Tera Lore Timeline: Present History (Headcanon Lore)
Years not canon compliant. Follows Gregorian calendar and earliest NA/EUTera patch release dates. Only confirmed canon year is that the Argon War ended in 276 VC. I simply matched it up with the Argon Corpus patch release date and went from there
Beginning of 275 VC Island of Dawn rises from the sea. (Korean Tera is first launched in January 2011) Stepstone Isle Gifted Children are put into an eternal sleep by Argon spy, Samael. (While this patch was added in 2015, it is meant to replace the Island of Dawn)
Late 275 VC Reapers emerge upon the destruction of Pora Elinu from the Orcans (While this patch was added in 2014, the Reaper begins story quests around LvL 50 after they finish their personal quest and fight Thulsa. This means that Pora Elinu is destroyed before the Argon War ends.)
Late 276 VC Argon War finally ends (Manaya’s Core dungeon patch added in August 2012)
Late 278 VC Northern Arun Second Expedition begins (Fate of Arun patch added in December 2014)
Early 279 VC Skycastles are discovered and formed for a time (Patch added in February 2015 until removed)
Mid 279 VC Valona, Master of the Timescape, also know as Yana, is defeated (Timescape dungeon patch added in July 2015)
Late 279 VC The Island of Dawn is devasted (Patch added in November 2015)
Mid 280 VC Dakuryon is defeated (Demokron Factory and Shadow Sanguinary dungeon patches are added in May 2016)
Late 280 VC Aranea Echo Records are activated (Echoes of Aranea patch added in August 2016)
Late 280 VC Lilith, a Vampyr noble who pledge her allegiance to Lakan, is defeated (Lilith’s Keep and Ruinous Manor dungeon patches added in October 2016)
Late 280 VC Vergos, the great dragon defeated (Harrowhold dungeon patch added in November 2016 until 2019)
Beginning of 281 VC Lakan escapes his prison (Broken Prison dungeon patch added in January 2017)
Early 281 VC Lakan is defeated after attacking Velik (Velik’s Hold and Velik’s Sanctuary dungeon patches are added in April 2017)
Late 281 VC Randun’s RK9 machine is defeated and explodes, killing him (Thaumetal Refinery and RK9 dungeon patches are added in October 2017)
Beginning of 282 VC Red Raiders emerge as new threat to Arborea (Guardian Legion quests patch added in January 2018)
Mid 282 VC Karakhir, son of legendary blacksmith Muhrak, is captured by the Red Raiders and the Federation is sent to investigate. Hennika, a Castanic girl whose brother died at the hands of Gulas around 275 (sidequest), is discovered to be the brains behind the Red Raiders organization. Argog, a friend of Hennika’s, is defeated but the Player is accused of treason by Aktam but later proves their innocence. (Red Refuge dungeon patch added in May 2018) (Antaroth’s Abyss dungeon patch is added in June 2018)
Early/Mid 282 VC Velika Banquet. Velik is killed until Mystel intervenes. Khemadia, the black dragon, is defeated. Mystel uses too much of her power and leaves the fate of Arborea to the mortals. (Godsfall Apex patch is added in April 2018)
283 VC After the banquet, Velika has fallen into an eternal sleep (The Nightmare Begins patch added in 2019)
Finally cleared an RK-9 (with a lot of help and a second heals) and found these journals.
Now I remember, Randun was in the Echoes of Arcana flashback.
But why would he create such an evil machine after Dakuryon and Lakan were defeated? What was he planning? What did he hope to gain from all of this? Wasn’t he one of the good guys and part of the Federation?
We will never know now since he blew up with his machine...
[The Age of Deities was a period of creation brought upon by the original twelve gods of Arborea, who were "dreampt up" by the titans Shara and Arun. The Age of Deities ended violently with the War of the Gods, leaving most of the gods dead or imprisoned.]
-? VC Twelve in all were created, had godlike power. These new creations were the Gods themselves.
-? VC. Centuries passed, and deserts, mountains, rivers, and forests grew upon Arun and Shara. Yet still they slept.
-? VC War of the Gods: Begins A war between the deities of Arborea presumed to have occurred a thousand years ago. Gods pulled in the morals races into the war.(Assuming that this was right it would put the war end around -8,900.)
