Timeline (The Great Lakes)

This is the timeline of events in the world of The Great Lakes.

So, our story begins with the crash of that asteroid 65 million years ago. A large meteor hit the asteroid as it fell to Earth. This changed the landing location by a couple of hundred miles. Instead of impacting the sea off the coast off Mexico, it impacted full on to the Yucatan Peninsula. This set in motion a chain of events that would reshape our planet. Shock waves sent racing through the more direct impact with the crust set off increased volcanic activity all around the globe, from Iceland to the West Pacific. The full-on impact with the land sent huge amounts of dust and ash into the atmosphere, at first blotting the sun and sending the Earth into a 100 year winter. The dominant group on Earth at this time - the dinosaur - soon died out due the the temperatures and devastated plant life. But soon this ended, and the microscopic particles of dust sent up by the impact began to trap the heat brought in by the sun, an extreme greenhouse effect. This, along with ash clouds from the increased activity of the world's numerous volcanoes, kept the Earth warm for tens of millions of years, effectively dampening an ice age. As time progressed, the butterflies worked their charm - and the modern world (geographically) was created.

The emergence of humans on the planet was significant. However, most races of humans would have stayed in Africa, if it had not been for a period of history referred to as "The Great Drought". Almost all African lakes completely dried up and people were forced to move northward and southward in search of water and greener lands. The human population fell by nearly half, yet as the drought came to an end, humanity had extended its reach to almost all parts of the planet but the time had come for people to settle. The age of civilization had begun.

The most advanced region of civil development was centered around Asia Minor, an area now referenced by historians as 'the Cradle of Civilization'. It was here where the first great cities of man held their power, and here where mankind would first organise itself into a fully functioning society with the capability to expand by trade as well as by bronze.

Although Asia Minor held no major lakes of significance, the watering of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers allowed for the perfect farming conditions to develop. Small settlements of humans developed to take advantage of such optimum conditions for farming and over many decades grew to become the first cities on the planet. The city of Ur became the dominant city of its day - establishing the Uri Empire (one of the first in history), responsible for spreading Mesopotamian culture.

Two other civilisations rose up almost simultaneously to Mesopotamia - Axum and Indus. Although Indus would develop in the same conditions as Mesopotamia would - in a river basin - Axum was different, as it developed around a lake rather than rivers. Volcanic activity in the area provided for rich soils which feed into the lakes of the region by rivers - giving the chance for a cilivisation to emerge from what may have been humanity's birthplace. It is important to note that in the period of the Great Drought, the lakes dried up to around a tenth of what they were at the rise of Axum.

The Indus civilisation mirrored Asia Minor in the fact that small, individual cities would develop but unlike Mesopotamia, these cities never came under a control of a single city - instead remaining a collection of cities that focused more on merchentile and cultural trade than war. This isn't to say there was no warring - in fact cities often engaged in conflict resolving only with the sacking of the loser, yet most were content with the status quo remaining in place.

Although Indus and Mesopotamia formed as city-states (and in the case of the Indus valley civilisation remain city-states), Axum was unique for being the first "true" state of the world. Formed by Eremias Orkoi of the Ahmara tribe through conquest and submission of the other tribes of the region, he bacome the first Orkoiyot (loosely translated into High Leader) of Axum. His came to be known as "The Uplifter" to the people of Axum for his role of uniting his peoples.

At around the same time as the first human civilisations were beginning to rise, humanity in other parts of the globe continued to extend its reach. A notable example of this were the Melanesians, who first colonised the islands of Vanuatu some eight thousand years ago. Originating from lands further west, the Melanesians were forced to move at the end of the last ice age when the land they inhabited began to flood. Although originally a race of sea-explorers, colonising all the islands from Papua to Fiji, over millennia the Melanesians developed into a civilisation competing with the Javanese for control of the islands.

On the other side of the world, in the Americas humans spread across both continents. Some arrived in rudimentary boats from the old world - crossing the Pacific in no doubt a hugely momentous task - while most crossed the land bridge in the last ice age. Hunter-gatherers by nature, humans managed to come to inhabit most regions in the continent, and eventually civilisation rose here too. Although most societies remained hunter-gatherers, farming began to spread some six thousand years ago and led to the rise of the Olmec civilisation. Considered the first civilisation on the continent, in the peak of their power the Olmecs came to trade with settlements as far as in the north and thoroughly established its culture throughout the region.

Centuries pass after the rise of the Mesopotamian city-states and the world sees the emergence of another civilisation that would leave a lasting impact on North Africa for generations to come: Egypt. The second true, unified state to rise up on the planet, it may be said to have eclipsed Axum many a time in its long history - outliving the nation by millennia. The rise of Egypt coincided with the rise of the city of Ur as the forefront power in Mesopotamia.

Some four thousand years ago, Sargon of Ur took power in his city and led its armies across a bloody path through Mesopotamia, uniting all the cities in the region for the first time under his banner. Urim became the centre of Mesopotamian civilisation for the next five centuries, through periods of chaos and fracturing before it finally splintered away into smaller states and be conquered by other powers. Though Sargon established the power base of the empire to be Ur, over the centuries the centre of Urim would change multiple times before Hammurabi permanently established Ur as the seat of power.

Egypt and Urim never shared a border, however trading between the two powers would occur, until the eventual collapse of Ur to Assyrian and Hittite invaders from the north. A flow of technology and knowledge took place between the two powers, as seen by the similarities in the pyramids of Giza and the Temple of Babel as well as the irrigation techniques employed by both nations, and a golden age for progress existed.

At around the same time, the Indus valley civilisation continued its rise. A greater influx of Indo-Aryans when the civilisation was but towns and large villages led to a pronouced time of chaos due to the invaders initially sacking these settlements. However, over the next few centuries the migrants would adopt the local customs and cultures and many of them would become priest-kings of the individual cities in their own right. The steady stream of Indo-Aryan migrants would continue to balloon the population of the region, and this influx would bring with it the creation of the world's oldest religion - Hinduism.