Ages of Arcadia

With a campaign structure defined by the premise that one campaign is set in the aftermath of the last, are the ages of the world predefined? Is the history of the world set in stone before the first die is rolled? Do our players have an impact in the great shape?

Thus far, the ages of the world have been defined more by the relationship between mortals and the divine, and it has been the amount of influence the gods have exerted upon the land and its inhabitants that have given form to the eras. Individuals on the ground make or break a region or a period, and they give detail the the large shapeless blob of an age. If we talk about the Age of Mist as when the gods walked the land, it is just a way of defining a period of great pressures and influences upon our players - but it is our players who use those power to shape the age.

That is to say, when we talk about an age, we are talking about a set of pressures and constraints that are acting upon our characters. What happens in that age, and what happens to the future of the world, is up to our players.

With that in mind, let us talk about the ages of the world, what forces were in play at those times, and what their impact on the future has been. 

Age of Mist
Length: Unknown
Starts with: Creation of the world
Ends with: Gods leaving the world and the start of the written record
Defined by: Gods walking the land, interacting with people, high level of magic readily available to be found. Impossible magics and bizarre creatures that are never seen again. A god may appear in your living room one day and give you a holy quest ranging from saving the world all the way down to, “here is a lost child who prayed to me for help, make sure they get home OK.” Much of the information from this time was lost or never recorded to begin with.
Magic: Artifacts and the extremely powerful unique items created here.

Age of Heroes / Age of Magic
Length: ~1000 years
Starts with: Civilized peoples of the world setting their own course
Ends with: A terrible war where god walk the land once more at the head of armies.
Defined by: Like so many other ages of this world, this one goes by different names depending on who you are talking to, when the conversation is being hand, and the context of the conversation. The two listed here are the most common ones, but don't be surprised if you see other names for this time. Very high power individuals and parties leading the general masses. The rapid rise and fall of city states and micronations. Spellcasters, especially those innate arcane ones, come to great power and forge fantastical magical items. Gods coming to earth with epic quests.
Magic: High powered magical items are created. Most of the variants on a theme are created here, e.g. Sword +3 vs goblins, Sword of Fire, Frost Brand Axe, etc. 

Age of Might / Age of Faith
Length: ~1500 years
Starts with: Survivors of the war returning to their places of origin and seeding societies that will soon bloom.
Ends with: Terrible earthquakes that reshape the land and the restructuring of vast swaths of magic.
Defined by: Charismatic leaders who surround themselves with many high power individuals. The first real empires of the world grow and grow, fueled by leaders who never age and are resurrected upon their death - usually some divinely inspired entity like a cleric, a paladin, or a simple person to whom the gods speak directly. This age see the rise of wizards as a class, and with them the schools, infrastructure, and traditions of magic that will last millennia. Major cities can finally bloom and often have wizard towers for communal use and safe teleportation. They are based on a few famous towers from the Age of Heroes.
Magic:  The bulk of magical items / weapons / armor are created here. 90% of +1 and +2 weapons are from this time. 75% of +3. 40% of +4. Barely any +5s.

Age of Iron / Age of Humans
Length: ~1500 years <-- well would you look at that.
Starts with: The infrastructure of the last age ruined, and civilization almost reset.
Ends with: Great empires with lasting power that have gobbled up all the available territory.
Defined by: Chaos and the rebuilding of a destroyed world, many small kingdoms, a search for ancient magic and power. Anger at the gods. Humans as the most adaptable of all creatures thrive and they spread across the lands. Distrust of all things magical among the common folk. Strong decline in magical organization, but maintenance of education and tradition
Magic: Few magical items are created in this time of chaos, with great undertakings to find the magic of previous ages that was lost.

Age of Empires / ????
Length: ????
Starts with: The collective civilization of the world under empires headed by leaders with ancient magics but fueled by ordinary people with mundane tools at their disposal.
Ends with: ????
Defined by: While some of the campaigns we are about to see will actually take place in the Age of Mist or the Age of Heroes, this zone holds the potential future for many campaigns. I will leave those
Magic: The charges of great consumable magic items (staves, wands, etc) are slowly used up and depleted. New permanent items are exceedingly rare, and others are beginning to break and crumble, leading to an age of declining magical infrastructure.

Age of Strife / ????
No much is known about this age, but times are hard. Is this right after the age of empires? Is there an age in between? Is there an age after this? We'll have to see. I have notes on what I think the driving forces of the world might be at this time, but it's too far out to really know anything for certain.