Codex Timeline
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
There have been several different calenders in Codex. The first and mostly easily researched is based on the rise of the Ronat Empire, which tracks the events of the western continent. Dates are marked as 'DE', or years distant from the 'Dawn of the Empire'.
-4,500 DE
- The simulacra known as Horan are created by the Undina.
-4,000 DE
- The first horan gains sentience and a soul from an experiment performed by a Undina named Etu'An. Calling herself Evonne, she leaves Etu'An and gathers lost simulacra to herself. Her sentience breeds true, and in secret begins to hide intelligent simulacra.
-3,800 DE
- With each generation of simulacra from Evonne, development accelerates and lifespan is greatly shortened. Evonne gathers all her offspring and creates the first stoneship with the aid of her husband Caedmon. The simulacra, numbering no more than two hundred, set sail to the west before they are discovered. One undina, Daku'Sumtu, sees the stoneship leave and takes this as the fourth sign of the prophet Dugnamtar.
-3,798 DE
- After two years at sea, the stoneship crashes on a beach near a small town. Evonne and Caedmon go into the town and rediscover the dragon-made race calling themselves dwarves. To further separate themselves from their slave heritages, the horan rename themselves humans. The dwarves teach the humans to survive in the jungle, even though the humans are loathe to use their own powers to help in the dwarven settlement.
-3,796 DE
- Dwarven-human relationships are beginning to stabilize when an assault from the Shakaran, a race of panther-like humanoids. The small dwarven army is greatly outnumbered, and the humans move to help, empowered by secrets stolen from the elves. The Shakaran are fought off, and the dwarven king Issumatar seals his allegiance with Evonne by forming the stone monument Sura. Evonne issues the Edict, stating that humans owe the dwarves their survival and must help maintain them.
-3,413 DE
- Having fended off many attacks by the Shakaran, but lacking in the ability to strike back against the larger armies and stronger native magic, Corann the grandson of Evonne goes into the jungle to find the source of the Shakaran magic.
-3,389 DE
- Mounting a massive assault, the Shakaran armies destroy all the dwarven-human settlements but the original colony. Held off by a magical spell woven by Evonne, the Shakaran generals wait for the spell to run its course as it drains off Evonne's lifeforce.
-3,385 DE
- Evonne finally succumbs to the power of her defensive spells and dies, falling silent near Sura. Shakaran troops begin their march forward, but are stopped when the powers of their shaman's spells are cut off. Turning, the shamans see Corann, covered in pact tatoos and drawing the essence of the Shakaran animistic spirits away from the army. The army, demoralized by the abandonment of the spirits, flees into the jungle, and Caedmon and Issumatar kill or capture the majority of the army's command staff.
-3,010 DE
- With attacks from the Shakaran becoming less frequent, Issumatar commands that the dwarves and humans begin to build a great city.
-3,005 DE
- Using the dwarves' druidic magic and the stolen magics from the Undina, the city is created in short order. Centered on the stone monument, the city becomes known as Sura. Having seen his people protected from the Shakaran, Issumatar dies, leaving his daughter Ulva in command of the army.
-3,001 DE
- Caedmon, now the last of the original simulacra, dies. While the humans now number in the thousands, they now live for only seventy years. Caedmon's final order is that the humans will follow the original Edict of Evonne to support the dwarves and their society.
-2,927 DE
- The Undina discover the Darklands, another plane of existence with great magical power. They begin to research this new power, and create a race they call 'Elves', a weaker form of themselves but possessing much of their beauty and intelligence.
-2,950 DE
- Ulva leads an small force of dwarves, warrior humans, and followers of Corann's pact magic into the jungle, carving out a large field several hundred miles away from Sura and nearly fifty miles wide. Ulva's army holds dangers at bay while engineers begin constructing the Great North Road, connecting the field to the sea-city.
-2,623 DE
- Four powerful undina research and discover the lairs of the Elemental Lords. Drawing more power from the Darklands, they kill three of the four deities and take their mantles from them. The plan backfires, however, when the new gods realize that using their new-found powers to their fullest will rip Codex apart with elemental energy. Trapped in their powers, they slowly begin to take on worshippers and attempt to convince the only original surviving Lord, Konoj the Fire Lord, to exercise his power with them.
