History of Old Avalon

#### *The Spring of First Meeting.*

 A group of humans appear in the northwest region of Avalon, led by one called the Bear-King. The elves agree to let them settle peacefully in the region. The humans call the region Breten.

Probably around the same time, a group of humans appear in the southwest region of Avalon, led by a woman named Ningal. They did not immediately come into contact with any of the long-lived indigenous races, so records of their arrival and early settlement are limited to fragmentary papyrus documents kept by the humans.

### **2 HE**

Some of the Bear-King’s followers, led by a woman named Bethania, decide to travel south to further explore the new (to them) land; the Bear-King lets them leave peacefully, and the elves also provide safe passage through their forests.

### **31 HE**

Bethania and her followers reach Urna Ear, the southern sea, and come into contact with Ningal and her people. Though there is some initial conflict, ultimately the two women form an alliance and decide to merge their people into one community. The region under their influence is christened Almeida. Instead of establishing a monarchy, they decide to form a democracy in which every adult may vote on issues affecting the community.

### **41 HE**

After a heated (though non-violent) conflict over a change to criminal law and a narrow vote to resolve the issue, several Almeidans splinter off and form a new community, dubbed Saqaf. Like Almeida, Saqaf is governed democratically, but individuals must purchase the right to vote.

### **115 HE**

There is a crisis of succession in Breten when young King Cameron, grandson of the Bear-King, dies before fathering any children. His wife, Queen Angharad, claims she should rule in his stead; his brother, Cianan, also claims the right to rule.

### **116 HE**

Open conflict breaks out between Queen Angharad and Cianan’s forces. After a brief skirmish, Cianan flees south in an attempt to broker an alliance with the elves, while Queen Angharad remains in the royal castle in Merewif.

### **119 HE**

Having gained the support of the Nomotinechor and Galanodel houses, as well as the Yeong-Gi Tribe of hobgoblins, Cianan marches north on Merewif. This time, he is successful, and Queen Angharad’s forces are driven north, across the Strait of Swords to Airlann. The gnomes and halflings who reside on Airlann welcome the refugees and incorporate them into their society.

### **169 HE**

Cianan II, son of King Cianan, decides to invade Airlann and root out the remnants of the Angharad loyalists. His forces are quickly rebuffed, however, by the archipelago's rocky coastline and its people's innovative battle strategies. While this is the first attempt by Breten to conquer Airlann, it will not be the last.

### **505** **HE**

#### *The Winter Without End.*

King Gerhard of Breten attempts to expel the high elven houses, which up to this point have coexisted more-or-less peacefully with the human government, from the area. He is reportedly motivated by widespread famine, believing that the elves are unfairly hoarding resources that his people need.

### **506 HE**

King Gerhard is assassinated by one of his top generals, Osbert of the Right Hand, who (with the backing of several other lords) negotiates a peace with the elves. He assumes the name Aelfweard and becomes the new king, thus ending the Bear-King’s dynasty in Breten.

### **507 HE**

Loyalists to the former King Gerhard revolt against King Aelfweard. They claim to have custody of the bastard son of Gerhard, and mean to seat him on the throne.

### **512 HE**

The Bastard Army, as it is called, is routed after years of bloody conflict. The elf houses refuse them safe passage south, so they are forced east, over the Dragon Spine. The alleged bastard prince, now known as Tristan the White, is crowned king of the new region, dubbed Gaul.

### **1220 HE**

#### *The Gods’ War.*

A divine conflict that had been raging in other realms for an untold amount of time spills over into Avalon, with cataclysmic consequences. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and other natural disasters sweep the continent, climaxing with the meteoric fall of the death-god Ruedi as he is slain; the force of his impact literally reshapes Old Avalon’s eastern coastline. Though there are some indications that sentient cultures lived in that region before the Gods’ War, they were completely obliterated by Ruedi’s fall.

### **1863 HE**

An archfey named Oberon leaves the Feywild and declares himself the High King of Old Avalon. Already the patron of several wood elf clans, he uses a combination of charm and force to expand his sphere of influence over three centuries. When he declares himself High King, he assumes explicit control over much of west-central Old Avalon. Not all wood elves of his patron clans agree to his expansionist philosophy, and the dissidents rebel; they are unsuccessful, and flee eastward over the Dragon Spine.

### **1866 HE**

Unwilling to face Oberon’s forces in open war, King Turlough of Breten signs the controversial Yew-Berry Treaty, which effectively renders Breten a vassal state of High King Oberon.

### **1869 HE**

Upon seeing Breten’s fate after the Yew-Berry Treaty, the southern nations of Almeida, Saqaf, Castilla, Medina, and Hamza join together to form the Confederacy of Andalus, to better repel any attempt at invasion.

### **1870 HE**

King Leandre IV of Gaul, in response to the unrest between humans and elves in the west, rules that the movement and habitation of elves in his kingdom will be highly restricted; they may live only in the approved forests, and must have proper documentation in order to leave. Though the elves protest these new restrictions, they decide it’s ultimately best to just wait it out rather than fight back.

### **1910 HE**

The rebel wood elves, who now call themselves I’rimba, settle on the far northeast peninsula of Old Avalon, which has mostly recovered from the cataclysm of Ruedi’s fall. They form small non-hierarchical collectives and reject all warlock pacts in the hopes that no one person could once more attain power the way Oberon had.

