This is the era of evolution. There is an exponential growth of complexity throughout this era, leading to the rise of first empires.
Syp Greenthumb succeeded where few could. The Prodigious Appraisal had not been undertaken in nearly 200,000 years, and a gnome came to task. Those who knew it, though, understood that Syp was an incredible gnome that embodied the will and spirit of Idrio.
This era saw the rise of sentience, development, language, and eventually civilization and governance.
This era began with the eruption of the Underdark. All across Pallo, caverns and pits opened up, revealing the surface world and the Underdark to each other. Dark elves, duergar, demons, and others easily overpowered the peoples of the First Empires and now had dominion over all of Pallo. Since drow and duergar do not fair as well on the surface, fraelings were able to take hold and ruled over vast empires.
While no-one knows for sure what cause the diaspora, it was a major event for the souther hemisphere of Pallo. The diaspora had a significant effect on the cultures it touched.
Dutor had spread far across the Pallo. Even though many of its successor nations had fallen or gained independence, the royal family continued retreating through lands currently or formerly owned by the Dutor empire. After centuries of war and constant retreat, the Dutor royal family was finally ended, the members of Dutor governance were executed, and any trace of Dutor power were wiped out.
This era saw the rise of the Order of Ashes, which lead to the Invasion of the Planes. This time was rife with rebellions against fraeling overlords, followed by periods of recovering for the next rebellion. Very few were successful, but none were as successful as the Red Feather Rebellion led by the Phoenix King, ending the era.
The Phoenix King lead the largest movement against fraeling control. The Order of Ashes saw that he had a lot of momentum, and thought the time was right enough to come out. Together, they fought for five years to dismantle Vishik, with the hope that defeating the largest empire would have a cascading effect of toppling the other empires. This did not occur, but it did pave the way to many other changes that ended an era of brutal dictatorships.
The Order of Ashes had worked in secret for 1000 years, developing the magic to rip open portals and doorways across Pallo. They had learned the lost magics of visiting other planes, making alliances with fae creatures and foreign empires. They also used these magics to visit parallel worlds of the material plane, gaining new technologies and magics in the process. As the Phoenix King forged a new rebellion, the Order of Ashes saw it as a time to act.
This era saw the peoples of Pallo using the abundant amount of interplanar portals and doorways to travel to parallel material planes as well as the faewild, shadowfell, and more. It became clear that the number of portals and doorways made Pallo unstable, though made Pallo much richer with magic. The magic didn't fade as most of the portals and doorways were closed.
The Order of Ashes had worked in secret for 1000 years, developing the magic to rip open portals and doorways across Pallo. They had learned the lost magics of visiting other planes, making alliances with fae creatures and foreign empires. They also used these magics to visit parallel worlds of the material plane, gaining new technologies and magics in the process. As the Phoenix King forged a new rebellion, the Order of Ashes saw it as a time to act.
Much of Pallo had been healed as unstable portals were mended. The Quatrian conclave used their home in the feywild to help mend far away portals on Pallo. Feeling that much of the work was done and Pallo was stable, they found an area to their liking and decided to move their conclave there. This was the first settlement on Espiria. From here, they lived happily in isolation.
This is the time before the fall of Dread Emperor Arkus.
Weswalandia had grown immensely. Seeking more resources for further conquest, they sought out other lands to colonize. One such land was Espiria. A relatively small expedition of 200 settlers set out to begin building a new home.
With the population of Sidon booming due to stabilization of crop production and an influx of settlers from Locreronia, Kophia, and Brabermia meant that people began looking to new regions to settle. The first new settlement created was Parrish, 80 miles south from Sidon.
Sidon and Parrish were growing stably and fast. The Emperor of Niorea had gotten word that colonies of Espiria were growing quickly, and a vast trove of resources. While they were not yet being harvested, early exploration revealed much. A group of 10,000 people were sent to colonize the west coast, away from the other settlements. They landed 70 miles north of the Great Espirian Mountains and founded the city of Emerald.
With the city of Sidon continuing to grow, and the town of Parrish already flourishing, the settlement of Hope was founded 100 miles south on the southern coast of Espiria.
A great plague broke out across East Ruanteia. It was nicknamed the Breathless Blue because it would slowly deprive the body of oxygen, and the violent end stage of the disease saw the infected's lungs fail, causing suffocation. This left people pale, and often turning blue as the end stages of the disease began to set in. They discovered that the most effective way to stop the disease from spreading was to isolate people for a week to check for signs of infection.