-2,645 DE
- The Great North Road is completed, and Ulva's basecamp becomes the beginning of the city of Nertornartak. In Sura, Corann dies, and his pact followers meet with the wizards from the east to form the Lugo'Belinos, an institute of learning and magic. Human influence increases in Sura, but the Edict of Evonne holds.
-2,512 DE
- Nertornartak is completed. Ulva prepares to mount an assault to the west, but is stopped by Adlartok, the first dwarven seer. Adlartok tells Ulva to instead travel along the Anana River, for in the jungle lurks her death. Ulva refuses to listen to Adlartok, and leads over five thousand dwarves and humans into the jungle. None are ever seen again, and Ulva's son Tupilek takes control of Nertornartak.
-2,418 DE
- Following Adlartok's advice, Tupilek moves along the Anana River and founds the city of Naartok near a natural clearing. The area is remarkably fertile, and the humans in the area begins to cultivate grain and flax. Tupilek begins construction of the Great West Road.
-2,380 DE
- Realizing that the Undina have gone too far, Bahamut and Tiamat attempt to convince the eldest undina, Tsaroran, that his race needs to stop their experiments. Tsaroran refuses, and lashes out at the two dragons. His attack wounds the pair savagely, and in their surprise he makes his escape, taking eight of his most powerful warlords north.
-2,354 DE
- With the exception of Tsaroran and his eight followers, the undina in mass retreat to Kha-dyn to escape what they feel is an inevitable war. They leave behind prophecies foretelling their return, and artifacts to assist their offspring the elves in case the undina wisdom is needed. They close the barrier to the plane with their powers, and once the seal is complete, have shut themselves off from the corrupting influence of the Darklands as well.
-2,343 DE
- The Great West Road, three hundred miles long, is completed, and several small villages begin to crop up along the route. To defend the citizens of his kingdom, Tupilek issues the Law of War, which states that children not apprenticed or in the clergy by the age of ten must join the army until at least the age of sixteen.
-2,312 DE
- The Grain Road is constructed, connecting Naartok and Nertornartak. Before completed, a virulent disease spreads through the workforce, killing hundreds and filling graveyards along the highway. Once completed, the Grain Road is immediately renamed The Gray Road in honor of the dead.
-2,232 DE
- Adlartok the Seer dies, issuing a final cryptic warning of danger from the sea. His followers, the Adlartan, begin studying his works and forge the Oracle of Massak in Nertornartak.
-2,114 DE
- Following the Anana River further north to the Great Falls, an exploration team led by the human shaman Grannus finds deposits of a blue iron in the ground near the top of the falls. Grannus is given permission to build the city of Alan-Tungortak, and construction is begun on the High Road connecting the Blue City to Naartok.
-2,112 DE
- Development of a form of steel resistant to rust is completed. Called Handar, the blue iron of Alan-Tungortak is heavily mined to continue production. The caves under the Great Falls are home to many dangers and dire beasts, but the drive for the rare blue iron forces humans and dwarves deeper into the earth.
-1,973 DE
- Without the guiding wisdom of the Undina, the elves decide that encouraging war between the dragons and remaining Undina would allow them to become the mightiest race on Codex. They begin small scale deceptions, making it look as if the dragons are encroaching on Undina territory.
-1,921 DE
- Realizing that the war between the Dormalch and the Dragons is escalating too slowly, an elven warrior named Dri'natur uses a blade forged in the Darklands to kill the draconic paragon Sarath'Argent. He absorbs the dragons essence into himself, and then blames the Undina for the murder. This act enrages Bahamut, and he declares war on the fae.
-1,712 DE
- Over two thousand years after the escape of the simulacra, wooden ships bearing elves arrive in Sura. Led by Isten'baba, the head of the two houses of elves in the ships, the travelers are elusive about the reasons why they have left the East. Seeing the simulacra, Isten'baba attempts to activate ancient command words of power against them. Many young humans are killed as their bodies cannot resist the spells but their souls fight back.
