Timeline

Timeline of Korovia

The year is now 4167, ADW (After Demon War).

Note: Writers do not need to base their story in the present. They could just as easily base their story on a historical event from the far distant past of Korovia.

Timeline:

-3816: Margus, son of Ko Moragmus, is born. He is the youngest of Moragmus's children. His older half-brothers are Mavarkus and Magnar.

-3785: The start of the First Demon War. Portals began to appear in various locations across Korovia which led into the Abyss. In the beginning there was just a few, but as the war progressed more portals began appearing. Through these portals an endless stream of demonic tanar'ri came forth to wage war upon Korovia's resident tribes.

-3784: A combined army of dwarves and humans seek to attack and seal one of the portals to the Abyss. They attacked under the cover of a blizzard, using the weather conditions to camouflage the movements of their army - but they were starving, low on numbers and desperate. The demons were immune to the cold and while they could not see the enemies movements, they repelled the attack easily. The humans and dwarves were massacred, only a few survivors managed to escape to tell the tale.

-3783: The first successful closing of a portal happened on a cliffside north of Oraknev / south of Deepstone. The portal had become strategically insignificant to the tanar'ri Demonlord Balgarusk and poorly guarded. The attack was led by a small number of gnome and human warriors led by Olafslav the Giantslayer, the band of young warriors included [Tibing] Boris, [Ko] Margus and the gnome chieftain Tibing Fleak. During the assault three tornadoes appeared which helped to demolish much of the demonic defenses of the portal, sparking the belief that the wind goddess Pasha the Fleeting was on their side that day. After the battle Tibing Fleak agreed that he and his tribe would guard the portal for eternity, taking a sacred vow to multiple gods that his people would someday devise a way to permanently close the portal. During the aftermath many of the warriors during the battle gained the titles "Demonslayer", whereas Olafslav became known as 'Olafslav the Giantslayer, the Vanquisher of Demons'.

-3782: The first bronze weapons are made by the dwarves, which played in a major role in one of the first victories for the dwarven tribes. Armed with bronze weapons they assaulted a strategically important portal on the mountain north of what is now Silekva. Heavy rains had turned the mountainside into a quagmire of mud, which bogged down both demons and dwarves alike. The floods and muds robbed the demons of their strategic hiding points and while the dwarves suffered heavy losses, they persevered and held the portal for three days before being forced to retreat. During those three days however they managed to destroy half the portal and blocked the other half with bronze which had been enchanted by dwarven priests. Guerrin Axethrust died during the last day of the assault, leaving his eldest son Lagamo as chieftain.

-3781: The Korovian Dragons swear an oath to protect Korovia from demonic outsiders. The hows and whys the dragons swore the oath is unknown, but what is known is that this was a major turning point in the war. With the aid of the dragons the dwarves in the west captured and sealed two more portals with enchanted bronze. In the east the elves won their first victory in the Spring and two more victories later in the year, destroying the portals using powerful elven mysticism. In the south the halflings closed a single portal, a strategically important portal on the highest mountain in the Tranquils - how they sealed or destroyed it however is a mystery, as the portal itself has gone missing; only a large gaping void in the rock where it stood remains, drawing speculation that from wizardly historians that it was sent to the astral plane using dimensional magic. To the north Olafslav and his band of human and gnome allies captured four more portals, destroying or sealing them.

-3780: The end of the First Demon War. Two major battles happened, as only two portals remained. The first was the hardest to get to as the portal was in the middle of the Korovian Sea. The battle was led by humans and elves, with aid from the minotaurs. Unlike previous portals, this one had no tangible rim or frame, it was just a swirling void of energy coming out of the sky above the waves - historians believe it may have been the first portal that appeared. The waves were choppy that day, many of the minotaur fishing vessels capsized and many humans, elves and minotaurs drowned in the rough waters. The elven mystic and chieftain of the Sylvan tribe, Qi Entrosek, used powerful mysticism to close the portal, a spell that took considerable time to cast, was injured multiple times during the casting and was kept alive through spells from elven acolytes, but later died of his wounds. After the heavy losses on the Korovian Sea it was only the survivors who made it to shore, joining up with allies forces to attack the demon stronghold at Krest (what is now the town of Millkrest). The tanar'ri Demonlord Balganrusk had built three portals in Krest, making it the most strategically important stronghold in Korovia. Thick magical fog enveloped the hills and valleys surrounding Krest, removing the superiority of any attack by dragons or elven arrows. The ground was frozen solid and slick with ice, making any attempt overland foolhardy. The overwhelming numbers of the demons hidden within the fog made the stronghold impregnable. What came to their aid however was a bit unforeseen, a powerful wizard from Al-Kazar who summoned a sandstorm - the magical winds helped turn back the magical fog, the sand stuck to the ice and made it easier for the ground forces to charge across the ice. The forces were still wildly outnumbered, but in addition to being a great warrior Olafslav was also a brilliant tactician. He ordered the tribes to feign a retreat across the frozen river of Krest and the demonic horde followed them in pursuit. When they reached the far shore they waited for the demons to be on top of them - and the bulk of the demon army to be on the frozen surface of the river. Blowing his war horn, he signalled the Korovian dragons to attack - blowing fire not on the enemy, but in long swaths across the surface of the river. The river ice melted and cracked, dumping the horde of demons into the icy river. Moments later the Korovian dragons switched to their icy breath weapons and froze the river solid again, trapping the demons in the ice, helpless. The scant few demons who made it across the river were quickly defeated and the tribes once more streamed across the frozen river, killing all the demons who lay helpless in the ice. The tables turned, it was now the demons who were vastly outnumbered. But the tanar'ri Demonlord Balganrusk could not be overlooked. Using powerful magicks he took on the form of a titanic demon and began to lay waste to any before him like they were mere ants to be stomped upon. It fell then to Olafslav the Giantslayer, the Vanquisher of Demons, to defeat the great demon, who according to legends grew to a height of 30 or 35 feet and positively shone with crackling holy energy. In the resulting match of brawn Olafslav managed to defeat the Balganrusk, but both hero and demon disappeared in a massive explosion that left the survivors blinded for hours. The three portals are destroyed using dimensional magic cast by Introsek's daughter Introsia, in the months that followed the battle she traveled north to destroy the portal guarded by the gnomes and several other portals which had been sealed or warded but not destroyed. (Historians debate whether Introsia managed to seal all the portals, historical evidence of other portals existing suggests she did not destroy them all.)

-3766: Ko Margus defeats Tibing Boris, becoming King Margus - the first King of the humans in Korovia; The Black Feather Orc tribe invades Korovia; King Lagamo Axethrust becomes the first king of the dwarves following the Battle of Oraknev (where the Black Feather Tribe was defeated). King Margus marries Aliya, a warrior famed for her skill with the axe, making her his Queen. The start of a slave rebellion in Habbelund begins in the halfling populated but Al-Kazarian controlled city of Laztek.

-3765: The rebellion in Habbelund leads to the halflings to throw off the yoke of their Al-Kazarian oppressors, freeing other Al-Kazarian controlled regions of Habbelund from their slave masters. A former halfling gladiator becomes King Finger the First, making Laztek his capitol. Introsia becomes the first Queen of the Elves in Sylvania, having united 4 elven tribes together. King Margus marries Aliya, a warrior famed for her skill with the axe.

-3764: King Margus and Queen Aliya are both abducted by a tanar'ri marilith sent by Mavarkus, the Master of the Black Tower. A small band of heroes sought to restore the king to power. Margus' half-brother Magnar sought to take the throne for himself and allied himself with a secret Xarsian temple built beneath Oraknev. Forces loyal to Margus led a revolt against the Usurper Magnar and restored Aliya to power, following two battles: The Battle of Dangarn Ford, and the Siege of Oraknev.

