Warring States Era | Historical Timeline
Our Ninja World can be defined in a series of eras and epochs. Today, the world exists in a state after the shocking and shattering effects of Abzu's Cataclysm. Our era can still be described as the Warring States Era. Though now that conflict has taken on a new definition. We exist in a state of stalemate between the powerful Seven Sovereigns. Before the Sage of Six Paths propagated Chakra throughout the world, this period of the timeline is known as Before Chakra (BC).
Year 10,500 (circa) BC - Chaos rules over the universe as a singularity. Known as the Void, the Goddess of Life, Tiamat, coalesced from it and birthed the First Gods. This heralded in the first age of the Pantheon.
Year 9,500 (circa) BC - The First Great War in which Marduk's Pantheon battled against Tiamat for control of the universe.
Year 9,400 (circa) BC - The Sage Emperor comes to power, beginning a long reign that would herald the rise of the Golden Empire, humanity's first major civilization.
Year 9,350 (circa) BC - Among the Immortal Humans that travelled west instead of east settled on the island of Kamiyasumi, forming a harmonious village that would stand the test of time.
Year 8,300 (circa) BC - The Allium Emperor comes to power, continuing the Sage Emperor's golden reign.
Year 8,000 (circa) BC - The Thistlian Empress comes to power, reigning over an empire at its height.
Year 7,850 BC - The Wisterian Emperor comes to power. A young Marzan, an admiral at the time in his fleet, explores the world.
Year 7,770 BC - The Lotus Empress comes to power, marking the beginning of the end for the Golden Empire and it's transition to its Silver phase.
Year 7,695 BC - The Lotus Empress passes away, passing power to her mortal children and officially marking the beginning of the Silver Empire.
Year 7,200 (circa) BC - The Fatal Truth is discovered, triggering the Great Civil War amongst the Gods and dragging the Bronze Empire along with it. A great schism occurs that causes Tiamat's Avatar to be unleashed upon Tobusekai once again as Nergal marches against his brothers. The war is Imeroth's masterstroke, a mystery to this day.
Year 7,150 BC - The Dark Ages begin; a period of human history where little is discovered and no progress is made. Humanity goes stagnant on the Mainland and Tobusekai, until finally, thousands of years later, the Hangurian Freehold is formed. Despite its darkness and mystery, much did occur within this shrouded period.
Year 5,500 BC - Basel, a Voidlord serving Imeroth, subjugates Grandmaster Iavid's Monks of the Human Order during the Dark Ages.
Year 1 – The Sage of the Six Paths introduces ninjutsu to the world.
Year 290 – The 12th Daijō-daijin, Sai Nobunaga, proclaims the Freehold of Hanguri from the city state of Chungsu, which he declares the capital.
Year 295 – The Freehold launches the First Degarashi Campaign, conquering large swathes of the Tea Peninsula.
Year 316 – Sai Nobunaga passes away; his adoptive son, Toyotomi Nobunaga, succeeds him as the 13th Daijō-daijin.
Year 318 – Through the efforts of covert shinobi operatives of the Hanguri army a daimyō in the southern Land of Fire is persuaded to swear fealty to the growing Freehold. The decision sparks outrage among nearby shinobi clans and a revolt follows. The Hanguri legislature votes to intervene in the conflict soon after, beginning the Campaign of Fire.
Year 323 – Toyotomi Nobunaga intervenes in escalating tensions between Hanguri armed forces and shinobi of the Aburame Clan, negotiating a non-aggression pact that frees up troops to reinforce key positions. This is considered the turning point of the campaign.
Year 327 – The Battle of Keishi sees Hanguri establish suzerainty over the southern half of the Land of Fire, beginning the process of first annexing and then integrating the territory into the Freehold.
Year 330 – Toyotomi Nobunaga passes away; his nephew, Ieyasu Nobunaga, succeeds him as the 14th Daijō-daijin.
Year 333 – Senju and Uchiha shinobi clash near Tanzaku Gai on behalf of opposing daimyō. The city is nearly destroyed in the brutal fighting.
Year 335 – Ieyasu Nobunaga begins his campaign into the Riverland and the coastland beyond, completing the Freehold’s ambition to control the Hanguri Gulf area in its entirety by the end of his second term.
Year 350 – Ieyasu Nobunaga opts not to stand for a third term; his nephew, Sasuke Nobunaga, succeeds him as the 15th Daijō-daijin.
Year 353 – The executive taxes imposed upon the patricians by Sasuke Nobunaga alienate and anger the patricians, resulting in a political deadlock as his support base declines.
