The Collected History of Thaermore - Timeline (SPOILERS...)

[IJBall]

I'm playing Book I through, one last time, in anticipation of Book II coming out in a few months. (If anyone's interested, I'm playing the equivalent of a 'Paladin' this time - a melee-fighting Healer - it's actually working out pretty well, and I should be ready for Gramuk by about Level 12 or so! )

Anyway, one of the things I wanted to focus on this last time, with an eye toward what's coming in Book II, was the historical timeline of the events that led to Book I. (I figure some of this is going to come up again in the backstory Book II... P.S. A detailed map of Thaermore can be found here.)

(UPDATE: See BW's follow-up reply for additional information. I'm going to attempt to edit this post and integrate the Thaermore specific details from BW's post into mine, referencing BW's post where appropriate!)

So, this is what I've collected, so far. At this point in my game, I think I've talked to pretty much every NPC I can. Not surprisingly, most of this info comes from the History Book in the drawer of the Council lady of Aridell, though a few of the events come out of some of the other books you come across, and a couple can only be gleaned by talking to NPCs (e.g. the timeline of when Elderhollow and Vela fell).

Anyway, without further ado, here is the timeline of the history of Thaermore:


TIMELINE:

Year 1 - "The Age of Exploration", aka. the Second (calendar) Age, begins. (See BW's follow-up post for details.)

[late 2nd century - "Trade" of Giants from lands beyond Barrea to work in mines - and Giant enslavement - begins.]

c. 320 - Bastion Outpost, a settlement developed by hunters and fur traders, is the first established inhabitance in Thaermore proper. (See BW's follow-up post for details.)

390 - Dwarven explorer Koru Keyhammer reaches, and explores, the interior Thaermore - he discovers The Whistling Caves. (See BW's follow-up post for details.)

405 - Loneloft is founded, becoming the first major settlement in Thaermore. (See BW's follow-up post for details.)

409 - First reports of the Orakur in Loneloft.

c. 415 - To secure the gold and gemstones flowing from the mines of Thaermore and Loneloft, construction of a stronghold, called "The Spire", begins at Bastion Outpost - "Bastion Outpost" soon becomes Bastion Spire. (See BW's follow-up post for details.)

419 - Skirmishes with Orakur arise over mining.

423 - The Plague Wars break out with the Orakur. Dwarves refuse to fight, and leave Thaermore, making Thaermore a region predominated by Men.

425 - The Crux of Ages is discovered by Lord Sam of Thorabur in the Whistling Caves - it is then placed in the vault at the top of Bastion Spire.

433 - Government of Thaermore founded - a lifetime Chancellor, elected by the people, chosen as Head of State.

435 - Marr elected first Chancellor of Thaermore. Commonwealth Guard established; founding of Commonwealth Guard helps to turn the tide in the war against the Orakur.

444 - Orakur defeated and driven underground. Chancellor Marr declares victory. Relations between Men and Dwarves suffer because of war.

471 - Marr II succeeds his father as Chancellor. "Golden Age" of Thaermore begins.

477 - The Giants (of Thaermore only?) rebel, and gain their freedom.

late 5th century - Goblins begin to organize themselves into clans.

early 6th century(?) - The Underground Repository is established.

509 - Torrus I succeeds Marr II as Chancellor.

537 - Katerra I succeeds Torrus I as Chancellor.

5?? - [entry blacked out in history book!]

590 - Skirmishes with Goblins (from Crakamir) escalate. But Commonwealth Guards drive Goblins from Thaermore. Soon afterward, the Southern Gate is built, sealing Crakamir off from Thaermore; most humans leave Crakamir (though trade routes through Crakamir continue to operate via caravans); Crakamir is conceded to the Goblins.

627 - Devastating earthquake - rifts torn into the land of Thaermore. Loneloft is destroyed! Orakur reappear, but hide from Men.

[6?? - Page ripped from history book!]

[early 8th century(?) - Malcolm becomes Chancellor.]

722 - The Crux of Ages is taken from Bastion Spire, stolen through a "secret tunnel" [by Gramuk's forces - via Gramuk's portal]; Chancellor Malcolm is beguiled and enfeebled by Gramuk's spells.

c.723 - Elderhollow falls. (Bordertown established?...)

c.724 - Vela falls. Grimmhold abandoned.

725 - The current year (for Book I)...

[727 - The "current" year, for Book II?! - Stay tuned... )


UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:

- When were Bastion Spire (& Darkford) founded? - Answer: Bastion Outpost (c. 320); Bastion Spire (c. 410-420); still no clue when Darkford was founded... (See BW's follow-up post for details.)
- When was Vela founded?
- When was Shadowmirk founded?
- When was Grimmhold founded?
- When was Blackwater founded?
- When were Elderhollow (& Aridell) founded?
- When was Camp Thorndike established? (And when did (Lord?) Thorndike kill Giant Chieftain Thorus?) (added)


And I've thrown in a few of the graves with dates on them for good measure...

GRAVES:

Aridell:
--------
Ned Greenleaf, died 725
Leo, Victim of Blisterpox, d. 698

Elderhollow:
------------
Kara, d. 681
Margo Copperwand, d. 702
Gunthar Copperwand, d. 691

Eversleep Cem.:
---------------
Anabelle Brumbottom, b. 700 d. 722
Meribeth Orn, d. 661
Mother Londstern, d. 688
Reubert Lamb, d. 714

Enjoy!

