Dark Age

The Dark Age was a period in Echelon's history characterized by the global Null event that claimed over 180 million lives across 12 centuries. It began with the defeat of Vecna by the Determined in the Ultima War, and ended with the Passing in 1205 DA.

Abandon of the ACS

The According Calendar System was abandoned in 3 DA, as temporal indicators like "day" and "night", as well as seasonal indicators like "summer" or "winter" were rendered obsolete by the Null. The Historical Preservation Society-- which was later renamed after their founders-- created the Bureau of Chronography to come up with a system of timekeeping that did not rely on cosmic or seasonal changes. The Chronographer's Calendar was the result.

Notation

According to the most widely-used Chronographer's Calendar, days were measured in three 8-hour cycles, and years were portioned into four quarters of 91 days, separated by colons in the common tongue. A specific date would read year:quarter:day:cycle:hour (e.g. 206:3:81:1:7, indicating the eighth hour of the first cycle of the eighty-first day of the third quarter of the two-hundred and sixth year of the Dark Age), with each colon separating a progressively more accurate subset of timekeeping.

Many dates only held four or even three numbers, indicating the relative loss of accuracy and unavailability of information of local time in the Null. Clockworks were used as a means of telling the exact time; however, personal chronometers were prohibitively expensive and needed re-calibration with a Master Chronometer in a Light City whenever possible. As Chronographers would rarely travel the dangerous Null, knowing the exact time was something of a luxury in the Dark Age.

It wasn't until the Light Age and the New Calendar that the abbreviation "DA" was used to indicate Dark Age time-frames, instead of the cumbersome CC system.

Significant Events

• 1 DA: Millions are killed outside the Light Cities by the monsters and negative energy of the Null. The world population is reduced from over 200 million to a quarter of that number in a manner of months.
• 2 DA: Aegis becomes a Null City when the residuum-infused astral diamond powering Lionni's divine shield is stolen.
• 12 DA: Casimiri Pickles, Determined hero, is killed defending the evacuation of Dark City Cadence.
• 38 DA: The Church of the Tetrarchs is officially dissolved.
• 41 DA: Kevice Dryadson, Determined hero, is killed in a pyrrhic duel with the demon princes Catch and Flayer.
• 52 DA: Raelyn Lionni, Determined hero, is entombed in a holy shrine in the Null.
• 90 DA: Wollyn Diggenplump, Determined hero, dies at 115 years old.
• 184 DA: Alastaire Breowan, Determined hero, is paradoxically ripped from time by his own chronomancy.
• 207 DA: The Nullwreckers defeat Morovec the illithid. The Stygian Lands and the githzerai are rediscovered. The Black Timeline begins.
• 434 DA: Ravenheim becomes a Null City.
• 716 DA: Appica becomes a Null City.
• 812 DA: The Nightwars begin in the Velgassi northlands.
• 817 DA: Hundred Rivers becomes a Null City.
• 833 DA: Vyetka becomes a Null City.
• 879 DA: The last of the Lionni's divine shield spells fails in Sirocco. No Light Cities remain.
• 1022 DA: Mathar Falls becomes a Null City.
• 1164 DA: Sirocco becomes a Null City.
• 1190 DA: Icon becomes a Null City.
• 1194 DA: Elder City becomes a Null City.
• 1199 DA: Danziger becomes a Null City.
• 1205 DA: The Passing of the Null occurs, and Echelon returns to what it once was. The Dark Age ends and the Light Age begins.