Ponderan History
50,000 - The earliest primitive Ponderan societies, although they favored different elements based upon their location, had generally permissive attitudes toward a variety of worldviews, viewing mages as equal members of society with duties to the tribe.
-In some tribes, religions began to develop about the most pertinent elements in their lives. This slowly led to a favoring of mages of specific affinities within these tribes and thus led to tribes which were elementally aligned in some way or another.
-The gods come to Nyra.
-The early Noxai and Orderist tribes go to war and the other elements are forced to take sides in what is called the Formation War.
-The Formation War lasts for hundreds of years before the other elemental tribes grow tired of the interchange, beginning to negotiate among themselves in secret.
-The Non-Polar Magical Alliance demands an end to the war and proposes a compromise council for all of the elements, which will rule over a new coalition government.
-The Orderists and the Noxai refuse the coalition government for some time.
-The Noxai are the first to acquiesce, allowing the Non-Polar Magical Alliance the clout that is needed to force the Orderists into the coalition. This creates a confederation of tribes wherein each are given equal say and together they must agree to how things will be planned. Although progress is slow, an era of relative peace results.
-The foundations of all artistic and creative trends are conceived in this era, called the Era of Greatness. Many of the philosophical and scientific legends of modern Ponderan society occur during this era.
-Unknown to everyone else, the Orderists begin forming a secret government which seeks to strategically undermine the Non-Polar Magical Alliance and become a new Order aligned government. The state which is formed in this act comes to later be called the First Empire.
-The Orderists, feeling now their own strength, demand the Orderist council be given a higher station above the rest and thus demand the dissolution of the Non-Polar Magical Alliance. Instead, the doctrine of this era of Orderist politics comes to be called the New Polar Order.
-None of the other councils agree to this affair at first, save for Chaos. The dynamics of the Chaos and Order tribes sabotaging one another in preparation for a coming conflict saps the trust of those within the Non-Polar Magical Alliance, leading to a dissolution.
-The Era of Strife begins, in which the First Empire seeks to establish its territory through conquest. Long, terrible conflicts which scar the land define this era. Many of the greatest works of the Era of Greatness are destroyed.
-The Era of Strife ends in a sort of stalemate. Although the Orderist state has taken considerable territory, it is not supreme.
-The First Empire establishes a city to represent its greatness called Onus. Onus is governed entirely by Orderists and comes to determine the priorities of society. The mage-born who are Order aligned become a privileged class over the next centuries. All mages that are not Orderists are systematically murdered at birth. Only Orderists and non-mages are allowed to be born.
-The First Empire undergoes a long process of decline in which the forces of the resisting Ponderan tribes are able to slowly join together into alliances. Although these alliances are generally dominated by one persuasion or another, there are many multi-polar tribes that rise in this era.
-The tribes have widely varying experiences in resolving or mediating disputes among themselves. Where many are able to mend old rivalries, others choose to rekindle their feuds. Though some conflict defines this era, it is also an era of peace for other regions. The absence of the First Empire’s constant gaze allows new structures to form in the periphery.
-The empire, recognizing that it is faltering, begins to lash out even more viciously than before. However, the different tribes have now joined together into larger confederations and provide more substantial resistance than those same tribes mere years ago. As the tribes responded in kind to Onus’ abuse, the Unification War began.
-Onus loses the war and is forced to pay war reparations. The city of Onus is split into 6 districts where each element will rule apart and together. This new government is based on a document called the New Pact.
[Long era of politics]
-The mage-born begin The Great Pruning, in which they undergo a eugenics campaign to breed the low-born non-mages only with their own kind, particular emphasizing the breeding of the physically muscular, and the mentally unfit, as to create a slave race to serve them. They name this new slave race, the Famulus.
-After many years, a Famulus intermixture is created and they end the interbreeding of Ponderans for this purpose, now only allowing the Famulus to breed with other Famulus.
-The children of Famulus and Ponderans sometimes arise and policy dictates that they are to be killed at birth as aberrations. They are called “Humans.” However, the numbers become far too numerous for such a campaign to be carried out lightly.
-Shortly after the epidemic becomes a problem and as some Ponderan become attached to their Human children, a series of court cases are argued. In these cases, it is disputed whether Humans should be treated as Ponderan or as Famulus. The issue is so contentious that the court is unable to determine how precedent should decide. They submit that an experiment should be had. The Humans, both living and yet to be born, will all be sent to the Lazvarian continent with basic tools and forced to survive. If the Humans can make their way and achieve a Ponderan state of society, they will be accepted as Ponderans. And if they devolve into savagery, they will be treated as Famulus. This comes to be called The Great Project.