Post by LiquidChicagoTed on Nov 19, 2018 21:07:45 GMT
The continent of Aventuria is the main setting of The Dark Eye. While other continents beyond its borders exist, they are mostly the stuff of legends and only a handful of Aventurians have ever returned from the dangerous journeys beyond the Aventurian seas. However, the continent has a long history, which could, quite literally, fill several books. To give you an overview of the most important events in the past of Aventuria, and some significant contemporary events that might be interesting for your characters’ backstories, I aim to give you a brief history of Aventuria here. If you have particular questions to an event, or wish for more clarity on a particular period, just let me know and I will answer 
The Eras:
The timeline in the setting of The Dark Eye is divided between several eras, from the beginning of creation, to the current events. Each era is dominated by a particular sentient species, sees a different pantheon of gods (albeit multiple gods have managed to be worshipped in multiple eras) and has its own high cultures. Previous eras were, among others, the Era of Dragons, the Era of Trolls, the Era of the feline species, the Era of Arachnids, the Era of the maritime species and the Era of Lizards. The current era, the eleventh, is the Era of the long-lived races, the elves and dwarves, though scholars presume that the era is nearing its end. Each era spans over ten thousand years or more, so knowledge of past eras is often lost. While most of the previously dominating species are still around in remote corners of the world, their numbers are dwindling.
The Tenth Era:
The first important events for contemporary Aventuria can be traced back to the tenth era, way over ten thousand years ago. The tenth era was the era of the Lizardfolk, the Achaz and their more monstrous cousins. It marks the entrance of humans and elves in Aventuria. While humans come from the continent of Myranor to the west, elves stepped into creation from another sphere, known only as the Light Sphere by their tales. While the elves built an empire in the far north, the first humans were driven into the arid lands of Tulamidiya and the Khom desert by the dominating lizardfolk, who often took humans as slaves.
Leader of the lizardfolk at the time was the Ancient Dragon Pyrdacor. Tasked by the gods to be the guardian of the elements, his power corrupted him and he began to desire godhood himself. The Achaz started to worship them and he became their benefactor. As such, he took the revelation that the Era of the Lizardfolk was about to end particularly hard. Manipulating the spheres themselves, he managed to artificially prolong the Era of the Lizardfolk, while the gods elevated the elves and dwarves to the dominating species of the Eleventh Era.
The result was a war between the dominating species of two eras. Supported by the human slaves, the elves and dwarves managed to drive the Achaz back. The vengeful Pyrdacor seduced and corrupted the high elven queen Orima and together with her, he created Pardona, an elven sorceress whom both gave a part of their power to, in order for her to turn the tide of the war. However, Pardona soon betrayed her creators and allied herself with the Nameless One. She started a civil war in the high elven kingdoms, which ended with Orima’s death and the complete destruction of the elven culture. The survivors separate into three tribes, the Rime Elves, Wood Elves and Lea Elves of modern Aventuria.
Without Pardona’s assistance, Pyrdacor was eventually defeated and killed by the dwarves, who themselves were supported by Famerlor, the lion-headed dragon consort of the goddess Rondra. Famerlor tore Pyrdacor’s body apart, while the dwarves allegedly took the dragon’s immortal soulstone, to prevent him from ever rising again. With Pyrdacor’s death, the tenth era ended at last, even if the lizardfolk empire remained powerful for thousands of years to come.
The Eleventh Era:
Due to Pyrdacor’s manipulation, the elves and dwarves started their journey as the dominating species’ of the elventh era weakened and never lived up to their potential. They are considered the dominating species’, but in fact, the humans built up their first high cultures during this era. The ancient Tulamids were the humans who drove the lizardfolk to near extinction at last, destroying their empire in all but the most remote jungles and swamps of southern Aventuria. The legendary Tulamid ruler Bastrabun eventually installed a network of protective spells to prevent the Achaz from ever leaving the Lizard Marches and Maraskan, although his spells have long since lost their power.
Together with elves and dwarves, the humans built up mighty empires. The most famous of this is the old Horasian Empire, also known as the Empire of Bosparan, after the eponymous capital. For thousands of years, Bosparan was the most important nation in Aventuria. However, over the time it became a dark and corrupt place, where the mighty ones freely worshipped and consorted with demons. The most infamous of these were Emperor Fran-Horas and Empress Hela-Horas, who lived roughly a thousand years ago.
