3003 (0) - Founding of Realm of Ona Tengu by Crimson Queen. Original chartering of Vandertar Trading Company.

3004 (1) - Death of Samaqel. Great Interruption. Kathera born. Empire of Man invades River (Aha'Taqel) and Jeopard Free Territories simultaneously. Taduesz Brotherhood's power and influence dramatically increase. Tengish Knighthood founded; nearly all of the surviving Crimson Cohort joins, with the noted exception of Lain. An aged member of the Cohort, Yan-Goth, also joins the Knighthood at this time. Priests from the Land of Rasha arrive; the new Temples are incorporated into the Realm. The House of Wan formally incorporates as an import/export service in Ona Tengu.

3005 (2) - Jeopard shamans send 30,000 noncombatants to River (founding of Tree Jeopard tribes). Empire appoints Cassius Valerius military commander of River campaign. Great Battle of Lake Rivona. Crimson Queen killed in combat. Kathera crowned in cradle; Kayam becomes Lord Regent. Three days of constant night with strange celestial portents; gods lose their powers. Empire of Man retreats to Aha'Taqel.

3006 (3) - Year of the Walking Death. 5 in 10 Riverish die of Necromantic Plague; vorinkalla hordes ravage cities & countryside. Church of the One True God grows in power as it stops spread of plague, staves off and destroys vorinkalla attacks. Founding of Holy Lands as Church takes over Jampora and two other minor Riverish Cities and assumes control of huge tracts of agrarian land. Beginning of thriving slave trade in captured Tree Jeopards. Urban Ulvane rebel against plague stricken Imperial occupation forces, cities of Aha'Taqel leveled in fighting. Lord Priest Garius assumes control of Riva Zand. River College relocates to Ona Tengu.

3007 (4) The power of the gods returns to the River. Great Beast crowned King George I of Jeopard Free Territories, begins construction of Beast City. Narmodantes crowned Emperor of Man in Riva Zand.

3008 (5) First permanently blessed holy ground on River in Ona Tengu by Temple of Temporos. Other temples follow; Temples then open shrines in Sottli Ban.

3011 (8) City name of Ona Tengu changed to Jeressa; Realm expands to include Jennaru. Lord Kesh named Lord of Jennaru. Temples consecrate ground in Jennaru. Rugar Bearfang declares himself King of Sotharka, with the backing of the Church of the One True God, and begins an organized campaign against the hated bomba.

3012 (9) Sottli Ban Merchant's Council hires Wittgar, captain of a crew of Sothark mercenaries/pirates, to be "King" of the Golden City, a job that is actually more like Lord Marshall.

3016 (13) Lord Balthazar destroys original Firedrake and five other Tengish warships sent to 'stabilize' Tharkis City.

3017 (14) Kathera reaches legal majority; assumes Monarchy from Lord Regent Kayam. King Wittgar of Sottli Ban assassinated; Eloyin succeeds him, but then is removed when the Merchant's Council learns he is opposed to the slave trade, and Gharkon is crowned in his place. Eloyin discovers Safeharbor and begins to re-populate it. Notorious wandering merchant Gregor killed. Sir Yan Goth uncovers a secret society in the catacombs beneath Jampora, and accidentally discovers that over 90% of the Church's hard wealth is in the form of crystallium, not gems, which the Church must then dispose of, precipitating a huge cash crisis for the Holy Lands. Desdra, later known as Yellow Moon, is also involved. The Church begins a campaign against the wild Ulvane to reclaim areas of the Abandoned Lands, specifically the areas in which Miriam Orishna was born and in which she preached as an adult.

3018 (15) Yan Goth stripped of his Knighthood by Commander Talok in Sottli Ban due to political mishap. Pinndo of the Merchant's Council assassinated by demon. Lord Kesh murdered by rebellious underlings, who declare Jennaru independent of Ona Tengu. Yan Goth, now known as the Black, destroys rebellious Jennaru lords, then decides to keep Jennaru as his own. Eventually, Yan-Goth's own horrible practices turn the population against him, forcing him to flee to Sottli Ban, which offers him sanctuary. Unknown to all, the Time of Great Darkness begins as the Church accepts a large payment in cursed gold from the Black Giants for their crystallium. Captain Baldwin of the Church Hawks liberates the Abandoned city of Tadzine, changes its name to Miria, and declares it an independent Kingdom, founding the Reformed Orishnian Church.

