JesseLowe/HeroesOfAWoodedLandTimeline

Some notes on the calendar

The calandar of the Realm is based on the 5 elements. There are 5 seasons, Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Wood, each divided into three months (Ascending, Resplendent, and Descending) of 28 days each, plus a 5-day Calibration where everything gets a little weird. As a result, years in Creation are 425 days long.

(RY = Realm Year, counting from the founding of the Realm and the Empress' accession to power)

RY 762: Inarian civil war.

RY 765: The Scarlet Empress disappears during Calibration.

RY 766: Hotspur's revolt and defeat.

RY 767

Ascending Air: Si Lu, Hotspur, Kuro Haku, and Tsumi Yomi arrive at the city of White Pines in response to a plea for help and a chance for glory. They spend the month training the militia and fortifying the city, which is woefully undefended.

Resplendent Air: The PCs fight off Jawara and his horde on the first.

Descending Air: In this month, Akita district's "Tax tournament" was held. Si Lu's negotiating skills and Ragnar's fighting ability gave White Pines a light tax burden for the year.

Ascending Earth: Refugees from the east arrive and are sheltered by the people of Calrushan Wood under the PCs' direction. The PCs also fight off a zombie horde. In the last two weeks of the month, Si Lu, Ragnar, and Kuro Haku do a tour of the four surrounding towns and manage to claim the manse of Tower Kos.

Resplendent Earth: Preparing for the festival and tournament, the PCs end up tracking down a murdering deathknight... who turns out to be a little girl. Since she's trying to kill them, the PCs have no problem killing her. The festival and the tournament take place on the 14th through the 18th days of this month.

At the festival, the PCs recruit nearly all the Dragon-Blooded competitors, face off against the three Fair Folk who show up (peacefully) and Hotspur has a dramatic meeting with Esos the Wolf.

Descending Earth: While the other Exalted work on their own projects, Si Lu and Haku take a tour of the towns around White Pines, talking the leaders into at least a tentative alliance. They also drop by a couple of manses in the area (Amara having spent a good part of the last month mapping Calrushan Wood's dragon paths) and make nice with the owners.

Ascending Fire: Amara Onya has a vision, and as a result, the PCs (plus a new addition, Jebtzun Dambu) travel to Greyfalls to rescue one Mesop, a Dragon-Blooded architect, who will (hopefully) build Amara's temple-manse for her. Meanwhile, pricked by Esos the Wolf's appearance, Hotspur heads back to Inaria to see what's happening there.

Resplendent Fire: Once in Greyfalls, the PCs wreak unmitigated havoc. Ragnar castrates a local Dragon-Blooded ninja in open combat, Si Lu burns the local high priestess's face, and there are dead ninjas all over the place. Unfortunately, the Solars leave more-or-less empty-handed, having been unable to find Mesop. (In retrospect, perhaps subtlety would have worked better?) Si Lu, Amara Onya, and Ragnar depart for White Pines. Jebtzun and Haku stay behind, Jeb to discreetly apprentice himself to local crafters and Haku to plant a spy network. Amara Onya, pushed beyond endurance by the Circle's unwillingness to further her goals, abandons the circle and resumes her travels, heading Sun-knows-where.

Descending Fire: Upon returning to White Pines on the 3rd, Si Lu and Ragnar settle back into the routine. On the 8th, Hotspur comes back from Inaria. Haku returns later, on the 13th. Ragnar and Hotspur begin shaping up the military forces loyal to them (see Circle Military). Haku discovers that Garsey has begun running a small protection racket; nipping things in the bud, he and Si Lu put the DragonBlooded on trial, and Si Lu's denunciation is such that all present are convinced of the Circle's belief in the rule of law. Garsey is "relocated" to Tower Kos, where his bullying nature may serve the Circle better. Near the end of the month, reports of Shanidar raids come from Coramar. Seeing an opportunity to test their troops in actual battle, Ragnar and Hotspur lead two units out, accompanied by Haku. Things do not go entirely as planned; the first encampment they attack is flattened by a stampede caused by Hotspur's anima flare. Nonetheless, the units gain a bit of experience, and the Circle gains about a thousand head of cattle and 150 horses. The cattle they put in the care of Coramar, and the horses... something else.

