Time
The concept of time exists in Arx Fatalis, though it is unknown how the inhabitants of the underground kingdom measure it. Game resources hold an ‘Arx Bell’ that was clearly meant to serve as a chronograph, but the idea was scrapped during development. It can be assumed that the kingdom astronomer could be the timekeeper as well, the one responsible for declaring the day- and nighttime by sounding the bell: after all, astronomers are the first to behold the changes to the astral configuration, and it must be that the time in Arx is determined according to the positions of the celestial bodies. The deep toll of the bell wound resound throughout the underground kingdom, informing the other races about the current time as well.
It is not stated from what event the time in Arx is reckoned from. The Arx calendar is presumably based on the Gregorian calendar which is largely used in the real world. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months are mentioned as some of the units of time. People count days as both the days of year and the days of week, e.g. the fateful impact event happened on the 37th day of the year 216, a band of goblins attacked the human outpost on the 3rd day of the Week of the Rat in 266 and so on. Each of the weeks of the year seems to be attached to a particular animal in its name, among them are Week of the Spider, Week of the Cat, Week of the Rat, Week of the Mole, Week of the Cow, Week of the Eagle, and Week of the Serpent. There are also seasons which allude to an uncertain timespan; it's unlikely that they are the same as the real world ones. Green, White, Yellow, and Brown Seasons are named in-game. Morning and evening are mentioned as parts of a day, although it's, again, unclear when a day begins in Arx.
A high-level spell Slow time (
) slows down the time for everybody except the spell-caster.
Timeline
Ancient times
- Five human tribes inhabit the largest continent in Exosta. These tribes are always at war, and the more structured they become, the worse the state of affairs gets.<ref name="description_book_history_arx" />
170
- Battle of the Shattered Shields takes place: a ‘good and courageous’ human by the name of Poxsellis challenges and defeats the leader of each of the warring tribes thanks to the enchanted shield he brought back from an abandoned temple in the Wailing Mine Mountains. After the battle Arx enjoys its longest ever period of peace and prosperity,<ref name="description_book_history_arx" /> and the shield eventually gets buried with a great warrior.<ref name="Alia_real_introduce_06" />
- Poxsellis declares himself King of Arx and becomes the first king of the humans, after having united the five human tribes. He ‘reigns over the new kingdom of Arx with wisdom, fairness and generosity.’<ref name="description_book_kings_arx" />
A painting depicting some of the events in Arx from 170 to 231
Between 170 and 212
- War of the Magi, a conflict between adherents of different magical practices, breaks out: certain magi try to impose their way of seeing things onto other practitioners of magic. Not one arcane method proves to be truly stronger than another, so each battle is very equally matched. Conflicting parties are eventually reduced to relying on a single spell to defeat their opponents: Mana drain (
) becomes the ultimate spell, since it leaves the drained adversary incapable of using magic at all. The Sisters of Edurneum help the royal college of magic to stop the conflict by providing them with a powerful magical object made of two elements, Krahoz and Zohark, which, once joined, allows a wizard to conserve all his magical energy, even if someone was trying to drain him.<ref name="description_book_war_magic" /> In exchange, King Poxsellis signs two treaties: the first pact stipulates that the artifact is to be returned to the Order whenever they request it.<ref name="Player_has_tried_to_destroy_statue" /> The second, secret treaty promises the sisters, in exchange for Krahoz and Zohark, Poxsellis' fourth direct descendant once he or she is born.<ref name="Zalnashh_Alia_destiny_7" /> Only a few humans of the kingdom are aware of the latter treaty, among them Queen Florence, Poxsellis' daughter-in-law.<ref name="florence_alia_destiny_3" /> The brutal and terrifying war, in which many people die, lasts a few months and has no effect on the political leadership of the kingdom of Arx.<ref name="description_book_history_arx" />
- Likely in response to the secret treaty, Poxsellis founds the clandestine Order of the Sacred Dagger whose only mission is to protect the Kingdom of Arx and the royal bloodline against all sorts of dangers.<ref name="Alia_player_back_with_shield_04A" /><ref name="florence_alia_destiny_3" />
- Poxsellis faces a number of threats to the kingdom. A large number of goblin invasions are warded off, and the rat-men begin to live in the sewers of the city of Arx. The ‘unjust war’ lasts a long time with its bloody battles, but the kingdom's armies, led by Poxsellis himself, eventually ‘massacre their enemies.’<ref name="description_book_history_arx" />
- The exploration of the oceans begins. Many strong boats put out to sea on the oceans to seek new lands and new treasures.<ref name="description_book_history_arx" />