3019 (16) Kathera and most of her court members assassinated by Church. Kayam called from retirement to serve as Lord Regent. Later that year, Kayam is crowned King. Malefolian the Black awakens, destroys Safeharbor, is driven off from Sottli Ban, albeit with a wagonload of tribute, and eventually returns to sleep. During his rampage, the dragon's breath incinerates much of the Jeopard Forest. The surviving Tree Jeopard tribes accept an invitation from Lord Regent Kayam to resettle in the forests of Ona Tengu. Three noted adventurers, Timbur, Lyanna Morningstar, and Calypso Skullsmasher, foil a plot in Riva Zand that would have plunged the entire River into unending necromantic darkness. Riva Zand is struck by a tidal wave, followed by an earthquake, and all but destroyed. Gregor's Horde found by Astrakhan, transported to Sottli Ban for auction. Lyanna Morningstar instrumental in foiling Imperial plot to open permanent teleportal on Tengish soil. The Holy Lands begin to slowly fall under the sway of the Giant's curse, as the damned gold begins to circulate. King Kayam weds Kristara, a neice of Rugar Bearfang. Shortly afterward, King Kayam is assassinated by K'mar,(see King Kameron I). Queen Kristara claims the throne but is forced into exile by the canny Karak, who musters the support of the Kinship and the City Lords and is himself crowned at the end of the year.

3020 (17) Lord Balthazar dies. Gregor's Horde stolen from the Temple of Silver and Gold by Astrakhan (true identity then unknown ) while masquerading as Attila, a minor bandit and occasional court guide in Ona Tengu. Attila later clears himself with oaths of innocence sworn in the Temple of Silver & Gold which are verified by the Temple of Knowledge. The Temple of Silver and Gold, unaware that Astrakhan himself stole the property, is forced to pay Astrakhan the moneys already bid for the items. Lyanna Morningstar destroys King Karak with a powerful demon; Karak's son, K'mar, is crowned, taking the coronal name Kameron. The Time of Great Darkness becomes known when a wave of undead sweep over Sottli Ban, originating from the Church Quarter. Only after Sottli Ban becomes a city under siege does it become known that the Holy Lands have already been nearly destroyed by the nosferatu. King Kameron arranges a military/psionic strike which destroys Malefolian the Black, and the Realm of Ona Tengu absorbs possibly the largest horde of wealth in the known world into its treasury, while simultaneously rebuilding Safeharbor into a military base. The Sottli Ban Merchant's Council dispatches Yan Goth the Black as an ambassador to Ona Tengu, where Yan Goth, Lyanna Morningstar, and Desdra Yellow Moon foil a plot by the Temple of Death to demonically possess King Kameron. The Merchant's Council hires an army of Honan to destroy the undead infesting Sottli Ban. King Kameron and Queen Kristara wed; Kristara then departs with refugee Priests and Church Hawks to re-settle and clean up the ruins of Riva Zand. Ona-Tengu west of the River becomes known as the Kingslands; east of River, the Queenslands. Yan Goth the Black joins Kameron's Court in Ona Tengu as Court Sorceror. A new Lord, Chandra, is appointed for the city of Jennaru, due to the former Lord's lack of support for Kameron. Antioch the Grey calls a meeting of the ancient Thaumaturgical Guild for the first time since Lord Balthazar ordered the Guild disbanded 22 years before, and commences a vigorous campaign to win himself the vacant chair of Archmage.

