Crystalicum - History

History

year 0 - The Rise of the Ice Elven Dominion. Alexandreos Megas, the leader of the Ice Elves, finishes a long lasting campaign aimed at subjugating all the inhabitants of his homeworld. After destroying the last focal point of Common Elven resistance, he assumes the title of Kaiser and declares the beginning of a new calendar, which will become the chronological base for most of the Known Universe.

Soon afterwards Alexandreos moves to conquer other worlds in the universe. How he came to possess technology allowing him to traverse the Void, and why did he fixate himself on the fact that there are in fact other inhabited worlds, remains a mystery even today.

year 1 - year 500 Glory of the Dominion. The rule of the Ice Elves extends over more and more worlds. For their inhabitants, the invasion of the Kaiser's army is the first contact with any race hailing from outside their homeworld. The borders of the Dominion expand quickly, and with it comes cruel slavery on the one hand, and a great technological and cultural progress on the other. The propagation of inter-stellar travel, writing, or a code of laws not dependent solely on the whims of a ruler are just some of the things most races owe to the Ice Elves.

year 287 Time of the Red Moon. From this time comes the oldest known written account regarding the appearance of the Red Moon, which eclipses the sun, turns animals into raving monsters, and causes sentient beings to succumb to a murderous fury. From the writing's tone however, one may assume that the Red Moon existed earlier, and that the Ice Elves had to deal with its effects before.

year 502 The Discovery of Astonia. The Ice Elven fleet reaches the borders of the Federation of Astonia and, for the first time, encounters a race aware that a multitude of worlds exists. Nevertheless, the Kaiser spares no time in waging war, which turns out to be disastrous - the invading fleet is all but decimated, and the Elves suffer their first defeat in the history of the Dominion. Rancorous, the Kaiser orders to destroy all accounts regarding the failed invasion, and all maps showing the way to the Federation.

year 753 The Discovery of the Nine Cities. The Ice Elven fleet discovers the Planet, and the inhabited platforms orbiting around it. The humans living on them, while not able to construct a ship capable of Void-faring, have no problem making vessels which take flight long enough to move between platforms or to and from the Planet. Their civilization turns out to be ancient. The true origin of the platforms and the mystery of their settling has never been solved.

year 812 The Beginning of the Elven-Dwarven War. The Kaiser's forces, after a long and taxing campaign, manages to occupy Terra Nostra, the homeworld of the Dragon Dwarves. They do not manage, however, to quell the Dwarven resistance. A war erupts, which, its tides shifting from one side to the other, will continue for almost six hundred years.

year 1104 The Appearance of the City of Gnomes. A mysterious object appears on the orbit of one of the worlds of the Dominion - a city built entirely out of an unknown metal, shifting through space on its own. After exactly seven days it disappears, only to emerge a while later in a completely different spot in the Universe. The Gnomes inhabiting the city are unfriendly and distrustful at first, over time however, they become a race of traders, and their city the biggest market in the Known Universe.

year 1171 A Turn in the Elven-Dwarven War. The Ice Elven Dominion, existing for twelve centuries, is slowly verging towards its downfall. An evident sign of that is the fact that the Dwarves are gaining the upper hand in the war. They've managed to drive back the occupying forces from Terra Nostra, and take the fight into the reaches of space. Soon, the fleet of the Dragon King celebrates its first victories, and the Dwarves begin a campaign aimed at freeing other worlds from the thrall of the Dominion. Doing so, they establish the League of the Free, whose purpose is to bring down the Ice-Elven Dominion.

year 1200 The Prophet's Speech. The ruler of Cardhuel, a world on the fringe of the Universe, returns from exile, brought upon him by the Ice Elves occupying his world. He is terribly mutilated - his eyes have been gouged out, and his right hand cut off - yet the lost limb is replaced by a Crystal Hand, an artifact of unimaginable power. Freeing his world from the rule of the Dominion, he begins to preach a doctrine, which will become the foundation of the Church of the Crystal. This year is year 0 according to the Imperial Calendar.