[Unclever title]

Enjoy!

I did! Thanks! This is pretty cool to have put together, I have to admit I wasn't even curious about this (before I read the thread title that is ) but I am glad to have read and learned it all the same. It all adds to the Eschalon story.

Interesting about old Neddy Greenleaf dying so recently, wonder why no one mentioned him? Maybe he wasn't very well liked... nor despised for that manner.


Unless... no... there's no way, right? Considering the fact that no one in Aridell recognized you...

[Painted Lady]

Very cool to have all of these events in one time-line. This will probably be very helpful when we start Book 2. Thanks so much for doing.........

[BasiliskWrangler]

Wow, very nice IJBall. Since you've done so well, I will grant you a few tidbits from our own world history time line:

[Year 1] "The Age of Exploration" - The start date of the 2nd Calender Age is roughly the time when many Dwarven and Human explorers begin to survey the lands outside of the Northland Expanse and Mistfell (an area originally called the "Homelands"). Over then next two centuries we see the exploration of Thaermore, the first surveys of Crakamir, Barrea, and the navigation of the seas and oceans around the main continent of Eschalon.

[circa Year 300] A bright light falls from the sky. A great thunder is heard in the west. Rarely mentioned in mainstream history books, this event is acknowledged in many religious texts and arcane rituals.

[Year 727] The start date of Book II events.

Also, a few notes: Koru Keyhammer did not discover Thaermore. Thaermore was identified and charted on maps long before him. However, he was the first to explore the interior extensively and discover Whistling Cave, which would later be mined extensively. By this time several settlements had already been establish inside the boundries of Thaermore, including Bastion Outpost, what would eventually become the capital city, Bastion Spire.

A correction could be made to the history book stating "Loneloft was the first permanent" settlement in Thaermore since Bastion Outpost existed before it (established by hunters and fur traders as early as 320). However, since Loneloft quickly became a thriving mining outpost due to the nearby gold and gem deposits, it is often incorrectly referred to as the first permanent settlement. It could certainly be described as the most important early settlement. However, once Bastion Outpost built the stronghold (called "The Spire") to secure the gold and gemstones flowing from Thaermore to the northern provinces, it quickly grew much larger than Loneloft.

[Painted Lady]

Why is it I think something about the Bright Light in the west about the year 300 will be of interest in Book 2? The suspense is just killing me!

[Dragonlady]

Why is it I think something about the Bright Light in the west about the year 300 will be of interest in Book 2? The suspense is just killing me!

Your not the only one who thought that!

And thanks for the timeline to both IJBall and BW!

[CrazyBernie]

That bright light/thunder was my fault... I was fooling around with some bottle rockets and such as part of a New Year celebration. One hit a mirgrating bird and set it aflame... *sheepish grin*

It doesn't take much to get superstitious folk all worked up... *sigh*

Nice to see the history gathered in once place... I have to admit though, it's always been my worst subject.

[IJBall]

Wow, very nice IJBall. Since you've done so well, I will grant you a few tidbits from our own world history time line...

Thanks for this, BW!

I've updated my post with some of your info.

[IJBall]

I'll answer my own question. This information is not available in Book I or II. This means it might appear in Book III or it could be a red herring. If this information is indeed true and important to the Eschalon storyline it should of appeared in one of the previous games.

To be honest, I'm more curious about what happened in the 500s and 600s that someone didn't want our character to find about - Why was the one entry in the 500s in the History book blacked out? Why was the page covering the 600s torn out?!

I really hope there's some follow-up to that in Book III, and that this isn't just a couple of 'asides' in Book I that are forgotten about...

[Minsk]

Great work IJBall !

I had to idea to create a mod for Book I and thought about the setting, quests ect. and now i found this:

At the end of November 2007 Thomas Riegsecker, Lead Developer of the Eschalon series and owner of Basilisk Games, mentioned the possibility of releasing an add-on where the player could travel to Ash Island for some "high level adventuring." (Ref) In February 2008 this add-on had taken a back seat to development of Book II due to technical problems. (Ref) This add-on was planned to add another four to five hours of gameplay for Book I and would of been unrelated to the main storyline. (Ref) It also would of been free to registered users. (Ref)

I think that sounds pretty cool an i would like to create a mod which takes the player to "Ash Island" for some "high level adventuring" !
So i have a question:

• How should Ash Island look (villages,dungeons,vegetation) ?
  Are there any concept arts or screenshot...or maybe descriptions ?

[Dragonlady]

Great work IJBall !

I had to idea to create a mod for Book I and thought about the setting, quests ect. and now i found this:

At the end of November 2007 Thomas Riegsecker, Lead Developer of the Eschalon series and owner of Basilisk Games, mentioned the possibility of releasing an add-on where the player could travel to Ash Island for some "high level adventuring." (Ref) In February 2008 this add-on had taken a back seat to development of Book II due to technical problems. (Ref) This add-on was planned to add another four to five hours of gameplay for Book I and would of been unrelated to the main storyline. (Ref) It also would of been free to registered users. (Ref)

I think that sounds pretty cool an i would like to create a mod which takes the player to "Ash Island" for some "high level adventuring" !
So i have a question:

• How should Ash Island look (villages,dungeons,vegetation) ?
  Are there any concept arts or screenshot...or maybe descriptions ?

Two things come to mind right away.
1. Covered in Ash trees. (or was when first found)
2. Or, volcanic..lave, ashes..danger, etc.



Just a guess on my part.