Editing Ages of Avo

[[Valwyr|Valwyran]] scholars have split [[Avo]]'s overall 4,000 years of recorded history into three overarching ages, signifying great or significant changes in the world as we know it.

== Pre-history ==
Prior to the creation of the [[Storybearers]], most historical information was contained by the [[Elf|elves]] through their use of oral tradition. These stories stretch back about 1,500 years before history began to be recorded and are considered accurate from the standpoint of the elves; since other beings didn't have similar recording practices (and also since other beings don't have the mental acumen with regard to using trance to keep memories from fading away over time), the knowledge from these traditions is elf-centric and thus not tremendously helpful for the world as a whole.

== The Bronze Age == 
=== 1 - 780 VR ===
The Bronze Age encapsulates the time from the founding of the Storybearers to the crowning of [[King Ulest]], the Mage King, in [[Valwyria]]. In this ancient time, [[magic]] was known only as an innate aspect given to special types of people (sorcerers, mainly). It is known as the Bronze Age due to the fact that most manufacturing and technological processes were strictly material in nature; that is, magic was incredibly rare and often only used in simple cantrips (which, at the time, were cast as if they were more powerful spells). King Ulest and his disciples at [[Green Tower]] in western [[Anor]] spent their lives investigating and experimenting with this mystical ability available to only certain people, eventually discovering and accessing the [[Spellweave|Weave]]. Ulest's rise to power in the 750s was bloody and difficult, as his experimentation on sorcerers was ... less than moral, but in the end, he became king of Anor and is widely regarded as the first Wizard of Avo.

== The Age of Magic ==
=== 781 - 2343 VR ===
After Ulest's coronation, several wizards and sorcerer kings throughout Avo began to use their magical power to wrest control from the barbarous tribes and clans across the world. The 9th century in particular is known as the start of the [[Rule of Mages]]; over 3/4ths of the world had some type of magic user in a throne. This was ultimately their downfall, however, as knowledge of the Weave began to spread, and spread quickly, and by the 11th century, the number of spellcasters grew considerably, as did the type of spellcaster. Druidic nature magic and divine magic was discovered and a magical "arms race" began over the centuries, as magic grew and new spells were discovered or created.

In the later parts of the Age of Magic, wizards in particular began to study incredibly powerful spellcasting, including so-called "reality warping" spells. Research on these spells often included ethical ambiguity on the part of the researchers. By the 23rd century, wizards in [[Iro]] had discovered the ''wish'' spell, after reverse engineering the magical incantations by essentially tearing various djinn apart. ''Wish'' is known as the first "reality warping" spell, but was the weakest, and these wizards, seeking more and more arcane power, discovered spells that could change time, fundamentally alter the material world, or even banish deities from Avo.

In 2343 VR, after decades of toying with their fate, three incredibly powerful wizards met at the [[Tower of Druskir]] in Iro to battle over artifacts there. These wizards each cast the ''greater wish'' spell, in an attempt to fundamentally alter the world around them. Not much is known about what happened next, besides the fact that the gods themselves intervened, in an event known as the [[The Catastrophe|Catastrophe]]. The event was instantaneous, and likely caused by either the gods stopping the wishes from being cast, or reverting the world back to what it was prior to the spells' effects. Whatever the case, the ripple of divine power caused large portions of the population, especially those with arcane abilities, to die instantly, as the [[Spellweave|Weave]] was ripped from their bodies. Access to the Weave became limited. Giant floating cities like [[Gharanhall]] came crashing to the ground, and [[Weave-points]], or areas were magic was stronger than normal, were erased from the world.

== The Post-Catastrophe Age ==
=== 2344 VR - 4490s VR ===
Avo spent centuries healing after the devastation of the Catastrophe. Magic itself was unavailable for at least a century, forbidden by the gods themselves. Several parts of the world were highly reliant on magic and struggled to rediscover how to survive, even after magic returned. Military might began to rise in the early PC years, as the world reverted to Bronze Age ways of operating.

Eventually, the world recovered and the cap on magical power ended up being a positive thing, as it allowed spellcasters to devise spells within the breadth of what power they were given. Meanwhile, the world settled into the nations and landscapes we know of today. The Post-Catastrophe Age is the longest age due to advancements in technology and magic, which allowed both to coexist and create a favorable landscape for developing nations. Of course there were wars and great evil that had to be vanquished, but nothing matched the sheer destruction of the Catastrophe.

NOTE: Below refers to the Dawn Era, which is the next age of Avo, following the disastrous [[The Divine Wrath|Divine Wrath]]. However, people from the Dawn Era know very little about the previous ages, due to the information being wiped out for unknown reasons.

== The Dawn Era ==
=== 1 - 1013 (current year) ===
The Dawn Era encapsulates the 1,000 or so years since the crowning of [[Empress Sirela Westhall]] of [[Kotakor]]. Historical events are backdated to that event from the year 822, which is when the [[World Historical Society]] was founded in [[Ruhstak Shi]] in [[Densha]]. They surmise that roughly 1,000 years occurred between the [[The Divine Wrath|Wrath]] and Westhall's crowning, but historical events are difficult to pinpoint earlier than that and are thought to be "lost to time." Similarly, almost all knowledge of the world prior to the Wrath is gone and largely forgotten, with few exceptions like place names and other proper nouns.
[[Category:Things]]
[[Category:Timeline]]
__NOINDEX__