Pre-Cataclysmic Age [381–2]

0: Cataclysm: Atlantis and Lemuria sink, Pictish Islands heaved up. Continental Picts and
Atlanteans survive. Lemurians escape to eastern coast of Thurian Continent, enslaved by
the ancient race there. Proto-Hyborians flee north, drive the snow-apes north. [382–3]
500: Pictish–Atlantean wars end. Lesser cataclysm; creates inland sea. [382–3]
1000: Acheron founded by the children of the Giant-Kings.
1500: Lemurians have risen and destroyed their masters, who came west, overthrew the
giant-kings, founded the "human" kingdom of Stygia. Hyborians have spread over the
north; begin to drift southward [383–4]
2000: Hyborians sweep south. Descendants of Zhemri revive. Sons of Shem wander east
of Stygia. Agriculture evolved in valley of Zingg. Hyperborea has come into being. [384–
5]
2000-2500: Zamora founded. Stygia expands into the lands settled by the Shemites, and
lays claim to the lands east of the growing empire of Acheron. Zingara's aboriginal
inhabitants absorbed by a Pictish influx.
2500–3000: Hyborian tribes settle in the lands under Stygian rule. Hyborian tribes settle
the strip of land that exists between Acheron and the Pictish and Cimmerian wilderness.
The first Hyborian nations (Koth, Ophir, and Corinthia) are founded, but remain under
Stygia's domination. Zingara founded after a tribe of Hybori conquer and absorb the
region's inhabitants. [385]
3000–3500: Koth, Ophir and Corinthia successfully rebel against Stygia and sack
Kuthchemes. The nation of Acheron falls under the combined weight of a Hyborian
invasion. Aquilonia, Nemedia, Argos and Brythunia are founded. Koth flexs its might and
drives the Stygians south of the Styx. [385–6]
3500: The kingdoms of the world are defined: the Hyborian kingdoms, Zamora, Zingara,
Stygia, Cimmeria, Picts [385–6]
3500–4000: Æsir and Vanir in Nordheim. Lemurians emerge as Hyrkanians, establish
Turan. [386]
4000: Hyborian civilization enters its height [386–7]
5000: Kothic adventurers carve the small kingdoms of Khauran and Khoraja out of the
Shemitish lands to the southeast of Koth
6000(approx) Conan becomes King of Aquilonia.
6500: Fall of Hyborian civilization [387–97]

38,000 B.C. = The Great Cataclysm

37,500 B.C. = The Lesser Cataclysm
35,500 B.C. = The destruction of Acheron, Hyborian Age begins
33,000 B.C. = The Ice Age begins on the Nameless Continent
32,500 B.C. = The reign of king Conan
31,900 B.C. = The death of Gorm, Hyborian Age ends
31,500 B.C. = The first appearance of the Ice Age in Nordheim
28,000 B.C. = Pole Shift Cataclysm, Cro-Magnon invasion
18,000 B.C. = High point of the Ice Age (Glacial Maximum)
9,500 B.C. = Ice Age ends
*************************
In all honesty, Howard placed his prehistoric world between 'the sinking of Atlantis and
the rise of the sons of Aryas'. Now according to Plato, Atlantis sank about 9,500BC while
the Aryan migrations were thought in the 30's to have began around 1,500BC. So Howard
felt that the Hyborian Age existed during that 8,000 year period. Actually, his "Hyborian
Age" essay fits into that period of time to a tee. As Faraer shows, the essay only covers
4500 years between the Great Cataclysm and the fall of Hyboria. That means Howard's
little pole shift following the fall is probably supposed to reflect the biblical "Deluge" that
was thought to happen around 2500BC. It's a pretty cool way to look at it, although he
had to screw it up by writing stories that contradict his own timeline.

The march of history and the advent of carbon-dating has pretty much made a hash of
Howard's version of prehistory (which I'm sure is why deCamp moved it to around
10,000BC).

On an alternate dating take, "Kings of the Night" claims that Kull's Thurian Age existed
around 100,000BC. If the Hyborian Age followed the Thurian Age the way Howard's
essay states, then it totally cancels any relations of the various Hyborian peoples to
modern nations.

