Kembra:History

• About 3500 years ago - Humans begin to gradually replace elves as the dominant civilization on the continent.

• About 2500 years ago - The elven nations have retreated into their forests, leaving most of the continent to the humans.

• About 1500 years ago - The magelords finish assimilating all of the human nations of Kotistrella into a single empire. They name their empire after Mount Sliavairde, the tallest mountain on the continent. The continent is separated into thirty provinces, each named after their capital cities, and a viceroy is appointed to govern each.

• About 1000 years ago - The magelords start making demands of the remaining demihuman nations. When rebuffed by one of the elven nations, the magelords burn the entire forest to the ground. In retaliation, over half of the elven nations create vast fleets to sail elsewhere. As they leave, they curse their forests.
  
  Realizing their mistake, the magelords make amends with the remaining nations. While this reestablishes trade, the demihuman nations no longer trust the empire or, by extension, humans.

• About 600 years ago - The magelords increase their demands on the provinces, in the form of taxes and food requirements. These demands increase slowly, making life difficult, but not unbearable, in the provinces.

• About 530 years ago - Villages across the empire start to revolt against the high demands. The magelords use their military to quash these.

• About 527 years ago - Towns in the province of Pobrezhia start to revolt. Soon, the entire province is engulfed in rebellion and the viceroy is publicly hanged. Refugees start to pour into the Iwerdon province to the south. Rather than dealing with the rebellion using the empire's military, the magelords create a magical barrier around the province and summon hordes of fiends into it, making an example of the province. From hereafter, Pobrezhia is known as the Black March or the Demonlands.
  
  Rather than resulting in the stilling of revolts, the unrest grows further but goes underground.

• About 524 years ago - Emissaries representing rebel groups in the provinces gather in Zhentret, a small town in the province of Norsiden, to figure out how the magelords can be overthrown. After about six months of discussions, they settle on a plan. They return home and start work on their individual parts of the plan.

• About 522 years ago - The first stage of the plan is set into motion as a band of rebels assault the tower of the magelord Jindrich Goldenhair in north Iwerdon. Despite losing most of their numbers, they slay the magelord and use the magics of his tower to protect most of Iwerdon from the magelords' magic. From here, the rebels start to move against the rest of the empire.

• About 500 years ago - The last of the provinces in the Sliavairde Empire succumbs to the revolution. The remaining magelords are presumed to be dead or lost in the Planes. Shortly thereafter, the rebellion loses its unity and the empire splinters into different nations based on provincial or cultural boundaries.
  
  The large majority of the Iwerdon province becomes the Kingdom of Kembra under the rule of the paladin Rhun ap Einion. Descendants of the pre-empire nobility become the counts of the kingdom, each county based around one of the cities, Mannow, Vritaan, Kerneveur, Iwerdon, and Albain. Inysmon, a coastal town on a large island, is named as the new capital. In a move disputed at the time, King Rhun granted a significant sum of money to the Pobrezhian refugees to build a new city that they would name Drusanca. One of the refugees, who was descended from pre-empire nobility, became the Count of Drusanca.

• About 499 years ago - Without any magelords or their underlings paying attention to the underlying magic systems throughout the continent, the spells maintaining the magical infrastructure fail. Snow blankets large portions of the former provinces of Norsiden and Heghi for the first time in centuries. All nations experience vast food shortages and starvation begins to set in, even among the new nobility.

• About 498 years ago - A plague of unknown origin spreads in the city of Norsun on the northeast coast. It spreads almost like wildfire across the entire continent, leaving death in its wake, especially in cities and towns. It goes into remission shortly after the summer solstice but flares up in the spring. This happens for the next few years.

• About 494 years ago - The last recorded epidemic of the plague ends. The population across the continent has been decreased to only 12% of what it had been about five years ago. The nations that remain turn inwards and focus on rebuilding. There is some diplomatic contact but very little otherwise. Vast swaths of previously civilized lands return to wilderness.

• About 480 years ago - King Rhun dies and is succeeded by his son, Morfran ap Rhud.

• About 450 years ago - King Morfran dies and is succeeded by his son, Iago ap Morfran.

• About 425 years ago - King Iago dies and is succeeded by his second son, Cadugan ap Iago. His eldest son, Einion ap Iago, declines the throne, believing his brother would make a better king than he.

• About 400 years ago - Nations start trading amongst each other again. With trade comes increased interaction and, ultimately, greed. Nations large enough to have borders with each other start to turn the gears of war.

• About 380 years ago - With raids of the border settlements of the human nations, the scourges of goblinkind and orcs announce their return.

• About 400 years ago - King Cadugan abdicates in favor of his son, Iocyn ap Cadugan.

• About 390 years ago - Queen Elena dies while giving birth to a daughter, Gwerith ferch Iocyn.

• About 372 years ago - King Iocyn dies shortly after his daughter gains majority. As the only heir, she becomes queen.

• About 370 years ago - The kingdom of Catoria, believing Queen Gwerith to be weak, invades Kembra without warning. Despite being overmatched, the queen personally leads her forces, and pushes the invaders back to the previous borders.

• About 364 years ago - The youngest son of the Count of Albain, Madoc d'Albain, crosses into the Demonlands and returns with a small force of demons, intent on wresting control of the kingdom from a woman. He is defeated at the Battle of Avonryd.
  
  Due to half-hearted support from several of the counts, the queen creates the Royal Army and abolishes the counts' armies. Military training is made mandatory for all able-bodied citizens during their eighteenth summer.

• About 360 years ago - Queen Gwineth calls the few wizards and sorcerers in the kingdom to her castle. For a few months, they work out the pattern for a guild of wizards and sorcerers, loyal to the kingdom and prepared to assist when necessary in internal or military matters.

• About 342 years ago - Queen Gwineth, having no heir of her own, names the great-grandson of Einion ap Iago, Cadugan ap Gwyon ap Kedivor ap Einion, as her successor. This silences questions of who will take the crown next and satisfies some of the more troublesome counts.

• About 330 years ago - Queen Gwineth, her health failing, abdicates in favor of Cadugan ap Gwyon.

• About 328 years ago - Queen Gwineth dies. The counts expect King Cadugan to reverse her policies but he politely tells them that the policies are best for the kingdom. He offers to duel any of the counts personally if they would like to challenge this. Sean d'Albain, the current Count of Albain, takes him up on the offer. He makes it a duel to the death which the king accepts. The king wins the duel and holds the count at his mercy. He gives the count a chance to change the terms of the duel, saying there is no reason for bloodshed. The count accepts his king's mercy and the d'Albain counts become the staunchest supporters of the crown.

• About 240 years ago - A criminal, chased by soldiers, runs into the Black March. They give him up for dead. Months later, he returns, leading a troupe of demons and razing several towns before the army can defeat him. Afterwards, the Royal Army changes its policy regarding the Black March: If a criminal flees into the Black March, soldiers will send one of their number to the nearest military post to inform them of this. The remainder will continue to pursue him and try to intercept or slay him before he makes contact with the demons. If he makes contact with the demons, the soldiers are to retreat.

[...]

• About 10 years ago - King Rhys ap Moridic weds Princess Nathalia Angelica Jeanne dea Katoria, the youngest daughter of the king of Katoria. This brings the two nations closer together.

• About two years ago - Relations with Katoria suddenly turn for the worse. An envoy from Katoria arrives at Inysmon with a demand for tribute which the king firmly, but politely, denies. Letters from the queen to her father go unanswered.