### **2906 HE**

High King Oberon makes his first excursion into the plane later dubbed the Forsaken Realms, but is foiled by a human, native to the Realms, named Phillip Cavington. The two negotiate a truce, and as a token of good faith they exchange sons for fosterage; Oberon’s infant son is sent to the Forsaken Realms to be raised by Cavington, and in turn he adopts Cavington’s son, christening him Loki.

### **2920 HE**

His ambitions thwarted only temporarily, High King Oberon starts testing the boundaries of the magically-binding treaty forged with Cavington. He determines that, while he cannot personally cross the boundary into the Forsaken Realms, Loki (being a native of that plane) can, as can other Avalonian creatures under the right circumstances. Oberon begins plotting a way to get around or nullify the terms of the truce.

### **2928 HE**

#### *The Green Funeral/The Green Wedding.*

High King Oberon is killed during his second attempt to invade the Forsaken Realms. His true son, who was raised as Gene, brokers a peace treaty with the representatives from the Forsaken Realms, and marries one of the representatives to seal the alliance. To great surprise, he also releases Breten from the terms of the Yew-Berry Treaty; while he remains, technically, the ruler of the lands of west-central Avalon, it is effectively in name only, as the various tribes, villages, elf houses and clans are allowed a greater measure of self-governance than they have had in two generations. Several wood elf clans remain loyal to High King Owain (the name he assumed upon being crowned) and defer to his judgment; the high elf houses almost universally distance themselves from him.

### **2935 HE**

High King Owain is found dead. While some believe he was assassinated, others believe he took his own life, pointing to the bouts of melancholy he had struggled with for years. He leaves no heirs. His wife, who had since adopted the name Gaia, assumes rule of central Avalon in his stead.

### **2965 HE**

The Water Elf floating city, Equenessa, suffers an overload of its reactors; the resulting explosion of magical energy obliterates all life aboard the city, although the mechanical structures are left largely intact. Because there were no survivors, there is no exact record of what caused the explosion. However, an investigation by the Elemental Council officially concludes it was a terrorist attack related to a Forsaken Realms cult.

### **2966 HE**

*The Closing.* Representatives of the Elemental Council successfully repel an attempted incursion by deities of the Forsaken Realms. In order to close the rift, they banish Gaia to her original home in the Forsaken Realms.

### **3020 HE**

Gaul suffers a severe famine due to excessive rain/flooding/cold weather. King Elouan XIII enacts widespread rationing, which proves incredibly unpopular - to the point that there is a peasant uprising. King Elouan XIII’s forces quickly crush the rebel forces; the survivors flee into the forest reservations of the elves.

### **3023 HE**

Stormtide Hall discovers a safe passage across the Furic Sea and a whole new continent on the other side, which he dubs New Avalon. Upon his return with exotic spices, valuable metals, and even more valuable magical and alchemical reagents - notably the mysterious moxtyledons, which can augment any spellcaster’s power - a land rush is sparked.

### **3025 HE**

#### *The Spring of Purification.*

##### (Sayf 1st - Sumna 3rd)

Members of Rasmus Enterprise, a colonial expeditionary program, determine that the moxtyledons are a dangerous hive-mind entity and destroy them before they can spread to Old Avalon. (Now called East Avalon.)

### **3031 HE**

#### *The Year The Dead Walked*

##### (Autmnre 41st 3031 HE - Bloom 06 3032)

Cultists of the slain god Ruedi attempt to resurrect him, unleashing armies of undead in the process. A group of volunteers, dubbed the Pride of Avalon, manage to thwart Ruedi’s return, though at great cost.

### **3051 HE**

#### *The Orc/Gnome War*

##### (Sumna 7th 3051- Autumnre 14 3101)

The orc homeland army, lead by the Mal'shakar clan, makes clear its intention to attack the gnomish port of G-Rash Bay. The crew of the *Corsair Named Desire* manages to avert all-out war by discovering the mysterious powers spurring the normally isolationist orcs to war and defeating them.

### **3104 HE**

#### *The Fae Wild's Convergence*

##### (Sumna 47th - Autumnre 12th 3104)

A circus troupe known as Dizzler's Dazzlers comes together to save Breten during the convergence of spheres, after decimating some of the followers of Saint Cuthberts.

### **3124 HE**

#### The Demon Apocolypse

##### (Autumnre 11th 3124 - Hesin 3rd 3124)

Fall of Discontent, where the demon apocolypse ran rampt among the material plane. It took many lives as it continued it ravanges, but just as quickly as it began, it suddenly aided away. The marks of the destruction leaving lasting marks on the lands.

### **3128 HE**

#### Godless Avalon

##### (Finadae, Sumna 5th 3128 - 3134 )

. In the aftermath of a cataclysmic event, a sizable portion of the people of the realm have decided that the gods of the realm are no longer worthy of worship.  Their revolt against the gods is also a purge of the devotees.  The party finds faith in this time of troubles.

### 3154 HE

#### Current Year

1. ↑ In the real world, this was occurred about 952 BCE
2. ↑ It is unclear what he died of; all accounts agree he wasted away quite suddenly, but the cause of his illness is debated, with some saying it was simply bad luck, some claiming he was born sickly, and others painting Queen Angharad (or, alternately, Cianan) as a power-hungry poisoner.
3. ↑ Some contemporaneous accounts claim it was Osbert that convinced King Gerhard to war with the elves in the first place. These accounts (which it should be noted were openly antagonistic to the new dynasty) assert that Osbert knew such an action would be folly and would provide a suitable pretext for seizing the throne.