In my opinion, the mistake that Howard made was trying to graft the Thurian Age onto
the beginning of the Hyborian Age. If he had left the Thurian Age at 100,000BC, then I
think that there would be no contradictions between the various stories that he wrote
(Kull's Atlantis would be an earlier age of the Atlantis that appears in "Skull-face", "Men
of the Shadows", and most importantly, in "The Moon of Skulls".

Food for thought...

Ok, I'm going to use this post to answer two questions in one fell swoop.

The two essays in THE HYBORIAN HERESIES are unique to that book and have never
shown up anywhere but there. "Omega Hyboria" is pretty self-explainatary; it's my look
at the fall of Hyborian civilization. "The Age of Fire and Ice" covers the last bit in
Howard's "The Hyborian Age" essay; how the effects of the ice age destroyed everything
and set up the world that is familiar to us.

"The Age of Fire and Ice" relates my view of the 10,000 BC dating (which is actually
12,000 years in the past). Since I don't particularly feel like revisiting all of the points I
made in this essay, I'm going to excerpt the bit that deals with this question. Consider it a
preview of the essay...

The last thing I want to touch upon is the theory that the Hyborian Age existed 12,000
years ago, ending in 10,000 B.C. I’m not quite sure when this theory began, but the first
mention I can find of it is in the book introductions of the Lancer Conan series. So, it
probably originated with Howard scholar, L. Sprague DeCamp. I assume he used this
date because it seemed reasonably distant. Unfortunately, it totally ignores the
information that Howard gives in his essay that would place a date on the Hyborian Age.

We must bear in mind that the most recent Ice Age began 35,000 years ago and didn’t end
until 11,500 years ago. The DeCamp dating is a complete fantasy, as it would place the
Hyborian Age during the height of the Ice Age. Howard is pretty specific as to when
various events occur that could pin it to what we know of the Ice Age.

We know that approximately a thousand years after the reign of King Conan the Ice Age
began in the Nordheimr lands and slowly spread southward. It’s also a reasonable
assumption that because of the position of the North Pole on the Nameless Continent that
the Ice Age began in the west approximately several millennia prior to its appearance in
proto-Europe (several Howard tales imply that the Nameless Continent was mostly
uninhabitable).

I figure that it’s roughly 6500 years between the Great Cataclysm and the beginning of
the Ice Age in the Hyborian lands. So how do we go about this?

Well, the last Ice Age began 35,000 years ago or circa 33,000 B.C. If the Ice Age took
two millennia to reach Europe, that would make it roughly 31,000 B.C. Sixty-five
hundred years prior to that would place the Great Cataclysm at circa 37,500 B.C. It all
seems rather straightforward.

Are you ready to hear something weird? According to an article in the December 1998
issue of Discover magazine titled “A Global Winter’s Tale”, the human race suffered a
“population bottleneck”; an event that greatly reduced the human race’s genetic variation
to roughly 10,000 people. Scientists believe that this “bottleneck” for the Earth’s
population took place roughly 40,000 years ago; i.e. 38,000 B.C. The article theorizes
that the eruption of a “super-volcano” caused the mass extinction of man due to a global
winter.
Isn’t it an interesting bit of synchronicity that Robert Howard placed the Great Cataclysm
at nearly the same time as a real world-wide catastrophe. He really seems to have his
mind linked to past events.

Using the 40,000 year old “bottleneck” as our benchmark, we find that:

Timeline
787 AA
The Gundermen voluntarily become vassals of Aquilonia, believing it to be far simpler
than a protracted battle which they know they will lose. For their part, the Aquilonians
know to keep their “vassals” at arms length and not treat them with undue hostility. For
the most part, the relationship works for the better part of a thousand years.

800 AA (0 TR)
Founding of the Hyrkanian kingdom of Turan. The Hyrkanians of the Empire use the
Turanian calendar.
1288 AA
Conan the Barbarian conquers Aquilonia.

