Anatemia: Timeline of historical events.

 

~C3000 – C2500? – Archaeologist’s best estimate for earliest records of settlements on Anatemia, as seen in the Vanteller Mountains. The appearance and customs of this race is unknown, and were long dead before the races we know of today.

~C1500?- The Fey arise in the Eastern Forests of Anatemia, at one with the natural world and manipulating magic to their own end. Their debauchery will become legendary.

~C1400? - Earliest writings state the origin of the Elves to around this time.

~C1300? - Fey create the Obsidian City, where Orc Rock sits today. With their incessant use of magic they create a realm from their own imagination, all the flora and fauna they make themselves, it becomes a hobby for them to test out the most awful things they can think of and then bring them to the real world. Some of the ancestors of dreadful creatures, (fairies, giant lizards, drakes and wyverns) owe their existence to this time.

~1026 spring - According to the Dwarf scriptures their race appear at this exact date. (Did you know? No-one knows how the Dwarfs know of this exact date, it’s beyond scholars).

~900-656 - The time of many. Period of time referred to by Dwarfs to when there were many small Fiefdoms, very few records remain of this distant time save a few scattered tombs of Chieftains deemed worthy by their people to have a special tomb. Few are still legible, to be read today by the handful of Dwarf scholars of ancient Dwarfish but of those that survive a few names can be made out. Hlothere of Dok Tankin, Cadfael of Dok Rosun and Gothfrith the Great of Dok Soroth.

~860? - The Elven recorded founding of Ieyslta, the First City. The beginning of Elven civilisation.

~840? - Fey see the rise of the Elves as an affront to their mastery of the world. They sack and destroy the first Elf city. The second king of Ieyslta, Niome is forced to run the hunt game, being sent through the forests while Fey hunt him for sport, he was torn apart on capture ending the first line, thereafter the Elves remained enslaved. This is called ‘The Time of Woe’ to the Elves.

~756 - Dwarf ancestor leaders King Jago the Bonebreaker and Queen Gertrude the Fierce bash the Dwarfs into a single unified nation.

~657 - The Dwarfs begin construction of the Great Hall of Dok Tariak under the great ancestor king Ramburger the Builder. The hall will be embellished and modified over the centuries becoming a marvel of the world.

~600 - Ancestor king Ivarr the Inventor builds the great mechanisms that control the flow of water throughout the Dwarf caverns and tunnels. The realm expands deeper into much greater caverns as a result.

~590 - The first Elven rebellion fails, the aftermath sees much slaughter. Fey force exactly 1000 Elves to be hunted to death for fun.

~540 - Dwarfs led by ancestor king Olf the Wanderer record that they reached ‘a great plain full of animals and dust surrounded by peaks. Very hot, and bright, unpleasant, no valuable minerals, oddball locals, bugger this’. The first time someone will discover the strange savannah at the centre of the continent results in Dwarfs not setting foot there again.

~514 - Dwarf ancestor king Magnus the Magnificent defeats a host of Fey at the battle of Gasgate. (Did you know? King Magnus apparently slew the Fey battleleader, using his trusty fruit knife.)

~500 - The second Elven rebellion, led by the charismatic and brilliant leader Ithmael, he leads an ever increasing number of guerrilla skirmishers and over the course of two years builds a strong force. The Fey largely ignore him believing themselves to be untouchable until the rebel army storms the Obsidian City. The Fey fight back with magic but through numbers and large casualties the Elves make their way through the citadel. The Fey realise the game is up and on the second day enact a spell that removes the city citadel from the realm of mortals and into their psyche world. From this point the Fey are removed from the world, though their new world cannot be altered for fun anymore either. The Elves are now free.

~480 - The Elves, now masters of the forests, begin exploration and expansion, Iesylta is refounded as the second city.

~461 - Exploration of the Elves encounters the Dwarfs in the mountains above their forests. Friendly relations begin as the two races have something the other needs. Dwarf minerals in exchange for Elven wood.

