A Prax-centric History

A Timeline of Glorantha

This timeline includes many approximate dates. Even Lhankor Mhy Sages, well-learned in General Knowledge, never have pinpointed many of these events

Godtime

This is a period of mystical simultaneity. No rigid sequence can be assigned to the period, but the following timeline lists many sequential routines.

See also: Cults of Terror: Cosmology

The Golden Age

Creation of the world by the Celestial Court, who then live atop, within, or nearby the cosmic mountain called the Spike.
The Green Age, wherein vegetation, dryads, pixies, and runners are born.
The birth of Umath and the birth of his sons, including Storm Bull and Orlanth.
Birth of Grandfather Mortal, followed by elves, dwarves, trolls, men, mermen, and others.
Early contests and quarrels of Yelm and Umath.
Storm Bull descends from the Spike and weds Eiritha, and his sons wed her daughters.
Eurmal discovers Death in the Underworld.
Humakt uses Death to slay Grandfather Mortal, whose soul flees to the underworld. Flesh Man witnesses the killing and is cursed with a vision of the end of the world and goes mad.
Orlanth uses Death and slays Yelm, who follows the Mortal’s pathway to the Underworld.

The Lesser Darkness

The Deities of Darkness and their creatures flee from Yelm and take up residence on the Surface World.
High King Elf gets Death and uses it to kill Mostal.
Orlanth fights and wounds Yelmalio, then Zorak Zoran ambushes Yelmalio and robs him of his fire powers.
Zorak Zoran takes Death and slays Flamal. Aldrya sleeps and the High King Elf forms the elves to be the Protectors.
Tada conceals Eiritha under the earth to hide her from Death.
Storm Bull fights and wounds Lodril. Oakfed, the god of Wildfire, escapes to Prax where the humans feed him the forests despite elf efforts to protect the forests.
The Devil arrives with his chaos legions and slays the god Genert and destroys his land forever.
Chalana Arroy sets off to follow Flesh Man and heal the wounded cosmos.
Arroin heals Yelmalio, and they join High Elf King with the Protectors.
The Devil invades the Spike and destroys the last of the Celestial Court there. The Spike explodes but leaves the devil unharmed. The Four Young Elementals form in the void made by the explosion.

The Greater Darkness

The Devil descends upon the world and begins destroying it piecemeal. Gods die; the trolls resist savagely.
Kyger Litor builds her Castle of Lead (and some others) as bastions against chaos.
The Lightbringers gather and set off on their divine quest.
The Devil comes to Prax. Tada is killed. Storm Bull summons immense aid from many sources and kills the Devil.
Daka Fal separates the living from the dead, setting some order back into the world.
Waha is born in the Paps and teaches his people and beasts to eat each other to survive, tames Oakfed, liberates the Protectresses of the Herds, and performs other miraculous deeds.
The Forces of Survival gather in Dragon Pass and fight against chaos in the I Fought We Won battle.
The slain Devil arrives in Hell, Arachne Solara devours him.
Yelm returns from Hell leading the Lightbringers, Flamal, and many others.
Time begins.

History

With the beginning of Time, sequences and dates are easier to establish, but the lack of surviving documents makes exact dating difficult. The history of the world may be divided into three broad periods.

The Dawn Age is semi-mythical, and many deities reestablish their cults at its beginning. At the same time, early mortal civilizations begin spreading their cultures through the world. After a few centuries, few deities walked with men, but people did fill the Surface World. The age ended with the disastrous Chaos Wars between Arkat Humaktsson and Gbaji.

The Second Age saw the decline of non-human races at the hands of each other and the humans. Widespread human empires formed, and the period is marked by wars between them. Many catastrophes mark the age’s end: The destruction of Seshnela, the closing of the oceans, and the Dragonkill War.

The Third Age saw the rise of the Lunar Empire, the Ralios Kings, and the nomads of the Genertelan deserts raiding at the expense of the coastal regions by the impassable seas. Inland centers were well-developed by the time of Dormal, who re-opened the waters. His momentous act stirred great events, and men rose to the occasion. These acts brought about the legendary Hero Wars period in conclusion.

See also: Cults of Terror: History

The Dawn Age (0-C.500 S.T.)

Issaries forms the cults of his four sons .
Foundation of the Grand Hospital in the Holy Country.
Establishment of the First Council in Dragon Pass, the Serpent Kings in Seshnela, and the Hykimi dynasties in Kralorela.
c.200 S.T. – Second Council forms in Dragon Pass.
c.375 S.T. – Trolls and Dragonewts withdraw from the second Council, but Gbaji is born anyway. The chaos god curses both races, and the Trollkin Curse is laid upon Kyger Litor.
450 S.T. – After 75 years of warfare, Arkat, son of Humakt, destroys Gbaji and his allies.

The Second Age (c.500-1100 S.T.)

Warfare between elves, trolls, and dwarves reduces those races.
c.500 S.T. – Establishment of the Empire of the Wyrms Friends and the beginning of their seduction by Dragon Powers.
c.800 S.T. – Birth of Pavis.
c.826 S.T. – Establishment of the Third Council to replace the Empire of the Wyrms Friends.
c.850 S.T. – Pavis brings the Faceless Statue of Stone to Prax and defeats Waha, thereby establishing his city.
c.875 S.T. – The Arrowsmith dynasty of Pavis asks the Sun Dome Temple to settle in and near Pavis.
c.900 S.T. – Widespread dissatisfaction with the Third Council brings many rebels to the fore, including Jaldon Goldentooth of Prax.
1042 S.T. – The dragonewts turn on the Third Council, destroying their capital and leaders in Dragon Pass.
1100 S.T. – The Dragonkill War slays all humans in Dragon Pass and closes the area to settlement for over a century.
c.1200 S.T. – Trolls led by Gerak Kag invade Pavis and settle there.

The Third Age (c.1100-1650 S.T.)

1220 S.T. – Birth of the Red Moon Goddess, as performed by the Seven Mothers.
c.1250 S.T. – Grazelanders secretly settle in Dragon Pass, followed later by Tarshites and Sartarites.
c.1400 S.T. – Foundation of Pol-joni tribe in Prax.
1550 S.T. – Start of the five-year Dragonewts Dream. Troll magics enclosing the Big Rubble of Pavis are broken.
1575 S.T. – Sartar colonists settle the fortress of Pavis Outside the Walls.
1602 S.T. – The Lunar Empire conquers Sartar.
1610 S.T. – The Lunar Empire conquers Prax and Pavis, defeating the Bison and Impala tribes in the process.

Cults of Prax, History

Page Last updated: 2023-02-01 10:39:14

Excerpt – Cults of Prax Chronology (1979)