Chronology

> "How many bedside tales have begun with the words “In the mists of time...”?"
> - Maleficius
>
>

The following timeline offers a quick look at the length and order of The Land’s four accepted ‘ages.’

## Summary

Most of our knowledge of the Age of Mists is drawn from oral histories and those few remaining ruins that have survived the past two millennia. It was an age of hardship, in which the races were little better than marauding packs preying on one another as they scraped out a meager existence. It was an age of legend, in which heroes fought savage beasts and struggled to forge their kingdoms. And it was an age of marvels that left behind the great Citadel of Luxor and Destiny Bridge, among others, to dazzle us with their beauty and complexity.

It was an age of Gods, monsters and men. That nebulous time, certainly extending through at least millennia, where true and lasting civilization was denied the races of The Land with possible exception granted the Rivvenheim Elves. The Age of Battle came with the rise of order through personal power, as mighty warriors and wizard-kings began to unite tribes and settlements to carve kingdoms from The Land. The line is blurred separating this from the Age of Princes, in which many kingdoms became hereditary and political rulers came into true power. And then, the Age of Tezla, with the birth of Empire and a proliferation of magical endowments.

Modern time is naturally established on the birth of the Magus Supreme, Tezla, who transcended the partisan approach to magic and eventually founded the Atlantean Empire. Before his birth (and during the early years of his life) no coordinated effort of marking the years existed. Most kingdoms simply ordered the years by their monarch’s rule, such as ‘The Fifth Year of Darius,’ or ‘The Tagriss Dynasty.’ The Age of Tezla may be broken down further into his accomplishments, his death, and the legacy of struggles he left in the void that followed.

Scholars argue over whether to refer to the present as part of the Age of Tezla, or the beginning of the Age of Chaos. Certainly, the legacy of Tezla still continues to hold power over The Land—guiding it, shaping it, even in Tezla's (direct) absence.

## Age of Mists

**??? Tz to –1200 Tz: The Age of Mists takes place.**

This era marks the beginning of known history for the peoples of the Land―a time before castles, culture, and civilization. The Age of Mists is reputed to have been a time when powerful deities walked the earth and the monsters of the Underworld tunneled their way to the surface to hunt and eat the children of the gods. Many ancient artifacts are believed to date to this time, though modern scholars and wizards have no reliable way to determine the age of an object. While there are many tales and myths about the Age of Mists, every culture has legends of a Great War between the gods that ended in a cataclysm of fire and destruction. While the Rivvenheim Elves may know more about the Age of Mists, as many of the older High Elves were born during that era, they speak little of that “dark time.”

In the Age of Mists, the Apocalypse Dragon birthed thousands of twisted Mage Spawn and led them on a rampage that laid waste to the entire Land. The Dragon was finally defeated by mighty heroes in an epic battle that shook the world, and the egg that survived has been guarded by the Draconum for centuries— lest it be hatched.

**-1104 Tz: Freyhaven becomes the new High Elven capital.**

Located deep in the Rivvenheim Mountains, Freyhaven is a miracle of palaces woven from living trees.

**-1100 Tz: Grand-Magus Tezla’s ancestors, the Delphana, settle the fertile isle of Delphane.**

Devoted to the study and perfection of the magical arts, in the centuries to come the Delphana will produce the Land’s finest wizards, mastering both Elementalism and Necromancy. Risking ocean travel across the dangerous Dhokonios Strait, these refugees found solace and peace on the massive offshore island.

## Age of Battle

**-1000 Tz to –200 Tz: The Age of Battle takes place.**

At the beginning of the Age of Battle, humans are still primarily a tribal culture, suspicious of anyone not of their own clans. The Dwarves live secluded in their mountain holts, and the Trolls dominate much of the Wylden forest lands to the east. The High Elves guard their Rivvenheim mountain passes, and the Forest Elves live in an uneasy balance with their Trollish counterparts on the Wylden Plateau. While the High Elves understand all aspects of the twin magical arts, the lower races of the Land are still discovering their true powers. Those few people―human or otherwise―who can use magic are generally feared for their abilities. On the remote island of Delphane, Elementalists are learning to use magic to heal and Necromancers are learning to raise Zombies from the dead.

**-500 Tz: The Orcs begin to make yearly raids on the Land.**

A sizable horde of Orcs, led by one of the first major kzar commanders, conducts organized raids against human settlements along the edge of the northern grasslands. As result of the brutal attacks, humans in the northlands begin to band together, build rudimentary forts and organize clan alliances to fend off the attacks of these “Orc Raiders.”

**-480 Tz: The Delphana begin their breeding program.**

In an attempt to produce more wizards, the leaders of the Delphana require those born with magical talent to breed only with other mages. This practice eventually leads to the creation of a complex breeding program that refines the Delphana into masters of the Elemental and Necromantic arts over the next 500 years.