~444 - The Treaty of Ear and Beard signed by Elves and Dwarfs acknowledging that the Dwarfs have no claim on lands north of the Mountains Across the Realm, and the Elves no claim to lands south. The treaty is still in force today.

~420 - Ancestor king Arazmus the Seafarer begins his three journeys around the continent.

~404 - The earliest records of humans, though they probably existed before, this is the first time they leave permanent clues.

~232 - Founding of the Elven city of Ilkaristo, the seat of learning. Some Elves also take to the sea for the first time and are never seen again, leading to stories of colonies on other lands that remain unfounded.

~189 - Early humans living in the arid desert wastes of the far south work together for the first time to irrigate the sparse water supply. This is the foundation of civilisation of the humans.

Year 0 - Ascension to the Granite Throne of Rodrig the Codemaker. He will go on to write the standard laws of the Dwarfs that largely remain in use today. He achieves so much for the infrastructure Dwarfs in his reign that his accession becomes the standard date for the beginning of recorded time. (Did you know? The Dwarfs and the Elves were using a different calendar with the Elves counting from the date of their freedom, but when an Elf delegation turned up late to a trade agreement meeting something had to be done and the Elves adopted the standard Rodrig Calender.)

127 - Death of Rodrig the Codemaker, on his deathbed he refuses the title of Ancestor king.

143 - Fire destroys the second city of Ieyslta. The third city is built utilising tree resin refined and hardened into large platforms, this results in a new building material for the Elves.

202 – Akkika, in the now named Daester desert becomes the largest and most sophisticated city on Anatemia.

204 – 374. Series of wars by Akkika on other cities in the region expands influence.

414 - The death of Dwarf king Ivarr the Last without issue results in an interregnum. With talks over the new king locked on three choices war erupts between the candidates.

414 - 420. The Underwar, six years of Dwarfish Civil War results in the death of one candidate, though his son takes up the battle, and massive bloody stalemate.

418 - Battle of Jooven, the only time that two kings and four princes are on a battlefield.

420 - The Disruption. The stalemate and bloodshed ends in the breakup of the Dwarf Realm into three separate kingdoms. Dok Llag, Dok Evan and Dok Aveser.

419 - The disruption of minerals being traded to the Elves during the war leads some Elves to try their own hands at mining. Great mineral deposits, including gold, are discovered in the so far sparsely populated Hoike Forest. This begins a large migration of Elves to the forest and the end of the reliance on Dwarf mined materials, though not Dwarf expertise.

431 - Akkika creates the Daester Confederation, an Empire of sorts, with other city-states ruled by vassals, this is the height of the power of Akkika.

491 - The false king war, after the death of Runal the son of king Runal of Dok Llag his nephew Sarakon becomes the next king, but soon a Dwarf claiming to be the dead son Runal rises, gaining many followers, it takes a year of warfare to finally snuff out the pretender.

623 - Droughts affect the cities of Daester.

628 - The continued drought starts to seriously weaken the cities of Daester, disease is rife and the populace are starting to die. In desperation the priests of Akkika prey to their dark gods for help…and they answer. In exchange for periodic human sacrifice they will make the rivers flow again. The sacrifices begin, and the rivers return.

629 - Alysinnia, the far eastern city of the Daester Confederation want no part in the sacrifices and break away from the confederation. An army is raised by the confederation to bring them to heel but the Alysinnian forces manage to hold them off.

C650? - Elves spread north from The Hoike into an area known today as The Ness, decide it’s too cold, and leave.

C650? - Akkikan pictographs depict the first appearance of Goblins. (Did you know? The word Goblin is actually ancient Akkikan for “Little Green Freaks.”)

700 - The humans in the land today known as Nineveh begin construction of the old citadel.

C700? - The first wooden forts and primitive settlements of the humans in central Anatemia appear.

814 - Akkikan king Jorenimin puts a stop to two centuries of sacrifices. The life giving river dries up and a plague runs through the cities of Daester who also took part in the sacrifices. Within days the civilisation of Daester is nothing but a memory.

