Historical Timeline

This page records the major events that led to the founding of Odrun Fell and the development of the city to the present day. Dates use the Fell reckoning. “PF” means Pre-Fell, the years before Odrun’s greatclub fell. “Fell” counts forward from the year the club struck the earth. The present year is 1379 Fell.

Before the Fell Reckoning

Unknown Ages, PF
Gods and titans fight for control of the world. Odrun, the last titan, carries a greatclub of petrified wood bound in iron. The war reshapes whole regions.

Year 0, the Fall
The gods strike Odrun in a final battle. He vanishes from history. His greatclub drops from his hand and buries itself in the plain. The impact changes the land. Root systems swell. Insects grow to unnatural size. The site becomes a permanent zone of wild growth and hostile life later called the Shroud. This moment starts the Fell calendar.

0–400 Fell: The Wake of the Club

0–120 Fell
The land around the greatclub shifts. Trees grow to extreme size and tangle the ground. Swarms of large insects drive off travelers. Rumors spread about shapeshifting predators that copy human faces. Few people approach the area except hunters and mystics who do not return.

121–220 Fell
Crude tracks skirt the outer Shroud. Prospectors notice rare chitin, venom, and silk that can be bartered far away. The first notes on safe seasons and feeding cycles of the larger creatures are recorded by small groups that operate at the edges and leave quickly.

221–320 Fell
Hollowmask sightings increase. These ambush predators begin to appear in stories across nearby settlements. People treat the Shroud as a hard border. No permanent settlement exists at the club itself.

321–400 Fell
A few determined crews discover dry cavities in the club’s exposed spikes and iron bands. Temporary shelters appear in the spike hollows during short hunts. The idea of seasonal work around the club takes hold. Trade posts emerge on the safer southern roads.

400–800 Fell: First Footings of a City

400–470 Fell
A cluster of shelters is carved into the outer surface of the petrified shaft. Trappers and delvers wall the entries. Basic rules form for sharing water, light, and watch shifts. The oldest longhouse stands near a depression believed to match where Odrun’s palm would have gripped the haft.

471–520 Fell
Regular trade begins. Caravans arrive for silk, resin, and venom. In return they bring tools, salt, lamp-oil, and grain. A simple council of hunters, trappers, and tool-wrights meets to stop fights and set common prices for bulk goods.

521–600 Fell
Early craft groups formalize. Breeders learn to keep certain beetles and grubs alive for harvest in pens outside the Shroud. Smiths experiment with chitin plates and discover tempering methods that hold an edge. Traders keep ledgers and build locked stores.

601–680 Fell
Safe routes into the shallow tunnels of the club are mapped and posted on common boards. The first organized tunnel patrols form to guide delves. The proto-district that will become the Hilt grows around these gates.

681–740 Fell
Seasonal fairs attract outside buyers. The habit of counting shares for crew members after each delve becomes standard. Disputes over shares lead to the first written contracts.

741–800 Fell
Four craft and power blocs take clear shape: breeders of living stock, smiths and fabricators, traders and brokers, and the armed delving companies. These groups will later be known as the Barleys, the Ashcoats, the Promissory, and the Cudgel.

800–1000 Fell: Guild Order and Civic Shape

800–810 Fell
Tensions between the four blocs rise. To prevent open conflict, the guild leaders agree to bind decisions to a council where each guild holds one vote. A ceremonial head of state is created to break ties and represent the city. This office is called the Regent’s Seat.

810 Fell
The first Regent is chosen by closed vote of the guild council. The Regent has limited direct power. The office speaks for the city in treaties and festivals, signs documents alongside the council, and can tip a deadlocked vote.

811–830 Fell
District lines harden.

• The Hilt grows around the tunnel gates, barracks, forges, and mission boards.

• The Spindle develops into the main market for legal and illicit trade.

• The Sprigs rises on higher ground with estates, conservatories, and private venues for the wealthy.

• The Barrows expands as the labor and housing base, with clinics, butchery halls, and training houses.

826 Fell
The Gate of Tines is completed on the southern approach. Its armored doors and inspection routines make it the formal entry for caravans and crews.

830–850 Fell
Public rituals standardize. Delver names are recorded on a central wall in the Hilt when crews leave and return. The habit of touching the wall’s great hooks before a delve begins here.

851–880 Fell
The Hallowcrawl, a masked night market and arts walk in the Spindle, adopts a strict rule of barter by favor and performance in its core ring. Traders enforce the rule to keep violence down and to give crews a place to unwind.

