DAGE: Dark Ages Campaign World -- History

Go to: Overview | Timeline | Excerpts from the writings of Uluthat Kindore, gnomish historian
Mainland | Northwest Isles | Frozen North | Morovian Sea | Eastern Empires | Cold Steppes


Overview

The Kadian Empire, the mightiest the world has even seen, has crumbled. Its remnants exist in the new Cilian Empire in the East, removed almost entirely from civilization in the West.

Barbaric hordes of Dakans from the North and Hutarls from the East swept over the land, overwhelming the native inhabitants and ravaging the countryside. Their integration into the society has changed the face of civilization.

Hutarl chieftains now control small tracts of land, and are the primary unit of power. While overlords and kings may claim ownership over regions, the real power rests with the new Lords and Barons of Hutarl lineage.

Transportation is hazardous, reducing trade to a mere trickle. The predation of thieves, brigands, and monsters no longer held in check by organized government has made any journey of more than five miles a deadly threat.

Ocean travel in the seas is now more dangerous than ever. The steady rise of the Caliphs in the East and their expansion over weakly-held Kadian territories has given rise to unprecedented piracy in the Eastern and Morovian seas.

Finally, there is magic -- with the destruction of the Empire, the tolerance most people had for the mystic arts is gone. There are those who blame the proliferation of magic for the downfall of the Empire, and kill "witches" and "warlocks" at first chance. Very few now can practice the arts, now that the great Schools of magic have been sacked and most knowledge lost.

With the fall of magic and the Empire, the gods have risen in strength. The priesthood is the new elite in the remains of the Kadian Empire, with gods freely granting powers to their followers to increase their temporal authority. But there is a schism developing in the Pantheon -- while before, all gods treated each other with at least a degree of respect, now certain gods are declaring themselves to be the only true faith. This conflict between monotheism and polytheism may rip the Pantheon itself apart.

Concordant with this rise of religion comes increased conflict with the Caliphates. Religious differences have already become open conflicts between nations on the borders of the Eastern Sea, and trade has decreased with the Caliphates for fear of reprisal.

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Mainland

Characterized by the gradual evolution from tribal to feudal culture. Some remnants of Kadian civilization still survive, and are collected and protected by various monastaries. No real unified governments exist. There was a peaceful mixture of the human and demihuman races under the Kadian Empire, but now suspicion and fear characterize race relations. Dwarves, elves, and gnomes tend to keep to themselves in their own realms, while half-elves and halflings tend to bond with humans.

Northwest Isles

The home of tribal barbarians of human and elven stock. Reputedly the home of all faeriefolk. The Kadian Empire briefly colonized this area, but their influence has not stayed. A few halflings live in this area, but no dwarves or gnomes live here.

Frozen North

The source of the warlike barbarians, the Dakar, who swept from above the mountain ranges and down into the fertile lands of Central Dage. Reputedly the home of all dwarvenkind. Dwarvish civilization has strongly influenced human culture, and there is a close bond between the Dakar and the mountain dwarves of the region.

Morovian Sea

This area is the last center of civilization in Dage. While piracy abounds here, the Cilian Empire still stands, holding lands spread over the area. The ancient seat of civilization in Dage, the Eretians, founded their nations here, and were slowly absorbed by the Kadian seafarers. Ruins of Eretian cities and monuments still stand today.

Eastern Empires

The remnants of Kadian civilization still stand untouched in the East more than anywhere else. When the independent Empire of Ciliano was founded, these nations declared allegiance to Telegon; and with its fall in power, became autonomous states. They war among each other now, as the Caliphates creep slowly northward and absorb the warring countries.

The Caliphates are a loose confederation of Caliphs (princes), headed in name only by the Sultan at Puoele. With the fall of the Kadian Empire, they were able to seize significant power and lands away from Telegon and Ciliano, including Eretia itself (re-named Kharta in honor of the Caliph who took it). Officially they are called the Kingdoms of Puoele, but Westerners refer to the lands as the Caliphates.

Cold Steppes

The Western barbarians hail from this region. The Ulars, and later the Huturls, came from this area to settle in mainland Dage. Reportedly, there are kingdoms of great wealth and power beyond this wasteland, but these are only rumors.

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A Timeline of Events in Dage (in Kadian Years = KY)
-4000	First elvish settlements.
-1200	First dwarven settlements.
-900	First gnomish settlements.
-800	First human settlements.
-650	First halfling settlements.
-230	Eretia founded.
1	Kadia founded.
180	Telegon founded.
399	Ciliano founded.
523	Kadians capture Telegon from Ulars.
590	Telegon made the capital of the Kadian Empire.
656	Kadians capture Ciliano.
789	First record of a monotheistic religious cult.
812	Expansion of Kadia to its greatest area.
934	Loss of Illaes to barbarian tribes.
1020	The Declining Emperors come to power.
1134  Massacre of Tortuga.
1175	Telegon is sacked.
1181	Eretia (now Kharta) is lost to the Caliphates.
1192	The Consul of Ciliano declares himself Emperor.
1193	The Eastern Empires declare loyalty to Telegon.
1200	Approximate end of Kadian power in West.
1237	Eastern Empires start to fragment.
1292	Holy war declared by the Caliph of Kharta on the 
	Cilian Empire.
1315	Current year.
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Excerpts from the writings of Uluthat Kindore, gnomish historian, ca. 1920 KY

Ch. I, "An Overview of the Era of Darkness"

...No one definitive event marks the end of antiquity and the beginning of the Dark Ages. Neither the sack of Telegon by the Huturls under Targus IV nor the deposition of Marcus Terlius, the last Kadian emperor in the West, impressed their contemporaries as epoch-making catastrophes. Rather, the culmination of several long-term trends, most notably a severe economic dislocation and the invasions and settlement of the various Huturl tribes within the borders of the Kadian Empire had changed the face of Dage. For the next 300 years western Dage remained essentially a primitive culture, albeit one uniquely superimposed on the complex, elaborate culture of the Kadian Empire, which was never entirely lost or forgotten...

Ch. VII, "The Process Leading to Fragmentation of Authority"

...Although during this period the loose confederation of tribes began to coalesce into kingdoms, virtually no machinery of government existed, and political and economic development was local in nature. Regular commerce had ceased almost entirely, although the money economy never entirely vanished. In the culmination of a process that had already begun in the Kadian Empire, the peasantry became bound to the land and dependent on landlords for protection and the rudimentary administration of justice. Among the warrior aristocracy the most important social bonds were ties of kinship, but feudal connections were also emerging, which may have been rooted in the old Kadian patron-client relationship or in the Huturl 'party', the group of fighting companions. All such connections impeded any tendency toward political consolidation...

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Written by Eric Dobbs; last updated 5/15/96; comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome.