The Second Age

## **Overview**

The dawn of the second Age saw the birth of the mighty Imperium. The Elven Emperor Jarn established the Draconic calendar that we still use today marking the year of his coronation as year 1.

As all ambitious endeavors however the imperium fell before its first millennium was concluded. Many blame the dark forces of beyond, the scourge, for this and others simply attribute it to internal corruption and decline.

In it’s final years, the imperium sparked a war across the surrounding lands engulfing the known world in what we now call the Mage Wars. The most devastating conflict recorded on paper.

## **The Imperium**

The core of the Imperium was established far north, beyond the fogs in what we now call the dragon lands. Jarn accomplished this with military might as well as aggressive diplomacy and central organization not before seen. The first two centuries are characterized by an almost constant state of warfare as the emperor consolidated his power to the north. Alliances between elves and humans secured the resources required and fuelled a constant expansion. The Elves ruled, the Humans followed and the rest of the races were pushed out of the workings of the newly forged state, all but exiled to the fringes.

Magic, while ubiquitous in the Imperium, was static and rigid, just like the structures that ruled this vast conglomeration. A lot of effort was put into safeguarding the use of magical devices to the point of near uselessness outside their intended function and wielder.

## **Tributaries of the imperium**

After its initial expansion that encompassed the entirety of the dragonlands the Imperium started facing difficulties in maintaining control further and further from the capital, rebellions were common and when it came to campaigning south the existence of organized states complicated matters. This forced the emperor to accept Tribute and turn his eye away from Aeonia.

Those Tributary states where :The Elven Principality of Kyrthomir, The Port Cities of the Aeonian Archipelago, The Human Kingdom of Molossona & Amvrakia, The Dwarven Under-Kingdom and The Great Houses Of Vahan (Dawn, High Sun, Dusk and Midnight) As well as their vassals.

## **Magic In Aeonia during the 2nd Age**

Despite concentrated attempts by the Imperium at changing the political and cultural climate of Aeonia, the roots of blood and magic in the realm of the Gatekeeper run deep and express themselves at every opportunity. In Aeonia, Magic, Science and Technology remained free, unbound and understood as a single art, doctors and artisans were celebrated in the same way arcanists were, the gifted were encouraged to broaden their horizons and examine all facets of reality without adhering to imperial doctrine.

The suppression of the knowledge the Seers handed down in the past millennia however was felt. The 7th Path made occasional appearances and the Emperor tried his best to stoke the fires of mistrust and hate. Tomes of powerful magic were lost, archmages were stopped from making breakthroughs in fields of magic that trouble us to this day and the exchange of knowledge became more dangerous. Because of this and the wars that followed in its wake this era is called “The Dark Age of the Imperium”

## **The Wars of the Coast**

In 684 DC the first war of the coast broke out between the Great Houses of Vahan and the Port Cities of the Aeonian archipelago. The successor states formed during the war, weakened economically by the conflict capitulated and became tributaries of the Imperium.

In 884 DC The great houses of Vahan were overthrown by rebellion which sparked a civil war in the south from which the 26 clans of Aeonia divided up the holdings of their predecessors. They were represented in the imperial court by the 6 sages selected and identified at birth by the clan shamans and sent to the 6 great temples to be groomed into the voice of the southern clans.

## **The Elven Ork Wars**

For the first half of the millennium the Elves of Kyrthomir waged war with the “people of the forests” (Orks) over broken treaties, cultural offenses, blood oaths, vendettas and resources. The support of the imperium in supply lines, manpower and intimidation of potential allies left the Orks on the brink of extinction making concession after concession. This led to the last stand of the Orks in 587 DC when the Elven council of princes ordered the extermination of the Orks.

## **1st Mage Wars**

The death of the emperor in 962 DC ignited long standing unrest in most of the southern regions, one after the other they cut ties with the imperial court and flocked to the protection of mage towers and temples while raising armies for the coming of war. In 987 DC the Elven Courts denounced Imperial rule, the last of Aeonia’s people to do so.

By 1012 DC various short and long lived movements, orders, alliances and pacts had clouded the geopolitical map beyond historiography practices of the time allow us to truly understand. The common perception however is that temples and mage towers acted as centers of governance, signing treaties and magical oaths with each other. In 1014 DC the spark that allowed the inferno of magical warfare to consume the land of aeonia (commonly referred to as the “The 1st day of atrocities” remains shrouded in mystery but we can discern that it had a cascading effect of declarations of war, military campaigns, blocades and grand rituals. The complex web of alliances and hastily signed non-aggression pacts kept each of these wars from escalating and in 1018 DC most of the disputes had been settled in white peace.

## **The First Conclave**

With the harnessing of leyline magic in 1028 DC and the awesome power exhibited by grand ritual spellcasting in the 1st mage wars a decade prior, mistrust between different magical traditions and practices intensified leading to over a half century race of magical superiority. Monstrous spells treating our world like the most delicate of glass were devised and fuelled from any available source.

By 1064 DC the mutually assured destruction of most parties involved called for a resolution, one the Mages of aeonia were called to invent. The first Conclave lasted for 7 seasons organizing mages into the five traditions and establishing rules of conduct in peace and war. The 5 artisans of the Vahan clan were not allowed to vote in the final session and in protest announced to the world the true power of the magical weapons of war now in the hands of the mages who constructed them.

## **The 2nd Mage War**

In 1080 DC with tensions and mistrust between various groups at an all time high, Hundreds of “engines of war” had been constructed containing, releasing, transmuting and warping energies far beyond what mortals can control. Small rebellions and wars started over fear and long standing grievances and quickly control of these “engines of war” became the end-all be all objective for any faction or splinter group wishing to have any chance to survive the now inevitable cataclysm.

The 18 years (1080-1098) that followed are known as the years of “storm earth and fire” where all engines of war were either activated, depleted, destroyed, lost or some combination of the above. Some worked as designed while others backfired, some caused destruction while others prevented it. From the few records we have of this time apocalyptic natural disasters, unleashed spells and magical aberrations were commonplace and “the winds of magic raged all around”.

## **The Fogs**

When the dust settled it was obvious magic had been pushed beyond the limits of sanity and understanding. The fallout of the “engines of war” changed something in the fabric of our world and manifested barriers in the fault lines of the realm moments before it was kept from being torn apart.