This is a timeline I put together detailing significant events involving my characters from City of Heroes. It covers a little of everything.

Before Recorded Time

Unknown

Adam teaches five of his children the secrets of magic. These men and women become the first members of an order that would later be codified as the Order of the Wardens to the Gates of Infinity. (It is possible that this is only a myth. This is, however, held as truth by the Order.) (Gatewarden)

Ancient Times

1260-1259 BC (approx)

Tom Riley, having escaped from the Ouroboros Citadel, is captured by the Fifth Column in ancient Egypt. In this time he organizes a rebellion with the Column’s slave labor, which proves successful. Riley is removed from the time stream after Ouroboros finishes removing all evidence of temporal incursion. (Old Ranger)

430 BC (approx)

Zosimos serves as a citizen-soldier of Athens. At some point he survives the plague. (Timelost)

The First Millennium

50

Gaius Herminius serves as a Roman Legionnaire in the campaign to take Britain, serving in the Ninth Legion. (Timelost)

70

The Banished Pantheon attempt to transform the Praetor Magesterix, Cravenus, into a champion of one of their gods (Lughebu); this has the effect of transforming him into a vampiric-like being, who has no intention of serving anyone. He slays the group that changed him and drops out of sight. (Baron Craven)

370

Alric is one of the barbarians that fell upon the Roman Empire upon its waning days. (Timelost)

800 (approx)

Sir Robert the Swift (according to his claims) serves as one of Charlemagne's Paladins in this period. (Timelost)

18th Century

1768 (approx.)

Willard Grimwood burned at the stake in England for attempted sacrifice to the Devil. (Amazing Kane)

1770 (approx.)

Amelia Grimwood and son move to the American colonies, bringing a small personal fortune. (Amazing Kane)

1794 (approx.)

Baron Craven attempts to bring about Eternal Night, but is stopped in his attempt by "adventurists" who stake him in the heart, and bury him in a tomb located in a small chapel in the region that would become known as Croatoa. (Baron Craven)

20th Century

Early to Mid 1900s

1902

Mr. Grimwood born. (Amazing Kane)

1940

Fearless Phantom re-founds The Adventurists with Mr. Grimwood, Lady in Green, Wychery, and Doc Osmium. (Adventurists)

1960s

1965

March 7: Thomas Christopher Riley (Old Ranger) is born.

1968

July 22: Robert Riley (father) killed in the Vietnam War; his name would be one of the ones engraved years later on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. (Old Ranger)

1970s

1979

?: Birth of Mike Steele (Invictar).

1980s

1980

?: Kane Grimwood (Amazing Kane) born in Cambridge, Mass. to Victor and Jacqueline Grimwood.

?: Aaron Richardson (Occult Explorer) born in Paragon City, RI.

1983

?: Anthony Stevens (Winter Tornado) born in Berkeley, CA, to Ronald and Jessica Stevens.

1985

?: Mark Thompson (Stellar Protector) born in Paragon City, RI, to Nick and Val Thompson.

1986

June 30: Tom Riley enlists in the United States Army. (Old Ranger)

1987

January 5: Tom Riley graduates Ranger School; assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment (3rd Battalion). (Old Ranger)

April 16: Tom Riley assigned to the squad later known as "the Wolf Pack". He would continue to serve with this squad, in one capacity or another, for the rest of his career. (Old Ranger)

1990s

1993

May 4: Tom Riley marries Emily Johnson. (Old Ranger)

1994

?: Aaron Richardson and his family are kidnapped by the Circle of Thorns. His parents and older sister are sacrificed to the beings the cult worships, and only the intervention of the Midnight Squad keeps Aaron from the same fate. (Occult Explorer)

1996

March 18: Tom Riley applies for an Officer's commission. (Old Ranger)

October 12: Emily Riley killed in an auto accident. (Old Ranger)

October 29: Tom Riley withdraws his application for an Officer's commission. (Old Ranger)

1997

September 9: Wolf Pack deployed on a rescue mission (details classified); Tom Riley meets Dietrich Ehrlichmann, a scientist who he would remain in contact with for the next seven years. (Old Ranger)

