The Unofficial Timeline of Mystara
by Daniel BoeseThe Glantrian Catastrophe
1700 BC: The elves of Glantri discover, in the Broken Lands, a strange artifact from the lost Blackmoor civilisation. They tinker with it, and the artifact explodes cataclysmically, sending impenetrable clouds into the sky (which last for years), and spreading a strange rotting plague among the surviving elves - those who were far enough away to survive. The elves shelter themselves in the deepest caves of Glantri. They find an incredible series of caverns there and begin a years-long migration. The travelling tribes are separated from one another. These are the ancestors of the Hollow World's Gentle Folk, Icevale Elves, and the Schattenalfen. A fourth group, led by an elf named Atziann, has no survivors save that king. Some emerge, years later, hundreds of miles south, past the Broken lands. Some perish.
The catastrophe forms the Land of the Black Sand in the Ethengar Steppes.
The local cataclysm rakes the Broken Lands and buries the Great Horde. King Loark dies, and his horde breaks apart. Giants, and trolls are driven south into the Northern Reaches in successive waves of migration.
Goblinoids settle in the Yazak Steppes. (RS)
1691 BC: Baka betrays Akilla-Khan and drives his humanoids into the Broken Lands.
1690 BC: Akilla-Khan builds a fortress in the Broken Lands, and starts raiding Glantri and Ethengar borders.
1688 BC: Akilla-Khan retires from the world and becomes an Immortal, taking the name of Yagrai. Unaware of the truth, Ethengarians rejoice. Baka declared Khan of all Ethengars.
1681 BC: Baka Khan is poisoned. The Ethengars war over his successor. The War of Succession starts.
1680 BC: Land masses split further, forming 10 islands south of the Five Shires.
Verdier elves build ships and join their cousins, the Meditor clan, in the Sea of Dread.
1675 BC: Tahkati Stormtamer unites the tribes that are now known as the Children of the Horse and leads them in conquest of the other tribes that now make up the Atruaghin Clans. Eventually, he becomes an Immortal. (GAZ14)
1650 BC: A surviving clan of Glantrian elves from the outer world finds its way to the Hollow World through thousands of miles of subterranean passages. The tribe emerges in lands thickly occupied by hostile Neathar tribes and dinosaurs; they migrate northward, to lands similar to frozen Glantri, and settle in the mountains south of the Beastmen and west of the Antalians. They call their new land Icevale. (HW)
Atziann, king and sole survivor of a clan of Glantri elves who had been driven underground, comes across the Hollow World Azcans, emerging near Chitlacan. Fascinated by these people, he spends several years among them (in disguise) and studying their ways before leaving to pursue his dream of Immortality. (HW)
1600 BC: Tensions erupt between the two largest Jennite hordes: One horde, the more traditional of the two, has woman warriors, while the other has virtually enslaved its women. The Immortal Tarastia enjoins the more traditional horde to conquer the other, but the resulting holy war all but destroys Jennite civilisation. (By the time the Alphatians reach the Known World, six centuries later, the outer-world Jennites have regressed to stone-age barbarism, their previous glory all but forgotten.)
The Immortal Tarastia preserves several clans of the self-destructing Jennite culture, choosing to save only the more traditional horde. She transfers them to the Hollow World, placing them in the southern hemisphere, south of the forests and plains occupied by the Tanagoro tribesmen. The Jennites begin a fierce rivalry and occasional warfare with the Tanagoro men. (HW)
1500 BC: Nithian culture begins its climb to greatness. One colonial expedition led by the Nithian Traldar clan travels to the lands now known as Karameikos. As these colonies spread out, they become the first humans to inhabit Darokin. (GAZ1)
The Immortal Pflarr creates a jackal-headed servitor-race he calls the Hutaaka. He uses many of them as agents, heralds, and servants throughout the known world; he plants a large colony of them in mountains south of the Nithians.
Modest Bronze Age human cultures in the eastern lowlands of the Northern Reaches.
Sophisticated gnomish and dwarven cultures co-exist with primitive giantish clans in the western uplands of the Northern Reaches.
The elf Atziann attains Immortality and adopts the Azcan form of his name, Atzanteotl, "Atziann the Divine." He begins whispering to selected Shadow Elves and Azcan rulers of the power and glory he can bring them, and lures them away from their faiths. Increasing numbers of Shadow Elves (especially those of the Schattenalfen clan) turn from the worship of Rafiel to that of Atzanteotl; likewise, many Azcans turn away from Otzitiotl and Kalaktatla. Only Atruatzin, the Azcan priest-king, who would later become Atruaghin, resists the Immortal. (HW/GAZ14)
A group of halflings pause in their northward migration at Thanegia Island. Dismayed by the unrest in the land, they quickly move on.
