With breaking of the continents bringing an end to the Age of Legends, the survivors were
left to rebuild their lives in a new world losing many of the great social and technological
advances from the previous era.
West of the Aryth Ocean in the lands of Seanchan, violence erupted between humans and shadowspawn,
while in the eastern lands of Shara the people united under a single government.
Then there was those who survived the breaking by sailing the seas and so settled on nearby
islands, becoming known as the Sea Folk.
In the Westlands, the Da’Shain Aiel, who once served the Aes Sedai during the Age of
Legends, were given a great mission during the years of the breaking, tasked with transporting
powerful relics to a safe location where they might remain hidden from exploitation.
The Da’shain were known to be good-hearted people, dedicated to the way of the leaf,
an honour based pacifist philosophy, but with the chaos and violence that surrounded them
during their years of their journey, doubts and division spread, with a group breaking
off to form the Tuatha'an, or Travelling People, who continued to practice pacifism but abandoned
their mission to go their own way.
Those who remained then again fractured, with some choosing to embrace violence in order
to keep the others safe, and so some of the Aiel became spear based desert warriors, while
the rest became Jenn Aiel, remaining true to their duty and culture.
In the end they completed their mission, arriving in the eastern wastelands to found the city
of Rhuidean, and while the Jenn Aiel eventually died out, the warrior Aiel clans continued
to endure for thousands of years to come.
Meanwhile, those humans who remained in the Westlands started to form new communities
and governments, with Ten nations emerged and prospered, thanks in part to the aid of
the female Aes Sedai who survived the wars of the past age, many of whom united together
in 47AB to establish Tar Valon as their homeland.
But not all channelers of the one power were willing to submit to this new authority, and
so competing Aes Sedai factions went to war for decades.
In 77Ab, the largest faction, based out of Tar Valon won a major victory against their
rivals, and while the conflict continued for many years, by 98AB the war was over, and
Elisane Tishar was chosen as their first leader, given the title of Amyrlin Seat.
With the Aes Sedai now formally united they were able to aid the Westlands establish peace,
and form alliances which eventually led to the creation of the Compact of Ten Nations
in 209 AB.
A mutual defense pact initiated by Queen Mabriam en Shereed of Aramaelle, an Aes Sedai of the
Gray Ajah believed to have been a Ta'veren, a hero spun out of the wheel of time to fulfill
a specific purpose, able to greatly influence those around them and inspire loyalty.
The Compact worked well for many years, however in 335 AB, war once again loomed across the
Westlands, with Raolin Darksbane, a male channeler of the One Power, declaring himself the Dragon
Reborn, leading some to follow his banner believing he was the reincarnation of Lews
Therin Telamon, the great hero from the age of legends who defeated the forces of the
Dark One at Shayol Ghul.
However the Aes Sedai of Tar Valon, declared him a false dragon, and ultimately defeated
his armies to take him prisoner.
For centuries, the Compact of Nations thrived, but after a thousand years, the armies of
the Dark One regained much of their former strength, now led by Dreadlords, corrupted
humans able to channel the One Power.
Though not as powerful as the Forsaken from the Age of Legends, the Dreadlords bred legions
of Trolloc warriors, and gathered other shadowspawn like Myrddraal, and Draghkar, ordering their
forces to start raiding the northern territories of Jaramid and Aramaelle to begin the Trolloc
Wars in 1000 AB.
Although most humans rallied to join the forces of light against these dark armies, some betrayed
their own people and became Darkfriends, lured to the Shadow by promises of power and immortality.
The nations of the Compact then prepared to defend themselves, however their alliance
proved less reliable then many might have hoped, as each realm was so concerned with
defending their own borders, they rarely sent aid to help others.
As a result, the Shadowspawn soon overran the northern territories, destroying the city
of Barsine in Jaramide, as well as the Ogier built city of Mafal Dadaranell in Aramaelle.
Although Jaramide managed to survive the invasion, their eastern neighbour was not so fortunate
and soon fell, allowing the dark armies to delve deeper into the continent, attacking
Aridhol and Coremanda.
Not even Tar Valon was exempt from these incursions, forced to fend off 4 separate assaults over
the years of the conflict.
And as more enemies descended upon the westlands, the remaining nations found themselves unable
to win large scale battles, unless directly aided by the Aes Sedai, and so began launching
smaller scale attacks, cutting off portions of the Trolloc Army from the main host in
order to surround and defeat them.
Desperate to protect his realm, King Balwen of Aridhol listened to his corrupted advisor
Mordeth and abandoned the light, embracing darkness and cruelty in order to defeat the
Shadowspawn invasion.
For a time he was successful, sacrificing legions of his own men to slaughter any enemy
upon his land, but as hatred and suspicion took control his people, a malevolent entity
began to form that would ultimately lead to their downfall.
Fearing that Aridhol was going down the wrong path, King Thorin of Manetheren sent his son
Prince Caar to try and persuade them to return to the light, and once again embrace the Compact
of Nations.
