A Pathfinder Campaign Setting
Tragedy, glory, loss and sorrow are what define a big portion of the human kingdom's history in Arthan Uthyl. From brief periods of peace with technological advancement, inside wars that shake the continent's society, to supernatural invasions, from both the unknown lands North and South. Not only that, various natural catastrophes ravage the land, tormenting the locals that, unrelentless, keep rising up against the impeding doom.
Little is known about the origins of the humans. What is known is that a long, long time ago, humans came from the seas, in a mighty fleet, reaching the shore of the current region of Nakolota. Why they came or what brought them here, no one knows. From there, history becomes messy. Strife between the various crew members divided the fleet and a exploration race took place, each crew party conquering land for themselves, thus the first human kingdoms were born.
The frist great kingdom belonged to the tribe of Zhuo. founding his reign in the vast and mystical land of Chientzy. There, they found a being of immense power and started worshipping it like a god. But there were some who saw such a being with disbelief. A veteran soldier named Khala Kun'dur made a small insurrection and departed with his followers to the lands East, founding the rocky kingdom of Lao-Tse. The Zhuo tribe, to avoid future threats, then built a huge fortification around the landscape, what is now known as the "Endless Wall".
Humanity would suffer their highs and lows, from small skirmishes to great wars that involved all kingdoms. A little more then fifty years ago, a great cataclism took place, which became known as "The Great Flood". Pouring rains and unnatural tectonic movement took apart the continent, specially the southern regions of Varsemia and Najha. The land was swallowed by the rising seas, turning the once fertile and green prairies into true archipelagos. The surviving humanfolk would take this opportunity to start an age dedicated to seafare.
The nations caught by the flood saw their defenses destroyed, their lands swallowed by the oceans. One nation, saw opportunity in the frailty brought by this force of nature and started a age of conquest, slavery and pure despotism. With their main opposers busy with internal conflicts, these conquered great part of the southern regions, thus reaching the current age. An age of rebellion, civil wars and resistance cells.
Below is a summarized timeline of Arthan Uthyl in general. The current year is 1175, in the Age of The Restless Waters.
-3500 Arrival of the human armada to the continent. These split between crews and start exploring the continent, each claiming control of the explored regions.
-3451 Zhuo and his subjects find the dragon Shen Long and start to worship it. Creation of the Minzao kingdom and beginning of the "Endless Wall" construction.
-3316 Khala Kun'dur, vassal of the minzao, and a group of insurgents rejects the Shen Long worship and go East, founding the Lao-Tse kingdom in the mountainous region of Daiju.
-3314 Mykke Lyundagard and his crew discover Shaulruk and the Great Unknown, North, and forge the Krin nation, in Istid; Yapachinko Tatamino creates the Quepa-qual, in Quetza.
-3311 Klaus van Orange and his mates stablish an outpost network through the rivers in Varsemia, thus creating the Kaastian Republic; Maximus Unum and Leónidas I, found the kingdoms of Cretus and Lampa, starting an open war for resources and territories.
-3301 A group of Lao-Tse explorers discovers the Rhadaputni jungle, South, and create the small kingdom of the Meynari. They are led by Bin sem Dulamar, and are tutored by the Lao-Tse.
-3285 The Minzao kingdom enters a civl war, with Chiaoping and his devouts of Shen Long in a side and the insurgent Emirr Tizmeschinko and his naturalist worships on the other side; The Krin ally with the Kaastians and the Varsemian War starts to spread through the continent.
-3281 Chiaoping is victorious and Emirr is exiled to the Ghobi steppes; Vladimir Muskovik and his crew discover gold in the Boyarska region and create the Muskovik county; Hannibal Viriatus and his crew, stablished in the Salacian Mountains, ally with the Krin and Kaastians in the Varsemian War and create the Rubran nation.
-3279 Khala Kun'dur anexes the Ghobi region to his kingdom and puts Emirr as its leader, thus the Ulnuc nation is born; Bertz Khazani e Rich Astrahkani arrive to the Muskovik county and swear fealty to the locals, creating the Tvor Federation; The "Iron Curtain", a network of forts in the North, starts being built.
-3271 Cedric Longbraid, a krin general, joined by hundreds of desertors, stablish a series of camps in Northern Varsemia, founding the Beveritan Nation and keeping outside the local war; Khala Kun'dur enters an alliance with the Minzao, creating the strongest force in the continent.
-3266 The Nakolota region starts being inhabited by refugees, that flee from the continental war, thus creating the Maokinan Confederation; Refugees from Ghobi seek sanctuary in the coast of Istid, creating the Tatamak tribes; The cretian massacre a beveritan village, forcing the nation to enter the conflict; The Lampa Empire is attacked by unknown forces to the South and retreat from the Varsemian War.
-3251 Khala Kun'dur and his mighty empire enter the conflict, toppling the Cretian empire in the process; With Tvor and Quepa as exceptions, all human kingdoms declare Khala as the continent's supreme leader; End of the Varsemian War and with it the Age of Arrivals.
c. -3250 An age of prosperity and piece governs the human kingdoms, chancelled by the Kun'dur bloodline, that lasts almost two thousand years.
