Ended up skimming the Pox story sections on the site, and that combined with some rune descriptions actually paints a fair picture of the stuff that happens. Here's an outline of some of the chronology. I'm trying to stick purely to the canon here (that's the source of the bad pun in the title) but have a couple points of speculation. Also, there are several inconsistencies, and not just in the timeline -- anyone ever heard of "Valdec"? This outline only hits points up to about Drums of War, but includes some information from expansions as late as Brood Call. ("Now" is a vague time. For the most part, I consider the present to be an approximately 10 year period around the start of the Nora Wars, which is the first stage in the familiar 8-faction conflict. Some important events fall in relation to that abstract "now," so it's important to at least have a sense of their relation.) ~2000 years ago -- The Separation A sub-group of Sheoul demons emerge onto the surface in search of nora for one of their underground wars. As part of this effort, they harness some form of solar power, which causes enormous physical change on the world's surface. The Separation caused the following physical events: the creation of both the Shattered Peaks and Forglar Swamp from the old Eternal Spires, and the emergence of the Savage Tundra from the northern section of the K'Thir Forest. The Separation caused the following political events: the formation of the Eternal Circle within K'Thir, the initiation of the war between Valdec and Elsarin, and the collapse of the Cyclopse Empire and subsequent freeing of the Salaman and G'Hern from slavery. The Garu also appear at this time, although the exact timing of this event remains open -- the Lonx are supposedly tundra descendants of the Garu, but the Garu appeared only after the Separation, which would have broken the land already. It makes sense therefore that the Garu merely didn't emerge until the Separation, but still existed in some capacity prior to that. The Boghoppers appear after the separation. Other peoples of Poxanthru speculate that, along with the Garu, these two races are to be the "new protectors" of the nora, to replace the elves. (I'd suspect that the formation of the Eternal Circle is something like a Counter-Reformation by the elves, done to re-affirm their position as a governing race.) ~2000 years ago -- Living Serkan At some point after the Separation, Serkan is born and lives. He takes another living pupil, Xulos, and together they endeavor to create an army of the undead to aid Elsarin in its war against Valdec. The Elsarin powers that be deem this form of necromancy dangerous and subversive, and he is cast out. He is murdered, although it's unclear by whom. Judging by later events, Xulos might have killed Serkan, but it seems more likely that the murder was performed by a member of the Elsarin political structure. In death, Serkan finds his way to the Utterdark, the spectral denizens of which offer him a pact: they will return him to unlife and grant him their forces if he helps usher them into the material world. He accepts (although he doesn't reemerge on the actual landscape until much later). ~??? years ago -- The Nefari splintering At some point after the creation of the Eternal Circle, a non-violent political group called the Nefari forms, which seeks more equitable and liberal distribution of nora. Radicals, the Nefari eventually separate from K'Thir to avoid conflict, and, unknowingly, move into the old demon tunnels from the Separation. In these tunnels, they hope to forge a better life and find greater supplies of nora. ~50 years ago -- The Catastrophe The Catastrophe was caused by an enormous techno-magical bomb created by the Valdeci in the Elsarin-Valdeci conflict. The bomb firked up a whole lot of stuff, not just Elsarin. The Catastrophe comprises all the events that take place as a direct result of the bomb detonation. The Catastrophe caused the following physical events: the spread of mutation within Valdec, which causes the Changing (Dragonkin mutation) and wipes out crops; the sealing of the demon tunnels, trapping the Nefari beneath the surface; and the resurrection of the dead within Elsarin (I would speculate that this resurrection also included Xulos, Serkan's old pupil). The Catastrophe caused the following political events: the shift to the preaching of the "words of Dalnis" rather than that of the old Dragon Gods within Valdec, and the subsequent persecution of the Changed within Valdec; and the changing of tensions between Valdec and Elsarin (it's weird to think they might in any way improve after bombing the hell out of each other, but there you go). ~50 years ago -- The journey of Rugloth and the dwarves Immediately following the detonation of the Valdeci super-weapon, the Valdeci powers send Rugloth into Elsarin to scout the territory and route whatever remains of the Elsarin forces. Upon arriving in Elsarin, Rugloth encounters the endless army of the undead. Unable to make headway, he orders a retreat back into Valdec. As he returns to Valdec, Rugloth sees the effects of the Change and the Catastrophe, Rugloth decides to abandon Valdec and take any who will follow him up to the Ironfist Stronghold, ancestral home of the dwarves. He is accompanied in