Here is a draft of the timeline of Specularum, from the prehistory up to 1000 AC. Right now, it is mostly a selection of the events in my Traladaran Timeline, rephrased from a Specularum/Marilenev point of view, but I've also added some earlier events.
Of course, I'd like to add more events, so if you can think of any, feel free to post it
History of Specularum
by Giampaolo AgostaBC 2500 At this time, the future site of the Duke's castle in Specularum is occupied by a Fomorian homestead.
BC 2250 The Sheyallia elves reach Taymora. The local Necromancer Kings offer them the lands to the east of their nation, provided that they help opening new trade routes. Elven mercenary companies, armed with Taymoran bronze weaponry, invade the giant-held forests and mountains, chasing the giants from the region. The Giant-kin homestead becomes a river fort manned by elves and Taymoran humans.
BC 2100 Fomorian slaves are put at work, transforming the wooden fort into a stone fortress.
BC 1750 Taymor sinks under the waves. The few survivors reach the new coast, immediately to the south of the future site of Specularum. The earthquakes that destroy Taymor also bring the fall of the Fomorian-built fortress, and the formation of Mirror Bay.
BC 1500 The Nithian-led Traldar people uses the remains of the Fomorian fortress to build a massive tomb after the death of their first prince, Khmin. A fortified village, Os-Khmin (Throne of Khmin) is also founded nearby (on the site of the modern Church District).
BC 1400 A series of harsh winters, plagues, and attacks from native monsters has destroyed the Nithian aristocracy and turned the Traldar back to the stone age. The Hutaakans take over the village, and a Hutaakan priest settles in the abandoned fortified area. By this time, the tomb of Khmin has fallen into disrepair, and only its top half emerges from the ground.
BC 1100 The village of Marilenev is now a firmly established walled town, ruled by a dynasty of Traldar kings under the supervision of Hutaakan priests.
BC 1000 The Hutaakan priests seal the temple of Pflarr and leave Marilenev, fearing the destruction brought by the Beastman invasion. King Milen and his advisors, warned by Halav of Lavv of the impending invasion, choose to flee rather than fight. Marilenev loses three quarters its population, though it is not reached by the Beastman army, which is defeated eight years later on the river Volaga.
BC 800 Vandar tribesmen from the Hin lands reach Marilenev, settling the site Stronghold district. The Traldar kings welcome them to help repopulate the town.
BC 500 The fusion of Vandars and Traldars has brought to a new people, the Traladarans. The people of Marilenev starts trading with other villages upriver and on the coast.
AC 1 The population of Marilenev rises, and the town is now the major trade center of Traladara. Its princes (Ban) conquer the area that is now the Estate of Marilenev. The Banate of Marilenev is founded, under the Ivanovich dynasty.
AC 301-356 Bogdan Ivanovich, Ban of Marilenev, claims the title of King of Traladara. He manages to bring under his heel several clans, but the kingdom dissolves at Ivanovich's death.
AC 400 Thyatian missionary clerics reach Marilenev and other major towns in Traladara. A first Thyatian shrine is established in the Church district, on the site of the modern Cathedral of Karameikos. The Cathedral of Traladara is built only a few years later.
Meanwhile, the Merchants' Guild, the Leathersellers' Guild and the Skinners' Guild are formed to regulate trade with the northern lands.
AC 410 Merchants from New Alphatia bring lycanthropy and vampirism to Traladara. At the same time, the descendants of the Taymoran Nosferatu resurface. Marilenev suffers greatly from both plagues.
AC 412-417 The Bans of Marilenev lead various leagues of Traladaran city-states in the First Traladaran War against the Kingdom of Darokin. A modernization effort leads to adoption of Thyatian customs. The Banate of Marilenev becomes the Duchy of Marilenev.
AC 444-450 Religious conflicts within the Church of Traladara and political manipulation by the Harbortown envoys leads to the Second Traladaran War, which pits Marilenev against Halag. The Dukes of Marilenev wins thank to Harbortown's support. Marilenev becomes the primary coastal town of Traladara, expanding its influence on Dmitrov, Vidrin and Sulescu. In Marilenev, the Order of St. Kruskiev hides its heterodox teaching by preserving a strong oral tradition in parallel with the ortodox, Thyatian-influenced written tradition of religious texts.
AC 474-493 Duke Demara of Halavos is acknowledged as King of Traladara by the northern barons. The Duke of Marilenev refuses to acknowledge the claimant, who allies with Darokin, leading to the Third and Fourth Traladaran War. Once more, the league of southern lords emerges victorious, weakening Halavos and Halag and strengthening Marilenev.
The Moneychangers' Guild and the Armorers' Guild are also chartered at the end of the war.
AC 494 The Scriveners' Guild is chartered.
AC 500-530 The Duchy of Marilenev reaches the height of its power. During this time, Marilenev is the capitol of the Traladaran League, a formal association of Traladaran lords who assembly in the Diet of Marilenev to take decisions on foreign affairs.
The Bakers' Guild is also chartered at this time, leading other tradesmen to form their own guilds in the VI century.
AC 590-600 The Great Drought. A series of successive droughts threatens the farmers in what is now the North End. The legend of the Weary Water Diviner tells of a man who vowed not to rest or drink until a well could be found, and died of exhaustion and dehydration during this time. The Great Drought also causes widespread famine across Traladara. The inhabitants of regions heavily hit by the draught turn to banditry, as the lords of domains less affected refuse to lend help. This leads to increased strife among the Traladaran clans.
AC 600 The Traladaran League is finally dissolved due to dissension between the clans and the disappearance of the Darokin threat.
