Irdya After the Fall

Irdya After the Fall

The Beginnings of the Chaos Empire

At some unknown point in the times after the Fall of the Third Sun, a new leader arises among the coastal human settlements at Kalari, and teaches a previously unknown form of magic to a handful of adepts who help him take over the local inhabitants' minds and wills with power drawn from Zocthanol Isle. His closest adepts are from that point known as the Iron Triad, and they begin collecting the energy required to open a new connection to the demonic homeworld and free Uria, the mother of demons.

A signal coming from Zocthanol is sent to the skies in the form of an eerie pulsating green glow for a few days.

From this point on, the timeline is structured around the point on which the main gateway to Inferno was opened in the Valley of Weldyn, and divided in two periods: Before the Empire (BE) and During the Empire (DE).

237-213 BE: Purification of Zochtanol

237 BE (Before the Empire)

• Mal-Zagarn, leader of the Chaos cult, investigates ancient ruins in the depths of the Heart Mountains, searching for weapons according to Uria's instructions.

• Elyssa is born.

235 BE

• Mal-Zagarn returns to Kalari and orders the Iron Triad to dig in the deepest reaches of the Heart Mountains to find the remainings of an ancient civilization. He departs again in direction to the valley of Weldyn.

• The Iron Triad sends an expedition to the Heart Mountains.

229 BE

• The Iron Triad starts building a fortress in the valley of Weldyn and recovering the remainings of the capital of the ancient Empire.

222 BE

• Ancient technology is discovered in the depths of the Heart Mountains by Mal-Si'ah of the cult of Chaos.

221 BE

• Dwarvish experts begin to experiment with automatons.

218 BE

• Mal-Zagarn starts to experiment at the Weldyn Heart fortress with the newly discovered technology in order to enhance existing lifeforms.

215 BE

• Verlissh creatures descend from the skies to Kalari peninsula at the same time that rocks fall from the sky and crush the Quenoth village. The remaining desert elves, led by the former lord's nephew Kalehssar, go on a journey to find a new home in the North, guided by Kaleh's visions of Eloh in his dreams. Under The Burning Suns begins.

• Kaleh's band meets Elyssa, a young fire mage who is collecting knowledge from the ruins of the Empire of Wesnoth in search for the Scepter of Fire.

214 BE

• The deser t elves descend underground and meet King Thurongar of the dwarves after repelling an invasion of northern trolls. Elyssa separates from the group.

• The desert elves stumble upon human scouts sent by the Iron Triad.

• An avatar of light attempts to convince Kaleh to surrender to the Iron Triad.

• Merfolk diviners send messengers to locate the desert elves and warn them of the menace at Zocthanol.

213 BE

• Some merfolk prisoners at the north of Kalari peninsula are set free by the Quenoth elves. An incarnation of Eloh appears and turns a substantial amount of elves against Kaleh, threatening to start a civil war.

• The elvish revolt is put to an end, and the elves escape from the continent by stealing human ships from the port of Ygriz.

• Elyssa is captured by Chaos scouts while traveling towards the valley of Weldyn.

• Kaleh and his group arrives to Zocthanol isle and destroys the source of the dark powers holding most of the followers of the Iron Triad and Uria under her control. It is presumed that this is Yechnagoth. Under the Burning Suns ends.

• Elyssa attempts to escape only to be recaptured and imprisoned.

• Human followers of the Chaos cult begin to succumb to uncertainity and despair. The Iron Triad manages to summon a new demon lord, Nar-hamoth, to keep the rebels under control, strengthen their fanaticism and attract more adepts.

212-1 BE: Prelude

212 BE

• Elyssa is tortured in prison and starves nearly to death.

• Mal-Zagarn finds out about Elyssa and sets her free in order to use her for his fourth experiment with biomechanical organisms before she dies.

• Elyssa's reconstruction as a hybrid shaxthal organism is successful.

211 BE

• A dwarvish guard spreads word of the Quenoth elves' deeds among his people.

• Elyssa becomes Mal-Zagarn's apprentice and is taught the unholy magic of Uria.

210-50 BE

• The dwarven country and the Aragwaithi cooperate in order to speed up their economic growth.

190 BE

• Mal-Zagarn designates Elyssa as his second-in-command and begins to use the "Shadow Master" alias.

156 BE

• Elyssa leads an expedition to the Heart Mountains to find non-hybrid shaxthal organisms kept in cryogenic chambers deep underground.

129 BE

• Shaxthal organisms are salvaged from ruins located deep beneath the Heart Mountains.

128 BE

• Shadow Master starts to reproduce and enhance shaxthal technology.

121 BE

• The shaxthal hive at the "Heart" of Weldyn is built.

109 BE

• The shaxthal hive at the devastated plains of Wesmere is built.

101 BE

• Three shaxthal hives are built in the Great Southern Desert.

90 BE

• Shadow Master sends Mal-Dorzat with a battalion to conquer barbarian lands in the Far South of the Great Continent.
• An expedition led by Mal-Himir is sent to the East in search for the Old Continent.

