Rift Story Arc Timeline

[Timmean]

Hello everyone; after the epic madness of this past weekend, I wanted to take a bit of time to reflect on the immensity of the story line we’ve just concluded – both from an IG and OOG perspective. So I’ve decided to put together a timeline of the IG and OOG events that ultimately culminated in the rift battle, and I hope it’s something we can all appreciate, and enjoy a discussion around. Some dates and events are missing at the moment; I hope to have time in the near future to dig through old memories threads and put some more specifics on those.
(Also, apologies for the formatting, making a table on here is rough)

Date	In-Game Events	Out-Of-Game Events
---------	-----------------------------------------	--------------
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???	-	Brian and Helen leave Epoch Toronto, moving to Newfoundland
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???	A young Phineas J. Pennyfeather discovers the Flaming Bastard Inn during his travels of The Isle of the Dead	-
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20 Years ago	A rift opens on The Isle of the Dead. The Elemental Lords did battle with the creatures on the other side, managing to temporarily seal them away. This may be what caused The Flaming Bastard to go out of business. The Elemental Lords begin forming a plan to close the rift for good	-
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6? Years ago	Sophie (a healer from the Frontier town of Carreg Wynn) is given a quest from the Elemental Lords, to travel to the Isle of the Dead and establish elemental circles there	Sharon and Rob leave Epoch Toronto, planning to spend future summers in NL
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Summer, 2014	A handful of wandering travelers encounter each other in a field near the old run-down Flaming Bastard Tavern. The area is rich in resources which the travelers try to harvest. Phineas J Pennyfeather is among them, and decides to revive the old inn as a small settlement or trading post, and the location eventually comes to be named Holdfast.	The first games of Epoch on the Rock. We moved to MacShack near the end of the season
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June, 2015	After over a year of travel, Sophie finally arrives in Holdfast, directed by the Elemental Lords to that exact spot. She spreads word that elemental circles are to be established in the coming months	June 2015 game
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July 2015	With the assistance of Sophie and various travelers, the first elemental circle – Earth – is ritually created on a Saturday afternoon. That night, a group of dark beast-like monsters attack Holdfast, appearing from the darkness of the surrounding forests. These beasts are soon named “Hellions”. The people of Holdfast survive the night, but are notably shaken. The next day, a ritual is performed to create the air circle.	July 2015 game
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August 2015	The fire circle is created on a Saturday (originally being in the forge, then shifting slightly to the side at Lord Fire’s insistence). The next day, the water circle is created, finally establishing all elemental circles.	August 2015 game
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2016 ???	The Elemental Lords return to Holdfast as a group, each one choosing a champion to guard the elemental circles	??? game
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???	As Hellions and other monsters continue to attack Holdfast, the residents learn that there is a rift to another world somewhere near town, which is the source of the monsters	??? game
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2016 ???	Lord Earth appears in Holdfast and gathers everyone together, telling them of a ritual that will be used to fight back the rift monsters and keep them out of the known world. He warns the process will be difficult and dangerous, but that otherwise the rift will continue to grow. He leads the four champions deep into the forest to carry out a ritual, planting a “seed” which will serve as the root of the ritual magic. The people of Holdfast begin donating mana to the elemental circles to make them stronger in preparation for the ritual.	??? game
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??? 2017	In an effort to bring Fae closer together – and to prevent further conflicts with troublesome Fae - an elf named Lessa performs a ritual to create a Faerie circle, sacrificing herself in the process	??? game
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??? 2017	Each of the elemental circles eventually reach the point where they are sufficiently charged for the ritual. All four Elemental Lords return to Holdfast, giving further details on the binding ritual and the dangers involved	??? game
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??? 2017	The people of Holdfast begin the tethering process of the ritual, locating and tethering various points, attempting to do so quickly, but not so fast as to tear the rift open completely	??? game
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??? 2017	Across the known world, rifts begin to open, allowing monsters to pour through. In Holdfast, residents receive word that all merchant travel and trade routes have been temporarily closed due to a vast increase in wild monsters	??? game
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September 2017	A tall white creature appears in Holdfast, demanding that the residents stop the sealing ritual, and promising a terrible death otherwise. Unbowed, the residents press on, completing the tethering portion of the ritual. The creature (later dubbed “The Rook”) returns and does battle with the town. During the battle, it’s noticed that one resident, an imp named Herr, is mysteriously immune to the powers of The Rook	September 2017 game
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Winter 2017 - 2018	Random monster attacks across the known world drastically decrease, though specific areas are still targeted for raids. Lady Valeria travels from Holdfast to Tor’Jadin, where she gathers information on the rift and the creatures living there	Winter 2017 – 2018
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May 2018	Lady Valeria informs the people of Holdfast that there will be one final battle against the rift monsters, which she has learned are called the Axis Superseed. A being emerges from the Faerie circle, calling herself Sybillessa, and promising to assist in the final battle. A group of town residents visit the Faerie circle, to ask Faerie for any boons for the coming battle, and in particular for more residents to be turned into imps.	May 2018 game
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June 2018	The elemental champions receive messages that the final battle is at hand. Marshalling all their forces, and with various blessings from Faerie and the Elemental Lords, the people of Holdfast do battle with the elite forces of the Axis. During the battle, the Elemental Lords themselves appear on the plane, assisting in the battle, suppressing the power of the invading monsters and healing the fighters of Holdfast. Nevertheless, their forces are spread thin, and the Faerie, Earth and Water circles are all destroyed, the links to their various planes severed completely, and the Air and Fire circles are heavily damaged. In a final push, one of the knights named Pierre uses a magic thread, gifted to him by Sybillessa, to create a perimeter around the town and the horrors battling within it. At the same time, Sophie returns, directed by the Elemental Lords to evacuate everyone in the town. As she and the townsfolk rush frantically into the forest and away from the battlefield, they are stopped by the sounds of devastation behind them. As they turn to watch, they see bursts of fire, swirling tornadoes, enormous spires of rock, and vicious tsunamis tear through their home; yet somehow, the devastation seems contained, and after a few minutes, seems to subside. The people of Holdfast are left on the outskirts of town, unsure if anything had survived the destruction they had witnessed. Yet as they made their way back to town to assess the damage, it was at least known that the rift, and the Axis, would never threaten their world again.	June 2018 game

[Torvallis!]

An excellent summary. I don't think I have anything to add.

[Morpha]

Good timeline

[Sylvie]

this is brilliant! thank you!

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