The Present

The combination of the Demongate Wars and the Aaduan Devastation marked 672 AR as the end of the Fourth Age. Currently, the world is 25 years into the Fifth Age, which has no title since it has yet to finish. Humanity has shown its resilience again, but whether it will be enough to survive this time remains to be seen.

The Runir Reappear
672 AR

There was one positive result of the Aaduan Devastation – the Runir reappeared. As such, most scholars have put this event into the Fifth Age to start it off with something good. The dwarves had not actually left over 4,000 years ago, but had been trapped in megalithic stones in the centers of their cities. They are unclear as to the cause of this, but a side effect of the release of the chaos orb energies was the destruction of these stones, which resulted in freeing the Runir.

It has taken some time for the dwarves to recover, due in large part to the deaths of most of their adult population when the stones shattered. But they are finally in a position where they are able to hold their old. The Runir stand side-by-side with humanity now, both threatened by the evil and chaos around them, and both determined to fight to rebuild their civilizations.

Current Year
697 AR

The present year is 697 AR. The future is not certain – Syrhaat continues to decline as it has been since before Marasinia was a problem and while the Shadrathu are still shackled, their influence creeps yet farther into the world. Entire kingdoms lay in ruin or struggle to survive. The wilderness is more dangerous than ever, cults of the Dark Gods are on the rise, and only a small portion of Ryh’ardha can truly be labelled “civilized”. The future is still uncertain, but it most certainly will be interesting.