1310 AA
Conan the Great abdicates his throne.

1710 AA
Aquilonia conquers Zingara. Many Zingarans flee by sea to Nuevo Zingara, far to the
south along the Black Coast.

1720 AA
Aquilonia conquers Argos. Many Argoseans flee by sea to Kehnooryos Argos, far to the
south along the Black Coast

1725 AA
Arius, Priest of Mitra, enters the Pictish Forest to convert the savages and is captured by
Gorm, a young chieftain. Gorm spares Arius, and thus begins the long march of Pictish
conquest.

1730 AA
Aquilonia conquers Ophir.

1735 AA
The first Pictish mercenaries enter Aquilonian service, much to the disgust of the
Bossonians.

1740 AA
Aquilonia conquers western Shem, which was held by Koth. Koth and Corinthia pay
tribute to Aquilonia, though Koth begins working with other nations secretly against
Aquilonia.
Nemedia makes an alliance with Brythunia and Zamora, and secretly Koth, against
Aquilonia. This alliance is first tested against an invading horde of Turanians and
Hyrkanians, who sweep over Zamora, ravage Corinthia, and invade Brythunia. The
alliance, led by the Nemedians, extirpate the invading force on the Lema Plains south of
the capital of Kelbaza. The force, and most subsequent forces, include many mercenary
Cimmerians, Zingarans, and Shemites. The Nemedians occupy Zamora, and keep
garrisons in Brythunia and Corinthia.

1741 AA
Turanians again invade Zamora, and the Zamorans, Nemedians, and Brythunians push
them back, aided secretly by Koth.

1742 AA
The Stygians are defeated at a great battle by the Aquilonians, but rather than try to
occupy the vast kingdom, the Aquilonians satisfy themselves with tribute.
1743 AA
Turanians invade Zamora a third time, losing to an alliance of Zamora, Nemedia,
Brythunia, and Hyperborea aided (yet again) secretly by Koth.

1745 AA
Great battle between Aquilonia and Hyperborea in the Border Kingdom. Hyperborea
loses, but Aquilonia does not push its advantage.

1746 AA
An Aquilonian army under the leadership of a rogue general invades Asgard from the
Border Kingdom. The army is slaughtered in the lands of the Wolfraven Kings. It is said
the Aesir had assistance from “rogue” Hyperborean wizards.

1747 AA
Fourth and final invasion of the Turanians, repulsed by the Zamorans, Nemedians, and
Brythunians, aided (as usual) secretly by Koth.

1750 AA
The Aquilonians, with Zingaran, Ophirean, Argosean, Shemite, and even Stygian and
Pictish auxiliaries and mercenaries, invade Nemedia, which is backed by Brythunians,
Hyperboreans, and Zamorans, plus a dash of Cimmerian, Aesir, and Kothite mercenaries.
The final battles go to the Nemedians, and thus goes the war, as the Aquilonians lose their
Bossonian longbowmen, who retreat to save their own homes, currently being invaded by
the Picts.
Gorm begins his invasion of Aquilonia by ravaging the Bossonian countryside. The
Bossonians, upon hearing of this, return from their service to their Aquilonian masters
and retreat to defend their homes, costing the Aquilonians their war against the
Nemedians.

1752 AA
The Picts are thrust out of the Bossonian Marches by the Bossonians.

1754 AA
The Bossonians are slaughtered by the treacherous Aquilonians, in vengeance for their
abandoning the field in Nemedia.

1755 AA
The Aquilonians (strangely sans Pictish mercenaries) again invade Nemedia. The Picts,
under Gorm (now 55 years old and an old man) invade Southern Bossonia in force, with
his hordes led by generals trained by the Aquilonians! Bossonia falls, and the last
remnants of the Southern Bossonian people are extirpated. The Imperialists in Tarantia
take little heed, pressing the battle in Nemedia.

1756 AA
The Picts move out of Southern Bossonia and into the Tauran, burning and pillaging as
they go. The Aquilonians finally notice, and withdraw a few troops from the Nemedian
invasion. The army sent to stop the Picts is extirpated. The Tauran is overrun by the end
of the campaign season.