C850 - The start of the city states of Alamastique, Heldegar, Northolt, Craco, Kiscard, Wroxter, Suriqae, Ubar and Simena. These cities will rise and fall regularly, changing borders and trading townships. This is known as the wars of the petty kings. (Did you know? The town of Caus changes hands no less than thirteen times over the coming centuries).

920 - The first of these cities to explore expansionism is Wroxter, famed for its beautiful architecture and advanced infrastructure. The city attacks and conquers the smaller coastal state of Suriqae, under king Macrinus I.

934 - King Macrinus I of Wroxter launches a new campaign that results in conquering part of Alamastique’s territory, taking the town of Caus. The first time it will change hands.

1010 - Grandson of expansionist Macrinus I, Macrinus II wages a two year war on Craco, conquering it. This proves to be the limit on Wroxter’s power.

1025 - Macrinus II invades Heldegar, and is killed in a bloody defeat at the battle of Tolbarshearth.

1026 - In power vacuum following death of Macrinus II, king Jean I of Heldegar conquers part of Craco.

1061 - Jean’s son Tao II completes job of conquering Craco renaming the two realms Fratane and Eistane of Heldegar. (Did you know the two realms were named after Tao’s favourite Labradors?).

1068 - Suriqae declares independence from Wroxter leading to warfare.

1070 - Two years of stalemate leads to negotiations. Truce ends in agreement to separate as Wroxter too weak to govern. Despite the loss of Suriqae they have regained enough strength to retake Caus from Heldegar.

1127 - King Ruan III of Dok Evan steps in when fighting between Alamastique and Northolt over the town of Thancote spills into the Dwarf regions. In a famous meeting between the Dwarf lord and the two kings he states. “I don’t give a flying beardling if you want to fight each other in your own kingdoms, but you entered mine so this stops now. Otherwise this pike is going up your arse, and then yours, and maybe I’ll chop your bits off for good measure with this axe, it ain’t called Ballripper for nothing.” The war ended that day.

1212 - King Ruan III reportedly chops off the balls of Prince Cadwaldr of Dok Aveser after he invades Dok Evan.

1404 - King Bogdan V of Northolt invades Wroxter and is defeated at the battle of More. This war between the two states will go on to affect three generations.

1424 - King Amard of Northolt picks up his father’s warmongering ways and creates the famous Legion of Northolt, the impervious warrior troop will earn its legendary status in the coming wars.

1431 - King Amard of Northolt conquers Wroxter after a series of battles. (Caus changes hands yet again). The defeated prince escapes capture and decides on a personal revenge. He slips into the city of Northolt ahead of the returning king and assassinates King Amard’s only child, Princess Valia. King Amard is distraught by the news, captures the Prince and has him hung, drawn and quartered. Then in a fit of rage he returns to Wroxter and burns it to the ground, destroying it forever.

1432 - King Amard, now reportedly ‘a restless soul’ invades the small mountain kingdom of Kiscard. The Kiscardians use the mountain passes to harass the army, performing hit and run attacks in the frozen peaks. Eventually, heavily depleted and with supplies having been cut more than once they are forced to withdraw.

1433 - King Amard dies in mysterious circumstances, found dead in bed despite a lack of illness. Official death is either heart attack, or broken heart over his daughter.

1449 - The death of the King of Dok Llag causes a succession crisis as there are two heirs, twins. The war of succession lasts a year before the victory of King Madrig, but flares up again twice more as Prince Arlend continues to press claims.

1461 - Queen Lina of Heldegar ‘the warrior queen’ leads an army across the sea to the island of Simena, in a magnificent campaign she conquers the kingdom and renames it Ulstane. (Did you know? Queen Lina named Ulstane after her Chihuahua, named after a dog as both other zones of Heldegar are.)

1490 - Expedition by lord Sequenta of Nineveh to conquer the city of Ubar results in the army lost in the desert. (Did you know? The ghosts of lord Sequenta’s army can sometimes be seen trudging through the desert, if you watch them for long enough you will see them fall to the sands one by one. It’s an eerie sight.)

