Timeline

Dear Mr. Ellison Montjoy,

As a herald for His Grace's Court it will behoove you to know the finer points and details of our liege lord's illustrious family history. I have spared you the hours of poring over the documents and records that make up our ducal archives by outlining a simple timeline for you to more immediately grasp the salient events. Mind this record well, and do exercise discretion, as certain of the facts which I have spoken of so glibly should in propriety only be the purview of a lord's trusted herald and none other. Take care that information such as this shouldn't be carelessly spilled into any antagonistic hands. Lords such as His Grace always have political enemies sniffing like dogs at a table for scraps of information to sully their rivals. Know these things yourself so you may properly do your duty as a chronicler, but preserve them from foes so that you may prosper your lord's house.

We begin roughly 300 hundred years ago.

-310 Drawing on ancient Riadan mystery religion and mystical lore pieced together with legends and secrets supposedly handed down from ancient Chaldea, the crafting guilds of Riada form a secret society as a countercultural resistance to the Riadan Church of Auros.

-300 Working with his colleagues in the laboratories of the secret societies of Riada, Giordano Ficino makes a miraculous discovery at the age of 40. Shortly thereafter, he leaves Riada on a wondrous journey throughout Agon. Before he leaves, he publishes his findings in a treatise called "The Most Holy Book of the Three Part Wisdom".

-290s Giordano's anonymity and legendary exploits at the courts of the various nations he visits earn him the simple nickname of "The Itinerant Count", though in actuality he bears no title of nobility.

-280s The secret society founded by the crafting guilds begins to come into vogue with the Riadan nobility, who are always keen to get involved with mysterious and exotic pastimes.

- 265 In Riada, the popularity of the new secret society is traced to the Ficinos, who are accused by the Church of worshipping the Demon Princes. After an unfair trial, they are promptly excommunicated from the Church of Auros and then executed for heresy. Their library is confiscated and they are burned along with their sacred and magical writings. A strangely unaged Giordano arrives moments before the capture of one woman of their line, Juliana Ficino, and manages to spirit her and her children away in a rowboat.

-263 Juliana and her children are taken to the home of a knightly family on the coast of Riada after some travel and hiding out with Giordano. This family are students of "the Itinerant Count", and are no mere faddish nobility, but initiates of the true secret society, which is called the Ordo Solis et Lunae. Juliana replaces the last name Ficino with the last name Dei and acquires heraldic arms through her social connections. The design of the arms is pulled in large degree from symbols in "The Most Holy Book of the Three Part Wisdom".

-215 Evander, a knight of a coastal county called Aramor in Riada, is first apprised by a knowledge of astrology that Riada is destined for disaster by fire in 25 years. The knight does not announce his astrological insight to the strictly religious public of Riada.

-213 Sir Evander is cautious when the rebellion of the Riadan nobility erupts, but when it becomes evident that the traditionalist faction is losing and their forces will soon depart the island, he suddenly swears his fealty to the Duke of Malregard.

-210 Sir Evander's performance against the Imric coupled with his sudden fealty to Duke John on Riada ingratiate him to the new king. Sir Evander is awarded a sizeable fief within Mercia by the new King John, and becomes the Duke of Wessex.

-191 An aging Duke of Wessex finances the evacuation of relatives and friends from Riada. Many refuse to leave.

-190 The island of Riada is destroyed in volcanic cataclysm. The early evacuation of many to Wessex one year before raises eyebrows.

The next 100 years sees the governing family of Wessex grow into its station as landed nobility. For a time, even the mystical origins of the ducal family are, if not entirely forgotten, simply put aside in favor of more worldly concerns. The vying for position, influence, land and power; the upholding of decorum and respectability; even the courtly pursuits of chivalry and romantic ideals all come to occupy our ducal family, and they carry out their feudal and religious duties as pillars of society. Second and third sons become knights or clergy of Auros, daughters are married off to those who stand to benefit the family most. But always the family secrets lay just out of sight, hidden in locked chests of heirlooms, preserved in murmured lullabies and curiously embroidered tapestries, and ever concealed in the emblems and devices of the family crest…

-90 When the long brewing tension between Mercian church and state erupts into civil war, the Duchy of Wessex remains neutral. When the timing is right, Wessex decides its greatest future interests lie in siding with the Church.  At the urging of the current Duke of Wessex, the church begins to formerly refer to Auros using the more commonly known name of Sol Deus.

-85 After the defeat of the Morak orc invasion, Mercia seeks to consolidate its feudal ties to ward off future threats. During the negotiations, Wessex claims that a stipulation in its writ of creation, specifically that the Crown would "forever grant freedom of worship" was violated, and maneuvers this to advantage. The Crown, mindful of the difficulty of central government in a border territory like Wessex, accedes and creates the Duchy of Wessex as a County Palatine.

