Ages of History

History in the Mortal Realms is divided into six ages, each ruled by a different Celestial dynasty. The current year is the 1111th year of the fifth age, the Age of Complexity (CPX).  

Age of Tranquility

The Age of Tranquility (TRQ) is the first age of recorded history, ruled by the Titans. It began when Fricka created her companion Gnotan by taking one chamber of her heart from her chest and weaving a Soul around it. Fricka spent the rest of the age weaving other companions for herself from other parts of her body—sacrificing her third eye to make her sisters The Fates, her second mouth to make her brother Prometheus, and so forth—but Gnotan took his inventiveness to the Material Plane, and crafted the Gnomelociraptor out of the land she had carved therein.   In the middle centuries of the Age of Tranquility, Fricka, Gnotan, and the rest of the Titans populated the land with the predecessors to most of today's mortal races, including the Dwarf and the Human.   The Age of Tranquility lasted 7,200 years, and ended at the creation of the archdevils.  

Age of Audacity

The Age of Audacity (AUD) was the shortest—but perhaps most consequential—age of history, lasting a mere 1,100 years. It began when Gnotan's brother Cronus split the Lower Planes from the Upper Planes and created the archdevils to rule them. This forced Fricka to begin expelling Cronus and most of the other Titans for these and other transgressions: Gruumsh for the creation of the Orokhim, etc. In this age, she passed the majority of her power down to her first generation of children, the gods and goddesses of the Pioneer Dynasty.   This age is best known for the creation and development of all immortals besides the gods and the Great Old Ones—archfey, archdevils, etc., as well as the invention of the earliest metal weapons and tools among mortals. This is also the age when Hildegard taught the first mortals to harness both arcane and divine magic.   The Uplifting of the Elves occurred around the third and fourth centuries of the Age of Audacity, when the rulers of the Fey courts created the Elf by blessing four tribes of humans with long lives and supernatural gifts.    The Age of Audacity ended when the Demon Lords rose to power in the Lower Planes and began the Blood Wars.  

Age of Anxiety

The Age of Anxiety (ANX) saw the takeover of the Wild Dynasty and the massive proliferation of the powers of the natural world, in response to the settlement and technological growth of mortal civilization during the Age of Audacity. Mortal populations died off en masse, leaving only a few as the ancestors of those who survive today.   Gnomes reached their current Humanoid form in the first century of the Age of Anxiety. Halflings evolved from Human populations (possibly interbreeding with Gnomish or dwarvish outsiders) during the Gaping Hunger in the late stages of the Age of Anxiety. Around the same time, Prometheus brought the gifts of fire and the Bankhur to Ilsa the Brave, thus founding the Half-orc society.  

Age of Integrity

The Age of Integrity (ITG) was a 3,500-year-long period of isolationism between the various races of the continent that saw a return to stability and growth because of the influence of the Erden Dynasty. Besides these gods, most of the Celestial dynasties took a "hands-off" approach to the Material Plane and other Inner Planes during this age, allowing mortals to rebuild and eventually flourish.  

Age of Complexity

The Age of Complexity (CPX) began when Telwyth-Teg broke the treaty of the Fey Courts by creating the fifth Elven race, the Fey-orc. This cleared the way for far more immortal interaction with the Material Plane than had previously been known, leading to unprecedented advances in arcane and divine magic but also unprecedented amounts of turmoil in the Outer Planes as immortals vied for supremacy in suddenly-volatile hierarchies. Suddenly, mortals were born as Tieflings and Aasimar due to outsized influence from the Lower or Upper Planes (respectively). Over the subsequent decades, the mortal races have learned to communicate and coexist within diverse societies, though they still retain many cultural differences.   It is currently the beginning of the eleventh century of the Age of Complexity. Over the past several centuries, arcane and technological advances by institutions like the Inventor's Institute of Cape Hildegard as well as individual great archmages like Tenser have resulted in incredible quality-of-life increases for most mortals.  

Age of Possibility

Diviners and oracles consistently predict a final, sixth age to come upon the world: the Age of Possibility (@pos), ruled by the Young Dynasty. However, no one yet knows which cosmic events will usher in this age. A few fringe groups have actively sought to bring this about by one means or another. Notable groups who have attempted this feat include the Order of the Banished Scholars and most recently the Order of Sarastro. None have yet been successful.