1998

?: Aaron Richardson attends the University at Paragon City. He meets Lydia Karlsen there, and the two become friends. (Occult Explorer)

1999

?: Hand of Agony by Anthony Stevens published. (Winter Tornado)

21st Century

2000s

2001

April 28: Tom Riley promoted to Master Sergeant

2002

Early May: Aaron graduates from the University with a degree in Occult Studies. He leaves the country to become a “Tomb Raider” of sorts. (Magic’s Shadow)

May 23: The Battle of Fort Benning; the Rikti Invasion wipes out 65 percent of the military personnel, including members of the 75th Ranger Regiment; the entire Wolf Pack is killed in action, with the exception of Tom Riley-who is used as an experiment by Rikti Science Chief Pomekt. The Rikti are called to withdraw too soon, forcing the Rikti to implant mental commands designed to force Riley to report back to the Rikti. Riley is left comatose for days.

May 27: Riley recovers from his coma.

May 31: Riley is compelled by the Rikti programming to abandon his post and desert the United States Army.

November 28: Tom Riley continues to recon Rikti positions. He is unaware at this time that the War was ended by the actions of Omega Team and Hero 1.

2003

January 9: Major General Brian Hunter is briefed by Brigadier General David Donnell (formerly of the 75th Ranger Regiment) on Riley's desertion. The two agree to keep Riley's status under wraps for the present time.

May 23: 1st Lieutenant Michael Cooke makes a presentation for the Secretary of Defense and leaders of the Armed Forces, advocating the creation of a new branch of military devoted to equipping soldiers for the next war-one he felt would feature superhumans. This presentation bolsters an argument from Major General Brian Hunter who hopes to establish a super-soldier program. (Armored Battalion)

May 30: The President of the United States signs into law the establishment of the United States Special Powers Directorate (US-SPD). (Armored Battalion)

May 30: The President of the United States signs a secret Executive Order establishing "the Agency", to track the movements of enhanced power beings, and to establish a directory of powers and abilities of the same. (Agent Repulse/Agent Counterforce)

June 7: Michael Cooke promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, and transferred to US-SPD to head up the Armored Battalion project. (Armored Battalion)

November 27: Tom Riley is in transit to Nebraska to continue his personal Search-and-Destroy mission against pockets of Rikti, using an acquired Rikti communications device to locate them.

December 15: US-SPD debuts its Hovertank design. Prototype fails spectacularly before high ranking members of the military. (Armored Battalion)

2004

November 25: Tom Riley briefly sighted in Florida.

2005

Early 2005: Aaron Richardson returns to Paragon City, and takes a job at MAGI. He would become romantically involved with Azuria, but the relationship would end amicably. His work leads to him being promoted to the position of Head Librarian. (Magic’s Shadow)

August 3: US-SPD's Variable Assault Rifle demonstration. Project fails in a matter later classified by the government; its plans eventually leaked and makes its way to Paragon City, where some call it the "Frankenrifle".

November 24: Tom Riley recovers from wounds taken from a Rikti encounter in a hotel, with the aid of two civilians he rescued.

2006

January 9: A member of "the Agency" goes rogue after his assignment to Paragon City. After observing the heroism of the superhumans there, he decided that it was better to act than to passively observe; he registers in the city as "Agent Repulse". (Agent Repulse)

March 11: Agent Counterforce of "the Agency" is deployed to the Rogue Islands to monitor the situation there. In addition, he is expected to train himself there as a hunter of rogue Agents. (Agent Counterforce)

September 10: Brigadier General David Donnell, believing that the country is ignoring a "clear and present danger" from the Rogue Islands, deserts the US-SPD and travels incognito to the Rogue Islands. He begins to put together a mercenary company. (General Retaliation)

October 1: US-SPD is folded due to budget cuts. (Armored Battalion)

November 23: Tom Riley visits the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. Touches his father's name on the Wall.

2007

?: Mike Steele begins work on inventing what will become known as the Necron Power Supply (Invictar).

Spring: Writer Anthony Stevens (Winter Tornado) starts online blog "The Whirlwind Tour" about his current world travels.

June 15: Tom Riley arrives in Paragon City, and saves Dr. Emil Ehrlichmann from a Hellion mugging. Riley explains he felt drawn to the city, and needed to get at the Rikti mother ship in White Plains. Ehrlichmann suggests an idea.

