Please note: This timeline is based on information originally compiled by MerlynPrime. Many of the dates are assigned or estimated rather than being directly from the books: such dates are footnoted as "Hypothetical date."[1] Other dates may be based on such dates, and are marked as such.[2] The notes marked ♘ are from MerlynPrime, others marked ☼ are from pokemama1.
Footnotes are used for the source stating that the event occurred. If actual timeline information or relative dates are available, it is explained below the entry and cited there as well.
This article plugs into the Timeline. The letters "AF" mean After the Founding of Valdemar.
The Last Herald Mage series begins during Queen Elspeth's reign. Events under other monarchs, including King Tyrdel, that lead up to her rule are included here for perspective.
Works
During this time, the events of the following works occur:
- Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar: "Sword of Ice"
- Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar: "A Song for No One's Mourning" by Gary A. Braunbeck
- Magic's Pawn
- No True Way: "Vixen"
- Seasons: "A Midnight Clear"
- Crucible: "Vexed Vixen"
- Changing the World: "Softly Falling Snow" by Elizabeth A. Vaughan
Timeline
Events leading up to the Vanyel era
An Adept Mage who calls himself Leareth (the Tayledras word for darkness), who is actually an incarnation of Ma'ar, begins a quest for power in the barbarian lands north of Valdemar.[1][3]
Event information: "he began all this before Elspeth was born"
Relative date source: Magic's Price, Chapter Nineteen
715 AF Reign of King Tyrdel
(♘ Date arbitrarily assigned)
722 AF
Elspeth, future "Queen Elspeth the Peacemaker" of Valdemar, is born to King Tyrdel[4]
Note: She is 76 years old at her death in 798 AF
Note: "Elspeth was seventy-six when she was called."
Date source: Magic's Promise, Chapter Two
733 AF
Savil Ashkevron is born.[1]
Date source: Calculated date. Savil is "just shy of eighty" in 812 AF[5]
747 AF
Savil Ashkevron is fourteen years old. She packs up and leaves Forst Reach for Haven where she is immediately Chosen by Companion Kellan.[2][6]
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter One
750 AF
King Tyrdel dies before resolving the "war of the harvests."[7]
Date source: Intrigues, Chapter Two
Reign of Elspeth, Queen of Valdemar, begins
Date source: "OFFICIAL TIMELINE FOR THE HERALDS OF VALDEMAR SERIES" in the front of the books
Elspeth is twenty-eight years old.
Note: She is 76 years old at her death in 798 AF
Date source: Magic's Promise, Chapter Two
751 AF
Queen Elspeth makes a political marriage to make peace with Iftel[1]
Note: "an alliance marriage—exactly how your grandmother bought us peace with Iftel."[4]
Hypothesis: ♘ Assumed one year after coronation.
752 AF
Darvi is born to Queen Elspeth and her Consort[1][8]
Hypothesis: ♘ Assumes Darvi's birth within a year of the marriage. This makes him 27 when his son Randale is born in 779 AF.
753 AF
Kilchas is born.[2]
Note: He is twenty years younger than Savil, but in his later years he looks far older.[5]
Starwind k'Treva is born[2][9]
Note: When he meets Tallo in 782 AF, he is "near thirty"
754 - 765 AF
766 AF
Tallo (aka Moondance) is born.
Note: When Tallo meets Starwind in 782 AF, "Moondance was all of sixteen."[9]
Note: Magic's Price, Chapter Eleven states that Moondance is slightly older than Vanyel. Specific information makes him nine years older.
767 - 770 AF
771 AF
Savil brings some Herald-Mage trainees to Forst Reach. One demonstrates metalworking using the Mage Gift, and destroys the reputation and livelihood of a local metalworker-blacksmith[1][10]
Hypothesis: ☼ Arbitrary date for anthology story, when Savil is thirty-eight years old and might already have trainees.
Date source: Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar: "A Song for No One's Mourning" by Gary A. Braunbeck
772 AF
Joserlin Corveau is born.
Note: He is eighteen when Vanyel is fifteen.
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Two
Lissa Ashkevron is born to Lord Withen Ashkevron and Lady Treesa Ileana Brendywhin-Ashkevron of Forst Reach.[6]
773 AF
The Forst Reach metalsmith dies in poverty, leaving a wife and an embittered son, Olias. The wife dies soon after, and the boy Olias becomes a thief, using his meager Bardic and Herald Gifts.[1][2][10]
Hypothesis: ☼ Two years after anthology story begins.
