NEW VOSTOKA HISTORY -- Part I "The Lost Age"

PREFACE: So HERE is the big ol' thing i've been working on, its not finished but ive decided to start posting it in chunks! A series of maps and lore regarding the 700+ history of my DnD setting, New Vostoka! So enjoy each part as I post them!

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    The War of the Broken Crown, also called the 3 Hundred Year Wars, was a series of lengthy conflicts punctuated by numerous rotating Intervals of general peace which spanned the entire era of history from the collapse of the Old Monarchy [exact date unknown] to the foundation of the Crown Confederate Alliance circa 701 Æ [After Event, referring to the Fall Catalyst]. Albeit not a singular war fought by consistent belligerent factions for uniform causes, the War of the Broken Crown in name refers to the period of unceasing geopolitical turmoil that has consumed New Vostoka since the advent of recorded history.

    The era is difficult to accurately divide into distinguishable parts, with the general consensus among historians being that at least 3 centuries of warfare preceded the founding of the CCA. The entire history of New Vostoka is defined by the aforementioned Intervals, of which there are roughly 6 [the peace succeeding the cessation of the War being considered the 7th and “current”] - these Intervals are named for the predominant historical events which defined them, and are as follows:

The 1st Interval -- The “Lost”/Dark Age -- 0?? → 199 Æ

The 2nd Interval -- The Ruinous War [1st Hundred Year War] -- 97 Æ → 214 Æ

The 3rd Interval -- The Expanse -- 214 Æ → 357 Æ

The 4th Interval -- The First Pantheon Wars [2nd Hundred Year War] -- 303 Æ → 434 Æ

The 5th Interval -- The Lucid Ages -- 435 Æ → 699 Æ

The 6th Interval -- The Industrious War/Second Pantheon Wars [3rd Hundred Year War] -- 599 Æ → 701 Æ

The 7th Interval -- The Reconcile -- 701 Æ → 774[Current Year] Æ

The Intervals which characterize the Interim between each Hundred Year War often bleed into and among them, blanketing prolonged times of peace, expansion, and evolution of society. 

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The First Interval, called the Lost Age or Dark Age, is a time-frame of approximately 200 years in which there is little to no evidence of recorded history, save for scattered remnants of the early splintered factions believed to have risen from the ashes of the Old Monarchy. These factions are thought to be the furthest ancestors of the Vostokan Races - primarily the Tetrya, the Cyotek, and the Khelod - once united by the ancient kingdom. The immediate fallout of its collapse rendered much of the planet inhospitable; with landmass engulfing fires that raged for years, dense black smoke blanketing a bulk of the atmosphere, and rainstorms of molten glass hailing unto the cratered landscape.

This Interval encompasses the Ruinous War, or War for the Ruins, in which these factions nearly mutually extinguished one another using the advanced technologies of the Old Monarchy. The Ruinous War is considered by some to be an epilogue to the Monarchy itself; a belief commonly held by those who insist that the Fall Catalyst was in fact a disastrous Civil War rather than a calamitous event or cataclysm. During this time, the ancestral Ro’Thkai race is believed to have formed from a schism among the Tetryan factions, who bred “malformed” warriors after encountering and enslaving the race; they ultimately broke from their masters to form their own society: the First Clans, led by powerful warlords.

These multiplying factions vied for control over the ruined cities of the Old Monarchy, primarily those scattered across the northern landmass of the Stalriek. The first City-States of New Vostoka were insular sprawls separated by vast swaths of uninhabitable territory - a shattered No Man’s country [or “Vacant Lands”] where massive military campaigns would erupt and stagnate in turn, with cities exchanging hands between the belligerent races. All records of this century of war are lost, and it is theorized that hostilities only ceased after the establishment of an Ancient Armistice [in roughly 214Æ] which divided the north-central Stalriek, wherein the majority of City States existed, among the four great races: 

The Cyotek claimed the Eastern Peninsula and the isles of the Crystal Sea, the Khelod took much of the north and central territories - its boundaries marked by the modern-day rivers Marque, Kalamity, Kolar, and lower Stalwall Range. The Tetrya had the entire Western Peninsula and Stolward Isle, and the Ro’Thkai - at a disadvantage from the other races - were “contained” in the southern continent and its hellish deserts. Thus were born the first Four Kingdoms [and two Neutral Nations] since the collapse of the Old Monarchy: The Tetryan Enclave, the Khelod Union, the Cyotek Empire, and the Ro’Thkai Domain. Alongside these was the Nation of Kharne, mapped as a buffer between the Four Kingdoms and a place of neutral dwelling, and the City-State of Sorvigrad - the original capitol of the Old Monarchy which remained neutral in sovereignty as well.