Lore

The Imarel Timeline - by T.A. Saunders ©2009 v1.5
Updates by S. Robles, B. Kellestine, D. Schneider.

Human Appearance on Ishaela - The Rise of The Kingdom of Xos

8440 BF – Humans first appear on Ishaela and are soon discovered in the plains and hills south of Am-Shei by the Sivanoshei as wandering, nomadic tribes. They are immediately befriended by the Elves and later the Dwarves, both of whom seek to educate the quick to learn race in all manner of trade and mundane craft. The Prince of the Sivanoshei however, decrees the Humans are not to be taught magic.

7807 BF – The Humans of Ishaela have begun developing their own cities. The greatest of these, Sengaard, is founded with the help of the Dwarves. The debate on whether to trust Humans with the secret of magic continues, with the young head of the Am-Shei Tower of Magic, Ko'rashae Ri becoming a great supporter of the cause. Despite the Prince's refusal however, Ko'rashae and others secretly begin teaching the brightest and most promising of Humankind.

7800 BF - Not long after the development of cities, the humans of Sengaard split along the lines of two predominant prophets, the Baah Shemelek and Menshutzedek. The Baah Shemelek leads the city dwelling humans in a cultural revolution, instituting Indarian temple worship for the first time in Human civilization The first set of human laws laid down in writing, The Code of Human Purpose, is attributed to the Baah Shemeleh during this period. On Ishaela, human farms, fortifications, and breweries also appear in the archeological record around this time.

7798 BF - The hunter-gatherer followers of the Menshutzedek begin a revolt against the increasing power of the Sengaardian city-dwellers. The Sivanoshei and the Kaal’Kor both counsel Baah Shemelek and Menshutzedek to avoid a full-scale conflict, but the humans are obstinate. The followers of the Baah in the city of Sengaard issue a proclamation making sacrifice, worship, or prayer to any god or spirit but those in Indaris as punishable by death. The undeveloped areas of human land erupt in revolt, and city-dwellers and hunter-gatherers fight in what is known as the Prophet’s War. The Baah Shemelek, against the wishes of the Kaal’Kor and the Sivanoshei, crowns the first ‘King and Priest of Sengaard’, Helekiah the Glory. Helekiah is able to unite the human cities and drive the Tribesmen out of the fertile southern planes.

7791 BF - The tribesman who resisted moving into the cities are pushed ever north by city-dwelling Sengaardians, slowly changing from fighting a war of conquest and disruption to a war of survival and sustenance. A critical juncture comes in the winter of 7791, as the Tribesmen are pushed up against the north-western coast of Sengaard. Fighting a campaign with their backs to the water, the prophet Menshutzedek makes a covenant with the Elemental Princes. Over the course of four days, it is said that each of the Elemental Princes visited the harrowed Tribesmen, and each Prince adopted one portion of the tribesmen as their own people. Menshutzedek then guided his people across the waters that would come to be known as the Straits of Exodus. After leading his people to safety, Menshutzedek renamed his people the ‘Quivynites’, which comes from the Ancient Sengaardian word ‘Quivyn’, which means ‘Four Laws’. Menshutzedek is said to have walked into the ocean not long after seeing his people to safety, never to be seen again.

7777 BF - The Baah Shemelek dies after twenty-one years of leading his people. Traditional histories claim he was four-hundred and forty-four when he died, but modern archeologists and theologians deny this is a possibility.

7700 BF - Successive Priest-Kings of Sengaard slowly replace all religious activity with tightly controlled worship of Kaal. Even the worship of other Indarian gods and spirits is discouraged by law, and those laws are often enforced by befouled noblemen. In Sengaard, only the Church of Zorah and the followers of Trentarius are able to weather the storm of religious persecution. All other forms of worship are driven underground. It is during this time that the first humans begin to turn to dark gods, as nobles are corrupted by persecuting peasants on the king’s orders. Over the next two-thousand years, the Kingdom of Sengaard experiences consistent turmoil as the weakened Kaalian faction attempts to exert dominance over the increasingly heretical aristocracy and estranged peasantry.

5221 BF- The Church of Kaal experiences a renaissance in the Kingdom of Sengaard. Fervent Kaalian peasants and city-dwellers begin to call for reforms to the outright debaucherous aristocracy. The Sengaardian aristocracy responds by instigating the Week of Wars, a short conflict that sees mercenaries, paid-off guardsmen, and loyal patrons massacring Kaalians across the Kingdom. The Priest-King is able to restore order, but the aristocracy is strengthened by the devastated Church of Kaal and the Priest-King is unable to bring the nobles to justice. This begins the period of Sengaard’s domination by its noble ruling class.

5202 BF – Much like the Shar'Vaire of Imarel, the Humans began craving power to fulfill their own destiny as a people. The wizards amongst their people taught of divine and infernal powers; while many priests already existed in the faith of the Old Gods and the Spirits, knowledge of infernal powers was new and offered a path to destiny that was hard to resist. More than one priest shed their faith for the Old Gods and called to the dark, unbeknownst to their Elvish and Dwarvish allies. It would be Khavos, Spirit of Decay that would answer.

5001 BF – The Humans of Ishaela flourish as a people despite the discovery that they had been taught magic against the Prince's decree. There are whispers however, amongst the Sivanoshei that the Humans had grown powerful and arrogant with the knowledge bestowed upon them and with such arrogance, concern grows. The first Vampires are created from willing high priests of Khavos; these priests are empowered to create more of their kind, through death, those found fit amongst the faithful to serve Khavos in a quietly planned takeover of Sengaard's government.

4999 BF – Sengaard's government is toppled with much civil unrest that throws the city into chaos. Vampires are secretly placed in key positions and radical changes in laws are swept into effect. The Human citizenry caught in the crossfire of this revolution are helpless and plead to the Elves for help, who choose to remain neutral. The Dwarves however, choose to given humanitarian aid and assist those who wish to leave the Kingdom of Sengaard. The Kingdom of Sengaard is renamed the Kingdom of Xos, in honor of Khavos' Plane.