this endeavor by Semmir the Brave. ~49 years ago (estimated based upon the age of Akakios) -- The flight of Bladen Windfury and son Akakios Bladen Windfury begins to succumb to the Change, and attempts to flee with his human son Akakios to Elsarin, which has become hospitable territory for the Dragonkin. He is pursued by a priest of Dalnis. Eventually corned in a town close to the Elsarin border, Bladen murders the priest, leaving Akakios to be adopted by the town guard captain. After spending several years in prison, Bladen eventually goes free along with his fellow captives; they wander off into the dunes, towards the Shattered Peaks, where Bladen eventually finishes his transformation into the dragon know as The Exile. ~45 years ago -- The Nefari pact After several years trapped within the tunnels, the Nefari splinter group eventually encounters Maxxarek, a demon from She'ol who, along with his forces, has been pushed out of the lower pits. He makes a deal with the Nefari: the two groups will join forces, first to conquer the over-world and seek vengeance for the abandonment by K'Thir, and then to turn back into the earth and allow Maxxarek to seize the demonic lands. The Nefari agree. ~??? -- Creation of the false Lich King After his resurrection, presumably during or after the Catastrophe, Xulos creates a figurehead Lich King -- a puppet undead which will obey his commands. He fashions it in the image of the ancient and legendary Serkan, so that it might better control and command the respect of the rest of the world. The real Serkan remains, at this time, in the Utterdark. ~Year 0 -- Initiation (Drums of War) Several events occur in close temporal proximity, all of which lead to the start of the full-scale Nora Wars: Xulos begins to move his forces by sea to assault the Tundra; the Voil, suddenly returned and more warlike, launch an assault on the denizens of Forglar Swamp; the Centaurs, nomads on the eastern K'Thir plains, move to aid the Stronghold against the attacks of the Draksar Empire; and the Nefari emerge from the tunnels with their demonic allies (or overlords, depending upon how you want to read it) and begin their campaign against K'Thir. Conflicts: Attackers come first, with arrows indicating the direction of the attack (it's mostly Wrath). Draksar Empire -> Ironfist (+ K'Thir) Nefari -> K'Thir Wastes -> J'Thir (Tundra) Wastes -> Ironfist Peaks -> Forglar (Wastes -> Everyone. They're ostensibly allies, but Xulos also has kinda declared war on all of life.) Hope that gives everyone some general sense of the Pox story line up to the start of the game. I really don't know much about stuff that happens around Dire Covenant and especially Maljara, but it should be ok. Some of the early Pox lore is (surprisingly) readable, and can be good fun. The Brood Call vignette, for example, has some serious pacing issues and weird changes in narrative voice that don't do it any favors, but a couple moments really stood out to me. The fundamental framework of the larger story feels solid. I just hope that the later explorations hold up. There are several more interesting events and people -- Dalnis in particular -- but I'll get to those later. To the lore buffs out there: if I made any mistakes, or you have anything to add, please comment. Cheers.
I don't recall clearly where, but I think one of he first aggressions happened from SL older empire, pre mutation, to Elsarin, before they were called the wastes. And that is what actually started the whole necromancy thing, given everyone was about to die and was hellbent on magic. But this quarrel died with both empires.
Yeah, they were at war for a good 2000 years before they became SL and FW and became loose allies. FW still hates IS's guts for being the old Valdeci though.
Not from what I can tell. I'm checking back through the main sources I used, but from what I remember, the Separation actually spurs the rivalry between the two nations. If you find a source on it somewhere though, that would be awesome.
a very good read. I find a lot of lore aspects in the flavor text. I always wonder if the Ironfist where the royal house of Valdaci or just the remain of the greatest noble dwarven family. Unfortunatly i didn't find an answer yet. And there are other of these kind of question without a real answer.
That last line especially is more accurate than many people might think. From the Drums of War: "Despite their history for living in harmony with the cultures around them, the Voil seem bent on war." It's easy to interpret that as Eehiist just galvanizing her race, and driving them to conflict. One point against the Cyclops though is that they did have slaves of several other races, and as we can see from the Cyclopalypse Cannon, they had advanced and destructive tools. I think they could be both. "Ironfist" is the family name of Dwarves, first and foremost, reinforced by the Ironfist Stronghold being their ancestral home. It's also a noble lineage. It certainly seems to me like they held positions of importance within Valdec, but that nation also had many humans, who seemed to play just as important a role, if not a more important role, in the governance of the nation than the dwarves did (based on the human population and experienced in stories and flashbacks like Brood Call).
