Tribes Timeline
TRIBES Timeline
ca. 2832 - Starsiege ends.
2845 - Beginning of the Chase. Humans pursue defeated Cybrids to other star systems using new FTL technolgoy.
3245 - Beginning of Cyberstorm corporate wars; discovery of the first interstellar transfer conduit, of "jumpgate."
3289 - Discovery of the first "meta-jumpgate," allowing travel over far greater distances.
3291 - Cyberstorm corporations battle for control of the meta-jumpgate.
3350 - Meta-jumpgate discovered to be part of a network of such gates. Beginning of the Diaspora, as humanity begins to spread throughout the galaxy. "Those Who Jumped," the first people travelling through the jumpgate, forsake the security of the Great Human Empire to journey to the unknown. These pioneers develop a nomadic tradition and find new pride in their ability to survive away from the trappings of civilization.
ca. 3400 - Settlers being to refer to themselves as a "tribe," the Children of the Phoenix, claiming to follow the teachings of the renonwned warrior Harabec Weathers, hero of the Cybrid Wars.
3450 - A powerful force of Imperial Knights, the Blood Eagle, appear in tribe space to subdue the Children of the Phoenix for the Great Human Empire. The conflict fractures the Children as groups break away to form their own tribes. This event becomes known as the Splintering.
3455 - The Starwolf tribe forms, supposedly from renegades of the Children of the Phoenix and Blood Eagle.
3480 - Tribal culture is now a perpetual state of war. The Blood Eagle, far from their fhome bases for decades, bgin to consider themselves a "tribe." Finding Hercs impossible to maintain, they adopt the flexible armors used by the many tribes.
3530 - Formation of the Diamond Sword tribe under the tutelage of the Enlightened Master.
3641 - First Firetruce held by the Children of the Phoenix. They declare this event will take place twice each century on a planet chosen by the Children. The collective tribes gather on these worlds in an event similar to the ancient Olympics on Terra.
Much is accomplished. A convention of tenets is drawn up, and all tribes agree to abide by them.
3670 - Using innovative strategies and striking with precision and economy, the Diamond Sword rapidly carve out a large holding for themselves.
3741 - Third Firetruce: Whispers of the Empire battling some "scourge" abound, as Imperial advances into tribal space falter and fade. It is a time of much prosperity among the tribes, and a lengthy period of the peace ensues. Many smaller tribes fall back in line with the Children of the Phoenix.
3831 - Hector Komarosu, Great Eagle of the Blood Eagle, is assassinated. The culprit is never caught or identified, but the Blood Eagle's age-old nemesis, the Starwolf, are blamed.
3841 - The ultimate purpose of the Firetruces historically has been to try to reunite the tribes, but the harsh reality is that little progress is ever made toward unity, and splinter groups from larger tribes often take the opportunity to be recognized as independent tribes.
This year is no different, as the Blood Eagle leadership, still undecided, is unable to hold the allegiances of the Wolfsbane, Excelsior, and Shadow Stalker groups. Many skirmishes break out between Blood Eagle and Starwolf warriors. The Diamond Sword champion humiliates the chief of the Gorgon Killers. There is little peace at this "time of reconciliation."
3844 - Illya Ajax Konovalev is named Great Eagle of the Blood Eagle. The Wolfsbane tribe rejoins the Blood Eagle, but the Excelsior and Shadow Stalker tribes choose to remain independent.
3903 - Phoenix Prime Alexi Stefanos yl-Harabec, leader of the Children of the Phoenix, dies in his bed at the age of 106. His son, Renn Gistos yl-Harabec, is elevated to Phoenix Prime.
3904 - Alexandre Knovalev, grandson of Illya Ajax, assumes the mantle of Great Eagle. In an effort to reconcile age-old differences with the Starwolf, he takes Freya Cloudchaser, daughter of a Starwolf chieftain, as his wife.
3905 - Birth of Ulysses Konovalev to Alexandre and Freya.
3922 - The Starslayer tribe settles on Theta Draconis IV after lengthy battle with Diamond Sword over possession of the planet.
3924 - The union between Alexandre and Freya decays to the point where she leaves him to rejoin her pack. Ulysses Konovalev takes command of his father's Marathon Pennant to recapture her.
3925 - Most of the Marathon Pennant dies in battle with the Starwolf Hepta Ourubis Pack. Ulysses Konovalev is not found among the survivors. An inconsolable Illya Ajax Konovalev vows to destroy the Starwolf once and for all.
The Blood Eagle Wolfslayer Pennant, including the elite Eviscerator and Deathbringer talons, begins an offensive against the Starwolf holdings in the Hepta Ourubis system.
3929 - Starslayer tribe vanishes from Theta Draconis IV. No trace of the 100,000 tribesmen remains, and no clue sheds light on their disappearance.
3932 - Blood Eagle forces prevail in the Hepta Ourubis system following use of ecocidal weapons on Hepta Ourubis II. Starwolf losses are high, as the entire Ourubis Pack, nearly 80,000 strong, is wiped out. The Starwolf are outraged that any tribe would resort to using ecocidal weapons, outlawed for centuries, and call for all tribes to aid them in destroying the Blood Eagle once and for all.
3933 - Many Starwolf swear an Oath of Vengeance upon the Blood Eagle, declaring all-out war upon them. The Children of the Phoenix decline to enter battle but offer to act as judges and mediate the conflict.
3935 - First attempt at mediation by the Children of the Phoenix between warring Starwolf and Blood Eagle factions results in the thirty-eight dead, over 200 wounded. The Children declare this outcome a "promising beginning."
3938 - Two full packs of Starwolf attack Blood Eagle holdings on Deus Sanguinus in a massive frontal assault, reportedly coming in under a flag of truce. The Red Paladin Pennant is wiped out to the last man and woman. Alexandre Konovalev is now being described as either "determined" or "insande," depending upon whom you talk to.
3939 - The Children of the Phoenix decide to use the now-dead world of Hepta Ourubis II for the next Firetruce. Both the Blood Eagle and Starwolf show little pleasure at this choice.
3940 - Rough census by the Children of the Phoenix shows that of the hundreds of smaller independent tribes, an "alarming number" have either allied with or agreed to non-aggression pacts with either the Starwolf or Blood Eagle. Already, the skirmishes have increased, and bloodfeuds grow more common. The Phoenix Prime is said to remark that "this path to unity would be a fearful one."
Even some Starwolf and Blood Eagle express reluctance to join in a total war. However, these voices remain a minority for now.
It is only one year from the next Firetruce, and the war between the Starwolf and the Blood Eagle threatens to drag all tribes into a maelstrom of war and destruction even as the Imperials begin to penetrate tribal systems. It is a time of great opportunity and a time of terrible reckoning.
References
Tribes Manual: Pages 22 - 27