Donald Hebb

Doston exists from Ermarian's beginning. It sinks at 1884 drowning everyone on it, and starts rising again at 1889. It eventually rises to be higher than it was before it sank, making it Ermarian's biggest continent.

The last scenario with an intact Empire should take place in 1872. The last Echoes scenario takes place in 1889. I have yet to make it, though.

Q:Where did the name "Ermarian" come from? Who made it up, cos it definitely wasn't in any of the main "canon" games as far as I know. A: Ask an older member of the Arena. Q: Is Exile/Avernum part of Ermarian or does it count as a separate world? What about Vahnatai lands? A: As we found out in Exile 1, Exile and the surface are actually connected (it's one of the three "major" quests). And as we found out in Exile 2, there is a physical route to the Vahnatai lands. Therefore, we can safely assume that all of them are on the same planet. Q:Can someone make a similar timeline for Exile? (Has it been made?) A: Making a timeline for Exile would be pointless, because you'd only have one ruler (Micah). Q: Does Exile still exist at the time of AtG or Echoes? Has it become a completely Vahnatai (or similar) land? A: During Echoes? I don't really care, and Stareye's scenarios say that the Sliths hold alot of Exile, so I'll just go with that. Q: In TM's version of the world do the elves still exist in the North continent? A: Elves have been extinct completely for thousands and thousands of years. There are none left alive on Ermarian, period. Hell, magically reviving any of them would be difficult, considering how long they've been dead. But really, what's this "North continent" you're talking about? Q: Isn't there a theory where the Vahnatai once covered the entire surface world and they created all the sentient species with their magic? A: It's a theory I don't believe in, but I doubt it matters either way.

*sigh* Here: Ermarian Human Height: 4'-7' Weight: 100-300 lbs Eye Colors: Blue, Brown, Hazel, Green, Grey Hair Colors: Blonde, Red, Black, Brown, and Grey (although through age, not natural) Facial Features: N/A (Humans are the basic template from which comparisons are made. Ermarian Sylvian Height: 5'-7' Weight: 100-300 lbs Eye Colors: Red*, Blue, Green, Brown, Hazel (* Extremely rare. Also the eye colors of Baltimore I and Baltimore XXXVI.) Hair Colors: Black, Blonde, Brown Facial Features: Slightly hollow cheeks, varyingly pointed ears but never by more than 2 centimeters, sharper chin and nose (although weight can round out the face, as it did for many emperors including Baltimore XXXVI). Ermarian Proto-Sylvian ("Elf") Height: 6'-8' Weight: 70-150 lbs* (*Based partially on the complete lack of any agriculture/civilization) Eye Colors: Red, Black, Hazel, Green Hair Colors: Blonde, Grey, Brown Facial Features: Hollow cheeks, sharp figures that are nearly impossible to round out by weight (unlike Sylvians), pointed ears, frail figures.

Quote: Originally written by General Custer: If a scenario relies on the Empire collapsing hours after Prazac dubs the party Dervishes, who's going to stop them? You're right, nobody can stop a person from making a scenario. So why are you complaining, huh? We aren't doing this to put designers in kinky bondage sex with a sadistic dominatrix. We're doing this to make the Exile story far more complete and interesting. If you want to make your own history, then by all means do. I just enjoy a detailed world-system far more than an open-ended one, and most people who are collaborating to make this history do as well. (At least I'm assuming they do, which by its nature is indeed a fair assumption to make.)

Stareye- There is one odd skill I was planning to have Baltimore use in a scenario about his (and Katothen's) past, whenever I was to get around to making it. That is, Sword Magic. Balathermo was a sword mage. What does this mean? He knows two spells- Soul Augment, and Soul Disengage. The first places some of his life force in a specially-designed sword, giving the sword an ability (beefed-up stats, defense, fireballs, etc.). The second ends the effects of the first, and gives Baltimore some of his life force back. You could have this be a skill of Aizoan emperors. (I'm itching to make a scenario with sword magic in it.) The doomsday weapon/artifact (if you need one)? A Soulsword (a sword capable of Soul Augment) that casts a nuclear blast. More than enough of a threat. Elves are extinct. They weren't the arrogant, elder race you're all used to from Tolkien. They were proto-Sylvian, frail cavemen who beat each other around with sticks. They were also genetically inferior, which is why most of the human genomes swallowed them up. The only person who still knows that the elves existed was Icabod. Of course, while Sylvian genes are dominant, the fact that most Sylvians with the exception of Katothen, Baltimore and very few others actually made it off of Vantanas means that the sheer numbers ensure that humans will outnumber Sylvians by a longshot. Of course, because most Imperial nobility is 100% Sylvian, this also means that all Emperors up to Hawthorne III. were Sylvian. Not that it makes a difference, because Sylvians and humans can reproduce together, and are extremely close to each other anyway. The only people on Ermarian who can tell apart the differences between Sylvians and Humans are the only people who call the language spoken by the Empire "Lower Takmannean" (again, B2 beta-testers should know what I'm getting at here). Along the lines of the Empire collapsing- Well, eh. The Arena already has a few conditions of collapse that I've had to edit Echoes to (Doston's rising after the First Cataclysm being one). I'm not sure that anyone else has really commented with any other suggestions for the collapse of the Empire, and it's not like I didn't leave enough time (+2000 years, if you count Aizo) for scenarios. Point is, the Arena exists, and it exists after the Empire's collapse. Some explanation is indeed necessary, and I tackled this one head-on, because I saw nobody else in sight going after it. About the Vantanasian Map: You see that concave curve in the NW corner of the continent? That used to be where N. Vantanas used to be. It's basically a large continent approx. 2/3 the size of Australia.

