World Timeline
Pre-Recorded History
Unnamed tribes of humans, led by mystical Gifted shamans, reach the Americas. Some cross the Bering Straits, while others reach shores via simple boats from the African and European continents.
Ancient Times
Powerful city-states emerge, and grow into empires in their own rights. The Olmec, Maya, Adena, Mississippian, Inca, and Aztec cultures rise and fall under the direct (but increasingly indirect) direction of Gifted beings. These exhibit a growing tendency for Gifted to be religious leaders and holy men, and a shrinking tendency for the leadership positions to be filled by Gifted individuals. Instead, the Gifted begin serving primarily as advisors in political and mystical spheres.
Colonial
The Gilded Hand, a group of wealthy merchants behind the throne of England, begins an open assault on the Royal Crest of France. In Spain, the Invisible Lords back the Columbus expedition, and the later invasion of the conquistadors. The Inca and Aztec empires fall. Gifted Native American shamans and their tribes are pushed back by European development.
American Revolution
The Sons of Liberty wage an open revolt against the Gilded Hand. A hidden power struggle occurs in England, and the Lacrutians emerge with the dominant position. The Halveyans emerge in France and keep the Lacrutians occupied while the Sons of Liberty become entrenched in New England.
Industrial Revolution
The Lacrutians regain their foothold in America through successful industrial corporations, and a successive attack on the American political and banking systems. The Sons of Liberty, now called the Sons of the Republic, lose ground to the New Kings in the South. The Lacrutians instigate the Civil War between the two major American Factions to keep America from becoming a threat to England.
Victorian Era
The Lacrutians taste true imperial power through the British Empire. They invite Terishor and the occultists in the House of Raeford to join them in plans for domination. They form a Sect called the Trinity. However, the Empire bogs down in its conquests and enters a decline. The Sons of the Republic disappear.
World War One
Varied and rising Factions, through interlocking governmental alliances, plunge Europe into war. The Haldin Faction pushes Germany to expand its power through rapid military victory. The Trinity, along with temporary allies, finally puts an end to the German advance. With no single Sect or Faction in the United States dominating, the Trinity gains influence.
Great Depression
Recognizing the strength behind the Haldin strategy for renewed imperial conquest, conservatives within the Trinity devise the Progress Doctrine. They proceed with the Grand Experiment. In the years following WWI, the Trinity gains the Alturists and changes its name to the Order. They purposefully crash the American economy and secretly prepare a rebuilding Germany as a vehicle for world conquest.
With much of the Order's previous influence in America suddenly abandoned, the Halveyans, along with loose allied Factions Paldin, the Gaia Progeny, and Bacchus, gain power in America. Behind a veil of secrecy, the Order forms the backbone of the Axis with the Kingdom of Jade (Japan) and the Ideologues Faction (Russia). The second World War begins.
World War Two
Despite early victories, the Factions behind the Axis powers fall to internal disputes. Germany invades Russia; it proves to be the Grand Experiment’s undoing. Once the outcome of the war becomes clear, the Order pulls its forces out of the Axis and puts its might behind the Allied cause. Japan surrenders after the atomic bombings, and the Order renews its interest in America.
From the Grand Experiment, the Order learns valuable lessons in technomancy and world strategy. The Alturists and Terishor gain knowledge in magical science and all-out reality warfare, and the stage is set for their next generation of plans for humanity. The ruin of Europe projects America toward becoming a superpower, and the Order pushes for total control of that country.
Cold War
The Order pushes American influence across the globe, but does so through covert and economic means. The Ideologues spread Communism to counter the Order, and various wars are the result. The Halveyans conceive the United Nations, and succeed in slowing the Order's advance through international politics. The Church of Purity joins the Order.
The 60's show the increase of internal resistance to the Order in America. The Collectives forms into its familiar shape. Both the Harbingers and the Daedalists form, as well. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR, the Order is in virtual total control of the last world superpower. The stage is set for the Order’s next stage in achieving global conquest.
American Empire
The first Gulf War is fought to gain further hold for the Order in the Middle East. The Halveyans use global politics to stop the conquest, and a stalemate forms. The Order renews its efforts, and takes advantage of the 9/11 attacks to push military action in Afghanistan, and later uses this same political clout in the Second Gulf War. The Order pushes forward more fascist laws in the US to provide cover for purges of threatening Factions. As a reaction, the Alliance forms and begins a behind-the-scenes guerilla war in America.