Dissatisfied with the Horas’ decadence, the inhabitants of Garetia, the northernmost province of Bosparan, rebelled against their leaders. Fran-Horas led his army to the gates of Gareth, the capital of Garetia, where he summoned legions of demons to support them in taking the city from the rebels. However, the demons turned against his army and killed most of his men, yet also most of the rebels before being driven back. Haunted by his failure, Fran-Horas died a few years later, as a broken, despised man.
His successor, Hela-Horas, was known as a cruel madwoman. The mistreatment of her subjects drove more and more provinces of the empire into open rebellion. Like her ancestor Fran, she consorted with demons to strengthen herself, to the point where she became known as the most depraved demon cultist to ever live. During the final battle against the rebel army, who were led by the Novadi general Raul ibn Rafid, the gods themselves intervened, clashing against Hela’s demon masters. They triumphed and Raul’s army critically defeated Hela and hers. The corrupted empress fled to Bosparan, which was destroyed by the gods themselves.
Though the rebellion had been successful, the realm was broken. Raul, who had lost his entire family during the war, married Hela’s niece and successor and they built up a new empire in the ruins of Garetia. The former heartland of the old empire became known as Horasia and remained independent, keeping up the traditions of the Bosparanian empire. Raul’s empire however eclipsed it in power eventually and became known as the Middenrealm.
Under the leadership of Raul’s bloodline the Middenrealm became the continent’s largest nation. Their reign lasted for several hundred years and is remembered as a peaceful one. However, due to the schemes of the power-hungry Church of Praios, the last male member of Raul’s family was murdered. What followed was the time of the Priest Emperors, where brutal fanatics combined the two positions of the Head of the Church of Praios and the Emperor of the Middenrealm.
The Priest Emperors were ruthless and cruel, their reign overshadowed by brutal persecution of all other religions. Even worshippers of other members of the Twelve God Pantheon were massacred, most famously the rebellious Church of Rondra. Their reign was eventually brought to a peaceful end by the wise mage Rohal, who famously convinced the last of the Priest Emperors of his mistakes, causing him to atone by naming Rohal himself as the new emperor.
The Mage Emperor Rohal is known as the greatest emperor the Middenrealm had in its long history. Exceptionally and mysteriously long-lived, he ruled the Middenrealm for over a hundred years, bringing peace and stability back. His reforms created the foundation of the modern Middenrealm and beyond, including the creation of the three guilds of magic. As such, Rohal is worshipped even long after his disappearance. His reign ended abruptly, as he challenged the dangerous mage Borbarad to a duel in the Gorian desert. The result left the whole region destroyed and both mages vanished without a trace.
Since he never fathered children, Rohal’s death spawned a long period of wars for succession. Around the same time, the unified guild of magic split up into three, the white, grey and black guild, each claiming to follow the traditions of Rohal the Wise. Eventually, after many years without an emperor, Perval the Cruel managed to defeat and kill everyone who might challenge him. He declared himself emperor and began the line of the House of Gareth.
Despite his infamous nickname, Perval the Cruel is remembered as a strong emperor. His legacy lives on and he made the Middenrealm the strong military force it is today. However, his children, the Twin Emperors Bardo and Cella, were known for their weakness and decadence. This resulted in them being forced to step down from their titles and abandon the crown, granting it to their cousin Reto, a feared warmonger whose reign ended just a few decades before the beginning of our story.
The modern-day Aventuria:
The modern-day Aventuria is the period that your character could reasonably have experienced. It spans through the reigns of the Middenrealm emperor Reto and his successors Hal and Brin. Reto himself was a commanding presence and a warmonger, who forcefully brought the island of Maraskan into the Middenrealm. His chief tactician during the Maraskan war was the young commoner Helme Haffax. Realizing his military genius, Reto elevated Haffax into the ranks of the nobility, naming him Margreave of Warkhome and High Marshall of the Middenrealm.
Reto died twenty years before our story starts, having barely lived long enough to see Maraskan submitting to Middenrealm authority. After his death, he became known as the Iron Emperor and his strength is still fondly remembered by the nobility and the soldiers of the realm. His successor, Emperor Hal, was a kind-hearted man first and foremost, who cared for the commoners of his realm. This, unfortunately, brought up many problems with the nobility, who wished for an iron-fisted emperor who strengthened their rights instead of those of the smallfolk.
Hal’s reign was the beginning for many problems his son has to fight with to this day. His weak stance towards the nobility disillusioned many of the nobles who have downright worshipped Reto. In an attempt to win their support, he declared himself a god, only to alienate them and the church of the Twelve Gods further. Nonetheless, he remains loved by the commoners, who benefitted from Hal’s reforms.