Yeah, the Separation screwed them up real bad -- half their nation got flooded and turned into a swamp, the other half broke apart and turned into a bunch of mountains. Tough to come back from that.
love the lore. Wish we knew more about the utter dark. Also them undead be brewing something wicked cruel and cold in the ST with all that hoarfrost business.
If you like FW lore, I actually have a little piece on Xulos I want to put together. He shows up all over the place, and as a character he has a lot to him.
@kalasle now you got 2 degree!! also PoxHistory!!! good read and all hail the Voil Queen ( poor Ruubagal married with such a b***h
really hoping the next expansion to the lore adds a new area with new factions like maljara, i can really see some janky cross protectorate-wrath races on the horizon
With the way the game is currently heading the revival of the cyclops empire is being timed perfectly with the old firk empire seeping into Poxanthru it's kinda fitting seeing a fearsome olden empire go up against an ancient god and his army.
Current relations? UD <> KF FW <> ST SL <> IS SP <> FS We know they hare each other. What about the current political allies? Good job btw.
I think those are generally the big rivalries. Most of the factions have a special quality or two though. FS is especially passive and defensive, mostly protecting their land and doing little else; they like home turf. UD almost exclusively fights KF, both because of geographic proximity and a seething hatred. IS and KF form the backbone of the Protectorate in my eyes, and together they boast the largest, most accessible, and most central cities and trading routes. Wrath most directly threatens their land, as a result of that central nature. Of the Wrath factions, SP cares the least for allies. Despite FW's and UD's relative antagonism towards other members of the Wrath, SP just doesn't care -- they already have internal problems and in-groups. Although the same could be said for the Protectorate factions, especially as the wars progress, that internal division runs especially strong in Wrath. UD depends upon a semi-spiteful relationship between torturers and willing captors, and demons are particularly prone to turning on their own kind. Despite their strong internal discipline, SL had the rebellion. FW has the most subtle and and amorphous internal problems -- Serkan and Xulos. ST and FW are at odds, but I see that as the most linear, resource-based conflict in Pox: FW hates living stuff, and ST has both a lot of living stuff and plenty of nora (the surge started there). I'd need to do more research to guess at the current political structure, particularly because this current outline leaves out Maljara. That said, I think the strongest alliance set is between Ironfist, K'Thir, and J'Thir. That trio forms a solid, intertwined core of defense and mostly-benevolent interests. They remain in constant communication, and despite hiccups, also remain on good terms. Within Wrath, the best relations seem to be between SL and FW. They are close together, and bond over a consuming hatred of IS -- SL because of the perceived betrayal after the Catastrophe, and FW because IS embodies the current Valdeci. I'd want to look over a lot more stuff, mainly later lore and a broader base of flavor text, before putting much more on current relations.
Allies ? Legit I don't think there are any ally's, just races (minorities) that fall into two different factions but at the same time exist outside the current tensions of the faction.
Just note that: inside IS there is now the "rebellion" of barbarian, with Bastion who lead them. And some centuar of K'thir aid them against both Stronghold and K'thir K'thir civil war - centuar loyal to the circle and other k'thir's races VS Centaur who follow : "They are worse than enemies - They are traitors, and are even less deserving of our mercy than an insect! I don't care what Bliss says!" D'elim, Apex of the Circle IS civil war - this really not confirmed, because i find only the will to start a conflict by one side: "Tell your king the Sarnghaver is no longer his concern. I am their guardian now." - Bastion the Avenger For that reason i think that the relationship between IS and KF became more hard and complicate, in top of the fact that Sarnghaver divides the Stronghold and the core of K'thir And there is for sure another internal conflict in IS between: Dwarf and Inquisition: Dwarven don't like Inquisition ->St. Semmir's Men are a secretive sect who opposes the increasing radicalization of mainstream Ironfist culture. They are particularly against the Northern Cross Templars' heavy handed ways, tho do admit there's validity to the groups' goals. Inquisition power is established->The Northern Cross Templars have gained serious ground in recent decades, consolidating power over a large portion of the country-side. The Inquisition remains in control over most of the more heavily populated areas.
