History of the world of Deltora

The Deltora world has an extensive history dating back thousands of years. This article lists historical events in a timeline.

The history of the world can roughly be divided into two parts, the time before the unification of Deltora's tribes and the time during. Prior to the unification of the tribes, war was common throughout what was then known as the Land of Dragons. Each tribe stayed in their respective territory and each had their respective enemies, which they despised. Trading between islands was popular with many voyages from the Land of Dragons to Dorne. However, this ceased after the monarchy of Deltora was disestablished. Trading returned to normal after the Shadow Lord was banished and Lief's coronation.

The most notable historical events which took place were the Battle for Deltora and the second banishment of the Shadow Lord. Both events resulted in the defeat of the Shadow Lord, whose tyranny had a significant effect throughout the history of Deltora.

Pre-monarchy

 * Sea serpents burrow deeper into the seabed north of Deltora, causing it to become as thin as an eggshell in places.
 * Dragons take off to the skies as the seabed splits, causing Deltora to quake and new hills and valleys to form and be destroyed. Many sea serpents are killed as the water boils, allowing for trade to begin between islands. Dorne's centre swells and bursts, spewing fire and melted rock into the sky.
 * Gems from beneath the earth of each territory are found, said to be a gift from the land to each territory.
 * The island of Pirra collides with Deltora, becoming one, as the seabed collapses on itself, forming the Barrier Mountains.
 * Humans arrive from the Land of Dragons, among many other islands, and begin settling on the coast of Dorne. Farming begins as more humans arrive and a broad port on the west coast of Dorne. Camps multiply and driftwood huts are built. The port, which was now a harbour, becomes known as Nerra and the number of settlers grows steadily.
 * Fellan and human contact established as curious humans venture inwards to the forests of Dorne. Relationships between a Fellan and a human begin, settling on the fringes of Dorne.
 * Half-Fellan are born and some marry humans, causing Fellan magic to be the birthright of many residents of Dorne.
 * Nerra grows as trading continues and becomes a place famous for its wondrous works of art and hints of magic.
 * Tora is carved by magic from a single mountain of marble.
 * Capra is built by the Capricons and lanterns made of dragons' eggs are hung in them. This angers the ruby dragons and after three warnings they destroy Capra, causing the Capricons to flee to the hills.
 * Rosalyn ventures to Dorne and settles, giving birth to Peregrine.
 * Rosalyn forms Deltora's largest trading fleet.
 * Chieftain Perry dies and Malverlain becomes jealous of Annoltis, the likely new chieftain. He attempts to murder him but fails and looses to Eldannen in a battle. Malverlain is exiled from Dorne by a banishing spell cast by Annoltis and Eldannen. and embarks, by boat, to find a land to conquer. He finds an islands with four sisters before stumbling upon Deltora's west-coast.
 * The Shadow Lord takes over Pirra by separating the people and the Pirran Pipe. The Pirrans hide themselves underneath the Land of Dragons, taking refuge on three islands.
 * Seven Plumes leave the underground caverns and lose their piece of the Pirran Pipe to a Jalis Warrior.
 * Gorl, along with his two brothers, find the Lilies of Life, already in bloom. Gorl kills them and takes the nectar for himself. As he waits for it to bloom, he creates a ring of vines to protect it.
 * Opal the Dreamer is born, she foresees the invasion of the Shadow Lord and a man of fire and iron. She travels to the Forge, in Del, in Topaz territory and marries the blacksmith.
 * The Shadow Lord begins invading the northern territories of Deltora, but the invasion is halted due to a long winter.
 * Adin creates the belt from his dreams.
 * Adin travels around to each of the tribes and places their gem into the belt, except for the Amethyst.
 * The six tribes gather in Hira to face off against the Shadow Lord's army. When it appears that they are about to lose, the Torans come and add their gem to the belt.
 * The Land of Dragons becomes known as Deltora, named so by the first letter of each of the gems in the belt.
 * Adin becomes the first King of Deltora, his capital is Del.

Reign of Adin

 * Adin marries the Toran woman Zara.
 * The Bone Point Lighthouse is built, and its first keeper sworn in.
 * Piracy is suppressed in the Silver Sea by King Adin.


 * The Deltora Annals are created. Adin writes down the history of Deltora in the Annals.
 * The Torans swear allegiance to Adin and the monarchs of Deltora.
 * By order of Adin, Deltora Way is built to forge strong links between Tora and Del.
 * Adin begins to suppress piracy in the Silver Sea, forcing the island of Illica to adapt and forget their pirate history. The three clans retreat to their respective towers, denying their pirate ancestor's and begin to claim to be wealthy collectors of exquisite objects.

Reign of Adin's son

 * Adin's eldest son is crowned as king.
 * Adin's son wore the Belt always.

Reign of Elstred

 * Prince Elstred is crowned as king.
 * The Shadow Lord sends Ols to infiltrate the Royal Family, beginning with Elstred's chief advisor, Agra.
 * Ballum flees Del and forms the Masked Ones.
 * During his middle years, Elstred grew overweight and found the Belt cut into his stomach. Agra soothed his fears, saying that the Belt need only be worn on great occasions.

Reign of Adina

 * Princess Adina is crowned as queen.
 * Eldannen flees with his followers, many half-Fellan, to the centre of Dorne to form Weld.
 * The first Gifting is held in Oltan.
 * The Chiefs of Fleet, Juste and Ethena D'Or, are killed defending their people from Gifters. They are buried in the garden, and a plaque is created on the exact place where they were killed in memory of their sacrifice.
 * Rye and Sonia arrive in the forbidden forest in the Fell Zone after walking through the golden Door in modern-day Weld.
 * Seven years after the first, the second Gifting is held in Oltan.
 * The residents of Fleet flee Dorne by boat and settle in Ruby territory to form the golden city of D'Or, built by the Ralads.
 * Annoltis is killed.
 * Eldannen creates two portals in the form of gold and silver Doors, and eventually builds a third wooden Door.
 * Adina wears the Belt only five times during her reign.

Reign of Brandon

 * Prince Brandon is crowned as king.
 * The Palace of Del is built by Ralads and the royal family moves in after the first floor is completed.
 * King Brandon orders the construction of King's Bridge. It crosses the River Tor and is built by Ralads.
 * The rat plague in Hira worsens.
 * Brandon wears the Belt only three times during his reign.

Reign of Lucan

 * Prince Lucan is crowned as king.
 * The construction of the Palace is completed after forty years.
 * Doran finds the underground sea, after looking for a dragon's den in the Os-Mine hills. Although sent back to the surface by the Pirrans the first time, he eventually befriended them, telling them of Deltora and the Shadow Lord.
 * Doran befriends dragons and becomes known to them as Dragonfriend.
 * The Shadow Lord sends his Ak-Baba in an attempt to kill all dragons.
 * Doran goes on a sea voyage to map Deltora's nearest islands.
 * King Lucan asks Doran to write a book to be used as a travellers' guide and to impress and inform visitors from other islands. Doran accepts and begins his journey around Deltora, documenting information and sketching.
 * Doran persuades the last remaining dragon of each territory to sleep.
 * The people of Hira are forced to leave their city and cross the River Broad at the suggestion of the rat-catchers where they found Noradz. The city of Hira becomes the City of the Rats.
 * The Shadow Lord places the Four Sisters in their respective locations. King Lucan's chief advisor Drumm has a platform placed in the palace chapel to hide the Sister of the South, much to the fury of the Ralad builders, who thinks the platform is an eyesore. Drumm informs them that Lucan wants the platform to remain.

Reign of Gareth

 * Prince Gareth is crowned as king.