June 22: Tom Riley begins acting as a hero in the city. The media takes a comment of his to one of the people he rescues, and parleys it into an identifying name-"The Old Ranger". The name sticks.

June 29: Dr. Emil Ehrlichmann reveals to the Army the presence of Tom Riley. The Army, choosing to keep track of him, helps supply the Ranger using Ehrlichmann's designs for various equipment-and supplying some of their own.

July 24: Rikti resume hostilities. Tom Riley is unable to make much of a difference, still new to his equipment and to the city in general.

July 25: US-SPD is reactivated, and a few select projects are put on the fast-track. One of these is the Armored Battalion project. (Armored Battalion)

September 12: Tom Riley joins the Justiciars. Shortly afterwards, he begins to display super-speed; the origins of this power remain unknown at this time.

October 12-15: "Between Scylla and Charybdis"; Tom Riley intervenes in a conflict between the Warriors and the Tsoo, with additional hinted interests with Arachnos and the Circle of Thorns. Riley's first encounter with Vicious Razor.

November 12: Tom Riley gets his first hint that the Rikti may have experimented on him at the Battle of Fort Benning after learning that the Rikti and the human race may have a common origin.

November 24: "Sua Sponte"; Tom Riley goes comatose as two Rikti imperatives in his mind go into mutually destructive conflict. Colonel Mark Davis and Lieutenant Dina Troy of the US-SPD bully their way to his hospital bed so that Troy can use her mental powers to find out what was wrong with Riley and repair the Rikti damage. Upon his recovery, Riley is restored to full rank and privileges as a member of the United States Army.

December 30: A public service announcement featuring the Ranger is aired.

2008

February 1: Tom Riley captures Rikti Science Chief Pomekt. Pomekt reveals under interrogation the existence of a nanovirus in Riley's system, confirming long-held suspicions.

February 11: Arbiter Sands learns that his current plans can be upset entirely by Tom Riley.

February 18: Tom Riley, "the Old Ranger", is recognized as a Hero of the City by the government of Paragon City.

February 18: Aaron Richardson is kidnapped by the Circle of Thorns. An experiment on a Kheldian Warshade frees the Warshade from its host, which destroys the Circle cell. Aaron bonds with the Warshade Ar’Kadell to become Magic’s Shadow. Richardson resigns from MAGI a few days later to register with the City Registry.

March 20-26: "The Arbiter Initiative I: Smoke and Mirrors"; Tom Riley investigates a link between a rogue faction of the Council and Arachnos. He discovers it was mostly fiction meant to distract him from the plot of Arbiter Sands while investigating in the Rogue Islands, as orchestrated by Operative Rostov. Before he could return to Paragon City, he is mortally wounded by Ebon Thunderbolt, an assassin hired by Sands. An accident involving an Ouroboros portal and a subspace recall device propels Riley into the future.

March 30: Tom Riley returns from the future.

April 9: Anthony Stevens (Winter Tornado) visits the Temple of the Four Winds, Tokyo, Japan, on the last day of his world tour.

April 11: Anthony Stevens receives the Cloak of the North Wind, imbuing him with power. (Winter Tornado)

April 13: Tom Riley is promoted to High Justiciar in the Justiciars Supergroup. The following day he resigns as a member of the Army to prevent any conflicts of interest.

April 14: The first blog entry with a Paragon City location is put up on Anthony Stevens' (Winter Tornado) "Whirlwind Tour".

April 16: Winter Tornado receives notice from the Justiciar Prime Gods-Speed that his uniform is unsuited to that SG's "style". This embitters Winter from considering other super-groups in Paragon City for the duration of 2008.

April 20: Tom Riley is given notice that the Army supplied equipment would be reclaimed by the Army at the end of June, 2008.

April 23(?): "Injustice"; Terrance Rihsen attempts to discredit the Justiciars and destroy most of the planet's population via the Vanguard space station. Tom Riley assists in the defense of Atlas Park against his Centurion robots, but Dr. Emil Ehrlichmann is kidnapped by one of them. Rihsen is eventually defeated.

