Chapter 2

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modern ERA

Era 1 - The New Age - 100 MYA

This era is the aftermath of the Dark Age. It begins with the creation of the modern Crysalla.

• Vilxiang is founded. It is the single oldest surviving city in Siablan, and the Old Palace is the oldest building. Vilxiang is a historical site that remains to never have been besieged in all of Siablan’s bloody history.
• Volkarris is founded. It will stand for several million years before it is razed by North’s forces.
• Coronaria is founded. It will stand for several million years before it is razed by West’s forces in retaliation.
• Odalea is founded. It will stand for several million years before it is destroyed in an eruption.
• The first edition of the four Cardinal Doctrines are written, as well as the primary religious text, the R’ialli. The Doctrines are typically appended to the end of the R’ialli.
• Iron and steel smithing begins.
• The Crysalla begin large scale domestication projects of various textile crops, along with the Sialli Silkworm. Clothing becomes a permanent staple of Crysalla culture.
  • *It should be noted that the Presalla already did this; but most of the species they had domesticated either went extinct entirely or were depleted considerably during the Dark Age.
• At some point, the Aquilla appear. It is hotly debated whether they were created by the Gods at the start, evolved from the first Crysalla, or whether they were crafted by North themself.
• West wages the first war between the Gods; against North. It started over a simple annexation of the Kirros Mountains, which had traditionally been a part of North’s domain. West felt that as it was a part of Vincai, the northern mountain range should rightfully belong to them. It is called the First War, and was a long, bloody struggle.
  • *It should be noted that there were several wars fought in the Ancient Era. The “First War” was simply the first between the four siblings, and an ill omen for what would come.
    

Era 2 - The Grey Age - 75 MYA

This era follows the end of the First War, when West successfully claimed dominion of the Kirros Mountains. Crysalla from all over Siablan feared what was to come; and they were right to. This era is a bloody one.

• The Storm Wars - Emboldened by their victory in the north, West invades the northwestern sector of Zarawari. The other three Gods view South as the weakest, being the youngest, and so West expects the fun-loving God to submit. South strikes back, and this event actually lasts for three distinct wars between periods of peace, as the land is retaken and held. The storm wars take their name from the Mirashiki, the permanent, raging spiral storm in the southwestern ocean. Holding the lands of Zarawari would facilitate access to its resources and open trade to the East, as North has blocked most of the northern trade routes. West emerges victorious after the third.
• The Storm Wars come to a whimpering halt when North invades the Kirros mountains, left with little standing army. West is forced to withdraw the majority of their forces to face the threat, but travel on Siablan is a long, arduous process, and North successfully retakes the mountain range. The ensuing conflict is called the War of Vengeance. The War of Vengeance ends with North victorious, with West left battered by the Storm Wars.
• The Razing of Volkarris is brutal. Secure in their victory, North marched their forces south and invaded Volkarris; the first time a God has entered the battlefield themself since the Ancient Age. West was larger, but North had rage in their heart for the suffering of their people, and succeeded in tearing off West’s left arm. This act shattered the belief of the Crysalla; it showed that the Gods could be injured. In their pain and fury; West lost control over Vhagris, and the volcano erupted, destroying Volkarris, and all the civilians within.
• The Razing of Volkarris shook Siablan around the world. North had fled the scene; their soldiers killed in the eruption, and West was laden with the guilt of the death of their citizens. This led to South retaking their lost territory by storm, and West’s defenders executed and their Soul Stones sealed in South’s great vault. West was unable to respond, only left to rebuild their fallen city.
• Soon after, West led several failed campaigns to retake the Kirros mountains. Their soldiers had lost morale, and their faith was shaken. Their God was mortal. Their God lost.
• Notable cities founded in the later years of this era are Noronia, Salali, Shisinu, and Huiyang. Unaffected by the wars of the west, East’s economy thrived. Domestication projects begin to bear fruit. Textile production booms, and a new form of paper is invented.

Era 3 - The Age of Peace - 61 MYA

This era follows what would become an uncharacteristic peace between the four Gods. With West, South, and North left to lick their wounds, life goes on…and the eastern hemisphere continues to drive societal advancement as the others rebuild.

