Avadon Timeline/History Inconstinency (Spoilers)

[Drakov]

 

First of all, here are the ages with precise years:

6000-6202: First Age

6203-6236: Black Age

6237-6312: Third Age

(What happened in Cycle 1? And before?)

 

Here are the Keepers of Avadon:

KEEPERS OF AVADON

1. 6240-6245 Telera of Dharam

2. 6247-6257 Herom of the Kva

3,4,5,6. 6257-? Diantha of Dharam; Geert; ???; ???

7. Redbeard

When was he elected?

6257? Nicodemus said. (1x reference) Then 55 years of service.

6265? It was written in the Codex (and 4x more reference, "he rules almost fifty years"). Then 47 years of service.

 

Redbeard must be from Kellemderiel, Dharam, or Tawon, because his childhood was on a farm, and these states are more civilised than the others, and he saw the remaining horrors of the Black Age.

 

5800? Corruption created

6000 First Age: the Pacts

6203 Black Age

? Redbeard born

6236 End of Black Age

6237 Third Age: The Treaty of the Five Powers signed

6240 Avadon created; first Keeper: Telera

? Redbeard's come of age (16,18,21 years old?)

6245 Telera poisoned, 2 year chaos

6247 second keeper: Herom of the Kva (obelisk in avadon: IN MEMORY OF HEROM OF THE KVA | FIRST KEEPER OF AVADON | [N], he died for you."??? The First Keeper was Telera! Or not?!)

6252? Redbeard arrived at Avadon ("must be sixty years ago")

6255 Herom goes powermad

6257 Herom disappeared, four more keepers: Diantha of Dharam; Geert; ???; ???

6257 Redbeard elected Keeper (by Nicodemus)

6262? Eye Leira enters service ("almost fifty years ago, almost as long as Redbeard")

6263 Lexrem of Dharam failed to poison Redbeard

6265 Redbeard elected keeper, almost 50 years (47) ago (Codex)

6272? Miranda's husband tries to kill Reedbeard ("about forty years ago") But when we meet her, she is described as in early fifties!? She was such a young wife???

6282 Heart Miranda enters service (she is only at Eye rank); Eye Leira rejects the plans killing Redbeard

6312 Current year

 

What is the canonic date of Redbeard's election?

I vote on 6265. The other date wasonly mentioned by Nicodemus, I think he inhalled to much alchemical potions! :-)

[Randomizer]

Redbeard wasn't so much elected as he assassinated his predecessor and siezed power. He was confirmed in power by the Council and accepted as Keeper.

[Superba]

This is a pretty nice effort :-)

I'd like to contribute reminding there's a guy in Avadon Fortress dungeon that was imprisoned in some ice because he tried to kill Redbeard, don't remember the year he was imprisoned but you can easily find it out because he reports that, while the party says which is the current year.

[Aoslare]

Hmm. Very cool! I'm going to grep some scripts and look for some more references.

[Aoslare]

...wow. There are gaping inconsistencies regarding when Redbeard became Keeper, and there are piles of evidence pointing both to 6265, and to 6257 or so. Redbeard himself sometimes says he's been Keeper 50 years, and sometimes 60 years.

 

Easiest conclusion: Redbeard has deliberately obfuscated history relating to his past and the history of the Keepers. Since Telera's dates are not disputed, and since Herom of the Kva has an actual grave site, I'm going to go with 6265 for the real date.

 

Also look at this:

Leira says she came to Avadon 50 years ago. However, the records state that she and her two Hand compatriots came to Avadon 30 years ago. Leira is described as "an old woman."

Miranda says she came to Avadon 30 years ago. However, the records state that her husband tried to kill Redbeard 40 years ago. Miranda is described as "in her early fifties."

 

Easiest conclusion: somebody conflated Miranda and Leira for one of the other set of texts. I'm going to go ahead and guess that Leira is the older one, and that she really came 40 years ago and tried to kill Redbeard then, while Miranda is younger, came to Avadon 30 years ago, and betrayed (or "betrayed"?) her husband shortly thereafter.

[Dintiradan]

Ah! It's too confusing! Too much contradicting canon! There's only one solution...

 

Encylopedia Lynnaeus! Slarty! Drakey! Aran! Make it so.

[Aoslare]

It's not like Captain Planet, you know.

[Ceiling Durkheim]

Good work, all in all. One thing I'd nitpick: the rationale for the nationality of the 'beard. Anywhere in the Farlands seems unlikely, both because he's so clearly loyal to the Pact (and doesn't mention any process of conversion), and because the Pact readily accepted him into its army. Of course, that all depends on him telling the truth...that's by no means certain, but since he's the sole source of information on his youth, if he's lying there's not much point in even speculating.

