Post Cataclysm Timeline *SPOILERS*

So the Fomorian wars were not too long after the collapse of the Obsidian Order? The sneak peek seemed to imply that it had happened in much more recent history, presuming the context is a couple years before the beginning of Forsaken Virtues (which we should tentatively say is the year 400 post-cataclysm).

 

Do we have any indications about how fast the Obsidian Order rises? For some reason I have it in my mind that it happened fast, perhaps because they practiced magic in a better way than anyone else post-cataclysm. At least in the prologue it seems like the order is well established already in the Eye's lifetime. There were many more advanced than the young acolyte who was asked to attend the prophecy. I imagine decades instead of 50 year blocks. Of course, speculating again.

 

My thinking is this..

To me it makes the most sense that the Fomorian Wars would occur almost immediately following the end of the Obsidian War.. The Fomorians were created specifically for war and they've just lost their masters. Suddenly they have no home. No masters. No one to obey and no where they can call their own. What else are they going to do but fight and try to establish their place in the world?

The Obsidian Eye didn't sell the cabal on world conquest it seems until the prophecy. So it is unlikely they already have an army at that time. They needed to raise an army of soldiers large enough to challenge the city states. For that you need money.. LOTS of money and resources.. I give it 10-20 years.

I'm using 50 year periods right now to keep estimates loose. We simply don't have any dates. Only events and what order they likely occurred in.

 

That makes perfect sense.

About the Obsidians, pure speculation is that they could have infiltrated/convinced/magically charmed warlords or leaders of city states to take advantage of existing forces. But I agree that there would be some time involved. To be able to range as far west as Opalis would have taken some time.

 

That's a good point concerning warlords. They could have just as easily made some sort of deal with one or two.. in fact it makes good sense to start there, but they would still need to organized under the Obsidian banner, have ridiculous armor made etc. . I believe it's implied that they have already captured the peninsula (Dracvald) by BotA and of naturally were in complete control of the Grunvald as well. Once they had Dracvald, financing the war would've been much easier since they would control the Graff mines.

hmm and they were just finishing the conquest of Midmaer at the beginning of BotA. It's hard to guestimate how long organizing and conquest would've taken though. Months? Years? Starting with warlords and mercs.. I'm inclined to guess building the initial army closer to 5 years opposed to my original 10-20.. though admittedly I know little of such things. I'm just picking numbers I would find believable.

 

The main force of the Obsidians during Blade of the Avatar was the Eastreach Army, which makes sense if they held Drachvald (there is an H in there) and Grunvald. Since their capital of Desolis is in Grunvald, that is a fair assumption. Ardoris was held by a warlord (Shogun) at the time, and still it today, so we can assume they didn't fall to the Obsidian Order (or was able to reestablish their traditions rather then being destroyed like Midras). With them just building Hilt, and not having Midras under control, that gives us a good idea of where the Obsidians held sway during the events of the book.

Graff wasn't mentioned in BotA (that I can recall), so its possible that the gem mines were not discovered until after the fall of the Obsidians.

Something to keep in mind is that there are already five more "historical" pieces being worked on. Tracy is writing books two and three that will follow the Blade of the Avatar novel (yay!), plus a trilogy of adventures for Sojourner Tales set prior to the events in SotA. Just keep in mind that anything we guess is, well a guess, and can be overturned when official releases come out. Hopefully we will hear more about the fiction soon!