During the diaspora, after the discovery of Quatria, the lands south of the Great Espirian Mountains began getting settled. Karib was the first major settlement made. The elven court of Quatria helped Karib get established quickly, and offered resources to other settlers going into the Bas peninsula since the region had more feywild influence
The Samaritan Party, a burgeoning group in Emerald, expanded to Onyx, Diamond, and Sapphire. With local support, and keen diplomats, they managed to create The Republic of Samaria and bargain for independence, promising grand trade deals and a return to protectorate status if Niorera did not see the promised gains in 20 years.
Trade deals between Samaria and Niorera did see growth for both sides, but the deal made trade with Niorera more profitable. With the Samaritan projections becoming true, Niorera agreed to the Independence Accord set forth 20 years prior and gave up all claims on the territories on Espiria.
Seeing the creation of the Republic of Samaria, the desire for independence grew in Sidon. The local populace began arming, which worried the Weswalandian Emperor. He feared that quelling a rebellion on Espiria would split his army for too long and also lead to further armed conflicts. The noble families of Sidon were given some power from the emperor, but they did not get control of much. One such noble, Lord Tiberius Atrius Meminius, decided to attempt to use the situation to his advantage. He sent a letter to the emperor stating that if he is given the funds to hire The Crimson Company for a year in order to maintain order and prevent a rebellion. The emperor agreed, and set in motion what would make Lord Meminius a king.
Unrest in The Kingdom of Sidonia lead to people trying to emigrate. Word came back from explorers of a land to the west that had plenty of space, friendly peoples, and ample resources. With aid from Samaritan trade fleets, they set out to make their new home. Upon arrival, in the late Slumber, they founded the city of Vestgate .
Rising in power, and poised in an advantageous position, Arkus became emboldened. What once were delusions of grandeur were now crystalizing into acute power. His success was mostly due to swift conquest of major cities on Dracolia, which was still a widely unknown continent. The rapid attack against nations of the world was unexpected and still not fully understood to this day.
Alliance, the city Arkus helped found in order to unite the efforts of the Dracolian tribes, was now besieged by him.
Arkus marched his legion to Opal, knowing that there would be little resistance along the way.
A massive Arkesian force of two warforged legions, his loyal Legion of Arkus, and a detachment of Mages. The siege would test Bastion's defenses until Yrmudoi ate the attackers during the Celestial Intervention.
Dread Emperor Arkus had grown in power to an almost Godlike state and showed no signs of slowing. The Dracolian Gods and a host of Celestials saw that, unchecked, Arkus would conquer all and cause immense damage across the planes. To stop it before he could cause too much more damage, the Celestial host attacked his Citadel while Yrmudoi attacked the Arkesian forces besieging Bastion. The battle was vicious, lasting 2 hours, and left few survivors. The handful of Celestials that remained banished his corpse to the far realm and scattered his armor and weapon to various protective custodies.
The modern era, beginning the year of The Celestial Intervention.
It was a fateful day. Willa Warms' Whimsical Circus paraded into Emerald, putting on a brave face and performing for the crowds on Main Boulevard. From the docks, Adeline and Aurum arrived on their respective ships, entering into a city larger than they are used to that is filled to the brim with people.
After a rought day, Aurum and Adeline wake up to the sound of a roc cawing outside of their windows, followed by a middle aged man chasing two dragon born down the street. Their first priority was to bring Josh Beck to Carlisle Crest to atone for his transgressions. Both Carlisle and Josh accepted the agreement and he began working for the Crest family.
Once on board and the Red Horizon had set sail, First Mate Jasper Hart rounded up the volunteer crew of Samaritans to figure out where they will be most helpful. The Oddbasilians were asked to assist with ship maintenance, the clerics were asked to help with morale, Barnaby Imigin was asked to help with maintenance and upkeep, and Josh Beck was asked not to mess anything up. He discovered Adeline had adequate sailing knowledge, Aurum was somewhat trained, and Ryz would be instrumental in maintaining morale, as well as be an eager volunteer.
After a fight with The Heron Captain, everyone was on edge. Dinner was late, and quiet - exhaustion and shock were still taking hold. Jasper and Captain Knotley met briefly to make the hard decision as to who would be taking nighttime responsibilities. The few tired sailors finished their meal and prepared for their shift as the rest of the crew and passengers retired to their bunks.
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