Golarion

The crumbling remnants of countless lost civilizations span Avistan and Garund (the northern and southern continents of Golarion) drawing explorers and adventurers from all corners of Golarion. Some of these nations fell in the cloudy days of prehistory, like the lost continent of Azlant and the mysterious terraced pyramids of the Mwangi Expanse. Others collapsed in recent memory, as occurred in the so-called Sodden Lands along the edge of the Eye of Abendego, a permanent and immense hurricane off Garund’s western coast.

The Eye appeared a century ago, at the birth of the current era of mankind’s history, the Age of Lost Omens. Until a century ago, the destiny of humanity was guided by an ascended mortal known as Aroden, the last survivor of Old Azlant, first of the great human kingdoms of antiquity.

In the early days of recorded history, Aroden walked Golarion among his people. When Azlant sunk beneath the sea, a victim of its own pride and arrogance, Aroden ventured to Avistan. There he raised the Starstone from the depths of the Inner Sea, helped to found both Taldor and Absalom, and protected his people from the depredations of horrific villains such as the wizard-king Tar-Baphon and the nigh-unstoppable Spawn of Rovagug. Then, thousands of years ago, Aroden departed Golarion, vowing to return on the eve of mankind’s greatest triumph.

The Last Azlanti’s powerful church in the empire of Cheliax traced this prophecy to a specific day a little more than a century ago. With great ceremony and circumstance, thousands of clerics of Aroden, the emperor, and the Chelaxian nobility who supported them gathered in a vast ceremony at the Chelish capital of Westcrown, eager to see their deific master manifest in the flesh to usher in a new age of triumph.

Instead, terrible storms darkened Golarion’s skies, and the assembled clerics lost all connection to their god. For 3 weeks, winds and waves ravaged the world, drowning coastal nations and casting governments into ruin. In the north, Golarion shifted slightly in the direction of the infernal Abyss, granting terrible demonic forces control over a widening region of the world. The Eye of Abendego remains as the greatest physical aftershock of Aroden’s apparent death, but the psychological scars upon humanity will take centuries to fully heal.

Perhaps worse, Aroden’s disappearance shattered one of the most reliable prophecies humans had ever known, shaking their faith in the solidity of the future. Since this tragic event, no significant prophecy has come true in any way, leading scholars to name the current era the Age of Lost Omens.

It is a world 100 years from catastrophe, a place of overwhelming danger with an unknown future. It is a place in need of adventurers willing to make that future their own.


TIMELINE:

  • Age Before Ages
    • The "prehistoric" time marked by the rise of the ancient Azlanti Empire.
  • Age of Darkness (-5300 AR to -4500 AR)
    • The Age of Darkness was a thousand year period in which the sun was blocked by ash knocked into the atmosphere by Earthfall in -5293 AR and ending in -4294. The Earthfall was the cataclysmic event brought on when the Starstone impacted with Golarion in -5293 AR, creating the Inner Sea. It resulted in the destruction of the empires of Thassilon and Azlant. Azlant was consumed by the sea. During this age the Orcs emerged from their subterranean homeland fleeing the Dwarves who later also took their first footsteps on the surface world.
  • Age of Anguish (-4500 AR to -3500 AR)
    • The Age of Anguish was a roughly eight hundred year period originating in -4294 AR when the skies finally cleared of the dust from the Earthfall. This age is characterized by the conflicts of primitive peoples in a desperate struggle for survival and domination in a world left shattered by the Age of Darkness. The end of the Age of Anguish was marked by the founding of the Osirion civilization in circa -3472 AR.
  • Age of Destiny (-3500 AR to -1 AR)
    • The Age of Destiny began circa -3470 AR with the founding of the Osiriani civilization and spanned three and half millennia until the founding of the great city of Absalom. The rise and fall of Osirion was witnessed at the early period of the Age of Destiny, though many other civilizations were to rise after Osirion fell into decline. Notable mentions include the founding of Taldor by the descendants of Lost Azlant and of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. Wars during this age include the Nex-Geb War and the tarrasque invasion of -632 AR.
  • Age of Enthronement (1 AR to 4605 AR)
    • The Age of Enthronement began with the founding of Absalom and it's inception is also the starting point for the Absalom Reckoning dating system. The Age of Enthronement spans the years from 1 AR until 4606 AR when Aroden, the god of humanity, died. This age is characterized by the emergence of a number of gods who ascend to divinity through the Test of the Starstone. Gods to survive the test are Aroden in 1 AR, Norgorber in 1983, Cayden Cailean in 2765 and Iomedae in 3832. The nations of Andoran and Cheliax were founded as expansion from the kingdom of Taldor. The Oath Wars raged across northwest Garund between 2498 AR and 2560 as the churches of Nethys, Norgorber and Sarenrae vied for dominance. The Whispering Tyrant arose in 3203 AR invoking the Shining Crusade in 3754 AR which burned for three quarters of a century and ended with the founding of Lastwall to defend against the return of the lich king. In 4305 AR Cheliax began an extended period of expansion annexing lands in Molthune and Varisia which would become known as the Everwar.
  • Age of Lost Omens (4606 AR to present)
    • Golarion is now in what is being called the Age of Lost Omens. It began in 4606 AR with the death of the god Aroden and continues to the present[1]. Aroden himself had prophesied thousands of years ago that he would return on the cusp of mankind's greatest triumph. His priests and followers calculated the supposed exact time of this event and prepared for it with lavish pomp. On the prophesied date, instead of his return all contact to the god was lost and the world was devastated by terrible storms and other calamities. Since then no major prophecy has come true.
  • Kings Of Kings
    • 4499 AR: The Iobarian warlord Choral “the Conqueror” Rogarvia crossed the Lake of Mists and Veils from the north with a considerable force under his command, including 2 red dragons, and merged the two lands of Issia and Rostland into the nation of Brevoy.
    • 4699: In the middle of winter in early 4699 AR, every member of House Rogarvia vanished without a trace. By the end of the year the Surtovas had seized power in the capitol of New Stetven and King Noleski Surtova now holds the Ruby Fortress, the Dragonscale Throne and his house has appointed him the King of Brevoy.
    • Today (4710): It's a decade after the disappearance of House Rogarvia, and with King Noleski Surtova still holding power all of Brevoy lies on the edge of civil war.