The Ars Magica Chronology (Really BIG FAT Timeline of the Order and the history of Magic)

Games Discussion Ars Magica
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Dear Forum Sodales and Atlas Games,

I have been a lurker here for a very very long time. Recently, I was suprised that I was unable to find a chunky good chronological timeline of the Order that was up to date, beyond this excellent but ancient post from 2006: Hermetic Timeline
The one-pagers from various supplements not really scratching the itch either.

With that as a base, I decided to do what any enterprising magus would and I took it upon myself to research and deliver an upgraded version to enjoy for myself and my sodales, and that can quickly be ready to share with the young and curious magi at your table for many adventures.
It's still a work in progress and not entirely completed, but in the spirit of Bonisagus, I'm now sharing my discoveries as they are currently in the hope that you all can help me fill in the missing pieces and correct my egregious errors:

I have updated with most of Arm5e canon (the appendix has details of what's been done and what's still to do) and multiplied the page count (now amassing well over 100 pages. EDIT: 200+ pages).

My sodales are welcome to post suggested updates and corrections here, but it can also be done directly as comments on the document itself. I assure you I will take them all into account, if just but mockingly ;).

Disclaimer:
As such this document should be considered a freely put together fan resource for the Ars Magica game, and no infringement on the rights of Atlas Games or anybody else is intended. Please continue to support Ars Magica and Atlas Games by buying all the excellent supplements available!

UPDATE 1: v2.01 Work is still very much in progress, I update this from time to time and I want to review the remaining Arm5e works before I consider it a full release. You're welcome to use as-is but understand it's updated more or less live for now (just did a major review for the Levant).

The document settings allow you to comment in it directly, which a few of you have done and there are accepted edits and additions thanks to that! Keep them coming (or let me know here).

UPDATE 2: v2.02 and 2.03 Another dozen books added, and the hefty (and difficult) Normandy Tribunal book incorporated - resulting in about 30 more pages of timeline. Only 5 more locational books left before all ArM5e books have been reviewed...

UPDATE 4: v2.04 Four more books done and only The Contested Isle - The Hibernian Tribunal remains out of all ArM5e. It may take a while since it seems to have a lot of dates and I've never read it before. After that, I may return to some previous editions or enhance the existing a bit. I'm not yet fully satisfied with all parts.
Currently at over 150 pages vs version 1.1's 45 or so.

UPDATE 5: v2.05 All ArM5e books have now been trawled (Hibernia was exhausting to do, but a lot of fun!). Added & fixed quite a few other things. Clarified several Novgorod entries. Added more suitable "historical" magic entries. Cleaned up many entries. This is getting very close to what I would call a "Complete Arm5e Canon" chronology. Feel free to help me nail what I have missed!

UPDATE 6: v2.06 Several comprehensive rereviews and fixes around founding of the Order, Schism War and a lot of additions to the Rhine Tribunal from Guardians of the Forest - as well as some trawling through older 3e and 4e supplements.
I'm nearing the point where I can consider this a full release of "The History of Magic and The Order of Hermes" covering all of the (valid) Ars Magica's supplements officially released, throughout the editions.
From here on it's more or less only fixes and clarifications needed. Now is the time where I really could use some help from my sodales filling in what's been missed, misunderstood or erroneously compiled.

UPDATE 7: v2.07
Yes, I'm still polishing and improving this from time to time (it's being used in my own campaign).
I just rereviewed, updated and expanded Grand Tribunal and Tribunal rulings up until 1179, mainly based on source material in ArM4e, specifically Hermetic Law and Politics. I felt there where interesting nuances that were lacking in the chronology previously. Many tribunal entries should be better and make more sense now but more can probably be done.
Page count is now 187. Also another reminder that anyone with a google account can comment directly in the document to suggest improvements and fixing errors.

UPDATE 8: v2.08
It's been a few months. I'm still polishing and improving this from time to time (it's being used in my own still running campaign) as well as sorting out the community suggestions for fixes and improvements. It's pretty much at the point where I don't foresee me doing more major changes really.

As mentioned, anyone with a google account can comment directly in the document to suggest improvements and fixing errors. I would like to ask the community's kind help with another pass of this this right now, as the there are discussions to sort out a release in nicer looking PDF format.

I would not mind contributions from Finis Terrae (I don't speak spanish), as well as the "TODO" list at the very end of the document.

OM version 2.10+ updates

  • Numerous minor edits over the past year.
  • Many crowd-source editing suggestions

OM version 2.20 The Finis Terrae update 2024-06-07

  • Merged in chronology from the spanish 5e Iberian supplement “Finis Terrae”. Huge thanks to Kuni Mizomura al-TĹ·talÄ« and Antomonio who kindly provided 120+ entries over roughly 11 pages of similarly formatted Chronology. Several fixes and merges still needed to be made for continuity (and an entry or two had different time from previously, e.g. Concietta 923 or 930), but this made it a lot easier (feel free to provide more such)
    • You can find these as “Iberia” entries from 698 through 1218. Note: Not all Iberia entries are new.
    • Some items were added to Grand- and Rhine tribunals.
    • These provide some new excellent entries in the history of the Order.
    • Note that Finis Terrae may not be seen as fully canon as it is by separate publishing and not available in English. However, IMHO all the entries fit in great with the rest and deserve the spot.