-1,711 DE
- Isten'baba is forced to flee up the Anana River with his elven followers, the enraged populace of Sura chasing them. Isten'baba comes to Naartok, and the dwarven leader Nini stops the army of Sura from engaging the fleeing elves. Isten'baba's followers, sickened by the unexpected dangers of the jungle, agree that they will not attempt the spells of command again on penalty of genocide. The Law of Equality is issued, requiring that no race is greater than the others.
-1,423 DE
- Elves create the Ocean City of Bit'Sannu to the east of Nertornartak. The great reef sharks near the city are found to contain large bones easily carved, and the beauty of the carvings are much prized by the residents of the other cities. The dwarves of Nertornartak build the Road of Law, connecting their city to Bit'Sannu. Elven petitions to Sura for a connecting road are refused.
-1,324 DE
- The Lugo'Belinos create fifteen stoneships and send them to the east. Of the fifteen, only four manage to make it to the eastern continent, and once they land, all communication with them is lost.
-1,201 DE
- The dwarven ruler of Nertornartak Shesh, following the interpetations of the Adlartan, declares himself the Emperor over the other cities. The elves agree to the alliance immediately, but the humans of Sura are greatly concerned for the Law of Equality. Naartok and Alan-Tungortek ally against Shesh, stating that he has overstepped his bounds of authority.
-1,198 DE
- Angered that the two cities stand against him, Shesh orders his army to march on Naartok and Alan-Tungortek. The armies of Bit'Sannu join with eagerness, but most of the Nertornartak army is concerned with fighting against their own allies. Infighting becomes common, and by the time the army reaches Naartok, it is divided and disorganized. Fighting begins on the fields around Naartok, and Handar-armed troops from Alan-Tungortak quickly reinforce the defenders.
-1,195 DE
- After three years of fighting the rebel states, Shesh travels to Sura and orders the Lugo'Belinos to use their spells to defeat his enemies. Leucetius deliberates with his colleages, and reluctantly agrees after secretly sending a large contingent of his own militia and spellcasters across the Anana to form the city of Lugios.
-1,194 DE
- With the spells of the Lugo'Belinos, Shesh routes the armies of Naartok, forcing them to flee toward Alan-Tungortak. Shesh orders Naartok burned to the ground and follows the retreating troops up the High Road.
-1,192 DE
- Unable to reach the top of the Great Falls, Shesh once again orders Leucetius to use his most powerful magics to bring the city down. Leucetius refuses, and Shesh has the Adlartan oracles show the wizard the town of Sura, where children are being held as hostages against Leucetius' actions. Full of rage and self-loathing, Leucetius binds pact magic and wizardry together to summon Ehecatl, the Wind Lord of the Sea. A great tsunami rises in the ocean, burying Sura, Bit'Sannu, and Nertornartuk in hundred of feet of silt and debris. The wave is visible from Alan-Tungortek, and Shesh is stunned at what he has wrought on his empire. Shesh throws himself into the Anana River in anguish, while Leucetius disappears in the haze of his spells.
-1,082 DE
- Recognizing the turning of such powerful pacts, the Shakaran march on the remaining peoples of the three cities, slaughtering thousands. Refugees seek Alan-Tungortak for succor, but are turned back.
-1,052 DE
- Yakona, the new dwarven leader of Alan-Tungortak, recognizes the need for the Law of Equality to be reinstated. Realizing that dwarven ambition caused the devestation of the jungle and the three cities, she approaches the general Teutorigos and invokes the Edict of Evonne, declaring that the desire of all dwarves was to follow the humans. Teutorigos renames his city Alantor and opens the gates to the refugees.
-1,043 DE
- Teutorigos leads his armies against the Shakaran along the High Road, beating them back into the jungle and reaching the remains of Naartok. He stakes his spear in the ground and orders the building of the city Unar.