1501 - Prince Rhegeld, son of Prince Arlend, picks up his father’s war and presses claim for the throne of Dok Llag. Second war of succession.

1508 - Victory of Prince Rhegeld at Vaktar pass. King Madrig forced to flee. Rhegeld proclaimed king.

1510 - King Madrig returns, defeats and kills King Rhegeld at the battle of Rula.

1527 - Heldegar captures Caus. Northolt retakes it within two months. The same month Suriqae rebels against Northolt but the rebellion is swiftly ended at the battle of Witchcot. Alamastique takes Caus but once again Northolt retakes it within a month. It’s a busy year for King Havalon II of Northolt.

1547 - King Henri of Northolt ascends to the throne, seen as a weak king many plot against him. Alamastique King Mordred takes advantage, retaking Caus once more and holding it.

1550 - King Henri, keen to show that he is not weak, conquers Kiscard after a hard fought campaign through the snowy wilderness. This marks the peak of Northolt strength.

1562 - King Mordred takes the offensive, launching an all-out war directly against Northolt. The mighty city is toppled and King Henri is killed.

1563 - King Mordred becomes Emperor Mordred of the empire of Alamastique, ending the rule of the petty kings.

1574 - Dok Aveser invades Dok Evan again, for the need of wood and growth space. Their lands are the coldest and least hospitable even underground. The invasion fails as Dok Evan have more manpower than Dok Aveser.

1591 - The uninhabited pirate islands are discovered by the renowned explorer Johan Gimmelstob.

1654 - Orcs land on the shores of the Elven lands of Molena. Unprepared after a long period of peace Queen Errista marches to battle on the advice of her goddess Ayissa. Ayissa herself appears before the battle and the Queen claims her appearance heralds their victory. The battle ends with neither side victorious, too weak to pursue the Elves, the Orcs find a home in a secluded valley where once the Obsidian City of the Fey stood. From here they repeatedly fend off Elvish attempts to remove them. Ayissa is denounced by the Queen. (Did you know? The Elves left the site of the Obsidian City empty because of what went on there.)

1749 - Eugene Cooke rediscovers the great plains at the very centre of the continent. He renames them “The Cooke” and spends two years studying the region’s inhabitants and creatures sending despatches to Heldegar. He is killed in a stampede while trying to paint a small plant.

1755 - Birth of Chemerlin.

1781 – The First Undead War. 
Chemerlin, a member of the royal family of Alamastique, in pursuit of necromantic arts, kills the king and assumes the throne using a force of undead warriors. The army attacks the forces of Chemerlin, but with every death the ranks of Chemerlin swell. The battle of Alamastique will claim the lives of over 12,000 innocents, all of whom will rise to bolster the undead. As refugees flee, the Lady Paladin Josephine stands against Chemerlin, having made a deal with the Trickster to give her life for another, the teenage Otsan slain in the outskirts but said by the paladins to be blessed for greatness. 
Josephine’s last stand will become legendary, she will be deified after her death by her supporters.

1782 spring- Chemerlin’s armies march out to destroy resistance to the rule of Chemerlin. Battle of Holdgate subdues the region.

1782 late spring - City of Northolt suffers a plague sent by the undead. In their weakened state Chemerlin attacks, raising all citizens as undead, thus getting rid of his most dangerous rival.

1782 autumn-1783 summer -Kiscard forces hold Chemerlin at bay for some time, even though cold does not affect his undead warriors, the Kiscardians’ knowledge of the mountains enables them to beat back several attempts to break into their mountain fastness.

1783 autumn- Kiscard valley is finally breached by Chemerlin, enraged by the Kiscardians, Chemerlin wipes the city from the face of Anatemia, once again the inhabitants become part of Chemerlin’s forces.

1784 - Chemerlin decrees that all shall follow his rule or become part of his undead forces. The fiercely independent Alysinnia, oldest still inhabited human city, refuses.