Ascending Water: Si Lu is elected dictator of White Pines on the 3rd. Over the course of the rest of the month, the Circle consolidates power in Calrushan Wood, with the end result that they can count on a solid alliance between White Pines, Jhuku, and Tambat's Landing, a tentative alliance (with access to mercenaries) with Nakhichevan and by extension the Guild, and an alliance with the powers that be in Tower Kos. (Garsey is working his way into the "top bully" spot there.) At Tower Kos, they agree to work with the Bayajikh tribe of the Shanidar Nomads to attack and wipe out the Tursaga tribe.

Resplendent Water: The Circle leads the Bayajikh against the Tursaga in a smashing -- and ruthless -- victory. Most of the Tursaga tribe are killed, including their (nemissary) Khan, who is turned into Corpse BBQ by Si Lu's firewand. (Since she was using Solar Spark Meditation, she smoked the ghost as well as the corpse.)

Descending Water 767 through Resplendent Earth 768: The Circle -- and Calrushan Wood -- build up and prepare for war with Greyfalls and Akita City.

RY 768

Descending Earth to Ascending Fire: During these two months, the Circle travels south to Inaria. There, they take advantage of Hotspur's connections and Haku's expertise to foment unrest, culminating in an attack on the capital city of Cydweli. What starts as a straightforward coup d'etat becomes a three-way brawl when the Solars uncover a pair of deathknights, carrying out some sinister plan for the Dowager of the Irreverent Vulgate. After the dust settles, one of the Abyssals is dead while the other has fled into the Underworld, near-dead, with the Prince of Inaria as captive. King Emyr is dead by Hotspur's hand. Hotspur and Lord Gower manage to sway the dukes of Inaria to their flag, and Hotspur is declared Regent.

Resplendent Fire: The Circle consolidates its hold on Inaria, banishing the nobles who will not accept their rule and rewarding those that do. Over the course of this month, all of the Solars find themselves growing in power. Si Lu travels to Great Forks and polishes her political and diplomatic skills. Haku, Ragnar, and Hotspur stay in Inaria and train with the warriors there. Kulin vanishes into the woods, returning a week later with mastery of the Circle of Adamant and a single spell that he promises will be terrible in battle.

Descending Fire: The army that was to have attacked Calrushan Wood marches to defend it under Hotspur's command, accompanied by Kulin Harrid. Meanwhile, Si Lu, Ragnar, and Haku travel swiftly to Calrushan Wood and find that it has done well in their absence. The nomads and the soldiers from the Wood gather five miles east of Jhuku.

17: The Inarian legion arrives, and just in time. The Greyfalls forces are only three days' march away. The Circle decides to seize the initiative.

18: That night, Haku, Kulin, and Si Lu make a strike on the headquarters legion of the enemy. Haku and Si Lu sneak into the camp, and Si Lu's golden tongue persuades the enemy's warstrider fang to walk out. As the warstriders depart the camp -- causing no small commotion -- Kulin casts Total Annihilation. The spell wipes out most of the legion, including all of its supplies. There is no pursuit.

19: The other two legions turn tail and begin marching back to Akita City. The retreat is disrupted by Ragnar and Hotspur, who use pitch, firedust, Hotspur's archery, and Phaeton to destroy much of their baggage train, routing and scattering the legions.

22: In the night, a sorcerer appears in the midst of White Pines. She casts a spell (Cantata of Empty Voices) that kill all but a couple dozen of the inhabitants. Around 20,000 dead.

Ascending Water: Present Month

13: Great council of the Shanidar Nomads begins. It will continue for three days.