Stareye- There is one odd skill I was planning to have Baltimore use in a scenario about his (and Katothen's) past, whenever I was to get around to making it. That is, Sword Magic. Balathermo was a sword mage. What does this mean? He knows two spells- Soul Augment, and Soul Disengage. The first places some of his life force in a specially-designed sword, giving the sword an ability (beefed-up stats, defense, fireballs, etc.). The second ends the effects of the first, and gives Baltimore some of his life force back. You could have this be a skill of Aizoan emperors. (I'm itching to make a scenario with sword magic in it.) Elves are extinct. They weren't the arrogant, elder race you're all used to from Tolkien. They were proto-Sylvian, frail cavemen who beat each other around with sticks. They were also genetically inferior, which is why most of the human genomes swallowed them up. Of course, while Sylvian genes are dominant, the fact that most Sylvians with the exception of Katothen, Baltimore and very few others actually made it off of Vantanas means that the sheer numbers ensure that humans will outnumber Sylvians by a longshot. Of course, because most Imperial nobility is 100% Sylvian, this also means that all Emperors up to Hawthorne III. were Sylvian. Not that it makes a difference, because Sylvians and humans can reproduce together, and are extremely close to each other anyway. The only people on Ermarian who can tell apart the differences between Sylvians and Humans are the only people who call the language spoken by the Empire "Lower Takmannean" (again, B2 beta-testers should know what I'm getting at here). Along the lines of the Empire collapsing- Well, eh. The Arena already has a few conditions of collapse that I've had to edit Echoes to (Doston's rising after the First Cataclysm being one). I'm not sure that anyone else has really commented with any other suggestions for the collapse of the Empire, and it's not like I didn't leave enough time (+2000 years, if you count Aizo) for scenarios. Point is, the Arena exists, and it exists after the Empire's collapse. Some explanation is indeed necessary, and I tackled this one head-on, because I saw nobody else in sight going after it. About the Vantanasian Map: You see that concave curve in the NW corner of the continent? That used to be where N. Vantanas used to be. It's basically a large continent approx. 2/3 the size of Australia.