April 23: US-SPD authorizes full activation of the Armored Battalion project as a direct result of the Rihsen Incident. (Armored Battalion)

April 29: Dr. Emil Ehrlichmann leaves Paragon City to re-evaluate his life in general. He gives Tom Riley a DVD containing full schematics for his equipment.

April 26: Armored Battalion is fully activated. Michael Cooke is designated as its pilot. (Armored Battalion)

May 19: Armored Battalion joins the Justiciars, in part to ensure that the United States isn't played for a fool again by villains such as Terrance Rihsen. (Armored Battalion)

May 29: Amazing Kane joins the Adventurists.

June 13: Arbiter Sands locates a damaged Rikti mother ship at the bottom of the ocean near Antarctica.

June 23-25: "Transformation"; Tom Riley is kidnapped by his Praetorian counterpart and used to test an experimental cure of the Rikti nanovirus. The cure is successful, and a squad of Justiciars is able to retrieve Riley from Praetorian Earth. Shortly afterward, Riley is able to secure support from the Vanguard in retaining his existing equipment, and supplying him with further materials.

Midsummer: Anthony Stevens gets a byline on the Paragon Times as a freelance writer to help keep himself practiced with his writing. (Winter Tornado)

August: Early in the month, Operative Rostov captures Winter Tornado and turns him over to Dr. Aeon, who tortures the hero for weeks, breaking him to the will of Arachnos.

August 25: “A Gem of Rare Value”; Detective Mark Thompson of the Kings Row PPD, temporarily confused by a horrible crime scene, picks up and bonds with an alien Stellar Gem, making him the planet’s first Stellar Protector. He also learns of two other Gems on the planet-a "tainted" Gem in the Rogue Islands, and a third that is lost in the Indian Ocean. (Stellar Protector)

August 28: Stellar Protector, with the aid of his Gem, applies to and is accepted to the rebuilding super group Hyperion Force.

September 22-24: “The Arbiter Initiative III: Defiant”; Tom Riley is killed in action (apparently) stopping the plans of Arbiter Sands. In reality, he is saved from death by Mender Christina, an Ouroboros Operative. Riley is effectively lost in time for nearly a year.

September 24: Winter Tornado rescued from Dr. Aeon. The (apparent) Spirit of the North Wind takes over Tony Stevens and wreaks vengeance upon the wrong target-ultimately resulting in the seeming death of the Old Ranger.

October: 1LT Michael Cooke is recalled to the US-SPD to begin work on the Steel Brigade project. (Armored Battalion)

October: Zombies rise all over the world. It is heavily implied to those in the know that a being known as the Devil’s Chamberlain was responsible by use of a lengthy spell ritual; however, others contest that claim. (Adventurists)

Mid-October: Tony Stevens leaves Paragon City, swearing off heroism and wearing PPD bracers which forcibly negate his powers. (Winter Tornado)

Late October: The magic of the zombie apocalypse, in combination with latent magic expressed in a chapel in Croatoa by Mercurial Talon awakens Baron Craven. Craven leaves the chapel shortly afterward to see the new world ahead of him.

Early November: Anthony Stevens' book The Whirlwind Tour: Paragon City released, hits the New York Times bestseller list for nonfiction the following week. (Winter Tornado)

December 11: Stellar Protector, in charge of a Hyperion Force task force in the Rogue Islands, is devastated by the apparent death of a hero under his command. Stellar refuses to take a leadership role in Hyperion Force activity until the New Year, after discussing the event with his family.

Mid December: Emil Ehrlichmann hires on with Action Enterprises, a corporation positioning itself to become a primary competitor of Crey Industries. (Old Ranger)

Late December: “Before the Union”; In New York City, while on a book tour, Anthony Stevens meets a mysterious stranger who apologizes for the North Wind. (Winter Tornado)

Late December: “A Paragon City Christmas Story”; Aaron Richardson relates a tale in the Tavern on the Edge concerning a recent investigation concerning a spirit of Christmas; some patrons are dubious as to the truth behind the story, although sufficiently entertained by the tale. (Magic’s Shadow)

2009

January 1: Tony Stevens celebrates the New Year in Paragon City, in Atlas Park. (Winter Tornado)

January 4: "Birth of the Union"; Winter Tornado joins a group of heroes called to save a number of United Nations representatives from the Council in Astoria Plaza. The action is successful.

