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The nigh-apocalyptic [[Cataclysm]] occurs, killing hundreds of thousands, plunging civilization into an age of darkness, and rending the land itself asunder. While the details are unclear, it is known that it was caused by the epic magic wielded by two warring [[Shadow Touched]] factions.
 
The nigh-apocalyptic [[Cataclysm]] occurs, killing hundreds of thousands, plunging civilization into an age of darkness, and rending the land itself asunder. While the details are unclear, it is known that it was caused by the epic magic wielded by two warring [[Shadow Touched]] factions.
  
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*'''165 BTA - [[Hammon Smith]] Declares War On The Council Of Nobles'''
 
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The castle on Turtle Rock was the realization of a dream for a stonemason named [[Hammon Smith]].
 
  
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Smith came from common blood, but aspired to nobility. He built his most defensible fortress before seeking recognition of House Smith by the Council of Nobles - the ruling body in those days before the [[First Wildling War]] and the ascent of the Wildcat Crown of House Kahar.
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*'''171 BTA – Silver Valley Neighborhood Founded'''
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Zerral Frenti founds Silver Valley on the west side of the Old City atop two large silver mines.
  
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However, the six noble houses refused to recognize the validity of House Smith. So, Hammon Smith declared war on the Council's membership.
 
  
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*'''25 BTA – [[Light’s Reach]] Founded'''
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*'''165 BTA - [[Hammon Smith]] Declares War On The Council Of Nobles'''
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[[Light's Reach]] was founded on Eastwatch Hill by [[Fahral Mikin]] in 25 BTA (Before the Aegis). At the time, Fahral was a pioneering young nobleman of 23, with a wife named [[Corsara Mikin]] and sons named Annath and Allal.
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The castle on Turtle Rock was the realization of a dream for a stonemason named [[Hammon Smith]]. Smith came from common blood, but aspired to nobility. He built his most defensible fortress before seeking recognition of House Smith by the Council of Nobles. However, the five major noble houses refused to recognize the validity of House Smith. So, Hammon Smith declared war on the Council's membership.
  
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Fahral dubbed the high ground - a mesa - upon which [[Light's Reach]] sits as Eastwatch Hill. Now, as many Fastheldians realize, this has led to some misunderstanding and confusion with the township of Eastwatch, well to the northeast of the mesa. The simplest explanation accepted by scholars in the [[Church of True Light]] is that, when the young duke founded the town of Light's Reach, it was atop the easternmost point of known explored territory outside the [[Old City]].
 
  
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*'''25 BTA – [[Grummlan Path]] Mortally Wounded'''
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*'''~150 BTA - Elkmont Founded'''
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In 25 BTA (Before the Aegis), a woodsman named [[Grummlan Path]] set out to survey the land surrounding Eastwatch Hill on behalf of [[Fahral Mikin]] and discovered an ancient castle deep in the woods, downhill on the eastern side of the bluff. Within the vine-choked stones of the keep, Grummlan encountered a pack of [[Wildling]]s lurking among the ruins. He fought them, killed them, but sustained a mortal injury from poisoning inflicted by the monsters.
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He struggled back to [[Light's Reach]] and survived just long enough to tell his master of the castle and the Wildlings found within.
 
  
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The castle became known as [[Sheltered Flame Keep]], and was established as the headquarters of the [[Order of the Flame]], an organization devoted to the defense of Light's Reach against forces of shadow and evil. The keep remains in use for that purpose to this day.
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*'''~100 BTA - Hedgehem Founded'''
  
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*'''22 BTA - [[Grummlan Path]] Memorial Commissioned'''
 
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In 22 BTA (Before the Aegis), [[Grummlan Path]]'s widow, Sorine, and son, Grummlar, wanted something done to specifically honor the memory of their loved one. They petitioned [[Fahral Mikin]] at [[East Bluff]] three years after Grummlan Path's death and won the Mikin patriarch's approval for a project to commemorate the sacrifice of the woodsman.
 
  
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Fahral Mikin commissioned the sculpting of a white marble statue of Grummlan Path by an artisan named Yanim Grove. The sculpture was then erected in a garden at Sheltered Flame Keep.
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*'''89 BTA – The Cleft'''
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An unexpected (and undesired) marriage proposal within the upper tiers of Kahar nobility in 90 BTA leads to a full-out feud within the House by 89 BTA. The conflict ends when two dozen Kahars and their vassals leave the Old City on the seventeenth of Greening and head east, not to be seen again for almost eighty years.
  
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*'''5 BTA – First “Flamekeeper” Of Light’s Reach Hired'''
 
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The first Flamekeeper, hired in 5 BTA (Before the Aegis), was a hunched old man named [[Wun Wood]].
 
  
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*'''4  BTA – “[[Darkening of Fastheld]]” Battle Occurs'''
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*'''64 BTA – [[Fanghill]] Founded'''
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The name given to the battle that heralded both the coming of the First Wildling War, and the formation of the Emperor's Blades. After defending the walls of what is now the Shadow District from Wildling attack with the aid of [[Ulfell Lomasa]], [[Sirion Starkhorn]], and whatever men were courageous enough to take up arms by his side, Talus Kahar proclaimed that the people of Fastheld "Stand at the crossroads of history," and sent forth riders to muster a call to service.
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Avram Zahir, grandfather of [[Goram Zahir]], founds the town of Fanghill on a tall hill, overseeing the construction of Fanghill Keep at its peak.
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The term "darkening" was adopted as a two-fold meaning; the first being that Wildlings would then only attack in the twilight hours, and the second remaining symbolic of the dark taint that such creatures would forever cast upon those who would be born in later generations.
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*'''4 BTA – [[First Wildling War]] Declared'''
 
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The name for the first declared war between the People of Fastheld, and the creatures known as [[Wildling]]s. The [[First Wildling War]] took place in the year 4 BTA (Before the Aegis), and was sparked by an event in which Wildlings assaulted the walls of the city that is now known as the [[Shadow District]].
 
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Upon that day, Emperor Talus Kahar I, along with Blademaster Ulfell Lomasa, Sirion Starkhorn, and a handful of comrades, valiantly defended the citizens of the city from the slaughter that the Wildlings would have brought upon them in the battle that is now known as the Darkening of Fastheld.
 
  
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*'''4 BTA – “[[Valley of Blades]]” Incident Occurs'''
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*'''25 BTA – [[Light’s Reach]] Founded'''
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During the first Wildling War, fought under the banner of Talus Kahar I, Goram Zahir betrayed the Emperor and the Blades, misleading them about the enemy's numbers as they entered the valley. Many Bladesmen were slaughtered.
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[[Light's Reach]] was founded on Eastwatch Hill by [[Fahral Mikin]]. Fahral dubbed the high ground - a mesa - upon which [[Light's Reach]] sits as Eastwatch Hill, due to it being atop the easternmost point of known explored territory outside the [[Old City]].
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*'''4 BTA – [[Allal Mikin]] Dies'''
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One of two sons of [[Fahral Mikin]], Allal was forced to joust against his brother for the honor of serving in the War.  
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Allal triumphed; Annath remained at East Bluff Keep - still under construction but habitable - to help his father manage affairs in [[Light's Reach]]. Allal died within a year, in the Valley of the Blades.
 