1757 AA
The Gundermen of the Aquil0nian army, hearing of the Pictish invasion, abandon their
posts and return to Gunderland at the end of winter. Zingara, Argos, and Shem explode in
rebellion against the Aquilonians. The Aquilonians retreat from the field in Nemedia, and
are routed as they flee.
At the beginning of spring two Pictish armies leave the ravaged lands of the Tauran. One
army invades the Central Provinces, the other invades Gunderland. The southern force
sweeps over the land and razes several Aquilonian cities, while the northern force is
thrust back by the Gundermen pike. The tattered Aquilonian army meets the southern
force at Pellia, and is about to destroy it when the northern Pictish army joins the fray and
extirpates the Aquilonian force. The Picts winter in the Central Provinces, while the
tattered remnants of the Aquilonian army retreats to Tarantia. The “provincial” forces in
Zingara, Argos, and Shem are never heard from again.

1758 AA
The Aquilonians find, much to their chagrin, that mercenaries cannot be had for any
price, as the normal companies of Free Companions are all busy employed by the
Kothites (now invading Shem) or building their own kingdoms in Zingara, Argos, and
Shem. Only the Ophireans answer their call, and there are few enough of them left after
the debacles at Belverus and Pellia. The rag-tag remnants of the Imperial Army, plus a
few Ophireans and such militia as could be rounded up or shanghaied, meet at Tarantia
and await the invasion… which never comes. For the Picts, reinforced from the
motherland by thousands of new recruits, invade Tanasul and Shamar, where the
Aquilonian forces are thin. Foolishly, the Aquilonian Emperor splits his forces and has
them march out to meet the Picts. Both forces are slaughtered, but only by the end of the
season. By the end of the year more than half of Aquilonia is in Pictish hands, leaving
only Tarantia, Poitain, and Gunderland free of the savage flood.
Note that Gunderland has absorbed most of Northern Bossonia, those bits that were not
taken by the Picts or the Cimmerians. Thus, the Gundermen have the last remaining
contingents of Bossonian archers of all the Aquilonian forces.
Meanwhile, the Nemedians foolishly decide to take advantage of the Aquilonian troubles
and withdraw their forces from Zamora, Corinthia, and Brythunia in order to attack
Tarantia. Before the last soldiers march from Arenjun rumblings could be heard from
Turan…
Zingara, Argos, and Shem are caught up in internecine wars, while Koth is busy invading
northwestern Shem and absorbing Khoraja and Khauran.

1759 AA
The Aquilonians of Tarantia are able to breath a sigh of relief, though only barely, as the
Pictish forces, again reinforced from the homeland by thousands of warriors, are
temporarily set back by attacks from Gunderland and Poitain. These two forces tie the
Picts down for the entire campaign season, though it ends up being a one-time event, as
both are subsequently attacked from behind, the Gundermen by invading Cimmerians and
the Poitainians by rogue Zingaran forces.
The Nemedians are also unable to take advantage of the Aquilonian situation as they are
simultaneously invaded from both the north and the east. The Cimmerians boil out of
their misty hills, extirpate the petty princelings of the Border Kingdom, and invade Tor
and the Northern March. Meanwhile, the Turanians and Hyrkanians invade on two fronts.
The Turanians invade Zamora and quickly overrun the weakened cities, slaughtering
thousands and pillaging wherever they go. At the same time a horde of Hyrkanians, led
by the Kuigar tribe (whose leaders were known as the “Blue-Eyes” for their ancient line
of great warrior-khans with glittering blue eyes) cross the icy deserts and tundras north of
the Vilayet and invade Brythunia. By the end of summer small skirmishes between east
and west have occurred on the Nemedian borders.
Zingara dissolves even further into pocket princedoms, while Argos settles down, each
city becoming a state unto itself with a nominal alliance formed at Messantia, the ancient
capital. Western Shem is united under the King of Asgalun, save for Eruk, which is
occupied by the Kothites, and Shushan, which has been taken by a mercenary Stygian
and his army.