3021 (18) Ona Tengu, Miria, the Ulvane tribes, Sotharka, and Sottli Ban unite to drive into the Unholy Lands and destroy the plague of nosferatu. The Black Giants send Grey Giant armies into the field, augmented with Black Jeopard and Black Aven as well, to defend their new lands. The Giants are eventually driven back to the mountains, and many undead are destroyed, but tens of thousands of living warriors are killed, and virtually the entire former Holy Lands is burned to bare rock before the war is ended. The cities of Jampora, Numara and Galea remain infested with Undead and must be abandoned. At the end of the War, the Spear of St. Jared and the Spear of Ulvane, relics sacred to the Taduesz Brotherhood and the Ulvane tribespeople, vanish... it is rumored that they have been stolen by Yan Goth the Black and destroyed by the Sottle Merchants' Council, but none know for sure. The River College shifts across the River to Riva Zand, once Queen Kristara and her court have restored it. King Kameron weds Jessara, younger sister of the Crimson Queen. Although Jessara becomes Queen, and will be mother to the Redknight Dynasty, she is not considered Monarch. Queen Monarch Kristara never weds after her second, formal marriage to the King Monarch, but after a first miscarriage (presumably of King Kayam's child) she successfully bears a daughter, Morgrain, and names her heir to the Monarchy of the Queenslands.

As a result of the War, Giants are loathed throughout the River, and Giant slavery once again becomes a common economic and social fixture. Sottli Ban, Ona Tengu, Sotharka, and the new Holy Lands of Miria all join in a thriving Giant slave trade. Trade with the Jeopard Lands becomes somewhat rare, as only extremely heavily armed convoys have a chance of surviving transit of the Giant Mountains.

In 3024 (21), shortly after the birth of Kameron and Jessara's second son, Walen, Yan Goth the Black resigns as their Court Sorceror and takes up residence in the Pale Tower, Lord Balthazar's former home. Yan Goth more or less rules Tharkis City in the haphazard, slipshod, chaotic manner of his mentor, ignoring any and all occurrences within the walls that do not directly concern him. In complete contrast to his mentor, however, Yan Goth throws open the Pale Tower to wizards of all types, making it a sort of informal magical school to rival the River College itself. Although Antioch the Grey has been successful in his campaign to become Archmage of the newly revived Thaumaturgical Guild, Yan Goth's Tower soon becomes the center of most thaumaturgical research and scholarly activity on the River, and Yan Goth is generally regarded as the leading mage in the Ancient Lands.

The Kingslands of Ona Tengu become increasingly more militant under Kameron and Jessara, perhaps due to the growing influence of the newly founded Temple of War over the Tengish Knighthood. Both Kameron and Jessara are members of the Temple of War, and the Lord Commander of the Tengish Knighthood, Artemis, is also the River's High Priest of War. Kameron and Jessara's first child, Agravar, is born in 3022 (19), their second, Walen, is born in 3024, (21), and their third and fourth children, twin daughters Jerella and Jallara, are born in 3027 (24). King Kayam's former lodge becomes a fortified military post, Fort Kayam. A similar military post, Fort Karak, is built to the northwest, and finally, a vast military city is built guarding the pass from the Giant Mountains to the west, named Doros City. Kameron also strikes a bargain with the Tree Jeopards, giving them the freedom of the Western Forests forever, in exchange for their promise to keep the forests safe from Giant incursions. During this period, Kameron increases tax levies on the outlying agrarian areas, and makes several attempts to bring the Great Swamp under direct military control. Although his attempts to control the Swamp are mostly failures, his increased taxes and the growing presence of armed troops in the countryside does stir great unrest in the Durshi villagers and farmers outside the cities of Ona Tengu. Currently, Kameron is popular in the urban areas, but only the heavy military presence he has built up throughout the Realm keeps the outer Kingslands in line. Only three years ago, the huge civic arena begun under Kayam was completed, and several Amendments to the Ona Tengu Charter were passed to allow slave gladiators and entertainers to be imported into the Realm.

The Queenslands have become a strange Realm, as the odd lore of Riva Zand intermixes with the teachings of the True Church. Queen Kathera is said to have become immersed in mysticism and ritual, and the fanatical Church Hawk Legion that defends the Queenslands is said to be as much a priesthood as an army. The Queen's Court Sorceror, Maraud, is said to converse with demons as an equal, and the Queenheir, Morgrain, is said to be a grimly studious child. Riva Zand has been completely restored, and the Eastern lands out to the mountains are under cultivation. Although technically two halves of the whole Realm, the Kingslands and the Queenslands could not be more of a contrast to each other.