 

The Wyldrylm we can likely rule out on the basis of physical appearance: aside from Moritz'kri, everyone we see from the Wyldrylm and Khemeria has dark skin and dark hair. The Wyldrylm also seems like the nation of the Pact with the fewest farms. I'd say Kellemderiel, Dharam, the Kva, and Holklanda are all possibilities. Keep in mind that while the southern reaches of the Kva are mostly desert, the game mentions that the parts further north are more fertile and hospitable. Holklanda is an interesting case: because of the preponderance of masks on Holklandans, we have relatively little idea of what Holkandans look like. The easy assumption, given that their culture draws on various feudal Japanese elements, would be that they look like people from real world Japan. We can't say for sure, though; Leira is the only Holklandan who gets an unmasked portrait, but old age and stress seem to have blanched her hair and skin to the point that we can't draw general conclusions from her. It is notable that Seeker Azarni uses the blond sorceress sprite. Anyway, we're pretty sure they practice about as much agriculture as Kellemderiel and Dharam.

 

Vermilion deer: given available evidence, it seems most likely that 'beard is from Kellemderiel, Dharam, or the Kva. Holklanda is also possible, but less likely. We can pretty much rule out the Wyldrylm, or anywhere in the Farlands.

[Alorael at Large]

If Redbeard were Holklandan, he'd look like Holklandans: masked.

 

—Alorael, who could see Redbeard as a Farlander who became a zealous pack supporter. It's hard to know exactly how the Pact and the Farlands related before Redbeard's long reign.

[Ceiling Durkheim]

That's a possibility. We don't know if that's a shadowwalker-specific thing, though. Holklanda definitely seems less likely than the other three overall.

 

I feel like he would have mentioned that he had been born in the Farlands if it were relevant. Like I say, it's possible that he's not telling the truth about that, but it's also possible that he's lying about having grown up as a random farm boy. The whole discussion of Redbeard's background is pretty much reliant on the truth of his statements.

[Goldengirl]

I have a suspicion that, if Redbeard were of Kellemderiel or Holklanda, he would have been more biased in the Beraza Woods debacle. Sure, sure, he's extremely loyal to the Pact and a practitioner of realpolitik, but I think his Holklandan/Kellem upbringing would have some effect on him.

 

Personally, I think, with this in consideration, he was either from the Kva or Dharam. Personally, I suspect Dharam. For some reason, his personality seems congruent to the psuedo-Greek democracy of Lynaeus. Also, since we haven't seen this nationality up-close before, it gives the most probability of having redheads.

[Demseinwetter]

I think it might not be entirely unlikely for Redbeard to be actual a Farlander, mocked in his childhood for his heritage (much like Napoleon), but hungry for a power that the crumbling empire he lives in on his parents farm can no longer grant, he grows ambitious and leaves, reinvents himself and ultimately overcompensates, as if serving the Pact more loyal than any Pact citizen could cleanse his blood from the shame of being a Farlander. Poor miserable Redbeard.

[Aoslare]

Given the psychosexuality of Avadon, it's certainly plausible that he is a Pact-loyal farlander -- or an urbane Wyldrylmer, an unbiased (and unmasked) Holklandan or Kellem, a farmhand from a land with few farms, etc. Speculating about his background is just that -- speculation -- and the fact is that he could really be from just about anywhere humans live.

[Skwish-E]

Redbeard is Holklandan, but he is not as ugly as the rest of them. (That's the real reason for all the mask wearing anyway. It is not for anonymity. It is for shame at their hideousness.) Redbeard's non-ugliness caused him to be ridiculed as a child, and driven from his homeland. This also explains some of the animosity between him and Shadow Tarkus who used to torment him as a child by calling him "Pretty Boy".

[Superba]

Redbeard may be grown up in a farm in Holklanda and with the rage of an abandoned child and the talent in his genes, he conquered his realm. He may be Dheless lost brother.

[madrigan]

This is assuming that Redbeard is, in fact, one person. It's possible that the current Redbeard killed the original and stole his identity, which might account for some of the discrepancies.

 

Anyway, he's obviously from the Empire, and learned the ability to prevent natural aging from the Shapers when he found a tunnel from Avernum to Terrestria.

[A less presumptuous name.]

Originally Posted By: madrigan

This is assuming that Redbeard is, in fact, one person. It's possible that the current Redbeard killed the original and stole his identity, which might account for some of the discrepancies.

You would make an excellent Dread Pirate Roberts.

Originally Posted By: madrigan

Anyway, he's obviously from the Empire, and learned the ability to prevent natural aging from the Shapers when he found a tunnel from Avernum to Terrestria.

Must we? Really?

[Sudanna]

Yes, we must. It's the only way.