1788 - Undead invade Alysinnia, cities of Thiskio and Dratos destroyed. The population en masse flees eastward to the furthest points of the kingdom, denying Chemerlin an easy victory and forcing him to cross the country while being harassed.

1789 - The young Otsan begins the rebellion against Chemerlin by small attacks against his living and unliving garrisons. His hit and run tactics combined with his daring draw people to him.

1790 - The victories of Otsan cause Chemerlin to have to break off his conquest of Alysinnia and go to hunt down the rebel.

1790 spring - Victory of Otsan at Caus, briefly Caus becomes his headquarters.

1790 summer - Victories of Otsan at Crackley Bank, Lurgap and Abdon.

1790 summer - Chemerlin attacks the garrison at Shrawardine, which had declared for Otsan. Residents of Caus flee into Heldegar, saving them from the fate of undeath.

1790 autumn - Otsan travels to Dok Llag to ask for help from the Dwarfs against Chemerlin. King Magnos sees Chemerlin as a serious threat and agrees to help.

1791 - Battle of Deadridge, the alliance of humans and Dwarfs faces the undead hordes of Chemerlin. Otsan manages to fight his way through the throng to face Chemerlin in battle, the duel is swift, Otsan the Magnificent slays Chemerlin. His army falls to pieces with his death saving the people of Anatemia.

End of first undead war.

1791 - Otsan re-establishes his birthplace Suriqae as new kingdom and capital. Begins building program to make the city bigger and more important.

1804 – Second undead war.
Thirteen years of peace are ended by the return of Chemerlin, risen from the hells by the demonette Itchilda with a huge boost to his power. He is directed to the city of Akkika, the large city is filled with everything he could need to wage war on the world. He raises the population and uses them to clear the city, the warriors become his new army, the rest are set to be his crafters and magic users.

1805 spring- Chemerlin reveals his return to the world by sacking Dok Llag and raising the inhabitants to swell his new army, in revenge he uses Itchilda’s power to sink part of the kingdom with a tidal wave and earthquake. The ancient kingdom of Dok Llag is no more. Dok Evan shuts all tunnels and ways through sealing themselves in to prevent the forces from coming through.

1805 summer - Having got revenge on Dok Llag Chemerlin turns his attention on Suriqae. A combined force of undead and demons attacks the city, burning it, slaying its citizens and raising them to fight for him. Otsan is slain and risen to become a general of Chemerlin. For good measure Itchilda swallows the entire kingdom in an earthquake and tidal wave.

1805 autumn - All humans in the former lands of the Empire of Alamastique are slain, no longer is Chemerlin interested in being king, he’s now only interested in controlling the world…

1806 spring - Undead armies push into Heldegar, Alysinnia and Nineveh, the first part of his plan to take over Anatemia. He installs the Necromancer Quresh and sets him to raise an army to conquer Nineveh.

1806 spring - Chemerlin kills Lord Canhope, the greatest teacher in Alamastique, and then raises his corpse to be a wight with his own mind, Lord Canhope is tasked to start the school of Necromancy.

1806 spring - Three people from Heldegar rise to fight the legions of the dead. Marshal Avitus, Lady Tilia Narvoro and Corvin the Wild Ranger rally the people, defeating the undead again and again. They manage to defeat the undead at Elsham and push them back beyond the border of Heldegar in a series of huge battles. Until finally they face the old hero Otsan, now the general of the undead. In an epic battle Otsan the Undead is destroyed.

1806 summer - The heroes travel to the Elves of the Empire of Vislea to see about help. The Elves agree after an appearance by Liora, queen goddess of the Elves, who explains the horror occurring to the south.

1806 autumn - The combined army faces the undead legions at the battle of Crooked Angle. Chemerlin is destroyed a second time, though his queen escapes.

This marks the end of the second undead war…and the start of the War against the World.