- Poxsellis' first two sons, Elois and Nickus, pass away during their father's lifetime. They are both remembered as ‘fine warriors’.<ref name="description_book_kings_arx" />
199
- Lunshire, the third direct descendant of Poxsellis, is born.<ref name="description_book_kings_arx" />
- Lord Long serves a certain Dark Order, which he himself has created, as the high priest.<ref name="description_book_day" />
212
- King Poxsellis dies, leaving his youngest son, Lunshire, to succeed him. Since the boy is too young, Lord Poncet acts as regent until the boy's coming of age. The Lord plots to stop Lunshire from taking the throne, but his scheme fails as he was never very popular.<ref name="description_book_kings_arx" />
215
- Lord Lunshire takes the throne of Arx at the age of 16.<ref name="description_book_kings_arx" />
216
- 37th day:
- A meteor from Koltk falls to earth in Exosta. The celestial body causes a terrible earthquake after hitting the ground. At first, nobody thinks anything of this phenomenon, but ‘certain visionaries’ sense that the impact event is a very bad omen for Arx's future.<ref name="description_book_history_arx" />
- Lord Long, both the high priest of the self-created Dark Order and an ambassador to the the kingdom of Arx at the time, witnesses a solar eclipse in the observatory and sees the meteorite falling from the sky, heading towards his region. As things calm down after the earthquake, Long goes to see the point of impact, touches the extraterrestrial rock and is struck with a vision of Akbaa. The god of destruction explains to unconscious Long that it is here to save the world and that it would show him the path to enlightenment. Lord Long founds the Cult of Akbaa and starts looking for followers.<ref name="description_book_day" />
Sometime after 216
- Lord Long builds the Temple of Akbaa in the underground tunnels ‘not far from [his] town’, and makes the Koltk meteorite the focus of all the cultists' energies.<ref name="description_book_day" />
217
- The construction of the underground kingdom of Arx, which must have been inspired by the fall of the meteorite, starts in an abandoned dwarven mine with a particularly effective ventilation system. Eventually, the old mine becomes a truly autonomous world, using all available space, and gets honoured among the great inventions of Arx along with gigantic balloons kept aloft by hot air and submarine.<ref name="description_book_great_inventions" />
- Thanks to Lord Lunshire's diplomatic intelligence,<ref name="description_book_kings_arx" /> a great treaty gets signed, according to which each known race is granted a level in the underground kingdom in exchange for their contributions to the construction.<ref name="description_book_great_inventions" />
226
- Sun of Exosta begins to fall into decline. Light becomes rarer and rarer, the temperature plummets to dangerous levels, and an eternal winter soon falls upon the world. Lunshire decides to move the whole city of Arx to the underground kingdom, doing everything within his power to save as many people as the dwarf mines could take. The construction of the underground gathers pace; the conflicts between the different races in Arx are put on-hold as humans, dwarves, trolls and goblins all work together for their common survival and salvation.<ref name="Fallan_intro_1" /><ref name="description_book_history_arx" />
- A peace treaty is signed with all the other races, except the rat-men, with whom it is impossible to talk. However, their attacks become fewer at this time, since they, too, presumably understand the importance of the collaborative effort to complete a new habitat.<ref name="description_book_history_arx" />
231
- The underground kingdom of Arx is complete, the migration belowground is finished, and the sun disappears completely from the skies of Exosta. Many lose their lives during the construction. Little by little, relationships between the races in Arx begin to slip back to the way they have always been.<ref name="Fallan_intro_1" /> Contracts, pacts and treaties are rendered void by the darkness of the new life environment and scarceness of resources.<ref name="AF_manual_p7" />
Between 231 and 238
- News about the other cities on the continent arrive, born by members of the Guild of Travellers: turns out the other fortresses spread across the continent do still exist, imprisoned in a thick shell of ice. The Guild becomes the only thing that allows communication between the fortress cities hidden deep in the mountains, and the occasional traffic of luxury products, to flow between them.<ref name="description_book_history_arx" />
- King Lunshire honors the memory of his father, Poxsellis, by transporting his coffin to a new crypt, built on the foundation of the miner's tomb, so that people would never lose respect or forget this great king.<ref name="description_book_kings_arx" /> Along with Poxsellis lie the men who founded Arx's history: Captain Auletio, known as Thunder; Theseb, known as Small; General Sojemi, known as the Accursed; and General Rajeph, the Giant Killer. Statue of Tirkio, a benevolent god created in Arx,<ref name="description_book_known_gods" /> is erected to stand watch over His Majesty King Poxsellis's quarters, imposing instructions upon both the intruders and anyone wishing to pay homage to the reposed royalty of Arx.