On the Alphatians' world, the civilisation has achieved total mastery of its environment; the great universities are at the peak of their powers and just beginning to indulge in serious scholastic competitions and squabbles. (DotE)
1494 BC: A terrible plague strikes Chitlacan, killing almost two thirds of its population. Atruatzin, himself a survivor of the disease, and his most faithful followers are driven out of Chitlacan by his philosophical and political rivals (who follow Atzanteotl). They settle in the fortress of Quauhnahuac. (HW/GAZ14)
1484 BC: Driven by the whispers of Atzanteotl, and his own fear that Atruatzin might reclaim the throne, the treacherous Azcan usurper leads an massive assault on Quaunahuac. Everyone found in the fortress is slain or sacrificed, but there is no trace of Atruatzin or his inner circle. The priests curse the land on which Quauhnahuac is built, and sow salt among the ruins. (HW/GAZ14)
1470 BC: The Chochomecs (an Azcan tribe) desert Atacalpa, migrating to Oltec lands of the east. (HW)
1468 BC: Atruatzin and his loyal companions find a resting-place, where they establish a temple to the old gods. They name it Mictlan, the "Land of the Dead." (HW)
1420 BC: The underground elven wanderers stumble upon Mictlan, and overthrow the humans. Those elves who have been seduced by Atzanteotl declare that the temple is sacred to him, and he has given them victory over their enemies and a place to call home. These elves become the Schattenalfen. Most of the elves are uneasy about this alien Immortal, but they are weary, and so they settle and build the city of Aengmor. All of Atruatzin's followers are slain; he alone escapes. (HW)
1410 BC: Atruatzin reaches the surface world in his quest for meaning in his life. He finds the lost descendants of the surface world Azcans and Oltecs living in the shattered lands north of the Sea of Dread.
1400 BC: Within a few generations, the Traldar settlers have suffered enormous population losses (through bad winters, animal attacks, and disease), have lost most of the materials and time necessary to forge metal (and consequently have forgotten how), and have reverted to a pre-agrarian lifestyle. They now fall under the domination of the Hutaaka humanoid people from the northern mountainous region. (GAZ1)
Denwarf, golem-like leader of the Known World's dwarves, settles his people in the great cavern called Dengar and disappears into the lower caverns.
A colonising party of Shadow Elves, mostly Schattenalf followers of Atzanteotl are driven out of Aengmor (by the will of their patron). Retracing an earlier lost expedition's path to the Hollow World, they emerge just north of the great equatorial mountain range, right in the middle of the Kogolor Dwarf territory. They immediately begin a war against the dwarves, whose lands they want. The Immortal Kagyar causes Denwarf, the former leader of the Outer World's dwarves, to help the Kogolors against the Shadow Elves. (HW)
Atruatzin, who now calls himself Atruaghin, unites the warring tribes he lives among. His skill as a warrior and leader makes this a challenging, but not impossible task. The newly unified people begin to call themselves the Children of Atruaghin - the outside world calls them the Atruaghin Clans.
1395 BC: The Schattenalfen are badly beaten by the Kogolor dwarves and must break off the war. They continue travelling west, to an area not infested with dwarves, and settle there. But due north of their new lands are the Azcans, whose culture and architecture are disturbingly and insultingly like theirs (a result of Atzanteotl's guidance of the Schattenalf culture, though they don't know this); the Schattenalfen hate these people, whom they see as a mockery of their culture, and begin an ages-long war with the Azcans. (HW)
Kagyar places Denwarf in a state of suspended animation, transferring him to a cavern deep beneath the Dengar caverns of Rockhome.
1310 BC: Quest for Steel; Wogar Tribe migrates west from Blackmoor to a great lake, called the Cradle.
1305 BC: Prophecy from King Wogar's Great Shaman; Wogar Tribe moves south, along a major river, following the Great Shaman's floating gri-gri.
1300 BC: The halflings from the southern continent, long-abandoned by their friends the elves, and increasingly endangered by the ever-growing human population, make a mass naval migration to the northern continent. They settle the area later called the Five Shires, which they name Faerdinel. They become friends with a declining, pacifistic clan of elves called the Gentle Folk.
In the Savage Coast, goblinoid hordes decimate elven and Oltec civilisation. Those humans and elves who remain fall to a savage, semi-nomadic existence. (RS)
1299 BC: Vestland trolls miss a turn and pop-up in Broken Lands. Trollhattan is founded. Bagni Gullymaw eats an elephant. Nithia enslaves the Black Moon horde of trolls.
1296 BC: Ogres kill King Wogar's Great Shaman at the Battle of Khuzud, and flee with his treasure. They settle in the Sind Desert and learn local culture.
1290 BC: The outer-world Shadow Elf city of Aengmor is "destroyed" (actually, merely surrounded by lava and made uninhabitable) during a volcanic eruption; many Schattenalfen escape, burrowing deeper into the crust of the earth. Actually, this is part of a grand scheme of Atzanteotl, their patron.
1270 BC: Great Drought dries up the ogres' wells in Sind. The ogres migrate east, devastating and enslaving Sind villages.
A great goblin horde lead by Wogar drives through Hule. They ravage the land, slaughtering many people and enslaving the others. Their reign of terror ends when Hosadus, a young holy man, convinces the horde's leaders that the sacred blue knife they seek lies to the east, beyond the Black Mountains - beyond even the Great Waste. Wogar and most of his horde move on, spurred by the unexpected revelation. The remainder stays in Hule as followers of Hosadus.
1269 BC: Ogres settle in Broken Lands. They found Ogremoor.
1265 BC: Ahmanni Turtlerider and Atruaghin become lovers. Atruaghin's ageless nature becomes apparent, making marriage between them impossible.
1263 BC: Wogar becomes an Immortal. His tribe continues along the coast to Atruaghin. They learn the use of feathers, war paints, light cavalry tactics, and scalping.
1262 BC: A small band of Urduk explorers from Sindh stumbles upon the ancient city of the Karimari, and convinces them to reduce their isolationism.
1260 BC: Atruaghin leaves the Atruaghin Clans to explore the surface world in a search for the nature of his seemingly eternal youth. He appoints new chiefs to each of the Clans and establishes the Words of Atruaghin that his people live by to this day.
1259 BC: Tahkati Stormtamer, now an Immortal, agrees to help Atzanteotl in destroying the work that Atruaghin has done in uniting the Atruaghin Clans.
1257 BC: Wogar Tribe, Red Orcs, conquers and enslaves the people of the Atruaghin Clans. Their rule is oppressive and savage. Tahkati Stormtamer realises that he has been betrayed by Atzanteotl and breaks all ties with the Immortals of Entropy. He vows vengeance.
1254 BC: Wogar Tribe splits into three nations. One settles south of Atruaghin, another in the Five Shires. The last goes north, and torches a trading post called Akorros, then moves to central Broken Lands.
1190 BC: Descendants of the Great Horde resurface in the Broken Lands. The Tribes meet again and discover the Rock of Oenkmar and a knife they mistake for one of their legendary artifacts. End of the Quest for a Blue Knife. Truce proclaimed.
1104 BC: Underground elves discover the Refuge of Stone and take the name of shadow elves unto themselves. Building work begins on the City of Stars. Myfallar The Old is chosen as temporary King.
1100 BC: Nithians lead by Minroth colonise the islands later to be called the Minrothad islands, and found Harbortown.
Nithians under Prince Ramenhotep establish the colony of Thothia on the Isle of Dawn. This is the eastern extent of Nithian colonisation.
1090 BC: On the Alphatians' world, the Followers of Flame begin their serious rivalry with the Followers of Air. (DotE)
1050 BC: Great wizards of the Nithians, inspired by the Immortal Pflarr's servant race (the Hutaaka), create the gnoll race by magically blending trolls and gnomes. But they've been deluded that the results might be an equivalent servant-race for the Nithians; instead, the gnolls turn out to be savage, strong, warlike, and prolific. They rebel; they escape and later invade Karameikos. Nithian priests visit the Shamans of Oenkmar. Atzanteotl is increasingly offended.
1040 BC: Tarasfir is enthroned as the first King of the Shadow Elves selected by the shamans of Rafiel.
1027 BC: On the Alphatians' world, sporadic violence breaks out between the Followers of Flame and Followers of Air. (DotE)
1010 BC: On the Alphatians' world, a temporary peace results from one academian's proposal of the Flame vs. Air essay debate. (DotE)
1009 BC: On the Alphatians' world,
Emperor Alphaks I arbitrarily declares the Flames to have won the
debate. Outrage, protest, rebellion and revolt result; the
Followers of Flame war with the Followers of Air. (DotE)