The calendar of Vaelor is fractured and inconsistent across regions, but the most widely accepted system in the northern kingdoms is AF — After the Fall of the Last High Kingdom, the final great mortal empire that once tried (and failed) to unite the continent.
Current Year: 1274 AF
The Age of the Primordial Ones — Before Time
No written records exist. Only fragmented myths and nightmares remain. The Primordial Ones tore existence from the void through the Shattering. Vael, the strongest among them, betrayed and devoured his siblings in a cataclysmic war. His dying heart fell to the world, still beating beneath the earth, poisoning reality with its corrupted pulse. The Veil tore open. The first continents rose from divine corpses. The Seraphim claim their celestial blood was born in this era.
The First Age — The Age of Blood and Stone (c. 12,000 – 8,000 BF)
Mortals crawled from the blood-soaked soil. The Sunken Empire rose in the southern seas — a cruel, serpentine civilization of Lizardfolk and Deepkin that practiced blood sorcery on a continental scale. They are believed to have forged (or found) the first fragments of the Broken Blade.
Simultaneously, the first giants and Half-Giants walked the northern mountains, while primitive humans and Beastmen tribes fought over the ruins of divine flesh. The first elves awakened in the southern forests, already arrogant and ancient.
The Second Age — The Age of Serpents and Flame (c. 8,000 – 4,500 BF)
The Sunken Empire reached its zenith, ruling the waves and much of the southern continent. Their abyssal libraries and drowned spires became centers of forbidden knowledge. In the north, the first dwarven kingdoms delved too deep and awakened things that should have remained buried.
A cataclysmic war between the Sunken Empire and an alliance of early human kingdoms and Seraphim ended in the Great Drowning. Much of the southern empire sank beneath the waves. Fragments of the Broken Blade were lost to the sea. This event is remembered as the First Breaking.
The Third Age — The Age of Mortal Empires (c. 4,500 BF – 0 AF)
Humanity rose to prominence. The High Kingdom of Vaeloria was founded in the central lands, attempting to bring order to the continent.
3124 BF: The Runic Hunters Order is founded in the north to study and contain the lingering magic of the Primordials.
1789 BF: The Bearers of the Broken Blade are established as guardians of the legendary weapon’s fragments.
421 BF: The High Kingdom reaches its peak, conquering much of what is now Skarnheim, Eldoria, and Valdris.
87 BF: Internal corruption, coupled with increasing Veil incursions and the awakening of ancient horrors, begins the Long Decline.
0 AF — The Fall: The Last High King is betrayed and slain in his own throne room. The High Kingdom collapses into warring city-states. Skarnheim emerges as an independent northern kingdom amid endless winter.
The Fourth Age — The Long Dusk (0 AF – Present)
243 AF — The first major eruption of the Ash Wastes. Thousands die. The Ashborn appear as a cursed new people.
671 AF — The Betrayal of the Runic Hunters. Elias Veyra’s ancestors (or a previous incarnation) are said to have played a part in the near-destruction of the order.
912 AF — The Corruption of Vintermort. Dark rituals performed in the forest near Thornwald begin twisting the land. The first reports of missing children surface.
1094 AF — The Seraphim of Fajula close their hidden portals to the surface and become almost entirely isolationist, only descending rarely.
1198 AF — King Harald Ironcrown ascends the throne of Skarnheim in Eirheim. He rules with an iron fist but grows increasingly distant from the autonomous port city of Frostheim.
1247 AF — Elias Veyra resurfaces after years in hiding. He begins actively hunting fragments of the Broken Blade and seeks to revive the extinct Bearers of the Broken Blade order under his control.
1269 AF — The submersion cycle of the Bone Bay near Frostheim becomes dangerously irregular. Ancient ruins rise more frequently, disgorging horrors and treasures alike.
1273 AF — Vintermort Forest grows noticeably darker. Beastmen tribes report increased aggression from corrupted creatures. The Hand of the Port strengthens its grip on Frostheim’s underworld.
1274 AF (Current Year) — Elias Veyra is actively collecting fragments of the Broken Blade. Strange omens multiply: children born with Veil-touched eyes, Seraphim sighted descending from the clouds, and whispers that the heart of Vael beneath the continent is beating faster. Many seers and mad prophets claim the Long Dusk is entering its final phase. No new dawn is promised.