|
Timeline of the Land |
|
Epoch of Creation |
|
Era of Creation |
The
Creator forges the Arch of Time to provide
his creation a place to exist. He forms the
alternate Earth and the Land.
Lord Foul mars the Creator's handiwork, is
revealed as the Enemy and cast into the
prison within the Arch of Time.
as I understood it, the earth was created first of which 'The Land' is a part.
The AoT was placed over it which infact imprisoned Foul who was already
found to be on the 'earth'
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|
Era of Destruction
(perhaps apocryphal) |
The Worm of the World's End
takes form and devours the Creator's children in the form of many
thousands or even millions of stars. The Worm becomes satiated,
curls into a ball and the Earth forms around it; its tail alone is
exposed as the One Tree in a tremendous cavern on an isolated island.
Perhaps at this time the torpid Worm gives birth to the Nicor
that populate the deep oceans. |
|
Unchronicalled Epoch |
|
Era of the Elohim |
If any creatures other than the
Enemy, Elohim and Nicor exist, it is not revealed. |
|
Legendary Epoch |
|
Era of Discovery |
Findail the Appointed provides
our only tenuous clues to the events that transpired in "a time which
we do not deem distant, but which has been long forgotten among your
most enduring memories". The Elohim "sojourned all the wide
Earth ... participating perhaps not always wisely in that which we
encountered." |
|
Era of the Northern Fire |
In the farthest North of
the world a fire of incredible virulence was born, threatening
to rive the shell of the world (perhaps waking the Worm of the
World's End). Kastenessen the Elohim lives among humans
in "a land to the east, where the Elohim are neither
known nor guessed" and loves a human woman. In his absence the
Elohim Appoint him to prevent the world's destruction.
He refuses, flees with his lover and is caught and bound as a
keystone over the fire in the North. He curses Findail.
|
|
Epoch of Sentience |
|
Era of the One Forest |
Findail claims that in
"the place which you deem the Land, life was not
the life of men and women, but of trees." The Ravers come into being
and a 'female' Elohim is Appointed to become the Colossus of the Fall to interdict the Ravers. Perhaps in this era the Viles come into being. |
|
Era of Peoples |
Findail relates that
"people started coming to the Land, started cutting down trees".
The loss is later estimated at "perhaps a hundred thousand
square leagues". The One Forest creates the Forestals in
self-defense but they are unable to halt the decimation.
The watershed supporting the vast southern empire of Doriendor
Corishev begins to disappear. Perhaps during this time the race
of Viles fashions the Demondim. |
|
Era of Peace |
Atiaran relates that
"in the eldest days, in the age that marks the beginning of the
memory of mankind ... the Demondim were a high and lofty race,
and the Cavewights smithed and smelted beautiful metals to trade
in open friendship with all the people of the Land. In that
time the Land was one great nation, and over it ruled a King and
Queen." |
|
Era of Strife |
The Ravers are released
as the trees of the One Forest become separated and the
interdict of the Colossus of the Fall is unbound. The King becomes
lustful of power over others. He is opposed by the Queen; her
forces are commanded by her principal champion, Berek. War rages
in the Land, initially the Queen's forces prevail until Lord Foul's
shadow overwhelms all except Berek. The great southern empire of
Doriendor Corishev is destroyed. Possibly this era marks the
beginning of the corruption of Cavewights and the Demondim who begin breeding the Demondim-spawn: ur-viles and Waynhim, among other
abominations from their pits deep under Mount Thunder; the exudations
of this spawning poison the Soulsease River which becomes the
Defiles Course, polluting the Sarangrave Flat and the Great Swamp.
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|
Era of the Earthpower |
Berek is pursued by the
King's forces to Mount Thunder where he pledges to heal the
Earth. The first surgence of Earthpower occurs as the Fire Lions
of Mount Thunder annihalate the King and his armies. |
|
Epoch of the Old Lords |
|
Era of Berek Heartthew |
Berek voyages to the Isle of
the One Tree, recovering a branch without waking the Worm of the
World's End. He creates the Staff of Law, founds the first Council
of Lords of which he is High Lord, fathers Damelon, and lives for
several centuries. |
|
Era of Damelon Giantfriend |
A convoy of Giantish ships becomes lost and arrives at the eastern shore of the Land in the region known as Seareach. They are welcomed by High Lord Damelon, who grants them the region to live in. They fashion Coercri the Grieve as their home in exile, and Revelstone in the Westron Mountains for the Council of Lords. Damelon also lives for centuries and sires Loric. |
|
Era of Loric Vilesilencer |
Loric becomes High Lord and
forges a mystic shortsword called the krill with a pure white
gemstone at its heart for the coming war with the Demondim. He earns
his title by stemming "the corruption of the Demondim, rendering them impotent" according to the teachings of the Loresraat. He lives for
several centuries and fathers Kevin. |
|
Era of Kevin Landwaster |
Kevin becomes High Lord and
lives for a thousand years. An army of
Haruchai enters the Land through
Guards Gap intent on conquest but are
overwhelmed by the site of Revelstone and
the might of High Lord Kevin and the Staff
of Law. They swear a Vow to serve the
Council of Lords and five hundred of them
become the Bloodguard, warders of the Lords
and Lord's Keep, losing the ability to sleep
or age. |
|
Era of Lord Foul the Despiser |
Lord
Foul pretends friendship with the Council
of Lords and is accepted by High Lord Kevin
who teaches him much secret lore. Foul
sets a trap for Kevin near Mount Thunder but
Kevin is mistrustful and sends other Lords
who are butchered at the spot known
thereafter as Treacher's Gorge. Lord Foul
corrupts the southeast regions of the Land
which are renamed the Spoiled Plains and
Shattered Hills surrounding Foul's Creche.
