An Historical Overview

In order to acquire an understanding of the modern-day Talislantan continent, the aspiring traveler should first learn something of its ancient past — a tenuous undertaking, as the history of Talislanta is unfortunately somewhat indistinct.

The lack of reliable data concerning Talislanta’s distant past can be directly attributed to the occurrence of an event known as The Great Disaster, a terrible cataclysm that laid waste to much of the Talislantan continent many centuries ago.

The Bygone Epoch

What is currently known (or believed to be true) of this bygone epoch – gleaned from a smattering of ancient tomes, folk tales, and legends – may be summarized as follows:

The Forgotten Age

The period predating The Great Disaster, appropriately referred to by scholars as the Forgotten Age, can be divided into two eras:

1. The Time Before Time
2. The Archaen Age

The Time Before Time

This period was dominated by the fabled First Folk, humanoid peoples believed to have been of reptilian and/or amphibious origin. As records from this period are almost non-existent, very little is known of these folk. The mammalian humanoids known as the Wild Races (or “sub-men”, in the derogatory sense) appeared towards the end of this halcyon epoch, but remained subservient to the First Folk until the emergence of the Archaens.

The Archaen Age

Like the Wild Races from whom they were descended, the Archaens were a tribe of simple hunter-gatherers. One day they stumbled upon the remains of an alien ark or vessel, within which they found the secrets of a mysterious lore called Magic. Armed with their new-found knowledge, the Archaens united the Wild Races and embarked upon a great war against the First Folk. When it was over, the First Folk had all been slain or driven from the continent, and the Wild Races ruled over Talislanta.

The Archaen Age

At first, relations between the Archaens and their more primitive brothers were amicable. However, as the Archaens delved deeper into the arcane arts, they grew strange and aloof. Using magic, they altered their physical semblances, so that they began to look less and less like their feral ancestors.

They laid claim to the best hunting lands, cut down forests, and erected walled settlements for their own people. Their settlements expanded, became cities, and then city-states.

The Conflict

It was not long before the Wild Folk came to resent the Archaens, and to despise and fear their magics. Tensions between the two sides escalated, exacerbated by internecine struggles between rival Archaen city-states. Wars of conquest and expansion flared across the continent, some lasting for hundreds of years.

The Golden Age

After much bloodshed, a group of seven Archaen magicians known as the Archaen Cabal arranged a truce. Under the terms of this agreement, the Archaens ceded all the lands of Talislanta to the Wild Races. Then they left the world below and went to live among the clouds, where their magicians had created a fabulous floating city.

A Golden Age of magical achievement and discovery followed, lasting for several centuries. Some of the greatest magicians ever known were extant during this time:

• Koraq: The estimable master.
• Sylan: The renowned sorceress.
• Arkon: The brilliant but reckless explorer.

The Age of Decline

Unfortunately, the Archaens’ prosperity soon gave way to decadence and ennui, manifesting in what is now known as the Age of Decline. Seeking new and ever more extravagant sensations, the Archaens dabbled in forbidden magics, created hybrid life forms for their amusement, and consorted with entities from other planes.

A few conscientious individuals tried to intervene, warning that the balance of elemental forces had been upset, and that grievous consequences would result unless the Archaens changed their ways. None heeded their warnings, until it was too late.

The Great Disaster

To this day, the precise cause of The Great Disaster remains a source of speculation. [^1] Whatever its source, The Disaster brought a swift end to the Archaen Age. In the ensuing cataclysm, the sky-cities fell from the clouds, much of the continent was razed, and the Talislantan reality was altered forever.

The Age of Confusion

There followed a period known as The Age of Confusion, during which the survivors of The Great Disaster scattered in all directions, abandoning the ruined cities and fleeing into the wilderness.

Untold years passed before Talislantans once again began to establish settlements. Those that managed to survive to the present time are but pale shadows of the once-great civilizations that came before them. Yet together, they have given birth to a New Age, whose history is only now beginning to be written.

The New Age

Currently in its sixth century, the New Age remains a volatile and uncertain era. A handful of young nations, city-states, and confederations has risen from the ruins of the past:

• The Seven Kingdoms
• Carantheum
• The Quan Empire
• Faradun

At best, these places constitute little more than isolated pockets of “civilization”, scattered across the vastness of the Talislantan continent. Beyond the walls of these cities lay hostile wilderlands rife with wild beasts, savage tribes, and impassable terrain.

The Scars of the Past

Forged in the fires of its past, Talislanta still bears the scars of The Great Disaster.

• Wastelands: Once-fertile territories have been reduced to deserts and wastelands.
• Magical Storms: Storms of aberrant magical energies sweep across the continent.
• Lost Empires: The remnants of ancient civilizations lay buried in the dust of ages.

Across the continent, descendants of the Wild Races and Archaens still wage war, neither trusting the other. Magicians attempt to control forces beyond their comprehension, while prophets of doom warn of the coming of a second Great Disaster.

Yet for all its problems, Talislanta is not without wonders: enchanted vistas of heart-rending beauty, ancient forests untouched by time, glittering ice castles, the spectacular sight of a twin sunset, lost riches waiting to be found, and ancient secrets still to be unearthed.

Timeline of the New Age (1–600+ N.A.)

[^1]: Theories range from excessive magic use damaging dimensions to divine intervention or the experiments of the wizard Rodinn.