Calling an amulet a "Sylvian Amulet" is like calling an amulet the "Human Amulet". Sylvians are still an existant species. (Especially in the 1870s, when the Empire is controlled by one.) I suppose that this archmage could be a remnant from the anti-Solar league of Blackrock. But then again, I severely doubt that any of you would know what that is. I'll give a brief (although far from complete, and rightfully so- that's part of the core story of Echoes) history of the Sylvians. Years -100,000 through -80,000: Vantanas is covered in Elves, which apart from being completely unrecorded, are also considered to be the proto-form of Sylvians. Humans are only barely beginning to evolve. Years -80,000 through -50,000: The northern half of Vantanas where most humans are begins to split. Interbreeding between humans and elves prove quite rapidly that certain genomes will become dominant very quickly, eventually resulting in a new, nearly homogeneous specie that produces its own offspring from both human and elven seed. Around year 60,000, N. Vantanas has split completely from S. Vantanas, forming two seperate continents. (N. Vantanas has yet to be re-discovered, and is also known as TMU, which the B2-betatesters would recognize.) Around year 50,000, genetic diseases and more-dominant Sylvian/Human genes have swallowed up the elven population to the point of extinction. At this point, the average Sylvian is 90-70% human, 10-30% elven. Rakshasi have completed their evolution towards the east, with the Sylvians taking up most of the west. Years 50,000-1,000: Small communities and tribes form. No language, very little evolution. Seismic activity on the half of Vantanas that isn't TMU is close to none. TMU is firmly in its place, wedged between the tremendous Doston and Pralgad/N. Valorim tectonic plates. Year -500: Rakshasi form Tanmaii De (the Rakshasic language- I'm actually working on making it) and Rak De (It means "The people are" in Tanmaii De. Quite literally, its the name of their nation in its primitive form) in -450. Sylvians form Ylondiac, the primitive name of their loose, tribal congregation, in -350. The city of Blackrock is formed, and a crude language is invented. Year -200: Rakshasi are forced into the cavernous universe of Arngoth by the Dragon Shale in -224. Wasazore, Vic Sniper and Ezekiel crash-land on TMU and form a civilization in -217. Wasazore is ousted from leadership in -192, the Great Emmigration follows in -191. Humans on TMU (aka "N. Vantanas", the continent seperated ~60,000) land on Vantanas in -190 and fail to create a civilization. Humans land on Pralgad and Doston in -189, the latter fails. Humans land on Aizo and Valorim in -188, the latter fails. Pralgad and Aizo are in states of relative chaos, with multiple powerful lords claiming territory and fighting amongst themselves. Rebellion in Blackrock breaks out in -178, when the underground organization called the Anti-Solar League commits terrorism in the headquarters of the Solar Order, a prominent religious institution among Sylvians. A ritual is disrupted on a fluke by a seven-year old apprentice of a powerful yet obscure mage. The mage named Balathermo and his apprentice flee the Order, and Vantanas. It is rumored that perhaps others from the Anti-Solar League may have escaped the Order, but this is as of yet unconfirmed. Balathermo manages to escape via boat to Aizo in -177, where his name is slowly turned into Baltimore. His apprentice also made it to Aizo, but he disappeared shortly after the rebellion in Blackrock and didn't make it to Aizo with Baltimore. Nobody knows what happened to him to this date. (A cookie goes to whoever knows the name of Baltimore's former-apprentice.) Baltimore spends the following 32 years trying to unite the factions on Aizo before finally succeeding and crowning himself Emperor. (Yeah. That was the brief history. ) ---- The collapse of the Empire in Echoes pretty much smashes any hopes of the Empire continuing as-we-know-it. Aizo is completely destroyed, and nothing lives on it. Doston was purposefully lowered into the ocean, and everyone on it was drowned. The capital of the Empire (Solaria) was destroyed, along with all of the other large cities on Pralgad. Valorim is, well, mostly destroyed as well. And Vantanas is at the center of where the collapse comes from. Some people survive, enough so that Ermarian isn't doomed. But any power the Empire may have had is either smashed, or is heavilly reduced, and scattered among the remaining power-hungry Dervishes.

He died in battle during his conquest, yes. His beloved was on the Pralgadian side. (Technically she was a Vantanasian native [aka Sylvian], but the history books wouldn't say that.) Ya know how Rome was ruled by an Emperor during times of war and a council in times of peace? Think of Aizo as being the other way around. A group of nobles came together and made decisions on their own, eventually naming heirs as they died. Some assassinations and minor power struggles occured, but nothing that plunged Aizo proper into civil war. Think Genghis Khan, except without the baby-murdering. Sol took over nearby cities with tremendous force, and from that point on, most if not all settlements in his way surrendered without a fight in return for moderate self-governance (hence the provincial status we see in At the Gallows), much like when the Persians took over Israel, except on a much larger scale.

When did Baltimore travel to Pralgrad? -132 When was his son born? -103 When did Baltimore return to Aizo? Never. (He was killed in battle there.) When did he die? -100 When did Sol learn of his heritage? Very early in his life. When did he start to unite Pralgrad (he would have started before he was able to declare himself emperor)? -65 When did he 're-annex' Aizo, and in what state did he find it- civil war, chaos, an usurper's reign, or what? He re-annexed it in year 3. It was in fair order, but a bit of chaos ensued when he dealt with anti-Pralgradian elements. The chaos settled quickly.

Baltimore was not married. He just didn't like kids, and his Pralgadian wife did. She raised the kid, he left.

It was a Pralgradian woman. They were actually close friends from a great while ago, but the history books wouldn't say that. It wasn't rape, or anything. Sol I. never knew much about Baltimore I. By the time he came to unite Pralgrad, Baltimore was dead. He didn't necesarilly dislike Aizo, although he defeated the anti-Pralgadian elements in it, and used his Baltimore-based lineage to take power in Aizo, effectively uniting the two empires.

Baltimore I is the Aizonic Emperor. At this point in time, Pralgrad is divided into many factions, much like Aizo was before Zion. When Baltimore arrives, he starts invading, but fails when Pralgrad is united by Sol I., his unwittingly illegitimate child. It's quite ironic.

All of my scenarios other than Echoes take place in one outdoors section. I never saw any reason for more.

Doston was decent-sized before the First Cataclysm, and had a fair number of people. It was slightly larger than Australia or Exile. The scenarios that I'm thinking of are Echoes: Black Horse, Bandits and Bandits 2. Baltimore was actually on Pralgrad when he was waging the war (he would have to be in order to actually lead the war- they didn't have phones at that time). He found a hot piece of Pralgradian ass. By the time the result of their perpendicular friction emerged from the alternate partner's hanky-panky hole, the Aizoan Empire was pretty much doomed, but Sol I. was born and took the helm of the Pralgadian Empire.

