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''Fall: before then, way before, is it possible that the indigenous races appeared to humans as angels, mostly because they perceived this as an authority figure, and humans would listen? They did not perceive the meaning, for they didn't yet understand human metaphor, and once they did, they never came again.
Dragons also came and went, and it was in a great battle that drove them out that Chwahirsland's mountain ranges grew.
Afterwards, the word, the image, for angles stayed firmly in the vocabulary. A scholar, tracking this, could say that it's so powerful an image all it takes is one.
Women had magic first, and worked on two things: sexual violence and making life better. They then worked to eradicate the urge to war, but one woman apparently blew it for everyone, in a bid for power. And that's when male mages got equal time.
Ilderven--implies shared beginnings with 'Venn'
Early in what the Sartorans claimed were the 2000s Norsunder attack after Ilerien's generation of morvende have emerged from caves, and have a strong effect on world, spreading magic and even a nascent form of dena Yeresbeth that the Mage Council afterward tried hard to re-evoke through use of kinthus, etc. The result of his defection was a horrific purge of Morvende leaders and greats-led by Ilerien himself. (What this did was circumvent humanity's taking a turn in a new direction.) Mountains raised then, hiding many of the older cave routes, before morvende last stand in the north of Goerael. the morvende mage centers in Goerael survived, but never to the great degree hitherto. Many retreated to the mountains here and on Drael, where they escaped as refugees, never to come to the surface again.
A few survived because they made it to the area under the Lake Region, which shifted them outside of time and place, where Ilerien did not know and could not find them.
Tadras Landis first king whose records still exist. He maintained that his rule began in 2400 AF (After Fall)—the twice 12 being auspicious. Others tended to date records from his rule, so for a long time in Sartor there was a double record: the 'official' time, which was post 2400, and the internal time, dating from Tadras' rule.
This was the closest Sartor came to an organized religious expression, almost superstitious, as custom turned into ritual, all tied to the solar cycle. This sense of order out of chaos resolved into the need to bind the world to the heavens in harmony, thus activities, from year to each day, were strictly dictated by the correct time, and Sartoran architecture still had a semblance of its old organization around the movement of air through space, but now the 'sun holes'--windows and openings planned into buildings to permit rays to penetrate the interior, which were often mirrored and refracted inside, especially during winter--gave onto mosaic patterns. As the sun moved over these, the day's activities were precisely regulated.
The following ten centuries were rough ones for all, leading slowly to the rise of the mighty empires, which were not just the visions of monstrous egos, but attempts to impose world wide peace in the form (they thought) existed in the days of Old Sartor, when the entire world was in effect a single kingdom. About the only consistent thing until the empires was the Landis line. Few records were kept that survived, and possibly they even moved around, rather than staying in one place, as there was always the fear of wholesale destruction on the scale of the Fall.
The Venn rise after the terrible defeat of the Morvende, who were emerging as a power in the north. The Venn concentrated on acquiring land and organizing it; the powerful mages gradually withdrew mostly to Goerael, where they indulged in all kinds of supposedly benign experiments. This was the area near the talking animals of Helandrias Forest, and the brilliant rainbow-colored peoples of the northern kingdoms, and many other oddities. Into this mix the Yxubarecs came, though their origins are obscure: some maintain they came from off world.
Back in Sartor, the Landis government of that time was hierarchical to an astonishing degree, showing signs of becoming ossified: there were levels of rank, signified in clothing, behavior, place, and only certain ranks could do certain jobs…into all this a stranger walked, ripping it away like tearing spiderwebs as he bested the nobles at everything: the ritualized dueling, poetry, recitation of historical ballad (ossified into specific forms), even dance. Alian was only a minor court figure at the time, brought into the training because the queen mother loved being surrounded by pretty girls, and Alian was extraordinarily beautiful and graceful as a child. She also was quite charming, and being smart and ambitious as well, had by the age of sixteen honed her charm as carefully as the nobles honed their steel weapons.
