A History of
the Known World

Editors Note: Historians on Setheridge are famous for their academic sparring, particularly over the roots of our civilization. The following timeline is limited to areas on which there is general agreement among leading historians. Areas of dispute are italicized.

Setherian culture is thought to have begun approximately 5,000 years ago, or 3,200 years before the adoption of the current calendar system, created by the mathematician Aaron Preote. It was at that point, 50 centuries ago, that the world suffered what we now refer to as the Wide Cataclysm.

Prior to Recorded History: Disagreements over the precise nature of the Wide Cataclysm are as numerous as there are historians. Some ascribe a climatological change over hundreds of years that decimated whatever civilizations existed at the time. Others hypothesize a seismological disaster lasting mere months. Less frequent are the arguments for otherworldly intervention -- with theories of other races traveling to the world from the stars. And, of course, the religious arguments abound -- and the Rebular are known to hypothesize that a god-like power reformed the world in a single day, as penalty to a race of people that had lost its moral compass.

Alas, we will never know. What is certain, however, is that the world that existed in that day was gone, in the cosmic equivalent of an instant. It is from this event that we date our current calendar.

Modern Era, Year 47: Antecedents of the Setherian writings, found on coastal caves of Tredgemond Butte, are dated to ME (modern era) 47. Linguists theorize the writings are accounts of hunting exploits by the indigenous peoples.

Year 192: Accounts of earliest Amandean civilization. It is believed that Amandeans were the dominant race on the continent during a period lasting roughly Years 150-300. This was the first great civilization of the post-Cataclysmic Era, and at its height the Amandeans ruled over three-quarters of the continent.

Year 450: Remnants of Amandean civilization are scattered throughout the Northern Tier. Setherian Croxus (leader by inheritance) is established in what is now New Ungeropolis.

Year 500: First surviving accounts of a stick-and-ball game are dated to the sixth century. Drawings show children running across what appear to be squares, or bases, after striking a small ball with a stick. The drawings include adults watching nearby.

Year 572: Helderan democratic tribunal established at Leadland. Historians believe the First Tribunal, lead by Conrath Brendland, lasted approximately eight years before dissolving in acrimony. Helderan factions engage in four decades of ‘low-level’ civil strife.

Year 600: Rebular mathematician Aaron Preote proposes a calendar system dating from what had, by this point, become the accepted time of the Wide Cataclysm. Years prior to this time are given the nomenclature B.C., for Before the Cataclysm.

Year 612: Exhausted by the warring, Helderan tribes agree to establish The Second Tribunal. This was a two-tiered democratic body, with the upper body encompassing just 11 elected representatives, known as Solonus. These 11 had veto power over the lower chamber, Perimus, which had an ungainly 26 members.

Year 674: First Helderan military incursion, later dubbed “The Battle of Hot Bear Bend,” is launched on the main continent. It is quickly repulsed by Setherian volunteers supplemented by Monsytian mercenaries hired by Croxus Harrion the Third. (Two key points here are under dispute by modern historians: whether this invasion was in fact the first by the Helderans; and whether the incursion was provoked by covert Setherian acts, including espionage. These two disputes, in fact, form a core historical controversy of the continent).

Year 715: Croxus Harrion the Fourth decrees Setherian sovereignty over the whole of the continent. Heldera Island, in the southeast, remains the only stronghold of the Helderan people.

Years 715-1759: Duration of the thousand-year reign of Setherian House of Harrion, a succession-based monarchy. It is over the course of these ten centuries that relative peace is brought to the continent of Setheridge, though at a tremendous cost. First, through what was at times sheer brutal aggression, the Setherians successfully claimed control of the entirety of the continent and of the Island of Heldera, not just the traditional Setherian strongholds to the east.

Second, it was over the course of the reign of the House of Harrion that the Helderan people were ruthlessly assimilated into the Setherian empire, losing their land and their businesses. Starting in about the 1200s, the Helderan tribes became the de facto working class for both the Harrion ruling houses as well as other nobility, including the remnants of the Amandean people.

1600s: First recorded mention of the term ‘baseball’ is dated to the early 17th century. Rules include a limit on the number of missed swings, described as ‘strikes,’ and an independent arbiter to determine rules disputes. Historians agree that by the latter 17th century, baseball was commonly played by children at schools and adults after work, particularly by Amandeans, Setherians, and Helderans.

Year 1757: Croxus Harrion the 104th, nicknamed “Deranged Harry,” is assassinated outside LaValleyford Prairie, after a ferry ride across the Valencroft River. As he has no male heir, this leads to disarray among the Setherians, with growing disputes over whether the monarchy should continue. The assailant is not caught, as insurgent groups that separately had tired of the monarchy conspired to ensure that the investigation would be fruitless.

Year 1759: The House of Harrion is formally dissolved as a ruling entity. A bicameral parliamentary government is installed, with representatives from all regions of the continent and of the Island of Heldera. Thousands hail the peaceful transition to a more modern government, but multiple political parties spring up and the parliament is largely dysfunctional.