• The cities Veigala (under North), Esheki, Xeichitl, and Aglaia are founded.
• The four universities of the Gods are founded, primarily with the intent of recruiting promising conscripts for their militaries.
• Various mathematical, scientific, and medicinal (re)discoveries.
• Domestication of various medicinal plants begins. Oh, hey, opium 2, we thought you went extinct.
• Various inventions are created. Instruments, thermometers, reading glasses, gunpowder (used for firework celebrations on the New Year), and more.
• Various plant milks used for cooking and baking are invented. *Crysalla are naturally lactose intolerant, as they do not produce milk, nor have they domesticated any mammals.
• Philosophy really takes off; primarily in the east. Presumably the work of Crysalla who do fuck all and have little daily problems.
• Dedicated historical accounts of Siablan’s history begin.
• The pointed arch and flying buttresses begin to make appearances in newly expanding architecture; solving previous weight distribution problems in large buildings.
• The first successful documented attempt to circumnavigate the globe in both longitudinal and latitudinal directions in a single trip is recorded. It took roughly 3,500 days by wing and ship. It was by all 27 accounts an unpleasant and exhausting experience.
• Woodblock and silkscreen printing takes off.
• Various dedicated excavations of Dark Age fossils begin. Presalla bones become a hot commodity for their rumored medicinal and magical properties.

Era 4 - The Black Age - 40 MYA

Named for when an unfortunate excavation in the Northern Hemisphere for Dark Age fossils uncovered a viral, deadly, and highly contagious disease known as the Raossa Errekrium (Dark Pestilence) that had been frozen in permafrost preserved corpses and spread rapidly through trade. Coupled with the outbreak of new wars; the global economy and state of Siablan suffered considerably.

• With global trade booming worldwide; the Raossa plague spread on swift wings. Any knowledge of how to combat it had since been lost with the Presalla, and it decimated the increasing urban populations. The symptoms progressed through coughing, to pneumonia, chest pain, to necrosis of the tissue, coupled with increased aggression. Body parts that rot and fall off will not regenerate, and feverish and dazed, the afflicted Crysalla will become a walking, violent corpse, and undeterred by any bodily pain. It’s advised to trap and burn the afflicted alive before the sickness progresses, lest they become a danger to everyone around them.
• With the Raossa plague beginning to spread throughout Siablan, West rallied an army to retake the Kirros Mountains, as the Northern lands remained the hardest hit by the disease. West resolved to raze Veigala to the ground, butchering every Northern follower they found, to prevent the pestilence from entering the western borders. Their swift action bought their dragons only temporary protection from the devastation that would follow.
• The eastern hemisphere, once the most prosperous in the globe, was the first to bar all trade. East closed their borders, suffering an enormous blow to their economy; but it was too late, and the disease crept in. Esheki proved to be the worst hit, and under the advice of various doctors, East ordered the entire city burned to ash. Any healthy Crysalla were taken in as refugees to Xianli.
• East’s mercy upon the seemingly healthy Crysalla refugees proved to be the wrong choice. The disease had now been introduced into the largest cities of the continent, previously unafflicted. Various medical treatments were attempted; but no cure was discovered.
• The southern hemisphere’s infection came from the east. Its spread was far more gradual due to the nomadic and rural culture of Zarawari. The southern hemisphere would remain the least affected by the contagion.
• West’s hubris got the better of them. Still bitter over the loss of their arm, (despite it growing back), they launched the first invasion upon Eyrikeris. This would be called the Winter War, and it ended with West burning Coronaria to the ground as payment for the previous destruction of Volkarris. They had intended to meet North in combat themself; but the God was mysteriously missing, and the capital had become a ghost town. West departed shortly after, realizing their mistake. If even North had fled the disease, it was bad.
• The Winter War was a short one. While West remained unafflicted; disease had spread throughout their troops, and when they returned to Vincai, they brought it with them. The Raossa had now its foothold in the west, and its dragons suffered by droves. Thousands were burned in their homes at the first sight of symptoms in an attempt to contain the epidemic.
• In the end, the disease had run its course. It killed roughly 1/5th of Siablan’s population in total. Scholars debate on the classification of the later part of the Black Age, as the pestilence waxed and waned throughout the millions of years, popping up in small outbreaks to epidemics. The disease would never be fully eradicated.