Year 360 – Sasuke Nobunaga stands for a second term, but is defeated by his brother, Hideyoshi Nobunaga, who succeeds him as the 16th Daijō-daijin.
Year 362 – Advised closely by his uncle, Ieyasu, Hideyoshi Nobunaga enters into diplomatic negotiations with the the Uzumaki Clan, negotiating a treaty that would integrate the clan into the Freehold.
Year 363 – Ieyasu Nobunaga passes away; his funeral procession is the largest ever witnessed in the Freehold. Negotiations between Hanguri and the Uzumaki Clan break down soon after and Hideyoshi Nobunaga retreats into isolation as a result.
Year 370 – Hideyoshi Nobunaga opts not to stand for a second term; Kagetoki Tokugawa succeeds him as the 17th Daijō-daijin. Known as the ‘Lawmaker’ his term sees the beginning of the Era of Reforms.
Year 382 – The Great Nobunaga Roads connecting Hanguri’s cities are completed, signalling a new era of interconnectivity within the Freehold.
Year 390 – The Samurai of Iron repel an incursion from Hōzuki Clan shinobi hired by Hanguri to assess the country’s defenses.
Year 397 – The Five Forts, grand defensive structures built along Hanguri’s northern border, are completed.
Year 408 – Senju and Uchiha forces clash near the northern border of Hanguri on behalf of opposing daimyō, but are summarily routed by the Hanguri army. The two clans launch several independent raids into the Freehold’s territory over the following months as reprisal.
Year 417 – Representatives of Hanguri travel to the Land of Earth seeking allies to curb hostile shinobi clan activity in their northern borderland, but their heads are returned in crates halting all the Freehold’s efforts to that effect.
Year 429 – The Bridge of the Unifiers, connecting the island of Wave to the mainland, is completed.
Year 446 – Shintaro Fujiwara passes away; Shin Toyotomi succeeds him as the 23rd Daijō-daijin, proclaiming the first Hanguri cultural festival mere months after his election. This is heralded as the beginning of Hanguri’s Golden Age and the cultural festival remained an annual tradition until the collapse of the Freehold.
Year 461 – The Grand Library of Chungsu, built to house the collective knowledge of the Freehold in its entirety, is completed.
Year 469 – Shinobi of the powerful Kamizuru Clan, handsomely paid by the Freehold, fight alongside the Hanguri army against forces of the Akimichi-Nara-Yamanaka alliance, eventually forcing them further northward.
Year 480 – The Eight-Tails goes on a rampage in the Lightning Mountains and leaves much destruction in its wake until it eventually disappears without a trace.
Year 488 – The Witchwood Arena, a giant amphitheater dedicated to combat, is constructed on the faraway Eastern Continent. The lure of riches and glory draws many contestants, and people come from far and wide to witness the spectacles there.
Year 500 – The Blood Prison is founded on the island of Jiro, at the periphery of the Freehold’s territory.
Year 504 – The invention of Chakra Armor by Hanguri developers, forged from Hangurian Ore, allows for the creation of several elite units, known as Black Ones, who carry out the will of the Freehold equipped with the armor and their distinctive somen masks.
Year 519 – The great hurricane ‘Saomai’ ravages the Ancrath Archipelago, killing many there.
Year 525 – A contingent of Black Ones recover a mysterious, but powerful meteorite from the heavily forested region near the northwestern edge of the Known World, one that supposedly radiates chakra.
Year 536 – A branch of the Chinoike Clan residing in the Valley of Hell is massacred by Uchiha Clan members. In retaliation, one Chinoike shinobi blinds the entire detachment of attackers using his clan’s Keikkei Genkai. The incident sparks outrage amongst supporters of both clans and soon erupts into a destructive war, one that ends with the near extinction of the Chinoike Clan.
Year 544 – The Hyūga Civil War erupts after a young branch house member expires from continuous activation of the cursed seal on his forehead by a high-ranking main house member. Some branch house members flee south of the Five Forts to escape the brutality and ruthlessness that later come to define the conflict, but most remain to fight.
Year 552 – Sai Inuzuka, the 29th Daijō-daijin, receives envoys from a faraway continent that has no concept of chakra. They depart Chungsu laden with gifts and escorted by shinobi tasked with mapping the mysterious land; none are ever heard from again.
Year 554 – The Hyūga Civil War finally ends with the reunification of the clan and the abolition of the internal houses. The cursed seal is thenceforth only branded onto willing members who are at high risk of having their Kekkei Genkai stolen.