AC 612 The failure of the Traladaran League leaves the Duchy of Marilenev deprived of much of its political power. The trade guilds, led by the Radu family, oust Duke Alexandr Marilenev and replace the ducal government with an oligarchic republic, the City-State of Marilenev. The Marilenev family, led by Alexandr's sons, remains in control of the Estate of Marilenev, but is reduced in rank to being equal to the other great families, which in turn base their power on trade.
The Town Council (or Priorate) is formed to replace the Duke's authority.
AC 613 To prevent further droughts from affecting the local farmers, Guildmaster Petros Radu has an irrigation channel dug to provide a steady supply of water to the North End.
AC 675 Ilja Radu fortifies the Stronghold district, and starts a political campaign to extend the fortifications to whole town.
AC 681 As the Vampire Wars rage across Traladara, the Town Council of Marilenev finances the construction of the city walls. The Bricklayers' Guild is chartered in return for support in the building project.
A few years later, the reduced trade with the north sends the Skinners and Leathersellers into a crisis. The Dyers and Tailors, up to this time junior members of those guilds, secede and form their own associations. The Mariners' Guild is also formed as sea trade boosts, and the Apothecaries' Guild becomes a major guild as imports of spices and drugs from Minrothad and Thyatis increase.
While the town turns to the sea for most of its trade, and isolates itself from the rest of Traladara, the Marilenev clan takes part in the wars, forging new alliances and taking control of inland trade routes. By the end of the century, the Marilenev clan has recovered part of its status in the town, and pushes the town council to a more aggressive strategy against the vampire threat.
AC 728 An alliance including Marilenev, Vidrin and Selenica defeats the Black Count of the Moor.
AC 750 Favourable policies by the town council of Marilenev and the threat of war cause a large part of the rural population of Marilenev to settle within the walls of the city-state.
AC 802 Year of Infamy in the Highlands. Some Dwarven survivors settle in Marilenev. Syrklist Dwarves compete with the Traladaran moneychangers and jewellers. Due to the crowding of the city, Dwarves build the first blocks of the Foreign Quarter.
AC 860 At the height of the Selenican expansion, House Hallonica centralizes its embassy and trade agencies in Marilenev, constructing the Hallonica Building, at the time the most modern and prominent building in the city.
AC 900 The Emperor of Thyatis, Gabrionius IV, sends his legions in Traladara, and installs a governor in Marilenev, which is renamed Specularum. Garrisons are sent to the borderlands, with the goal of setting up spearheads for a campaign against the Darokinian successor states. Selenican merchant houses are forced to retreat from Specularum. The Hallonica building is sold to Samuil Torenescu (father of Emmet Torenescu). Many Thyatians and Minrothaddans settle in the former Darokinian district.
AC 902 Governor General Flavian Osteropoulos charters the Goldsmiths' Guild, sapping the strength of the Moneychangers' Guild. As a reaction to anti-guild decrees and policies by Governor Osteropulos, some Traladaran merchants and guilders form a self-defense group, which will become the seed of the Veiled Society.
AC 903 Governor Osteropoulos charters the Bowyers' Guild to reduce the influence of the warlike Armorers' Guild.
AC 906 In one of his last decrees before returning to Thyatis, Governor Osteropoulos reduces the Armorers' Guild to minor guild status, and forms the Cutlers' Guild.
AC 908 The new Governor, Curtius Quadratus, launches a military campaign to pacify the rebellious western and northern fiefs. The riverside farmers near Specularum, left with little defenses, face attacks from bandits. Grypas Rullianus, a Thyatian noble warrior also known as the "Knight of the Griffon", helps the local farmers turn the tide.
AC 919 Elena Hessenberg, a Hattian colonist and explorer as well as a long time resident of Specularum, is named Governor General of the Province of Traladara.
AC 926 Governor General Iulius Bassus charters the Innkeepers', Vintners' and Fishmongers' Guilds.
AC 929 As the North End is now a residential area, the irrigation channel is filled to provide space for the Lesser Merchant District and Westron Alley.
AC 932 Grypas Rullianus dies and is interred near Mirror Bay.
AC 970 Stefan Karameikos III trades the Duchy of Machetos to Emperor Thincol for the Grand Duchy of Traladara and independence.
AC 971 The Radu, Torenescu and Marilenev clans rise against the new government, but fail. The clan Marilenev is almost destroyed. Thyatian exile and political philosopher Fabritius Luscinia dies in one of the many battles of the short lived revolution, as does Ivan Marilenev, the chief of the Marilenev clan.
AC 972 The Hightower is built to provide a rally point for the Phorsis Guard against Traladaran insurrections, as well as to serve as a lighthouse.
AC 973 Duke Stefan opens up trade relations with the Kingdom of Ierendi. Ierendian merchants swarm into Specularum, and many immigrants, temporary or permanent, settle in the Foreign Quarter. Also, the Darokinian House Hallonica buys back the Hallonica Building in the Foreign Quarter from the Torenescu clan, and opens an official branch in Specularum.
AC 980 Duke Stefan charters the Loggers's and Hunters' Guilds.
AC 987 Duke Stefan consolidates relations with the Emirates of Ylaruam. Mustapha ibn Ibrahim, an expert hazar adventurer and diplomat, is sent by the Caliph as an ambassador. Mustapha's activity leads many hazar merchants and craftsmen to settle in Specularum.
AC 991 The wizard Krollan, a counsellor of Duke Stefan, is murdered.
AC 996 Baron Desmond Kelvin I dies in a duel with the Ylari ambassador, Mustapha ibn Ibrahim. His son, Desmond II, is confirmed Baron of Kelvin. The ambassador is promptly recalled and replaced with Abdallah ibn Hamid, an experienced Alasiyan warrior of nomadic background.