Reign of Elspeth

 * Princess Elspeth is crowned as queen.
 * Near the end of Elspeth's reign Thaegan is born.
 * Thaegan leaves her mother's home and travels into the Barrier Mountains, delving into dark magic. After seven years Thaegan returns and begins her reign of terror over the Ruby Territory.
 * Thaegan transforms D'Or into the Lake of Tears, and for speaking out against it removes the voices of the Ralads of that time and their descendants.

Reign of Lilia's father

 * Queen Lilia's father is crowned as king.

Reign of Lilia

 * Princess Lilia is crowned as queen.

Reign of Alton

 * Prince Alton is crowned as king.
 * 35 years into Alton's reign his wife dies of a severe fever, not long before Alton himself. Alton suffers the same fever as his wife, and it keeps him to his bed for two weeks until he dies from it.
 * Verity of the Bone Point Lighthouse is born to Red Han and an unnamed mother. The mother dies when Verity is one year old.
 * The same year, Josef flees the palace with The Deltoran Annals and writes The Deltora Book of Monsters.
 * Sha-Ban journeys from Dread Mountain to tell King Alton of Gellick and to beg for help.

Reign of Endon

 * Prince Endon is crowned as king.
 * Jarred is accused of attempting to murder Endon and flees the palace by hiding in a rubbish cart. He takes refuge in the blacksmith's forge, where he is found and taken in by Crian.
 * Crian dies and Jarred takes his place as blacksmith.
 * Jarred and Anna marry.
 * Endon and Sharn marry. Sharn becomes queen of Deltora.
 * Verity of the Bone Point Lighthouse, now 15-16 years of age, is held hostage on The Lady Luck by James Gant, as incentive to force Red Han to turn off the Bone Point Light.
 * On the seventh year of Endon's reign, on the anniversary of his becoming King, Min hears of the Shadow Lord's invasion plans; she tries to warn Endon but he believes she is dreaming. An hour later she is found dead—pushed down the stairs by Prandine. During the feast Barda flees the palace fearing for his life.
 * That same night, close to dawn, the Ak-Baba destroy the Belt of Deltora and scatter its gems around Deltora, placing a guardian over each gem.
 * An Ak-Baba carrying the topaz, drops the topaz into the Forests of Silence. Gorl takes it and places it in the hilt of his sword.
 * Jarred sees Endon's arrow in the tree close to dawn and goes to the palace to help Endon.

Disestablishment of monarchy

 * Endon, Sharn and Jarred escape the Palace of Del. Endon and Sharn find refuge in the forge of Del, while Jarred and Anna leave. They adopt the identities of each other to protect the royal family.
 * Trader Mab takes the Rosalyn fleet into exile on the day of the invasion.
 * The Torans break their oath by refusing to help Endon and Sharn, causing the Oath Stone to crack and its fire to cease, and are banished from their home. They travel to the Valley of the Lost and are captured by the Guardian there.
 * An Ak-Baba is sighted above each of the feared hiding places of the seven gems on the day of the Shadow Lord's invasion. On board The Lady Luck Verity, Jack Gant and his crew see it and realise what has happened; Verity is distraught at this and the realisation that Tora's magic no longer protects the Bone Point Light. Soon after Jack's crew attempt to mutiny but Gant tricks his crew into taking to the oars forever by bribing them with all the gold he has. Verity tries to stop them; Jack in his rage stabs her in the heart. Verity is killed, but cursed to linger as a figurehead on the ship.
 * Jarred and Anna settle in the Forests of Silence after being refused sanctuary by the Torans.
 * The Jalis resist the Shadow Lord's invasion and are decimated; many are killed or taken to the Shadowlands. Glock is knocked unconscious during the battle and believed dead, while his brother Gers is taken to the Shadowlands as a slave. Glock becomes the 'last of the Jalis'.
 * Lief is born in late summer.
 * Jasmine is born in early autumn.
 * A resistance movement against the Shadow Lord begins in Del but is quickly stopped.
 * Amarantz and others in the pottery are captured by Grey Guards and taken to the Shadowlands after a failed attempt at rebellion.
 * Seven years after disestablishment, Jarred and Anna are captured by Grey Guards and taken to the Shadowlands; shortly afterward Anna dies.
 * Jarred fights the Vraal in the Shadow Arena, losing his memories in the process. He escapes and becomes Doom.
 * Doom forms the Resistance.
 * Six years after the disestablishment, the first Rithmere Games are held in Rithmere.
 * Endon is injured by a falling tree when Lief is ten years old.
 * Barda begins to guard Lief on the streets of Del.
 * Eleven years after disestablishment, Manus the Ralad leaves Raladin for Del, to seek help from resistance groups that the Ralads believe exist in Del. However, instead he is captured by Jin and Jod and enslaved for five years.
 * Brianne of Lees becomes Champion of the tenth annual Rithmere Games. She is captured by Grey Guards and taken to the Shadowlands to fight.
 * Gers of the Jalis escapes from the Shadow Arena, becoming the second person to do so.
 * Brianne of Lees escapes from the Shadow Arena, becoming the third person to do so.
 * Lief, on his sixteenth birthday, accepts a quest to find the heir to the throne of Deltora and recover the scattered gems of the Belt of Deltora. He and his companion, Barda, set out for the Forests of Silence.
 * Lief, Barda, and Jasmine destroy Gorl and recover the Topaz in the Forests of Silence.
 * Manus finally escapes from his enslavement but is captured by Grey Guards who march him back the way he came. Lief, Barda, and Jasmine rescue Manus from the Grey Guards.
 * Lief, Barda, and Jasmine fight against Soldeen and Kree kills Thaegan, recovering the Ruby in the process.
 * The Lake of Tears is restored to D'Or and its citizens transformed back.
 * Lief, Barda and Jasmine arrives at the City of the Rats. Jasmine kills the giant snake Reeah by slicing his throat. They retrieve the Opal.
 * The eleventh annual Rithmere Games are run in Rithmere. Lief, Barda, and Jasmine enter to earn money to buy supplies for their quest. Doom also enters, to investigate the true motivations behind the Games.
 * Lief, Barda, and Jasmine recover the Lapis Lazuli from the Shifting Sands.
 * The Shadow Lord begins to take notice of strange doings in the kingdom, and the loss of three gems from their hiding places. Shadow Lord spies are told to search for 'a boy, a man, and a wild girl with a black bird'.
 * Lief's parents are arrested in suspicion of treason and imprisoned in the Del Palace dungeons.
 * Gellick is killed and transformed into a tree.
 * Lief, Barda, and Jasmine recover the Emerald from Dread Mountain.
 * Lief, Barda, and Jasmine recover the Amethyst from the Maze of the Beast.
 * Lief, Barda, and Jasmine recover the Diamond after solving the Guardian's puzzles. Thus, retrieving all gems and completing the Belt of Deltora.
 * The mist lifts from the Valley of the Lost and the Toran tribe is freed.
 * Representatives from each of the seven tribes gather in Withick Mire to summon the heir in a rebellion against the Shadow Lord.
 * Fallow attempts to publicly execute Lief's parents and members of the Resistance in Del.
 * Lief arranges the gem of the Belt of Deltora correctly, revealing him as the heir to the throne. This results in the banishment of the Shadow Lord as the Belt's power drives him away.