-3751: A comet passed near Metrequia and Xarsius and exploded, showering tiny shards of comet, as well as tiny fragments from the two moons on the surface of Aoerth. The fragments have various properties and much magical study has been done to determine all of their properties. The Reavers of Reaver Isle are faced with privateers from Lachinamark (an ancient settlement close to modern day Yek), with their leader Lachina building / capturing a fleet of ships and creating a power struggle between Reavers and privateers over trade on the Leviathan Sea.

-3750, Spring: A gigantic explosion happened in the city of Iztark, destroying about a quarter of the city. According to witnesses the explosion resembled a great billowing cloud which blotted out the sky. The explosion was caused by an Obliteration-Stone from Quinias during the height of an invasion by an orc army. Much of the city was ravaged by fires which quickly spread under intense winds. The orc army went through the ruins of the city looking for things to loot, but ultimate became sick from a plague of vomiting that eventually killed them all. Many of the people who fled the burning city also died from the vomiting sickness, suffering from hair loss and other symptoms. (Survivors built a new city of Iztark further north west of the ruins of old Iztark. Millennia later the ancient ruins still cause people living there to become sick and eventually die, but it remains a place of evil where many adventurers go seeking to find fortune. Undead roam the ruins.)

-3750, Summer: The War of the Two Kings, King Dramarski of Weyvin invades the lands loyal to King Margus of Oraknev. He allies himself with dragonslayers and various religions upset by the upstart new religion of Zarmaxathrax, the dragon god. King Dramarski pushes the idea that dragons are basically demons and anyone who worships dragons should be put to death. His armies invade the lands west of Kazark, but are soundly defeated both in battle and by cunning. According to legend he used a genie wish to create an unstoppable golem made of molten rock. Variations of the legend suggest that the Head of the Colossus in Lake Valengrad (north of Kazark) is what remains of the golem.

-3751, Autumn: The War of the Two Kings comes to an end. A sneak attack on Oraknev is defeated with the aid of mysterious priests from the God of War, Saraz. With his forces defeated, King Dramarski flees by ship while the forces of Oraknev counter-attack Weyvin and sack the city. The Heroes of Olde take a large part of the forces to Reaver Isle, putting the army to good use in defeating the Reavers. They are transported to Reaver Isle using the fleet of Lachina of Lachinamark (modern day Yek is built on the ruins of Lachinamark). Once there the Heroes of Olde defeated the Sea Witch and brought to end an era of reaver attacks along the Korovian east coast. King Margus later claims the territory around Weyvin as his own and sets up one of his relatives as the "Duking of Weyvin", a title passed down through millenia and has since become known as Duke. The title of Duke or Duchess is not necessarily hereditary, and is often filled by a sibling of the King or Queen. In times it has also been filled by a loyal subject who has been raised to the title of Duke.

-3734: Queen Aliya I, King Margus' second wife, dies of a strange incurable illness. Rumoured to have been poisoned by one of King Margus' enemies.

-3729: King Margus dies at the age of 87. His firstborn son, King Margus the II (known as Justus Margus) is a wise and just leader, takes the throne at the age of 37.

-3705: King Margus the II dies at the age of 61. Poisoned. King Margus the III (known as Margus the Unworthy) takes the throne at the age of 39. According to some legends, Margus the Unworthy poisoned both his step-grandmother and his father, but there is little historical evidence of any wrongdoing.

-3701: King Margus the III is deposed as leader and beheaded during a rebellion. His younger step-sister, Katarina, descended from Aliya, is named Queen of Korovia at the age of 19. She is young and naive, but later becomes known as Katarina the Great as she rules Korovia during a time of great peace and was a great diplomat.

-3623: Katarina I dies of natural causes at the age of 97. Her oldest living son Prince Borislev becomes King, changing his name to Margus in order to honour the family tradition. He becomes King Margus the IV (known as Margus the Old), having outlived several of her other children.

-3610: King Margus the IV dies, giving his crown to his eldest daughter Aliya and passing over the elder Prince Ivaramir who was born weak-minded and feeble. His daughter becomes Queen Aliya II.

-2331: The city of Iztark in Al-Kazar is the first to smelt iron. Iron and varying qualities of crude steel spread through Al-Kazar. The process of smelting iron is kept a military secret for several decades.

