This will probably not make much sense – I’m posting it here so I can reference it easily…
July 1891: Foundation of the Guild of Metaphysics (GM) by ‘Azmael’ in London, England.
February 1896: The GM succeed in opening a gate to Otherworld One. They make several trips to Otherworld One through the rest of the year.
October 1896: The GM open a gate to Neandertan. Exploration of the world commences, resulting in occasionally violent interactions with the native ‘savages’.
January 1897: The GM open a gate to Gehenna.
1897-1899: The GM open gates to many worlds. The majority are uninhabitable and not revisited.
Late 1898: The GM start work on the ‘Luxembourg Experiment’, an experimental ritual intended to harness the power of a Ley node on Neandertan. Local inhabitants are bribed, bullied and occasionaly enslaved to assist with the preparations.
March 14th 1902: The Luxembourg Experiment is enacted. The power generated proves completely uncontrollable, instantly killing all mammals larger than a dog for a radius of close to 20km and carving out a crater 600m wide. Most of the Guild survive in ‘the eye of the storm’ but their Neandertal ‘assistants’ perish.
In the wake of the disaster the Guild fragmnents into warring factions with different opinions on how – or even whether – to continue their research.
After detecting ripples from the explosion the Wyrms investigate, and begin trying to track down those responsible. The incident strengthens the position of those in the Wyrymyan Parliament arguing for the establishment of a body to protect non-metaphysically aware civilisations.
Early 1904: The factions within the GM have solidified into three ‘parties’. The First Party believes Metaphysics should remain secret knowledge, shared with only a careful, select few. The Second Party believes Metaphysics should be shared with all ‘to create a Paradise on Earth’. The Third Party believes Metaphysics should be used to take control of society and reshape it as they see fit.
December 1906: The Wyrms establish contact with the GM. It takes some time to convince the members that they are not ‘ascended masters’ or ‘higher dimensional beings’.
~1907: The first bands of Zurvár start migrating into local probability.
August 12th 1908: After lengthy negotiations the Metaphysicians Guild is founded with the support of the Wyrymyan Parliament and members from numeous local worlds. The Majority of the Guild of Metaphysics join – with the exception of the Third Party who are officially expelled. The GM ceases to operate in any serious capacity soon afterwards.
1913: The Metaphysicians Guild takes posession of Metaphysica and starts constructing campuses on the sites of major cities. The largest and defacto capital is De Chirico/Paris.
April 7th 1919: The De Chirico campus is attacked by several thousand Neandertals via gates opened by ‘Iron Drum’ shamans. Hundreds are killed on both sides over the course of 6 hours. The battle is ended when the Neandertals are driven back by the arrival of forces from several Zurvár houses, summoned by representatives who were present negotiating with the Guild for settlement rights.
Later research indicates that the lingering effects of the Luxembourg disaster resulted in an increase in Metaphysical potential among the survivors, which combined with relics left from experiment allowed the attack.
1919-1926: A series of small battles and skirmishes take place on Neandertan, mostly instigated by vengeful Guild members. No further attacks are made on Metaphysica – oral histories attribute this to only eight shamans being capable of opening gates, five of whom were killed at De Chirico.
1926: A treaty is negotiated with the Neandertals, ending the Neandertan War. Tensions remain however.
Early 1950s: The number of Zurvár travelling through local probability increases notably.
1959: An uninhabited world is ceded to the Zurvár, being christened Zurvár Areana.