  
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*'''4 BTA – “[[Hunting of the Raven]]” Incident Occurs'''
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*'''25 BTA – Era of Expansion Begins'''
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The name given to the pursuit of Goram "The Craven Raven" Zahir, following his betrayal of Emperor Talus Kahar I at the battle of the Valley of Blades during the First Wildling War. Emerging relatively unscathed from an event that was meant to kill them, Talus Kahar, along with Ulfell Lomasa and Sirion Starkhorn, swiftly sought furious vengeance against Goram and his loyalists.
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The ambitious founding of Light’s Reach by Fahral Mikin outside the walls of the Old City and the rumors of vast natural resources to the east (as opposed to the somewhat underwhelming landscape south of the Old City) inspire the other Houses to expand their influence to the east beyond the wall’s protection, and sparks a brief war of land acquisition amidst the Houses up until the raising of the Aegis.
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After much bloodshed, Goram was finally apprehended, along with an entourage of his of his loyal minions, and promptly hung and left for dead along the Imperial Thoroughfare.
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*'''3 BTA – The “[[Battle of the Gray Forest]]” Occurs'''
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*'''23 BTA – [[Silkfield]] Founded'''
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The name given to the battle that took place amidst the high branches of the sacred bloodwood trees in the [[Gray Forest]]; one of the few places in Fastheld where Wildlings found they could manoeuvre safely regardless of the hour. Blademaster Lomasa wished to chop down the trees and burn the forest, but the Church held the land and trees as sacred. Bladesmen, along with a unit of Shadowscourges from the Church of True Light, eventually assaulted the forest, though the battle was not deemed a decisive victory for either side of the conflict
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Had either Fastheld force tried this battle alone, the Wildlings - even outnumbered - would have wiped them out. As it was, the combined force lost more than half of its attacking 327 soldiers to the dervish-like attacks of the invading savage Shadow creatures, who didn't have to kill a man on the battlefield to leave him dead or dying a short while later. The poisoned claws took many more lives than might ordinarily have been lost against a normal enemy.
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*'''19 BTA – [[Nillu’s Lode]] Founded'''
  
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*'''3 BTA – [[The Last Ride of Ulfell]]'''
 
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The name given to the event in which Blademaster [[Ulfell Lomasa]], along with the scouting party that traveled with him along the western ridge of the Lightholder River, met his demise at the claws of three Wildlings during an ambush in the First Wildling War.
 
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The Blademaster fell under the thrashing claws and teeth of the three Wildlings. His scouts fared little better; only one survived long enough, poison coursing agonizingly through his veins, to return to the encampment and inform the Emperor that his friend and most able warrior had fallen in battle.
 
  
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*'''3 BTA - [[Wayul Mikin]] Appointed Blademaster'''
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*'''14 BTA – [[Marble Grove]] Founded'''
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"I do not know how we shall persevere without Ulfell's wisdom," the Emperor wrote in his journals of the conflict in the wake of Ulfell’s death, and the promotion of Wayul in his steed, “But we have no choice but to try. We must trust in the Light to see us through these dark times."
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With the founding of Marble Grove, all members of the Council of Nobles now have holdings outside of the Old City.
  
  
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*'''3 BTA – [[First Wildling War]] Ends'''
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*'''11 BTA – [[Vozhdya]] Discovered'''
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It was on the site now known as [[Aegisport]], upon the hills north of the river, that the first Kahar Emperor finally cornered and defeated the Wildling warriors who decimated the Fastheld forces at the Valley of Blades.  
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Marble Grove vassals discover a fully functioning settlement to the east of their settlement that was previously unknown. It is eventually determined that these were the missing Kahar nobles from the Cleft in 89 BTA, now calling themselves Vozhds and their city Vozhdya. They are unwilling to rejoin House Kahar, and allow no nobility other than their own within the city walls. Unsurprisingly, their petition to become a recognized House by the Council of Nobles is denied.
  
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*'''4 BTA – “The Call'''
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On the eighteenth of Stormclaw, Talus Kahar and the Old City guard fight a bloody battle atop the Old City’s fortifications against a large group of invading [[Wildling]]s, barely repelling the threat. With the Old City guard in disarray, Talus puts out a general call to service for every able-bodied male to help defend against the growing threat.
  
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*'''3 BTA – Shadowsbane Gifted To [[Shawn Kenly Fionnlagh]]'''
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Gifted to the family Fionnlagh by Emperor Talus Kahar I for the heroic service of Shawn Kenly Fionnlagh, archer, in the Valley of the Blades. According to legend, an arrow shot from this very bow felled the Wildling that cursed the Kahar bloodline.
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*'''4 BTA – [[First Wildling War]] Begins'''
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By the first of Kilning, Talus Kahar’s call to arms has managed to summon over ten thousand men and over two thousand women. With this force, nicknamed [[Emperor's Blades|‘the Blades’]], he formally declares war against the Wildlings, sending his army towards the southeast.
  
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Shadowsbane is an Imperial relic, crafted in the courts of the Emperor by the finest bowyers of the age. It is one of the Fionnlagh family's most treasured possessions.
 
  
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*'''4 BTA – “[[Valley of Blades]]” Incident Occurs'''
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In the fifth major battle of the First Wildling War in late Kilning, [[Goram Zahir]] betrayed the Emperor and the Blades by grossly deflating the number of Wildlings he observed in his report, causing the Blades to walk into an ambush on the bank of the Fastheld River. Hundreds of Blades died there, including the son of Light’s Reach founder [[Fahral Mikin]]. It is later discovered that Goram orchestrated this betrayal with others in hope that he could steal sovereignty over the [[Council of Nobles]] from Talus Kahar.
  
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*'''3 BTA – Construction Of “[[The Twins]]” Begins'''
 
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Two ambitious projects devised by Light's Reach founder [[Fahral Mikin]]. In despair over the loss of his youngest son at the Valley of Blades, Fahral ordered twin keeps erected on the bluffs east and west of the town proper, to guard the four torch towers.
 
  
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The first castle, East Twin, was finished before [[Fahral Mikin]] died of old age. The second castle, West Twin, would not be completed until eight years later, under the guidance of Fahral's oldest son, Annath.
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*'''4 BTA – “Hunting of the Raven”
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Over two weeks in Huntsmoon, Talus Kahar’s forces pursue Goram Zahir and his co-conspirators, eventually killing them to a man save for Goram near the current location of the Stanchion. Goram was hung from a tree and left for dead as the Blades continued their war against the Wildlings.
  
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*'''3 BTA – [[First Wildling War]] Ends'''
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It was on the site now known as [[Aegisport]], upon the hills north of the river, that the first Kahar Emperor finally cornered and defeated the Wildling warriors who decimated the Fastheld forces at the Valley of Blades.
  
