Historical Era, in History
Era of Prosperity
Also known as Age of Prosperity · E.P. · EP
The Era of Prosperity (abbreviated EP) is the name given in Canaanese historical reckoning to the earliest documented period of civilisation on the continent of Canaan — a time before the Millenia of Darkness, before the division of the continent into separate peoples and nations, and before the catastrophe that shaped all subsequent history. The Era is recorded almost entirely through legend rather than written documentation, as most earlier written records were destroyed during the conflicts and upheavals of the Millenia of Darkness and other periods of war.
The Era of Prosperity is understood as a period of singular unity on Canaan: a single great empire encompassing all peoples of the continent, living in peace and fortune under common governance. This golden-age character gives the Era its name, and its eventual ending — through the actions of a group of terrorists who sought divine power — gives all subsequent history its foundational trauma.
Account
The Great Empire (c. 2000 EP)
According to legend, long before the Millenia of Darkness, settlers of all kinds — elves, dwarves, and humans — came to the land that would become Canaan to seek fortune and adventure. They found a prosperous land, formed, as later tradition holds, by the three divine Children of the gods Melora and Moradin, who shaped its seas, mountains and living things, and they built from it a Great Empire across the whole continent. This empire was singular and unified — one whole — and peace was maintained across it. There was great fortune for all people.
The specific governance of the Great Empire is not described in detail in surviving legends. Its unity is its defining characteristic, and the peace and fortune associated with it provide the standard against which all subsequent eras are measured.
The overthrow (c. 1100 EP)
The Era of Prosperity ended with an act of deliberate catastrophe. A group of terrorists — people who wanted power beyond what mortals could claim, who wanted to become as powerful as gods — enacted a plan across the land. Using powerful spells, they overthrew the king of the Great Empire. They killed him in a massive spellcasting battle, then began enacting laws and systems that transferred more and more power to themselves. Critically, they fed off the literal life-force of others, draining people of their power and their ability to resist. With the ability to rebel suppressed, the overlords consolidated control and plunged Canaan into what would become the Millenia of Darkness.
Significance for later history
The Era of Prosperity has been interpreted very differently by the successor traditions that followed the Millenia of Darkness. The Zawma Empire — and later the Zilaphelian Kingdom — held that the pre-Darkness era of the Great Empire was the appropriate model for society: monarchy, order, prosperity for all within a structured hierarchy. In this reading, the terrorists who overthrew the king were the primary villains, and restoring something like the original Great Empire's values was the political goal.
The Xeamian tradition and its successor the Arakcadian Congress drew more directly on the liberation from the overlords — the overthrow of the Darkness — as their foundational political moment, rather than on the Great Empire itself. Freedom and self-thinking arose from the rebellion, not from the preceding order.
Both traditions share the understanding that the Era of Prosperity is the origin point of the world's history and that the Millenia of Darkness represents its catastrophic interruption. They differ on what the recovery from that catastrophe should look like.
Calendar
The EP calendar notation is used in Canaanese historical reckoning for the Era of Prosperity period. The count runs backward in surviving references (higher numbers are earlier in the Era), suggesting an original system that counted years from the founding of the Great Empire. The point at which the Millenia of Darkness begins is the end of the EP calendar and the beginning of the DN calendar (Millenia of Darkness).