After an appropriately long sabbatical for the Citadel blog, we return this week for another look at the world’s history. Last post, we studied what is known about the “lost eras” of history, for which there are few written records. Now we examine the Modern Era, the events that shaped it, the cultures it spawned, and the great adversities in store for it.
The Rain of Stars has ended and a new era has come to Citadel. Commonly known as the Modern Era, it is properly known as the Era of Sanctuary (as in the notations ES for Era of Sanctuary, and AE for Astraic/Archaic Era). The cataclysms of the previous age have subsided and the world is free once more to form societies, build cities and explore new frontiers. More…
How do you chronicle the history of a world with no memory? Long have the scholars of Citadel faced off against this leering challenge, to varying degrees of success. They sift through the sparse ruins of the Ages Before, gleaning little but empty accounts of a seemingly endless era of devastation and abandon.
Nearly 300 years ago, the world of Citadel woke up from a terrible dream. The world had been ravaged, and though none could remember what the world before was like, it was understood that the world had been transformed by some cataclysm.
Holding aloft their searing crystal-adorned weapons, Chanters go forth into battle. Bringing succor to their allies and doom to their foes, their resonant songs herald both war and sanctuary. Harnessing the same force that nearly destroyed the world of Citadel three centuries ago, the Chanters are the inheritors of an ancient and enigmatic power. When the stars that once glittered in the heavens rained down in fragments upon the land, the Chanters were the first to take up the fragments and unlock their incredible powers.
It is said by historians that Byreford is a land that cannot be conquered. Throughout its recorded history, the province of Byreford has never been successfully and totally annexed by any one nation. This is not due to lack of interest. Byreford is a rich and fertile land, strategically situated and possessing two safe harbours. And yet the province remains home to the dispossessed, the misfits of larger societies. It seems fated to forever remain a divided frontier, never home to one nation but to many.
“Be like an oak - root firm and give no ground. Let the enemy tire themselves with movement! Be like an oak and weather your enemy’s blows until they spend their last strength. Only strike when they can no longer raise their hand against you, for then they are yours.”