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*'''2 BTA – [[Aegisport]] Founded'''
 
*'''2 BTA – [[Aegisport]] Founded'''
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Returning from the First Wildling War, Emperor [[Talus Kahar I]] built this town on the north shore of the [[Fastheld River]], near the site of the final battle in the first Wildling War, where his forces triumphed and smashed the remnants of the invaders.
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Returning from the [[First Wildling War]], [[Talus Kahar]] built this town on the north shore of the [[Fastheld River]], near the site of the final battle in the first Wildling War, where his forces triumphed and smashed the remnants of the invaders.
  
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*'''1 BTA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar II]] Born'''
 
*'''1 BTA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar II]] Born'''
  
  
 
*'''0 ATA – The [[Aegis]] Is Constructed'''
 
*'''0 ATA – The [[Aegis]] Is Constructed'''
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The hard-fought [[First Wildling War]], a conflict against a race of humanoid, poison-clawed Shadow monstrosities from the wilderness, had just ended. The [[Imperial Council]] recommended to the Emperor that a protective wall be erected around the territory of Fastheld to defend against further incursions by the savage creatures. But even a modest defensive wall would take years to construct. The Emperor, himself injured in the war, had pushed the troops of the [[Emperor's Blades]] and the Church of True Light to the breaking point. Many able-bodied men had entered service to fight the war. He could not reasonably expect them to now pour themselves into the exhausting, backbreaking work of raising a wall. Nor could the Emperor take for granted that the Wildlings wouldn't try to mount another offensive while the wall remained unfinished. He could think of only one way to accomplish this with needed rapidity: Mages.  
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Following the [[First Wildling War]], the [[Council of Nobles]] recommended to Talus Kahar that a protective wall be erected around human-occupied territory to defend against further incursions by the savage creatures. But even a modest defensive wall would take years to construct and leave them vulnerable to attack. The Emperor, himself injured in the war, offered amnesty to any [[Shadow-Touched]] denizen in Fastheld: Lend their ability to raising the [[Aegis]] in exchange for free passage outside of this wall, unharmed, each with a horse and wagon loaded with supplies. It was the best compromise the Emperor could offer without sparking a revolt by the noble houses or the [[Church of True Light]]. The magi used their abilities to raise an enormous wall from the earth itself in the period of three days.
  
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He extended an offer of amnesty to any [[Shadow-Touched]] denizen in Fastheld: Lend their ability to raising the [[Aegis]] in exchange for free passage out of [[Fastheld]], unharmed, each with a horse and wagon loaded with supplies. It was the best compromise the Emperor could offer without sparking a revolt by the noble houses or the [[Church of True Light]].  
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*'''0 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar I]] Declares Himself Emperor of Fastheld'''
 +
After the raising of the [[Aegis]] and the exile of the Shadow-Touched, Talus Kahar declares himself to be sovereign leader of the land within the Aegis’ walls, calling the space ‘Fastheld’. Those that do not come to swear fealty to the Emperor by the first day of 2 ATA and receive citizenship papers are considered to be squatters within the Empire, and are afforded no rights.  
  
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Dozens of mages took the offer of the [[Amnesty of the Wildcat Crown]], as it was called. Their only real alternative was to live in secrecy for fear of being discovered. If discovered, they might be captured by the warriors of the [[Church of True Light]] or the Emperor's own Surrector, and forced to endure torture, maiming, blinding, and muting. They'd become [[Lesser]]s, forced to live as slaves working in the mines of the realm. Or they might be killed.  
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*'''1 ATA – The Consolidation'''
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Emperor Talus Kahar I dissolves the [[Council of Nobles]], and makes a decree that only six noble Houses out of the forty-four Houses recognized by the Council would continue to exist within Fastheld. Unsurprisingly, five of these were the five ruling Houses of the Council. But surprisingly, he chose to raise up a very minor House that raised high-quality horses for his stables, the [[Seamels|House Seamel]]. All of the other thirty-eight recognized Houses had three options: accept exile outside the Aegis, petition the recognized houses to become a part of that house, or give up their keeps and accept status as neither a Lord nor a serf, but as a new class of unconnected citizen of the Empire, called Freelanders. Nine of the most desirable Houses were absorbed by the six, while the others were relatively evenly split between the other two options. The Vozhds, never recognized by the Council, are nonetheless forcefully reabsorbed into House Kahar.
  
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So, the wizards took their crown-bestowed wagons, rode out to points along the perimeter designated by the Emperor, and waited for the signal from a courier. When it came, the conjurors used their abilities to rip soil and stone from the earth itself, raising the towering wall between themselves and the territory they once called home.
 
  
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*'''2 ATA – The Golden Age of Silver Valley'''
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*'''0 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar I]] Declared Sovereign Ruler of Fastheld'''
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The section of the Old City called Silver Valley merges with its neighbor Bushdragon Hill after House Frenti is absorbed into House Nillu, creating the largest city in Western Fastheld.
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*'''2 ATA – [[Fahral Mikin]] Dies'''
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Despondent over the loss of Allal, Fahral became reclusive, relying more and more on Annath to manage his affairs. He saw the completion of East Bluff Keep and its twin torch towers, insisting they always stay lit, before finally joining the Light.
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*'''8 ATA – [[West Bluff]] Completed'''
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*'''21 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar I]] dies, Emperor [[Talus Kahar II]] Takes the Throne'''
 
*'''21 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar I]] dies, Emperor [[Talus Kahar II]] Takes the Throne'''
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*'''24 ATA – [[The Battle of Red Fields]]'''
 
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According to legend, [[Talus Kahar II]] struck down the Viscount [[Bröselov Vozhd]] from his warhorse, Arbat, using a Longbow known as the Kingmaker in what history has called the Battle of Red Fields. With the fall of their house leader, the stalwart Vozhd defenders fell into a panic as they tried to recover the body, and in the chaos, were forced to retreat from the field. This route, coupled with the loss of the Vozhd's last great commander, would be the decisive event in the House's capitulation.
 
  
  
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*'''49 ATA – Regent [[Vurrun Lomasa]] Begins Rule'''
 
*'''49 ATA – Regent [[Vurrun Lomasa]] Begins Rule'''
 
As [[Talus Kahar II]] grows ill in his final years, Regent [[Vurrun Lomasa]] is chosen to rule alongside Empress [[Vala Mikin]] until [[Talus Kahar III]] is fit to do so. This lasts until 65 ATA.
 
As [[Talus Kahar II]] grows ill in his final years, Regent [[Vurrun Lomasa]] is chosen to rule alongside Empress [[Vala Mikin]] until [[Talus Kahar III]] is fit to do so. This lasts until 65 ATA.
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*'''50 ATA – First “[[Eastwatch Hill Curse]]” Incident'''
 
*'''50 ATA – First “[[Eastwatch Hill Curse]]” Incident'''
 
Once every 45 years or so, starting in about 50 ATA (After the Aegis), bizarre happenings plague the township atop Eastwatch Hill. That first year, scores of horses, goats and cattle were slaughtered, their flayed carcasses left hanging from trees in Mikin Wood.
 