Connar was helpless against the almost savage hewing to the strict codes. Slightest infractions were death-dealing. The nobles, powerful to extreme degree, would not relinquish a jot of their influence, as symbolized in the labyrinthine court ritual.
Inevitably the stranger caught Alian's eye, because she was already hankering after independence, and her astonishing beauty drew Connar's eye, so that he, too, wanted to circumvent the marriage rank required of him. The stranger's effect on court made all these things possible--after he and Alian withdrew for a time, just the two of them. She returned to find a diminished court surrounding a mourning young king; her children were accepted into the court, even her third, Adamas, born shortly after her return to the capital.
For a time Alian was torn between her fascinating lover and the plain, hard-working Connar, but the stranger resolved the issue by parting from Alian, who wept storms--but rose from her grief determined to be a queen. Connar had never swerved from wanting to marry her: though he was a sober, practical young man, he was certain that she would make a great queen for Sartor. She married Connar in 3355, after agreeing to a marriage treaty stipulation that prevented her children by the stranger (given the name Dei, chosen by Alian and her lover) from inheriting the kingship. This treaty subsequently chased the Deis down through the centuries.
Though their marriage treaty kept the Deis from inheriting Sartor, Connar and Alian's marriage itself enabled Sartor to always permit merit to rise, and fostered a sense of royal self-examination--that was the result of Connar's writings on the subject, now used as manuals for kingship.
Thus when Alian Dei kept her diary, at first she used the internal date, 1155, i.e. since the time of Tadras, but when she turned her sights to marriage to Connar Landis, she began using the official date in all ways, and the melding of the two really begins with her long reign.
Adamas Dei of the Black Sword was taken away for ten years and trained by his father, then returned, bearing the sword of black much-tempered steel whose lines were recognizable as a rare artifact from Old Sartor. Adamas would not tell the history of the sword, and when he discovered he had been selected by a faction of restless young Sartorans who wanted to overthrow the old, ossified government and place him at the head, he exiled himself, and refused to return to Sartor. He traveled over the latter part of the century, settling finally in the far west; he married into the Cassadas family, who championed peace. Some of the Deis followed him over, and established a line there. To this family he taught the skills in tempering steel that he had learned.
Alian's daughter by Connar, Alianias (at that time, 'ias' was a diminutive connoting cherishment, somewhat like 'my darling'--later it meant 'mine') who became queen, and who switched official record-keeping over to the modern writing. Before then the 'court hand' was the old vertical script of taerans.
First Marlovan chieftain king, Bederian Fheldah, took the Iascan middle plain of Hesae, which he renamed Hesea; the name of the old capital, Telyaer, never used; just royal city or king's city.
The rich land to the northeast of Sartor, generally called the Kei Fael region, that later became Colend formed into a kingdom a few times, the first, around 3000, an organization of wealthy small states who wished independence from the heavy obligations of the faraway Sartoran overlords. For a time they hold the coast as well, but the peoples there resist distant government, break, come back, break, come back, and break up for good in the late 3000s. The language stayed Keifaelian, becoming Kifelian over time; the double vowels and extra ya sounds of Sartor becoming far more liquid, the consonants softened, meaning conveyed in tone, rather than extra sounds.
3512 Colend officially recognized by outside kingdoms in a treaty, after a Chwahir attempt to take them. In later attempts to take this land, Colend not only successfully got allies to band together to help resist, but to go home again. (Colend attempted to start a new count of years to get away from Sartor's timeline and influence, but it did not take, so they quietly laid it aside and dated their kingdom from Martande Lirendi's crowning himself king.)
In the west, at first there was at first no settling--just long drawn warfare, until Savarend Montredavan-An consolidated the Marlovans under him and systematically pulled the conquered pieces together, 3675-3682; final act marrying the princess of the Cassadas royal family.
3718 Savarend Montredavan-An assassinated in his own castle by Anderle Montrei-Vayir; at that point many Jarls, at Convocation, added Vayir to their names in a gesture of solidarity.
Venn get isolated on Geranda, and take it over--mixing in. Lose touch with homeland, though.