-10,000 VC Karas created the Elves
-10,000 VC Amarun created the Amani on the continent Arun.
-9,900 VC Amani and Deva empires scrabbled over Human lands in a war that weakened both.
-9,500 VC to -5,400 VC The Amani are enslaved by the Giants.
-8,900 VC War of the Gods: Ends
The Age of Mortals
-6,000 VC The gods destroy The Holy Empire of the Giants in a single day.
-6,000 VC The Amani and remnant of the Giants become locked in a death struggle with the newly created Ocrans.
-5,500 VC The Amani and remnant of the Giants migrate from Arun to glacial wastes of Northern Shara.
-5,400 VC At the request of Kaia, Lok and his Deva artisans liberate the Amani from the remaining Giants.
-5,000 VC The Amani drove out the Giants, tore down all they'd built, and raised a new city to honor their savior: Kaiator.
-4,000 VC Sikander and his nephew Nerezza battled with tremendous energy damaging the Elves' greatest treasure, the Flower of Life.
-3,000 VC The Elves separate into different factions, the High Elves migrate from Arun to Shara.
-3,000 VC Allemantheia is founded.
-? VC Gidd places The Diapora upon the Humans race. Lore has it that the ancestors of the humans were jealous of their creators’ powers, and stole some possessions from the last of the creators, Gidd. Afterward, Gidd found out who stole his precious possessions and killed them, but the punishment was not enough to satisfy him. He also put a curse on the whole human race, which spread throughout the land for 2000 years. The fact that humans have started to gather and civilize is only recent history.
-2,824 VC High Elves begin a 3,000 year period of militarism.
-500 VC The Argons begin assaults on Kaiator, these assaults directly encouraged the formation of the Valkyon Federation.
0 VC Velika Clock. City of Velika is completed
0 VC The Amani join the Valkyon Federation.
75 VC High Elves successful Liberation Campaigns.
176 VC ~ Battle of Essenia: Begins due to High Elven "Grand Spire Army" sought to conquer the areas of Northern Shara.
176 VC Battle for Essenia, High Elves suffer a devastating defeat against the Valkyon Federation. This marked the end of the militarism period for the High Elves.
176 VC Civil war begins.
176 VC The Amani come to the aid of the Valkyon Federation in the Battle for Essenia.
235 VC Civil war ends, High Elves emerge as a more tolerant nation.
250 VC The High Elves join the Valkyon Federation.
176 VC to 276 VC (present) The Amani living in Northern Shara face continued assaults from the Argons.
This is an assorted list of all the headcanons I have for Elins, compiled together from discussions of other fellow Tera lore theorists. This post will be updated when I make more headcanons about Elins. You are welcome to borrow some of these lore theories. If you do not agree with some of the theories, that is fine. You are entitled to your opinion as am I.
This post is mainly useful for when I roleplay with other fellow Tera players as my own Elins follow these headcanons.
Elins in general:
-Like most animals, Elins like to snuggle with one another in a big pile to establish trust. Typically seen amongst best friends and siblings
-The animal tails are very sensitive-they do NOT like their tails being touched without permission-it is very uncomfortable and sometimes painful if one touches their tail without them knowing
-Those with long, versatile tails, use them for balance to be more nimble
-Elins who are more magic-tuned will train as temporary students at the Elderitch Academy
-Many Elins are more comfortable with forests. Those who live in Allementheia are often irritated by the lack of the lush nature of home-though some have adapted to the barren environment (Many Elins see those ones as ‘Odd’ from their kind)
-Elins will often have characteristic traits of the animal they are. Certain senses are stronger for certain animals (ex: hearing, sight, and smell)
-Typically, the more unintelligent an animal is, the less an Elin is with those animal features (ex: many Sheep Elins are known to have a lower IQ than any other Elin with other animal features, even so they are still treated the same as the rest of their brethren)
-The animals Elins take part of are mainly mammals though there have been extremely rare cases of an Elin having the features of an insect but very few have occurred
Elin Cuisine:
-Meals generally consist of mostly vegetables with a healthy amount of protein and carbs
-Generally, whatever animal features an Elin has, tends to dictate what kinds of food they prefer (Example: many rabbit Elins are vegetarians and do not eat meat) (Sheep and Squirrel Elins sometimes eat meat but very rarely
-Being initially nature spirits, Elins have a love for vegetables (Hence why a cat Elin is not exclusively a carnivore)
There are two generations of Elins:
-Elinu-generation and Seren-generation. All Elins today in the world of Tera (minus the royalty Elins-but we will get to that later) are Seren-generation.
