HISTORY: 1st draft timeline

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An "official" Spelljammer Timeline [revised]

             A coherent chronology is one of the touchstones of solid, 
believable world design but the Spelljammer setting has never had a 
coherent chronology.  In part this was most likely a conscious design 
choice, since Spelljammer was intended not so much as a campaign 
setting as a campaign link, connecting all of TSR's settings 
together.  However, it also likely came about from simple laziness on 
the part of some Spelljammer authors, who tended to ignore other 
Spelljammer material unless they wrote it themselves.  Even the broad 
strokes of the Spelljammer universe's history are thus confused and 
contradictory.

             It is possible to construct a generally coherent timeline 
for Spelljammer from references in a wide variety of sources.  I have 
endeavored to do so, sticking strictly to published sources.  The 
goal is to produce a timeline that Spelljammer dungeon masters can 
refer to when creating their own, specialized Spelljammer campaigns.

             The first step in producing a coherent Spelljammer 
timeline is synchronizing the dating systems of the TSR settings. 
This is relatively difficult; it requires a concrete intersection 
point, a common event given a date in multiple worlds.  Note all of 
the worlds have such intersection points, and several of the 
intersection points that do exist contradict each other.

             This timeline omits the TSR settings of Birthright, 
Conan, Darksun, Lankhmar, Mystara, Odyssey, Planescape, Ravenloft, 
and Red Steel.  Generally these settings have no connection to 
Spelljammer, and Spelljammer fits in their milieu very poorly.  

	    Mystara and Red Steel have an alternative magical space 
travel system, but lack any direct connection to Spelljammer.  There 
are no concrete chronological intersection points between Spelljammer 
and Mystara nor between Mystara and any other TSR setting, so any 
connection made here would be purely speculative.  A dungeon master 
who wishes to connect Spelljammer and Mystara would be better served 
simply choosing a point where the settings' dating systems intersect.

	    Ravenloft and Planescape fill a special niche.  The 
Demiplane of Fear, Ravenloft has no direct link to Spelljammer, but 
several Ravenloft novels provide specific chronological intersection 
points between multiple settings.  Planescape novels and game 
products do mention Spelljammer, and they also provide some 
chronological intersection points across settings.  Ravenloft and 
Planescape provide no timeline entries, but do get referenced for 
synchronizing the setting timelines.

             The three primary TSR settings were Dragonlance, 
Forgotten Realms, and Greyhawk.  Each of these settings had a 
Spelljammer sphere book produced specifically for that sphere, and 
each had native characters appear in Spelljammer novels, comics, and 
adventures.  They formed the core of the Spelljammer setting. 
Although Kara-tur/Oriental Adventures and Al-Qadim were marketed as 
separate settings, they were actually regions of Toril, on the same 
planet as the Forgotten Realms setting.  Like the Forgotten Realms 
they both had Spelljammer references appear in some of their 
products, and Kara-tur had native characters appear within 
Spelljammer novels and comics.  The Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, 
and Greyhawk settings provide the timelines that must be 
synchronized.  Once they are linked up, the rest of the timeline 
begins to fall into place.  This is easiest to accomplish by linking 
to the Forgotten Realms, since it is the setting with by far the 
largest number of published works, and the largest number of 
crossovers.

             There are four sources for the chronological intersection 
points between the settings: Spelljammer products, Ravenloft novels, 
Planescape products, and Dragon magazine articles.  Because the 
sources contradict each in places, a hierarchy is needed to determine 
which source takes precedence over the others.  The natural trump is 
Spelljammer, since the purpose here is to create a Spelljammer 
timeline.

Dragonlance/Forgotten Realms

             The Spelljammer novel series provides us with our firmest 
chronological intersection point, and that point intersects the 
Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms settings.  The first Spelljammer 
novel, Beyond the Moons, is set on Krynn and is clearly set five 
years after the end of the War of the Lance (p76).  The War of the 
Lance ended in 352 AC according to Dragonlance Adventures (p101), but 
that is really the year of the Whitestone Council.  Given Teldin 
Moore's role as a muleskinner, and the continuing operations, his war 
likely ended in 353 AC (which other Dragonlance products list as the 
end of the War of the Lance).  The second Spelljammer novel, Into the 
Void, is a Forgotten Realms crossover and is clearly set less then a 
year after Beyond the Moons (pp 63,168, & 172). "Novel Ideas" Dragon 
#196, an article providing a chronology of Realms fiction, sets Into 
the Void specifically in 1361 DR (p66).  From this we get 1361 DR 
corresponding to 358 AC.