Perhaps the lowest point of his reign happened about a decade before the story starts. A scheme at court led to the humiliation and exile of the proud court mage Gaius Galotta. Looking for revenge, the mage stole an ancient artifact, which he used to unite the ogre tribes of Tobria. His war against the Middenrealm became known as the March of the Thousand Ogres. Unstoppable by conventional methods, they devastated the province of Tobria. However, thanks to Marshall Haffax, the Middenrealm army was able to stop and defeat them at the Trollgap, the mountain path that separates the provinces of Darpatia and Tobria.
This has been only the beginning of Hal's tumultuous reign, as the defeat of Galotta, who escaped justice to this day, marked the beginning of several big conflicts the Middenrealm had to fight. Most dangerous of these was the Orkenstorm, the mass invasion of orks from the Orklands into the Middenrealm, under the leadership of their brilliant warchief Ashim Riak Assai. The Orks took the city of Griffinsford and occupied it for over a year, while devastating the provinces of Meadows and Garetia. It was, once again, only thanks to the cunning Marshall Haffax that the orkish army was defeated on the fields of Gareth, only a few miles north of the capital city.
Hal also intervened in the Khom war, where the armies of the Al’Anfanian empire invaded the Khom desert, seeking to conquer the Novadi kingdom. The war was short and bloody, yet thanks to Hal’s support, the Novadis managed to drive the Al’Anfanians back, slaying their leader, Tar Honak, in the process. This involvement has left relations between the Middenrealm and Al’Anfa sour, something not even Hal’s marriage to the Al’Anfanian princess Alara Paligan was able to fix.
Emperor Hal disappeared without a trace during a hunting trip just a few years before the story is set. His only son, Brin of Gareth, succeeded him. However, out of respect for his father, Brin did not take the crown and the title of Emperor. Instead, he named himself High Protector of the Middenrealm and agreed to wait for ten years until accepting the death of his disappeared father, hoping that Hal would miraculously return.
Young and inexperienced, Brin’s reign has just begun. The most infamous incident overshadowed the very beginning of his reign. Disappointed with the weakness of the House of Gareth, the Duke of Darpatia, Answin of Ravenmouth, declared himself to be Hal’s successor. He went to war against Brin and though no actual battle was fought, he brought the realm to the brink of ruin. His civil war was ended without bloodshed and Answin disappeared. His successors still have to fight back the accusations that they stood behind his decision. Nonetheless, Answin has many loyal followers among the nobility left and Brin’s merciful decision to imprison Ravenmouth’s highest generals instead of executing them leaves the Answinists with some remaining power in the realm.
The Eras:
The timeline in the setting of The Dark Eye is divided between several eras, from the beginning of creation, to the current events. Each era is dominated by a particular sentient species, sees a different pantheon of gods (albeit multiple gods have managed to be worshipped in multiple eras) and has its own high cultures. Previous eras were, among others, the Era of Dragons, the Era of Trolls, the Era of the feline species, the Era of Arachnids, the Era of the maritime species and the Era of Lizards. The current era, the eleventh, is the Era of the long-lived races, the elves and dwarves, though scholars presume that the era is nearing its end. Each era spans over ten thousand years or more, so knowledge of past eras is often lost. While most of the previously dominating species are still around in remote corners of the world, their numbers are dwindling.
The Tenth Era:
The first important events for contemporary Aventuria can be traced back to the tenth era, way over ten thousand years ago. The tenth era was the era of the Lizardfolk, the Achaz and their more monstrous cousins. It marks the entrance of humans and elves in Aventuria. While humans come from the continent of Myranor to the west, elves stepped into creation from another sphere, known only as the Light Sphere by their tales. While the elves built an empire in the far north, the first humans were driven into the arid lands of Tulamidiya and the Khom desert by the dominating lizardfolk, who often took humans as slaves.
Leader of the lizardfolk at the time was the Ancient Dragon Pyrdacor. Tasked by the gods to be the guardian of the elements, his power corrupted him and he began to desire godhood himself. The Achaz started to worship them and he became their benefactor. As such, he took the revelation that the Era of the Lizardfolk was about to end particularly hard. Manipulating the spheres themselves, he managed to artificially prolong the Era of the Lizardfolk, while the gods elevated the elves and dwarves to the dominating species of the Eleventh Era.