Jennaru, formally Ona Tengu's northernmost city, has become to all intents and purposes an independent nation-state under the crafty rule of Lord Chandra. Chandra is rumored to have struck a lucrative trading pact with the various pirate crews operating out of the Nest Isles to Jennaru's southeast, and apparently has his own sources of information, since he also gives no special consideration to the Kinship when he makes his policies. A master networker, Chandra is also said to be on good terms with Yan Goth the Black... and it's whispered that Yan Goth has communicated his desire for Chandra to remain Lord of Jennaru to the King Monarch in no uncertain terms. Over the last decade, Chandra has built an extension of the River College in Jennaru, and converted the inner Ring Road running the circumference of Jennaru into a track for near-nightly chariot races. A lucrative trade has been established between Jennaru and the mysterious Seven Kingdoms to the far North, which apparently benefits Yan Goth the Black in the form of tariffs paid by both sides to sail past his city.

Sottli Ban, vastly weakened by the enormous cash outlay of the War, huddles behind her newly refortified and re-warded walls and ostentatiously refrains from meddling in the affairs of other nations. Since King Gharkon and his men fled screaming from the Golden City in the earliest stages of the first nosferatu attack, the Merchants' Council was forced to hire a new 'King' after the war was over, to keep the peace in the Outer City and rule the foreigners and outsiders dwelling there. The mercenary leader they eventually selected is A'bukka Silverpurse, known to mercs everywhere as Captain Buck, now King Buck of Sottli Ban. Although it's said that the 'Great Race' is not at all happy at having their former Church Quarter given over to Queen Kristara's True Believers, they are even less pleased at the presence of King Kameron's military outpost, Safeharbor, barely ten days away. However, for the forseeable future, Sottli Ban's power is not equal to backing up any formal protests, and so the Golden City bides its time.

Oddly enough, Vrang ships have appeared once more in Tharkish waters, but seem to confine their trade voyages to the mid-Southern stretch of the River. The enigmatic Serpent ships float into Sottli Ban harbor from the north near the start of the Spring trading season, and for much of the rest of the spring and summer, Vrang craft can be seen moving up and down river between Sottli Ban and the cities of Aha'Taquel.

Miria, still under the firm rule of the fanatically honorable Baldwin I, has rebuilt the once Abandoned cities of Aha'Taqel, naming them Yudea, Zaul, and Thelonia, and re-cultivated the formerly wild fields. So far, Miria has honored her treaty with the Ulvane to allow them the freedom of the Southwestern Marches. If Adrianas Ulv, the so-called seventh Wolf Baron, wants to pout and fume petulantly from his exile in Sottli Ban about the loss of his 'ancestral lands', Baldwin will allow it... although it's said that Baldwin's zealous Church operatives have orders to exterminate him the instant he tries to raise any sort of military support.

Utgar Bearfang, younger brother of Rugar, succeeded to the 'throne' of Sotharka upon Rugar's death in the War. A less charismatic but more intelligent leader than Rugar, Utgar has seen some of the wilder Sothark clans break away from the coalition Rugar forged, returning to the older worship of the Winter Gods. Nevertheless, Utgar has kept the majority of Rugar's 'kingdom' united, both through the worship of the True Church and a careful nurturing of his people's racial hatred of the Ulvane. With Miria's spread into the formerly Abandoned Lands, the feral Ulvane tribes have been driven farther South, and Utgar has cannily turned what could have been a major problem into an asset, by using the encroaching Ulvane as a goad to keep his people united under his rule. It's interesting to note that unlike his brother Rugar, Utgar is a sincere (if martial) worshipper of Miriam Orishna, and has founded a Priesthood of Orishna among his people that is the first literate social organization the Sothark race has ever had.

3031 (28) NOW