80-10 BE

• The forces of Chaos force the dwarves inhabitating the main area of the Great Continent to retreat to the Heart Mountains. Some dwarven technology is captured by the Iron Triad and mass-production of automatons and other advanced machinery begins.

• The dwarves stop sending scouts and merchants to the surface.

• Most orcish tribes in the main area of the Great Continent are erased from existence.

9 BE

• The Iron Triad members use the spirit energy from those who have been defeated by their forces to create a small gap that merges Irdya and Inferno in the Heart hive.

• Demons start coming to Irdya en masse.

5 BE

• Elyssa is the first human or demi-human to become a demon.

1-146 DE: The Chaos Empire's Apogee

The Chaos Empire begins after most of the Great Continent has been overrun by the combined forces of shaxthal creatures, demons and Chaos soldiers.

The Far North at this point has become a somewhat stable and thriving ensemble of human and orcish countries. Occasional conflicts ensue between the human kingdoms, but by the middle of this period, they join the Aragwaith country and later establish a long-lasting alliance with the orcish countries and minor tribes.

The dwarvish population is concentrated on the depths of the Heart Mountains, and more clans join the recently united Kingdom of New Knalga.

The desert elves at the Zocthanol Isle remain unaware of the events in the main continent.

144 DE

• Uria gives Shadow Master the order to find Elynia, capture and convert her to her side. Although Uria does not reveal the true reason to Shadow Master and the Iron Triad, she is actually searching to acquire the Ruby of Fire and use it to completely and permanently merge Inferno and Irdya.

• The Valley of Elynia, the last elven fortress left in the Great Continent, is taken over by the forces of Chaos. A substantial part of the elves escapes in time and heads underground. Invasion from the Unknown begins.

145 DE

• Elyssa's expedition to the Heart Mountains stumbles upon a band of elves led by Galas, an elvish fighter; Anlindë, a former priest of Zhangor; and Mal Keshar.

• Galas' band allies with the dwarves of New Knalga to defeat Elyssa's soldiers. Elyssa retreats and calls for reinforcements.

146 DE

• With the help of a dwarven runemaster by the name of Althurin, the elves set Elynia free and fight the vanguard of Elyssa's battalion.

• Elves and dwarves leave the Heart Mountains due to the overwhelming number of enemy soldiers, who finally manage to take over New Knalga.

• Anlindë stays behind to fight Elyssa in a one-to-one duel. Although Anlindë loses the fight, she collapses part of the cave system before dying, thus severely injuring Elyssa, whose body is mostly destroyed.

• Enemy forces are sent by the Shadow Master to rescue the little remains of Elyssa's body, which is shortly rebuilt using better technology than the first time.

• One of the Chaos Empire's strongholds in the Far South starts experimenting with flying vehicles.

147 DE: The Chaos Empire's Decay

147 DE

• The orcish and human countries in the Far North officially declare war against the Chaos Empire.

• Elynia, Galas, Mal Keshar and a group of dwarves launch a suicidal attack on the Heart of the Empire. Elyssa faces Galas and his band directly this time, but as she is about to defeat them, Elynia and Mal Keshar summon the Union of the Powers of Light and Darkness by taking advantage of a flaw, unknown to them, that allows Mal Keshar to acquire them from Inferno.

• Mal Keshar and Elynia manage to defeat Elyssa. However, they spare her life and let her flee from the Heart in exchange for information about Inferno and Shadow Master's location.

• Shadow Master reveals to Elynia and Mal Keshar that he is Argan, resurrected and converted by Uria, who used a gap in Irdya's deepest reaches to physically contact Argan.

• Elynia kills Shadow Master with the Power of the Union, which destroys itself as a consequence. The Heart's structure is weakened by the closure of its connection with Inferno, and it turns into a great chasm from which Galas' band barely escapes. Invasion from the Unknown ends.

• The Chaos Empire's frontier defenses are severely weakened by the northern armies' relentless attacks.

• Nar-hamoth is severely injured in battle. His body is afterwards rebuilt in the shaxthal hive at Wesmere.

148 DE

• As After the Storm I begins, Galas' band stumbles upon an amnesiac child elf, Kri'tan, while fighting Chaos cultists in the northern frontiers.

• Surrogate Lord Inodien of the elves of the Valley of Elynia is slain along with one of his bodyguards under strange circumstances, after speaking against the idea of acquiring weapons and technology from the Chaos Empire.

• Inodien's followers under Unidë's leadership assume that the late lord's oppositors are responsible of the murder, and begin a civil war to drive them out of the northern forests.

• The Grand Council of the Aragwaithi banishes elvenkind from their country. Inodien's followers depart east, while the other faction under Unarye's command departs for the northwestern lands.

• Elynia and Galas depart according to the Council's decree and with Mal Keshar and the orcs' help, travel to Zocthanol isle.