Once every 45 years or so, starting in about 50 ATA (After the Aegis), bizarre happenings plague the township atop Eastwatch Hill. That first year, scores of horses, goats and cattle were slaughtered, their flayed carcasses left hanging from trees in Mikin Wood.
  
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*'''55 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar II]] Dies'''
 
*'''55 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar II]] Dies'''
  
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*'''82 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar IV]] Born'''
 
*'''82 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar IV]] Born'''
  
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*'''85 ATA – Statue(s) to Emperor [[Talus Kahar I]] Comissioned In [[Aegisport]]'''
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[[Talus Kahar III]] commissions [[Harlim Nillu]], a noble artisan, to sculpt a number of monuments in his Great Grandfather’s honor: A giant wildcat's head to house the constabulary, a giant wildcat with heads and paws on the north and south ends that houses the Riverview Tavern, and a domed mercantile with three attached rearing wildcats. A no-frills, fairly ordinary grey stone temple stands out among the structures.
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*'''86 ATA – Construction Of [[Aegiskeep]] Begins'''
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Aegiskeep was first designed during the reign of [[Talus Kahar II]], but it was not until the ascension of his successor that artisan [[Harlim Nillu]] completed the final work on the stone head that now houses the residence.
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The great keep was fashioned to look like a luxuriating wildcat, with two massive clawed forepaws flanking the portcullis that leads into the castle below the stone head that holds Aegiskeep's residential quarters.
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*'''89 ATA – “[[Serry Rush]]” Incident And Landmark Named'''
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The stretch of the Fastheld River that runs broad and green between [[Darkwater Junction]] to the southeast and the high cliffs that drop from Sun's Point plateau to the northwest was dubbed “Serry Rush” this year.
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Serry Rush, named neither for great heroes of bardic fame nor bloody battles, but instead for a Scion of the Kahar line.
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His affections ensnared by a Shadowed freelander mage, he declared undying love to her. Shadowscourges from the Sun's Keep upriver came to free him from the spell by sending Darina through purifying flame but the taint of the magic lingered in his mind. Driven mad by the darkness he lived here on the banks, guarding the place where her body fetched up on shore after its flaming drop off the upstream cliffs.
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*'''90 ATA - [[Halom Halweir]] Brought To Justice'''
 
*'''90 ATA - [[Halom Halweir]] Brought To Justice'''
 
The murderous brigand [[Halom Halweir]], whose gangs marauded a fair stretch of the Lightholder River, finally received justice from the Emperor's Blades this year. [[Halweir's Notch]] – as the stretch became known – has since become a popular refuge for squatters and destitute panhandlers, who dwell in coffin-sized niches carved out of the rock.
 
The murderous brigand [[Halom Halweir]], whose gangs marauded a fair stretch of the Lightholder River, finally received justice from the Emperor's Blades this year. [[Halweir's Notch]] – as the stretch became known – has since become a popular refuge for squatters and destitute panhandlers, who dwell in coffin-sized niches carved out of the rock.
  
  
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*'''95 ATA – Second “[[Eastwatch Hill Curse]]” Incident'''  
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*'''95 ATA – Second “[[Eastwatch Hill Curse]]” Incident'''
 
In 95 ATA, strange blue and green lights glowed above East Bluff and inhabitants reported ghostly moaning sounds. A housekeeper named [[Forman Dust]] went mad and massacred his family before hurling himself over the edge of the bluff.
 
In 95 ATA, strange blue and green lights glowed above East Bluff and inhabitants reported ghostly moaning sounds. A housekeeper named [[Forman Dust]] went mad and massacred his family before hurling himself over the edge of the bluff.
  
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*'''112 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar III]] Dies'''
 
*'''112 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar III]] Dies'''
  
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*'''116 ATA – “[[West Bluff Inferno]]” Incident Occurs'''
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The catastrophic collapse of West Bluff's north tower occurred this year, sparking a blaze in the nearby woodlands that threatened to spread throughout the entire Forest District.
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*'''121 ATA – “[[Brigand's Turn]]” Founded'''
 
*'''121 ATA – “[[Brigand's Turn]]” Founded'''
 
A foreboding section of the [[Lightholder River]], populated by the weather worn skulls of those who attempted to place themselves above the Imperial Law.
 
A foreboding section of the [[Lightholder River]], populated by the weather worn skulls of those who attempted to place themselves above the Imperial Law.
  
 
It was not called [[Brigand's Turn]] because the area was a favorite haunting ground of Fastheld's cutpurses and river pirates; far from it. Instead, it got the moniker from the fact that it is here that Emperor [[Talus Kahar III]] declared that all thieves who murder legitimate citizens would have their severed heads mounted for all to see.
 
It was not called [[Brigand's Turn]] because the area was a favorite haunting ground of Fastheld's cutpurses and river pirates; far from it. Instead, it got the moniker from the fact that it is here that Emperor [[Talus Kahar III]] declared that all thieves who murder legitimate citizens would have their severed heads mounted for all to see.
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*'''122 ATA - Aurora Janus Removed From Power'''
 
*'''122 ATA - Aurora Janus Removed From Power'''
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On the third of Seedwarming, the Corona declares that Aurora Janus will be stripped of her rank. While no official reason is given, it is rumored that it had to do with the politics surrounding the Lessening of a Kahar child.
  
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*'''123 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar V]] Born'''
 
*'''123 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar V]] Born'''
  
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*'''123 ATA – Hawk’s Aerie Founded
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Founded by Edran Nillu, it is perched on the strategic convergence of River Road, the Imperial Thoroughfare, and Fastheld River.
  
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*'''127 ATA – [[Kedalla Mikin]] Dies'''
 
  
 
*'''140 ATA – Third “[[Eastwatch Hill Curse]]” Incident'''
 
*'''140 ATA – Third “[[Eastwatch Hill Curse]]” Incident'''
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*'''156 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar IV]] Dies'''
 
*'''156 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar IV]] Dies'''
  
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*'''174 ATA – Bronze Hall of the Imperial Horsemen Built'''
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*'''174 ATA – Creation of the [[Swift Blades]]'''
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The ancestral home of the Imperial Horsemen, this ancient Hall is long
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Talus Kahar V initiates the creation of an elite mounted unit of the Blades to quickly respond to threats within the Aegis.
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and wide, filled with shadows and half lights; mighty pillars upholding its
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lofty roof.
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−
The legendary shields and weapons of Horselords long passed rest upon
+
−
the pillars of this domain; at once both solemn and proud and they stand guard over the Hall, and all that walk within it.
+
  
  
 
*'''180 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar VI]] Born'''
 
*'''180 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar VI]] Born'''
  
−
 
+
 
*'''182 ATA - Shadow Plague Sweeps Through Old City'''
 
*'''182 ATA - Shadow Plague Sweeps Through Old City'''
−
A pox that blinded, disfigured, and ultimately killed its victims swept through the cities of Gatetown, Silver Valley, and Halo.  
+
A pox that blinded, disfigured, and ultimately killed its victims swept through the Old City like wildfire.
  