Doston existed before the First Cataclysm. Then, it suck underwater around 1884. It began rising out of the water at 1889, and completed rising around 1902. It kept on rising from 1902-1905, however, and gained quite a bit more landmass than it had before the continent. Edit: Major problem with the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Baltimore I left plenty of descendants, including Sol I. Sorry.

Doston existed well before the first cataclysm. There are scenarios that take place on Doston (I can name at least three) before the collapse of the Empire. Of course, because Doston is not particularilly blessed (half of it is a steppe-like wasteland from its navel up) resource-wise, it was never particularilly explored beyond its lower half. Scientists like Icabod would perform experiments and some-forth on the northern parts of Doston, but that's about it.

There were indeed only two emperors of Aizo. Baltimore I lived a heinously long life (around , because of his being of an almost indistinguishable species native to Vantanas, capable of longer lifespans and reproduction from humans. He was a Sylvian, as all Emperors were up until Hawthorne (see E:P). Of course, most emperors of the Pralgradian Empire either attained their position at old age, or were assassinated, which is why you don't see +100 year reigns.

Zion I was the first "Emperor". Of course, he was also ancient. This is because he was the first person to unite Aizo. Before him, I'd imagine that there were many different factions with many different leaders.

Knock yourself out. I don't particularilly care about the first visitation.

God! It's spelled "Aizo"! ...eh. The Aizoan Empire controlled all of Aizo, and maybe a few oceanic islands, but nothing more.

I said it in the scenario you are supposed to be testing. *sigh* Drakey- I'm giving Stareye 600 friggin' years to end his series, but the collapse of the Empire is central to Echoes, and how you can see fit to acknowledge one plotline and not another (which massively outnumbers the former anyway) is inflamatory, to say the least. I'll assume you didn't break your flaming rule and thus never said that. Thanks. EDIT: Whoa! That was weird, it attached the edit to the wrong post. See next post.

Code: Emperor Reign Start Reign End - Zion I. 0 5 Started his reign on Aizo - Baltimore I. 5 50 - Sol I. 50 99 Started his reign on Pralgrad - Sol II. 99 134 - Sol III. 134 168 - Ironclad I. 168 210 Began to kill non-humans on Pralgrad - Ironclad II. 210 254 - Ironclad III. 254 297 - Ironclad IV. 298 336 - Ironclad V. 338 385 - Ironclad VI. 385 444 - Ironclad VII. 445 490 - Ironclad VIII: 490 537 - Ironclad IX. 539 580 - Ironclad X. 580 616 - Ironclad XI. 616 665 - Ironclad XII. 665 698 - Ironclad XIII. 698 722 - Hawthorne I. 722 763 Discovered Avernum!!! 741 - Hawthorne II. 764 791 Erika and archmagi sent down 771 - Hawthorne III. 791 822 Assassinated, Empire War - Prazac 823 865 Avernum III 833 - X 866 901 - X 903 925 - X 926 961 - X 961 998 - X 999 1030 - X 1031 1057 - X 1057 1084 - X 1086 1114 - X 1115 1143 - X 1143 1178 - Tahvan I. 1179 1203 - Tahvan II. 1203 1238 - Tahvan III. 1239 1257 - Tahvan IV. 1258 1280 At the Gallows 1274 - Tahvan V. 1280 1213 - Tahvan VI. 1313 1368 - Tahvan VII. 1368 1371 - Tigere I. 1371 1402 - Tigere II. 1402 1442 - Tigere III. 1442 1483 Spears 1477 - X 1483 1502 - X 1502 1536 - X 1536 1570 - X 1570 1603 - X 1603 1621 - X 1621 1629 - X 1629 1645 - X 1645 1687 - X 1687 1708 - Tachyon I. 1708 1745 - Tachyon II. 1745 1762 - Tachyon III. 1762 1804 - Tachyon IV. 1804 1872 Echoes (All of it, 1870-1872) - Baltimore 36. 1872 1876 Empire Collapses

Quote: Originally written by Drakefyre: Placement of continents: Pralgrad is connected to Valorim by an isthmus. Aixo is east of the isthmus and Vantanas is south of Aixo. kekekekekeke drakey makes a typo dire!!! ^_____________^ Pralgad is indeed connected to Valorim by an isthmus, but Aizo is SW of that isthmus, and Vantanas is east of Aizo. EDIT: PS, Arancaytar... The creation of the Empire is most undoubtedly documented quite well. You're a beta-tester of Bandits 2, you should know this as well. And that reminds me, have you even been playing it?

I'd like to argue Drakey's point about "humans" developing civilization on their own. What gets me is that Pralgad and Aizo spoke the same language (or close thereof) and had the same customs. It's almost as if they got their cultures from the same source.