Event information: Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar: "A Song for No One's Mourning" by Gary A. Braunbeck
The peace that Elspeth has brought to Valdemar allows people to prosper. Wealthy residents of Haven put up statues of themselves. Elspeth rules that a statue must be useful, and the owner must endow enough money to maintain it forever[1][11][12]
Hypothesis: ☼ Date unknown, history only notes that this happened during her reign.
774 AF
Staven Frelennye is born
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Six
One Hour Later
Staven's twin, Tylendel Frelennye, is born. They share a mental link
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Six
775 AF
Radevel, cousin of Vanyel Ashkevron, is born.[2][6]
Note: He is fifteen when Vanyel is fifteen
Late Autumn, over a month before Sovvan:
Vanyel Ashkevron is born to Lord Withen Ashkevron and Lady Treesa Ileana Brendywhin-Ashkevron of Forst Reach.[2]
Note: Vanyel is twenty-eight years old in 803 AF
Date source: Magic's Promise, Chapter One
776 AF
Sayvil Ashkevron finds Hawkbrother Starwind k'Treva unconscious and far from home. She tends him and escorts him to his Vale, where he insists that his Clan adopt her as Wingsister[1][2][13]
Hypothesis: ♘ Arbitrarily assigning this event when he is 23 years old. Savil, twenty years his senior, is 43.
Note: He is nearly 30 years old when he meets Tallo in 782 AF[9]
777 AF
Mekeal Ashkevron is born to Lord Withen Ashkevron and Lady Treesa Ileana Brendywhin-Ashkevron of Forst Reach.[6]
Note: "He was two years younger"
778 AF
779 AF
Randale is born to Herald-Mage Darvi, son of Queen Elspeth the Peacemaker.[2][4]
Note: When Vanyel is 28 in 803 AF, Randale and Shavri are both 24
Shavri is born.[2][4]
Note: When Vanyel is 28 in 803 AF, Randale and Shavri are both 24
Father Osen, the old priest at Forst Reach, dies. He was someone who encouraged people to ask questions.[14]
Note: Vanyel says, "I may have been only four when he died, but I remember that."
Father Leren is the new priest at Forst Reach. Instead of using the small manor Chapel to hold services in shifts, he persuades Withen to build a temple that will hold the whole family.[15]
780 AF
The new temple at Forst Reach, a replica of the Great Temple at Haven, is completed. Young Vanyel doesn't like it and uses the manor chapel instead.[15]
Note: Vanyel had "first stepped into it at the age of five."
Tallo feels at odds with farm life, that there is something else inside him. His parents send him to learn from the priest. He discovers from the priest's books that he has mage power, and tries to learn how to use it. He becomes a loner. His parents don't understand and want him to return to their simple ways[1][16][17]
Hypothesis: Estimated date
781 AF
782 AF
Winter
Tallo's parents want him to marry. But he is attracted to men, not women. Arguments continue all winter.[2][16][17]
Note: "a winter of arguments and anger"
Note: In 812 AF he says the event happened "thirty years ago."
Date source: Magic's Price, Chapter Twelve
Summer
A troupe of gleemen come through the village and Tallo falls in love with one. Their relationship is discovered, and they are beaten and cast out of the village. Distressed, his lover spurns him, but Tallo reads his thoughts and knows he doesn't mean it. Tallo calls lightning to scare the man into admitting his feelings, but it accidentally kills him. Tallo tries to kill himself.[2][16][17]
Note: "One summer, after a winter of arguments and anger"
Tallo is found by Herald-Mage Adept Savil Ashkevron[2] She takes him to Starwind k'Treva and the two men become lifebonded.
Tallo changes his name to Moondance k'Treva.[16][17]
Starwind is nearly thirty years old (estimated 29) and Moondance is sixteen years old.[9]
Note: "you were near thirty and Moondance was all of sixteen"
783 AF
Tylendel develops Gifts, including Thought-Sensing. He is nine years old[2][18]
Note: "I had a touch of Thought-sensing"
784 AF
Starwind uses very old magic, possibly dating from the Mage Wars, to craft a Wingsister Talisman for Savil. He puts it on a feathered mask for her to keep, so that she can call him in case of need.
Note: Moondance is eighteen years old
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Eleven
785 AF
Tylendel's family ("our people") cause a stampede of the Leshara family's cattle. Wester Leshara's son is caught in the stampede and trampled to death. This death intensifies the feud between the two families.[1][19]
Hypothesis: ♘ Arbitrary date.
