Timeline-chaos
The Time of Chaos is the century following the events of The Great Exile, up to the official start of the demon civil war.
Year 5610 - The Great Exile is in full swing. By the end of that summer, the gate to Niu Heym is closed, leaving any humans in Aphrodisia stranded and hiding out of sight from any thralltakers.
Year 5617 - First skirmishes begin to break out between demons, pitting demons who took few to no thralls during the Great Exile against demons who were able to take many. The Thirteen Queens were dispatched to collect renewed pledges of loyalty amongst the entire demon population (about 10,000), including an oath to allow Felatitius ' court to settle disputes. These usually resulted in the noble demons' favor, angering weaker demons further. Additionally, Felatitius invoked a new court fee where these disputes meant a thrall had to be given to his personal harem for each ruling by both prosecutor and defendant. This lost him popularity even further by everyone.
Year 5620 - The first demon raid is lead against a peaceful, neutral elf village, breaking the long-held treaty permitting demons to enthrall only wanted criminals or wrongdoers. All two hundred forty of the village's adult inhabitants were enthralled. Emperor Felatitius officially condemned the action and ordered the offending demon to reimburse the village with money, despite the fact there was nobody left to accept it. It was distributed instead to dark elf mercenaries who participated in the raid who claimed to be relatives. This did not fool anyone.
Year 5623 - Due to facing no consequences from raids against elf villages, the first demon raid is lead against a minor dwarf stronghold, Mount Blackcap. These dwarves were ready for the assault and repelled the mercenary dark elf army with crossbows and cannon, leading to several demon deaths and most of their mercenary force. The survivors of the attack claimed they had come only to trade and were massacred for no reason at all. They called for Felatitius to punish the dwarf stronghold, but he declined, making yet more powerful enemies.
Years 5624-5639 - These years were a time of relative quiet known as The First Peace. Vulnerable elven villages had already been raided, and others were now regularly defended, making raids more costly. Additionally, many demons did not want to repeat the disastrous raid on Mount Blackcap and tried other means to take thralls, such as claiming serial debtors could be legally enthralled to pay off their debts.
Year 5640 - With many of the human thralls aging and losing their potency, the thrall population begins to drop steeply, leading to greater demand for thralls. Raids resume more boldly than ever before, including a second sneak assault against Mount Blackcap, this time successful. Many elven villages' defenses were overwhelmed by attacks coordinated by the demon nobles. Many strongholds and villages fell due to enthralled spies living within them for up to several years before betraying the settlement and opening the gaits for raiders. Felatitius condemned these attacks and a few demons fall guys were captured and banished as punishment, with once again money for the victimized villages being pocketed by dark elf mercenaries.
Year 5641 - Furious at the blatant breach of the peace, an alliances of primarily dwarves and elves form an army twenty thousand strong and begin to march against demon forts, managing to destroy several and capture the demon lords who were conducting raids out of them. Felatitius, in turn, took this as an assault against all demons and ordered a counterattack, though these were mostly fended off as few demons or their mercenaries were actually willing to risk their lives and wealth, instead returning to more defensible positions closer to Magan.
Year 5642 - Growing desperate for some kind of victory, yet wary of court intrigue, Felatitius orders several of the Thirteen Queens to attack the main elf and dwarf army.,The queens present attempted a repeat of the pink petrifying mist that had defeated the human army, but a hundred elf mages managed to redirect it back toward a dark elf camp and petrify the demons' allies and thralls instead. Unfortunately, the redirection was uneven and about a third of the allied army on the flanks still ended up petrified, including most of their commanders. Plans to march on the demon capital city of Magan were thus cancelled, and with the main threat gone, the allied army dispersed.
Years 5642-5649 - With once again relatively little strife, these years became known as The Second Peace. Even though the demon empire has a whole suffered few losses, the brief war was known as humiliating defeat, despite Felatitius declaring it be celebrated as a great victory by preventing a march on Magan.
Year 5650 - Two demon families take their feud public, resulting in raiding one another's lands and stealing the others' thralls. When called to end their conflict with Felatitius acting as arbiter (and collecting the associated fees), both families outright refused, the first major act of defiance against the Emperor. Felatitius orders three of his Queens to settle the dispute for him using violence and magic, but all refuse. Felatitius backs down and is powerless as more demon nobles begin to fight amongst themselves.
