The chronicles held deep within the Oratory’s vaults teach us that one millennium ago, Caelum Sol Orbis did battle with Mundi Eversor, a great colossus created by the fiend Tenebrae to destroy the world. The years before Caelum’s battle with Mundi Eversor are suffixed with AO, meaning Ante Orientem or Before the Rising, while the years after are suffixed with PO, meaning Post Orientem or After the Rising.

Birth of Caelum Sol Orbis (64 AO)

Caelum Sol Orbis was born an aasimar from human parentage on the 24th day of Ascendentem in the city of Anfang, now known as Caelum’s Landing. Raised by a religious family, Caelum quickly gained renown as a paladin of Lathander. His generosity and exploits protecting Anfang justified his rise to power in the church of Lathander.

Birth of Prima Vita Sol Orbis (22 AO)

Born on the 4th day of Niveus, Prima Vita Sol Orbis was Caelum’s first and only child. Named First Life by her father, she would become the progenitor of more than thirty generations of the Sol Orbis family following Caelum’s ascension.

The Rising of Fio (0 PO)

In a bid for power, the fiend Tenebrae conducted a ritual to grow the skeleton of a colossal war machine from the very earth beneath Discidium. Flying high above the Oratory, Caelum watched in horror as Mundi Eversor erupted from the ground of the neighbouring region. So great was the colossus in size that it seemed to rise from the horizon as it approached. Great chunks of earth crumbled away from Eversor’s metallic form and rained down on what used to be Discidium. Leaving volcanic ash in its wake, Eversor began its approach to Anfang. As Eversor took enormous strides toward Anfang, Caelum soared across the Altum Ocean alongside his winged paladins to intercept the colossus.

Returning to the site where his statue now stands, mortally wounded, Caelum gave his last breath to inspire his people. His people’s faith renewed his body and, engulfed in a radiant inferno, Caelum ascended to deliver a final blow to Eversor. The resonance engine within Eversor exploded, releasing the Miasma from its corpse. The resulting magical shock wave enchanted the deposits of resonite in the earth and the earthmotes began to rise. As a fissure opened up around Caelum’s city, he stood at its centre and raised his wings. A mighty golden shield grew around the city, holding back the Miasma as Fundus rose into the sky.

Once the turmoil had subsided, Caelum released the shield and fell to his knees, having expended the last of his energy. Caelum’s body erupted into a coruscation of light, and he ascended to godhood. The city was renamed Caelum’s Landing in recognition of their saviour. This event is known as the Rising. It should be noted, however, that this is only what is written in the chronicles of the Church of Caelum. As more and more adventurers brave the Miasma in search of new lands to settle, strange stone pillars are being discovered which seem to hold chapters of another story.

The First Arrival (192 PO)

Every four years since Caelum’s battle with Mundi Eversor, it is believed that a new earthmote appears somewhere on Fio. This was only discovered in the year 192 PO, when the earthmote Nox first appeared skew-north of Fundus in a ring of aurora. The silver dragon Nox, who had gifted the wintry earthmote his namesake, flew down to Caelum’s Landing in search of help, only to be met by the nascent Church’s zealotry. Embittered, Nox returned home intent on securing the future of his people; ensuring they could live self-reliant lives in isolation.

The Fundus Constitution (516 PO)

In 516 PO, a series of incidents came to light exhibiting the current state of the Church and its oppressive form of government. A brief but bloody civil war concluded with a civilian march on the Oratory. A man named Anselm Chlodovech delivered the people’s demands to the ruling Sol Orbis family. Rex Sol Orbis stepped down and a charter was written and signed by both parties. Since this date, the nation of Profundus has always been a constitutional theocracy. The power of government resides with the people, while the Exarch serves as head of state. However, it is still commonplace for the nation to be known simply as the Church.

Moving Ingenium (748-756 PO)

The sprawling brass metropolis of Ingenium appeared in the skies north-east of Fundus in the year 748 PO, bringing with it a displaced but technologically advanced culture in the tens of thousands. Facing an energy crisis, they sought the assistance of the Church while they acclimated to the new world in which they found themselves. Artifex Calligo, Ingenium’s prime minister, reached an agreement with Manus Sol Orbis, the Exarch, in 756 PO and with the help of the monks of the Spirit Temple, the earthmote Ingenium was moved alongside Fundus’ north-eastern shore. With this agreement came advances in resonance engines, airships, street lighting and the establishment of the Calligo Way, a network of cable cars providing convenient travel between the Innermotes.