The result was a war between the dominating species of two eras. Supported by the human slaves, the elves and dwarves managed to drive the Achaz back. The vengeful Pyrdacor seduced and corrupted the high elven queen Orima and together with her, he created Pardona, an elven sorceress whom both gave a part of their power to, in order for her to turn the tide of the war. However, Pardona soon betrayed her creators and allied herself with the Nameless One. She started a civil war in the high elven kingdoms, which ended with Orima’s death and the complete destruction of the elven culture. The survivors separate into three tribes, the Rime Elves, Wood Elves and Lea Elves of modern Aventuria.
Without Pardona’s assistance, Pyrdacor was eventually defeated and killed by the dwarves, who themselves were supported by Famerlor, the lion-headed dragon consort of the goddess Rondra. Famerlor tore Pyrdacor’s body apart, while the dwarves allegedly took the dragon’s immortal soulstone, to prevent him from ever rising again. With Pyrdacor’s death, the tenth era ended at last, even if the lizardfolk empire remained powerful for thousands of years to come.
The Eleventh Era:
Due to Pyrdacor’s manipulation, the elves and dwarves started their journey as the dominating species’ of the elventh era weakened and never lived up to their potential. They are considered the dominating species’, but in fact, the humans built up their first high cultures during this era. The ancient Tulamids were the humans who drove the lizardfolk to near extinction at last, destroying their empire in all but the most remote jungles and swamps of southern Aventuria. The legendary Tulamid ruler Bastrabun eventually installed a network of protective spells to prevent the Achaz from ever leaving the Lizard Marches and Maraskan, although his spells have long since lost their power.
Together with elves and dwarves, the humans built up mighty empires. The most famous of this is the old Horasian Empire, also known as the Empire of Bosparan, after the eponymous capital. For thousands of years, Bosparan was the most important nation in Aventuria. However, over the time it became a dark and corrupt place, where the mighty ones freely worshipped and consorted with demons. The most infamous of these were Emperor Fran-Horas and Empress Hela-Horas, who lived roughly a thousand years ago.
Dissatisfied with the Horas’ decadence, the inhabitants of Garetia, the northernmost province of Bosparan, rebelled against their leaders. Fran-Horas led his army to the gates of Gareth, the capital of Garetia, where he summoned legions of demons to support them in taking the city from the rebels. However, the demons turned against his army and killed most of his men, yet also most of the rebels before being driven back. Haunted by his failure, Fran-Horas died a few years later, as a broken, despised man.
His successor, Hela-Horas, was known as a cruel madwoman. The mistreatment of her subjects drove more and more provinces of the empire into open rebellion. Like her ancestor Fran, she consorted with demons to strengthen herself, to the point where she became known as the most depraved demon cultist to ever live. During the final battle against the rebel army, who were led by the Novadi general Raul ibn Rafid, the gods themselves intervened, clashing against Hela’s demon masters. They triumphed and Raul’s army critically defeated Hela and hers. The corrupted empress fled to Bosparan, which was destroyed by the gods themselves.
Though the rebellion had been successful, the realm was broken. Raul, who had lost his entire family during the war, married Hela’s niece and successor and they built up a new empire in the ruins of Garetia. The former heartland of the old empire became known as Horasia and remained independent, keeping up the traditions of the Bosparanian empire. Raul’s empire however eclipsed it in power eventually and became known as the Middenrealm.
Under the leadership of Raul’s bloodline the Middenrealm became the continent’s largest nation. Their reign lasted for several hundred years and is remembered as a peaceful one. However, due to the schemes of the power-hungry Church of Praios, the last male member of Raul’s family was murdered. What followed was the time of the Priest Emperors, where brutal fanatics combined the two positions of the Head of the Church of Praios and the Emperor of the Middenrealm.
The Priest Emperors were ruthless and cruel, their reign overshadowed by brutal persecution of all other religions. Even worshippers of other members of the Twelve God Pantheon were massacred, most famously the rebellious Church of Rondra. Their reign was eventually brought to a peaceful end by the wise mage Rohal, who famously convinced the last of the Priest Emperors of his mistakes, causing him to atone by naming Rohal himself as the new emperor.
The Mage Emperor Rohal is known as the greatest emperor the Middenrealm had in its long history. Exceptionally and mysteriously long-lived, he ruled the Middenrealm for over a hundred years, bringing peace and stability back. His reforms created the foundation of the modern Middenrealm and beyond, including the creation of the three guilds of magic. As such, Rohal is worshipped even long after his disappearance. His reign ended abruptly, as he challenged the dangerous mage Borbarad to a duel in the Gorian desert. The result left the whole region destroyed and both mages vanished without a trace.