• In Zocthanol's isle, Elynia learns that Yechnagoth's heart was not destroyed by Kalehssar. It was later recovered by the Triad and stored in the shaxthal hive located in Wesmere's ruined plains.

149 DE

• During their voyage back to the main continent, Galas' band is captured by the Iron Triad's soldiers at Kalari Peninsula. They are imprisoned and tortured, but they manage to escape from the Triad's fortress after Galas sacrifices himself to distract Elyssa and the Triad. The secret of the staff of Elynia-Niryone is revealed to Mal Keshar and Kri'tan.

• Ivyel, a shaxthal fighter, is defeated, but not killed, by Elynia's band while escaping from Kalari Peninsula.

• Elynia and Mal Keshar acquire help from King Asthorgar of the dwarves to destroy the Wesmere hive. Kri'tan is left in the safety of dwarven territory along with the dark sorceress Zynavu-Malal, one of Mal Keshar's disciples.

150 DE

• Elynia's band destroys a gigantic shaxthal creature assumed to contain Yechnagoth's heart. Taking advantage of the hive's design, Mal Keshar orders Elynia to leave the place while he uses dwarven technology to destroy it completely so the Chaos Empire cannot continue using it to create new shaxthal creatures. It is unknown to them that three other hives exist, and that five more are being built.

• While Mal Keshar successfully destroys the dark hive, Elynia is caught by the explosion. Although the dwarves do not find her or Mal Keshar's remains, they do find her staff's top gem, the Ruby of Fire.

• Using tissue samples taken from Elynia during the fight at Kalari Peninsula, Mal Kendria and Mal Hekuba of the Iron Triad build an organic disguise for Ivyel to make her look and sound like the sylvan fairy. Yechnagoth's heart is embedded into the shaxthal creature's body. After the Storm I ends.

• The northern orcs and humans ally with the dwarves and forge a new Northern Alliance in order to defeat the Iron Triad.

151 DE

• Ivyel appears to the Eastern Elves claiming to be Elynia, and accuses the Northern Alliance of treason against her kind.

• Mal Hekuba is sent to the Valley of Elynia.

• The Iron Triad recaptures the continent's coastal line up to Bay of Glamdrol.

• A new shaxthal hive is completed in the Great Southern Desert.

152 DE

• The Eastern Elves begin to take over all lands in direction of the Valley of Elynia.

• The shaxthal hive at the Silver Lands is completed.

• Elyssa determines Elynia's whereabouts.

153 DE

• King Asthorgar of the dwarves is killed in battle by Elyssa at the Bay of Glamdrol.

154 DE

• Lord Retnaen's elvish colony in the far northwestern forests joins the Northern Alliance.

156 DE

• Kri'tan contacts the Thunder Elves to rebuild the staff of Elynia-Niryone.
• A human seer, Nyalen, joins the Northern Alliance's Grand Council.

157 DE

• Shaxthal creatures integrate with the ocean's lifeforms.
• Merfolk have their first encounter with large numbers of shaxthal creatures.

158 DE

• Lady Unarye and the Thunder Elves join the Northern Alliance.
• The shaxthal hive at the Valley of Elynia is completed.
• Nyalen warns the Grand Council of the threat imposed by the eastern elves, and determines Elynia's whereabouts.
• Swarms of shaxthal creatures become alarmingly common across the Great Continent.
• Nar-hamoth is sent to the Silver Lands.

159 DE

• After using a teleport spell in middle of the explosion that destructed the shaxthal hive at Wesmere, Elynia reappears in the Moon Valley nine years later. After the Storm II begins.
• Elynia meets the Grand Council and is informed of Ivyel's plot by Nyalen.
• Zynavu-Malal, Kri'tan and Elynia are sent with a battalion to investigate the eastern frontiers of the Alliance's lands.
• Elynia's band has its first encounter with the eastern elves and highly advanced shaxthal creatures. The combined forces of Unarye's and Retnaen's armies appear just in time to protect them during their retreat.
• Retnaen informs Elynia of the shaxthal creatures' possible source.
• Bay of Glamdrol is recaptured by the Alliance.

160 DE

• The Alliance takes over most of Kalari Peninsula.
• Elynia's band is betrayed by Zynavu-Malal/Mal-Zynara as they arrive at the eastern elves' territory.
• Using the powers of the Ruby of Fire, Elynia both defeats Mal-Zynara and removes Ivyel's organic disguise in front of some elvish commanders, who realize they have been deceived by the Triad.
• Elynia and Kri'tan find Mal Hekuba in the dark hive, attempting to open a new connection between Irdya and Inferno. He reveals Kri'tan's true identity as Argan and Elynia's son.
• Mal Hekuba is destroyed by Elynia using the Ruby of Fire. Ivyel flees the hive.
• Alliance troops attempt to take over the Iron Triad's keep. Although they manage it, all soldiers who attempted to surround Elyssa in her chamber are killed by her.
• Elyssa kills Mal Kendria and abandons the Iron Triad's keep using a flying vehicle. After the Storm II ends.