Founding of the Commission (899 PO)

The Commission for the Research of Offshore Worlds, affectionately called the Crows or simply the Commission, was founded by Glimback Toestubber in 899 PO. Originally known as the Explorer’s Guild, the Crows secured government funding in 923 PO when approached by Ardeat Sol Orbis to begin prospecting new earthmotes for colonisation. Though in the employ of the government, the Crows continue to work independently, conducting research into the Miasma and the curious beasts that reside within.

Birth of Aura Sol Orbis (964 PO)

Aura Sol Orbis was born on the 14th day of Viridis in the Oratory on Caelum’s Landing. As the first of Ardeat Sol Orbis’ four children, much of her upbringing was focused on preparing her for the day she would inevitably take over as Exarch. Though she shared a close relationship with her father, her politics would grow apart from his as she watched him perpetuate the Medusae Wars and the Church’s expansionist practices.

The Medusae Wars (976-983 PO)

In the year 976 PO, the gargantuan jungle earthmote, known to its inhabitants as Mallia, erupted from the seas erde-south-east of Fundus. The Church sent an expeditionary force to Mallia to ascertain its eligibility for colonisation. The expedition was met by a tribe of “Reptilian people with snakes for hair.” These were Medusae, the warriors of the Mallian queen, Vasilissa, capable of turning those who meet their gaze to stone. The expedition was quickly routed, but despite this, further expeditions into the queen’s territory succeeded in establishing trade routes with the estranged peoples of Mallia. The queen took exception to this and war quickly broke out.

Missionaries from the Church were sent to Mallia to improve relations with the Mallian traders. A place of Caelum worship was constructed on the outskirts of the queen’s jungle, and within a fewyear, the Church had incited civil war on Mallia. The war lasted for a further three years until the divine warriors of Caelum discovered a source of basilisk oil, which could be used to return those petrified by the medusae to their normal state. Vasilissa was forced to concede the territories gained by the Church, and an armistice was signed in 983 PO.

Arrows Day (983 PO)

On the 17th of Perventum 983 PO, a final decisive battle was fought in the skies south-east of Caelum’s Landing. The Church’s fleet of gliders engaged invading squid-like aircraft from Mallia. The Mallian queen intended to eradicate Caelum worship in one fell swoop, but her forces were routed by the Church’s superior firepower. Many wrecks of Church gliders and Mallian flagellates can be found on the seabed beneath where the battle took place. Every year, Caelum’s Landing celebrates Arrows Day on the 17th of Perventum. Kites are flown throughout the city to commemorate those who lost their lives in the battle, and in appreciation of the peace they helped to create.

Aura Becomes Exarch (986 PO)

Following the natural death of her father, Ardeat Sol Orbis, Aura Sol Orbis was heralded as the new Exarch in a grand coronation on the 11th day of Flavum. Accepting her crown, Aura took her chosen oath of redemption as a paladin of the Church, swearing to right the wrongs of the Medusae Wars and help those affected reintegrate into society. She would go on to declare her brother, Spiro Sol Orbis, Grand Paladin, and her sisters, Sana Sol Orbis and Clara Sol Orbis, Prefects of Tenebrae’s Refuge and Madanau respectively.

Hell over Madanau (996 PO)

In 996 PO, an earthmote of deteriorated black rock emerged from the Miasma to the west as if torn from Avernus and thrown by Zariel herself. The earthmote cast a menacing shadow over Madanau, raining down ash and bloodthirsty fiends. The citizens of Madanau were quickly rushed to shelters while clerics from the Church fought back the imp invaders. Monks from the Spirit Temple were quickly dispatched to arrest the rogue earthmote as it passed over Madanau. Flying their gliders in a circular formation, the monks produced a magical golden shield that dwarfed the earthmote in size. The monks were able to drive the earthmote back into the Miasma, but not before a shard of hellish rock skewered the oasis at Madanau’s centre like a stake through its heart.

Though the imps were defeated and Madanau saved, the oasis’ source, a portal to the elemental plane of water, remains damaged to this day. Blights of tainted water and spoiled fish led many of Madanau’s citizens to leave and seek refuge on Caelum’s Landing. Despite this, those who chose to remain have developed an unparalleled community and work ethic. With help from the Dawnroot druids, the citizens of the ancient desert earthmote were able to stabilise the portal and develop measures to prevent or mitigate future blights.