OM version 2.21 2024-08-08 minor update

  • A bunch of minor fixes. Thanks for your suggestions too! Keep them coming :smiley: - I look at all comments and edit suggestions added in the document (it's open to commenting).
  • Bumped a version and a note since I mainly fixed and a lot of Faith & Flame Provencal entries (just look for Provencal entries + there is a version history in gdocs).
  • Removed "in progress" from the post title. I consider the doc "complete" without glaring gaps - everything important is in it from as good as every supplement. It's just lazily being minorly fixed, and of course additional selections from hermetic history can be made and entries clarified. I'll keep fixing errors and taking suggestions for the forseeable future.

OM version 2.22 update 2024-09-04

Belated rework and update on Pralix and The Spider War, more in line with the 5e and Thrice Told Tales in particular.

  • Edited some, but mostly new entries 798 to 810.
  • Moved several old entries out of timeline (saved in the Appendix entries)
  • Brude Deathless was removed/replaced in 5e canon with Damhadh-Duidas (although several things still seem different, and they made his tradition Infernal! Not personally a fan of that…). The name change is likely to have his kinship with Damhan-Allaidh be more apparent in the name. Good ole Brude heavily features in 3e Lion of the North - Loch Leglean Tribunal - which I delved personally into earlier (and therefore it was heavily featured in the earlier timeline). Brude is now removed from timeline (as the name doesn’t exist anywhere in 5e). Old entries are in the Appendix items. The 1099 Entry was simply replaced with Damhadh-Duidas.

OM version 2.23 update 2024-12-15

  • Thanks to Ptitboul who prompted further update to The Spider War entries at the beginning of 9th century. They’ve been cleaned up a bit further (including the Four Major Crisis Entry at the beginning - an earlier oversight). This includes the founding of Ex Miscellanea and Diedne vs Pralix fight. The earlier “Canon” date for founding of Ordo Ex Miscellanea does not make sense in relation with the Spider War. Date of founding has been moved from 816 to 811 to fit better with the rest of history. The 816 date was actually not part of any of the main 5e iterations (I could find no date set, or where I found that date eaerlier). Overall the Chronology should now be very much in line with what you’ll find in the Core Rules, Thrice Told Tales (has the 5e full appendix on the Spider War) and Houses of Hermes books.
    One identified exception: According to Thrice Told Tales; “Pralix never rejoined the Order”. IMHO this really does not make sense as 1) Her entire Order did, and 2) She’s revered and noted as an additional Founder in so many other places. Her heart might not have been in it, and she stuck to Cad Gadu - but not rejoining, and not being at Grand Tribunal 817 does not make sense.
  • Several entries with Quendalon and Guernicus, including 817 Grand Tribunal have been extended.
  • 830 Rome entry on Magvillus was fixed after maastrictian1 kindly pointed it out.
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Impressive work. I like how you tried to go beyond a simple list, to have something that reads like a book.
Thank you very much, I'll read it as soon as possible.

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Exactly, the larger picture should be self-contained and you should be able to read it straight through without necessarily looking up each event in the main text. The balance between main text and this is sometimes hard however, and there's plenty of improvement that can be done (and probably quite a bit of pruning).

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Good to see my old project has legs.

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Thanks for checking in @TimOB. Obviously a lot of hard work went into trawling the pre-Arm5e lore, and many thanks for that! Feel free to fill us in on any details that wasn't apparent that can be helpful.

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The Pre-Modern material was included because the Order is not an exclusively Western Christian social group, and the same for fringe material. I expected it to be moderately self-contradictory.

The original tabular format was to allow for columns. I wanted Date Entry Gloss Symbol columns to keep things aligned.

There was no editor, although the original document does have a list of credits including readers/commenters. This work was originally a side project in 2001-2002? to keep me occupied in odd moments while I was caretaking my elderly grandfather. It soon went out of date with the ArM5 changeover, and I didn't have the spirit to continue and update, and I know the newer material kept only loose continuity with the old.

The Tribunals books have a considerable wealth of material to include, so there's much yet to do.

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Thanks for the insight, it makes sense.

Interestingly enough, the more I have dived into this, and comparing the old and the new - the less I see it as directly colliding. Yes, there are continuity errors and contradictions - but significantly less so than I thought, and barring a few jarring collisions (which I try to list in the appendix), I feel that once you really go beyond the surface it tends to mesh quite well.
I do feel there is a wealth of details and nuances in the older editions that may have been lost, made inconsequential or are glossed over in Arm5e, and I intend to try and keep as much of that as possible.

The good part is that any remaining collisions, issues and errors can just be attributed to the fictional author - and everyone's saga is their own :).