Year 559 – The field of Medical Ninjutsu is first perfected by shinobi researchers in Chungsu. Though held as a closely-guarded secret of the Freehold, it is not long before knowledge of it spreads.
Year 568 – The Year of Trials is proclaimed when Genbu the Island Turtle unexpectedly enters the Gulf of Hanguri. Shinobi and samurai from all edges of the Freehold attempt to best its giant squid guardian and prove their worth by bringing back trophies from the turtle’s back.
Year 581 – The Hagoromo Clan, longtime allies of the Uchiha, is wiped out to a man by the Senju Clan. This sparks yet another wave of bloody skirmishes between the two rivaling clans.
Year 590 – The Shirogane Clan, situated near the borderland of the Great Wind Desert, lead an incursion into the Riverland using their mastery of puppetry ninjutsu to gain a tactical advantage, but they are easily repelled by the Hanguri army and several units of Black Ones.
Year 597 – The Freehold receives tribute from a number of daimyō in the mostly desolate Badlands of Earth, marking one of the pinnacles of the Hanguri sphere of influence.
Year 609 – The First Junta, a small body of powerful patricians, bureaucrats and generals briefly manage the executive branch of the state after Matsu Minagawa, the 31nd Daijō-daijin, is rendered comatose due to illness, though she later recovers.
Year 621 – The King of Moon Isle launches an invasion of O’uzu Island using an army equipped with hand-cranked kunai-launchers to gain a strategic advantage, necessitated by their lack of shinobi combatants. The campaign is successful, but the kingdom is unable to hold the island.
Year 633 – The modest holdings of the Taketori Clan are destroyed in an instant by one of the few shinobi from the Tsuchigumo Clan by way of their secret technique. The international outcry that follows forces the clan to declare it a Kinjutsu.
Year 646 – Kaguya Clan raiders strike the eastern coastlands of the Lightning Mountains like a storm, pillaging much of the land owned by the Yotsuki Clan there. Desperate for help, the clan seeks the aid of Hanguri, but the legislature denies the motion.
Year 659 – The Time of Trouble begins, precipitated by the untimely death of the 34th Daijō-daijin, Naomitsu Fujiwara, an aggressive influenza outbreak in the north and a Kaguya Clan invasion: scouts of the Kaguya Clan are first documented by Hanguri ninja on the north end of the Tea Peninsula. Within weeks most of the coastland is ablaze as the savage clan pillages, loots and burns everything it encounters.
Year 660 – The influenza pandemic, colloquially known as Red Fever, runs its course in just 18 months, but leaves countless dead in its wake, among them many from the Hanguri army.
Year 662 – The Second Junta assumes control of most of the Hanguri state administration in a bloodless coup, though their subsequent campaign of internal political repression and purges is anything but.
Year 665 – The last Kaguya Clan raider is expunged from the Tea Peninsula by the Hanguri army, leaving the Freehold to begin rebuilding efforts in the scarred region.
Year 671 – Qunari insurrectionists rise at Degarashi Port on the Tea Peninsula, slaughtering the local garrison and occupying the city for nearly a month until the Hanguri army restores order. This hampers rebuilding efforts on the southern part of the peninsula.
Year 684 – A prominent daimyō from the Badlands of Earth by the name of Aléxandros Mégas is proclaimed Arekusandā-tennō, emperor, after he successfully conquer nearly half the region.
Year 689 – Following a series of diplomatic overtures Aléxandros successfully negotiates the vassalization of a collective of danshaku on the Arctic Plains of Snow and its surrounding islands, despite Hanguri interference to the contrary.
Year 694 – After a brief conflict the Taishō of the Iron Peninsula’s samurai personally surrenders to Aléxandros, further expanding the territory of his empire.
Year 699 – Senju and Uchiha forces are defeated in separate battles by Aléxandros’ legions, both times led by the emperor himself, de-facto extending his territory to the northern border of the Freehold. Banners displaying the Argead Star, the imperial standard of Arekusandā-tennō, can soon be seen from each of the Five Forts.
Year 703 – Aléxandros leads his legions to burn down the westernmost fortification of the Five Forts using copious amounts of Blue Fire Powder, an act that pressures Hanguri to the negotiating table and results in the Treaty of Keishi.
Year 709 – In violation of his peace treaty with the Freehold Aléxandros marches his legions south towards Chungsu, defeating every army Hanguri sends to stop him. His legions are naught but a day from the capital when he succumbs to dysentery. Not even a month later his empire has disintegrated completely.