             There are contradictory sources, however.  The Ravenloft 
timeline has Lord Soth of Krynn entering the Demiplane of Fear in 357 
AC, shortly after the Blue Lady's War (Dragonlance: Fifth Age, p22). 
It connects this to the year 720 in the Barovian calendar of 
Ravenloft (Domains of Dread, p17).  It also has the Forgotten Realms 
elven vampire Jander Sunstar drawn from the Forgotten Realms into 
Ravenloft in 1098 DR in the Realms, and 452 in the Barovian calendar 
(Domains of Dread, p16, Villain's Lorebook, p16).  However, "Novel 
Ideas" Dragon #196 places the Forgotten Realms/Ravenloft crossover 
novel in 1098 DR and 475 Barovian (p65).  Following the 
Ravenloft/Dragonlance/Forgotten Realms link we have 1361 DR 
corresponding to 352 or 375 AC.

             The Planescape accessory On Hallowed Ground also provides 
a contradiction.  It states that the events of the Dragonlance novel, 
Dragons of Summer Flame, occurred recently (p164).  The novel is set 
in 383 AC.  It also states that the Time of Troubles occurred in the 
Forgotten Realms just over twelve years ago (p168).  The Time of 
Troubles was in 1358 DR, so that would link 1370 DR and 383 AC. 
Using this as an intersection 1361 DR would correspond to 374 AC.

             We can generally discount the Ravenloft and Planescape 
information here, because we've already established that Spelljammer 
products trump other sources for the purposes of this timeline, and 
because we have a contradiction within the Ravenloft timeline itself. 
So, we can designate 1361 DR and 358 AC as our first intersection 
point.

Greyhawk/Forgotten Realms

             A Greyhawk/Forgotten Realms chronological intersection 
point is more difficult to arrive at, because the Spelljammer novel 
series never visited Oerth, the world of the Greyhawk setting.  There 
is a Greyhawk/Ravenloft/Forgotten Realms intersection, through the 
Lich Azalin.  Azalin entered Ravenloft from Greyhawk in 542 of the 
Barovian calendar (Domains of Dread, p16) and 391 CY on Oerth (King 
of the Dead, ch. 18).  Linked to Jander Sunstar and the Forgotten 
Realms as noted above, this provides 1361 DR corresponding to 564 CY.

             Dragon magazine provides an alternative correspondence. 
Ed Greenwood wrote a series of articles about the wizards Elminster, 
Mordenkainen, and Dalamar meeting in his home to discuss the magical 
affairs of Faerun, Oerth, and Ansalon.  These articles reference some 
specific events in relation to each other, and are internally 
consistent (each successive article clearly occurs subsequent to the 
previous article).  "Magic in the Evening" Dragon #185 states that 
the Forgotten Realms novel The Parched Sea, which "Novel Ideas" 
Dragon #196 dates to 1360 DR (p66), has recently occurred.  "Magic in 
the Evening" Dragon #185 also states that the article is set prior to 
Vecna Lives (p62).  Vecna Lives is set in 581 CY according to The 
Adventure Begins (p119).  This would provide us with 1360 DR 
corresponding to 580 CY.  The next two articles in the series bolster 
this conclusion, "The Wizards' Three" Dragon #188 (p32) is 
specifically set after Vecna Lives and "Three Wizards Too Many" 
Dragon #196 (p84) is set specifically after the beginning of the 
Greyhawk Wars in 582 CY (The Adventure Begins, p119).

	     Support for the Dragon article correspondence comes from 
comparing the Greyhawk/Forgotten Realms intersection with our firm 
Dragonlance/Forgotten Realms intersection.  "Magic in the Evening" 
Dragon #185 clearly implies that the War of the Lance (353 AC) and 
the Blue Lady's War (357 AC) have just recently occurred.  If 1361 DR 
equals 358 AC, and 1360 DR equals 580 CY, then the first article 
would take place shortly after the Blue Lady's War.  On Hallowed 
Ground does provide a specific date of 1370 DR (p168) to compare with 
a 'current climate of war' sweeping Oerth (p166).  The Greyhawk Wars 
officially end in 584 CY (From the Ashes: Atlas, p9), but wars 
between Iuz and Furyondy, and Nyrond and the Great Kingdom 
essentially continued.  Certainly a 'climate of war' can be said to 
exist across Oerth for at least a decade after the end of the 
Greyhawk Wars.

	      We have, then, two conflicting intersections, 1361 DR 
with 564 CY, and 1361 DR with 581 CY.  The Dragon articles provide 
the better choice, because they were written by Ed Greenwood, the 
creator of the Forgotten Realms, because they were written expressly 
to provide setting interactions, and because they place the two 
settings' internal chronology more closely inline with their 
publication histories.  We can set our second intersection point at 
1361 DR and 581 CY.

