Benwick/Light Keep Timeline

[15 BR] Foundation of Benwick
Galahad the Builder establishes the settlement of Benwick in the eastern Arelith Forest after negotiations with the elves living there. Upon its completion, he is proclaimed King and marries Lady Anna. The relationship does not last, however, and King Galahad goes on to marry the elven druidess Xyndral.

[14 BR] Benwick - Stonehold War
Benwick fights against the Dragon Cult located within Stonehold sometime between 15 BR and 10 BR. During the war, a rift developed between the followers of Queen Xyndral and those of Duke Darius Tristam, culminating in Darius and his followers leaving for Kohlingen. Also during this time frame, the Silver Dragon Imperator is impressed by a series of heroic deeds done by King Galahad and agrees to serve as the protector of Castle Benwick. The dragon has the ability to judge the righteousness of a soul with a simple conversation (NPC Dragon would announce if PC's alignment was Evil). The dragon would stand guard next to the twin thrones of Castle Benwick and later perish next to the infernal portal of Light Keep during the settlement's fall.

[02 AR] Destruction of Kohlingen
The duke Tristam and the last of the Kohlingenites make their way back to Galahad the Builder in Benwick after Earl Manfried's attempts to open a rift to the Negative plane result in the complete destruction of the city. The island upon which the nation was built sinking into the sea.

[03 AR] Benwick - Stonehold War
After a year of conflict, Benwick joins Cordor in the war against the Banite held Stonehold.

[11 AR] Death of a King
King Galahad the Builder passed away, leaving the realm in the hands of Queen Xyndral and Duke Tristram. Eventually, Duke Tristram departed the island, and Queen Xyndral assumed sole rule. The first act under her reign was renaming the city to Light Keep.

[12 AR]
Lady Meegat is appointed the right hand of the Queen and given the title of "First Lady Protector of the Keep of Light." Duty Bond, a former knight of Benwick, marries the Lady Protector Meegat and is granted the title "The Queen's Champion". Sir Frand, the Frowning Knight, is slain by an assassin. Queen Xyndral takes Lord Severian as her consort and grants him the title "Master of the Praetorian Order and Commander of the Army."

[13 AR] The Council of Benwick
Rae Lexius Blackmour joins Light Keep as the High Priestess of Tyr. Under her guidance, governance is entrusted to a council consisting of Meegat, Duty Bond, and Lexius herself, while Queen Xyndral remains a symbolic figurehead. However, tension between Lexius and Duty on how to rule led to a fiery clash between the two after the battle of Stonehold, which saw Duty Bond departing the island.

Baltak Brinson and his followers arrive in Benwick with the ambition of marrying the Queen in order to rule as King. Conflict soon erupted, and Baltak and his people eventually left the city.

[13 AR] The Destruction of Stonehold
After the brutal attack on Bendir, Benwick mustered a large army under the command of Queen Xyndral’s husband, the Praetorian Grandmaster Severian. Along with Councilman Duty the gathering marched against the Stronghold. Knowing the Banites employed large numbers of Devils in their ranks, the Benwick clerics called upon the heavens for aid and a host of celestials descended. Together the army of mortals and gods assaulted the Bane Fortress. Though gravely wounded, Praetorian Severian defeated the infernal army of Dreadmaster Ryan Valtheran and his Drow Mistress, bringing the Stonehold to ruin. After its destruction, Banite forces remaining retreat into exile.

Praetorian Grandmaster Severian would later die from the wounds suffered.

[15 AR] Death of Queen Xyndral
An attempt to destroy Benwick during the Shadow Throne Sage fails, though at the cost of Queen Xyndral’s life. With the death of the Queen, the monarchy was formally replaced by a ruling council. The High Priestess Lexius presides over this ruling body, whose members were: Meegat, Lexius, and the Archmage Sway Sand.

[15 AR]
Berichance Arnesen of the “Order of Purity” arrives and begins to gain influence, finally ascending to the Council when Lady Protector Megaat is stripped of her position and put on trial for hiring the assassin, Cancer, to kill the frowning knight Sir Frand. She would be found guilty and sentenced to death, the punishment later commuted to life imprisonment within her quarters in Light Keep.

[15 AR] Siege of Benwick
Quimelya besieges Benwick to save her imprisoned sister from execution.

[16 AR] An Autocrat Arises
Lexius becomes the absolute ruler of Light Keep, though in practice it was still under the control of a council. Erik Silverarms, fiercely loyal to Lexius, is appointed Duke of Light Keep and the Commander of the Army.

[20 AR]
Luna Strata, Godfrey, and Rowan Willows rule as a Council of three over Light Keep.

[30 AR]
Construction of Light Keep’s Royal Quarters begins, but is quickly abandoned.

[40 AR] Myon & Benwick - Minmir War
Myon forces joined with an army from Benwick to attack the Church of Bane in Minmir. The Alliance of Elves and Knights will suffer high casualties and defeat.

The reason for this conflict and its outcome have been lost to time.

[40 AR] Dionne
Dionne was said to be a drowish demi-power that attacked the Keep as far back as AR 40. It is believed that she had a connection with First Lady Protector Meegat and Anisha. Although the purpose of her attacks have been lost in time, she was sealed within an artifact, but escaped as she has been seen haunting Light Keep on separate occasions.

[46 AR]
Lord Protector Arlan Garrinson was slain during a Banite attack on Benwick and replaced by Rowen Strata. Commander Conway stepped down and was replaced by Luna Strata the same year.

[47 AR]
Rae Lexius Blackmour passes away among friends in Light Keep.

[50 AR]
High Priestess Sabel steps down to be replaced by Godrey on the Council of three.