238
- Green Season, Week of the Spider, Day 2: Carlo, captain of Arx's guard, asks Enoill Calpale, a former mercenary for the kingdom of Arx, to follow Queen Florence for the ‘good old days’ sake, but Enoill makes sure he gets paid for the job.<ref name="book_calpal_journal" /> Head guard suspects Queen Florence of posing a danger to the kingdom.<ref name="note_carlo_calpal" />
- Green Season, Week of the Cat, Day 5: While following the Queen, Calpale sees her drop a letter behind the statue near the crypt.<ref name="note_carlo_sacred_sword" /> He waits for her to leave, then quickly copies the note's contents to show Carlo. The captain then erroneously concludes that Florence wants the King dead.<ref name="book_calpal_journal" />
- Green Season, Week of the Cat, Day 6:
- Queen Florence gives birth to the twins, Clarisse and Alia, fourth and fifth direct descendants of Poxsellis respectively. The birth of Clarisse, which happens a few minutes before Alia's, is held in secret; she is put into the care of Florence's servant, and taken out of Arx to the Guild of Travellers. No one else in the kingdom is informed of this.<ref name="florence_alia_destiny_3" />
- The Order of The Sacred Dagger orchestrates Alia's kidnapping in order to preserve the kingdom's legacy.<ref name="Alia_player_back_with_shield_05" /> The order also takes princess' signet ring as proof of her heritage;<ref name="alia_revelations_father_2" /> and Krahoz,<ref name="Player_has_tried_to_destroy_statue" /> so that the Order of Edurneum would have demands towards the kingdom of Arx according to the both treaties signed during the War of the Magi, and no one would question the rightfulness of the sisters' claims. The people belonging to the Order of the Sacred Dagger are immediately declared rebellious and dissident.<ref name="book_calpal_journal" />
- Enoill Calpale assassinates the Queen under Carlo's request after her children are born. Everyone thinks the ‘group of rebels that kidnapped the royal heir’ is behind the murder.<ref name="book_calpal_journal" />
The Queen tends to her newborn daughters
Clarisse is taken out of Arx to the Guild of Travellers
Assassination of the Queen
240
- Iserbius makes the acquaintance of Lord Long, and the two forge a bond akin to that of a father-son relationship. When Iserbius joins the Cult of Akbaa some time thereafter, Long makes it known that the novice is to become his successor.<ref name="description_book_iserbius" />
Between 240 and 266
- Lord Long dies just as he predicted, and Iserbius becomes the High Priest of the Cult of Akbaa. He reigns the Cult with an iron hand, ‘purging it of members that no longer serve a useful purpose.’<ref name="description_book_iserbius" /> Long's body is interred within a tomb in the Temple of Akbaa.
- Iserbius infiltrates the kingdom of Arx under the name of Suiberis, posing as an assistant to Falan Orbiplanax, astronomer of Arx.<ref name="suiberis_greetings_player" />
Around 246
- Order of Edurneum becomes more and more disappointed with the royalty of Arx, who is still to honour the War of the Magi treaties. The sisters instigate Lord Lunshire into allocating more resources to the search for Krahoz and the people everyone thinks rebels. The King remains ignorant of the secret treaty.<ref name="snake_slap" />
Before 258
- Lord Inut, the farmer of Liukalau, spends 8 years in contact with chickens to try and understand them. After a great deal of concentration, he succeeds in transforming himself into one, becoming a kind of ‘were-chicken’ who can turn into the bird ‘when the moon is favorable’. Inut records his discoveries in a book as he learns to walk like the subjects of his academic interest, eat, dance, and talk with them.<ref name="description_book_chicken" /> Later, the researcher seemingly disappears, and Oliver the hermit comes upon the recordings, taking the book to his dwelling in order to study it.