-These generations also apply to Popori, as seen in the next theory
Elins are NOT related to Popori:
-Elins were created by Elinu and they in turn, used their magic to shape the animals of the forest into humanoids to help them cultivate nature. Elinu-generation Elins could create Popori but after Elinu’s death/disappearance, the Seren-generation Elins could not, thus Seren took upon the task of creating Popori herself
Seren-generation Elins are born from flowers:
-There is no need for procreation of Elins as Elinu initially created the race’s vessels to be pure, perfect in every way, like the spirits they harbored. When the Goddess was still around, she simply created the Elins into being immediately. Seren though, being a lesser deity in age and rank (She was created from one of Balder’s eyes; Balder is one of Elinu’s children and thus one could argue that Elinu is Seren’s grandmother), cannot easily form a vessel of flesh immediately. Using the plants, which the Elin spirits are associated with initially, Seren morphed the foliage to create bodies for the Elins of her generation.
-When a new Elin is to be born, a flower stalk will grow from the waters around Pora Elinu (The great tree is built around a garden for the flowers). The flower grows a large bud, creating the Elin’s body within, like an incubator; during this stage, Seren guides a nature spirit to inhabit the body. Once the body has been completely formed, the flower opens, revealing the Elin inside
-Popori of the Seren-generation, are born from trees like fruit
-Siblings are born from the same flower. Pora Elinu residents keep records of what kind of flower each Elin is born to. Some Elins who are adults or have passed on already, will have siblings born from the same flower they were born from, much later
-Twins are rare and can either be born from two buds on a flower stem or from a single, large bud (much rarer)
Elins are born genderless and sexless:
-As said before, their race has no need to procreate. Their bodies are initially smooth with no genitals of any kind, as they have no use for them.
-Most Elins tend to identify as female in honor of their initial creator, Elinu. There are some Elins who identify as male though
-Once an Elin has lived past 100+, they may begin developing genitals depending on what gender they have been identifying as. Even so, they still cannot procreate and may use said genitals for sexual pleasure if they so desire
Elins mature mentally at a slow rate:
-Following the idea of character races in DnD, Elins do not fully mature until they are around 50-60 in human lives (1 Elin year = 2.25 human years)
-When initially “born”, they act more like children. This is because their spirits are still young and playful in their new bodies
-Those who have lived past the mature age have a definite difference from younger Elins due to their wisdom and experience. Typically, most Elins one meets outside of Pora Elinu are fully mature
Elins currently have no age limit in their lifespan:
-Aside from diseases, war, etc., Elins do not die of old age. This is because they are spirits of nature, given a vessel of flesh. The cells in their bodies have merged with their spirits and thus, like their spirits, are long-lasting. Because they were initially spirits of nature, they have a strong bond with their Goddesses who created them, further fueling the idea that their bodies will not die from age.
-All the Elins from the Elinu-generation have, unfortunately, died out from the many wars-the remaining survivor of that generation is the Elin Queen.
Elin bodies do age, just at a very, very slow rate:
-Similar to their age of full maturity, Elins bodies do grow, just very slowly. Initially with bodies of children or young teens, should an Elin live long enough, (around 500 years or so) their body looks more like a young adult.