-1,037 DE
- While rebuilding Unar, Teutorigos is approached by a small group bearing messages from Lugios offering help at the cost of his acceptance of the Law of Truth, ordering the new kingdom to judge its citizens and actions before beginning them. Teutorigos agrees and forms the Unar Consulate, a group of citizens that will keep the Law of Truth.
-1,020 DE
- With the aid of Lugios, Teutorigos crosses the Anana River, now full of deadly whirlpools and strange creatures. He builds the city of Banin and orders its residents to build the Alligence Road to Lugios.
-1,014 DE
- Now an old man, Teutorigos passes control of his kingdom to his daughter Buducia. The first human seer, Buducia allows the generals to control the armies while she travels to ruins of Nertornartak with a small force.
-1,001 DE
- The armies of the new kingdom reach Sura and find that the original Sura Stone and Evonne's Grave are gone. Demoralized, they are unprepared for the attack of Shakaran following their arrival, and hundreds are killed before they can retreat to the safety of Unar.
-998 DE
- Reinforcements to Unar arrive from Banin, including pact wizards from Lugios. The First Army returns to Sura and routes the Shakarin excavating the ancient city. A wizard from Lugios, Aodh, forges the New Sura Stone, raising it from the earth with spells and reaffirming the Edict of Evonne and the Law of Equality.
-972 DE
- The Millenium War comes to an end as Tiamat uses the essence of her child Luzazul to create the Abjurewall, sealing the nine Undina, now calling themselves the Dormalch, in the Darklands. Luzazul himself is pulled into the Darklands with the Titans, quicly becoming corrupted into the Shadow Dragon. The Dragon and the Titans immediately begin chipping at the Abjurewall, and Luzazul begins whispering to Tiamat.
-994 DE
- Repairs of the High Road and the Great West Road are completed, and Unar once again becomes a center of commerce as the fields, revitalized with the oceanic silt, give forth a great bounty than before.
-992 DE
- Buducia returns from Nertornartak. Those that see her perceive a great change in her demeanor, and are awestruck when she banishes the elven generals from her army. Buducia has the Gray Road rebuilt, but orders that no new structures are to be built in the ruins of Nertornartak. Now covered by jungle and infested with monsters, few are willing to journey along the road to explore the Lost City.
-930 DE
- Buducia dies, leaving her daughter Betony in control of the army. Betony marries the dwarf Nanuq, and the two lead the First and Second Army north from Sura, building the Denial Road as they approach the Ruins of Bit'Sannu.
-925 DE
- Betony and Nanuq demand parlay with the elves haunting the ruins of Bit'Sannu. Meeting with the leader of the elves, Sataru, they reach an agreement where the elves will be welcome back to the kingdom as citizens, but they must maintain their own city and keep it whole. Sataru, desperate for help against the Shakaran, agrees to all terms and renames his city Dayani.
-874 DE
- Betony dies, and Nanuq takes her body to Nertornartak, never to be seen again. Their children Epona and Dei takes control of the kingdom, Epona watching the seas from Sura while Dei takes up residence in Alantor.
-843 DE
- After years of bickering, the dragon forces in the East align behind either Bahamut or Tiamat and begin to wage war on each other. The two forces decimate the continent, and Codex itself begins absorbing the fallen bodies of dragons to heal itself with their elemental energies.
-742 DE
- A host of undead attack Unar, led by the ghastly remains of Ulva. The city eventually beats the horde back, but not before the Spear of Teutorigos is stolen. The undead incursion causes the Gray Road to become active with the disease-ridden corpses of its original builders.
-612 DE
- Adventurers, driven to explore Nertornartak, begin clearing the Great North Road as an alternate route to the Lost City.
-532 DE
- The descendants of Epona and Dei meet in Unar to discuss the future of the kingdom, meeting with the Unar Consulate. The debates continue for over a hundred years.
-501 DE
- A dwarf named Koko develops black powder, a powerful explosive. An accident with the powder destroys several homes in Banin, but Koko and his apprentices quickly determine how to stabilize the powder.
-473 DE
- The first black powder weapon is developed. Almost useless in the dense jungle, where trees block view and the dampness ruins the powder, the early weapons are used almost exclusively by adventurers, albeit sparingly.
