A Timeline of Homeworld History

Presented below are some of the more notable events that have taken place on this world.

|-(4805 BHE) Bearfolk claim that their best warriors went to assist Luna in a battle beyond the sky. | | | | |-(ca. 4000 BHE) The first megalithic shrines to Sol and Luna are constructed. | | |-(ca. 3500 BHE) The first minotaurs appear on Homeworld, on an island in the Middle Sea. | | | | | | |-(ca. 2400 BHE) An early island culture of the Middle Sea is destroyed by a volcanic eruption. |-(2245 BHE) Facing humans' inevitable rise, elves and dwarves made an exodus from Homeworld. | | | | | |--(1139 BHE) The elves launch the first of numerous arkships to explore other solar systems. | | | |-(791 BHE) After a series of skirmishes, the Northern Empire grants autonomy to Arcadia. | |-(367 BHE) Khan the Conqueror leads his hordes to glorious victory, and is eventually deified. | |-(191 BHE) Imhotep I begins preaching about the divine plan of Ptah, the Universal Architect. | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |-(1 HE) Leopold I becomes the first Northern Emperor, founding the Imperial House of Helios. |-(145 HE) Followers of Ptah found the Holy City on the southern shore of the Middle Sea. | |-(468 HE) The elves make contact with a planet beyond Sol Space, and thus discover gunpowder. | |-(693 HE) Imhotep the Traveler leads the first human expedition into aetherspace, never to return. |-(701 HE) The Royal Interplanetary Company is founded. |-(844 HE) This is the present day.

HE = Helian Era BHE = Before Helian Era

The Scope of History and Racial Lifespans

When considering the span of history on Homeworld, it's interesting to consider those races that live much longer than humans. For example, in the 844 years that have passed since the establishment of House Helios and the Northern Empire, some thirty generations of humans have been born. Even the oldest humans (not taking magic into consideration) have only experienced some 110 years, or an eighth of that time. In contrast to that, about six generations of elves have been born. What is more, the oldest among them can reach 700 years or more, meaning that their parents were alive when the House of Helios was founded and the first Emperor was crowned. Dwarves and gnomes might need to go a generation further back in order to hear first-person accounts of those events.

The net result of this is a sense of perspective when it comes to how characters of different races view various political, religious and military events. For example, while the Church of Ptah might seem like a growing threat to those humans who worship Sol, it's a development that occurred within the lifespan of some venerable elves.

Timekeeping on Different Worlds

Adding another wrinkle to the matter of timekeeping is the fact that different worlds have different lengths for their days and years. Although this might make little difference while PCs are adventuring on said planets, it comes into play when the PCs need to reference documents written on those worlds. Refer to the chart below for comparisons.

Planet	Local Year Length	Homeworld Years per Local Year	Local Years per Homeworld Year
Wodan	88 days	0.24	4.15
Freya	224 days	0.61	1.63
Tyr	687 days	1.88	0.53
Thonar	4329 days	11.86	0.08
Kronos	10,585 days	29	0.03

For example, an event that happened some 4804 years ago, by Homeworld Reckoning, would be considered to have occurred 2,555 years in the past according to Tyrian Reckoning. On far-flung Kronos, a whole human generation can pass in one year's time. There is also the question of what date different worlds use as the beginning of their calendars. For example, the Northern Empire on Homeworld uses the date when the House of Helios was established—4 Capricorn 1—as the start of the calendar.