The Time of Darkness

388-450

The Great Tumult. Territorial squabbles between refugees returning home, survivors who managed to outlast the invasion, Kurn-appointed rulers and/or sympathizers, opportunists from other lands, and of course Kurn garrisons. Some refugees stay permanently in elven and dwarven enclaves.

450-638

The First Ascadian Invasion, as non-Ascadians call it. The Ascade, after rebuilding itself, moves to recreate the Kingdom of the Sword as an extended imperial province with themselves as overlords. Initial waves are successful, conquering small, disorganized fiefs from Tirland to far Galland, and, in fairness, restoring some sense of normalcy to the area. They encounter a rude awakening in the surprisingly resilient Obrith. Eventually, popular support in Ascadia fades; a shift in opinion leaves the generals and governors afield without support, and most either return home to avoid the ruination of their careers (with varying success) or simply stay and become local liege lords themselves.

639-771

The Fool's Renaissance. In the wake of Ascadian imperialists, Sailleen forces, claiming to represent the Kingdom of the Sword, move to assert dominance over northern provinces, penetrating as far as western Tirland. Claims of re-establishing the high society and culture of the Auld Empire ring false as tax collectors squeeze scant pennies from their conquests, to return nothing to the conquered north. Eventually, the conquerors are repelled, parcel by parcel, though squabbles continue to this day, using the "re-establishment of the Kingdom" as a faux casus belli.

772-1024

The Great Awakening. Though the Church of the One God made great strides during the End in Fire, especially during the suffering of the Great Sickness, the pendulum swung the other way after the Kurnish invasion and the Dissolution, in part due to the influence of elves. In this period, the Church made its boldest and most successful play for prominence, based in the now-stable realm of Obrith. Missionaries stream from the Abbey of the Prophet to all corners of the former (and current) Kingdom of the Sword; the first serious monasteries are built in Ascadia, and the first seeds of the Karsni Restoration are sown in the Ahrimid Empire.

1025-1165