Autumn
Vanyel Ashkevron develops a talent for music and becomes a part of his mother, Lady Treesa's little "court"[2][6]
Note: "Five years ago." Thus he is ten years old
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter One
786 AF
The Heralds' quarters in the Royal Palace of Valdemar have gotten so crowded that Heralds and Trainees are crammed in four to a room.
Note: five years prior to Vanyel's arrival in 791 AF
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Four
Joserlin Corveau is fostered with Lord Kendrik at the age of thirteen. He begins training under Armsmaster Orser[2]
Note: In 791 AF, eighteen-year-old Joserlin tells thirteen-year-old Mekeal that he was fostered at Meke's age
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Two
At Briary Holding near Lord Kendrik, Liaven, oldest son of Lady Cedrys, is mad for the Guard. Lady Cedrys wants him to be scholarly, forcing him to read day and night. To escape her efforts to mold him, he runs away and joins a mercenary company.[1][8]
Note: Joserlin later tells this story to Mekeal as an analogy to Withen's treatment of Vanyel.
??Lord Frelennye, father of Staven and Tylendel, dies[1][19]
Hypothesis: ♘ Theoretical date. Tylendel's recitation of this story states that his father had "since" died, presumably after Wester Leshara's son had been accidentally killed
Soon after Lord Frelennye dies, Wester Leshara hires some kind of two-copper conjuror to convince Lady Frelennye, Tylendel and Staven's mother, that her husband's ghost wants to speak with her[1][19]
Hypothesis: ☼ Since Tylendel was at home, presumably this occurred before he was Chosen
Summer
At the age of twelve, Staven Frelennye is as tall as a fifteen-year-old when he is propositioned by a woman[18]
Tylendel is mentally linked with his twin brother while Staven is having sex, and all of Tylendel's Gifts are explosively triggered[18]
The Next Day'
Tylendel wakes up to a destroyed room along with Mage-Gift, Fetching, Thought-Sensing, and Empathy.[18]
Note: He is twelve years old.
Tylendel's mother is not very stable and the charlatan sent by Wester Leshara has convinced her she can communicate with her dead husband. Tylendel and Staven manage to get him out of their holdings. She starts taking all manner of potions, trying to see her husband.[1][19]
787 AF
Tylendel's mother dies after taking a potion made with Black Angel mushrooms. Tylendel and Staven are the ones who find her dead.[1][19]
Hypothesis: ☼ Assumes she dies when Tylendel is still living at home, before he is Chosen.
788 AF
Tylendel Frelennye is Chosen by Companion Gala. For the last two years he has had fits of unconscious mage violence, terrifying everyone around him. Only Staven has stood by him.[18]
Note: He is fourteen years old.
Lord Withen Ashkevron rejects yet another marriage proposal for his daughter, Lissa Ashkevron.[6]
Note: She is sixteen years old. This is the last proposal she will receive before she turns 18.
789 AF
A new wing is built on the Royal Palace of Valdemar to alleviate crowding in the Heralds' quarters.[2]
Note: When Vanyel returns from the Karse Border in 803 AF, Savil is living in "the new wing added some fourteen years ago."
Date source: Magic's Promise, Chapter Two
790 AF
The salle for the Weaponsmaster at Herald's Collegium is built. As described when Vanyel sees it, the salle is a plain, rawly new wooden building with high clerestory windows. The structure is one single large room, with a mirrored wall and a carefully sanded wooden floor[20] (The mirrors were created by magic; after the Herald-Mages are gone, glassmakers must labor for months to replace the mirrors when necessary.[21])
Note: "They just built it last year" (said when Vanyel arrives)
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Four
Herald-Mage Savil Ashkevron visits Forst Reach and meets Vanyel for the first time. She probes him to check for Gifts and only finds potential, but no active Gifts of any kind.[6]
Note: When he arrives in Haven, Savil mentions that it had been a year since she had last seen Vanyel.[20]
Note: Vanyel is fourteen (14) years old. It is early in the year, before he turns 15.
Tylendel gets his heart broken by Nevis[20]
Note: The year before Vanyel arrives in Haven
791 AF
Late Winter/Early Spring
Radevel, cousin of Vanyel Ashkevron, is 15 years old and willing to help Vanyel practice a new fighting technique
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter One
Vanyel Ashkevron is the best horseback rider at Forst Reach[6]
Vanyel is 15 years old.
Note: "I prefer to see my sixteenth birthday with the rest of my bones intact."
Note: Vanyel will turn sixteen later this year, relative to his birth date in autumn
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter One
Date source: Magic's Promise, Chapter One
Armsmaster Jervis is a former mercenary and he is angry at Vanyel for trying to learn a new style of fighting[6]
Mekeal Ashkevron is 13 years old
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter One
Lissa Ashkevron is almost 18 years old. She was raised by Grandmother Ashkevron, and will be going to foster at Brenden Keep with Lord Trevor Corey in three days
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter One
Vanyel Ashkevron is beaten down six times by Armsmaster Jervis, who refuses to honor Vanyel's surrender. Vanyel's left arm is broken in half: both bones in his lower arm snapped[6]
Aunt Serina is visiting her sister at Forst Reach, and brought her own Healer as she had already had three miscarriages. The Healer is summoned to tend Vanyel's wounds[6]
Lord Withen Ashkevron visits an injured Vanyel, raging from the report from Jervis that Vanyel had been cheating in practice[6]
Mekeal Ashkevron is moved out of the room he shares with Vanyel[6]
Several Weeks Later Lady Treesa's handmaidens have taken turns fussing over Vanyel. Melenna is particularly seductive towards Vanyel and is rejected[6]
Lissa Ashkevron, having delayed her departure to join the Guard as long as possible, says good-bye to her brother, Vanyel.[6]
Late Spring
Joserlin Corveau is eighteen years old and now fostered at Forst Reach. He shares a room with Mekeal[8]
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Two
Early Summer
Vanyel has been riding with his father on his rounds through the countryside[6]
Vanyel's arm is almost completely healed, still lacking some feeling, when Trevor Corey's page hands him a letter from his sister, Lissa[6]
Father Leren is the priest at Ashkevron Manor and often lectures Vanyel on "proper masculine behavior"[6]
Vanyel overhears his father and mother discuss plans to send Vanyel away to Haven to be the ward of Herald-Mage Savil Ashkevron, Lord Withen's sister[6]
That evening, after dinner, Lord Withen Ashkevron announces that Vanyel will be leaving the next day for Haven to be under the guardianship of Herald-Mage Savil[8]
That night, Joserlin Corveau tells Mekeal the story of Lady Cedrys and her son. The Lady wanted her oldest son Liaven to be more scholarly, forcing him to read day and night. To escape her attempts to mold him, he ran away and joined a mercenary company, and she never saw him again. Joserlin explains that Vanyel's treatment at Forst Reach is the same: trying to make Vanyel be something he is not[8]
That same night Vanyel dreams of a plain of ice and snow. In the dream he is numb with cold. He feels no pain, no anguish. He is safe in isolation. Nobody can hurt him, as long as he doesn't care.[8]
The Next Morning At Dawn
Deliberately thinking of the dream helps Vanyel numb his emotional pain.
Withen Ashkevron bursts into Vanyel's room to find Vanyel already packed, dressed, and strumming his lute[22]
Vanyel and his two escorts stop for the night at an inn[22]
Mid-Morning Next Day
Vanyel, along with his guards Erik and Garth, finally leave the inn, all with hangovers[22]
Days later
Savil is training Tylendel in the Palace Work Room. It is heavily shielded to contain training "accidents."[20]
Tylendel is described as a tall, strikingly attractive, dark blond Herald-trainee of about sixteen (16) with brown eyes
Note: Other chapters also confirm his age at this point is 16
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Four
Savil mentions that five years ago Heralds and Trainees were all crammed four to a room. The new Heralds' quarters are sparsely occupied: "Now we rattle around in this shiny-new barracks like a handful of peas in a bucket."[20]
Note: The new wing was built in 789 AF, specified as fourteen years prior to 803 AF.[4]
Savil displays a collection of Hawkbrother featherwork masks on the wall above the couch in the outer room of her quarters[20]
Hypothesis: ☼ It is likely that one of them contains the Wingsister Talisman she received from Starwind in 784 AF.[23]
Savil is second in rank only to the Queen's Own Herald, Seneschal's Herald, and Lord-Marshal's Herald[20]
Vanyel is introduced to Herald-Mage Trainees Donni, Mardic and Tylendel. Savil instructs Donni to take Vanyel to Weaponsmaster Kayla for training[20]
Donni and Mardic are already lifebonded[20]
Next Morning
Vanyel goes with Donni to meet Kayla at the new salle for weapons practice.[20]
Vanyel meets Weaponsmaster Kayla who tells him to abandon his heavy armor and sets him to train in a style more suited to him, under Duke Oden and alongside Lord Redel [20] For the first time in his life, Vanyel is praised for his weapons work[20]
Just Before Noon
Savil takes Vanyel to the Throne Room to meet Queen Elspeth (a thin, dark-haired woman)[20]
An Hour Later
Mardic takes Vanyel to Bardic Collegium where he is taught History by Bard Chadran[20]
After History, Vanyel has a class on Religions, plural, which surprises him. He learns of the "People of the One" who had settled about Crescent Lake[20]
After Religions, he attends a class on Literature where, just before it begins, he overhears Bard Chadran and Bard Breda discuss the fact that Vanyel does not have the Bardic Gift[20]
After dinner, when Savil tells Vanyel that he does not have the Bardic Gift, he decides to go to the Great Hall where all the young people gather[20]
Vanyel meets Liers in the Great Hall and listens to him wax eloquently about his "brave" older brother[20]
Bard Breda visits Savil in her chambers and gets drunk, feeling regret and sadness for destroying Vanyel's dreams of being a Bard. She tells Tylendel "there are times when the Gift gets in the way of the music" and that if Vanyel was not heir to Forst Reach, she would snatch him up for training as a minstrel.[19]
At the Great Hall festivities, Vanyel learns from a small group of girls named Tashi, Reva and Cress, that Tylendel is shay'a'chern which means he likes boys and not girls[20]
Vanyel dreams again of the ice mountain pass[20]
Over a month later
Savil speaks with Tylendel about his family ties and how Heralds cannot choose sides. Tylendel mentions Evan Leshara being in Court spreading lies about Tylendel's twin brother, Lord Holder Staven Frelennye. Savil knows that both families have been looking to hire mages[24]
Wester Leshara is mentioned by Savil as she berates Tylendel in an effort to test his strength of will, as suggested by Herald-Mage Jaysen, Seneschal[24]
Note: Wester Leshara is the head of the Leshara clan, blood enemies of the Frelennyes
Savil mentions that Tylendel is a marginal Empath when he is not thinking of it[24]
Savil admits that she is a bad Field Herald because of her lack of ability to read people or how to handle them in a crisis[24]
When asked if Tylendel thought Vanyel was suicidal, Tylendel said no and that Vanyel is not the type, but that he, Tylendel, could be[24]
Donni and Mardic are out on a Field trial with "Shallan and her brood" for a fortnight[24]
Savil attends a Council meeting with the Queen's Own, leaving Tylendel alone in the suite with Vanyel[24]
Vanyel dreams of the ice pass again and is awoken by Tylendel who had heard Vanyel crying out from his nightmare[24] They sleep together for the first time[24]
Just Before Dawn the Next Day
Savil finally returns from the Council session and discovers Tylendel is sleeping with Vanyel. After mind-speaking with Tylendel, Savil goes to sleep knowing that Vanyel, who had arrived a month before, will be okay now.[24]
They do not know it, but Vanyel Ashkevron and Herald-Mage-trainee Tylendel Frelennye are lifebonded.
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Ten
Later That Day
Vanyel, Tylendel and Savil talk about how to keep Withen Ashkevron from finding out about Vanyel being shay'a'chern.[24]
After their talk, Tylendel asks Vanyel to meet him at Companion's Field. When Vanyel is about to head out, some of his female admirers come around the corner to speak with him. Their names are Jillian, Kertire, Jesalis, and Wendi whose sister, Ratha, was fostered with Lady Treesa, Vanyel's mother. To escape, he promises to play for them another time.[18]
Tylendel introduces Vanyel to his Companion, Gala. For just a moment, when looking at Companion Gala, Vanyel has "a disconcerting double vision image of the prancing Companion and an equally mischievous young woman of about Tylendel's age, laughing soundlessly."[18]
Note: Presumably, for a brief moment Vanyel's Mage-Sight activates, allowing him to see what may have been Gala in her human form before she died and was reincarnated as a Companion[18]
The Next Day Noon
After playing for the girls as he had promised, Vanyel returns to his room with bleeding fingers and a cramped hand. He didn't notice at the time, because he still has no feeling in some fingers from when his arm was broken.[18]
Tylendel calls Vanyel "ashke" for the first time and explains what it means: beloved. He tells Vanyel of how Savil had been trained in her abilities by a Tayledras Hawkbrother Adept named Starwind k'Treva who made her Wingsister.[18]
A Week Later
Tylendel tells Savil that he and Vanyel have been planning a moment when Tylendel will pretend to be insulted by all the backstabbing comments Vanyel has been making about him, and the two of them will get into a very public fight. The public feuding is to mislead Withen Ashkevron if any rumors reach him about their relationship[18]
Savil notes that Vanyel is becoming dependent on Tylendel, but Tylendel thinks Vanyel will grow out of it[18]
A Fortnight Later, Afternoon
Savil, Mardic and Donni are interrupted during mage practice by a member of the Guard telling them that Tylendel and Vanyel are fighting in the mud caused by a soaking rain[18]
Savil confronts Tylendel and Vanyel who have been fighting, and berates them in front of a large crowd. Vanyel and Tylendel are both injured and sent back to their individual quarters to await further punishment[18]
Late Autumn Afternoon
Vanyel reads a letter from his mother that says Melenna is pregnant with Mekeal Ashkevron's child (Medren).[19]
It is Vanyel Ashkevron's birthday.
Note: He is turning 16 years old
Note: Tylendel is now 17. Whenever Vanyel has a birthday they become only one year apart. They talk about their future together when Vanyel reaches his majority
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Seven
Lissa Ashkevron is a member of Seven Corey Swordsmaids[19]
Vanyel receives a letter from Evan Leshara asking for a meeting[19]
Hot Autumn Night
Vanyel returns from meeting Evan Leshara and talks with Tylendel about some of the things he was told[19]
Tylendel tells Vanyel that the Leshara's plan is to marry Tylendel's thirty-year-old maiden-cousin who's never been outside of a cloister to a fifty-year-old lecher, take Staven out of being Lord Holder and put her in[19]
Wester Leshara secretly hires blood-mage Krebain to kill Staven Frelennye[1][25]
Note: Specific date unknown.
Warm Autumnal Evening, a Month Before Sovvan
Staven Frelennye, Tylendel's twin brother, is killed by Krebain, while Tylendel and Vanyel are enjoying the peace of a grove of pine trees. Tylendel has a fit of spasms and unleashes mage-energy. As Savil, Jaysen and Rolf arrive, Tylendel has stopped lashing out, and there isn't "a single pine seedling left standing in what had been a healthy grove of trees"[19]
Note: A month later, on Sovvan night: "a moon ago when Staven had been slain."
Jaysen quickly heals Vanyel's nose, which had been broken when Tylendel spasmed and slammed his head into Vanyel's nose[19]
Dawn
Mardic checks in on Tylendel and Vanyel, but Tylendel is still unconscious and Vanyel won't leave his side[19]
Sunrise
Savil heads off to a Council meeting, presumably to discuss what happened with Tylendel and the assassination of his twin brother[19]
Evening
Tylendel awakens.[19]
Tylendel is bent on revenge, which he keeps secret from his Companion Gala. He has Vanyel borrow Savil's books, which are bespelled against a mage touching them. While Vanyel turns the pages, he copies out two spells.[19]
One of them will make a Gate to get them to the Leshara lands, a trip that would normally take a good two weeks on a fast horse. The spell requires a great deal of energy, which Tylendel hopes to borrow from Vanyel. He agrees. Tylendel doesn't say what the other spell will do.[19]
A month later
'Sovvan-night
A month has passed since Staven's death.
Note: "A night of profound darkness, like the one a moon ago when Staven had been slain."
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Eight
After riding an hour away from Haven, Tylendel creates a Gate using Vanyel's energy. They cross it into the Leshara keep's garden, where they are celebrating Sovvan. Tylendel summons a pack of wyrsa.[26]
His Companion Gala charges through the Gate and challenges the wyrsa. When Tylendel calls to her, she repudiates him, saying, :I do not know you. You are not my Chosen.: The psychic bond between the Companion and Herald-Mage vanishes. Tylendel is left desolate.[26]
Gala kills one wyrsa and injures two more before they kill her. Tylendel screams in anguish.[26]
Evan Leshara tries to run and a wyrsa kills him. As the pack turns toward the rest of the Leshara clan, Savil, Jaysen and Queen's Own Herald Lancir charge through the Gate and use their magic. They realize Gala suicidally attacked the wyrsa just to buy time for them to arrive.[26]
Lancir stays to take care of Gala's body and to handle the Lesharas. The Gate continues to drain Vanyel. Savil redirects the Gate to the Grove Temple. After they get through, the Gate resists being dismantled. Herald Jaysen has to help, letting go of Tylendel.[26]
Vanyel's mental channels are blasted wide open when the Gate he was powering collapses and the Gate energy surges back through him. Part of the energy arcs to Tylendel, bringing him out of his stupor.[26]
Herald-Mage-Trainee Tylendel Frelennye commits suicide by jumping off the bell tower of the Grove Temple. He was seventeen years old.
Date source: Magic's Pawn, Chapter Eight
Vanyel Ashkevron is Chosen by Companion Yfandes. He is sixteen years old.[27]
Herald-Mage Savil's friend, Healer Andrel, writes the Chronicle entry for Tylendel's actions and death, since the Heralds are too deeply affected to do it.
Event information: Winds of Fate, Chapter Seven
Vanyel is caught in a nightmare, and his uncontrolled powers shake the palace like an earthquake.[28]
Savil takes Vanyel to her Tayledras friends for healing.[23]
Vanyel kills a queen icedrake[29]
Vanyel fights and kills the mage Krebain[25]
Savil "awards" Vanyel his Whites[25]
792 AF
Medren, nephew of Vanyel Ashkevron, is born to Melenna and Mekeal Ashkevron out of wedlock.
Note: Medren is "a tall boy of about twelve" when Vanyel goes home in the Fall of 803 AF.
Date source: Magic's Promise, Chapter Four
Note: Medren is actually eleven and a half at that point
Note: Confirmation: Medren is "nearly twenty" just before Spring of 812 AF
Date source: Magic's Price, Chapter Two
Vanyel officially becomes a full Herald.
Note: Eleven years before Magic's Promise
Date source: Magic's Promise, Chapter Five
When they return from the Hawkbrothers, Savil moves to a smaller suite in the new Heralds' quarters built in 789 AF. Vanyel proves his abilities to the other Herald-Mages by moving her magic Work room and all of its' protections.[2]
Date source: Magic's Promise, Chapter Two
In Karse, the man who will one day be known as The Prophet is born.
Note: He is 20 years old in 812 AF
Fall
Vanyel is injured while riding Circuit on the edge of the Pelagiris Forest and meets up with Healer Vixen, an Animal Mindspeaker, at Kettleford. The tiny hunting village is attacked by a giant monster. Vixen uses her Animal Mindspeech to put out a mental call for help from any creature. A giant venomous spider answers her call, enters the town and kills the monster. The village adopts her and names her Melody. Vanyel gives Melody a voice. She consumes the monster and enters a nearby cave to hibernate.
Hypothesis: ☼ Placing this story here when Vanyel is very young. Herald-Mages rarely go on Circuit, but are sometimes assigned to borders.[19] The year is also influenced by the dates of subsequent stories in the Healer Vixen Miniseries.
Event information: "Vixen" by Mercedes Lackey in No True Way
793 AF
Spring
Vanyel and Vixen come to Kettleford for Melody's emergence from hibernation. She has eight female baby spiderlings due to her vast pre-hibernation meal. Vanyel supplies them all with voices, and the villagers name them Harmony, Rhapsody, Madrigal, Allegra, Celesta, Lyra, Nocturne, and Vespers.
Event information: "A Midnight Clear" by Mercedes Lackey in Seasons
Healer Vixen takes on a different route.
Note: "Vexed Vixen" occurs when Vixen has been on her new route for five years. At that time the kingdom is not at war, so it must be before Queen Elspeth the Peacemaker dies in 798 AF.
Fall
Spiderlings Harmony and Rhapsody decide that they will not hibernate, but will winter over with the Kettleford villagers who will ensure they stay warm.
Event information: "A Midnight Clear" by Mercedes Lackey in Seasons
Midwinter's Eve
Vixen and Vanyel come to Kettleford to celebrate the holiday. Two dozen bandits descend on the town and spread out into the 15 houses, tying up the residents and taking food and valuables. In coordinated attacks, the two fast-moving venomous spiders, Vanyel and the townspeople kill or capture all of the bandits.
Date source: "A Midnight Clear" by Mercedes Lackey in Seasons
794 AF
Vanyel fathers twins Brightstar and Featherfire with Snowlight k'Treva at her request. Brightstar will be raised by Starwind and Moondance.[30][14]
Note: Brightstar is "nearly ten" when Vanyel sleeps in the stables at Forst Reach in 803 AF
Stefen is born.
Note: He is three years older than Jisa.[2] He was eighteen when she was fifteen.[31]
Note: He is known to be the re-incarnation of Herald-Mage-trainee Tylendel Frelennye, lifebonded of Vanyel[9]
Note: Vanyel says "Stef was exactly the right age to have been born about that time" (meaning when Tylendel died.) However, he was actually born three years later.[3]
Note: In the first two years after Tylendel's death, "there had been moments when he thought he'd felt that treasured and familiar presence waiting, watching."[32]
Hypothesis: ☼ Possibly that presence was Tylendel watching from the afterlife, until Stefen was conceived.)
795 AF
Treven, Randale's cousin(?), distant cousin to Tantras, is born.
Note: He is two years older than Jisa
Note: "Trev is only seventeen" in 812 AF
Date source: Magic's Price, Chapter One
796 AF
Vanyel sires Jisa with Shavri at Randale's request[2]
Note: This date is based on Jisa's age of six in 803 AF, when there had been five years of turmoil, presumably since Elspeth's death in 798 AF.
Note: There is some confusion about Randale's infertility/illness and Jisa's conception. Vanyel recalls finding Shavri crying over a doll, saying she wants a baby, in Magic's Promise, Chapter Five. Randale and Shavri were 24 when Jisa was six in 803 AF,[4] thus 18 when Jisa was born, 17 when she was conceived. Infertility is usually suspected after three years of trying. Maybe their unwedded relationship started when they were 14?
Note: In a different anecdote, Shavri didn't recognize Randale's illness/infertility until after her Choosing in 798 AF: "Only later, when Shavri couldn't seem to conceive for all her trying, did she suspect that the reason for Taver's taking her was that something was wrong with Randi."[33] However, Jisa had already been born before Randale became the Heir.[4] Maybe this was trying for a second pregnancy? Or just hindsight?
797 AF
Jisa, biological daughter of Herald-Mage Vanyel Ashkevron, is born to Healer Shavri and her lifebonded Randale, grandson of Queen Elspeth of Valdemar. Randale and Shavri are eighteen years old.
Herald-Mage Darvi, Heir to the throne of Valdemar, dies after slipping on a staircase. Randale becomes the reluctant Heir.[4]
Note: Date assignment based on Vanyel's recollection of the event happening when Jisa was a baby.
Late in the Year
Queen's Own Herald Lancir dies. His Companion, Taver, Chooses Healer Shavri to be the next Monarch's Own. She is the first Herald-Healer in Valdemar history.[33]
Note: "Taver had Chosen Shavri when Lancir had died—just before Elspeth herself had passed."
798 AF
Healer Vixen is kidnapped by a band of soldiers who intend to take over nearby towns. Her new use of her Animal Mindspeech facilitates her rescue.
Note: Vixen has been on her current route for five years. She met Vanyel as a young Herald-Mage on a different Circuit years ago.
Event information: "Vexed Vixen" by Mercedes Lackey in Crucible
Queen Elspeth the Peacemaker dies at the age of seventy-six.
Note: "Elspeth was seventy-six when she was called."
Date source: Magic's Promise, Chapter Two
Date source: OFFICIAL TIMELINE FOR THE HERALDS OF VALDEMAR SERIES in the front of the books
Continuation
The timeline continues with the Reign of Randale.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Hypothetical date
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 Based on other hypothetical dates.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Magic's Price, Chapter 19
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Magic's Promise, Chapter 2
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Magic's Price, Chapter 4
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 1
- ↑ Intrigues, Chapter 2
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 2
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Magic's Price, Chapter 11
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar: "A Song for No One's Mourning" by Gary A. Braunbeck
- ↑ Exile's Honor, Chapter 6
- ↑ Changing the World: "Softly Falling Snow" by Elizabeth A. Vaughan
- ↑ Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar: "Sword of Ice"
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Magic's Promise, Chapter 6
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Magic's Promise, Chapter 5
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 12
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Magic's Price, Chapter 12
- ↑ 18.00 18.01 18.02 18.03 18.04 18.05 18.06 18.07 18.08 18.09 18.10 18.11 18.12 18.13 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 6
- ↑ 19.00 19.01 19.02 19.03 19.04 19.05 19.06 19.07 19.08 19.09 19.10 19.11 19.12 19.13 19.14 19.15 19.16 19.17 19.18 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 7
- ↑ 20.00 20.01 20.02 20.03 20.04 20.05 20.06 20.07 20.08 20.09 20.10 20.11 20.12 20.13 20.14 20.15 20.16 20.17 20.18 20.19 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 4
- ↑ Exile's Valor
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 3
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 11
- ↑ 24.00 24.01 24.02 24.03 24.04 24.05 24.06 24.07 24.08 24.09 24.10 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 5
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 14
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 Magic's Pawn, Chapter 8
- ↑ Magic's Pawn, Chapter 9
- ↑ Magic's Pawn, Chapter 10
- ↑ Magic's Pawn, Chapter 13
- ↑ Magic's Promise, Chapter 1
- ↑ Magic's Promise, Chapter 1 and Chapter 5
- ↑ Magic's Promise, Chapter 11
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Magic's Price, Chapter 1