"Mr President, this is Sky Marshall Lamal. Warforged Assault Team Alpha report they now have full control of the Markab Battlestation ANU. All active Bioforms eliminated. They believe nothing encountered was a true Markab Entity. They have activated the Cyst Launchers, and programmed them to target every major city of the Dragon Empire. Operation Starfall is ready to initiate on the next orbit, sir. On your command."
The planet on which the Wilderlands exists is called
Ghenrek IV. It is the fourth planet of a yellow star with a
surrounding ring. The circumstellar ring is known as
“Heaven’s Bridge” by most races of Ghenrek IV, as the
planets, moons, and even the sun itself travel across the sky
upon it. By daylight, it assumes a light blue aspect and at
night it glows silver with tinges of scarlet (or has since the
Uttermost War). The ring becomes golden once every 52
years for a period of 90 to 96 days. Intelligent life forms use
this event to mark the end of a cycle and the beginning of
new one.
ca 4.5 billion years BCCC
Unlike many life-bearing worlds of the galaxy, Ghenrek and
its planets were born from a stellar nursery activated by a
supernovae explosion of a star unusually high in silicates.
Ghenrek’s crust was formed riddled with a high concentration
of silicate rocks and ores. Ghenrek IV suffered massive comet
strikes, which seeded the planet with magicum. After the last
strike, much of the planet’s life died and evolution began anew
but there was something more, a silicoid lifeform beneath the
surface of the planet began to replicate. This life form formed
a hive mentality and gained sentience, calling it self the Gaia.
ca 1 million years BCCC
Over many ages, the Gaia discovered that it could manifest fully
on the surface and interact with life there. It could reach into
the minds of the creatures of the world and influence their
actions. Over the course of the ages the Gaia manipulated the
evolution of Ghenrek IV’s fauna into four highly intelligent
races: Dragons, First Men, Fairies, and Pegasai. Dragons became
the most numerous on the surface due to their strength and long
lives. The Gaia became regarded as a god by the four races and
accepted their worship. The Gaia also discovered it could
manipulate gravimetric anomalies to aid the growth of giant
flora. To slow the advancing glaciers, the Gaia began to slowly
shift some heavy metal magma deposits. It experimented with
creating small ecological preserves or habitats to preserve life
forms threatened with extinction. During its examination of
species to be preserved, the Gaia noticed a general adaptation
to the use of psycho-reactive minerals, like magicum, by the flora
and fauna. This was followed by a general increase in intelli-
gence in many species.
-13333 BCCC Arrival of the Elder Races (ca 17,800 years Before Present)
Ages later, Ghenrek IV came to the attention of the Alliance of Elder Races,
when a scout ship
from the Alliance came into orbit. The Gaia told it’s worship-
ers to hide themselves from the curious newcomers. It further
hid any structures, including several magical gates it had
experiment with to permit instantaneous travel to various
continents, by causing land slides or growth to cover them.
The Alliance of Elder Races is composed of star faring
races of extremely long life spans, up to 1,400 years. They
accept any race that achieves the ability to travel between
the stars and agrees to their Ethic Charter. This charter
proclaims that sentient life itself is of the highest value and
only the quest for knowledge is worthy as the ultimate goal
of any race. They choose to remain hidden from any
culture not accepted and developed strict laws prohibiting
contact or exploitation of any system wherein a non-star
faring sentient race was developing. Upon finding no
sentient life forms on Ghenrek IV (they could not detect
the Gaia, nor did they detect the races of Ghenrek because
the Gaia had ordered them underground), they began to
investigate the planet. It was determined that shallow
craters containing magicum could be found upon every
continent. Huge gravity anomalies dotted the landscape
often resulting in giant flora and fauna.
They discovered three of the gates the Gaia created and
assigned a team of scientists to study these gates with a view
toward adapting this technology to space travel. If the
method of constructing and activating gates could be
discovered, the vast resources necessary for interstellar
travel would be greatly decreased. The Alliance scientists
assumed that a long dead civilization or interstellar explor-
ers left these gates. The biology of this world was rich with
marvelous finds attracting scientists from all 255 worlds of
the Alliance. An extensive root system seemed to cover
most the world’s topsoil and core drillings revealed a
silicoid layer similar to silicoid life forms found elsewhere
deep beneath the clay layers. Four bases were built.
-13200 BCCC Elder Races Surrender
After 133 years of exploration and exploitation efforts, a
robominer tunneled into a large cavern containing drag-
ons and humanoids. This triggered an attack by the two
races. First Men mounted on the back of the Dragons
attacked and quickly overwhelmed the Eldar Alliance’s
northernmost base.
Only twenty casualties resulted before the Alliance surren-
dered in abject humiliation that they had broken so many
laws. The victorious First Men and Dragons said they would
dictate surrender terms after consulting their god. The Gaia
decided to gain more specimens for study and demanded six
of each new sentient race be left upon the planet as hostage
and the immediate withdrawal of all others off planet. The
Alliance began dismantling the bases and called for volun-
teers to stay as hostages. They dressed the groups in paper
robes and dispersed them about the planet as dictated by the
Dragons and First Men’s God (known as the “Great Dispersal”
in many religions, though none come close to accurately
understanding the time of the dispersal).
