10,000-8200 BCE: The Forgotten War. Fae, old Humanity in the city states of the Basin, and the early Witches successfully banish the Vampire Shadows emerging from the Atlantic’s edge. Inundation of Doggerland by the combined allies in retaliation for the cascade-destruction of the Eurasian Basin by the Shadows. All records lost in the floods amidst the waters.
Hence, forgotten… by one side at least.
2850 BCE: First ‘written’ entry in the Witches’ ‘Big Book of Contracts’. A failed delivery of meat pies for a victory feast, written in Sumerian and addressed to Gilgamesh. Earlier entries are heavier on the pictographs whose meaning has been lost but which are dismissed in later years as cartoons in charcoal. (Cryptic Crosswords in the World Woods)
1205 BCE: Albrecht (as he becomes) is born and ascends the throne of a lost late Bronze Age Achaean City upon the death of his Uncle. (Master in his Tomb)
1182 BCE: ‘Sea People Invasions’. Vampire infected monsters overwhelm much of the near east before being stopped by the Egyptian New Kingdom. Albrecht infected and forms part of the sea-borne horde that destroys the city of Ugarit. [Master in His Tomb].
1181 BCE: Adam (as he becomes), the former Chief Guardian and Head Priest of Mot at Ugarit (? – See Shibboleth Part Two) writes to an unnamed Neo-Hittite official in the Viceroyalty of Karkamiša requesting aid in hunting down the destroyer of his home and threatening vengeance if it is not provided. {Master in his Tomb].
1150 BCE (?): Second oldest entry in the Witches’ Big Book of Contracts. An agreement entered into with an unknown beneficiary by the Coven mother of the time. Corruption and bad grammar leave the effect of contract unclear – defense/a wall against ‘Bel Lemutti’ (cadaver? Ud/Adh) in exchange for ‘erosion of the heart of the giver’. Inscribed in a late Mycenean dialect. [Cryptic Crosswords]
900 BCE: Albrecht recovers sentience and begins to destroy the leaders of the surviving tribes of Vampires. By 400 BCE he has consolidated all tribes into the ‘Family’ whose avowed aim is the betterment of humankind under the kindly shield of its lost children. [Ends in Shadow]
750 BCE- 730 BCE: Somewhere in the proto-Halstatt Cultural area a druid begins to build a wall against the darkness following a series of prophetic dreams in which he foresees the end of the world in shadow and fire. His labors are interrupted by ‘out of time’ experiences which terminate when his last visitor, an Agent from the distant future, murders him in revenge for something he has yet to do. [Belle at Twilight]
630 BCE: The talented poet who will become the Vampire Master Serah is converted by Albrecht to ‘bring a bit of literary flare to our little gathering’. She never writes another poem. [Master in his Tomb]
100 CE: Nothing of note occurred. Life was as it should be, and it was possible to rest for a time.
250 CE: Conversion of the architect who will become the Vampire Master Alyson. ‘Civilization needs good buildings to prosper rather than idiots who knock them down. Quite obvious, if you think about it.’ [Watcher on the Water]
circa 800 CE: Schism between the Eastern and Western covens. Annys leads the Western Witches into the World Woods to avoid humanity and its problems, Syojatar of the Eastern Covens leads her followers into the woods athwart the steppe to support humanity using the darker powers in the witch’s lexicon. [Cryptic Crosswords in the World Woods]
1200 CE: At the request of a human vassal to enforce his rightful claims, Albrecht attacks a Fae Village somewhere in the Duchy of Brittany and is rudely interrupted by a middling witch and her assistants (who eventually becomes the head of the Western Coven and makes some truly awful decisions). [Cryptic Crosswords in the World Woods]
1650s CE: The Library of the Masters in Paris takes on its first secretary of ancient languages given the inability of the current Masters (other than Albrecht) to understand the ancient texts. Adam comes with the finest references.
1760 CE: Master Albrecht takes a trip to the New World to examine the human societies that are there developing. He leaves strict instructions not to do anything without checking with him first.
1790 CE: Conversion of Arnaud, Camelle and Babeuf. Former revolutionaries against the French King, turned agents of the Vampire Masters.
1791 CE: The first of the ‘King’s Ladies’ is born in Shrewsbury.
1780s-1815 CE: The foolish Vampire Masters based at the English Club in Paris do a great deal and cause an enormous amount of trouble in the pursuit of ‘human growth and development’ on the basis that Albrecht would have approved (had he been there.) [Belle at Twilight]