-2295: The dwarves learn the secret of steel and begin learning how to purify it and make higher grades of steel.

-2247: Steel production leads to territorial disputes over iron mines and wars between steel-producing nations and nations still using bronze.

-2194: The start of the Second Demon War.

-2189: The end of the Second Demon War.

-0012: The start of the Last Demon War (The Third Demon War). Tanar’ri build an army in northern Korovia and begin marching on its cities. The gnomes flee underground. The old gods abandom their worshippers and religious anarchy reigns. New gods appear soon after. It is rumoured these new gods came from other planes of existence or that they are actually dragons who have ascended to godhood.

-0011: Oraknev falls with aid from Saraz (the god of war), the tanar’ri make Oraknev their new headquarters.

-0010: The Demon War spills over into Loqland and humans (Archaic Knights) from Loqland come to Korovia to help the elves. The elves are suspicious because there are humans (and elves) who are helping Saraz and the demons, but the union of the two races proves to be useful in fighting the demons. The humans from Loqland are known for their barbaric courage.

-0005: The Korovian Dragons swear a second sacred oath to protect Korovia and begin killing off the followers of Saraz. (The first oath made it obligatory for them to kill demons, the second makes it clear they must also defeat the allies of demons.)

-0003: The Legion of Dragonriders is formed. Mortals and dragons join forces to stage several successful counter-assaults.

-0002: The death of Saraz. Korovia’s curse begins. Thousands of Korovian Knights and Blizzards are trapped inside magical blocks of para-elemental ice.

-0001: The battle turns in favour of the elves and humans. Dwarves from Stilornvia come to help in the fight.

0001: The end of the Last Demon War. Remnants of the demon armies are rounded up or banished.

0002: The Legion of Dragonriders is disbanded. Many of Korovia’s dragons find a nice place to sleep and rest.

0003: The elvish king of Korovia (King Baerngarden) rewards the humans and dwarves with land. Many of the humans from Loqland decide to stay in Korovia and build new cities and paladin groups. Korovia was previously an elf dominant kingdom, but now is split almost half-and-half humans and elves. Many of the humans settle in ruined elvish cities and begin to rebuild. Everyone ignores the gnomes who finally come up to see what happened.

0144: Humans and dwarves begin to build Rokbar, hoping to create a trade city between three kingdoms.

0381: King Baerngarden dies. His third son (the first two were killed in the demon war) takes the throne. The new King Wyndriver is half wild elf and half grey elf. He doesn’t trust the humans (it was humans who killed his older brothers).

0395: Laws are passed that make humans second class citizens, essentially a slave class that serves the elves.

0834: King Wyndriver is assassinated and so are his male heirs. There are several attempts to resurrect, but all fail. His brother Algomarius takes the throne as regent because Wyndriver’s oldest daughter is too young to take the throne. Humans believe that Wyndriver’s estranged brother did the killing. Many elves believe the humans are at fault. The assassin is never found.

0839: Princess Ramidelicia comes of age and there is attempted assassination on her by a group of human mercenaries. She takes the throne and the defunct regent-king Algomarius is later found stabbed to death. The new Queen is kind to humans and is rumoured to have a human lover.

0911: Queen Ramidelicia is poisoned during the night and her body is defiled by evil magic that prevents her from being resurrected. Civil war erupts with the news of her death. Elves killing elves and humans killing humans, the civil war is extremely chaotic with many split factions.

0915: The civil war ends. Four new kingdoms now exist and several city-states. Two elf kingdoms, one human and one comprised of dwarves. The gnomes claim several city-states as their own cities, but declare no king.

0948: A war between ogres and elves in Basikvia spills over into Korovia. Civil unrest in all of Korovia’s kingdoms causes several small wars. During the upheaval, halflings become squatters in southern Korovia and are determined to stay. Korovia is split into city-states.

1077: Several elvish city-states swear fealty together and create an elvish king. King Finaskaz is a drow elf and starts to fortify the elvish cities and dig tunnels beneath them so they will be less likely to be defeated and overthrown.

