Eras of the Third Age

Historians disagree on a great many details of the history of the Third Age.   It's not even clear how long the Third Age existed.  Some scholars estimate the Third Age is roughly 3000 years old and others say it's as high as 10,000 years old.   There is a general consensus among scholars that establishes three or four eras, though admittedly the major events of the eras sort of bleed into each.    

The Little Unmaking

  The Demon Lords were all dead, but a great many of their demonic, undead, and mutant minions were roaming the wild. Infernalism was rampant forcing the priesthoods of the Nine to organize swiftly and unify. The Barrier  was still weak causing harsh winters and trickles of new Void demons. Almost all humans and humanoids were nomadic or semi-nomadic barbarians.   While life was harsh, one thing that most historians agree on and some Scarterrans (especially the Cult of the Compact long for is that the Nine's priesthoosd almost never fought each other and worked together well most of the time.    

Warlord Era

  Small nomadic bands gradually grew and merged into larger tribes. Some tribes began agriculture in earnest. Barbarians outnumbered civilized folk about 2:1 or 3:1 There were hundreds of warlords and small chiefdoms throughout Scarterra. The grand alliance between the various priesthoods of the Nine began fracturing as different priesthoods backed different warlords.    

The Fakhari Era

    Some of the warlords became powerful enough and claimed enough land to legitimately call themselves kings, but the Fakhari humans dominated Scarterra politically. While they didn't always conquer all the smaller kingdom and warlords, almost everyone had to pay the Fakhari tribute. The various priesthoods of the Nine fought each other viscously. Barbarians and civilized mortals were about equally numerous. Then the Fakhari empire collapsed almost overnight.    

Vampire Era of the Third Age

  As different nations tried to fill the power vacuum left by the Fakhari, Vladimir the Conqueror and his hundreds of vampire children made their bid for world domination. Eventually Vladimir became so threatening the various priesthoods of the Nine formed a truce to oppose him. The various free nations and tribes also allied against Vladimir. Vladimir faced coup attempts from some of his own vampiric children, and he had to deal with enemies from competing vampire bloodlines.   Note, the most elves and dwarves stayed neutral during the grand conflict of Vladimir versus all of Scarterra and they were able to emerge from this era relatively unscathed.   It's not clear who among the umpteen factions united against Vladimir finally killed him.  Vladimir's death was Year 1 of the Feudal Era (Maylar's Zodiac year) and the current year is 1837.    

Feudal Era of the Third Age

  Civilized people outnumber barbarian people by a lot. The three major elven nations attempted a political surge to dominate the humans nearest them and were eventually pushed back. Most of nations of Scarterra use some variation of feudalism. Few will admit it, but they are using the feudal blueprint Vladimir forced on his vassals. Most of the most politically powerful nations are dominated by humans.     Before the Feudal Era, historical records are incomplete and inaccurate, so it's not clear how long these eras lasted. The lines are blurred.   The early warlords had to deal with the fallout from The Little Unmaking so it's hard to figure out where The Little Unmaking ends and the Warlord Era begins.   At one point, the Fakhari tribe were just another warlord tribe, and the Fakhari still had to fight Void minions so it's blurry where the Fakhari Era began and ended. Some Scarterrans say the tales of the Fakhari were either greatly exaggerated or perhaps they were entirely fabricated. Most elves and dwarves scoff that humans, and ancient humans at that, could have magic and technology that far outstripped their might. Most fantastic relics and ruins attributed to the Fakhari could easily be First or Second Age relics that predate humanity altogether.   It's also noted that Vladimir and his ilk did not come out of nowhere. According to them, they were plotting for centuries and building power in secret before they began making overt moves, so they were vampires prowling dark places in the shadows of Fakhari towers.   Because Scarterran scholars cannot agree on the nomenclature (much less a timeline) for The Little Unmaking, Warlord Era, Fakhari Era, and Vampire Era, Scarterran scholars agreed to disagree and lumped all the time in the Third Age before the Feudal Era as the Red Era.

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