1816 CE: Return of Master Albrecht to Europe. He is not pleased.
1823 CE: Execution of around half of the Vampire Masters extant before the Revolution utilizing a variety of ingenious methods combining justice and the advancement of science. Beginning of Serah’s plot to remove Albrecht following execution by ‘balloon ride’ of Count Perkinas. [Belle at Twilight]
June 1st, 1825: The King in Parliament accords a Royal Charter under the patronage of the Duke of Wellington to the United Kingdom’s first organization whose remit includes the investigation and defense against the unnatural forces of the world whose actions during the French Revolution, and after have become all too obvious. [Shibboleth]
1836 CE: Professor Hamilton-Jones (Oxon) and Ms. Alleyne-Robertson lead an expedition to the ruins of Ugarit discovering a large cache of clay documents including details of correspondence between refugees from the fall of the City and the local Viceroyalty. Disputes over the decryption of the names between the Oxford team and its Cambridge and the Franco-Austrian Melanchthon dig lead to its filing at the Manor until such disputes can be resolved. [Cryptic Crosswords]
April 1st, 1837 CE: The Malicious Envenomation. All but a handful of the King’s Ladies are poisoned in a single night, each subsiding into a coma from which they cannot be awakened. Investigations into likely culprits initially point towards the Vampires but for diplomatic reasons no further steps can be taken at this time by HM. Government. [Master in his Tomb]
1850 CE: Exact date unknown. Location unknown. Master Albrecht is ambushed upon his return from a trip overseas with his comrades by the other Vampire Masters and is buried ‘alive’ as the culmination of the Serah plot. The remaining masters sigh a collective sigh of relief and begin to engage in greater interference in human affairs in order to save them from themselves. [Master in his Tomb]
July 1st, 1867 CE. The United Kingdom signs an ‘alliance’ with the Fae Night Court at the Manor in an attempt to strengthen its supernatural capabilities whose loss as a result of the Malicious Envenomation has resulted in an ongoing decline in the comparative strength of the British Empire when compared to its peers. [Strange Allegiances]
October 31st, 1867 CE. The Manor is overrun in a single night by the forces of the Fae Courts. Death of the remaining human elements of the former King’s Ladies including the last actual Lady – Agnes Derwent (Librarian), whose essence is trapped in a ‘rocking chair’ which is later taken into the custody of the Arcane Investigations Agency thinking it a simple antique. HM Government unaware of replacement of staff by changelings until the early 21st Century. [Strange Allegiances/Shibboleth.
May 20th, 1883 CE: Eruption of Krakatoa begins, and continues for months. The Masters of Paris, (advised by their Chief Secretary who claims to be no more than 200 years old) take note of the impact on human civilization and consider the possibility of a nightfall event to ease the takeover of human society, should it continue to be a danger to itself. Verbeek’s investigation into causes stymied by Vampire influence rewriting his conclusions. [Master in his Tomb]
October 30th 1905 CE. Likely foundation date of the predecessor to the UK’s Arcane Investigations Agency – the Conservation of Powerful Antiquities Division of the British Museum. Initial remit, recovery of remaining arcanely powerful items held by private collectors due to recent war scares. [Original records lost through enemy action, 12th September 1941.]
July 28th, 1914 CE: Outbreak of the Great War. Major Powers of the Human world engage in a series of conflicts utilizing both rapidly developing technological and primitive magical methods. Although Entente emerges victorious in part due to stocks of power-objects held by the colonial powers (generally expended in the war – Miracle of Mons et. als.), both sides engage in renewed arcane investigation post war – and the Vampire Masters launch a committee to decide if they need to obtain technological weaponry in any future war. [Repent, Humanity]
1st November 1919 CE. Foundation of the ‘Majestic’ Organization under the auspices of Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer. First operation follows on 7th November using cover of a raid against suspected communist sympathizers to remove Fae operatives across the United States. [Sunlight in Kansas]
September 18th, 1931 CE: Outbreak of Second Great War with the Japanese incursion into Manchuria. Timetable for future meetings of the Vampire Weapons Committee discussed on same day. [Repent, Humanity]
July 1st 1937 CE: First reference to the Arcane Investigations Agency in Committee papers of the Joints Houses of Parliament. Foundation date unclear. Issue arose due to question from the Right Honorable Baron Davies as to why the Secret Services had two entries relating to Supernatural Defense in that year’s estimates (the AIA, and the Manor). The Herald of the Manor appeared before the Committee and set its mind to rest.
January 8th, 1943 CE: Witches of the Western Coven (Anita and her daughter, Arachne) attempt to assist a fleeing column of Maquis and their families by diverting it into the World Woods to avoid a Milice/Military sweep. In the ensuing pursuit by German ‘Thule’ operatives, Arachne is lost within the woods eventually being found by the Druid at the wall. [Chasing Shadows]
August 27th, 1944 CE: Agent Oak and his team (including two Majestic operatives) disappear in newly liberated Paris whilst investigating possible Thule Organization activity at the so called ‘English Club’ on Rue Le Sueur. He is found, changed, by the AIA in the 1960s and returned to London for treatment. [Shibboleth]
August 6, 1945, CE: Dropping of first atomic weapon on Hiroshima. Second meeting of Vampire Weapons Committee following day agrees to expedite third meeting through delegation of potential weapon purchase plan to Master Carolus Magnus following unseemly physical altercation between said Master and Master Alyson. [Repent, Humanity]
Ice Age in Scarlet 