1103: The first sighting of the Northern Leviathan as she destroys several pirate ships.

1142: A massive disease that comes from the kingdom of Lavordia in the west sweeps through Korovia, killing over half the population. Mass cemeteries are built. Political unrest follows the disease and King Finaskaz and many of his drow flee underground and stay there. Finaskaz abdicates from the throne and the elves split into city-states once more. King Finaskaz retains his crown and stays the King of Sylvania.

1286: Humans and elves engage in a huge war that destroys several human and elf cities. History about the time is sketchy and the locations of some cities are forgotten as plants quickly grow over them. There are different theories about why the war began.

1288: The end of the war between elves and humans. The war is called the “Three-Year-Blood-Feud” and there are a variety of reasons why it happened, something scholars continue to argue about.

1293: A large tribe of wandering minotaurs decides to settle in the abandoned human city of Tuirn and rebuild it. While neighbouring towns and cities are skeptical at first, with time they find that the tribe is honourable and has a strong moral code.

1482: King Finaskaz of the drow dies. His son Alomusk does not take the crown, but decides to remain a prince. Thus the tradition of an elf prince ruling over a city-state is born. Prince Alomosk is revered as both a philosopher and as a great king, despite refusing the title.

1508: A Korovian dragon called “Burning Ice” awakes after sleeping for over 1500 years. He destroys several towns and one city. He then settles down with another dragon and has many children. The age of dragons begins. “Burning Ice” is not the only dragon who suddenly awakens. Several hundred awake during the next several centuries. The age of dragons is a period of 900 years in which dragons soared over Korovia and terrorized its towns and villages. It was a period of peace because no one dared risk war but instead fortified themselves against dragon attacks. Many of these dragons are killed by heroes, many later go back to sleep (and may still be alive) and many have children whose descendants both protect and terrorize Korovia until this day.

2412: The Northern Leviathan kills numerous Korovian dragons in several historic battles. Earthquakes and volcanoes ravaged Korovia for seven months before the battles finally ended.

2443: Due to reasons unknown many of Korovia’s dragons have quieted down once more. Some say the Northern Leviathan scared them off or that the dragons and Her made some kind of agreement. The most plausible guess is that the Northern Leviathan is somehow related to the oath that the dragons took to protect Korovia. If this was true, then she might have been punishing the dragons for not keeping their oath and she might also have been forcing some of the newer and younger dragons to swear a new oath. But if this were so, why did the dragons continue to terrorize Korovia for another 31 years before finally settling down?

2581: A horde of trolls from the north invades Korovia. The cities manage to fend off many of the trolls, and the Korovian dragons even help in the matter. Many of the smaller towns are destroyed however. The trolls settle in the mountains, turning the ruins of old cities into new fortresses. Famine follows and thousands of people starve to death in the winter.

2650: A meteor storm destroys a human city called Vichanta that was west of where Zerburg is now. There is nothing but a crater there now. The rocks in the crater are useful as spell components and the whole place radiates magic so powerfully that it is a wild magic zone. Monsters are more common in the woods surrounding the crater.

2793: The halflings of Shorin swear fealty to Prince Zaelean of Yek when he rescues them from an army of gnolls.

2794: King Zaelean of Yek unites the eastern half of Korovia into one kingdom under Elvish rule. The descendant of Prince Alomosk swears fealty to King Zaelean. It is King Zaelean who orders the city of Sylvania to have an enchantment placed on it that creates better weather and a lusher environment for growing plants. Sylvania becomes one of Korovia’s best produces of food.

2795: Oraknev starts building its outer city, with designs from an architect that King Zaelean provides.

2821: Stilornvia unites parts of western Korovia and southern Loqland into a greater dwarven kingdom.

2851: King Zaelean dies. His kingdom collapses as human and elvish lords squabble over land, but no war erupts. The kingdom splits into city-states.