But instead of listening to reason, Balwen had him arrest and tortured until he managed
to escape.
Upon learning of his sons imprisonment, King Thorin was outraged and sent an army to the
gates of their capital, only to find the city empty and in ruins, with its people having
turned on each other and destroyed themselves.
Yet their corruption had been so profound, that in their absence they left behind the
Mashadar, a terrible fog that roamed the streets killing anyone it touched.
The army of Manetheren was appaled by what they saw and immediately withdrew from the
territory, renaming it Shadar Logoth, and soon enough even the forces of the Dark One
feared venturing near, after an entire army disappeared attempting to camp in the city
overnight.
With Aridhel fallen, the shadowspawn continued their offensive, attacking Manetheren, where
King Thorin ruled a might army, waging an unending campaign against the enemy from the
very beginning, sending their forces not only to protect their own borders but also to aid
the other nations of the Compact whenever they could.
In time his grandson Aemon also took up the fight, forming a group of elite veteran warriors
known as the Band of the Red hand.
With the aid of Manetheren, the armies of light at lasted started to make some progress,
holding off the enemy advance and winning a great number of battles.
However the momentum of the war soon changed once more, as the shadowspawn came under the
command of Ba’alzamon, a new general of unmatched cunning and skill, who gained such
a fiersome reputation that caused many to believe he was the Dark One made flesh.
However it was later learned that this General was more likely Ishamael, leader of the Forsaken,
who were defeated by Lews Therin during the Age of Heroes.
Although the Forsaken were locked away in Shayol Ghul, Ishamael was only partially imprisoned,
able to return to the world for 4 decades every thousand years.
And so in the midst of the Trolloc Wars, Ba’alzamon appeared and led the armies of the Dark One
to many victories including the conquest of Manetherin.
After years spent pushing back the shadowspawn, King Thorin died and the crown passed to his
grandson Aemon who continued to rule in much the same way, sending their armies to aid
their neighbors whenever possible.
However when the invasion of Manetherin culminated in the Battle of the Tarendrelle River, the
King found himself unjustly abandoned, with no reinforcements arriving from the other
nations of the compact.
Defeated and in retreat, King Aemon decided to make a last stand at Battle of Aemon’s
field, where he died alongside his men.
Aemon’s wife Queen Eldrene, a powerful Aes Sedai, felt the death of her beloved husband
and went mad with grief, summoning an enormous amount of the one power which erupted to destroy
both the realm as well as the shadow armies descending upon them.
Later, it was learned that the Tetsuan the Amyrlin seat of the Aes Sedai, purposefully
betrayed Manetheren, preventing reinforcements from arriving simply because of a personal
grudge she held against queen Eldrene.
And so in punishment she was deposed and stilled, a process which stripped her of the ability
to channel the one power.
A fate many of their kind believed was worse than death.
With Manetheren fallen, Coremanda and Almoren soon collapsed as well, allowing the vast
horde of trollocs to sweep through the southern lands of Eharon, destroying the capital of
Londaren Cor as well as the city of Barashta.
But after 40 years of hard fought battles, the great general Ba’alzamon vanished without
a trace, leaving the dark armies scattered across the westlands, far from their base
of power in the north and without a proper central authority.
In addition, by 1251 AB, the Aes Sedai chose Rashima Kerenmosa as their new Amyrlin seat,
a powerful sorcerous as well as expert military commander, who led the forces of light to
many great victories, including the defeat of the Trolloc army during the fourth invasion
of Tar Valon in 1290 AB.
She then launched a ten year campaign to push back the shadow, winning battles at the Kaisin
Pass, the Sorelle Step, Larapelle, and Tel Norwin.
Her efforts then led to one final confrontation at the battle of Maighande (myr-GHAN-deh)
in 1301, an epic battle of massive scale, fought over several days, which ultamitely
ended in defeat for the shadowspawn.
Unfortunately, Rashima did not live to celebrate her victory, as she was surrounded by Dreadlords
during the battle, able to take nine of them with her to the grave.
Although the war continued on a smaller scale until 1350 AB, the attacks lessened significantly
before the war came to a close, and the last of the shadowspawn retreated into the far
north, bringing an end to the years after breaking.
Only 5 of the ten nations of the compact survived into the Free years that followed, but after
centuries war, these territories soon collapsed as well, replaced by smaller realms with new
governments, once again tasked with rebuilding their fallen civilizations.
During the years of the Trolloc Wars, fighting spilled beyond the westlands into the desert
Wastes of the east, but with the harsh conditions of the terrain, the Aeil (ay-eel) clans united
and threw back any attempt at invasion, leaving the Shadowspawn to nickname this area the
Dying Ground.
Further East, the Shara also fell under attack by the dark armies, but they too were able
to defeat the threat against them.
Across the sea in Seanchan, they were largely spared from this centuries long struggle,
having already spent years destroying the shadowspawn on their continent long before
the Trolloc Wars ever began.
The Land of Madmen also avoided this conflict as they were too far south from the Great
Blight to be affected, and had long ago isolated themselves from outside contact.