History of Thelos

Dedicated scholars keep the history of Thelos. Priests of Farandal, who try to maintain accuracy of events, and dignity of the participants. The scribes who work in the church of Farandal owe no allegiance to any kingdom, and their devotion to neutrality makes them perfect historians. The abbreviations BC and AC stand for before the coming of the younger gods, and after the coming of the younger gods respectively.

The history detailed below is specific to the continent of Carabet for the most part, but some general history is universal for the world of Thelos.

Calendar of Farandal
Though other nations use their own calendar most also refer to the calendar of Farandal to ease trade and communication between other kingdoms. Farandal’s historians, to bring some sense of order to Carabet’s history, created the Calendar. The standard year on Thelos is 400 days, which is broken down into 10 months of 40 days each. There are 4 weeks in each month, also referred to as a tenday.

Age of Chaos:  Circa unknown to 10,001BC
Farandal stepped from the mists and viewed the chaos of the universe. She split the chaos in two and held it in each hand, making one good and one evil. With the good, Farandal called forth Illeander the Creator, and with the evil, she called forth Karratos the Destroyer. This gave balance to the universe and for a time the gods were content.

Age of Upheaval:  Circa 10,000BC to 8,001BC
Farandal presented her brethren with a world she had found that was devoid of life, but ripe for creation. The three deities lived upon the world in physical form, but soon became bored with the barren landscape. Illeander, and Karratos decided that they wanted companions which they created in their own image.

Illeander created what came to be called Seraphs, beautiful beings of light and benevolence. The Seraphs were a haughty, but just race of celestials.

Karratos brought beings into the world who called themselves Daemons. These beings were also beautiful, but reflected the dark beauty of their creator. They were a dark race of evil beings, constantly seeking to spread chaos and destruction across their new world.

Farandal saw the danger in Karratos’ creative powers, and sought to limit them. In order to keep balance she upheld Illeander’s power to create, but limited Karratos’ powers to destruction and corruption, thus creating a balance.

Age of Creation: Circa 8,000BC to 6,001BC
Illeander the Creator, being bored again with the world, took a bit of the good in the universe and used it to create more companions for himself and his first children. He was pleased with his creation, which he called human, and made them immortal.

The older children of the Gods’ took notice of these creations. The Seraphs looked to rule the humans, ‘for their own good’, while the Daemons sought to rule them simply by force and terror. The Ryn War began as the two fought over the world and its peoples.

Farandal stepped in when she realized that the children of the Gods’ would lead to the destruction of the world. She created a connection to two planes of existence, and banished the Seraphs and Daemons to separate planes. The Seraphs found themselves in the Heavens, and the Daemons were sent to the Hells. While the Gods Illeander and Karratos could travel between the Prime, and their respective realms, their children could no longer enter the prime.

The Ryn War would continue through the children of the Seraphs and Daemons, when those that were banished found that their lesser children could travel to the Prime.

Age of Corruption: Circa 6,000BC to 4,001BC
Karratos was jealous of Illeander's creation. Anything he touched withered and died. So Karratos secretly traveled through the world corrupting his brethren's creation, thus spawned the evil creatures of the world, the ogres, hobgoblins, dragons and such. Even with this minor creation he could not make the beings immortal, with the death of Karratos's creations the lesser god Death was brought into existence. Karratos went to Death for help. Death agreed to take away the immortality of the humans, but it had to be through a neutral way, so together the two brought disease and death to Illeander's creations.

Age of Retribution: Circa 4,000BC to 3500 BC
Karratos's scheme angered Illeander, so he turned to Farandal for help. Farandal would not allow Illeander to attack Karratos directly. Farandal gave the Creator the idea to create races that could combat the vile creations of Karratos. Death being neutral in all things also helped Illeander and allowed him to create the elves and dwarves, who would die but not for many centuries, he also created the dragons who would live so long that the other mortals would appear as dying embers in comparison. Ever keeping the balance, Farandal gave the races the will to choose between the good or evil side of the universe.

The Empire of Asgaroth rises to power on the continent of Mydhir in 3920.

The biggest effect Farandal had on the world with her gift of free will was the rift that formed between the dragons. In the beginning they were all the same in color and disposition, but before long some dragons began to argue that they should rule the world, while others argued that they should protect it. A third faction formed that wanted compromise, and balance between the two opposing philosophies. The dragons that advocated their rule of the lesser races began to worship Karratos, and their scales darkened over time. Those that supported protection of the lesser races continued to worship their creator, and their scales became pearly white. The third group, who advocated tolerance and neutrality worshipped Farandal, and became red in color.

Age of Awakening 3499BC to 1BC
The elves became enraged at Illeander that he would create them for the sole purpose of combating the creations of Karratos. They began to move away from the teachings of the God of Creation and their priests started looking for inspiration form other heavenly sources. It was at this time that an elven prophet named Brin Shiar heard the voice of Dran’chect, the goddess of healing. She spoke of a pathway that the gods could use to get to the world of Thelos, if only the elves would open the way. The elves would have to renounce their worship of Illeander completely, and open their hearts to peace. This they did happily and the first of the elven gods appeared, Dran’chect and her consort Bri’eles.