Since he never fathered children, Rohal’s death spawned a long period of wars for succession. Around the same time, the unified guild of magic split up into three, the white, grey and black guild, each claiming to follow the traditions of Rohal the Wise. Eventually, after many years without an emperor, Perval the Cruel managed to defeat and kill everyone who might challenge him. He declared himself emperor and began the line of the House of Gareth.
Despite his infamous nickname, Perval the Cruel is remembered as a strong emperor. His legacy lives on and he made the Middenrealm the strong military force it is today. However, his children, the Twin Emperors Bardo and Cella, were known for their weakness and decadence. This resulted in them being forced to step down from their titles and abandon the crown, granting it to their cousin Reto, a feared warmonger whose reign ended just a few decades before the beginning of our story.
The modern-day Aventuria:
The modern-day Aventuria is the period that your character could reasonably have experienced. It spans through the reigns of the Middenrealm emperor Reto and his successors Hal and Brin. Reto himself was a commanding presence and a warmonger, who forcefully brought the island of Maraskan into the Middenrealm. His chief tactician during the Maraskan war was the young commoner Helme Haffax. Realizing his military genius, Reto elevated Haffax into the ranks of the nobility, naming him Margreave of Warkhome and High Marshall of the Middenrealm.
Reto died twenty years before our story starts, having barely lived long enough to see Maraskan submitting to Middenrealm authority. After his death, he became known as the Iron Emperor and his strength is still fondly remembered by the nobility and the soldiers of the realm. His successor, Emperor Hal, was a kind-hearted man first and foremost, who cared for the commoners of his realm. This, unfortunately, brought up many problems with the nobility, who wished for an iron-fisted emperor who strengthened their rights instead of those of the smallfolk.
Hal’s reign was the beginning for many problems his son has to fight with to this day. His weak stance towards the nobility disillusioned many of the nobles who have downright worshipped Reto. In an attempt to win their support, he declared himself a god, only to alienate them and the church of the Twelve Gods further. Nonetheless, he remains loved by the commoners, who benefitted from Hal’s reforms.
Perhaps the lowest point of his reign happened about a decade before the story starts. A scheme at court led to the humiliation and exile of the proud court mage Gaius Galotta. Looking for revenge, the mage stole an ancient artifact, which he used to unite the ogre tribes of Tobria. His war against the Middenrealm became known as the March of the Thousand Ogres. Unstoppable by conventional methods, they devastated the province of Tobria. However, thanks to Marshall Haffax, the Middenrealm army was able to stop and defeat them at the Trollgap, the mountain path that separates the provinces of Darpatia and Tobria.
This has been only the beginning of Hal's tumultuous reign, as the defeat of Galotta, who escaped justice to this day, marked the beginning of several big conflicts the Middenrealm had to fight. Most dangerous of these was the Orkenstorm, the mass invasion of orks from the Orklands into the Middenrealm, under the leadership of their brilliant warchief Ashim Riak Assai. The Orks took the city of Griffinsford and occupied it for over a year, while devastating the provinces of Meadows and Garetia. It was, once again, only thanks to the cunning Marshall Haffax that the orkish army was defeated on the fields of Gareth, only a few miles north of the capital city.
Hal also intervened in the Khom war, where the armies of the Al’Anfanian empire invaded the Khom desert, seeking to conquer the Novadi kingdom. The war was short and bloody, yet thanks to Hal’s support, the Novadis managed to drive the Al’Anfanians back, slaying their leader, Tar Honak, in the process. This involvement has left relations between the Middenrealm and Al’Anfa sour, something not even Hal’s marriage to the Al’Anfanian princess Alara Paligan was able to fix.
Emperor Hal disappeared without a trace during a hunting trip just a few years before the story is set. His only son, Brin of Gareth, succeeded him. However, out of respect for his father, Brin did not take the crown and the title of Emperor. Instead, he named himself High Protector of the Middenrealm and agreed to wait for ten years until accepting the death of his disappeared father, hoping that Hal would miraculously return.
Young and inexperienced, Brin’s reign has just begun. The most infamous incident overshadowed the very beginning of his reign. Disappointed with the weakness of the House of Gareth, the Duke of Darpatia, Answin of Ravenmouth, declared himself to be Hal’s successor. He went to war against Brin and though no actual battle was fought, he brought the realm to the brink of ruin. His civil war was ended without bloodshed and Answin disappeared. His successors still have to fight back the accusations that they stood behind his decision. Nonetheless, Answin has many loyal followers among the nobility left and Brin’s merciful decision to imprison Ravenmouth’s highest generals instead of executing them leaves the Answinists with some remaining power in the realm.