-13010 BCCC Markabs Arrive
However the Eldar Alliance was not the only external
group interested in Ghenrek IV. The only true enemy of the
Alliance, the evil Markrabs, sent spies (a race of slaves known
as Shadows) to find out what the Alliance was doing on the
planet. The spies discovered the experiments upon gate tech-
nology and summoned one of their leaders. A Markrab prince
arrived in orbit near the Alliance space station and began
negotiations for the transfer of all discoveries. Fearing war, the
Elder Alliance proposed several compromises but it became
apparent that war was inevitable.
-13008 to -11600 BCCC The Uttermost War (18000-16500 years BP)
After a brief period of demands by the Markrab Prince to
share all technology discovered upon the planet and re-
peated attempts at compromise by the Elder Alliance, an
Alliance star cruiser/transport arrived to pick up the Alli-
ance colonists. When the transporting Alliance star cruiser
arrived, the Markrab war ship immediately attacked, de-
stroying the space station and the star cruiser. Alliance
workers still upon the surface built a defensive base called
Fortress Rhamsandron (later to be the location of the City
State of the Invincible Overlord) and the Markabs estab-
lished a fortress in the Valley of the Ancients, where they
immediately attacked the dragon enclaves there (since
Dragons were the most abundant indigenous life form,
there were 944 large warrens and over 1,200 smaller
warrens). The Alliance protested this act of war against
these indigenous creatures but did not know that it re-
sulted from a failed attempt to convince the dragons to
attack the Alliance bases as they were being dismantled.
The Markrabs destroyed over 70% of the entire population
of dragons. The planet itself was spared devastation as
neither side wished to disrupt or destroy the unique eco-
logical cauldron of immense scientific interest. The
fortresses prevented additional landing by either side and
were dismantled upon agreement to a ceasefire.
This war came to be known as the Uttermost War. The
Uttermost War raged for 1,400 years with most battles fought
in other systems. Both side never attacked Ghenrak IV as not
to disturb the rich ecosystem or gate technology of the planet.
A ceasefire was signed for a period of 146,000 years. One
watcher ship from each faction stationed outside the plan-
etary orbits maintained constant vigil over the prized planet.
Though the Markrabs and the Alliance were at a stale-
mate, each interacted with the inhabitents of the planet
differently. The Markrabs lacked the numbers to com-
pletely exterminate the races of the planet.
-11600 to -11350 BCCC - Century Wars of Domination
Nevertheless, the Markrabs and their vile Shadow slaves began to
subjugate the races of the planet as their rulers. The Alliance,
limited by their own ethics, was powerless to interfere.
This period came to be known as the Century Wars of
Domination and many races were nearly rendered extinct.
At some point, the Markrabs mysteriously left the planet.
It is believed that the attention of both the Alliance and
the Markrabs became directed towards the galactic core
when several important discoveries were made there.
The planet was finally abandoned to its own fate, for a
time.
-11000 BCCC
Over 270 races were left on Ghenrek IV from the
aftermath of the Uttermost War and the Century Wars of
Domination. 256 of these races were from the Alliance,
and another 14 races were once slaves to the Markrabs
(including the demonic houri). The races spread through-
out the planet and lived lives as hunters and gatherers. As
time passed the old hunter-gatherer tribes began to settle
and agriculture was re-discovered. As the settlements
grew, competition for resources resulted in several wars of
domination between races. These wars stimulated techno-
logical development and progress in the arts.
-9000 BCCC
The Gaia began its study of the new races by examining
their dreams. After two thousand years, the Gaia began to
understand the thought patterns and languages of most the
races. Its hive mentality delighted in the wealth of pictures
and new concepts recorded from the dreams. The Gaia
found that some of the most gifted individuals help deep
religious belief. It began experiments by manifesting
doppelganger imitations of some individuals after they
died.
-8603 BCCC Flowering of the God-Tree (ca 13100-13050 years BP)
Later the Gaia moved on to more elaborate mytho-
logical creatures and manifestations of the divine entities
worshiped by the different races. The appearance of these
manifestations further reinforced the religious beliefs of
the races and resulted in many delightful new concepts for
the Gaia’s enjoyment. This event of deific manifestation is
known as the “Flowering of the God-Tree,” and nearly all
current religions in the Wilderlands refer to it as a creation
event.
-2927 BCCC(ca 7400 years BP)
Establishment of the Empire of the Dragon Lords in Ancient Oricha. They will rule for over two thousand years. The Demon Empires rule in the south, beyond Ghinor, while the technologically advanced Altan Federation flourishes in Altanis and the Pazidan.
-2391 BCCC
War of the Pious and Philosophers begins.
-2370 BCCC
The last President of the Altan Federation authorises Operation Starfall. Markab bioweapons from orbital station ANU devastate the cities of the Dragon Lords.
-2300 BCCC
With the defeat of the Philosophers, technology is outlawed. Dragon Lords enslave the Altan race.
-575 BCCC
War between the Demon Empires and the Dragon Lords. Bondor leads the Altanian, Arkhosian and Ghninoran tribes to overthrow the Dragon Lords.
-540 BCCC
Founding of the Ghinoran Successor States.
1 BCCC
Armadad Bog creates the Viridian race in Trident Gulf. Beginning of recorded history.
