Omphalos Timeline

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For reference, a Cycle translates to about 100 Earth years, and is based on the approximate time it takes a building to go from the edge of Omphalos into the notional center of the Maw.

In the Long Ago, Before Time

Lost in history, but known to those who stand outside of time, Omphalos was once an ordinary plane, much like any other, inhabited largely by humans who practiced magic so advanced it might as well have been technology. They came across an object or entity which they believed to have come from another plane, and launched many experiments, bent upon solving the riddle of planar travel, with the ultimate object of constructing gateways that would allow them-- peacefully and for the benefit of all, some say, or bent on conquest, others claim-- to travel instantaneously to other planes.

Something went wrong, approximately 20 Cycles ago.

A 6 kilometers radius chunk of the city of Omphalos was ripped from its home universe, and or possibly its entire universe was destroyed. Instead, three planes now opened directly onto the borders of Omphalos: Viestethaer to the northwest, Hexszaxtzor to the east, and Galadh to the southwest. Where the lab had once been, an unimaginably deep pit now yawned, most of the immediate neighborhood obliterated as it was dragged down into the abyss.

The population of Omphalos, naturally, panicked. They begged the magicians for help of all kind; in turn, the magicians sent envoys into the new Cardinal Planes, in search of answers and help feeding a desperate people, now cut off from their natural farmlands.

At this time, Galadh was ruled by the Sylvanari, the elf-like inhabitants of the treetops, while the spider-kin Drydari lurked in the undergrowth. The Sylvanari had existed for millennia in a pastoral lifestyle, and found the urban riches of the Omphalos adventurers both fascinating and intimidating. They quickly agreed to supply food, which they had in plenty, in exchange for knowledge and worked trinkets.

Viestethaer was inhabited solely by elementals, drifting hither and thither, absorbing mana and reproducing their kind. Occasionally some would be summoned by magicians from other planes, do their biddings, and return. Those elementals often attempted to replicate what they saw of human society, but with little or no understanding. The few elemental Lords who learned from otherworldly mages, loosely held territories, but only in the sense that the elementals within those territories could tell you who they were. These Lords agreed to provide land for refugees, but they could do little else, since wealth was itself a largely foreign concept.

Hexszaxtzor was at the time, divided between the Ninth Horde, an orc-dominant organization which had achieved virtual domination over two of the three continents of their world, and the Bloodcoat Confederacy, an alliance of monster races chiefly united in their opposition to orc rule, with the bulk of their offensive might provided by the ogres. The Ninth Horde was greatly alarmed to find a new portal to an alien city practically in their backyard. The envoys sent by Omphalos were captured and tortured for information on their origins.

The First Invasion - approximately 19 Cycles ago

Shortly thereafter, the First Invasion of Omphalos began, launched by the Ninth Horde as a blitzkrieg with the intention of sweeping the nigh-defenseless humans away and capturing the city, to prevent it being used to launch offensives against their own homeland. Or so went their pretext.

Refugees fled into both Galadh and Viestethaer. Sylvanari quickly formed an alliance with the mage-lords of Omphalos, and the nearest elemental lords of Viestethaer sent their finest champions as well. Their help came none too soon, for most of Omphalos was soon wrecked or burning, and the remaining humans were pressed into the northwestern parts of what had been their city. The Ninth Horde began tearing down the old buildings, both to pillage the strange objects that they found within, attempt to decipher the magitechnology within, and to set up their own fortifications and war machines for pressing their assault.

With so much of the Ninth Horde's attention focused on Omphalos, however, the Bloodcoat Confederacy soon realized the Horde's attention was split, and redoubled the intensity of their offensive. The Ninth Horde, growling imprecations under their breath, decided to sign an armistice, freezing the territories where they were, and turned their attention back to their own world.

In the long, tense peace that followed, human refugees formed colonies in both Galadh and Viestethaer. In Galadh, they quickly found themselves little more than serfs, second class citizens, and never really flourished, but they did find themselves compatible with the Sylvanari, their offsprings ripe with hybrid potential. The Sylvanari both pitied their shorter-lived cousins and worried over their fruitfulness, seeing the potential of these people to outbreed them, and introduced regulations to ensure the pure-blooded elves would be preferred for inheritance. Children of Galadh-born humans tended to be strong in nature magic, less powerful in arcane than their Omphalos-born cousins.

In Viestethaer, however, with so much of the land essentially vacant, the humans introduced soil cultivation techniques to terraform large swathes of countryside into green wilderness. They formed kingdoms, loosely bound to the Elemental lords whose territories they inhabited, and over the course of time, their children found themselves with stronger affinities to elemental magic, rather than arcane.

Rule over the Horde-controlled part of Omphalos was split between three warchiefs, who also controlled significant parts of the Ninth Horde's heartland, and thus had legitimate economic and political interests here. Water and food became the major economic products transferred through the Thresholds, scarce as it was in Hexszaxtzor. Water was not exactly easily obtained in either Galadh or Viestethaer either, as it needed to be tapped from tree branches and then separated from the sap, in Galadh, and transported from zones of elemental water, across harsh crystal territories, to reach the threshold of Viestethaer.

