Chronologies and Era of Qadal

Time is a harsh master, marching ever forward without a backward glance. Every new day promises greatness and change, another step toward another age. Each day passed tells the secrets of time, though only like a fire in the darkness. Truth flickers and spurts with uncertainty. The darkness of the unknown consumes all else, obscuring the past, future, and muddling the present. It cannot be read or truly foreseen- results must be viewed with a suspicious eye. The sections that follow concern the major eras of Qadal's history. It begins to the Age of Darkness, or Olûn, when the universe was nothing more than Vussalas. Following it came the Awakening, after the First Feud and formation of the Olûndari realms of Qadal and Voryndal. When Atûn created the energy of Vojûn he ushered in the Ascension era, allowing the Etayen to create the colonial empire of Étunas. After that is the Weeping Era, when the world was washed over by the unleashed power of Vojûn after the death of Atûn, introducing Nemgarotirs and other horrors. Following its wake marched the Twilight era, when the empires of Corgastor and Eurobia formed and brought some order to Qadal, ending with the Great Conflict and destruction of Nathrovas. Finally, there is the Imperial era, when the empires of olûndi reigned supreme, competing with one another in the great game of global domination. What the future holds is impossible to say, for not even Ácolitus, the creator of all things, knows for certain what will come next. All shall be revealed by time eternal.     Yet, in understanding history one must understand the ways in which it is measured, and why. In a world of newborn olundi, geographic evolution, and Eshanic competition, the concept of keeping more precise time became a relevant concern to the highest beings. They devised for themselves a method of time keeping developed from their own experience using their own terms. In this way histories could be written and affairs in Esha conducted accurately. Indeed, one must consider that before the First Feud time was literally meaningless, and the passage of days and months was nothing. The Eshan lived and grew stronger through life. Passing time was their companion before all others. This new system is the same method of keeping time later adopted by the olundi races of Esha, being on universal consistency between the Greater and Lesser Halve and their occupants.   The most fundamental unit of Eshanic time is known as a Passage, and begins at sunrise and cycles into a new Passage on the following sunrise. This represents the eternal patrol which Acolitus conducts around Esha in the post-First Feud world. Alternatively, the Passage represents the time it takes a single location in Esha to witness the full bredth of Vussalas, thus “passing” through the realm of the Eshan in an abstract, spiritual sense. An Eshan “year” as we might call it possesses 400 Passages, each with a unique name and history, but that is not for this section. Beyond the Passages are “Dynasties” being collections of 10 Passages in consecutive order. Just as the Eshan themselves are grouped into Dynasties, so are the various Passages whose names, character, and history were hinted as existing, even if the details are not present here. Each Eshanic “year” possesses 40 Dynasties, each with special associations universally known and understood by olundi. The Dynasty of your birth often has special associations in life as well.   Last and perhaps most significant is the “Oluthu” being composed of the 40 Dynasties, each with 10 Passages to them. This is the fundamental “historical” unit of Eshanic time keeping rather than practical. Each of the Oluthu possess a unique name, with Oluthu of similar character being named as “successors” to the first Oluthu of that character. For infamous example, the beginning of the First Feud was in an Oluthu named Arayvu, which means Cursed in the Eshanic tongue. This name was used on three later occasions- Zewilir’s Rebellion in Voryndal, Orese Arayvu; the Qazunari War, Jur Arayvu; and most dreadful the beginning of the Second Feud, Semeres Arayvu. Notice the strange names before Arayvu, which the erudite mind will recognize as the Eshor of Kolura. Eshanic numbers are based upon Kolura, thus the first eight numbers of Oluthu are designated by the Eshor, and later ones derived varients. No Oluthu has ever come close to surpassing eight iterations, thus the issue has never arisen.   Now, for larger spans of time one must consider what amount of time a label is meant to describe. Oluthu as 400 passages or 40 dynasties is a measure in which olundi or ollulos affairs might be measured, hence the name. Indeed, most events and lives pass within a few score oluthu, never reaching 100s or 1000s of oluthu. Now, the measure for 100 oluthu reflects the greater span of time, and thus the greater perspective involved. One unit of 100 oluthu is known as a Zolanthu, derived from the names of the great landmasses in Esha. This is because this span of time is sufficient to describe with accurate the grander happenings of Esha- great migrations and feuds, changings of lands, etc. A unit of 1000 oluthu, with this same logic in mind, is known as a Vussalu, for in these terms the greatest movements of the Eshan and Vussalas can be discussed.   For long centuries, or Zolanthu as they might properly be called, the Eshan imposed their measure of time upon olundi creations, such that there was some sense of unity between them. However, the silence and irregular relationships between olundi and Eshan after the first feud undermined this uniformity of time keeping. Left to their own devises, many olundi created novel forms of time keeping derived from their own novel and personally unique traditions. Gradually the Eshanic measure was phased from existence in all but the most Eshanically active regions of Esha. These are the things one must known of history.   The following passages are general histories. To record in full the eras that shaped Qadal would be a fool's errand. Each passage, therefore, is a narrative history of the evolutions that occurred during that epoch, whether they be war, diseases, disasters, great triumphs, or important lives. Certain items are left off this account for the sake of space, only to be found elsewhere in the Zolrassal. This Serves only as an introduction to the world of Qadal and its long history. Following each section are a few additional passages that describe concepts that are important to that era but are not part of the historical narrative.   The current year is 3468 in accordance with the Evosmar calendar as ordained by Ghet Horst the Blessed in 1162. Time certainly existed on a vast continuum prior to the calender, but this iternation of recorded time held importance for the Aemar, or those beings created by Aebaster. It centered upon the year zero, defined as the year when Corgastor and his allies defeated the Etayen and destroyed Étunas. This was a watershed of history, when the hitherto greatest realm in history was destroyed alongside its Eshanic creator. Corgastor refused to accept rulership over his countrymen, but he was revered thereafter. After his death in the year 43, he ascended to the ranks of the Eshan through the Eshara of Aebaster the Eldest. Everything thereafter was measured in relation to those events. The prominence of the Aemar in Qadal allowed the Nossenite calender to spread across the world by means of trade and cultural diffusion. It quickly superceded the ancient Aebastadmar calender, spoken of below, used by the Aemar for generations. The Etayen calender was similarly cast aside by the victors. What might be said about this? History in Qadal is an intensely subjective matter and the chronology reflects it. The memories and methods of one race might rise or be crushed by another with callous indifference. The Aemar who succeeded Corgastor cursed the old ways of Étunas and erased their history from the annals of Everos and Qadal beyond Etal’s tropical shores. Whatever is read within these pages must be taken with intense scrutiny and ample mistrust; nothing is truth, only interpretation.   Originally the twelve-month format belonged to the Etayen, but was adopted by Aemar from Everos, Othos, and Nevan during the Ascension era and reign of Étunas. Amongst them there had been a wide variety of strange methods of keeping time. The Othosar, or men of Othos in their tongue, only recognized the four seasons and made no finer distinction in time. The Neyasi had an alternating calendar of stormy and fair seasons. The mid-summer months were known as the 'Third Highwater', for example, to reflect the importance of the sea to their maritime culture. Among the ancient Aebastadmars, the calender was divided into five months. That version of the calendar had represented the five oceans from which Aebaster created Aemarda but utilizing it had been difficult because of the arbitrary division of time. The beginnings and ends of months failed to align with the changing seasons or the orbiting movements of the celestial bodies. The twelve-month format was more convenient, and it more accurately reflected the movements of the celestial bodies and their subordinates. Each of the months are listed in order below in their Evosmar names, taken from their ancient tongue and translated to modern terms.   Enumerating and describing a number of the Qadayen months of their meanings is not an attempt to record everything upon the subject.