Lore

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

The Tallis-Shei Meet the Shar`Vaire - The Cataclysm of D`Mir

3250 BF – The Elves, who call themselves Tallis-Shei, or Moon Elves in honor of their lost home, readily flourish across Shalzaar. Great cities were built with the help of the Shar'Vaire. The Shar'Vaire are at first more than willing to freely give land that is theirs from previous conquests. Knowledge is likewise exchanged, though each side harbors a quiet distrust for the other. The Humans that escaped with the Elves also branch out across Shalzaar, though they themselves have no direct relations with the Shar'Vaire who consider them pets of the Elves.

1101 BF – The Shar'Vaire Theocracy of ruling magi begins to openly worship demons and devils, often offering themselves as consorts to the most powerful of fiends. Where a few thousand years ago it was considered a cult trend, now it has become almost commonplace for any serious spell-caster to hold court with the infernal. This alarms the Tallis-Shei who still have a fresh memory of Ishaela and all relations are closed.

520 BF – After much deliberation between the ruling Theocrats, it is decided that the Shar'Vaire, as a people will petition the Lords of Chaos for an infusion of infernal power for the entirety of their people, in exchange for the submission of all Shar'Vaire to the will of the Lords of Chaos. While a great majority follow the will of the Shar'Vaire Theocrats ruling the Mageocracy, there is a contingent of noble families that feel that giving one's self to an infernal fiend at all is not only dangerous but abhorrent. Led by Lord Aerisaen uth Braegon, these Shar'Vaire, who would later call themselves Quar'Vess, leave the Empire to forge their own fates, rather than succumb to the mandate. This time is known as The Darkening by Quar'Vess historians.

514 BF – The Quar'Vess settle on the far west side of Tal'Rah, where they discover the burrows of the Dragons that survived slaughter several thousands of years before. Again in a slumber, the great creatures were awakened and a deal of sorts was struck. This deal led to the founding of the city of Farwind, where these Shar'Vaire outcasts and Dragons could co-exist in mutual defense of a common threat.

202 BF – With the grand rite that infused the Shar'Vaire people with infernal power long since complete and the full potential of that power realized, the D'Mirian Empire sets forth on a crusade to rid Imarel of the Moon Elves. A sorcerous plague is unleashed upon the city of Am-Tasaar that kills off all but a handful of Elves living there. Those who survive hide deep in the wood, and will eventually become known as the Tallis-Kah, or Wild Elves. This act of aggression begins the War of Eternals.

199 BF – The first Voraath is created by the Shar'Vaire after several botched attempts at creating a slave race. Immediately the Voraath are put to hard labor mining boromandite for the war effort against the Tallis-Shei.

172 BF – The War of Eternals wages on to a bloody stalemate, with the Shar'Vaire enjoying an advantage offensively when the Elves are caught in the open, but are then slaughtered when they must face the Elves on well-defended ground masked and altered by powerful illusions. To counteract this, the Shar'Vaire begin training their Voraath slaves to fight.

66 BF – Surik Dur'lane, brother of the Theocrat Mourn'elaian Dur'lane begins setting in motion a plot to overthrow the Mageocracy in order to place himself as ruler of all Shar'Vaire. This is done with the cruel murder and rape of Mourne's wife and slaughtering of his three children, then framing him for the entire heinous collection of acts. Stripped of his seat on the ruling council, Mourne was imprisoned to await sentencing while Surik ascended to power; a sentence he would never hear as an escape from prison is orchestrated soon after. Meanwhile, the Elves come closer and closer to defeat, with Shar'Vaire, Voraath war-slaves and demons all pitted against them.

0 – The Capital City of D'Mir is swallowed into civil war as various factions splinter to vie for power, against both each other and Surik. Amid this chaos the Voraath, who had in the past years gained free will, despite the Shar'Vaire's best efforts revolted as well. With Shar'Vaire fighting Shar'Vaire, demon fighting demon with Voraath and Kal'aire fighting everybody, the entire city quickly sank into anarchy.

At some point during the fighting a massive explosion swept over the city as a giant portal to the Abyss was opened. The torrent of sorcery from Shar'Vaire fighting to close the portal, versus the combined efforts of Shar'Vaire and demon's magic attempting to open it caused a massive dimensional paradox that sent a blast wave of chaotic magic rolling outwards. This blast wave rumbled across the mid eastern portion of the continent, corrupting forever the stretch of territory now called the Burning Lands and left once magnificent D'Mir a permanent outpost of the Abyss. This event in particular is called the Cataclysm of D'Mir and signifies the end of War of Eternals, with the Shar'Vaire declaring an empty victory. This also ends the Age of Heroes and begins the current age, the Age of Discord.