266
- Brown Season, Week of the Eagle, Day 3: Dwarves of Arx discover a long hoped-for vein of mithril far away to the east of their grinding room ‘after weeks and weeks of hard labor.’ Overjoyed workers build a track upon which wagons will transport the ore directly to the grinding room.<ref name="description_book_mine_log" />
- Brown Season, Week of the Rat, Day 2: The dwarves dig in all different directions from the mithril vein's starting point. When mining north, they discover a strange cavity which seems ‘to be both natural and artificially dug out at the same time.’ A strong animal smell comes from the cavity and the dwarves think it must be the den of some wild beast.<ref name="description_book_mine_log" />
- White Season, Week of the Rat, Day 3: A little band of drunk goblins tries to attack the Human Outpost. Humans easily defeat them, but lose one of their men, compared to five losses on the goblins' side. Ortiern, captain of the King's armies and commander of the outpost, concludes that this was not a planned attack, but that it happened due to the huge amounts of alcohol the attackers consumed.<ref name="description_book_guardpost" />
- White Season, Week of the Mole, Day 2: An earthquake shakes the human outpost to the foundations for at least ten minutes. No damage is done, but Ortiern spots a number of cracks in the passage to the City of Arx.<ref name="description_book_guardpost" />
- Green Season, Week of the Cow, Day 4: A strange, seemingly invincible assailant in a novel heavy armor attacks the human outpost in the morning with precision and speed. He shows no mercy, killing one of the men and seriously injuring two more before simply turning and leaving as quickly as he appeared. Ortiern suspects that the warrior was sent to establish how strong the outpost is and belonged to a force ‘which is … growing in the safety of the shadows and which will one day be powerful enough to annihilate every last one of us.’<ref name="description_book_guardpost" />
- Green Season, Week of the Eagle, Day 1: The strange warrior attacks the outpost once more, killing three men before being brought down himself by Ortiern. As he lays in the throes of death, he bursts into powerful and demonic laughter, exploding and scattering his remains far and wide thereafter. No trace of him remains, save for his dagger.<ref name="description_book_guardpost" />
- Falan Orbiplanax discovers the existence of a cult which wishes to invoke Akbaa onto Arx. The cult recites prayers and offers sacrifices to a fragment of a meteorite made entirely of a material called Koltk, which provides a channel of energy for the god of destruction who, when he has gathered enough, will be able to complete his incarnation in Arx. It seems that only a Guardian of the Noden could destroy the meteor. Orbiplanax outlines his revelations in a notebook and plans to contact the Noden in the evening to ask for their help. Falan leaves the notes and a key to the revelations with his friend Felnor, the alchemist of the kingdom, in case anything happens to the astronomer.<ref name="description_note_fallan_content" />
- Yellow Season, Week of the Serpent, Day 1: An earthquake wakes outpost guards early in the morning, causing a landslide in the passageway that leads to the castle. Ortiern decides to wait a while before sending one of his men to bring the news to the King, since he is ‘probably aware that the landslide will have consequences for the outpost.’ Two hours later, the men are attacked by three Ylsides who wound the commander, slaughter six men, and capture three other soldiers.<ref name="description_book_guardpost" />
- Events of the game occur.
Discrepancies
After the player returns from the Temple of Akbaa with the news that he couldn't destroy the meteor by merely touching it, the cutscene plays, in which Lunshire states that ‘20 years [after the War of the Magi treaties], a group of rebels rose up from god knows where, killed [his] wife and kidnapped [his] daughter, who had only just been born’. As Enoill Calpale wrote in his journal, Queen Florence is killed and Alia is taken away in the year 238. Putting it and the King's remark together, we may assume the treaties were signed in 218. This contradicts The History of Arx book which clearly states that the War of the Magi happened during Poxsellis' rule<ref name="book_history_arx_content" />, and Poxsellis died in 212, as The Kings of Arx book reads.<ref name="description_book_kings_arx" /> Not to mention that during 218 and after the inhabitants of Arx were busy determining the threat the impact event posed,<ref name="description_book_history_arx" /> and were starting the construction of the underground:<ref name="description_book_great_inventions" /> humans simply couldn't afford to wage a few months' war with one another at that time.
It might be that Calpale wrote the wrong year three times either erroneously or on purpose, but it's far more likely that it was the King whose line is off the mark. He speaks it in a rather heated way, and he is prone to being a hot-head in general. Before Am Shaegar's return from the Temple, Lunshire mentions the timespan of 20 years alongside the rebels during one more in-game cutscene, namely when speaking with Zalnashh.<ref name="snake_slap" /> It's more than likely that snake women subject the human King to such conversations on a yearly basis, getting him agitated whenever they do; and the problem of the rebels and the Krahoz, in addition to the old wound of the loss of his beloved daughter and wife, started weighing heavily on the King's mind again after the Order's slap in 266. We can rule that the frustration with the futility of his attempts to locate the rebels lead Lunshire to mention 20 years off the mark as soon as he heard Felnor mention a treaty; and Am Shaegar's rather demandingly-put ‘So?’ added to the injury.