1760 AA (960 TR)

The Picts, even further reinforced, to numbers which defy all sense and reason, are
unified into one army again under Gorm and pointed directly at Tarantia. With the
Gundermen and Poitainians occupied by their own problems, and the Nemedians troubled
on their northern and eastern border, the Tarantians stand alone. Even the remnants of the
Ophireans have abandoned them, as advance Hyrkanian forces are invading the eastern
reaches from Corinthia. It is then, with a terrible horde of Picts covering the earth around
the city of Tarantia for as far as the eye could see, that the Emperor descends into
madness, and calls upon his Magister to cast a great spell “to rid Us once and for all of
these beasts.”
Pelianthes the Mighty, Magister of the Aquilonian Emperor, attempts to destroy the Picts
using the Acheronian Spell of Eldritch Alteration, which should turn all the Picts within a
hundred miles “into the simple beasts they are.” It backfires, miserably, as the spell
transforms most of the Picts (more than a hundred thousand) into half-men, half-beasts…
beastmen, including orcs and ogres. Gorm himself is transformed into an ogre of most
potent form. The spell also shatters the seals placed long ages ago on the gates to Goblin,
and weakens those placed on the gates to Faerie. Many Acheronian mummies chuckle in
their sepulchers. While their transformation confuses the Picts for a time, it slows them
not at all, and the raging horde turns on the city tooth and claw (literally). Tarantia falls,
the walls and buildings are razed to the ground, and all occupants are slaughtered without
mercy. The last remnant of the Aquilonian Empire dies in a single day in fire and blood
and slaughter. The Picts thereafter settle down for a while and consolidate their position
in Aquilonia, satisfying themselves with small raids against Gunderland, Poitain, and
Nemedia. Most see their transformation as an improvement, a blessing of their patron
god, Jhebbal Sag.
The Hyrkanians who invaded Brythunia the prior year, the Kuigar, seem satisfied to
simply skirmish with the Nemedians as they pillage, rape, and plunder their way across
the land. Similarly, the more civilized Turanians are pleased to consolidate their holdings
in Zamora and take Corinthia city by city (with small raids far and wide). This leaves the
Nemedians time to repel the Cimmerian invasion, which they do (at great cost) by the end
of the season. The Nemedians begin to employ whole tribes of Aesir in their battles
against the Cimmerians and Hyrkanians.

1761 AA
The Kuigar continue to pillage Brythunia and skirmish with the Nemedians,
Hyperboreans, and even the Turanians. The Turanians continue to slowly absorb
Corinthia, even though the Nemedians are providing the city states with as much
assistance as possible.

1762 AA
The King of Shem takes Shushan.

1763 AA
The Kuigar Great Khan attempts an invasion of Cimmeria after a young Cimmerian
warrior slays his elder son in drunken combat. The Kuigar are initially successful, but the
Cimmerians take the fore when the horde reaches the high hills, and the Great Khan is
slain. The Kuigar retreat to Brythunia where the Khan’s younger son, Tanaka (age
Coo l

1FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=Cool" ,
is elected Great Khan. He marries his brother’s widow, the daughter of his father’s
greatest enemy (now deceased). Her three-year old son by the elder brother is packed
away and never heard from again.

1764 AA
The King of Shem takes Eruk.
Tanaka Khan cements his control of the Kuigar Khans and roots out all dissent. He also
approaches the Turanians, seeking to build an alliance. Kuigar assistance at several
battles in Corinthia ends up being central to Turanian success.

1765 AA
The Picts boil out of Aquilonia and Pictland and invade Zingara in great numbers. The
pocket princelings fall in quick succession until thousands of Zingarans flee their nation
on foot or by sea. Many flee to Argos.
Tanaka Khan, the Great Khan of the Kuigar, cements the union between the Hyrkanians
and the Turanians by marrying the only daughter of King Yaraghan VII (his second wife).
Yaraghan dies the next day, apparently drowning in his own seraglio while in a drunken
stupor. Tanaka Khan takes the next five years to meld his Turanian and Hyrkanian forces
into a single, unstoppable horde.
Duke Garman of Gunderland dies in battle with Goblins. His 25-year old son, Gerald,
ascends the throne, but refuses to take the title of King… as yet.

