatic ambitions he had collapse around him, near powerless to stop the chaos.
* 2999: a coalition of man, elf, and goblinfiend marched on the mountain home. Dwarfs of all kinds met the surface dwelling armies in several battles leading into the fortress: first at the outermost gate, then another at the second gate, and a final one atop of a wide bridge leading into Romek Bom proper. It is during these final days that dwarfs such as Taz Virr, Durok Tolleck, and Maka Gorrik distinguish themselves. In his escape from the falling hold, Taz Virr slew many and spared none, and was likely singing poetry as he did it, so renowned was his madness. Durok Tolleck had the honor of bringing many to their graves with a clever trap lain in his old Coghall: the simple act of opening its iron doors set off an explosion that rang through caverns for miles. Those incapable of fighting were evacuated through a passage leading deep into untouched caverns, orchestrated by Maka Gorrik and his supporters. After many days of fighting Romek Bom fell to the traitors, and its Oshnirik was killed by the umgi he sought friendship with.
* 3000-3007: these were the years of the Long March. Those few who survived the fall of their beloved mountain home marched tirelessly through darkness, plagued by elgi assassins and abominable creatures. The original hundreds who survived dwindled in the dark. A dozen remained by the end. A more comprehensive description of the Long March will be made in the future.

### A Flicker in the Dark - the Ulol Id (3008 - tbd)

Three thousand years had passed since the first dwarf left Onol Bom. Many holds were founded, and nine Mountain Homes ascended into legend as they fell to the vigors of reality. It is here in the Ulol Id, in these Last Days, that the few remaining dawi of the Onol line strike earth one last time.

* Ikor of Amur, 3008: the few dawi who survived the Long March found a place to rest in the Glowing Caverns. Weary and fatigued, most of the dwarfs demanded that they settle down here for awhile: they'd been running for years. They were tired. Hungry. Homesick. They wanted to practice their trades again and feel pride in their works, not skitter through caverns like rats. Maka Gorrik agreed after a time. Colonization of the Glowing Caverns began.
* Lam of Id, 3008: the immensely unforgivable ruining of the Romek Brews took place. In an affront to all dwarfkind a goblin had snuck into the caravan and defecated into the barrels of the ancestral ale, forever tainting them and earning the eternal rage of the Onol line. An unnamed chef had also passed away from food poisoning after finding goblin dung in his stonebread. During the Irkotines' lamenting some peculiar half-snake creatures slithered into the Glowing Caverns and made merry with them, which resulted in an unlikely friendship between the two races. The Rune of Kyranneus was carved to commemorate their eternal friendship.
* Iton of Id, 3008: while on a cursory expedition in lands near Irkot Kegeth a swamp was stumbled upon. Its inhabitants were the Trogwick; an offshoot cult of trogs that had earned themselves manyafoe, the most recent being an enraged patrol of Kegethi. In their lair's treasury for all to see was one of the greater gems of Kadol Bom, pilfered from its resting place and left to rest upon a pile of muddy gold coins. In their rage the Kegethi slew a great number of the frogs before retreating and vowing vengeance for this wrong. Later in the month the first death of Irkot Kegeth would come to pass in form of the scholar Mortarion, who fell into a grave mood and vanished without a trace.
* Kadol of Stesok, 3008: it was during this month that fel fates befell the Onol line once again. Far away in the lands of Kyranneus the nagas faded into their sands, leaving the Irkotine to lament the loss of a brief but solitary friendship. It would be another three years before the Kegethi established anything akin to that relationship once again. Sometime after learning of the nagas' disappearance an explorer of a cousin hold named Dun Kelgreim stumbled upon us and engaged in pleasantries. They went by the name Mollon Whitemane; and to the future Irkotine, this would be known as the only reasonable dwarf among the Kelgreim. Even in this first month of meeting as Maka Gorrik was invited to tour their Bhir Garuhm, the treacherous nature of these cousins would come forth. A vile kinslaying dwarf by the moniker 'HeroicRetribution' would make an attempt on Maka's life. He was defeated in three separate instances during a pursuit through the area, ending in their feasting hall as Kelgreim guards sorted the situation. Maka would return home then and explain to the Kegethi the treachery he suffered. Vengeance would be earned in due time.
* Romek of Stesok, 3008: as the labors of the Kegethi continued they had found themselves quiet and somber, for the month of their home had come, and here they were so far away. Separated from the mountains they'd been carved under and left in a fungal cavern, many felt despair, most of all their erar who seemed to pass away. After burying his still warm body the dwarves did not stop their colonization. They dug out their home and thought to better days - of warmth in their tavern hall, where they chugged romek ales under a blazing chandelier.
* Thikut of Ngalak, 3008: the budding hold's erar had apparently been alive and simply in a deep state of rest. He awoke, screamed briefly, and then clawed his way out of the earth and stone for three days 'til finally surfacing, much to the amusement of his burier Durok Tolleck. A confused rant on supposed visions of the ancestors followed, with him proclaiming grand things such as a 'Grudgening' and 'Retribution'. These jumbled words proved perhaps inspirational in at least some capacity, as a grand array of grudges were etched in this month, with the majority of them being spawned of a series of stupid events. The irkotine dwarfs first established contact beyond their supposedly deceased friends of Kyranneus: the Autrichien Empire, the Sun Creek Goblins, and the Worm Cult were all met in these days. A contingent of nagas had survived whatever unnamed calamity befell them and they had been in a conflict with these three nations; it was only natural for the Kegethi to offer their aid, though they could spare no manpower for war. Thus the eccentric Gorrik, fresh from the grave, took up his weapons and marched as a lone dwarf among hundreds of nagas and odd toad people. He slew a number of humans on his own and infiltrated their ramparts many times - yet the invasion was repelled, and of greatest insult was that the grobi king nor the human emperor had bothered to come. This unmistakable insult had begun the unceasing feud between the dwarves of Irkot Kegeth and the Autrichien Empire, and from it relations would never recover. The Autrichien emperor had realized too late that the Kegethi were immensely fickle, and that with each minor slight his ability to entreat them fell even further. In similar vein to the Autrichiens the Drakvyldes had, in their draconic hubris, taken to insulting Durok Tolleck by harassing him to the point of aggression. Three inches from Durok's braid had been shaved then by the human guard Doran: an unforgivable slight among dozens levied upon the irkotine dwarves. To tie off the months were numerous grudges etched and several skirmishes against the Suncreek greenskins; each stained with blood, each a preliminary to grander battles to come. Runic bronze had been forged during this month as well, and along with it came the creation of arms and armor to replace deteriorating plate from fallen Romek Bom. A final misfortune befell the dwarves at month's end; the remnant nagas faded away one last time, losing themselves forever to the sands of their home.
* Thikut of Ngalak, 3011: