The Ancient period of history starts with the founding of Kelnore and ends with the War of the Pious and the Philosophers. Characters cannot take ranks in Knowledge (history: Ancient) without approval.

Even with ranks in Knowledge (history: Ancient), information prior to the fall of Kelnore is little more than legends and rumors.

The great war at the end of this period unleashed devastation on a massive scale – not just destroying the Orichalan Empire, but obliterating most records and artifacts. Some sages claim that whole pantheons of gods perished in the conflagration, and it spilled out into adjoining districts.

In the Imperial period, basic information about Kelnore is rare and obscure (starting DC 25), and basic information about the time of the Orichalan Empire is obscure (starting DC 20). Most of what scholars know about this period is from scraps saved or recovered in Imperial times,and passed down since then.

{back to Historic Periods}

Examples of Knowledge (history: Ancient) base difficulties

Some powerful gods and outsiders may remember these times, or have learned about them from their long-lost patrons. There are fewer than a hundred beings in the cosmos with skill ranks in Ancient history.

The Ancient period has two major divisions, dominated by the rise and fall of the two empires in the period: those of Kelnore and Oricha. The DC of anything pertaining to Kelnore is an additional +5, due to the paucity of records and the many thousands of years of conflicting accounts.

Rarity of Information	DC	Examples
basic	10	prominent races, important locations, trade hubs, famous figures
uncommon	15	gods and common religious practices, important people, public organizations
rare or obscure	20	common magical practices and technology
rare and obscure	25	uncommon/ private religious practices, large secret societies
secret or special	30+	accurate name/ location pairs, dates accurate to ~10 years