  
 
*'''183 ATA - The Quarantine'''
 
*'''183 ATA - The Quarantine'''
−
Emperor [[Talus Kahar V]] made the difficult decision to quarantine the Old City, and, using the might of the Blades, slaughtered all of its residents to prevent the spread of the Shadow Plague. Tens of thousands died.
+
Emperor [[Talus Kahar V]] made the difficult decision to quarantine the Old City, and, using the might of the Blades, slaughtered all of its residents to prevent the spread of the Shadow Plague. Tens of thousands died. Afterwards, the Old City is referred to as the Shadow District, and its fortifications, the Shadow Wall.
  
 +
 +
*'''201 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar V]] Dies'''
  
−
*'''188 ATA - Ayzra “The Black” Zahir Born'''
 
−
Count [[Ayzra Zahir]], Ayzra 'The Black', was a fallen Zahir nobleman and ringleader of the infamous '[[Coven]]'. Obsessed with his belief in the inherent superiority of the [[Shadow-touched]], his short, violent life become synonymous with sorcery and hubris.
 
−
 
−
Born in 188 ATA with dark and elemental shadow-powers, the young count revelled in his abilities and eventually grew to believe that he was ordained by the Darkness to lead the masses.
 
−
 
−
Added to this megalomania became a rare breed of erotic perversion: the rumours of Ayzra's vilest pleasures would eventually become too much for even the Zahir to bear, and he was disowned from the family.
 
−
 
−
In the absence of kin, he would spend his ancestral fortune organizing a secret society of [[Shadow-Touched]] brethren - titled the [[Coven]] - with the express aim of spreading fear, hatred and chaos.
 
−
 
−
 
−
*'''201 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar V]] Dies'''
 
  
 +
*'''202 ATA – Group of Brigands Infiltrates Quarantine Zone'''
 +
A group of brigands called The Fetters digs a hole through the northern Shadow Wall (as the fortifications around the Old City were beginning to be called), and move to populate the massive ruins of Silver Valley.
  
 +
 
*'''216 ATA - Ayzra “The Black” Zahir Terrorizes Fastheld'''
 
*'''216 ATA - Ayzra “The Black” Zahir Terrorizes Fastheld'''
−
Ayzra and his 'Tickler' – a long black bullwhip - terrorized Fastheld during the 'Long Winter' of 216, leaving in his wake a string of mysterious mutilations and murders. The assaults were similar, yet bewildering: the victim's flesh was contorted with strikes and marks that were burned into form, as if seared and branded with fire itself. With the murders continuing unabated and the noble's constables unable to find a culprit, the Emperor himself dispatched his legendary Spymaster, Baron [[Billan Lomasa]], to solve the case.  
+
Ayzra and his 'Tickler' – a long black bullwhip - terrorized Fastheld during the 'Long Winter' of 216, leaving in his wake a string of mysterious mutilations and murders. The assaults were similar, yet bewildering: the victim's flesh was contorted with strikes and marks that were burned into form, as if seared and branded with fire itself. With the murders continuing unabated and the noble's constables unable to find a culprit, the Emperor himself dispatched his legendary Spymaster, Baron [[Billan Lomasa]], to solve the case.
−
 
+
  
 +
 
*'''216 ATA - First Time of Illumination is declared by the Church'''
 
*'''216 ATA - First Time of Illumination is declared by the Church'''
 
During a time of lasting winter, faith among the people of Fastheld begins to falter. It falls to the then Aurora of the Church, Thalina Kahar, to declare a period of meditation upon the blessings of the Light. Many answer the call and balance is soon restored once more.
 
During a time of lasting winter, faith among the people of Fastheld begins to falter. It falls to the then Aurora of the Church, Thalina Kahar, to declare a period of meditation upon the blessings of the Light. Many answer the call and balance is soon restored once more.
  
−
 
+
 
*'''217 ATA – Ayzra “The Black” Zahir Dies'''
 
*'''217 ATA – Ayzra “The Black” Zahir Dies'''
 
For nearly a year more, Spymaster [[Billan Lomasa]] played cat-and-mouse with Ayzra until their fabled showdown in the Shadow District, in which - suitably decapitated - Ayzra and his whip met their end. According to the legend, Billan tied the Tickler around a rock, attached it to the Count's headless corpse, and tossed them into a river.
 
For nearly a year more, Spymaster [[Billan Lomasa]] played cat-and-mouse with Ayzra until their fabled showdown in the Shadow District, in which - suitably decapitated - Ayzra and his whip met their end. According to the legend, Billan tied the Tickler around a rock, attached it to the Count's headless corpse, and tossed them into a river.
  
−
 
+
 
*'''233 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar VII]] Born'''
 
*'''233 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar VII]] Born'''
  
 +
 
*'''256 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar VI]] Dies'''
 
*'''256 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar VI]] Dies'''
  
−
 
+
−
*'''258 ATA – Blademaster [[Lalia Redshadow]] Retires'''
+
−
 
+
−
 
+
−
*'''259 ATA – Blademaster [[Valeron Mikin]] Appointed'''
+
−
 
+
 
*'''293 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar VIII]] Born, Empress [[Ballee Mikin]] Dies in childbirth'''
 
*'''293 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar VIII]] Born, Empress [[Ballee Mikin]] Dies in childbirth'''
  
Line 250: Line 196:
  
 
*'''306 ATA – Regent [[Drell Mikin]] Begins Rule'''
 
*'''306 ATA – Regent [[Drell Mikin]] Begins Rule'''
−
When Regent [[Tilut Kahar]] dies, the burden falls to the thirty year old Watermaster, [[Drell Mikin]], a popular but unimaginative leader. He rules until 311, when [[Talus Kahar VIII]] is seen fit to rule.
+
When Regent [[Tilut Kahar]] dies, the burden falls to the thirty year old Watermaster, [[Drell Mikin]], a popular but unimaginative leader. He rules until 311, when [[Talus Kahar VIII]] is seen fit to rule.  
  
 +
 +
*'''316 ATA – Wedgecrest Founded'''
 +
Trastar Mikin founds the town of Wedgecrest on Night’s Bane Hill overlooking Fastheld Gorge.
  