**-455 Tz: The Kos tribe emerges in Prieska.**

A strong human warrior tribe called the Kos dominates all of their Prieskan neighbors. Led by fearless Warrior-Priests, thousands of conquest-driven Kos warriors enslave the other human tribes, believing it is their destiny to conquer all of humanity.

**-450 Tz: The Delphana further explore immortality.**

During this time, the Delphana unlock the mysteries of how to prolong a wizard’s life span with Elemental and Necromantic magics. By the end of this century, some Delphana human wizards are 120 years of age - or even older - while they have the bodies and minds of men and women only fifty or sixty years old.

**-238 Tz: Priest-King Ormanep is crowned in Luxor.**

After more than a century and a half of warfare, the Kos establish total rule over the western half of the Land. The Warrior-Priests institute a complex system of tribute and fealty that promotes those who display great strength and courage in battle. The first Priest-King, Ormanep, rules from the city of Luxor. The only large population in the Land not under Kosian control is the Delphana, safe on their southern island.

**-237 Tz: The Kosian civil war is fought.**

A second Priest-King, Khomen-hotep, rises to power in the eastern city of Caero, Ormanep raises armies to crush his rival in Luxor. After a summer of bloody civil war, with tens of thousands of Kos warriors killed, the Oracles of Rokos ultimately prophesy that two Priest-Kings are to rule over the Kos together - Khomen-hotep from the sun-seat of Caero in the east, and Ormanep from the moon-seat of Luxor to the west. Knowing that the consequence of deviating from prophecy is to be struck down by the gods, both Priest-Kings agree and divide their lands into two roughly equal parts.

**-223 Tz: The Ormanep Palace at Luxor is completed.**

Ormanep’s capital buildings are completed, with their great spires of black stone and unscalable, 100-foot-high walls. By the end of this year, Ormanep has sired more than 100 children through his expansive harem, all of whom are considered potential heirs of the Empire.

**-221 Tz: The first of the pyramids at Caero are completed.**

In a massive quarry along the Roa Vizorr, armies of human slaves spend their lives digging out blocks of stone for pyramid monuments, sun-throne temples and capital buildings for Khomen-hotep and his royal family. Relations between Ormanep and Khomen-hotep are strained but holding.

**-212 Tz: The Needle at Rokos is completed.**

A 300-foot-high tower of black stone is completed in the heart of Rokos, and the Priest-King’s Oracles take up residence within. With the completion of the Needle, Oracles assume a predominant place in Kos society, becoming the advisors for Ormanep, Khomen-hotep and all of the Kosian Priest-Kings to come.

## Age of Princes

**-200 Tz to 0 Tz: The Age of Princes takes place.**

By this time, human civilization is growing rapidly. Cities abound throughout the western half of the Land, and the Kos dominate everything from Scythria to the western banks of the Roa Galtor.

Once, great Centaur herd­-clans occupied the lower plains, ranging from the base of the Wylden Plateau to the Tibersus River. During the **Age of Princes**, as farmers spread further into their domain, local militia made sport of hunting the Centaur, driving them back into the shadows of the plateau. In this time the Centaurs learned to hate man.

**-175 Tz: Tezla’s birth is predicted.**

The Oracles of Rokos foresee the date and birthplace of a Delphane man who will one day conquer all of Kos with more powerful magic than has ever before been seen, who will master the twin arts of life and death, and who will ultimately attain the powers of a god. At the height of his power, the wizard will rule all humanity from a floating city in the sky. Upon hearing this prophecy, the aging Priest-King Temanor immediately begins to make plans to subjugate the Delphana, to ensure that the Oracles’ prophecy will never come to pass.

**-172 Tz: Kos invades Delphane.**

Traversing the Dhokonios Strait on giant rafts, the Kos bring war to the peaceful people of Delphane. The Kos, who outnumber the human wizards by more than 500 to 1, force the wizards to complete surrender within a season. The Priest-King Temanor is eventually welcomed into the capital city, where he is openly stunned by the comforts the Delphanes enjoy: magically heated baths, enchanted kitchens and spirit servants.

**-169 Tz: Priest-King Temanor returns to Rokos.**

Changed by his three years on Delphane, Temanor introduces their comfortable way of life to the brutal Kosians. Tempted by these creature comforts, the Kos eagerly adopt Delphane innovations, magics and philosophies. The Kos soon become dependent on Delphane magic, and an elite merchant class emerges to provide the peoples of Rokos and Caero with magical goods and services. Within the next few years, Delphane influence on the Kos people begins to erode the warlike principles on which the barbarian empire was founded.