1766 AA
Koth dissolves into civil war, with factions spurred on by both Tanaka Khan and the King
of Shem. Shem invades southwestern Koth.

1768 AA
Shem conquers western Koth, while the King of eastern Koth applies to Tanaka Khan for
“assistance.” His kingdom is quietly absorbed.

1770 AA (970 TR)

The hordes of Tanaka Khan invade Shem. The battle is fast and fierce, and the eastern
reached of the kingdom quickly fall to the unstoppable hordes.
The Picts and beastmen invade Argos and Ophir. Both nations, bankrupted and on the
verge of collapse already, fall quickly, and savages rule both lands before the year is out.
Only Ianthe is spared their depredations (at this time) as a force of Nemedians, backed by
their Aesir federates and a motley crew of wizards from various Hyborian nations, holds
the city to keep the Great Bridge from falling into Pictish hands.

1773 AA (973 TR)

The bestial Picts and the Hyrkanians first encounter each other in full force in the ruined
city of Khorshemish. The battle goes to the Picts this time.

1774 AA (974 TR)

The Hyrkanians take Eastern Ophir from the Picts.

1775 AA (975 TR)

Asgalun, the last city held by the King of Shem, falls to the Hyrkanians, and Shem is no
more.

1780 AA (980 TR)

Tanaka Khan beings the reduction of Stygia.
By this time Nemedia is the only remaining major Hyborian kingdom, and has
maintained a level of civilization only through sacrificing much of its “Hyborian”
character. The army is led and mostly composed of Aesir, who have adopted many
Nemedian ways. Many Aesir have married into the noble families and been granted lands
within Nemedia to defend. The Belveran Guard is composed entirely of Aesir/Nemedian
warriors of the second generation. Though many Aesir have adopted worship of Mitra,
most maintain their pagan ways or combine the beliefs.
Duke Gerald of Gunderland proclaims the official death of the Aquilonian Empire and
takes the title King of Gunderland.

1785 AA (985 TR)

Tanaka Khan conquers Stygia, continues on through to conquer Keshan and most of
Kush.
Meanwhile, Gorm, now 80 years old and still feeling sprightly, spurs his people on to
conquer western Shem and Koth while Tanaka Khan is otherwise occupied.
Avernus, the only son of the king of Nemedia, disappears after being accused of sorcery
and attempted regicide/patricide.
1790 AA (990 TR)
Tanaka Khan is poised to invade Amazonia, Nuevo Zingara, and finish off Kush when he
realizes that the Picts mean business, and returns to push the Picts back from Shem and
Koth. He returns to the north and begins reducing the Pictish tribes in his former lands.

1795 AA (995 TR)

Tanaka Khan re-conquers the northern lands lost to the Picts. Unfortunately, rebellion
rises in the Black Kingdoms and Stygia, and he is forced to return south.
Gorm, now 90-years old, leads an invasion of Nemedia. He comes face to face with
Hialmar, the Great Chief of the Nemedian Aesir and the General of Nemedian forces, and
is slain in hand to hand combat. The Picts fall into utter chaos and each tribe (human and
beastmen) begins carving its own territory out of the empire.
The Witch King appears among the White Claw Goblins, blasts their leader with his
potent magics, and immediately begins consolidating his power in the former Duchy of
Tanasul. Her immediately has his forces begin building a magnificent tower and dungeon
complex in the heights of the Border Range between Tanasul and Tor.