−
*'''321 ATA – The Southwatch Tavern and Brewery Closes Down'''
+
−
The first building to have been constructed in the Southwatch Township, it was famously renown for having remained open to all both night and day, all year long. It is rumoured to have closed only for one night in the last five hundred years, and that was during the Storming of 321 when the city was invaded by shadowed creatures from over the wall.
+
*'''321 ATA – The Storming of 321'''
−
 
+
Southwatch is infiltrated by Wildlings, with a bloody battle lasting three long days before all the invaders are driven off or destroyed.
−
 
+
−
*'''347 ATA – Ceallach Tower Built'''
+
−
An ancient and ill-fated tower, built in 374 by [[Ceallach Ionhar Fionnlagh]], which was eventually destroyed by the Wildlings who inhabited the Woods near which Ceallach defiantly built the tower near. His memorial reads:
+
−
 
+
−
"Here rests the brave and noble forester [[Ceallach Ionhar Fionnlagh]] who, in the year 347, scoffed at the warnings of lesser men and built this fine tower. He learned of his error shortly thereafter. Beware of Wildlings."
+
−
 
+
  
 +
 
*'''352 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar IX]] Born'''
 
*'''352 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar IX]] Born'''
  
−
 
+
−
*'''355 ATA – [[Sorenn Kahar]] Murdered'''
+
−
In the middle 300's, there was a fairly renowned Shadowscourge by the name of Sorenn Kahar. During her life, she was known to be extremely powerful with the Sun's kiss, rumoured to even have the ability to dispel the Shadow from an individual and leave them clean of its taint, all with a simple touch of her hand. At the age of thirty two, Sorenn was brutally murdered, and when her body was found, her head and right hand were missing; the hand hacked off at the wrist. The killer was eventually found and disposed of, and the head was recovered, but the hand was never found save for rumours of its use.
+
−
 
+
−
 
+
 
*'''357 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar VIII]] Dies'''
 
*'''357 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar VIII]] Dies'''
  
Line 276: Line 216:
 
On the death of [[Talus Kahar VIII]], Empress [[Cereline Kahar]] begins her rule until 370, when [[Talus Kahar IX]] is ruled fit to begin.
 
On the death of [[Talus Kahar VIII]], Empress [[Cereline Kahar]] begins her rule until 370, when [[Talus Kahar IX]] is ruled fit to begin.
  
−
*'''391 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar X]] Born'''
+
 
 +
*'''391 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar X]] Born'''  
  
  
 
*'''410 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar IX]] Dies'''
 
*'''410 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar IX]] Dies'''
  
−
*'''475 ATA – The Infamous Bandit [[Gilgen Mosswood]] Is Born'''
 
  
 +
*'''413 ATA - East Leg Founded by Yontalas Lomasa'''
 +
 +
 
*'''501 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar XII]] Born'''
 
*'''501 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar XII]] Born'''
 +
  
 
*'''524 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar XI]] Dies'''
 
*'''524 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar XI]] Dies'''
 +
  
 
*'''553 ATA – [[Mummorials]] perform for Emperor [[Talus Kahar XII]]'''
 
*'''553 ATA – [[Mummorials]] perform for Emperor [[Talus Kahar XII]]'''
Line 293: Line 238:
  
  
−
*'''554 ATA - [[Anae Nillu]] Mortally Wounded'''
+
*'''591 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar XIV]] Born'''
−
[[Jamot Seamel]], first master of the Brooding Keep, carved the exquisite sculptures from gray marble taken from a quarry in the River District and, in the third year of marriage to [[Anae Nillu]], had his vassals install the sculptures as a ward against the Shadow's Touch. In the fourth year of their marriage, shortly after Anae celebrated her nineteenth birthday, one of the sculpted gargoyles cracked and fell from its stone perch as she strolled beneath it.
+
  
−
The blunt force of the marble form did considerable damage to her head, but the blow was not instantly fatal. She lingered for six weeks while the healers ministered to her, and while Jamot struggled to keep hope and faith against the misery of realizing that what had been meant to protect his beloved, created by his own hand, had felled her.
 
  
−
A gap exists in the circle of gargoyles - the fallen sculpture never got replaced in this chamber that became known as the Sorrow Vault.
+
*'''611 – The [[Second Wildling War]]'''
  
  
−
*'''558 ATA – Jamot Seamel Dies'''
+
*'''611 ATA – [[Stand of Eastwatch]]'''
−
While his loyal vassals maintained the keep and paced the battlements of the Brooding Keep, Jamot survived on meager nourishment so that he could spend each day and each night - in the heat of summer and the chill of winter - in private agony. One day, it is said, Jamot surrendered to his anguish and hurled himself from the tower, crashing through the roof of the stables below.
+
It was late in the year 611 when [[Wildling]]s, carried by the momentum of their attack on [[Vozhdya]], laid siege to [[Eastwatch]] and her people. The odds were extremely dim until reinforcements arrived in the form of the Swift Blades, who thundered into the Township and decimated the flanks of the [[Wildling]] assault, allowing the Blades to push forward their own counter-attack.
  
−
*'''586 ATA – [[Hallard Seamel]] Becomes Horsemaster of the Imperial Horsemen'''
 
  
 +
*'''611 ATA - The Cleansing'''
 +
Late in 611, the Church of True Light was tipped off as to a location of a meeting of a large group of Shadow-Touched near the northeast corner of the Aegis. The Church used this to their advantage, launching a sneak attack against the magi in a cramped, poorly-defended cave. A bloody battle ensued between the Church and the Shadow-Touched, with the Church emerging victorious, killing hundreds of the Shadow-Touched in the process, and hauling away over a dozen for questioning and lessening.
  
−
*'''591 ATA – Emperor [[Talus Kahar XIV]] Born'''
 
−
[[Aegisport]] heralds the birth of Prince Talus Kahar XIV.
 
  
−
*'''611 – The [[Second Wildling War]]'''
+
*'''618-619 ATA – The Nightslider terrorizes Southwest Fastheld'''
 +
From Huntsmoon to Bleakdreary, a supernaturally fast mage in a green nightslider mask was fingered in over a hundred crimes in the cities of Elkmont, Hedgehem and Light’s Reach. While the majority of these crimes involved vandalism, theft and burglary, he is also accused of seventeen capital offenses, including desecration of Church property, rape, attempted murder and murder. While his crime spree ended around the thirty-third of Bleakdreary, his whereabouts remain unknown.
  
  
−
*'''611 ATA – [[Stand of Eastwatch]]'''
+
*'''620 ATA – [[Talus Kahar XIII]] Dies, [[Talus Kahar XIV]] Ascends The Throne'''
−
Considered to have been the turning point in the previously one-sided [[Second Wildling War]], and often cited as the last great charge of the Imperial Horsemen, the [[Stand of Eastwatch]] takes its title from the Wildling Siege of the township of the same name.
+
  
−
It was late in the year 611 when [[Wildling]]s, carried by the momentum of their attack on [[Vozhdya]], laid siege to [[Eastwatch]] and her people. The weight of the assault was mostly fended off by the men of the [[Emperor's Blades]] as they struggled against all odds to stem the endless waves of Wildlings, and protect the people of the Township.
 
−
       
 
−
The odds were dire indeed until reinforcements arrived in the form of the Imperial Horsemen, who thundered into the Township and decimated the flanks of the [[Wildling]] assault, allowing the Blades to push forward their own counter-attack.
 
−
       
 
−
The battle was turned, and the [[Wildling]]s routed in a such a manner that they would not be able to continue the momentum of the war they raged, and [[Eastwatch]] - such as it was - was saved. However, the cost to the Blades and the Imperial Horsemen was high, for the casualty list included Horsemaster [[Hallard Seamel]], father of [[Freia Seamel]], and friend to [[Talus Kahar XIII]], among the dead.
 