3500-4000s height of empire period: Sartor, Venn, Toar, Colend, Everon, Iasca. Everon, Chwahir and the Venn, with Toar a close second, dominated the southern seas, second only to Venn . Others slowly allied against Venn, who were supreme. They introduce their vandraska stoves (underground heating) all over, and their swan jars become famous art pieces.
Venn had gained from the morvende mages of northern Goerael the use of kinthus for dream/state and a version of far-seeing, left over from before Ilerien nearly destroyed the morvende. Colend and Sartor learned this art as the Venn spread round the world, and settled in Geranda.
Venn sea empire broken in 3921; after that they pretty much stay in the north.
Resulting in breaking of Venn power; Fulla Durasnir , once supreme maritime commander, restores the king Rajnir, who was briefly controlled by the Dag Abyarn Erkric. His son marries Tadara Sofar, whose origins are obscure, but Tadara is a remarkable woman, and the Venn, tired of war. These two establish the dynasty that persists until the present day, even past the subsequent binding of the Venn against the use of magic after one abortive foray into regaining their kingdom by attacking Goerael, led by the remaining Oneli Houses (wanting the old ways back) and the last remnant of the warrior-mages trained by Abyarn Erkric.
The Venn consequently stayed in the north, and gradually faded from southern events. This, plus the breaking up of the empires, and the succession of three great queens, resulted in the Code of War, which forbade the use of arrows on land. (At sea they were the main defense, and everyone realized enforcement would be problematical at best.) The skill, if not taught, would fall away, and did--anyone found shooting an arrow (which was hard to hide) got death, no questions, no mercy. The east, except for Khanerenth (which was mostly a maritime culture) gradually lost the ability to shoot arrows. The exception, of course, was Marloven Hess, but the Code was forced on them when their empire broke--that is, they could do whatever they wanted within their borders, but not without. Faced with the threat of magic as well as allied fighting--the invasion and thorough dismantling of their kingdom--the Marlovens withdrew into their borders.
It was Norsunder's re-emergence into affairs that gradually broke the code.
Delfin Islands got independence not long after, under King Bannoc, though he promptly had trouble with his hired mercs. Who were then overthrown by the tough Delfs by guerrilla warfare; the merc captain gave up and left.
(Treaty of Scouts Bay when Delfin Islands got free of Venn, and Hill Battle was last one against mercs.)
Venn, by treaty, forbidden to perform magic: as a trade-off, in order to enforce ban, Magicians' Council gets everyone else to ban white kinthus, preserving only the green for healing and for gaining the truth in capital cases. Since by now it's recognized that too much kinthus over time kills, its use dwindles to being resorted to only in desperate cases, or in judgment for strictly capital cases. (They know that people will use it anyway, but they have a way to find people forced by this drug into the mental plane.)
Around 4003 or so, Skya Lake Incident--last real civil war when Colendi took up weapons, though it was mostly walking around. (Sentis versus Lirendis)
Lasva the Wanderer meets Mathias IV (the Builder) 4216; she's 39, he's 50
4240 Jhussav Calahanras rules--quiet times. Sister goes on world tour.
4249 old Mathias dies--Lasva goes back to Sartor to the morvende to grieve, and never returns.
4262 Mathias V (the Magnificent) Lirendi greatest reaches of Colendi empire. Beautiful son of Lasthavais Dei, whose blue eyes had earned her the nickname of Lasva Sky Child He uses the Faleth as his frontline troops---their warlike culture demands glory through feats of arms. Though there was very little actual fighting--his army was all by show. He tended to let countries know they were next by serving ambassadors to luxuriant meals on plate stamped with their own coats of arms. When he rode out, he wore black and gold--the colors of Adamas Dei--not Lirendi colors, and many thought he wanted to establish a Dei empire, rather than mere Lirendi.
Elsarion family, allies of Marlovans, take over Enaeran after repelling (in an exquisitely balanced meeting of martial threat and negotiation) Mathias at the western extent of his empire--Alored Elsarion I is a descendant of Tau's half-brother. This infusion of the Deis into the Elsarions sets in motion their ascendance over the next few years. And what we had at that meeting of kings was a meeting and recognition between two Deis, backed by an implied threat of siccing the Marlovens onto Mathias.