-Elins who have decided on what gender they wish to identify as, may develop a visible chest
-An adult Elin is said to look very much like the Goddess Elinu-not surprising as they are her initial creation
-So far, only the Elin Queen is the only known Elin to have lived long enough to reach full adult stage
Most Elins do not Dream
-Being initially spirits from the Dream, Elins minds do not enter it while they sleep; Elins who are more in tune with magic though, especially Priests and Mystics are able to feel the Dream during their slumbers as it is where they draw their magic from
-Some Reapers are said to be able to enter the Dream-but only in the dark parts where the shadows fester
-Elins who can enter the Dream are able to go further, and sometimes be able to communicate with the Gods-including those who do not have a physical presence in the world anymore
-Current known Elins who can Dream: Rida and Syona
The Elin Queen and royalty:
-The Elin Queen is the last of the Elinu-generation Elins. Because of this, she is the only Elin who can still create Popori from animals
-Being very old, she has lived long enough to have her body resemble an adult woman-some say she resembles the Goddess Elinu in every aspect
-Interestingly enough, she is also the only Elin to be able to bear children. This is because her body is an adults’. The Elin Princesses of Pora Elinu are her only offspring (Seren assisted the Queen in making her children; they are considered virgin-birth children); The Princesses, the only Elin babies to exist, grew rapidly to the child-form stage that Elins typically are within a matter of days
-It is not known yet if the Elin Princesses will also be able to have children like their mother
-Current known Princesses are Rida, Arin, Syona and Zolyn
-Princess Syona and Zolyn are twins
Reapers:
-Reapers are Elins from the Seren-generation who died in the past and were brought back by Seren due to their anger against their beloved home, Pora Elinu, and the great tree being destroyed
-There are no Reapers from the Elinu-generation
-Reapers appeared near the end of the Argon war. Following the timeline of Tera’s storyline, Reapers came about when the player character, Mystel’s Chosen One went to confront Saleron and take on his challenge in his garden
-Reapers draw on the dark powers of the Dream-the shadows
-Utilizing the shadows has a very dangerous effect as it is controlled heavily by the rage and anguish of the Reaper
-Those who cannot control the shadows succumb to the darkness and become corrupted souls; While many Reapers almost converted to this state initially when they appeared to avenge Pora Elinu, the sight of their beloved Princess Rida and loved ones calmed their souls. Even so, some still fell into the darkness and had to be taken down soon after
-The surviving Reapers had their gravestones and names from the deceased record books removed until further notice
-Elins who died traumatic deaths tend to have an even stronger connection to the shadows; Elins who died young are not as in tune with the darkness
-Demonic horned Elins did not exist until after the Reapers appeared-this is due to the amount of darkness an Elin’s soul held before they were resurrected as a Reaper; the shadows from the Reapers when they first appeared corrupted the soil in which the flowers that Elins are born from grows, thus some Elins born post-Pora Elinu destruction are seen with these horns
-While the demonic horns replace other animal features that a Reaper had before their death (ex: Elin before used to be a squirrel-now has demonic horns), they still may carry the animal traits from before (ex: ex-squirrel Elin having a great ability of balance; ex-fox Elin with heightened sense of smell)
Interesting to know that Elves have a rocky relationship with Elins and Popori.
Besides the fact that the Elven city is in a desert, I wonder if it also has to do with the fact that Karas, the original creator of the elves, cast the world of Arborea into eternal twilight after the Death/Disappearance of his wife, Elinu, the original creator of the Elins and the fact that Elves no longer have a spiritual deity to look up to anymore while Elins are very in tune with spiritual world.
Considering how the Castanic race is sometimes frowned upon over what their Goddess creator, Zuras, it seems some of the relationships between races also stem from their original creators.
Ive been sitting on this is a bit. I have a playlist for Tera but i also don't have a super solid lore for her. So I took some time to really pick out songs and picked out my favorite lyrics in each song that stood out most for tera
I don't really have any long explanations for them but i hope you enjoy what I've picked out and it gives you a small peek in to Tera <3
Burn It All Down- League Of Legends / Lyrics (Early Life)
To me this has to do with Tera not living by the expectations that were set before her. She decided to live her own life and if people got in the way. well then she didn't need them. Tera was going to prove her worth in her own way and be above the people who wanted her to live within their neat and tidy little box. Even if it meant clawing her way to the top
It was really hard to pick lyrics for this one. So i ended up settling on two sets
"This ain't where the legends come from
You're not what a hero looks like
Pretty little flower, won't you sit back down and go play nice?"
This in particular talks about the expectations being set and followed
"This is where the bruises come from
This is when the game gets ugly
These blood, sweat, tears keep running
Licking my plate 'cause I'm so hungry"
And this talks about Tera climbing her way to the top of everything she did no matter if was a contest or not. She was hungry to be on the top of anything and everything.