-428 DE
- The Consulate's debates finally end, determined to forge the Empire of Ronat. Almost as soon as the treaties of the new Empire are completed, new debates spark as to who shall be the Emperor.
-334 DE
- So complete is the war, after five hundred years only two dragon paragons survive. Lybonrehc and Auric meet in secret to forge a life-pact, mingling their energies in case either of them perish. This bid for personal survival is underscored by the need to keep the Abjurewall intact.
-312 DE
- Texts found in Nertornartak reveal that Adlartok identified the coming tsunami, calling it the end of the First Age. The Second Age, the Time of Humans, would be seen as the "silver one approaches the stone chair". The Third Age is identified as the Time of the Firstborn, which Dayani ruler Melam takes to mean the elves. Melam orders all elven canidates to retreat from the issue of Emperor, instead guiding the Consulate and slowly gaining political power.
-217 DE
- The Spear of Teutorigos is found by adventurers, but is lost upon its return to Unar. The adventurers are found murdered in the Last Lion Inn with a blood-soaked map of the region north of Alantor.
-182 DE
- Excavators find the old city of Sura under the new construction, mostly intact. Exploration is cut short by repeated monster attacks. The armies refused to move into the area until the Unar debates are completed.
-89 DE
- While the debate for the imperial throne continues, a young human named Arthmael meets a Shakaran named Mamexi. The two form a strange alliance, with the Shakaran leading Arthmael deeper into the jungle. As they adventure, Mamexi is discovered by the other Shakaran and she is slain for her treachery. Incensed, Arthmael takes her weapons and leads a small army against her killers. When he reaches the Divide, he swears an oath of vengeance. His followers recoil as the cliff face gives way, burying Arthmael.
-84 DE
- Arthmael stumbles naked into Unar, raving about the Shakaran and his lost love. He is chained and placed in the care of Adlartan. His house on the edge of Unar is avoided by most of the populace.
-32 DE
- Despite his ravings, Arthmael is approached by Innogen, a young silversmith. In Innogen's presence, Arthmael seems calm, but refers to her as Mamexi and talks of adventuring to a place called Toxactl, the End of War.
-21 DE
- An elf known only as Sapphire sees Innogen sneaking into Arthmael's hut. Arthmael, now old and dying, tells Innogen that Toxactl is coming, but the Shakaran will stop it. Sapphire reports to his superiors, who quietly begin to observe Innogen.
-12 DE
- Innogen's name is mysteriously entered into the debate for Emperor, and other canidates both begin to back out of the debates or are found murdered.
-4 DE
- Innogen is declared Empress of Ronat. Older and wiser, Innogen orders the full reinstatement of the Laws and the Edict, and begins to assemble the Consulate together at Unar. Dayani is given the right of representation under the Law of Equality. Innogen begins her circuit of her domain.
0 DE (The Dawn of the Empire of Ronat)
- Innogen, having travelled to Alantor, Sura, Banin, Lugios, and Dayani to secure her position, arrives at the gate of Nertornartak. Her army holding back the fiends infesting the Lost City, she enters the old Oracle and returns appearing younger and with Arthmael, reborn from the ether, at her side. Awed by their appearance, the couple is unmolested as they travel alone down the Gray Road to the Imperial Palace in Unar.
- Bahamut and Tiamat meet in the center of the eastern continent to declare a final truce. Tiamat, driven insane by Luzazul's constant whispers, draws on the energy of the Darklands and slays Bahamut. The first child of the pair of deities rushes to the scene, absorbing Bahamut's energy and stealing his identity. Coming to his lord's rescue, Auric is horrified by the devastation and, instead of chasing the usurper, sacrifices his own life to resurrect the bones of the great dragon. The animated corpse, calling itself Cassius and with great power, retreats to the north. Auric's life-pact with Lybonrehc is disrupted by the divine energies and the two are fused into a single entity. The reborn dragon, Lybonuric, has power greater than its progenitors, but immediately goes to sleep under a mountain, fearing its own might and knowing that its death will finally release a horror upon the world.