  
−
*'''611 ATA - The Cleansing
+
*'''623 ATA – Ducal Assassinations'''
−
Late in 611, the Church of True Light was tipped off as to a location of a meeting of a large group of Shadow-Touched, near the northeast corner of the Aegis. The Church used this to their advantage, launching a sneak attack against the magi in a cramped, poorly-defended cave. A bloody battle ensued between the Church and the Shadow-Touched, with the Church emerging victorious, killing hundreds of the Shadow-Touched in the process, and hauling away over a dozen for questioning and lessening.  
+
On the first of Greening, at least three mages posing as servants infiltrated the Greening’s First assembly in Aegisport and assassinated all six House leaders before fleeing. The dead included: Mullis Seamel, Azalin Zahir, Orvus Kahar, Eben Nillu, Lennek Lomasa, and Hobet Mikin. Nearly 20 squires and other servants suffered severe injuries, but survived the attack.
−
 
+
−
 
+
−
*'''620 ATA – [[Talus Kahar XIII]] Dies, [[Talus Kahar XIV]] Ascends The Throne'''
+

Latest revision as of 20:21, 7 May 2011

  • Long, long ago - The Cataclysm

The nigh-apocalyptic Cataclysm occurs, killing hundreds of thousands, plunging civilization into an age of darkness, and rending the land itself asunder. While the details are unclear, it is known that it was caused by the epic magic wielded by two warring Shadow Touched factions.


  • 171 BTA – Silver Valley Neighborhood Founded

Zerral Frenti founds Silver Valley on the west side of the Old City atop two large silver mines.


  • 165 BTA - Hammon Smith Declares War On The Council Of Nobles

The castle on Turtle Rock was the realization of a dream for a stonemason named Hammon Smith. Smith came from common blood, but aspired to nobility. He built his most defensible fortress before seeking recognition of House Smith by the Council of Nobles. However, the five major noble houses refused to recognize the validity of House Smith. So, Hammon Smith declared war on the Council's membership.


  • ~150 BTA - Elkmont Founded


  • ~100 BTA - Hedgehem Founded


  • 89 BTA – The Cleft

An unexpected (and undesired) marriage proposal within the upper tiers of Kahar nobility in 90 BTA leads to a full-out feud within the House by 89 BTA. The conflict ends when two dozen Kahars and their vassals leave the Old City on the seventeenth of Greening and head east, not to be seen again for almost eighty years.


Avram Zahir, grandfather of Goram Zahir, founds the town of Fanghill on a tall hill, overseeing the construction of Fanghill Keep at its peak.


Light's Reach was founded on Eastwatch Hill by Fahral Mikin. Fahral dubbed the high ground - a mesa - upon which Light's Reach sits as Eastwatch Hill, due to it being atop the easternmost point of known explored territory outside the Old City.


  • 25 BTA – Era of Expansion Begins

The ambitious founding of Light’s Reach by Fahral Mikin outside the walls of the Old City and the rumors of vast natural resources to the east (as opposed to the somewhat underwhelming landscape south of the Old City) inspire the other Houses to expand their influence to the east beyond the wall’s protection, and sparks a brief war of land acquisition amidst the Houses up until the raising of the Aegis.




With the founding of Marble Grove, all members of the Council of Nobles now have holdings outside of the Old City.


Marble Grove vassals discover a fully functioning settlement to the east of their settlement that was previously unknown. It is eventually determined that these were the missing Kahar nobles from the Cleft in 89 BTA, now calling themselves Vozhds and their city Vozhdya. They are unwilling to rejoin House Kahar, and allow no nobility other than their own within the city walls. Unsurprisingly, their petition to become a recognized House by the Council of Nobles is denied.


  • 4 BTA – “The Call

On the eighteenth of Stormclaw, Talus Kahar and the Old City guard fight a bloody battle atop the Old City’s fortifications against a large group of invading Wildlings, barely repelling the threat. With the Old City guard in disarray, Talus puts out a general call to service for every able-bodied male to help defend against the growing threat.


By the first of Kilning, Talus Kahar’s call to arms has managed to summon over ten thousand men and over two thousand women. With this force, nicknamed ‘the Blades’, he formally declares war against the Wildlings, sending his army towards the southeast.


In the fifth major battle of the First Wildling War in late Kilning, Goram Zahir betrayed the Emperor and the Blades by grossly deflating the number of Wildlings he observed in his report, causing the Blades to walk into an ambush on the bank of the Fastheld River. Hundreds of Blades died there, including the son of Light’s Reach founder Fahral Mikin. It is later discovered that Goram orchestrated this betrayal with others in hope that he could steal sovereignty over the Council of Nobles from Talus Kahar.


  • 4 BTA – “Hunting of the Raven”

Over two weeks in Huntsmoon, Talus Kahar’s forces pursue Goram Zahir and his co-conspirators, eventually killing them to a man save for Goram near the current location of the Stanchion. Goram was hung from a tree and left for dead as the Blades continued their war against the Wildlings.


It was on the site now known as Aegisport, upon the hills north of the river, that the first Kahar Emperor finally cornered and defeated the Wildling warriors who decimated the Fastheld forces at the Valley of Blades.


Returning from the First Wildling War, Talus Kahar built this town on the north shore of the Fastheld River, near the site of the final battle in the first Wildling War, where his forces triumphed and smashed the remnants of the invaders.



  • 0 ATA – The Aegis Is Constructed

Following the First Wildling War, the Council of Nobles recommended to Talus Kahar that a protective wall be erected around human-occupied territory to defend against further incursions by the savage creatures. But even a modest defensive wall would take years to construct and leave them vulnerable to attack. The Emperor, himself injured in the war, offered amnesty to any Shadow-Touched denizen in Fastheld: Lend their ability to raising the Aegis in exchange for free passage outside of this wall, unharmed, each with a horse and wagon loaded with supplies. It was the best compromise the Emperor could offer without sparking a revolt by the noble houses or the Church of True Light. The magi used their abilities to raise an enormous wall from the earth itself in the period of three days.


  • 0 ATA – Emperor Talus Kahar I Declares Himself Emperor of Fastheld

After the raising of the Aegis and the exile of the Shadow-Touched, Talus Kahar declares himself to be sovereign leader of the land within the Aegis’ walls, calling the space ‘Fastheld’. Those that do not come to swear fealty to the Emperor by the first day of 2 ATA and receive citizenship papers are considered to be squatters within the Empire, and are afforded no rights.


  • 1 ATA – The Consolidation

Emperor Talus Kahar I dissolves the Council of Nobles, and makes a decree that only six noble Houses out of the forty-four Houses recognized by the Council would continue to exist within Fastheld. Unsurprisingly, five of these were the five ruling Houses of the Council. But surprisingly, he chose to raise up a very minor House that raised high-quality horses for his stables, the House Seamel. All of the other thirty-eight recognized Houses had three options: accept exile outside the Aegis, petition the recognized houses to become a part of that house, or give up their keeps and accept status as neither a Lord nor a serf, but as a new class of unconnected citizen of the Empire, called Freelanders. Nine of the most desirable Houses were absorbed by the six, while the others were relatively evenly split between the other two options. The Vozhds, never recognized by the Council, are nonetheless forcefully reabsorbed into House Kahar.