-54 The Ordo Solis et Lunae has a small resurgence in popularity among the more liberally minded aristocracy of Mercia. It is affected by its aristocratic trappings, though it still maintains its mystical realization in the higher ranks. One son of the duke, Oriens, is troubled by visions in the early part of his life and believes himself to be called to something spiritual, but feels pressure to become a man like his father. He becomes heavily involved with the organization by chance when a noble friend who is an initiate discovers the Dei crest in an old copy of "The Most Holy Book of the Three Part Wisdom" by Giordano Ficino.

-52 Oriens, the second son of the ruling Duke of Wessex, marries the fourth oldest child of the current Mercian king, the Princess Laureola. Within the year a son, Patricius, is born.

-51 The Crown Prince of Mercia, a zealous and at times foolhardy warrior, lives up to his reputation and is killed in a reckless and futile raid against the Morak orcs. As it happens, the second oldest male prince is an imbecile, so the third oldest male becomes heir.

-45 A plague passes through Mercia, and the new Crown Prince as well as the first son of the Wessex duke sicken and perish. The inheritance of the Crown does not pass to Princess Laureola, but to the fifth oldest child, a male. As the son of a princess, the Wessex heir is styled "His Royal Highness" for one generation.

-42 month 5 The Mercian king dies.

-42 month 6 After an assassination attempt against his wife and their son, Oriens and Laureola go into hiding, watched over by the still existing Ordo Solis et Lunae.

-42 month 7 The fifth oldest child of the former Mercian king ascends to the throne.

-42 month 7 A retainer of the Duke's household, Master Thirlan, acts as bailiff of the duchy while the noble family is in hiding, and prevents royal forces from reclaiming the palatinate by shrewd application of military strategy and tactics. While in hiding under the care of the Ordo Solis, Patricius is schooled in their mystical doctrines, the inheritance and ancient legacy of his own family.

-36 After a short six year reign, the Mercian king is killed in a freak jousting accident, leaving his pubescent son Robert as heir. While Robert matures, Mercia is ruled by a regent. This regent issues a royal pardon, reinstating Oriens as the Duke of Wessex.

-32 While rescuing orphans from a hospital in a burning village, the grown magus Patricius meets Sophia Lundstrom, a nun of a small Auran order. They elope within the year and are married by Father Hadrian Accardo, bishop of Wessex. Ever the world traveller, Patricius's guests include many rare and strange individuals. At the wedding, an invited dwarf thane unaccustomed to human diet brings a gift of a barrel of fish for the newlyweds, believing it a rare delicacy when compared to his mountain fare.

-28 The current duke and his fraternal twin brother are born to Lord Patricius and Lady Sophia. Patricius conducts a strange ritual of anointing upon the newborns with the assistance of his friend and mentor Theurgus Pythonicus from the Ordo Solis et Lunae. During the ritual, an uncanny portent occurs. The boys are tutored by Father Hadrian in ancient Riadan and other protocol for young nobles.

-23 Oriens is laid to rest in the family crypt, and Patricius ascends to the ducal title. Patricius also ascends to the position of 33rd degree grandmaster of the Ordo Solis et Lunae.

-22 The eldest twin son of the duke astounds his caretakers when he somehow miraculously binds the soul of his favorite horse to the Clanstone in Ouenta Castrum. His brother meanwhile spends day after day watching "his" anthill in the wilds around the castle alone in rapt, almost meditative fascination.

-10 The young heir goes through a rebellious phase, scorning everything his father Patricius does. Though he is a bit of a nuisance to the chamberlains and stewards of the ducal castle, he is well loved at the local "Bivouac Inn and Tavern" where he is known affectionately by the staff and patrons as "Manny".

-8 Patricius Dei departs on a mission with Theurgus which he says can "determine the future of Agon".

-6 Patricius disappears in battle on another continent. Theurgus Pythonicus retrieves Patricius's secret ring and presents it to the 22 year old heir while the boy is carousing in a tavern.

-5 The duke's brother, an avid jouster, makes contact with a master crafter who goes by the alias "Fishbarrel", who likely contributes much to the knight's success in the lists.

-4 The two brothers fight together in many tournaments. The present duke often broods alone at night over the loss of their father, but slowly learns to apply his dandyish charm toward achieving political ends…

An understanding of the seeds planted in the past is naturally very necessary to understand the pitch and moment of present events. The events of the past four years leading up to the present are the most dramatic and unprecedented, so I will leave off for now and allow you to digest this much before I continue. Study well, Ellison, and in the words of our duke's alchemical ancestors, "lege, relege, ora, labora, et invenies". You shall make a fine herald and it is my honor to have you under my wing.

Also, my boy, don't forget to report tomorrow early with your tabard freshly cleaned and pressed for instruction in ceremony of state.

Lady Madox
Head of Heralds of Wessex