The Ages

Age of Birth	The Builders begin to make Aelor and its children.
Age of Dreams	The Builders finish their work and leave Aelor.
Eldren Age	The coming of the Eldren and their reign.
Age of Death	The Eldren disappear. The Burning Lands form.
Lost Age	The Rule of the Giants. The Lizard Kingdoms fall.
Age of Rebirth	The Giants disappear. The Lizard people cross the Sullen Sea.
Age of Empires	The rise of Lashar and the Empire. The rise of Rudan.
Dark Age	The Great Collapse and its aftermath. Minor nations rise and fall.
Age of Kings	The City States form. The Kingdom of Aris is born.

 

A Brief Timeline of Aelor

 

-10000 Af  -	The Builders complete Aelor, and leave to begin their next world, creating the Sea of Stars.
-5500 Af  -	The Eldren appear upon Aelor from the heavens.
-3501 Af  -	The Queen of the Eldren disappears.
-3500 Af  -	The last of the Eldren is seen. Beginning of the Age of Death.
-3499 Af  -	The Burning Lands begin to form.
-3300 Af  -	The Giants descend from the mountains.
-3200 Af  -	The beginning of the reign of the Lizard Kingdoms.
-2250 Af  -	The Giants rise in power, and challenge the Lizard Kings.
-2200 Af  -	The Lizard Kingdoms fall. The Rule of the Giants begins.
-2000 Af  -	The Giantlands are ravaged by plague.
-1950 Af  -	The time of Giant rule ends. The Great Migration of the Lizard peoples begins.
-1900 Af  -	The Lizard people come to settle the Northern Swamp from across the Sullen Sea.
-1500 Af  -	The Empire of Rudan rises to power.
-1357 Af  -	Rise of Lashar the Mighty, the great minotaur hero.
-1356 Af  -	Lashar unites the minotaur tribes and gathers an army.
-1354 Af  -	Lashar moves about the land with his army, killing or driving out monsters, rebels, and all who refuse to bow to him.
-1350 Af  -	Lus is founded and designated center of the Empire. The original tribes to ally with Lashar are made into Houses and given appropriate lands and titles. A governing council is formed.
-1349 Af  -	The appointment of Lashar as Great Emperor of Aelor by the council.
-1 Af  -	Melchor is destroyed in a great magical explosion.
0 Af  -	The Great Collapse. Pel is ravaged by the wyrm Gorthvalundror. Lus is overrun by giants and orcs and destroyed. The surviving minotaurs flee, some across the ocean. The surviving faithful of Jond begin a new calendar and record of history designated 'Af' for 'Antus Farul', meaning 'After the Fall'. The Elder Gods are abandoned.
983 Af  -	The City States of the North form a loose alliance.
997 Af  -	The Church of Iberis gains full control of the Trade Council of the City States.
1032 Af  -	The human lord Aris gathers an army to drive the orcs from the riverlands.
1034 Af  -	War begins with an assault on the mountain pass guarded by giants. Aris himself kills the giant captain and opens the gate to allow the army to move south through the Hammerheads.
1039 Af  -	With the help of the dwarves, the orcs and giants are defeated at the Battle of the Cinderwood. This is the turning point of the war.
1040 Af  -	Aris crowns himself king and self-names his kingdom.
1133 Af  -	The Betrayal of Valshan. Irbor and Uruk burn to the ground. Vesh is destroyed by a fiery comet from the sky. Tur becomes the new capital of the City States of the North.
1267 Af  -	Gareth the Second, the Orcscourge defeats the last of the orcish hordes in the Battle of Blood and Tears. His father, King Adren, is killed in the battle, and Gareth becomes King of Aris.
1281 Af  -	The wood elves withdraw from human lands, retreating to their forest.
1317 Af  -	Current year.

 

 

A Short History

   Long ago, the Eldren were sent to Aelor from the heavens by the Elder gods. They settled the lands generously, encouraging all the other races in their development. For two thousand years they lived throughout the land, peacefully and happily, their queen ruling from the magical floating Silver Citadel. Then, without warning, the Citadel was sealed and their queen went silent. Those who were shut out became lost, and in but one short year, the last of the Eldren was seen walking the land. A dark age fell upon Aelor, and wars between the peoples became commonplace.

   Then came the rise of the great minotaur hero Lashar. He united the minotaur people into what became the greatest empire ever known. He drove the ever-present orcs beyond the eastern mountains and the Southern Wastes. He battled with the barbarians of the northern desert, and banished them far beyond its sandy reach. He worked with human, dwarf, and wood elf alike, bringing about peace. The might of the Lashan Empire was unmatched.

   For another thousand years, they built, explored, and conquered. But the seeds of destruction had been sewn. The Empire became strained, and eventually collapsed, the wake of which changed Aelor forever. The great city of Melchor was utterly destroyed in a magical disaster, leaving it in ruin. Pel was destroyed by the great wyrm Gorthvalundror. The capital city of Lus was overrun by giants and orcs, plundered, and burned to the ground. Its people scattered and hid in terror.

    Over time, slowly the humans and dwarves emerged as the new powers of the land, and began to rebuild. It has been more than 1000 years since the Great Collapse, and only the occassional ruins and tavern tales serve as a reminder of the mighty Lashan Empire.

    Now, the Kingdom of Aris stands as the last great Kingdom of an almost forgotten age. Gareth the Second, the Orcscourge, rules from his seat in Arstelon, a city built on the old ruins of Lus, high on the cliffs overlooking the Bay of Fins, at the mouth of the River Aris.

   To the far south, barbarians reign, and evil roams virtually unmolested. To the west lies a pirate-filled, endless sea, and to the east lies the xenophobic haven of the Elves. To the north are the City States, still strong but their power waning from the days of old, before the Betrayal of Valshan.

    Once, the dwarves and elves were staunch allies, and great temples and churches of the Elder gods towered above the land. Now, the dwarves are threatening to close the only road to the North in preperation for war. The elves have slowly been severing all ties with the outside world, dealing swiftly with any who dare enter their domain. Barbarian raids are becoming more frequent and more daring. Many people have begun to forsake the old religions for new ways taught by holy prophets. Strange rumors come from strange folk from even stranger places. Some say even the Ether itself has become untrustworthy in its behavior…