2853: A band of humans, elves and dwarves begin to build the city of Kost on the ruins of an old town. The city is to be a place of peace where all three races can communicate peacefully. To increase this likelihood, all three races build temples representing all of the lawful good gods from each race. The start of polytheistic paladin-hood begins.

2854: The minotaurs of Tuirn respect the ethics of the paladins in Kost and help to build the city. The minotaurs form their own paladin-order: The Ironskins.

3522: A new cult of wolves appears, following a druid named Lazriak the Wicked.

3525: The cult’s army of wolves, dire wolves, worgs and winter wolves destroys several small towns.

3526: Lazriak the Wicked and his cult of druids destroy a human city northeast of Oraknev and leave the city in ruins. Membership in his cult is made illegal in many cities, but popularity grows anyway.

3529: Several Korovian dragons attack Lazriak the Wicked. He defeats them. His popularity spreads amongst evil rangers and druids, and there is numerous “wolf-attacks” across all of Korovia.

3531: Lazriak the Wicked becomes the God of Wolves. His followers become more secretive about their ways and spread their beliefs beyond Korovia to Basikvia and Loqland.

3588: The Northern Leviathan destroys a fleet of ships from the Azagolian Empire headed towards Sylvania. Wreckage from ships floats up on the eastern shores of Korovia for several months.

3589: Sylvania cuts off trade with the Azagolian Empire, begins to fortify the Sylvanian harbour.

3592: The Azagolian Empire attacks and captures the elvish city of Weyvin.

3593: The Azagolian Empire attacks and captures the human city of Koastmark.

3595: The Azagolian Empire attacks Sylvania, but is routed and forced to retreat.

3596: Humans from Oraknev and barbarians from northern Korovia ally with the elves of Sylvania and re-capture Weyvin from Azagolian forces. Weyvin becomes a joint human and elvish city, fostering trade between the two races.

3600: Weyvin begins to have a large number of half-elvish children. Some elves are offended by this and move south, abandoning Weyvin to become dominated by humans and half-elves. It is historically still considered to be an elvish city.

4033: A Loqland dragon known as Great Scorch flies over Korovia from Loqland, destroying several towns.

4034: Several Korovian dragons are killed by Great Scorch. He stops destroying towns, but maintains an ominous presence in the mountains near Tuirn.

4148: Derek the Deadly kills the lord of Oraknev and declares himself the new lord. He begins raising an army.

4149: Derek attacks Weyvin. The local lords flee. Derek sets up Marshal Kragen as the law in Weyvin, and has an “elected” council of people who will follow Derek’s orders. By using the face of democracy, Derek controlled Weyvin and was able to extort tax money from it.

4150: The events of the Lilith Bloodstone Book I.

4154 - Spring: A band of adventurers get into a fight with Marshal Kragen but manage to escape. Wanted posters go up for the adventurers. Derek makes a deal with Great Scorch and several tanar’ri balors.

4154 - Summer: Derek sends scouts into the troll lands to seek a possible treaty with the Troll-King. In a surprising move, the Troll-King sides himself with the paladins of Kost instead. He refuses to take part in Derek’s war. The Northern Leviathan destroys a number of pirate ships headed towards Weyvin. Demons attack the paladin city of Kost. Dame Korozo defeats the balor leading the attack. Great Scorch is killed by adventurers. Derek is permanently blinded and overthrown.

4154 - Autumn: Queen Kasiya takes power and unites Oraknev, Weyvin, Kost and Tuirn under her banner. A mercenary army led by vampires attacks the city of Bavik. The army is defeated by adventurers with a marilith under their control. Bavik and several other Korovian cities swear fealty to Queen Kasiya.

4155 - Winter: the Star Citadel is assaulted and thousands of Korovian Knights and Blizzards are finally freed from the ice. Korovia’s curse ends. Warmer weather embraces the kingdom and glaciers begin to melt.

4166 - Winter: Orcs are spotted in parts of western Korovia, some close to Tuirn. The minotaurs send several hundred Ironskins to help the dwarves of Roknar fight orcs, plus create patrols to find orcs that have somehow slipped into Korovia.

4166 - Summer: The present.