He begins breeding monstrous creatures to
be his servants and warriors, starting a
series of internecene wars against the
Lord's Council which results in widespread
death and destruction of the Land. |
|
Era of the Desecration |
Sickening of the butchery and seeing no
respite for the Land or its peoples, High
Lord Kevin creates the Seven Wards, giving
the First to the Giants who set sail from
the Land. He sends the Bloodguard to safety
in the mountains and attempts to secure as
many innocents as possible before
challenging Lord Foul to the Ritual of
Desecration. Foul accepts and together they
enact the Ritual which temporarily banishes
Lord Foul and his Raver servants from
corporeal existence and devastates the
unprotected substance, creatures and peoples
of the Land. High Lord Kevin realizes in
the instant before his death that Lord Foul
and the Ravers cannot be slain by the
Desecration. He dies howling in agony. |
|
Epoch of the New Lords |
|
Era of the New Lords |
Generations pass and the Land slowly begins to heal. The Giants return to the Land with the First Ward of Kevin's Lore which they give to the folks of the Northron Plains who have returned to Revelstone. The new Lords Council swears
the Oath of Peace and dedicates itself to the healing of Kevin's
Desecration. A thousand years pass as they work to slowly reclaim
Kurash Plenethor (Stricken Stone), renamed Trothgard, and other areas of the Land from ruin. Toward the end of this era Lord Foul and the Ravers slowly coalesce back into physical forms. |
|
Era of the Quest for the Staff of Law |
The
Cavewight Drool Rockworm uncovers the Staff
of Law and the Illearth Stone beneath Mount
Thunder. Lord Foul tricks him into
summoning Thomas Covenant to the Land.
Covenant is healed of leprosy by the
Stonedownor Lena, rapes her, and accompanies
first her mother Atiaran, then the Giant
Saltheart Foamfollower, toward Revelstone.
He delivers Lord Foul's prophecy to the
Council of Lords headed by High Lord
Prothall and joins their Quest to recover
the Staff of Law beneath Mount Thunder. The
Quest is successful and when Drool Rockworm
dies Covenant is returned to our Earth. |
|
Era of the Illearth War |
Forty
years elapse. Lord Foul becomes master of
the Illearth Stone upon Drool Rockworm's
death and his Ravers succeed in mastering
young Giant triplets, each with a fragment
of the Stone. Hile Troy of our Earth is
summoned to the Land by Atiaran, who dies
in the attempt. Elena, daughter of Covenant
and Lena, becomes High Lord of the Council
and installs Hile Troy as Warmark. One of
the Giant-Ravers uses a fragment of the
Illearth Stone to commit genocide against
the Giants at Coercri but is killed by a
small team of Bloodguard who become
corrupted by the power of the Stone. Elena
resummons Covenant to the Land and heals him
of leprosy. Another Giant-Raver leads a
tremendous army against the Council of
Lords; simultaneously Covenant accompanies
High Lord Elena and Amok (High Lord Kevin's
sentient Seventh Ward) to Melenkurion
Skyweir. After much slaughter Foul's army
is exterminated by the trees of Garroting
Deep and its Forestal at the price of Hile
Troy's transformation. Meanwhile Elena
drinks of the puissant Earthblood and
Commands dead Kevin's specter to battle
Lord Foul. He is mastered by the Despiser
and kills Elena, retaking the Staff of Law
at which Covenant is returned to our
Earth. |
|
Era of the Despiser's Winter |
Seven
years elapse during which Foul commands
Elena's specter to use the Staff of Law to
cover the Land west of Landsdrop in
unnatural winter. The mastered Bloodguard
are maimed and sent against Revelstone;
dismayed, the Bloodguard renounce their Vow
and abandon Revelstone. Foul unleashes a
great army against the Council of Lords, now
headed by High Lord Mhoram. Covenant is
summoned to the Land by Triock and Saltheart
Foamfollower at Kevin's Watch, and begins a
long march to Foul's Creche to fight the
Despiser. Mhoram uses the krill to
slay the last of the Giant-Ravers and
defeats Lord Foul's army with the aid of
several rhysh of Waynhim. Covenant
inadvertently destroys the Staff of Law,
reaches Foul's Creche, destroys the Illearth
Stone and banishes Lord Foul from corporeal
existence. In the destruction of Foul's
Creche Saltheart Foamfollower is killed and
Covenant is sent back to our Earth. |
|
Epoch of the Interregnum |
|
Era of the Oath of Peace |
High
Lord Mhoram renounces the expression of
Earthpower contained within Kevin's Lore
and vows to find new lore that embodies the
Oath of Peace. For nearly two thousand
years the Council of Lords continues this
work, aided by the destruction of the Staff
of Law which has weakened the fabric of Law
and Earthpower. Nearly the entire Upper
Land is redeemed and even Sarangrave Flat
and the ruined lands near the destruction
of Foul's Creche are somewhat restored.