1806 winter to 1807 spring- The demonette consort Itchilda, having studied the ways of undeath, assumes control of the undead armies, now in full command and not supporting her ‘husband’ she is able to call upon demonic servants of her own. Beginning at Ilkaristo, the Elven seat of learning and cultural centre of their race, she gets her revenge on the Elves for the destruction of her husband by raising from the ground a demonic rift, this taints everything it touches with demonic essence and raises a volcano in the centre of the city. Most of the population are killed but a number are horribly mutated into demonic beast types, goatmen, fawnpeople and so forth. With their minds having degraded the former scholars of Ilkaristo become bestial servants to Itchilda’s demons. (Did you know? The volcano at the heart of what was Ilkaristo is called Mount Spitfire, not Mount Shitfire, though it is often credited as this on maps, the name does the volcano justice.)

1807 winter - The Elven Empire has lost a large chunk of its land, but more importantly the Empire is split in two, the Hoike Forest is now cut off from the rest of the Empire. The demons (including the new Beastmen) attack the Hoike, the great forest of the Hoike burns to a crisp and all the Elves within are slain.

1808 spring - The heroes try to fight their way through to the Elves and help them but the force of the taint at Ilkaristo leads to a heavy defeat.

1808 spring - Itchilda sends undead armies back into Heldegar forcing the heroes to defend their homelands.

1808 spring - Demonic armies attack Dok Aveser from the Hoike to the north. The unprepared kingdom is overrun and the Dwarfs slain. Of the three kingdoms of the Dwarfs only Dok Evan still holds out, collapsing tunnels and sealing themselves in.

1808 spring - The three heroes devise an ambitious three pronged plan to defeat the demons. Avitus will marshal the people in Heldegar and fight the undead to keep them from taking the kingdom. Tilia will travel to the Minotaurs across the sea and seek their aid. Corvin will enter the realm of the Fey to seek help.

1808 summer - Tilia crosses the sea with a force and finds the Minotaurs in battle with invading Lizardmen, her skills help the Minos defeat them, they pledge that they will help in response.

1808 summer - Avitus crosses into Nineveh and defeats the undead army under the Necromancer Quresh, the former servant of Chemerlin is slain.

1808 summer - Corvin enters the realm of the Fey, they say that if he runs a hunt game of their devising they will help. He endures the hunt and manages to succeed, as promised they offer to help, for a price.

1808 autumn - The armies converge on Itchilda’s demons and undead at the battle of the Field of Crows. The forces of the undead and demons are too great to defeat, even with all their forces, especially as each fallen becomes one of the undead. When all seems lost the Minotaur shaman lord Sord hatches a plan, he fights his way to Itchilda herself at cost to himself and challenges her, as Minotaurs do. He is slain easily in his weakened state by Itchilda, but he has enacted a spell that allows him once risen as an undead to retain his mind. Itchilda has no idea she has risen an enemy and when her back is turned he slays her, pouring all his new necro energy into the sword of Otsan. At long last the demonette is slain, and her army crumbles with her returning to death or the hells…including the heroic Sord.

The world has been saved, but vast swathes of it have been laid to waste. The Empire of Alamastique is no more, not a living soul. The Elven Empire of Vislea has been halved and drops the Empire tag to become a kingdom. Two of the three Dwarf kingdoms have been wiped out. Suriqae is at the bottom of the sea. The inhabitants of Ilkaristo are now primitive bestial types. Heldegar, Nineveh and Alysinnia have all lost some of their area to death and destruction.

1808 autumn - Corvin has to pay the price of Fey help and enters their realm to never be heard of again.

1808 winter- Royal wedding of King Avitus and Queen Tilia of Heldegar.

1814 - The strange huskylike race, the Walians leave their home Northtok for the first time and begin to settle the area once thought too cold by the Elves, the Ness. They are much more suited to the cold.

1841 - Death of King Avitus.

1844 - Death of Queen Tilia.

1858 - Growing calls to start clearing and reclaiming the lost world from the remaining undead and demons, leads to the foundation of the City of Veii at the very centre of the continent.

This marks the beginning of the Levellers. (Souls of Anatemia Book 1 starts here) 

1860 - Calvina, the son of Itchilda and Chemerlin occupies the ruins of Alamastique, soon the third wars will begin…