Calendars

             With three 'firm' chronological intersection dates (1361 
DR, 581 CY, & 358 AC) we can construct the timeline.  However, we 
have to settle on a dating system.  Most Forgotten Realms dates are 
provided in Dale Reckoning (DR), but many other systems of tallying 
years exist on Faerun, not to mention the lands of Kara-tur and 
Al-Qadim.  Greyhawk likewise has several time systems, as does 
Dragonlance.  Spelljammer products actually provide three additional 
systems.  A chronology is easiest when a single dating system is used 
as the base, with others noted as needed.  The elves are the current 
dominant power in space according Spelljammer, and Greyhawk is the 
oldest of TSR's settings, so the Olven calendar (OC) of Oerth will be 
used as the base dating system in this Spelljammer timeline.

             Al-Qadim has no dating system, but Kara-tur has a system 
for Shou Lung, Wa, and Kozakura.  The Shou system is predominant, in 
Kara-tur products the Wa and Kozakuran systems are described in 
relation to it.  We lack a common event given a date on both 
calendars, though the Horde Wars are copiously detailed and dated in 
various Forgotten Realms products, no Shou dating is providing for 
these events anywhere.  With no intersection point, we fall back on 
the 'current' dates of the Kara-Tur boxed set and the original gray 
Forgotten Realms boxed set.  This pegs 2607 of the Shou calendar to 
1357 DR.  This is reasonable, since the Horde Wars clearly occur 
within the next decade after each set.

             We have three Spelljammer calendars: the Time of Unity 
(TU) system from SJA3 Crystal Spheres, the Anno Vulkarus/Promo Novo 
(AV/PV) system from SJA4 Under the Dark Fist, and the Astromundi 
Chronos (AC) system of the Astromundi Cluster boxed set.

             We know that in 852 TU T'Laan the vampire has lived 317 
years past his birth on Toril.  We also know that in 1065 DR he 
served as an advisor to Brindor in the talks following the Battle of 
Ingdal's Arm.  We can set the current year for Spelljammer: AD&D 
Adventures in Space to 5039 OC by comparing its information with the 
information in SJR5 Rock of Bral.  Setting SJA3 Crystal Spheres to 
the same year is reasonable, since nothing within it indicates it 
occurred any later, and it came out soon after the original boxed 
set.  This also makes T'Laan twenty-five at the Battle of Ingdal's 
Arm, again reasonable.

             463 AV is the stated current year for SJA4 Under the Dark 
Fist (p51).  The module provides only two clues about where it fits 
within the larger chronology.  Based on the background of the 
pre-generated PCs it occurs post-War of the Lance, and the lack of 
mention of the Scro indicates it predates the II Unhuman War.  If it 
is set in 5041 OC then the War of the Lance is over, yet the II 
Unhuman War has yet to begin in any of the major three spheres.

             The Astromundi Chronos of the Astromundi Cluster boxed 
set is not a simple count of years.  Like the Kozakuran calendar of 
Kara-tur it is divided into yearlong cycles.  The Kozakuran calendar 
uses sixty-year cycles, but the Astromundi calendar uses 
thirteen-year cycles.  The cycles are numbered, but the years are 
not. The Astromundi Cluster details the sphere's history year Munigor 
of the 1300th cycle.  Fortunately, the year names follow the same 
pattern; Munigor is always the second year of its cycle.  We can 
express the AC year with a simple slash system: year/cycle.  Since 
the system began with the First Cataclysm of the sphere, it is 
currently 16,889 years since the calendar began. There is no 
indication how the Astromundi Chronos corresponds to any other 
calendar, so we have to assign a current year to the Astromundi 
Cluster boxed set.  It was printed in 1993, a year after War 
Captains' Companion and Rock of Bral.  With no other markers, setting 
the current year at 5049 OC, the same as Rock of Bral makes sense.   

             The accepted primary dating system of Greyhawk is Common 
Years (CY); according to the "Brief Historical Timeline for the 
Flanaess" card sheet in From the Ashes 581 CY equates to 5043 OC. 
Therefore 5043 OC, 581 CY, 358 AC, 1361 DR, 2611 Shou, 465 AV, 856 
TU, and 9/1299 AC are all now synchronized.

             Of course, there are other issues which effect dating. 
For example, years, days, or months could be of differing lengths. 
For the purposes of this timeline, however, we must ignore these 
problems and assume one year equals one year.  Otherwise the project 
is unfeasible.

             This is not a comprehensive history of all of TSR's 
campaign settings.  It only includes events listed in Spelljammer 
products, or events that had a global significance.  Faerun's Time of 
Troubles and Krynn's Cataclysm are prime examples of the sort of 
non-Spelljammer related events that were considered influential 
enough to include.

	    Comments and additions welcome. For suggested additions, 
please note if the said addition is from a TSR published source and 
if an actual date is given or if it must be inferred.