Year 716 – After several unsuccessful attempts to reform the northern sphere of influence, their endeavours encountering almost rabid resistance from the native shinobi clans and daimyō, the Freehold accept their state of their now modest network of tributary clans and countries, committing instead, unsuccessfully, to expanding their influence south- and eastwards.
Year 725 – A great fire ravages the Noodle Panhandle and the costs of rebuilding further strains Hanguri’s public finances, already depleted by war and diminishing tax levies, to the breaking point.
Year 732 – A military uprising installs a military officer, Ebisu Sarutobi, as the 35th Daijō-daijin, deposing the Second Junta after nearly 60 years of de-facto rule. Sarutobi is first presented as an interim official, but he soon decides to serve a full ten-year term.
Year 740 – Several units of Black Ones are deployed to, and successfully, repel a number of incursions from the Akimichi-Nara-Yamanaka alliance, these being funded by the Samurai of Iron in order to assess the state of the Freehold’s defenses.
Year 748 – Due to the perceived declining civil legitimacy of the Hanguri central government the three administrative regions of the Freehold begin a gradual process towards more autonomous agency and organization.
Year 762 – The newly-elected 37th Daijō-daijin, Morosuke Nobunaga, a capable statesman and distant descendant of the legendary figure Toyotomi Nobunaga, is beaten to death by rabid supporters of another candidate; Gatō Toranpu, an anti-establishment figure who narrowly wins the subsequent election, becoming one of the few non-patricians to hold the office.
Year 766 – Gatō Toranpu is beaten to death by former supporters of his campaign during a speech in connection with a massive protest calling for lower prices on foodstuff.
Year 779 – Due to a series of diplomatic faux pas and a determined smear campaign by the Yotsuki Clan the ability of the Hanguri government to diplomatically influence events outside of the Freehold’s borders essentially dissolves.
Year 784 – Motoi Toyotomi, the 39th Daijō-daijin, proclaims a period of national isolation, or sakoku, in response to Hanguri’s declining international clout. This policy spells financial ruin for many patricians who are heavily dependent on regional trade and is thwarted at every turn by the legislature, judiciary and officials of the three administrative regions.
Year 797 – A peaceful demonstration protesting government incompetence and corruption is violently broken up by the Hanguri army and its organizers later assassinated by Black Ones. This provokes a wave of civil unrest throughout the Freehold.
Year 803 – Unable to pay even the interest on its sovereign debt Hanguri defaults on its payments and is soon declared insolvent by the department of finance. Bureaucrats and soldiers alike cease to receive wages and chaos ensues as the central state apparatus essentially collapses.
Year 804 – The Razing of Chungsu occurs as the Kyūbi mysteriously appears in the center of the capital, causing untold destruction as it reduces the city to rubbles and ruins. Without its central government the Freehold of Hanguri as a nation state essentially dissolves almost overnight.
Year 811 - Takauji Ashikaga establishes himself as a power on the Mainland, contesting multiple clans though ultimately proving fruitless.
Year 811 - The world celebrates Conqueror's End for its final time.
Year 811 - Four villages form in the wake of Cassander's rampage.
Year 812 - Takauji Ashikaga travel westward toward Tobusekai and disappear.
Year 812 - Tiamat rises from the depths, triggering a war that would see the Hokubu corrupted.
Year 813 - The Red Fever spreads throughout the world until finally healed by a young and nascent Divinity that would eventually be known as Enkidu, the Chains of Heaven.
Year 813 - Demetrias hunts for the Chains of Heaven, searching far and wide for the nascent Divinity that Imeroth so desperately seeks.
Year 813 - Tobusekai is assaulted by Phetra's army of undead. Humanity rushes to its defense.
Year 814 - Humanity raids Irkalla, seeking to unseat Phetra as its queen and rescue its former ruler, Ereshkigal. The raid, which proves long, is eventually successful and sees Phetra throw to the Void and Ereshkigal properly seated. However, the Void now encroaches within as the first of Four Domains shatter.
Year 814 - Emiya Shirou rescues Marzan from the depths of Irkalla and begins helping the Blacksmith in reforging God-Slayer Tools.
Year 814 - The Prismatic Plague is triggered by Nefarian. Nefarian defeats Isabella which subsequently triggers a devastating plague that wipes out a significant portion of humanity.
Year 814 - Humanity travels to the West with three of four Domains shattered.
Year 814 - Basel, the last Voidlord to be revealed, is defeated.
Year 814 - Abzu, God of the Cosmos, emerges from the Void.
Year 815 - The Cataclysm begins...