Year 5652 - Desperate to stem the growing tide of demon infighting, including several assassination attempts, Felatitius orders a purge of many demon noblemen, confiscating all their property unless they join him in a new punitive expedition against the elves and dwarves. Felatitius vows to lead the expedition personally, along with his entire court of Thirteen Queens, and even offers to distribute out two-thirds of his personal thralls to whichever lord provides the most troops. This effectively ends the second peace.
Year 5653 - Learning of the imminent demon invasion, and long since suspicious the demons were not going to keep any peace, elves and dwarf clans unite again in The Coalition of the Free. This time the army of the coalition decide to march straight to the gates of Magan, simply passing by demon strongholds that don't threaten supply lines. Caught by surprise at how quickly their enemies have gathered and marched--and suffering from continued infighting--the demon empire struggles to muster its armies, and those who do attack the coalition are easily defeated. Magan is laid siege to, and many of the demons who live outside the city choose to withdraw their forces and leave the capital to its fate. However, because the Coalition of the Free is focused entirely on Magan, many of those demons not participating in the siege have nearly free reign to raid Aphrodisia unopposed, which in turn creates internal resentment in the coalition between those who want to continue the siege and those who want to leave and protect their homes.
Year 5655 - The two-year siege ends when dwarven cannon finally batter down Magan's front gate and flood through the city. Many demons try to greet the coalition as liberators. Felatitius flees the palace with just one of the Thirteen Queens but is never seen again.
Year 5656 - Although Magan is occupied, raids continue across Aphrodisia. After intense debate, the Coalition of the Free decides they cannot occupy the city forever, as already many of the troops are found enthralled after a night in a tavern or in a dark alley. The coalition appoints a demoness, Empress Sephora as the new head of. Queen Sephora was only a minor noblewoman with few thralls who had preached against thrall-taking entirely, making her popular amongst the coalition, but highly unpopular against most demons. She sat upon the throne in the palace where Felatitius once had when the Coalition left to defend their homes.
Year 5657 - True to her word, Empress Sephora decrees all thralls be freed (if possible) and no more be taken, ever. Demon sustenance had to be purchased or traded at fair market values. Less wealthy demons would be supplied with a weekly supply to prevent the same levels of inequality that had flourished in the demon empires since the Great Exile. The Third Peace begins.
Year 5659 - The last remaining members of the Coalition of the Free withdraw from Magan, providing Impress Sephora with a heft gift of gold and non-military advisors to prop her up. Many soldiers who captured the city felt resentful of the alliance now "giving demons gift" despite having won. The last soldiers to leave belonged to the dwarven Clan Dragonslayer who earned particular notoriety for their brutal, bloody crushing of resistance movements.
Year 5662-5673 - Empress Sephora is betrayed by the Thirteen Queens and is forced to flee Magan, just as Felatitius had before her. This time the Thirteen Queens pledge to co-rule the demon empire as equals. This time is known as The Reign of the Thirteen. The Coalition of the Free discuss forming up into a new army and marching on Magan again, but many are still rebuilding after the last demon raids during the siege and occupation of Magan, and many refuse to leave their homes. While the Thirteen Queens roll back most of Sephora's edicts, they pledge they will keep the peace with Aphrodisia, and surprisingly they keep it.
Year 5673 - A summer night in Magan is interrupted by a magical explosion in the palace. Seven Queens are discovered to be holding a power struggle there, a lengthy, close battle with much collateral damage. What had began as an attempted assassination amongst the Thirteen Queens had become a full-on battle, leaving four queens irreversibly transformed into solid gold, one fleeing the palace, and two proclaiming themselves as the Two True Empresses who held power over the remaining Lower Five Queens. Within a week the Two Empresses are fighting again and only one, Empress Valentinia, as the sole Empress. The remaining Queens flee Magan.
Year 5675 - Empress Valentinia stabilizes Magan and consolidates her power behind Magan's rebuilt walls. Several of the Thirteen Queens from the Reign of the Thirteen return to serve under her, and new queens are appointed from noble houses to fill in the gaps. Few demon strongholds recognize her authority, and some of the closer ones are invaded by Valentinia's armies and forced back into the Empire. Other demons increasingly turn to meddling in the affairs of neighboring elves and dwarfs, whispering rumors in leaders' ears to turn villages against one another, building off of grudges created during the Coalition of the Free.
Year 5679 - Feeling secure in her reign, Empress Valentinia resumes her invasion to unify the demon empire. This is known as the official start of the Demon Civil War.