1800 AA (1000 TR)

The Pictish tribes rule the west, including their ancient homelands, Aquilonia (minus
Gunderland and Poitain), Zingara, and are in the process of re-conquering parts of Argos,
Ophir, western Koth, and western Shem from the Hyrkanians. The sons of the Hyborians
are slaughtered, while their daughters are reduced to concubinage. Save in Poitain and
Gunderland, Aquilonian culture has been extirpated.
The Ligurians, the ancient allies of the Picts, are allowed freedom and life; they occupy
the lands once held by the Southern Bossonians and the Tauran, in an uneasy peace with
the Gundermen. The Great Druid, worried about the imbalance created when the eastern
Picts were mostly transformed into orcs and ogres, and the gates to Goblin were swung
wide open, casts a great spell which sweeps away the final seals and opens wide the gates
to Faerie. Elves, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes come through and settle in the shattered
and emptied lands between the human Picts and the bestial Picts, carving out a small
kingdom in the Central Provinces, between the Ligurians and the Orcs of the Red Claw.
The Hyrkanians rule Turan, Brythunia, Zamora, Corinthia, western Koth, and western
Shem, plus most of Argos and Ophir. Tanaka Khan, absorbed in putting down rebellion in
the Black Kingdoms and in Stygia, fails to hold onto his westernmost territories, which
are being invaded by the Picts yet again. He abandons his southern efforts, slaughtering
and enslaving tens of thousands in the process, and returns north to put paid to the Picts
once and for all.
Only the small kingdoms of Gunderland, in northern Aquilonia, and Poitain, in southern
Aquilonia, remain of the once great empire. Gunderland attempts to re-colonize Tanasul,
but is thrown back by the Witch King. Both sons of King Gerald are slain this year,
though his line continues in his grandson Garrick, born on a battlefield in Tanasul. This
year, also, the King of Poitain is slain in battle with Picts, and the Seven Bishops take
over the kingdom in the name of Mitra.
The Witch King conquers the Red Claw Orcs, and begins to assimilate them into his
kingdom.
The northlands are still held by the Aesir, Vanir, and Cimmerians, as well as the much-
reduced Hyperboreans.
By the end of the year the south is held by a weakened and de-populated Stygia, which is
being hard pressed by the more numerous and vigorous Kushites and Keshites to the
south, as well as by the remnants of the Hyrkanians who did not return to the north with
Tanaka Khan.

1805 AA (1005 TR)

Tanaka Khan has, by this time, cleared Shem of all Pictish tribes and bands. He installs
his son Jamuqua as Khan of the Land of the White Sheep, to oversee the management of
the lands and their defense against the Picts.
Magnus, son of the Nemedian Aesir Great Chief and General Hialmar, marries Amalia,
the daughter and last living child of the elderly King of Nemedia. Both are young, him
20, she 15 years of age, the youngest allowed by Nemedian law.
The Witch King has, by this time, consolidated the entire lands of the former Duchies of
Tanasul and Tarantia under his leadership. He invades the Nemedian Duchy of Tor with
his White Claw Goblins and Red Claw Orcs. He has great success in the first year of the
invasion.

1806 AA
The Witch King’s invasion fails when his Red Claw Orcs rebel and his lands to the west
are invaded by forces from the Fair Kingdom. The Witch King seems to fall in battle
against Prince Magnus of Nemedia, with whom he sought hand-to-hand combat, but the
body is never found.

1810 AA
Tanaka Khan has, by this time, cleared Koth of all Pictish tribes and bands. He installs his
son Jangahir as Khan of the Land of the Golden Serpent, to oversee the management of
the lands and their defense against the Picts.
The Witch King reappears in Tanasul, seemingly alive and whole, though more corrupted
by wizardry than before, and reclaims his throne. It takes him five years to consolidate
his hold on his now fractious Goblin followers. He never is able to regain the allegiance
of the Red Claw Orcs.

1812 AA
Jangahir Khan re-conquers the Ophir Meadowlands and extirpates the Pictish Black
Horse Tribe which formerly possessed that land.

1813 AA
The Witch King invades the Fair Kingdom, but his forces are repulsed.

1815 AA (1015 TR)

Tanaka Khan returns to Turan to put down a rebellion by his son, Yezandir, and the old
Turanian nobility.
Jangahir Khan attempts an invasion of Ianthe, but is repulsed by the native forces
working in combination with an army from Nemedia.
The King of Nemedia dies, and Magnus is crowned king.
King Gerald of Gunderland dies in battle against the Cimmerians. Princess Albiona
becomes regent for her 15-year old son, Prince Garrick.