January 8: Winter Tornado is asked by Gods-Speed to join the nascent Union Supreme. Winter makes his peace with Gods-Speed and tells the hero that he will consider the offer.

January 12: Winter Tornado joins the Union Supreme.

February 9: “Falling Sky”; Stellar Protector comes into conflict with the “mad” scientist, Professor Dredd on a cloaked space station. Dredd deorbits the station to prevent it from falling into Stellar’s hands; the hero is barely able to prevent it from striking the continental United States.

March: The assassin Ebon Thunderbolt nearly kills Arc Tangent of Hyperion Force. Upon Arc Tangent’s recovery in early April, Stellar Protector and Mercurial Talon are assigned as co-Leaders of Hyperion Force, while Arc Tangent undergoes further rehabilitation in the Ouroboros Citadel.

March: Aaron Richardson’s office is attacked by a vampire under the direction of the elder vampire Baron Craven. Richardson goes underground. (Magic’s Shadow)

March 26: Stellar Protector is promoted to the rank of Executive Officer in Hyperion Force, replacing Arc Tangent. He becomes co-leader of the group along with Mercurial Talon.

April 17: Ebon Thunderbolt is captured by Hyperion Force, along with his accomplice, Professor Dredd. The extradimensional origins of the villains is discovered shortly thereafter.

Late April: Aaron Richardson returns from hiding to advise Hyperion Force in stopping Baron Craven and his plot to put out the sun. (Magic’s Shadow, Baron Craven)

Early May: Agent Repulse is hired by Action Enterprises to become their chief of security after a number of corporate espionage successes against them by Crey Industries.

Summer: Stellar Protector becomes openly involved with another member of Hyperion Force, the Neminian named Nivera; the two admit their feelings towards each other after a Taun’Ra war god possesses Millennium Guardian, who had threatened to kill Nivera if Stellar didn’t release him from the HF base.

Summer: Mechadoom robots are revealed to be using the Necron Power Supply as their primary power source. Mike Steele, the Necron’s inventor, is distraught (Invictar).

Late June: Aaron Richardson and the Warshade Joined with him at last fully merge, becoming one being in truth, instead of two minds in one body. This leaves him in the odd situation of learning about himself all over again. (Magic’s Shadow)

July 10: “Looking into the Abyss”; Stellar Protector confronts the Bearer of a tainted Stellar Gem; while he defeats “Stellar Abyss”, Abyss is killed by the tainted Gem; the Gem then seeks out a new host, eventually presenting itself to Operative Rostov-who does not physically contact the Gem (and so is not bonded to it).

Mid-July: “Crown of Earth”; Winter Tornado acquires one of the talismans of the Circle of Gaea, keeping it out of Arachnos hands. In the process, he fights Ice Mistral and Scirocco to a standstill in a temporal stronghold of the Fifth Column. At the same time, he uncovers evidence indicating the potential survival of the Old Ranger.

July 25: Stellar Protector is recognized as a Hero of the City.

August 16-20: “Ice and Flame”; the Old Ranger returns from his temporal exile. In a period of a few days, he chooses to return to Paragon City and make it known that he is still alive. He is officially re-registered in Atlas Park as of August 25 and joins the Union Supreme after contacting Solairis.

August 27: Professor Dredd is attacked in the Zig by soldiers of the Black Syndicate of Protectorate Earth; Dredd uses the distraction to escape the Zig, but he is pursued relentlessly by assorted villains of the Syndicate. (Hyperion Force)

Early September: Armored Battalion is assigned to join Hyperion Force, in part to ease tensions that had recently been rising between the two organizations.

October 10: Upon learning that the Black Syndicate was on Primal Earth-or at least their soldiers-Ebon Thunderbolt escaped the Zig. This led to the sacking of the warden of Zigursky, Warden Decker.