Cleaning frames become common: Sartoran and Colendi fashions first, gradually spreading. Expensive.
Delfin Islands' treaty with Iascans against Venn--and no attacking them, which basically saved them for a few generations. Very unpopular treaty among people, but also accepted it.
4277 Iasca broken--Code of War forced onto borders by treaty--and Montredaun-Ans took over--again. Telyaer Hesea gradually evolved to Telyerhas.
Colendi empire slowly breaking meanwhile; one of reasons a Landis marries into the Sonscarnas.
On western end, the Tartares campaign helped hurry it--a scion of the family grabbed by Norsunder, escaped, used the fire-over-pitchfork sign, organized people into guerilla (strike-and-hide) tactics to break empire’s hold.
Faleth renamed Kerga on empire breakup
As a result of a Landis marrying into the Chwahir family, the Sonscarnas, there is the famous duel between a brother and a sister, Lammog; she has the brains, but the contest is decided by brawn. After that the brother--who knew she was smarter--after her death drove it into his son that any sister ought not to be permitted to live, and that women are the natural enemies of men.
Ivandred Montredaun-An and First Lancers rode into Norsunder in 4418; his empire lasted from 4408-4418. First to become dark-magic mage, and later his reputation is tarnished, for example it's claimed that he first banned Restday celebrations, when that happened later. He only said that exigencies of defense could supersede Restday.
After he rides into Norsunder, subsequent defeats cause neighbors to enforce Code on Marlovens if they cross their borders.
4488 Sharend Montredaun-An, queen of Marloven Hess, destroyed the second incarnation of Brotherhood of Blood--the entire pirate network. (later the name would be exhumed, several times, but it was not the same organization at all.)
But after her, her brother Senrid, prisoner of Chwahir for a long time, turns to dark magic; Sharend raised by her grandmother Lasva Hesea of Vasande. (Vasalya Lassater takes Hesea as name when given Vasande; their son marries a Tlennen, joining names. ) Vasande Leror going to descendents, the Tlennen-Hess family.
4579 Angas Landis marries into Dei family. Sister becomes queen in '80.
Shnit Sonscarna takes the Chwahir throne in the middle 4600s, after murdering his entire family--only one nephew eventually escapes. He prolongs his life by dark magic.
Merewen and Yustnesveas's father born in '95. Harold Dei in '97.
4617 New Year's Day Yustnesveas’s father marries one of the Dei sisters who are cousins to Harold and Merewen. Iskandaer born that year, and others one a year. The unmarried one has Julian in '18.
4620 Angas Landis Dei tries a throne-grab in daughter Merewen's name, when old queen dies, and new king takes over--weak.
4621 Angas's Deis banished from Sartor, but Merewen goes to the Loi. Harold goes first to Delieths, and charms them. Only Julian's mother remains; she'd had no part of plot that didn't include her; Harold eventually leaves and goes to Geth, being in his turn beguiled by Norsunder.
4624 Sartor falls to Norsunder. (Signal of end of Code of War for many nations. Struggle to regain lost skills.)
Tsauderei and Evend are young mage masters by '680s.
4700 Everon enchanted. Mondros goes off to learn magic. Raneseh settles down in Tser Mearsies. Harold has son, Les, and daughter Charismerian. Who he raises to expect great things. Les is as handsome, charismatic, and as cheerfully immoral as his father--but Charismerian is not. However, she believes the family myth to obsessive effect.
Harold's last act in late 20s is to have a third son, Laban, after which he gets himself killed in a place where his charm fails.
early 700s, Bereth Ferian's fall. Mage circle beyond time; purple kinthus begins to sprout again, here and there. Few know its purpose any more.
Late 720s the Pirate Wars of the Sartoran Seas (Alaerec Renselaeus would have met those who knew Marlovens, and of course he has ancestors there.)