The history of the world as it is commonly known — that is, as the Church teaches it. Treat this as the in-world orthodox account, not necessarily the truth.
The Creation
The One God, the Divine Maker, divided the Earth from the Heavens, sculpted the mountains and seas, and brought forth life. He created three peoples to rule over the world — Elf, Dwarf, and Man — and gave them Law, so they would understand how to live in obedience to His will. See The Faith of the Maker.
The Fall
The Maker’s chief servant in Heaven grew envious and preached rebellion among the Host. A war broke out; the Deceiver and his followers were cast down to the Hells.
The Corrupted
On Earth as in Heaven, some were swayed by the Deceiver’s words — men, dwarves, and elves alike. These became the Corrupted, twisted creatures who lost their true selves. When their master was defeated they fled to the dark corners of the world. See Iuz and the Corrupted.
The Wrath (MCY 1)
After a time of peace, the Elves — who called themselves the First — mastered powerful Arts and ruled the Earth alone. In their arrogance they forsook God, heeding the Deceiver’s lies. God struck the Earth with his fist of Light and they were brought low. In the dark age that followed, true Faith was nurtured among Men.
Speculation
The Crusades and After
The rest of recorded history is structured around five Crusades — see The Crusades for the full account, and Timeline for dates. Key structural outcomes:
- First Crusade — the Church was formed, the Blessed appeared, and their descendants founded the kingdoms.
- The Empire and the Four Kingdoms — a single Empire ruled first, then was divided into Morrschatten, Averoigne, Cardacci, and Hazad, with The Holy City established as the independent seat of the Faith.
- Second Crusade — against Iuz, the False Son. Afterward the Church founded the six Orders Militant.
- The Colleges — royal families founded colleges to nurture the Gift, each watched over by the Order of the Phoenix.
- Third Crusade — nearly destroyed Iuz’s southern empire, but the Queen of Morrschatten (the Betrayer Queen) defected to Iuz as his consort on the eve of victory. Morrschatten was split into three Princedoms; the Order of the Phoenix was granted greater authority to root out corruption.
- Fourth Crusade (1693–1699) — the Phoenix moved against Hazad, falsely accusing the crown prince of Corrupted Arts. The Sultan cast out the Order and rejected the Most Holy, founding the Eastern Church. Six years of war between East and West ended in stalemate; the Sultan and his son died in battle. The church remains split. This was only ~40 years ago and still shapes everything in Hazad.
- Fifth Crusade (1715) — destroyed a hidden Corrupted stronghold in northern Morrschatten; the Crown Prince of Averoigne fell, leaving that succession uncertain.
The Old Empire and Hazad
The lands that are now Hazad were once the heart of the Old Empire (capital: Isbi’liyyah). After the Empire’s slow collapse (“the Dissolution”, MCY ~950), Hakim the Great unified the Hazadi tribes and conquered the region (1420–1430), founding the Sultanate. Three Old Imperial families backed him and kept their lands: House Ulpia, House Menenia, and House Balventia. See Ethnicities of Hazad.