**-163 Tz: The Oracles prophesy the arrival of the Solonavi.**

The seven highest Oracles share a terrible vision of great winged creatures descending to the Land who offer great power, but at a terrible price. This prophecy is noted in the Oracles’ archives, and it comes true in 433 Tz with the arrival of the winged Solonavi.

**-162 Tz: Civil war erupts among the Kos.**

In the early spring, after a series of Warlords decided they wanted their own chance to rule the world, the Kosian Empire is torn apart from within. Territories that will one day become Prieska, Khamsin and the northern territories secede. Temanor is beheaded by his rivals, and his royal line is ritually sacrificed one after the other in a day-long ceremony. Temanor’s body is spirited out of the city by his faithful Draconum wizard, and interred in the depths of the Black Pyramid. By the end of the year, the western Kosian Empire has shattered into a hundred warring states.

**-162 Tz: The Orcs sack Caero.**

A huge Orc Raider horde led by Kzar Natan attacks Caero, breaks its defenses and puts the entire Kosian ruling family to the sword. In the middle of looting the city, an Orc eagle god appears in a vision to the kzar. Badly shaken by the omen from his god, Natan orders the Orcs to leave the city and never return. By the end of the year, the rest of the eastern Kosian Empire shatters into twenty warring states as well.

**-161 Tz: Caero is rebuilt.**

Delphana wizards, with the support of the few remaining members of the Kosian noble class, take control of the ruined city of Caero. Wanting to preserve the Caeronn culture, the nobles take Caeronn names, marry their children into the surviving Caeronn lines and ultimately reshape the city from within. Within a year, Caero declares itself a neutral merchant state, frees its slaves, and declares the era of the Kos at an end. Over the next three generations, the successful breeding of Delphane mages with Caeronn nobility results in a rash of Caeronn children able to wield powerful magics. The act of “freeing” Caero ultimately solidifies a pocket of Delphane control along the Roa Vizorr and guarantees the Delphanes an inland ally with substantial economic and military resources.

**-155 Tz: The Order of the Griffin and Cross and the Order of the Obelisk are founded by the defenders of Rokos.**

Any warrior may join either of these two revered Orders, provided they follow two key rules: no fighting each other within the walls of Rokos, and if Rokos ever comes under attack, all of the diverse Knights of the twin orders will work together to rescue Rokos from its attackers.

**-149 Tz: Khamsin founded by King Khamita.**

While at first thought a lunatic for building his castle so close to the Blasted Lands, when the first balloons filled with ore from the Kuttar Depths descended onto his lands Khamita’s neighbors realized he was crazy as a fox. By taking advantage of the summer trade winds blowing down from the mountains, Khamita was able to supply valuable gold and ore to the western half of the Land without needing to pay extortionate prices to the robbers and mercenaries that frequently ambushed caravans coming down from the Kuttar Depths. His new kingdom suddenly flourished with financial wealth, at the expense of its distant trade neighbor, Venetia.

**-143 Tz: Creation of the Crown Jewels of Khamsin - the Blood of Khamsin.**

In order to prevent discord and false claims in coming years, King Khamita has his finest Dwarven craftsman create the crown jewels of Khamsin―a beautiful necklace. Khamita’s wizards enchant the object so the necklace glows when it is being worn or held by a true heir of Khamsin.

**-140 Tz: Delphane rises to power.**

Many leaders from the warring states now send their sons and daughters to Delphane or Caero so that their offspring can learn about the world from “civilized” teachers. Over the next 140 years, Delphane magic, law and philosophy spread like wildfire throughout the human-controlled lands, eradicating the last vestiges of barbaric Kosian society.

**-91 Tz: King Khamita dies.**

Dying peacefully after living a long and prosperous life, Khamita left heirs who took up the job of ensuring the financial and military security of Khamsin through the coming years. When King Khamita died in –91 Tz, Khamsin had grown into a country profiting on trade, craftsmanship, and a military determined to keep invaders and Mage Spawn at bay. The region to the southwest of Khamsin, the Principality of Three, thrived on Khamsin’s rich trade and fair tax policies.

## Age of Chaos

The Shyft have captured the egg of the Apocalypse Dragon and it has been reborn! As its rampage begins anew, the heroes and warlords of the Land must once again face the Dragon on the battlefield.

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.mageknight.net/wp-content/uploads/Mage-Knight-Apocalypse-Dragon-Rules-2005.pdf
2. ↑ https://www.mageknight.net/wp-content/uploads/Mage-Knight-Lore-Expansion-Lancers.pdf
3. ↑ https://www.mageknight.net/wp-content/uploads/Mage-Knight-Lore-The-Ages-Longer-History-of-The-Land-From-the-Third-Bookshelf-in-Old-Scrying-Chamber.pdf