The Empire of Asgaroth falls in 2021, and the seat of the empire is the epicenter of a wave of destruction for hundreds of miles. The land becomes a waste where nothing grows and no one can live.

During this age the Dwarves of Tull began to dig deeper than they ever had under their mountain home, and they opened up caverns that had been sealed since the creation of the world. Buried here were several sleeping gods who had been entombed by some unknown force. It has never been determined how the Dwarven gods came to be buried deep beneath Thelos’ surface, but they were more than happy to be released and take on the Dwarves as followers.

Age of Dragons 0 to 50AC
0: The evil dragons began to consolidate their power and strength.They banded together and attacked the weaker races. The races could not fight the strength of the evil creatures.

1AC to 50AC: The good dragons swarmed over the land driving the evil wyrms into hiding. It would be many years before the races could recuperate from the war. During the fighting a few humans and elves devoted their lives to learning to fight dragons, becoming the first of the order of dragonslayers, and forging weapons designed to slay the beasts. Two such blades are known to exist, while it is rumored that others may still be hidden and buried. These weapons take the form of swords, spears, lances, and axes.

At the end of the war the lesser races banded together and took advantage of the lull in the fighting between the dragons. They were assisted by the white dragons in brokering the Peace of Dracos. This treaty agreed that the dragons would depart from the mortal world, moving to secluded caverns and distant islands. Each faction of dragons, even those of balance, were willing to sacrifice their own power to preserve their species. The lesser races enjoyed peace from the war of the dragons, for a time.

Age of Men 51AC to 350AC
82AC:  The human nation has become powerful under the rule of a young ambitious king, Krom Keldor. He has become dissatisfied with his small kingdom and begins to push out.

83AC:  Draico’s expansion begins the War of the Races; the human army splits the continent in half and begins to push outward, driving the elves to the north and the dwarves to the south.

101AC: The war ends with the death of the king and the coronation of his son, Kell, but conflict between the races will continue for many generations.

102AC: An uneasy truce is held for 250 years with only minor outbreaks over borders and trade. The dwarves are loath to allow humans into their mountains, but trade becomes essential for the nations to prosper. The elves of Silesti completely shut their borders to outsiders. The dark dragons begin to scheme once again.

Age of Darkness 351AC to 380AC
351AC: A young warrior, Gartham Shadowshade, in the service of the king has turned to evil and is exiled. He travels across the sea to the lands of Mydhir to console himself.

It was during this time that agents of Karratos approach the evil dragons, seeking a return to power for his dark servants.

352AC to 353AC:   Angered by his banishment and wanting revenge on the king, he slowly amassed and army of goblin-kin and dragons and began to transport them to Carabet. With the small amount of human followers Gartham has, he creates the Order of the Daemon Knights, who are to become the most powerful force on Carabet. By the time the king received word of the invasion, Gartham had established a major foothold in southern Draico.

354AC to 355AC: To fight the oncoming evil, the king Garnell Dragonwing, went to the northern mountains and spoke with an ancient white dragon. Together they created Dragon’s Death, a sword of immense power and mate to the dragon slaying blades of old. He then marched his army south.

356AC: After several bloody battles the king was forced to retreat to Castle Tantallas. There he sent his wife and two sons into exile. He died in the ensuing battle and Gartham took over the throne. Dragon's Death was lost and Gartham turned his eyes to the south.

357AC to 380AC:   Gartham fought several battles against the dwarves and elves, and after many defeats, he limped back to Tantallas. Not until 381 does he try to take his army across the border of Draico again.

Age of Hope 381AC to Present
381AC: When the only remaining son of King Garnell, Gavin, became a man he turned to adventuring. His mother and brother had died years earlier and he knew nothing of his father or heritage. Together with a small band of friends he brought together the human resistance with the dwarves and elves to fight the evil king. Gartham survived the war and disappeared.

The second dragon council is held and once again the treaty is restored. Karratos's children are banished by magic, forced into a long sleep. To maintain the balance, the children of Illeander, and Farandal also subject themselves to a magical sleep. Representatives of the three will awaken every ten years to insure the treaty stands and no others have found a way to awaken.

382AC to 399AC:  Gavin gave the throne to the leader of the resistance group that helped him, and in turn the new king made him the leader of the new Order of the Blue Knights.

400AC to 401AC: Gartham returns for a final time after building an army over the last twenty years. The war is fast and brutal, with Gartham throwing everything he can at the armies defending Draico. A secret mission was sent out to find means to defeat the Dark Knight permanently. The expedition was successful, and the armies met on the field of battle near Maergaard in southern Draico. The war drew the three major Gods into the final fight; the ensuing battle caused extensive damage to much of the countryside.

0PC to Present (30PC): The people of Draico spend many years rebuilding after the war. Trade resumes with the other races, and many alliances are formed across the sea. While the world is still in turmoil, peace seems to be attainable. The rumors of powerful dragon lords taking control of areas not yet rebuild keeps that hope from becoming too widespread though.