References
<references>
<ref name="book_history_arx_content">Books#The History of Arx, by Maioo Kasmadian</ref>
<ref name="description_book_kings_arx">Books#The Kings of Arx, by Greenonic Warmhill</ref>
<ref name="Alia_real_introduce_06">Alia: I have found old legends of ‘The Shield of Ancients’, buried many years ago with a great warrior.</ref>
<ref name="description_book_war_magic">Books#The War of the Magi, by Ourfas Befed</ref>
<ref name="Zalnashh_Alia_destiny_7">Zalnashh: Behold this treaty—the very pact agreed between our two peoples by Poxsellis, your father: ‘In the name of the kingdom, I, King Poxsellis, King of Arx, pledge my fourth direct descendant to the Order of Edurneum, in return, the Order will provide the Kingdom with Krahoz and Zohark.’</ref>
<ref name="Alia_player_back_with_shield_04A">Alia: ‘These people’ are my protectors and bodyguard, the secret order of ‘The Sacred Dagger’ founded by King Poxsellis himself. Their only mission is to protect the royal bloodline.</ref>
<ref name="description_book_day">Books#The Day He Came</ref>
<ref name="description_book_great_inventions">Books#Great Inventions of Arx, by Edric Arol</ref>
<ref name="Fallan_intro_1">Falan Orbiplanax's speech in Arx Fatalis intro cutscene</ref>
<ref name="AF_manual_p7">Arx Fatalis Manual, p. 7</ref>
<ref name="description_book_known_gods">Books#Know Your Gods and Demons, by the theologian, Bracconus</ref>
<ref name="note_carlo_calpal">Note from Carlo to Enoill Calpale [note_carlo_calpal]</ref>
<ref name="note_carlo_sacred_sword">Copy of the note from F. [note_carlo_sacred_sword]</ref>
<ref name="book_calpal_journal">Books#Enoill Calpale's journal</ref>
<ref name="Alia_player_back_with_shield_05">Alia: Before my birth, The Sacred Dagger discovered that the Snake Women of the Order of Edurneum wanted me dead, though they could not determine why. They orchestrated my kidnapping in order to preserve the kingdom's legacy. They considered using the Travellers' Guild to take me away from Arx, but the Order has agents everywhere, it seems.</ref>
<ref name="alia_revelations_father_2">Alia: Please show [my father] this, my signet ring. The Sacred Dagger took it as proof of my heritage when they saved me.</ref>
<ref name="Player_has_tried_to_destroy_statue">Felnor: You must protect yourself against the meteor's energy drain. During the War of the Magi, the kingdom was given an artifact of immense power by the Order of Edurneum. <…>
Player: Well, then, just give me this object...
Felnor: That's where it gets complicated... In fact, when this object was given over to us, a treaty was signed with the Order of Edurneum by Poxsellis, father to our current King. This pact stipulated that we were to return the artifact to the Order when they requested it...
Player: I see no wrong there. So?
Lunshire: So, 20 years later, a group of rebels rose up from god knows where, killed my wife and kidnapped my daughter, who had only just been born!!!</ref>
<ref name="description_book_chicken">Books#The Power of Chickens, by Lord Inut, the farmer of Liukalau</ref>
<ref name="description_book_iserbius">Books#Iserbius's personal diary</ref>
<ref name="suiberis_greetings_player">Suiberis: I am the new astronomer. I was assistant to poor Falan Orbiplanax, and since his death, I do my best to look after the observatory.</ref>
<ref name="snake_slap">Conversation between Snake Women and Lord Lunshire in 266:
Zalnashh: I hate to have to repeat this once again, Lunshire: find Krahoz and return it to us or you will regret your slackness.
Lunshire: You know that... I've been doing everything I can to find these rebels for the last 20 years... Ever since they kidnapped my daughter, murdered my wife... I promise you that...</ref>
<ref name="description_book_mine_log">Books#Mine Logbook, by Isep Ethan, foreman</ref>
<ref name="description_book_guardpost">Books#Human outpost logbook</ref>
<ref name="description_note_fallan_content">Note from Falan Orbiplanax to Felnor [description_note_fallan_content]</ref>
</references>