[52 AR] The Last Bastion
A gate to the Nine Hells is discovered beneath Light Keep and the Last Bastion is created to defend its entrance.

[57 AR] Myon, Bendir, Brogendenstein, & Light Keep - Wharftown War
As a result of Caster's mayorship, Myon, Bendir, Lightkeep, and Brogdestein declared war on Wharftown. Mayor Caster then stepped down as a Banite mayor was elected. A peace treaty is signed, leaving Wharftown as a vassal under Myon. Sometime later, the Church of Bane was able to break the vassalage.

[70 AR] The Forsworn
Lord James Malhinde attempts to restore the monarchy of Benwick, but with opposition from half the keeps population and the ruling Council his plan fails. After the setback, Malhinde and his followers leave Benwick to create “The Forsworn” in Westcliff. An independent regiment whose goal was to serve the Light, without the bureaucracy of the Keep. Oria Mavekix would serve as the organization's second in command, eventually taking over leadership when Malhinde later stepped down. The faction, which lasted until 78 AR, was largely triadist based, though they welcomed anyone who wanted to take the oaths: "Protect the weak and innocent." "Avenge the oppressed." "Dispense punishment to those who cruelly harm others." During its operation, the group was involved in many conflicts, primarily against the Internalist Vippin who attempted to plant a bomb into Oria Mavekix’s chest cavity to destroy the logging village from which the group was based.

[72 AR]
A year after the Forsworn left the Keep, Shaalira the Younger, Aria Sweetwater, and Luna Strata will sit upon the Council and rule Benwick with Rowan Willows serving as the High Priestess of Tyr.

[86 AR] The Battle of Benwick
During the island-wide Rift Crisis, infernal forces launched their first major attempt on Benwick in a bid to destroy the Fortress City. Exploiting the unstable planar rifts, Hell’s legions overwhelmed the Last Bastion and seized control of the stable portal to Avernus located in the Catacombs beneath the city. Though the defenders were pushed back, magical wards were quickly erected on the Prime Material side to prevent the portal’s immediate use. Despite the dire circumstances, the Light Keep held firm, its survival secured by the resolute defense of Benwick’s guardians and the intervention of various heroes from across the isle.

[87 AR] Vassal of Baator
In a final effort to preserve Benwick, Captain of the Keep Thomas Miller vassalled the settlement to the Infernalist Vippin and Jel of Guldorand, effectively placing it under Sencliff's authority. Amid the resulting turmoil, many Benwickians abandoned the city to consider their next course of action.

[88 AR] Last Battle and Destruction of Benwick
With the political subjugation of Light Keep to the Infernalist-aligned city of Guldorand, mortal followers of Hell were, for the first time, permitted to enter the sacred sanctum of the keep without resistance. Acting swiftly, these Infernalists cloaked "The Light" in shadow, rendering it inert and unusable as a weapon against their fiendish allies. Beneath the keep, magi infiltrated the catacombs and unraveled the arcane wards surrounding "The Gate", protections that had been established following the Battle of Benwick to bar Baatezu entry. With the wards removed, an army of the Nine Hells descended upon Benwick, and though the settlement's defenders fought desperately, the infernal host razed Benwick to the ground.

[88 AR]
The remains of Benwick’s military establish a camp in the former tournament fields east of the settlement from which they attempt to retake the city to no avail.

[89 AR] The Last Queen
The daughter of Benwick’s last matriarch, Ophelia Blackheart, claims the title of queen after the city’s destruction. She lives as a ruler in exile until her death in an unspecified year from mysterious causes, having never been coronated. Years later, her tomb would be discovered empty, with the belief she transformed into a Demilich with the power of her own vengeful spirit. After her reawakening in death, she connected with the Twisted Rune to settle her grudge against those that saw fit to have Light Keep and her family destroyed. (This is a DM created backstory for a later event plotline "Curse of the Last Queen" and was not a player action in the original timeline)

[157 AR] The Day Star
Ezekiel Klennald led a large force into the devil-infested ruins to retrieve Daystar, a divine sword and lost relic of Torm. Upon entering however, the group learned the sword had already been claimed by a powerful Devil. Through clever negotiation, Ezekiel’s adopted tiefling daughter Teriana managed to convince the creature to trade her own weapon for the blade.

[163 AR] Curse of the Last Queen
With the aid of the Twisted Rune the last queen of Benwick, Ophelia Blackheart, returned to Arelith years after her death. Her aspiration was the creation of an undead army to protect Arelith, never to allow the tragedy that was her home to be repeated. Her invasion began with the Twisted Rune’s successful plot to kill Mila Brown, greatest student of the Archmage Thoramind, and defacto leader of the Arcane Tower with a magical bomb. Based out of the ruins of her old kingdom, a series of battles took place in Bendir, Arelith Forest, Arcane Tower, Minmir, Guldorand, and Brogendenstein over the next year. The long conflict came to a culmination with the establishment of Camp Young west of Benwick and the long siege of Light Keep. During the final assault Vance Gravelle, having publicly repented for his evil ways, sacrificed his life to seal the Demilich Ophelia and ended the threat.

[177 AR, Month 9] Lake Benwick
Sky Druids, Clarissa, and Daelithe of the Heartwood Grove work together to carry out a ritual using the Weatherstone. This rite created a powerful storm that broke a natural dam high up in the crags and unleashed a torrent of water toward Arelith Forrest. With the area flooded, a second group of Sky Druids protected by brave adventures, used ritual magic to sink Benwick beneath the newly created lake and revitalize the local forest from corruption. After so many years, these two factions finally pushed back the infernal tide from Avernus that had taken up residence beneath the fallen Keep of Benwick by flooding the forest and sealing Light Keep beneath a large lake.