I've been working on this setting for a while, and after a few tries, I've put together a timeline! This is my first time writing a homebrew setting, so please be kind and give me ideas and feedback for it!
-The Age of Beginnings-
The world was freshly made by the gods, a world adrift the Astral Plane among others. Life went on as most worlds do; gods created beasts to represent them, and they began to make settlements. This began with the founding of several kingdoms, with their respective gods forcing war upon them, such as the occasional orcish raid sent by Gruumsh (god of Orcs) out of hatred for Corellon (god of Elves), as Moradin (god of Dwarves) went to work crafting the mountain-dwelling Dwarves. Sooner than later, the world was populated and war broke often. During this time, the first King of Ephoris was born: [Deciding, Percival?] Draken. He had united the humans in the area and allied with the elves in the conflict against the Orcs, one that would last for millennia and shed much blood.
-The Age of the Flayed Mind-
Despite its relative isolated location in the Astral Plane, it did not leave it completely safe from outside threats. From massive Nautiliods came Mindflayers on their mission to create the "Grand Design", a vile attempt at assimilation across all things in the known multiverse. They went plane to plane, world to world, searching for more hosts, more resources, more territory. More. They besieged the young world, taking mind after mind, consuming brains and establishing outposts. Nearly 80% of Ephoris' realm was absorbed, made into thralls or transformed into the psionic beasts through a dreadful process called Ceremorphosis. Having established a new branch of their world-spanning empire, they now had yet another foothold to conquer from.
-Age of the Broken Mind-
After some time of the world being consumed by the Illithid presence, whether it be due to the decadence and complacently of the Illithid Empire, or maybe some kind of weakness, the muscle of the empire, that being the Gith, broke free from their mind control. As a united front, they banished the empire in under a year, with nearly their entire presence on the Astral Plane gone and the Illithids hiding in the deepest depths of the Material Plane. Ephoris was free once more, and made an executive order to seal the underground with mass move earth spells and constant surveillance of the underground, later renamed The Underdark. It became a kind of prison network for the royalty of Ephoris, where many, such as the worshipers of Lolth who later became the Drow, and the most greedy of traitorous Dwarves in the Orcish War, who later became the Duergar, were banished. Only the royalty knew of the Underdark prison, as it faded into myth and obscurity.
-Age of Blood-
This period is marked by two things: The Great Orcish Boom, and the Githyanki Raids. The Orcs, who had been longstanding enemies of the Kingdom of Ephoris, decided to fully devote themselves to Gruumsh, allowing them more of his power, along with them practicing more and more rites of violence and bloodshed. Additionally, the Gith had not forgotten this tucked-away plane, as they had devided into two halves: The violent and raiding Githyanki, and the rigid and thoughtful Githzerai. The Gith had divided, with one half wishing to conquer the world like their previous oppressors, and one half who wish to fight the other and keep the world in balance. The Githyanki had decided to establish an outpost on Ephoris, with the intent on hunting down Illithids and taking this plane. They had made a deal with Tiamat the Dragon Queen to allow them chromatic dragons as steeds, and they used them to devastating effect. Due to the effects of age in the Astral Plane, several dragons grew to adulthood weeks into being in Ephoris, and decided to make their dens there. Along with the increase in Chromatic Dragons came Metallic Dragons, who also for a time lived within the plane, sent by Bahamut in an endless tug-of-war between the two. Along with the Metallic Dragons came the Githzerai, who wished to stop the Githyanki's conquest.
In all of the chaos, the kingdom did what it could to survive. Thousands died as settlements became ruins, and legends were told about those who survived the chaos and those who helped them. Among the legend was the legend of Brasshaven (Seen in "Settlements") as well as the first sighting of the Kuo-Tua in Hayfall. In the conflict with the orcs, the goblinoids of the land were forced into hiding, and after some years of fighting, allied with the Kingdom despite the wishes of their god Maglubiyet. This caused a schism in the goblinoid host. One half stayed loyal to Maglubiyet and spread thin across the nation, and one became an ally to Ephoris.
Throughout all of this chaos, eventually both sides of the Draconic Conflict and the Gith conflict ended, with nearly all of the draconic beasts and all of the Gith decided to retreat to their original planes, leaving a scarred, weakened Ephoris.
-The Age of Gold-
After the pain of the Age of Blood, the Ephoris has begun to heal. With the goblinoid threat becoming a tool to help cut down on orcs, nearly every single Orc in the continent has been slain, and whatever few remain are no longer enough of a threat to live in fear. Centuries pass, with much of the Gith's War becoming folk tales and Orcish Savagery becoming horror stories. By now the Duergar and Drow have fully fell into their niches as the Underdark has become its own ecosystem, and trade has flourished among settlements due to (Mostly) safe trade routes. However, as all lies do, the surface has begun to crack. In the most remote parts of the Kingdom, entrances to the Underdark have opened, allowing the Mind Flayer menace an opportunity to strike once more. The current king, King Archibald Draken, was to be escorted through the darkness as both an archeological expedition and to see if the tales told through his line were true.
He was taken by the Illithids, and replaced with an intellect devourer.
The Mind Flayers had largely concerned themselves with awaiting their eventual freedom. By breeding inhuman beasts, feasting upon the minds of their fellow prisoners, and expanding the power of its Elder Brain, with the additional creation of an Ulitharid. Now that they have a pawn in royalty, all they need is to knock the house of cards over. They need more pawns.
-End-
And that's what I have so far! Please let me know if it makes sense, since this is mostly based off of Volo's Guide and MToF. Have a good one!