Era 5 - The Arrival - 25 MYA

The Arrival takes its name because it marks the migration of the Gannea to Siablan. The Gannea had come from Gallaeri fleeing the aftermath of the Gaellan Civil War on Gaella; Alannah Dreafyrnin’s former followers who had fled through a Rift in space/time led by Harlequin Rassea. The mechanics of Rift travel had yet to be understood, and the Gallaeri were mutated by the process. All who had come through the rift had lost their wings. It is debated amongst Gannea if they emerged from the Rift with claws, fangs, markings, and an omnivorous diet, or if they had evolved these features as an adaptation to life on Siablan.

• The Gannea were shocked to realize that their leader had disappeared from them in the Rift; along with all other Drateri that had fled with them. They numbered in the tens of thousands, but were all former Gallaeri; and now they were earthbound, on a foreign planet of monsters. They had arrived in the forests of terrestrial Xianli, and it would continue to host the largest population of Gannea in the planet.
• It is important to recall the events of the Black Age to understand the response of the Crysalla to the new arrivals. While their numbers were recovering, each nation had now developed extreme nationalistic and xenophobic sentiments, largely kept in isolation with little interhemisphere trade. It’s unknown how the first interactions between Gannea and Crysalla had happened; but the Gannea tell of constantly being afraid and hunted.
• Eventually, a Gannea was captured and brought to East themself. Novel species appear all the time on Siablan, especially in the wave of adaptive radiation after the end of the Dark Age, and it was believed the Gannea were merely an unusual result. It is unknown what words transpired in the Old Palace between the foreigner and the God; but since then, the Gannea always had a home in Xianli. It is considered an incredible stroke of life and divinely good grace, for the Gannea are certain that if they had arrived upon any other Gods domain, they would have been eradicated.
• The Gannea did not colonize Siablan naturally. Eventually, word got out to other realms of East’s new pets, and poachers were quick to provide captives for a price. Gannea rapidly became hot commodities, and were traded and sold all throughout the world. With little natural defenses, they were easily taken advantage of by their enormous counterparts. 
• The only large Gannean city-states to be founded in this age were Ruith and Myridian. The Gannea threw themselves into what little expertise they had in taming Siablan. They began several crop and animal domestication projects. By the end of this age; they had domesticated all of the modern crops and animals. Their most lucrative work was producing wool, which became a hot commodity among their Crysalla overlords.
• On the other hand, various Crysalla cities had begun to rebuild, and more propped up. Zanshia, Reseda, Parami, Keronari, Chelidonya, Tikirei, and Rilanshi were founded throughout this age.
• There have been multiple smaller wars throughout: The Seaspray War was fought between North and East over Calalai in the early third, named for being primarily naval (with North victorious). The Black War between North and West was again over the Kirros Mountains, in the middle of the age, named for North’s deliberate release of diseased prisoners into the territory (with West victorious), would establish Veigala as a permanent military stronghold. The Southern War was fought between West and South in the latter end of the age, originally an invasion upon the jungle of the Tansoree Mountains because of West’s repeated seizing of South’s mercantile ships, which had dealt a massive hit to their economy. It ended with South victorious, to the surprise of the three, and the outpost of Reseda was founded.

Era 6 - Current Era

The current era extends indefinitely. It is the era of the modern Siablan map. It is the primary intended era for play. It features the complete incorporation of Gannea into Sialla society, but before the resurrection of Razarath and ensuing events of Chapter 3.

• The Tansoree War happened early on, and saw the conquest of Reseda by West and reestablishment of all of Vincai under their control. Reseda would remain a permanent settlement, and flourish under West’s rule.
• The Crysallan cities of Oachalla, Lantana, Remazai, Quobou, Aglaia, and Vinsuti are founded throughout this era. The southern hemisphere saw its most rapid expansion of urban populaces in this era.
• The Gannean cities of Estelar, Illitan, Maiele, Alrena, Nueleth, Yesani, Lensia, Ashryn, Zhananda, and Vestele were founded throughout this era. The Gannean population has boomed, despite facing widespread oppression and violence from Crysalla in various parts of the world.
• There are various smaller battles and wars fought between the four Gods. Relations between them are largely hostile. There has been a treaty signed by all the Gods to allow the patron Deities to enact their own trade agreements between their cities, and to ban intentional sinking of any trading vessel by any God’s military.