This is a TL;DR of the full lore document. You can view that document here if you want the whole story.

The Breaking of the First Light (0 AOL)

The world enters collapse. The gods are dead. Elves (Edheli), created without mercy, dominate the world with cruel grace. But from their bred-for-obedience human servants emerges something new: compassion. That spark becomes the seed of rebellion, and the first hint that the age of divine tyranny may end in fire and blood.

The Coming of the First Darkness (0 AOD)

Humanity revolts with empath-infused weapons—runes of compassion forged in secret. The Elven empire collapses, but the magic that binds creation shatters with it. Earthquakes, petrified forests, and aetheric storms rip the world apart. Still, a few sanctuaries like Silverleaf and Kaermyr survive. From this chaos, new hope is born.

The Age of Men (15 AOD)

The last city, Kaermyr, becomes the heart of a new human civilization led by three houses: Arden (forge-masters), Sylwen (knights), and Tervail (law and scholars). Society runs on forged coin, ancient oaths, and empathy. Power games intensify, but the scars of Elven tyranny keep compassion in play—for now.

Twist of Kainhr (55 AOD)

Kainhr, the rebellion's founder, taught each of the three houses their craft and spirit. But his tragic attempt to stop a feud leads to the first human murder by empathic magic. That act cracks the very essence of compassion, unleashing hatred, envy, and the potential for human cruelty. Magic is cursed. And the man who saved humanity becomes the first sign of its fall.

Establishment of the Three (60 AOD)

The three houses—Arden, Sylwen, and Tervail—cement their dominance. Arden controls trade and coin, Sylwen builds a knightly order to protect the Vale, and Tervail rewrites law itself. Each house is both virtuous and power-hungry. Together, they become the governing pillars of Kaermyr—but ambition simmers beneath their alliance.

Noble Beginnings (88 AOD)

House Tervail formalizes nobility, introducing a title system to reinforce hierarchy: Autokris at the top, with dukes, counts, and barons beneath. It's a power move that gives the dynasties legitimacy while setting the tone for centuries of structured politics. Nobility becomes both duty and identity.

Knighthood’s Ascendance (132 AOD)

Ser Alric Sylwen establishes the first knightly code of honor: protect the weak, serve with discipline, uphold justice. Knights take lifelong vows and become symbols of virtue. Other houses adopt the model, embedding chivalry into culture, law, and religion. But even this system is rooted in control—noble warriors bound in duty.

The Coming of the Faith (244 AOD)

The Church of the Glass Chalice rises, preaching purity as salvation. Rituals of reflection and redemption seduce the populace. But as power grows, the Church becomes oppressive—accusations, inquisitions, and control follow. The faith that once cleansed now dominates. Mercy turns into moral surveillance. The Chalice becomes both icon and cage.

The Eastern Rite Waking (401 AOD)

Far east, the Khal Rún reject the Chalice’s doctrine and worship change itself. Their faith, the Path of the Endless Wave, is built on wind, sea, and impermanence. As they begin trading with Kaermyr, cultural and religious tensions flare. Where Kaermyr seeks control, the East embraces chaos—and becomes a mirror of resistance to the city’s rigidity.

Founding of the Twelve (437 AOD)

House Sylwen splinters. A dozen new militant orders arise, each obsessed with a single distorted virtue. These new orders absorb the knightly tradition but twist it into holy war, ritualized violence, and dominance. They grow richer, more powerful than the houses that birthed them—marking the shift from nobility to militarized zealotry.

Tide of the Sandsunder War (481 AOD)

The Sultanate of the Shifting Sands strikes Kaermyr in retaliation for decades of insult and religious desecration. Brutal war ensues. The city nearly falls, but the invaders collapse from infighting and plague. Kaermyr survives—but just barely. The war ends not in triumph but in scorched ruin and haunted silence.

Subjugation of the Sands (482–502 AOD)

Kaermyr invades the desert in retribution, conquering and converting by force. Shrines are destroyed, children are taken, culture is wiped out. Resistance is crushed. What remains is a colonized desert under bureaucratic rule, enforced faith, and the watchful eye of the Church. Kaermyr becomes an empire—built on bones and baptized in blood.

The Holy War of the Twelve (495–502 AOD)

The Twelve Orders crusade across the desert, some slaughtering in the name of purity, others sheltering the weak. Merciful orders are purged by fanatics. Among the chaos, legends of compassion survive in hidden oases, proving not all virtue was lost. A war of faith turns into a war of memory—between brutality and the few who remember mercy.

Tribunal of Silver Law (503 AOD)

As the Twelve Orders turn on each other, threatening civil war, Kaermyr’s council forms the Tribunal of Silver Law—a judiciary immune to both sword and scripture. Backed by guilds and houses alike, the Tribunal brings law above faith for the first time. It exiles the Iron Crucible, proving justice can check even religious zeal. Law becomes Kaermyr’s last hope for peace.

The Schism of the Faith (608 AOD)

Faith fractures. A new movement, the Kainhrists, rejects magic and purity dogma in favor of human agency and shared suffering. Five Orders join them, rallying around the memory of Kainhr. Kaermyr now hosts two competing religions: one of sacred purity, the other of gritty mortal truth. The city teeters on the brink of ideological war—again.

Mark of the Silent Stars (614 AOD)

Magic begins to die. Casters lose their gifts, relics go inert, and the Mark of the Silent Stars—a ring of glowing sigils—appears on the skin of those once attuned to the arcane. The Church sees it as divine punishment. The Kainhrists see it as liberation. Magic fades into history, replaced by a technological renaissance and new philosophical debates over power, faith, and mortality.

A Reign of Kings (764 AOD)

Centuries later, Kaermyr stagnates under feudalism. The dynasties vie for power, the Orders exploit the weak, and the guilds tighten their grip on trade. Magic is gone, myth has faded, and compassion is a distant memory. No true king rules—but the city’s political pressure cooker hints that one might rise. As the world sleeps under layers of dust and lies, something stirs in the dark...