The dwarves were created first, creatures of earth and fire who partook of the early world's primal elemental energy. They were the shapers of creation, who carved out the mountains and canyons of earth in the time of legend.

Next came the elves, who were given the task of spreading life over the newly-formed world. They brought the animals and plants to the untamed earth, creating an Eden, a paradise in which all of Javen's people could live in peace. The elves call this time the Forest Years, and remember it as a time of bliss. For the dwarves, it was not a happy time, for their task in creation was over and they withdrew to the depths of the earth, close to the heart of nature and far from the surface world of the elves.

Third came the humans. The elves and dwarves cannot understand why Javen made them, except those few individuals who have lived among humans. For the humans brought conflict and suffering into the world, but in that struggle they learned of the true nature of the world and of Javen.

The arrival of the humans into the Garden of bliss sowed seeds of chaos and dissension. When the race of humans was still young, the elven nations fought a great war amongst themselves, destroying the garden and ending the Forest Years. Out of the elves' conflict and weakness, the humans grew strong, and finally the elves turned their backs on the human world, retreating to the depths of the earth to flee the ascendancy of humans. The elves call this time the Retreat.

During the time of the elven Retreat, human nations and empires grew on the surface world. For thousands of years these nations flourished until the entire world was under their dominion. Then came the Time of Fire. A monstrous cataclysm of fire consumed the surface of the world. Some say the dwarves in their tunnelling accidentally awoke a strange elemental creature of primal fire, others say they created some such being to wreak their revenge on the races that had usurped them. Still other tales blame the elves, saying they brought the cataclysm on through their powerful magic. Others say that the humans themselves angered Javen, causing him to cleanse the earth with fire. The cause of the Time of Fire is lost in legend, but the result is the barren wasteland that remains on the earth's surface.

Following the Time of Fire, the surviving humans set out across the burning wilderness in search of habitable land, arable ground, a new home. This was the Long Wandering, and, for some humans at least, it ended when they found their way down Temple Falls into the Dragon's Claw Canyon. There they found halflings already living in the lush forests along the river, and soon encountered gnomes trading with the races of the Deep.

The Time of Counsel (c. 0-650): Elves, feeling responsible for the humans' sorry state following the cataclysm they brought on themselves, take the refugees from the Long Wandering under their wings and try to nurture them back to civilization, resulting at last in the founding of . . .

The Empire of Elden Faere, fl. c. 300-650 destroyed by civil war, conflict with elves, & troglodyte invasions. Few ruins still stand, but many sites from the Interregnum and Avamere built atop old ruins — including Folgen Tower.

The Withdrawal (c. 650-the present): Elves completely turn their backs on humanity

the Interregnum: barbarian-level civilization (Celts -> Charlemagne) 650-900

Kingdom of Avamere, 907-1272

905: Knights of the Chalice founded by Donnal Chalicebearer

905-907: The Humanoid Wars

907: Kingdom of Avamere founded by High King Donnal I

1272: The Coming of Night — High King Cullen III killed, Avamere destroyed

What really happened? Cullen III, basically, sold his soul to the devil. Dreaming of the glory possessed by Donnal I, he sought supernatural aid to strengthen his kingdom and win him personal power. Only the supernatural aid was not of the sort that the eladrin provided to Donnal . . . When Cullen tried to renege on the bargain (once he realized the magnitude of what he had done), the fiend he had summoned slew him and established its dominion over the Canyon.

1297: The present