  • 2 ATA – The Golden Age of Silver Valley

The section of the Old City called Silver Valley merges with its neighbor Bushdragon Hill after House Frenti is absorbed into House Nillu, creating the largest city in Western Fastheld.




As Talus Kahar II grows ill in his final years, Regent Vurrun Lomasa is chosen to rule alongside Empress Vala Mikin until Talus Kahar III is fit to do so. This lasts until 65 ATA.


Once every 45 years or so, starting in about 50 ATA (After the Aegis), bizarre happenings plague the township atop Eastwatch Hill. That first year, scores of horses, goats and cattle were slaughtered, their flayed carcasses left hanging from trees in Mikin Wood.




The murderous brigand Halom Halweir, whose gangs marauded a fair stretch of the Lightholder River, finally received justice from the Emperor's Blades this year. Halweir's Notch – as the stretch became known – has since become a popular refuge for squatters and destitute panhandlers, who dwell in coffin-sized niches carved out of the rock.


In 95 ATA, strange blue and green lights glowed above East Bluff and inhabitants reported ghostly moaning sounds. A housekeeper named Forman Dust went mad and massacred his family before hurling himself over the edge of the bluff.



A foreboding section of the Lightholder River, populated by the weather worn skulls of those who attempted to place themselves above the Imperial Law.

It was not called Brigand's Turn because the area was a favorite haunting ground of Fastheld's cutpurses and river pirates; far from it. Instead, it got the moniker from the fact that it is here that Emperor Talus Kahar III declared that all thieves who murder legitimate citizens would have their severed heads mounted for all to see.


  • 122 ATA - Aurora Janus Removed From Power

On the third of Seedwarming, the Corona declares that Aurora Janus will be stripped of her rank. While no official reason is given, it is rumored that it had to do with the politics surrounding the Lessening of a Kahar child.



  • 123 ATA – Hawk’s Aerie Founded

Founded by Edran Nillu, it is perched on the strategic convergence of River Road, the Imperial Thoroughfare, and Fastheld River.


In 140 ATA, a dozen infants were snatched from their cradles by a furred beast and carried off into the night, never to be seen again.



Talus Kahar V initiates the creation of an elite mounted unit of the Blades to quickly respond to threats within the Aegis.



  • 182 ATA - Shadow Plague Sweeps Through Old City

A pox that blinded, disfigured, and ultimately killed its victims swept through the Old City like wildfire.


  • 183 ATA - The Quarantine

Emperor Talus Kahar V made the difficult decision to quarantine the Old City, and, using the might of the Blades, slaughtered all of its residents to prevent the spread of the Shadow Plague. Tens of thousands died. Afterwards, the Old City is referred to as the Shadow District, and its fortifications, the Shadow Wall.



  • 202 ATA – Group of Brigands Infiltrates Quarantine Zone

A group of brigands called The Fetters digs a hole through the northern Shadow Wall (as the fortifications around the Old City were beginning to be called), and move to populate the massive ruins of Silver Valley.


  • 216 ATA - Ayzra “The Black” Zahir Terrorizes Fastheld

Ayzra and his 'Tickler' – a long black bullwhip - terrorized Fastheld during the 'Long Winter' of 216, leaving in his wake a string of mysterious mutilations and murders. The assaults were similar, yet bewildering: the victim's flesh was contorted with strikes and marks that were burned into form, as if seared and branded with fire itself. With the murders continuing unabated and the noble's constables unable to find a culprit, the Emperor himself dispatched his legendary Spymaster, Baron Billan Lomasa, to solve the case.


  • 216 ATA - First Time of Illumination is declared by the Church

During a time of lasting winter, faith among the people of Fastheld begins to falter. It falls to the then Aurora of the Church, Thalina Kahar, to declare a period of meditation upon the blessings of the Light. Many answer the call and balance is soon restored once more.


  • 217 ATA – Ayzra “The Black” Zahir Dies

For nearly a year more, Spymaster Billan Lomasa played cat-and-mouse with Ayzra until their fabled showdown in the Shadow District, in which - suitably decapitated - Ayzra and his whip met their end. According to the legend, Billan tied the Tickler around a rock, attached it to the Count's headless corpse, and tossed them into a river.






As Emperor Talus Kahar VII dies suddenly, the elderly Chancellor Tilut Kahar is tapped to take his place until Talus VIII is fit to rule. Unfortunately, he dies in 306 ATA.


When Regent Tilut Kahar dies, the burden falls to the thirty year old Watermaster, Drell Mikin, a popular but unimaginative leader. He rules until 311, when Talus Kahar VIII is seen fit to rule.


  • 316 ATA – Wedgecrest Founded

Trastar Mikin founds the town of Wedgecrest on Night’s Bane Hill overlooking Fastheld Gorge.


  • 321 ATA – The Storming of 321

Southwatch is infiltrated by Wildlings, with a bloody battle lasting three long days before all the invaders are driven off or destroyed.




On the death of Talus Kahar VIII, Empress Cereline Kahar begins her rule until 370, when Talus Kahar IX is ruled fit to begin.




  • 413 ATA - East Leg Founded by Yontalas Lomasa








It was late in the year 611 when Wildlings, carried by the momentum of their attack on Vozhdya, laid siege to Eastwatch and her people. The odds were extremely dim until reinforcements arrived in the form of the Swift Blades, who thundered into the Township and decimated the flanks of the Wildling assault, allowing the Blades to push forward their own counter-attack.


  • 611 ATA - The Cleansing

Late in 611, the Church of True Light was tipped off as to a location of a meeting of a large group of Shadow-Touched near the northeast corner of the Aegis. The Church used this to their advantage, launching a sneak attack against the magi in a cramped, poorly-defended cave. A bloody battle ensued between the Church and the Shadow-Touched, with the Church emerging victorious, killing hundreds of the Shadow-Touched in the process, and hauling away over a dozen for questioning and lessening.


  • 618-619 ATA – The Nightslider terrorizes Southwest Fastheld

From Huntsmoon to Bleakdreary, a supernaturally fast mage in a green nightslider mask was fingered in over a hundred crimes in the cities of Elkmont, Hedgehem and Light’s Reach. While the majority of these crimes involved vandalism, theft and burglary, he is also accused of seventeen capital offenses, including desecration of Church property, rape, attempted murder and murder. While his crime spree ended around the thirty-third of Bleakdreary, his whereabouts remain unknown.



  • 623 ATA – Ducal Assassinations

On the first of Greening, at least three mages posing as servants infiltrated the Greening’s First assembly in Aegisport and assassinated all six House leaders before fleeing. The dead included: Mullis Seamel, Azalin Zahir, Orvus Kahar, Eben Nillu, Lennek Lomasa, and Hobet Mikin. Nearly 20 squires and other servants suffered severe injuries, but survived the attack.

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