-1282 Shaka Zulu Akchar and his small Mukulu kingdom emerge in Southern Najha; Supernatural incursions begin to take place in the Southern lands; The Lampa Empire asks for aid to the neighboring kingdoms to contain the emerging threat.
-1161 The "Endless Wall"'s construction is finished; The Minzao forbid the entrance to foreigners on it's territory; The First Invasion from the Great Unknown starts, through Shaulruk.
-1149 Tvor, struggling with a civil war between the house Muskovik and a minor rebel house, ally with the Varsemian and Istid nations to help contain the Northern Invasions.
-1145 The Tvorlian Civil War ends; The Arcane Academy is founded in Chientzu.
-1143 Mirandak Kun'dur, direct descendent of Khala, and his massive empire, join against the Great Unknown; The Battle of Shaulruk takes place, where humanity ends victorious, but Kun'dur, dies in combat. With his death, ends the First Invasion and the third era.
-741 Emirr Baltintchenko, decides to avenge the ulnucans of the forced vassalage imposed by the Kun'dur Empire, invading with a surprising force the neighbouring kingdoms; Two kingdoms emerge on the main river in Najha, Sep'therak and Worm'nstrel, starting a conflict for the rivers supremacy.
-738 Various human tribes stablish the Muabin Empire, in Northern Najha. Abdul imn Telajh, becomes their first leader; The Lao-Tse and Minzao can't resist the ulnucan onslaught and fall, thus ending the Kun'dur Empire and beginning the Golden Empire, led by the Emirr Khans dinasty.
-666 The Najhari War, between the river kingdoms, spreads through the region; The muabins use gunpowder for the first time against invaders from the conflict; The war hits it's climax with a big flash of light, transforming most of the region in a desert and destroying the Worm'nstrel nation, thus ending the era.
-516 Emirr Yochtatan, descendent of Baltinchenko, passes away and is Lavichtan takes over. The regions of Chientzu and Daiju start building resistance against the current ruler.
-500 Emirr Lavichtan is killed by Lao-Tse assassins without leaving an heir. Yaroslav, his brother, claims the throne and starts pursuing the resistance. The meynari kingdom joins the Lao-Tse in the conflict.
-453 Secound Invasion from the Great Unknown, through Boyarska. The Tvorlians are successful in containing it and start exploring the unkown lands to the North.
-433 Kaastians steal the secrets of the muabin gunpowder. Krin start pillaging the Varsemian countryside. Bevéritans and Kaastians declare war to the Krin.
-422 Sven Wolfden, the Krin leader is deposed and executed, in Belshinmor. Bjorn Bearhide succeeds him as Krin Leader, ending the Varsemian-Krin Conflict.
-381 Lao-Tse, Minzao and Meynari topple the Emirr Khan Dinasty, ending the Golden Empire. In the process, Lao-Tse occupy the Chientzu region.
-232 Lao-Tse and Minzao declare war on each other; From the Endless Mountains emerges the first dwarf to establish contact with the human kingdoms, creating a small outpost in Muskovik. With him come rare ores like Mithral; The Lampa Empire creates an outpost in the unknown lands to the South, in the Salt Desert of Narar; Tvorlians make contact for the first time with a Great Unknown culture, the Frynhall.
1 Foundation of the Klaar religion; First Great Invasion from Narar. Shaka, alive beyond human life expectancy, leads his Mukulus against the invaders and are victorious in the Battle of Saurokuva. Gaining international notoriety among the nations.
29 First Rubran-Cretian Conflict.
55 End of the First Rubran-Cretian Conflict. General Harshub Barca, of the rubran, is named as the hero of the strife; Shen Long, the mystical dragon, meddles for the first time in human affairs, threatning to destroy all the Lao-Tse Empire if they don't retreat from Chientzu lands.
155 Shen Long flies over Arthan Uthyl, destroying two major cities in the Daiju region. Thousands of people perish. The Lao-Tse concede to the dragon's wish and retreat, ending the conflict and the current age.
545 The Rubrans invade the Muabin Empire, with dreams of recreating the Kun'dur Empire. In the first clash, the Battle of Takviye, they are shamefully defeated and sign a cease-fire with the Muabin; Start of the Second Rubran-Cretian Conflict.
583 Foundation of the "Arcane Hounds" organization; Various human aberrations spread through the continent in an alchemical disaster known as Incident 341. One of them, a being named Glankral Stonebird, ends up as leader of the infamous mercenary band the Blodskal.
589 End of the Secound Rubran-Cretian Conflict, again with a cease-fire. The Third Great Invasion from the Great Unknown starts, with hordes falling into the northern regions, with devastating impact. So starts the war known as "War of the Howling Dead".
590 Shaka, still alive, leads an army composed by various human nations against the enemy in Boyarska. In Istid, two adventurers, Ulric Barghast and Borislav Tzamaenov, are successful in stopping the invading armies in Shaulruk, but the North is in tatters.