Reign of Lief

 * The monarchy of Deltora is restored at Lief's coronation.
 * Just days before the end of tyranny, the citizens of Noradz are marched to the Shadowlands as slaves.
 * Barda takes troops to Noradz to free its citizens from the Ra-Kacharz, but finds it empty.
 * When Mab hears of the end of tyranny, she returns to Deltora, bringing the entire Rosalyn fleet with her.
 * Lief travels to the underground caverns and gathers the parts of the Pirran Pipe. He enters the Shadowlands and, using the Pirran Pipe, saves the captured Deltoran people.
 * Two years after re-establishment, Lief travels around Deltora, finding the Shadow Lord's sisters and destroying them. He destroys the final one and releases the grey tide.
 * Red Han returns to his duties of being the keeper of Bone Point Lighthouse, restoring the light and allowing trade ships to come in from the west.
 * Del is terrorised by the guardian of the Sister of the South. Hundreds are killed and their bodies burned.
 * The first trade ships arrive from across the Silver Sea, guided by the Bone Point Light.
 * Lief, with the help of Deltora's dragons, destroys the grey tide and many Ak-Baba in the process, thwarting the Shadow Lord's plans.
 * Lief marries Jasmine at the Palace of Deltora during spring.
 * Barda and Lindal marry in the summer.
 * Britta of Del is born.
 * Chieftain Farr commissions the people of Fell End to build a pipeline from the ocean to the Fell Zone.
 * Three years later, a week before the pipeline is expected to be complete, Rye, Sonia, Dirk and Sholto arrive at Fell End, after entering the wooden Door.
 * The pipeline is completed but Rye of Weld convinces Chieftain Farr to stop, recognising the importance of the Fellan and the true plan of the Enemy.
 * Weld's walls are reduced to their original rock and skimmers are smoked out of its cavities. A tunnel is built through the wall, allowing for trade with Weld and the other towns of Dorne.
 * The warden of Weld is dispelled and elections are to be held in Weld.
 * The palace under Lief's orders is used as a refuge for damaged Shadowlands survivors.
 * Dare Larsett disappears after a quest to find the Staff of Tier ends in blood and horror; his family goes into hiding and his ship The Star of Deltora becomes part of the Rosalyn fleet.
 * Mab organises the Rosalyn competition to choose an apprentice.
 * The ''Star of Deltora** arrives at the Isle of Tier at the end of the Rosalyn Trust Competition.

Alternative future
The alternative futures refers to the events taken place in the world after Rye, Sonia and Dirk enter the silver Door.
 * The Shadow Lord sends spies to infiltrate the minds of chieftains to destroy the island, specifically the Fellan. It uses sea water, transported via a long pipe, to reduce Dorne to a vast wasteland.
 * The Shadow Lord encounters skimmers and begins to ship them to Deltora to finally take over the land. It begins breeding them with the use of Jell and sends its Grey Guards to enforce slaves to mine the substance.
 * Rye encounters its factory and floods the breeding room.

Rowan of Rin
The placement of Rowan's adventures in the history of the world remains unclear; however, due to Perlain's presence as the Keeper's messenger to the Star of Deltora, it can be safely assumed that, at the very least, Rowan's Choosing occurred prior to the Star of Deltora's visit to Maris.
 * Orin discovers the Crystal and becomes the first Keeper of Maris. He creates the only known antidote to Death Sleep.
 * The Zebak invades Maris. The current Keeper of the Crystal and the Travellers asks the people of the Valley of Gold to aid them in the battle. The people of the Valley are enslaved by the Zebak while on their way to fight with the Maris and Travellers. The Valley of Gold itself is overrun by the Unrin trees.
 * Hundreds of years pass and the slaves forget where they had originated from. The Zebak send all of their warrior slaves to Maris to fight a war for them. To ensure their obedience their memories are completely wiped. However, the warrior slaves rise up against the Zebak and join forces with Maris folk and the Travellers to defeat them.
 * The Mirril clan is annihilated by the Zebak; the warrior slave Lieth stands as Chooser in their stead.
 * The War of the Plains occurs, fifty years before the events of the series.
 * 300 years since the slaves rebelled against the Zebak, the people of Rin are sent to the Mountain to find the source of the dried river.
 * Rin is almost destroyed by Unrin trees.
 * Rowan's Choosing occurs; Doss of Pandellis becomes the next Keeper of the Crystal. The Zebak try to invade but are repelled by the power of the Crystal.
 * The Cold Time threatens Maris. The bukshah make their way for the first time in centuries up the Mountain to repel the ice creepers.