Stronger - The Score / Lyrics (Early Life)
Stronger, to me at least, is Tera realizing what she does she does for herself. However at this point its become an obsession, not living by standards. And sometimes she can get in her own head and be egotistical. And sometimes she blames other people for "making her this way"
Which is echoed here
"I do this with conviction
I write truths and never fiction
My disease is what you fed
I can't stop with my ambition
Like a missile on a mission
I'm a force that you will dread-ead"
Tera holds her head up high but sometimes that means turning her nose up at people
Phoenix - League of Legends / Lyrics (Mid Life)
This song is holds a lot of meaning for my IRL and to Tera tbh.
As Tera got older she realized, at some point, she was the one holding herself back. She was pulling herself down through her own toxic views of the world. She was struggling to break free of that and make true, strong connections with people.
The most important part of the song for me is
"So are you gonna die today or make it out alive?
You gotta conquer the monster in your head and then you'll fly
Fly, phoenix, fly
It's time for a new empire
Go bury your demons then tear down the ceiling
Phoenix, fly"
When thinking about Tera this represents her trying to to change herself, and struggling to do so. It was time to realize being the best of the best wasnt all there was to life anymorem and it never was. But shes just now realizing it.
Ignite- Alan Walker / Lyrics (VivEra)
A Vivi X Tera song!
So much of Miqo Teras lore revolves around VIvi so it felt like a shame not to add a song for them. I use Ignite because i feel like it represents a flame rekindling back in tera. She found someone so much like her yet so different. Someone down to earth despite what they had been through.
This is another one i had a hard time with lyric wise. So i picked two again!
"Fireflies, a million little pieces
Feeds the dying light, and breathes me back to life
In your eyes, I see something to believe in
Your hands are like a flame
Your palms the sweetest pain"
"So alive, your touch is like the daylight
Burning on my skin, it turns me on again
You and I, survivors of the same kind
But we're the only ones dancing on the sun"
This Part is Tera falling in love with Vivi. His touch brought her back to life and a warmth in to her being. Now to her, only Vivi mattered.
All I Know So Far - P!nk / Lyrics (Later In Life)
This is probably one of my favorite songs for Tera. I feel like this is a song that talks about her journey through life and imparting her wisdom and life advice to others.
At this point Tera has been with Vivi a long time and shes become more down to earth and mellow. She hasn't lost her desire to be on top but she knows now that shes where she needs to be and is happy. So now she will go forward and lend her wisdom to those who will listen.
Lyric wise for Tera
"Haven't always been this way
I wasn't born a renegade
I felt alone, still feel afraid
I stumble through it anyway
I wish someone would have told me that this life is ours to choose
No one's handing you the keys or a book with all the rules
The little that I know I'll tell to you"
This is just as i said, Tera talking about. She wasn't born wanting to fight back. And she thought people made her that way, that she was simply a product of her environment. But as some point she was a product of herself. She was afraid to let go of who she had become. But she realized theres no book to live by and no one is going to have some magical answer for the paths to take. Just stay honest to yourself and thats what matters.
I was thinking recently, why isn’t there a Castanic child among the 5 children of the Stepstone Isle? There are only 4 of the 7 races that are gifted with the power of sight.
Elins cannot because they do not dream. Baraka, because I don’t think there are children version of Baraka (plus BHS never made a child Baraka model).
I find it kind of odd that they did not use the Castanic child model. Also, why did they use the more well-dressed elf child than the more modest elf child model? It would make more sense that these kids living on an island, hidden from most of society would have more modest clothing.
Anyways back to the Castanic child. We know from Tera lore that Castanics have had a rough history: the factions of their races that call themselves the Devas and then there are the Blood mage Archdevas. Their Goddess, Zuras herself was also fought against the Amani race (she then disappeared during the start of the Divine War and hasn’t been seen since)
These 5 children had been blessed with the power of sight by the Tree Tiaran, so why not a Castanic child. Besides the fact that maybe none of Castanics’ living on the island decided not to have kids, here’s my sad theory:
Tiaran, the mystical tree that gifts the power to see the world as the gods once saw it, did not choose a Castanic to be one of the gifted as it does not see the Castanic race as one worthy of the sight.
This is unfair to the Castanic race because they have to fight to prove themselves to the Gods now.
