A Little bit of a History Lesson

 

(images via Pinterest, I take no credit for them)

So today, after announcing my big plans for Ruskhazar last week, I thought I would share a little bit about the Ruskhazarian timeline. As I stated before, all of the books in Ruskhazar take place over about a forty year span of time, but they actually are set in two separate eras.

Ruskhazar itself has four eras.

First Era: The ancient times, there was not even a Ruskhazar at this point. The peninsula was inhabited by two separate clans of feuding elves, but then the Khazars a nomadic tribe of barbarians come in from the south and settle in the valley with one of the clans of elves, the Lower Elves. Around the same time, a tribe of raiders known as the Rus come from a northern island and sailed south before settling in the mountains near the tribe of elves known as Higher Elves. The Rus were an isolated, warlike people and oftentimes would come to the valley to raid the Khazar and Lower Elf cities until finally the Khazars and Lower Elves grew tired of this. They formed a peace treaty and with their combined forces waged a war with the mountain folk, both the Ruses and the Lower Elves' ancient enemies the Higher Elves. This war almost completely wiped the Higher Elves off the map, leaving few survivors and a demolished civilization. The Rus faired somewhat better, but they were forced to become citizens under the Khazar and Lower Elf rule. The Rus eventually became known as the Highlanders and the Khazars Lowlanders. Thus Ruskhazar was formed and the four peoples were united.

Second Era: With the uniting of Ruskhazar, the second era began. It is one of mostly peace and prosperity and simmering tensions. This era lasted 3,000 years and from it come most stories and legends. It is a well-documented era unlike the first, and is still fresh on everyone's minds.

Third Era: A vision from the gods ended the second era, priests across the lands came forward announcing that the third era had begun. This era is the one where most of my books take place in, it is only twenty to thirty years long, but is the most crucial era of them all. This is the era of the end of the world. Marked by an apocalypse foretold long ago, civil war, and the rise of the vampires what happens in this era will determine the fate of Ruskhazar. Either it will crumble under the threat of necromancy and walking dead, be destroyed by bad blood thousands of years in the making, or it will be saved.

Fourth Era: This new era has just dawned and it has yet to be seen what shall become of it. It's full of hope and opportunity and a new start. Since the world that everyone knew may or may not have ended in the third era (I certainly shan't say, if you want to know what happens in the third era, you must read the books).

So last week I shared the current publishing order for the twenty or so books set in Ruskhazar. But technically I divide the stories up into two categories. The third era stories and the fourth era. The third era is what I'm currently working on. Fourth era is yet to come, I may not immediately move onto those books once I finish the third era. I  suppose it depends on how I feel after I finish the third era books. So I thought I would share which stories are third or fourth era so you have a clearer picture of these stories and what they are all about...

The Third Era:

Between Gods and Demigods (Rage Like the Gods #0.5)

A Tale of Gods and Glory

Rage Like the Gods (Rage Like the Gods #1)

The Gods Created Monsters (What the Gods Did #1)

Folly of the Gods (Rage Like the Gods #2)

An Assassin's Guide to Cheating the Gods (Blood of the Gods #1)

Rage Like the Gods #3

What the Gods Did #2

Rage Like the Gods #4

What the Gods Did #3

An Immortal's Guide to Betraying the Gods (Blood of the Gods #2)

What the Gods Did #4

Rage Like the Gods #5

What the Gods Did novella (rumored)

Secret Project (rumored)

The Fourth Era:

Ruskhazar Duology #1

Ruskhazar Standalone

Ruskhazar Duology #2

A Lady's Guide to Defying the Gods (Blood of the Gods #3)

Secret Project (rumored)

As you can see, the majority of the stories in Ruskhazar are in the third era. The image above is a collage made about all of my books taking place in the third era. These books have to do with the rise of necromancy, civil conflict, and the return of the old monsters. It lasts only a little over twenty years. An Assassin's Guide to Cheating the Gods is the first book chronologically and it takes place during the chaotic time of the dawning of a new era and everyone wondering what that will mean. If I end up writing that secret project it will be at the very end of the third era, at the announcement that it is coming to a close.

The fourth era... well, the fourth era has its own problems, but the impending end of the world is not one of them. I shall refrain from saying anything else about the fourth era because as I said, that's still quite a ways away.