591 The combined human army is victorious in the Battle of Varota Vad, ending the enemy presence in Boyarska. Istid is kept under siege by enemy forces; A handful of adventurers gains fame between the Istid resistance fighters, like Glankral Stonebird and his Blodskal, Omaewada mou Shinderugi, Ragnar Doomclock and Yacintu Mallort.
592 Battle of Istvan, in Istid, where the human army ends the Third Invasion and the War of the Howling Dead. Istid is in ruins; Shaka tries a recovery plan but is vetted by the different burocrats; Ragnar Doomclock promises to recover by force what the continent owes to Istid folk. So ends this age.
531 Doomclock forms the Regn av Aska, a band of pillagers, and starts sacking various comercial routes in the continent; The "Donkere Dolk" organization, an assassins guild, becomes publicly known after killing the Kaastian leader. A few months later they succeed in killing the Seph leader and the cretian emperor. These become the most infamous international terrorist organization.
662 In less inhabited lands rumours start spreading about survivors of the last invasion, wandering the night; the guilds "Huurlingen Kuil" of the kaastians and "Gladium Explorationem" of the cretians, are founded as exploration companies.
831 Adventurers start disappearing in Pinus Silvae, Varsemian Region. Survivors talk about horrors coming from the woods; Kaastian explorers start exploring more remote regions, like Quetza and Radhaputni. Of Quetza, news arrive of the existence of a long lost xonofobe empire known as Quepa-Qual.
1111 The ancient house Magyskyi, in Boyarska, fallen to ruin in the Tvorlian Civil War, returns to active; Sobervaud Kneelcat and a group of adventurers unveils a terrible secret in the deeps of Varsemia. While trying to warn the local authorities of an imminent calamity, but ends up hanged in Belshinmor; Starts raining non-stop on the continent. End of the current age.
1112 The rains don't stop, ruining the annual crops and causing floods; An earthquake shakes the continent. The seas swallow coastlines, specially Varsemia and Najha, swallowing a big chuck of the sourthern territory.
1113 The raining stops. The happening, that left the southern nations in ruin, becomes known as the "Great Flood"; Civil Wars spread out through the Southern continent; The Quepa-Qual gets divided in a war of three fronts (War of The Triangle): Pacalis, Aztenis and Pachtunis; The Kaastian Republic sees it's powerful mercantile houses engage in a fervorous civil war.
1141 From the isles West of Quetza is born the nation of Porpuna. Iniatially passive to the happenings through the mainland, the Great Flood opened sea routes to sack the continent; North of the Porpuna Isles, an archipelago of tribal seamen known as Kaomi start to be employed as mercenaries.
1145 The kingdom of Seph'terak enters a civil war. From it two independent city states emerge: Lonys and Merys; One tribe east of the Ghobi, the Chunoi, start pillaging northern Varsemia and Southern Boyarska, leaving only charr and flames in it's pass.
1155 The Cretian Empire, seeing the surrounding countries frail by nature and civil strife, engage in a expansionist period, declaring war to their neighbours. Start of the "War of the Red Hills".
1156 The Cretians advance relentlessly, annexing everything they can. The rubran territory is the first to fall, followed by the beveritans.; One of the beveritan tribes flees to the North, placing every refugee under a new banner, thus the Gernian Confederation is born.
1160 The Empire of Cretus convinces the Seph'terak kingdom to join the empire, ending the Seph Civil war. The conflict spreads to Najha; The Muabin Empire asks for help to the North. From there emerges the Armatian nation.
1163 From the wreckage of the Salacian Mountains, one castro flees to Southern Najha, now a handful of islands, creating the Barcagenean nation in the process; The creteans, controlling a large part of Varsemia and Najha, divide the empire in two, with Cretus holding the Varsemian Front, while the recently created Zancium with the Najhan Front.
1168 Battle of Apfelkralle takes place. Which translates to the first cretean defeat in the war; A few months later, a new defeat, this time in the Battle of Spiti, but the Lampa Emperor Pirhus dies in battle; The Lampa Empire, devastated by the cataclism, war and with no heirs to the throne, ends up divided in three great city states: Corkos, Makeros and Lampas.
1171 The creteans suffer their first loss inside their own territory, the Battle of Millia, made possible by the barcagenean general Aníbal Barcagid. Months afters, Zancineans suffer another huge blow, in the Battle of Takviye, where a pocket of armatian soldiers destroyed the zancian legions.
1175 A tribe of spiritualists emerges in Southern Nakolota, naming themselves Boriguas; The cretians, with their warfronts spread thin, start to lose conquered land. The Corkosian League conquers Edisea and Corinea. Battle of Simeio.
1176 the Gernean confederation thrashes the cretean opposition to the North, in the Battle of Fort Ostenholz; In Najha, Zancians and Sephs continue to advance furiously, occupying the city of Uruk and half of the barcagenean isles; In Quetza, ends the War of the Triangle. the Aztenis, the former empirialistic party, concedes defeat and Quetza gets to be divided by the three nations.