year 1223 The Beginning of the Empire's Expansion. After the Prophet's death, his grandson becomes Cardhuel's ruler. He puts into motion the Prophet's ideal of bringing the teachings of the Church to the farthest reaches of the Universe. To this end he establishes Knight Orders, and begins conquering nearby worlds, coupled with a forced conversion of their inhabitants to faith in the Crystal. Thanks to the power of the Living Crystal, the Crystal Knights turn out to be unstoppable, and their domain expands at an astonishing rate. The Prophet's grandson takes on the title of Emperor, and dubs his domain the Crystal Empire.

ca. year 1350 The Second Phase of the Empire's Expansion. The Imperial conquests are starting to lose momentum, and each successive Emperor mitigates the policy of border expansion. As a result, more worlds accept the faith in Crystal voluntarily, largely retaining their cultural diversity and overall autonomy. An especially vivid example of this policy are the Nine Cities, which nominally accept the Empire's sovereignty, in reality however, this fact has no effect on their culture or politics.

year 1392 The Rediscovery of Astonia. Dwarven travellers discover anew the forgotten route to Astonia. The animal-men nation does not establish any contact, be it mercantile or diplomatic. Instead, it tightens its borders, sealing itself off from any foreign influence.

year 1448 The Third Phase of the Empire's Expansion. The Emperor, having become enamoured with the Nine Cities' culture, decides to move his capitol there. Before he sets his plan in motion however, he dies in mysterious circumstances. His death marks the date during which the Empire returns to its policy of annexation and repressing other cultures. The rulers of the Nine Cities manage to keep their privileges by nothing short of a miracle.

year 1460 Twilight of the Dominion. The Kaiser's fleet is ultimately defeated by the League of the Free during the battle for Stars. In doing so, the Dwarven fleet paves a way to Alexandreon, the Dominion's capitol. The Dragon King however, decides not to make a final strike at the Ice Elves, instead opening peace talks. The defeated Kaiser is forced to recognize the liberated worlds' independence, retaining control over only a few worlds closest to Alexandreon.

year 1464 The Moon Dwarves' Exodus. Princess Castelhana II, the only Dwarven ruler free from the Dragon King's influence, breaks an age-long religious taboo, sending her first expeditions onto the arboreous moon orbiting Terra Nostra. Upon discovering it is habitable, she avoids recognizing the Dragon King's superiority, while gradually and secretly relocating her subjects to the moon. There, she declares herself the ruler of the sovereign Moon Kingdom and her subordinates begin their war with the Dragon Kingdom.

year 1491 Birth of Marco di Mirandeo. In the City of Pillars, one of the Nine Cities, Marco di Mirandeo is born. Fated to become a traveller, his memoirs will become one of the most popular sources of knowledge regarding the Known Universe, especially the mysterious Astonia.

year 1509 The First Crystal Crusade to Astonia. The Emperor makes an ill-fated decision to begin a Crystal Crusade aimed at subjugating Astonia, converting it to the Crystal Church. The Order of Earth leading it had some decent success at first, after a while however, it met with heavy enemy resistance, and was pushed back from the Federation's borders.

year 1511 The Second Crystal Crusade to Astonia. Furious because of the Crusade's failure, the Emperor gathers a gigantic fleet, over which he takes command personally, and makes a second attempt at conquering Astonia. The Crusade ends with the Empire's mysterious crushing defeat - only a handful of survivors flee the Federation, relaying both weird and mutually contradictive accounts of the massacre. Casualties of that battle include the heads of the Earth and Fire orders, as well as the Emperor himself. The Empire also lost the Crystal Hand, the symbol of reign over the Empire.

year 1512 Civil War in the Empire. Left without the Emperor to look over them, the Orders begin fighting for dominance over the Empire. The war lasts five years, crippling the already weakened Empire - worlds left without the Orders' supervision begin to vie for indepepndence, and the Crystal Church is losing its faithful at an alarming rate. After numerous bloody battles, the Order of Earth emerges on top, its grand master decides however not to assume the title of Emperor.

year 1515 Discovery of the New Universe. Dwarven sailors, under the command of the Grand Admiral of the Dragon Kingdom himself, are the first in history to find a way to traverse the Void surrounding the Known Universe, and find new worlds on its other side. Their monopoly for travel across the Great Void is soon broken by the Moon Dwarves, and the conflict between the two factions moves to their colonies.