The Land of the Gods

Writing a timeline, reaping adventure hooks

This is an excerpt from my latest Crit Happens zine around my world of Kre’ash. I have been following the 33 steps laid out in Rob Conley’s book How To Make A Fantasy Sandbox.

Step 16: Write a half page background describing the region and its history.

Rather than write a boring haf page of facts, I decided to describe the five eras of Kre’ash to show both the history and the journey of the region and how we got to the present condition of the region.

From the pamphlet, A Short History of Kre’ash, excerpted from The Chronicles of Kre’ash

Hark, traveler, and lend thine ear to the unfolding epochs of Kre'ash, a land etched by the very hand of fate and scarred by ages of wonder and woe. Gather 'round the flickering embers of lore, and heed the wisdom gleaned from scrolls yellowed with time.

The First Era: The Dawning

In the mists before memory, when the Spinner of Destinies first cast her gaze upon the void, Kre'ash was born. A raw, untamed canvas shaped by the very breath of the divine, The Mother of the Guardians. Behold, the Dawning Age, when mountains clawed at the heavens, rivers carved their meandering paths, and the first stirrings of life, imbued with primal magic, graced these new lands. This was the age of beginning, the bedrock upon which all subsequent ages were built, a time steeped in the primal songs of creation and the foundational myths that still echo in our hearts.

The Second Era: Time of the Weavers

Then arose the Age of the Weavers, a time of increased understanding. Mortals, their senses quickened by the subtle currents of magic that permeated the unshaped world, began to perceive the unseen threads that bound existence. These gifted souls, the first Weavers, with guidance from Eso, the enigmatic Lord of the Loom, learned to pluck and shape these arcane fibers. Houses of mystic art arose, not of stone and mortar alone, but of places where the Weave sang most sweetly. It was an era of wonder, of exploration into the very fabric of reality, but then shadow of war was cast.

The Third Era: The Shadowed Age

But the threads of fate are ever intertwined with shadow. The Third Age brought discord and strife. From their ancient oubliettes, the rebellious scions of chaos, the demigods, stirred, incited by a discontented Guardian known as Weave, their malevolent influence poisoning the land. Hordes of grotesque minions, the savage orcs and the chittering goblins among them, spilled forth, their crude blades clashing against the burgeoning civilizations of Kre'ash. It was a time of fire and blood, a crucible that tested the mettle of mortals and etching tales of desperate heroism into the very stones of Kre’ash

It took every race, along with The Guardians themselves, to imprison the demigods and their minions within the very tools of creation, the Keystones themselves. Once imprisoned, the mortals of Kre’ash were tasked with burying them in the deepest depths of Kre’ash which propelled the expansion of settlements throughout central and western Kre’ash.

The Fourth Era: The Age of Crowns

Also known as The Age of Iron Accords and

Yet, even in the deepest night, the stars find purchase. From the ravaged lands of the Shadowed Age arose figures of valor, their spirits unbowed by the encroaching darkness. Men and women of courage and vision rallied the scattered peoples, forging alliances and pushing back against the tide of shadow. These heroes, their names now sung in legend, claimed Their crowns and established lines of rule and the forging of kingdoms. Law and order, hard-won, began to mend the fractured continent.

The Fifth Era: Post Hexa

A cataclysm, known only as the Hexing, has rent the very fabric of reality, leaving The Land of The Gods and even all of Kre'ash scarred and transformed. The demigods once imprisoned, at great cost, are now freed by a misguided hex performed by the witches of the blackened earth. The echoes of the Shadow age sound loudly and the past resonates still, but the future is uncertain, a tapestry with many threads severed and new, unpredictable strands being woven. It is an age of adaptation, of rediscovery, and of facing the consequences of ages long gone, as Kre'ash navigates a destiny forever altered, once again.

Expanded Lore, NPC’s and a Faction/Guild

I tagged this section on for even more adventure possibilities.

We would not know of any of this save for the ancient Loremaster, Theron Twinstone and his Council of Kre’ashian historians, explorers and archaeologists.

The Chronicles of Kre’ash are kept by The Order of the Silver Quill of which Theron Twinstone is Chancellor.

There is still a continuing effort to unearth the history of Kre’ash with newly discovered clues to hidden eras.

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I enjoyed writing the eras because I felt it gave this land some heft, like it had lived many lives. It also gives Gamemasters the option to play in a particular era should they want to.

Do you like settings/worlds that have timelines? Have you ever created your own world with a timeline?

If you run games, do you like to place your players in different eras of that setting such as the Greyhawk Wars of Greyhawk or during the Time of Troubles?