The Rise of Alfzongen - approximately 16 Cycles ago, 290 years after the end of the First Invasion

(pick up from here)

Alfzongen is added between Viestethaer and Hexszaxtzor, planes now evenly NW NE SE SW. At this time, the Aesir rule the nearby mountains of Alfzongen, and quickly decide to join the alliance to hold back the Horde. Seeing the balance tip against them, the Horde sends agents to the Drydari in Galadh and the dragons in Alfzongen, trying to inspire them to rise up against their at-the-time rulers. Much intrigue. Many skirmishes and wars. The use of guns, explosives, and primitive steam-powered engines spreads.

Humans are at this point, a very distinct minority in Omphalos, but a rapidly growing population in Viestethaer. When the Drydari rise up to slaughter most of the ruling class of Galadh, the Sylvanari call to the humans and Aesir for help, but stretched too thin against two fronts with the resurgent Ninth Horde, the humans are unable to send more than a token effort, and the Aesir have their hands full with the invading dragonkin.

The Drydari, successfully conquer Galadh and withdraw much of their presence from Omphalos while they consolidate, sealing their Threshold. The Aesir manage to successfully hold off the dragonkin for several more Cycles, until the Dragons themselves come, but without their aid, the remaining humans are powerless to stop the Ninth Horde, which sweeps Omphalos, bringing the city under their control.

The humans who live in Viostethaer now begin to see themselves as separate people, touched with an elemental spark. They split into four distinct people, depending on their dominant talent for Earth, Air, Fire, and Water magic. (human magic is largely Sorcery) They have kingdoms and everything, though nominally they still serve the elemental Lords, their barons and earls and dukes do most of the human-related territory management. They cooperate only to maintain their Threshold against the Ninth Horde.

Dragon-ruled Alfzongen fortifies its foothold in Omphalos. After several Dragon strikes, the Ninth Horde agrees to leave them alone.

The Ninth Horde, now successful in its conquest of most of Omphalos, begins to consolidate its hold and press on into the Cardinal Planes, seeking the promise of the raw resources that are terribly scarce in their own lands. Much of the Drydari-held city of XXX burns, leaving scars that can still be seen in the present. Viostethaer too sees incursions, though more for prestige and blooding the young warriors than any genuine interest in the relatively poor territories there.

2nd Great Shift ~1200 years ago (12 Cycles)

Ichoryon is added between Hexszaxtzor and Galadh, planes now N/E/S/SW/NW. This interrupts the Ninth Horde invasion of Galadh enough that the Drydari are able to mount a resistance and secure an agreement with the gnolls of Ichoryon to have their Wavesingers drive a massive sea wall across the city, forming a natural barrier on that side that the orcs have little or no experience with crossing. With this in place, the forces of Viostethaer and Alfzongen are also able to mount an attack, pushing the Ninth Horde lines back to the Common and Lower Rings, poor terrains from which to fight. For their part, the Dragons are given tribute for a hundred years, or a Cycle, in the form of gems and magic crystals from Viostethaer, and rare meats and woods from Galadh. Ichoryon’s part is largely symbolic, but the fish they offer is pleasing in its novelty.

The entire affair leads to a massive loss of confidence in the Warchief, and the Ninth Horde splinters between three Warlords who make various promises and threats against the other Cardinal Planes, as they struggle to hold onto their many territories.

The Council is formed, seated by three representatives from each of the cardinal Planes, totalling 15 persons, and a pact signed that military force will no longer be permissible within the city limits, save for a self-defense force that must be located within the threshold of each plane.

Steam-powered engines become more common. Industrialization begins. Factories spread across Hexszaxtzor, creating the perpetual smog that darkens that part of the sky.

3rd Great Shift ~500 years ago (5 Cycles)

Yaxchilan is added between Alfzongen and Hexszaxtzor, leading to the current arrangement of N/NE/SE/S/SW/NW. There is considerable upheaval and two of the Warlords of the Triumvirate press for invading the new territory, which is at the time poorly defended. Armies mobilize and buildings constructed during the First Council are demolished wholesale to make room for them to push forward, in an effort to limit what is being called the Tenth Horde from renewing their conquest of Omphalos. The surviving Aesir prove themselves heroically.

Ultimately, Yaxchilan natives, with the help of Alfzongen and Viostethaer, succeed in pushing the Tenth Horde back into their territory. The invading Warlords are tried by the Council and executed, and the surviving Warlord declares herself no longer Warchief, but now the Overlord of Hexszaxtzor-- they will consolidate and transition to a new, more economically driven government, rather than relying on simple conquest. It is a poetic moment, memorialized as the Laying Down of Weapons.

The Second Council is reconstituted, this time with three representatives from each of the six Cardinal Planes, and the Aesir given a single representative, as a tiebreaker, though it is more of an honorary position.

The Drydari, secure in their position, begin their machinations to slowly take over Omphalos from behind the scenes. The new battleground will be economic, and food and water are their main weapon-- they are not the exclusive providers but they have the most, and arguably the best. Ichoryon must rely on painful desalination or access to freshwater springs, Viostethaer has limited deposits of pure elemental water, which must be denatured to be drinkable by mere mortals, and Yaxchilan is mostly swamp water so they rely on wells.

The Dragons of Alfzongen settle down to count their gold. Some, wounded by battle, go into a long hibernation, with trusted dragonkin lieutenants and lesser Dragons to maintain and invest the rewards of their efforts.

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Omphalos Timeline