The Five Ages of Aethermourne
“Count the years from silence, for that is when the world truly began, not in creation, but in abandonment.” Archscribe Lethiel of the Star-Readers, c. 1040 AS
Dates in Aethermourne are measured in After Silence (AS), counted from the moment Orenthas, God of Time, spoke his final prophecy and fell forever mute. The present year is 2203 AS. Events before Year 0 are occasionally referenced as Before Silence (BS), though no reliable mortal calendar exists for that era.
The history of the world is divided into Five Ages, each detailed in its own article. What follows is a condensed chronological reference.
Ages at a Glance
| Age | Period | Article |
|---|---|---|
| The Age of Divinity | Before Silence | The Age of Divinity |
| The Age of Ash | ~0-400 AS | The Age of Ash |
| The Age of Bones | ~400-1000 AS | The Age of Bones |
| The Age of Crowns | ~1000-1800 AS | The Age of Crowns |
| The Age of Fractures | ~1800-Present | The Age of Fractures |
Before the Silence, The Age of Divinity
No mortal dates. Only myth, fragment, and divine echo.
- The Twelve shape Aethermourne and walk among mortals
- The Empyrean Accord governs divine interactions
- Nethys weaves the Aetheric Web of ley lines
- Orenthas maintains the Loom of Fate
- Kaevroth, Vorrhyn, and Serith form the Triumvirate of Ruin in secret
The First Age, The Age of Ash (~0-400 AS)
The Theomachis and its devastating aftermath.
- Year 0: The Triumvirate strikes. The Theomachis begins.
- Year 1: Five gods fall: Solvaen, Thyrea, Morrhael, Belara, Thalvor. Their bodies become the land.
- Year 2: Vorrhyn unmade (the Maelstrom born). Kaevroth shattered, iron fragments scatter across the continent.
- Year 3: Serith imprisoned beneath the Abyssal Trench. Orenthas speaks his final word. Nethys fragments into the Aetheric Web.
- ~4-50 AS: The Ash Years. Sky choked with divine ash. More than half the mortal population perishes.
- ~100 AS: First Ashite forged from crystallized divine blood.
- ~200 AS: The Greensingers emerge in the Verdant Marches.
- ~280 AS: The Ashen Vigil founded to guard against the rising dead.
- ~350 AS: The Lantern-Keepers form along the southern coast.
- ~400 AS: Valdren the Founder declares The Ashen Dominion.
The Second Age, The Age of Bones (~400-1000 AS)
Civilizations grew from the divine wreckage.
- ~400-500 AS: The Dominion rises. Caste system formalized. Order of the Ashen Flame established (~450 AS).
- ~500 AS: Marchwardens’ Council formalized in the Verdant Marches.
- ~550 AS: The Ember Guild founded as neutral crafting guild.
- ~600 AS: Tidewall founded.
- ~600-700 AS: The Bone Rush. Aggressive mining of divine materials. First Hollow Zones appear.
- ~700 AS: The Star-Readers organize across national borders.
- ~750 AS: First Marrow Plague in the Verdant Marches.
- ~800 AS: Concord of Tides formalized as merchant-republic.
- ~850 AS: Remnant Accords signed between living and intelligent undead.
- ~900-950 AS: First Border War between Dominion and Marches. The Scarwall grows.
- ~1000 AS: Star-Reading of Aelindra’s Tear: “A second silence shall fall when the stars forget their names.”
The Third Age, The Age of Crowns (~1000-1800 AS)
The height of mortal civilization, and the slow growth of hubris.
- ~1000-1100 AS: The Golden Centuries. Peace, trade, and prosperity.
- ~1100 AS: The Cinders founded as secret police by Valdren VII.
- ~1150 AS: Driftmere rebellion, pirate haven born.
- ~1200-1300 AS: Ashite Wars between Dominion and Reach.
- ~1350 AS: Deep Awakening, first signs of movement in the Abyssal Trench.
- ~1400 AS: Greensingers warn of disturbance in Thyrea’s Cradle.
- ~1500 AS: Hollow War, massive undead offensive from the Hollowdeep.
- ~1600-1650 AS: Brynn Ironcrown unifies the Marches for twelve years before her assassination.
- ~1700 AS: Black Tide of 1700, worst in recorded history. The Lantern-Keepers nearly destroyed but hold the line.
- ~1750-1800 AS: Decline begins. Ashite reserves show first signs of depletion.
The Fourth Age, The Age of Fractures (~1800-Present)
Decline, decay, and the convergence of crises.
- ~1800-1900 AS: The Long Decay. Institutions rot from within across all regions.
- ~1850 AS: The Veil Unbound cult emerges in the Hollowed Reach.
- ~1900 AS: Serith’s infiltration of The Cinders begins in earnest.
- ~1950 AS: Unbound Congregation formalizes as reform movement.
- ~2000 AS: Undead offensives from the Hollowdeep cease entirely. The Quiet Years begin.
- ~2050 AS: Kaelith Thornborn born.
- ~2100 AS: Star Fade begins, stars dimming across the sky.
- ~2150 AS: Hierarch Valdren III takes power.
- ~2170 AS: Kaelith’s Awakening in Thyrea’s Cradle.
- ~2180-2190 AS: Black Tide frequency triples.
- ~2195 AS: Sleepwalker phenomenon begins along the coast.
- ~2200 AS: The Dead Silence, Hollowdeep goes completely quiet.
- ~2201 AS: Thane Delric Mourne appointed head of the Cinders.
- ~2202 AS: Elder Rosk’s warning: “Shadow grows in the roots.”
2203 AS, The Present
Four crises converge:
- The Ashen Dominion crumbles from within, its secret police serving a goddess of shadow
- The Verdant Marches stir with unnatural life, the divine forest corrupted from below
- The Pale Wastes are silent, and silence in a land of the restless dead is the most terrifying sound of all
- The Deep is waking, Black Tides surge, Sleepwalkers march into the sea, and Serith’s prison weakens
Above it all, the stars go out. The Second Silence is falling.
For full detail on any era, follow the article links above.