Year 1801: The first of what would prove to be four major Helderan insurgent groups is formed in the eastern port city of Leadland on Heldera Island. Lead by a indentured machinist named Earvin Wren, the group calls itself Free Heldera, and espouses nonviolent means to achieve sovereignty. The group is quickly declared to be illegal and Wren is imprisoned for several years.

Year 1805: The dissolution of Free Heldera backfires on the ruling Setherians in that it leads to the creation of three new insurgent groups, each dedicated to achieving freedom, each willing to use violence as a means to that end, and each operating in total secrecy. Setherian intelligence agents are unable to learn the leaders, locations, and funding sources of the groups, and in fact their exact number is unclear. Only later were historians able to surmise that the insurgent groups did number three: the Helderan Liberationists, the Army of Islanders and Helderan Unity.

1800s: The 19th century brings the first formal baseball leagues, most of them amateur. The teams dot the countryside, and the rivalries among various cities and towns bring a welcome respite from the political turmoil. A few leagues claimed to be professional and paid players based on that day’s ticket sales; fights over whether the owner was paying out the proper share were frequent.

Year 1807: The various leaders of the three primary Helderan insurgent groups meet on a heavily guarded boat off the coast of McMurichswell Cove. The session though is disrupted by an attack of the Setherian military, and casualties on both sides number in the dozens. The Helderan rebel leaders successfully escape, leading to open debates in the Setherian Parliament about the competency of the Setherian military and the eventually sacking of the Navy commander. This incident becomes known as The Battle of Murrichswell Cove and is memorialized in song and prose.

Years 1808-1835: Relative calm throughout the continent lulls the Setherian people into the belief that the insurgency has run its course. Historians now think that to have been anything but the case. In fact, all three insurgent groups see their ranks swell during this period as the Helderan people — furious over the Battle of Murrichswell Cove and the treatment sympathetic Setherians — became increasingly supportive of a revolt. This pronounced change in sentiment prompts each of the insurgent groups to quietly stockpile armaments, money, and supplies.

1820s: Semi-professional baseball teams grow in number, resulting in loose, regional confederations. At least three such groups, two Setherian and one Amandean, become profitable. Young men began who excel at the sport are able to earn relatively stable incomes by associating themselves with the more successful teams, and some become known nationally — the continent’s first baseball stars. A few female baseball teams spring up as well.

Year 1837, August 4: The continent erupts in full-scale warfare as the Helderan insurgents launch coordinated, pre-dawn attacks on Setherian military outposts. The Setherian military is caught by surprise, and is understaffed, under-supplied, and woefully trained. This allows the Helderans to immediately claim control of vast portions of the southeastern tier of the mainland. This date marks the start of what came to be known as the Great Insurrection.

Over the next five decades, the Setherians try unsuccessfully to reclaim those areas, while the Helderans are able to gradually increase the lands they control over the whole southeastern portion of the mainland. The cost is incalculable, with hundreds of thousands of casualties, the decimation of historic sites and natural wonders, and entire generations of people living out their lives knowing nothing but war.

Year 1847, September 29: Bartholomew Cunningham is born on the outskirts of Sandbanna Woods, the only child of Braley and Ellie Cunningham, two struggling farmers.

Year 1887: The war reaches its 50th anniversary, and that dubious milestone gives new impetus to long-stalled discussions on a ceasefire. Still, both sides are unable to even agree on a framework for such discussions. The Setherians insist as a precondition for talks that Helderan forces surrender all territory on the mainland; the Helderans refuse that point and insist on a Setherian admission of human rights violations for centuries of abusive treatment. Formal talks are never held.

Year 1890: Cunningham, by now a successful promoter of sporting and other entertainments events, conceives a solution to the political strife: a continental, professional baseball league made up of teams based in cities controlled by both Setherian and Helderan forces. He proposes this in April, prompting six months of debate across the continent. The two sides, exhausted by war, eventually agree.

Year 1891: The Proclamation of an Eternal Ceasefire is declared, and ratified by both the Setherian and Helderan military leadership. Helderan peoples are granted their own sovereignty, the Nation of Heldera, compromised of their native Island and much of the eastern half of the continent.

Year 1892, July 23: Lord Bart announces the Setheridge Island Professional League of Baseball, or SIP, is formally announced, with the inaugural season to begin the following spring.

Year 1892, November 14: Spurred by popular demand, the Amandean League of Everyman, or ALE, is ratified as a second continental league, with 20 teams in smaller cities. Cunningham, declared commissioner of both leagues, establishes offices in Schawmount City. He quickly asserts broad political powers, with the support of the suddenly-prosperous team owners.

Year 1893, May Second: Opening Day of the Inaugural Season of the SIP and ALE Leagues.

Year 1923, March 30th: the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the SIP and ALE Leagues is held in Schawmount City.