I considered doing colums as well, but I decided to rewrite to this style to make it more of a in-game reference document that can be directly shared with the players - in part or whole - for both flavor, as well as direct use in the saga as an interesting way for players to direct interest, investigations and perhaps even finding their next adventure (which is why a lot of hooks have been embedded). All old and new entries have been reviewed with this in mind.

This is still a live WIP document and I intend to cover the remaining Tribunal books as suitable (the appendix outlines what I have covered, and what may remain). Regardless, I think that pretty much all the most interesting parts for the Order as a whole is already all there - but can still be refined and enriched of course.
Helpful entries, comments and suggestions are welcome as mentioned.

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@TimOB I've credited you more properly in the Appendix. Thanks maestro!

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This is amazing! Thank you for putting it together :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Oh, I am likely to have opinions... :slightly_smiling_face:

One of the original design goals was to have a text for both SGs and players to refer to for setting clues. ("Hey, that dragon we're looking for, Pan Cauderax? I found a note about where he's raided before.") As an open document, an SG could insert new entries or comments.

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@TimOB Precisely how I want to use it myself. I just activated it in my current campaign by the troupe's covenant receiving a request from a Mercere at Harco to submit important covenant history to their "project", soon to be shared. (Perfectly "coinciding" with the troupe finding definite proof that their covenat was founded and run by mainly Diedne magi, and has been obfuscating its history since the Schism War).
I intend for the Mercere to intermittently release a new version as their inventory of the Order's history grows along the time of the campaign.

Since the history is vast and meaty, the players themselves can be invited to make choices what fancies they want to investigate from the Order's rich past ;).

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This is super cool. There should be a note that the 14th Grand Tribunal of 1129 oversaw the formal recreation or recreation of the Levant Tribunal. Though in hindsight, I suppose this is a 4e-ism.

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That sounds quite interesting. Can you point me to a reference so I can read up on it and refresh my memory. Which 4e supplement at least?

The fact is that older editions still have a lot of good, and sometimes required lore that was never updated to 5th. Rome, Alps... cough cough. Or as I have recently noticed, been quite glossed over or watered-down in 5e.
This is why I felt it was important to keep previous edition lore and details in this timeline, but have it as in line with 5e as possible.

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Not so surprisingly it is from the 4e supplement covering the Levant Tribunal: Blood and Sand, Appendix IV and possibly somewhere in the main text as well.

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@ErikT Yes of course, silly me :slight_smile:
@Heaven_s_Thunder_Ham

As I'm still in pre-release mode, I have just updated the timeline with a few dozen edits to incorporate 4e Blood and Sand: The Levant Tribunal (it's ofc also in the notes). I was under the impression it had been covered by previous versions, but I don't think that was the case. I have to say the book is pretty solid, and had more juice for entries than most 5e supplements so far.

Please note I did the entire review in one go, so I might have missed something or made some error. Feel free to add any more suggestions or correct any mistakes (I had to make some judgements on what happened at which tribunal - but should be the best choices).

Since the additions were fairly hefty, I bumped the version a minor step to 2.01 (still in pre-release mode, I'm not done - so I would advise to come back as it will improve more).

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UPDATE 2: v2.02 and 2.03 Another dozen books added, and the hefty (and difficult) Normandy Tribunal book incorporated - resulting in about 30 more pages of timeline. Only 5 more locational books left before all ArM5e books have been reviewed...

The Normandy Tribunal book gave me plenty of headache - as it is incredibly rich, but has so many minor inconsistencies and plain errors in the chronology. I've attempted to sort them with the least remaining issues (but yes, timings have been moved to the ACTUAL years there are Tribunals etc).

The only remaining books are now:
Between Sand & Sea
The Cradle & The Crescent
The Contested Isle - The Hibernian Tribunal
The Sundered Eagle - The Theban Tribunal
Lands of the Nile

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Well, your user name certainly fits. That's a lot of analysis to do! At the same time, someone did this for Faerun in in the D&D 3e era, and it resulted in this book: Grand History of the Realms: James, Brian R., Greenwood, Ed: 9780786947317: Amazon.com: Books

Which I actually found rather useful for understanding the setting better. After a few reads, of course.

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Well you said it :). I just did four more books. Cool link, thanks!
It's pretty much the same idea here - my idea this chronology should be one of the best ways to understand the Ars Magica setting better. It has certainly helped for me building it out.

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UPDATE 6: v2.06 Several comprehensive rereviews and fixes around founding of the Order, Schism War and a lot of additions to the Rhine Tribunal from Guardians of the Forest - as well as some trawling through older 3e and 4e supplements.
I'm nearing the point where I can consider this a full release of "The History of Magic and The Order of Hermes" covering all of the (valid) Ars Magica's supplements officially released, throughout the editions.

Page count is getting a bit nuts (180+ and counting), so I'm also thinking about doing a one-liner Timeline (for myself and others) now that this is nearly ready.

From here on it's more or less only fixes and clarifications needed. Now is the time where I really could use some help from my sodales filling in what's been missed, misunderstood or erroneously compiled.

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This is really an excellent resource for GM's to trawl through for canonical information.

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