1816 AA
The entire population of the city of Tor in Nemedia dies in a single day. Within a week
the Witch King and his Goblin army cross the mountains and invade.

1818 AA
The Turanian Rebellion is crushed and most of the old Turanian nobility is slaughtered or
enslaved and sold to kingdoms in the far east. Tanaka Khan kills his son, Yezandir, with
his own hands by garroting.
The White Sheep Khanate conquers the Plain of Shamu of Ophir, formerly held by the
White Wolf Goblins, who are extirpated.

1819 AA
Jangahir Khan attempts a second invasion of Ianthe, and again fails, though his own
wizardry helps tilt the balance at times.

1820 AA
Tanaka Khan further organizes his empire by placing his son Subotai in charge of the
Land of the White Tiger.
After a hard-fought four year war the forces of the Witch King are repulsed from the
Duchy of Tor.

1821 AA
The Witch King captures the northern terminus of the Goblin Ford and builds a citadel on
the northern bank of the river.
Prince Garrick of Gunderland ascends to his throne as the second King of Gunderland.
Princess Regent Albiona is proclaimed Queen Mother of Gunderland.
The White Sheep Khanate conquers the former Duchy of Shamar of Aquilonia, displacing
the Black Claw Orcs, who are routed and destroyed as a tribe.

1822 AA
Tanaka Khan grants the city of Zamboula to his daughter, Itugen, as the Black Bull
Khanate. He also puts the day to day running of the Khanate of Turan in the hands of his
son, Mongke, and turns to the semi-retirement of hunting and traveling between the
capitals of his sons. Tanaka Khan winters at Seven Stone with his son Subotai. He denies
Subotai the right to invade and conquer Nemedia… for the moment.

1823 AA
The citadel at Goblin Ford complete, the Witch King begins sending his forces
sporadically across the Goblin Ford. Those who survive the onslaught of the Treants and
other forest creatures begin raiding western Gunderland.
Tanaka Khan winters at Asgalun with his son Jamuqua. He orders him to leave off from
the northern conquests and concentrate on retaking Stygia and the southern kingdoms. He
suggests his son Temujin should administrate the newly conquered northern territories as
a separate Khanate.

1824 AA
In early spring of this year the Black Sheep Khanate is sliced away from the White Sheep
Khanate, and young Temujin Khan wends his way north to claim his new domain. His
advance guard pushes the Red Claw Orcs back, north of the Road of Kings, as per orders.
In midsummer he arrives at the ruins of Tarantia and sets up camp. His servants discover
the Hidden Treasury of the Canacarius Dynasty and he becomes intrigued by the tale of
King Conan the Great. His wazir, Imhotep, begins collecting myths, legends, and tales for
his master’s amusement and pleasure.

1825 AA (1025 TR)

Beginning of the Darkest Age campaign.

2000 AA
Beginning of the mini-glacial period known as the Wurm Glaciation.

2050 AA
Cimmerians invade the southern lands in force, with the Nordics (Aesir and Vanir) close
behind. Aesir tribes overrun Hyperborea. The Aesir-ruled kingdom of Nemedia is
shattered; the survivors flee to the south and settle in the central lands of what used to be
Koth. A large band of Aesir settle in ancient Brythunia, and adopt the name for their own.
The western lands become a patchwork of Pictish, Nordic and Cimmerian barbarian
clans. The Hyrkanians are cast back into their ancient homeland of Turan.

2100 AA
Cimmerians destroy the Hyrkanian Kingdom of Turan. The Hyrkanians flee to the east,
dragging thousands of Zingaran and Zamoran slaves with them. Vanir invade and conquer
much of Stygia. Most of the Khari descendant Stygians flee far to the west, to an island in
the Western Ocean.

2300 AA
The Thurian Cataclysm destroys the Thurian Continent.