The ancient forests spread anew and the
Forestal of Garroting Deep passes away.
The Third Ward is discovered and taken to
Revelstone but is not researched. |
|
Era of Corruption |
Lord
Foul, who has taken refuge at the heart of
Earthpower, begins to corrupt its essence
and uses it to reform himself and his
servants the Ravers. samadhi Raver
infiltrates the Council of Lords which
renames itself the Clave, headed by the
na-Mhoram. The Oath of Peace is abandoned.
|
|
Era of the Sunbane |
Lord
Foul unleashes the Sunbane on the Upper
Land (roughly all the area west of Landsdrop),
instantly destroying the forests, harvests
and livestock of the free peoples.
Caer-Caveral retreats to Andelain which he
is able to preserve; the Ranyhyn and Ramen
flee the Upper Land and relocate to the
southern grasslands of the Sunbirth Sea.
The Raver-mastered Clave creates the
Banefire which strengthens and accelerates
the Sunbane. Knowledge of Earthpower is
replaced by the Clave's false Rede of
bloodshed, enforced by Courser-mounted
Riders of the Clave. Stonedowns and
Woodhelvennin become isolated. An
Unfettered One prophecies Covenant's return
and sets up a mission at the base of Kevin's
Watch; it is sustained by male descendents
of his line from Mithil Stonedown. For the
first time in millennia, small parties of
Haruchai attempt to return to the
Land but are overpowered and sacrificed by
the Banefire-wielding Riders of the Clave;
their potent blood reinforces the power of
the Banefire and thus the Sunbane. |
|
Epoch of the Sun-Sage |
|
Era of the Return |
Thomas
Covenant and Linden Avery are summoned to
the Land by Lord Foul himself. Horrified
by the Sunbane's and Clave's effect on the
Land, Covenant and Linden journey to
Revelstone for answers. Along the way
Covenant is repeatedly envenomed by Lord
Foul's minions and is rescued by Waynhim who
aid his journey to Revelstone. Covenant
travels through Andelain where the shades
of his dead impart prophetic words and gift
him with a perfect yet inscrutable golem
named Vain fashioned (apparently without
malice) by the ur-viles. Learning at
Lord's Keep that his inadvertent destruction
of the Staff of Law is at the root of the
Land's evisceration, Covenant journeys to
the Lower Land in hopes of finding a
solution. In Sarangrave Flat he is aided
by the sur-jheherrin and the Giantish
Search, whose fealty he earns
apocalyptically at Coercri the Grieve. |
|
Era of Starfare's Gem |
Covenant
and his companions accompany the Search and
set sail for the Isle of the One Tree. They
encounter the mysterious Elohim who
reveal the One Tree's location in return for
reaving Covenant's will from his body.
After a fierce Raver-inspired attack and
storm damage the Search is forced to
resupply in Bhrathairain, a harbor
of humans once allied with the Giants but
grown arrogant beneath the sinister shadow
rule of Kasreyn of the Gyre. This powerful
thaumaturge plots to gain Covenant's white
gold ring but is slain in the attempt. Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery
become lovers. The
Search reaches the One Tree but Covenant
discovers he cannot gain wood for a new
Staff of Law without waking the Worm of the
World's End and destroying the Arch of Time.
He tries to return Linden to our Earth to
heal his body but she refuses to be parted
from him. |
|
Era of Restoration of Law |
Dispirited, the Search returns to the
northern reaches of the Land and aims for
Revelstone, to wage war against the
Raver-led Clave. At the cost of much
bloodshed they destroy the Clave and
eradicate the Banefire, though not the
Sunbane. They journey to Mount
Thunder where Lord Foul has taken up his
abode and though Covenant is killed, his
specter tricks Lord Foul into dissipating
his life force through the white gold
without harming the Arch of Time. Linden
Avery fulfills the Elohim's prophecy
that she is the Sun-Sage by employing the
newly formed Staff of Law and the white
gold ring to eliminate the Sunbane and
begin the healing of the Land. She returns
to our Earth where Thomas Covenant has
indeed passed away. |
|
Era of the Land's Renewal |
This
era and those that follow are as yet
unChronicalled. |