881–902 Fell
Wayfinding improves. The Threadspire Archive installs the Living Loom, a mechanical-silk map that reflects collapses and new openings through tensioned threads. Cartographers begin producing standardized route sets.

903–930 Fell
The river Veinspring is terraced with quays and narrow docks. Traffic rules for barges and skiffs are written to keep trade moving between districts.

931–960 Fell
Containment becomes urgent. Dangerous specimens from delves are held in temporary pits that fail often. Funding is set aside for a permanent vault under strict joint control.

971 Fell
The Dregvault opens beneath the Hilt with layered locks, wards, and specialized cells. Staff rotations include mages, engineers, and breeders. Protocols for feeding, cleaning, and disposal are codified.

980–1000 Fell
Exploration pushes southeast toward the swollen head of the club. Patrols report coordinated insect colonies and spore fields that resist fire.

1000–1200 Fell: Expansion, Sealing, and Refinement

1003 Fell
Odrun’s Head is sealed by council order. Watchtowers and wards ring the area. No guild is permitted to harvest there. The Cudgel posts permanent guards. Violations are punished by exile or forced labor.

1004–1040 Fell
The Promissory formalizes luxury and restricted trade. The Chitin Vaults open as controlled houses for rare shellwork and toxins. Contract law for high-risk materials becomes strict and specific.

1041–1072 Fell
The Bentroot Exchange consolidates in the Spindle as a no-frills supply ground for working crews: rope, oilskin, fungus brick, and salvage.

1073–1100 Fell
Breeding and agriculture scale up north of the walls. The Barley Fields adopt bloodline pennants and pen markings. Treebugs are managed like slow orchards. Outsiders are turned away at hedgerows to protect lines.

1101–1120 Fell
Public services in the Barrows stabilize. A large communal clinic, called the Dome, runs on donations and volunteer healers. The butchery and processing hall, Gnarlgut, moves to the perimeter for sanitation and traffic.

1121–1150 Fell
Security policy hardens. The Span, a prison and holding district, is built near the Regent’s Estate. It separates petty crime, debt, political detention, and failed delving crews by convenience rather than strict category. Lower wings are sealed when instability is found.

1151–1188 Fell
The Sprigs invests in culture and spectacle. Venues with advanced light and sound illusions open for pageants, trials by performance, and private events that shape opinion before votes.

1189–1200 Fell
Industrial handling in the Hilt scales vertically. The Hookline Gantry grows into layered beams and tracks for moving raw chitin and armor shells between carts, forges, and pens with minimal ground congestion.

1200–1350 Fell: Institutions Mature

1201–1220 Fell
The Promissory strengthens market dominance with private auctions and sealed-room viewings. The Ashcoats reach a stable set of techniques for chitin tempering and lamination. Mixed-material armors become standard issue for patrols.

1221–1240 Fell
The Sprigs consolidates elite training at the Gilt Thorns, where nobles learn duel etiquette, permitted poisons by contract, and performance rules. Enchanted floors record bouts for review.

1241–1260 Fell
Research and breeding archives expand. The Varlas Breeder’s Archive opens at the Hilt’s edge, cataloging lines, flaws, and experiments. Handling rules require silk gloves and acid-sealed hatches in experimental wings.

1261–1280 Fell
Cartography standards unify across guilds. The Threadspire Archive publishes route codices with update marks that link back to the Living Loom’s change log. Crews adopt a common symbol set for hazards, routes, and dead-ends.

1281–1300 Fell
Public food culture in the Spindle grows. Crackleline Alley becomes the reliable place for hot, cheap insect-based meals for crews and nobles alike. A few stalls gain city-wide reputations.

1300 Fell
City structure and guild balance are fully established. The Regent’s Seat remains symbolic but necessary for tie-breaking and diplomacy. The four guilds hold sway over their districts and core functions.

1350–1379 Fell: Present Era

From 1350–1379 Fell, Odrun Fell tightened control and refined its systems. Disappearances near the Spirals led the council to reaffirm bans on the Shroud’s heart and the interior Spirals. Security and mapping improved through new Dregvault wards and a refit of the Threadspire Loom. In 1369, Myra Thorneveil became Regent, focusing on treaties, caravan safety, and guild unity. Captain Orin Vellak standardized deep-tunnel operations with formal briefings at Emberhook Hall and the Wall of Names ritual. Trade rose, prompting the Promissory to expand bonded storage and fast-track contracts, while the Ashcoats added overnight repair lines. By 1379, the guilds and districts operated in a careful balance under firm protocols and sealed-zone rules.