Mid-October: Kane Grimwood is captured by a being claiming to be his ancient ancestor, Willard Grimwood, now acting as the Devil's Chamberlain. (Amazing Kane)

November 1: The Devil's Chamberlain attempts to enact a spell ritual to slay every immortal being on Earth, by use of magical talismans and the blood-sacrifice of people of magical potential, as well as the final sacrifice of his descendent, Kane Grimwood. The ritual is interrupted, and halted by the efforts of the elder vampire Baron Craven and the heroes of Hyperion Force. Kane himself assists the heroes in defeating the Chamberlain, who is seemingly dragged back into Hell for his failure. Craven vows to Mercurial Talon to never return to Paragon City. (Amazing Kane, Hyperion Force, Baron Craven)

December: Winter Tornado loses control of his powers, threatening to freeze everything near him. In a desperation move recommended by Night Wonder, he exiles himself temporarily to the Shadow Shard, where his powers return to their normal stability.

December 10: Professor Dredd is recaptured by Hyperion Force.

December 21: "Invasion of the Gems"; the Council unleashes approximately 800 soldiers bonded with "tainted" Stellar Gems to murder as many Kheldians as possible, including Sunstorm and Shadowstar. Special effort is made to capture the hero Stellar Protector, so that the Council could taint his Gem as well. Their effort is a failure for the most part; however, they do succeed in tainting Stellar's Gem, although devices rendering him comatose prevent the tainted Gem from analyzing his behavior sufficiently to declare him unsuitable-a process that uniformly involves the death of the unsuitable. (Stellar Protector)

December 21: Aaron Richardson reveals that in the distant past, his "Nictus side" was the being responsible for discovering how to taint the alien weapons known as the Stellar Gems. Shortly after this revelation-and dealing with the revulsion of Hyperion Force's reaction-Richardson disappears. He is later seen in the company of the Council, having apparently turned his back on the path of the Warshade and working to improve the power of the tainted Gems. Evidence seems to indicate, though, that he is playing a deeper game as he has been in communication with the Fifth Column as well. (Magic's Shadow)

2010s

2010

January 28: Hyperion Force meets with an operative from a covert-operations group who recently bonded with the long-missing third Stellar Gem; he identifies himself as "Alpha Justice". (Stellar Protector)

February 11: Alpha Justice is killed by an old Hyperion Force adversary, Corona Storm. Hyperion Force recovers the body-and his Stellar Gem-shortly before capturing Corona Storm. An attempt to bond the Gem to the comatose and tainted Gem-bound Stellar Protector is successful; a combination of the powers of the Force, the "pure" Gem, and Stellar's own will to live destroy the tainted Gem. A few days later, recovered from the ordeal, Stellar proposes to Nivera, who accepts. (Stellar Protector)

Late March: "Winter Lie"; Tony Stevens learns that the story of the origin of his powers was a lie. After pursuing his own inquiries, and with the help of Dr. Mystik, Tony discovers that the Winter Tornado was the culmination of a scheme for Lord Winter to permanently gain entry into Primal Earth. While Lord Winter strips away as much of Tony's power as it could, it discovers that a portion of its power has permanently become Tony's. With Mystik's help, Tony escapes Lord Winter's realm. The process leaves him with a good portion of the power he possessed prior, but restores his basic humanity. (Winter Tornado)

April 22-28: "Fading Away"; Tom Riley becomes involved with hunting down the renegade General Retaliation (David Donnell, formerly of the US-SPD and former Ranger CO). The General attempts to recruit Riley to his cause, but fails to do so; Riley does capture a trio of the General's assassins sent to murder Arachnos contacts in Paragon City, but is unable to capture Donnell. Riley recommends that Donnell's operation be left alone unless he brings his operation to Paragon City. (Old Ranger)

April 30: Baron Craven joins the Entropy Legion, after having moved his haven to the Rogue Islands.

June 3: Ebon Thunderbolt is finally recaptured by Hyperion Force. A few weeks later, he and the rest of the captured members of the Black Syndicate were extradited back to Protectorate Earth.

June 7: Shadesworn joins the Union Supreme, after spending a few months operating on his own in Paragon City; he bears the Oblivion Blade, a cursed weapon destined to bring about his own death. (Shadesworn)

June 16-20 (alternate): "The Arbiter Initiative II: The Future is Now"; Tom Riley arrives in a future ruled by Arachnos by virtue of their own Rikti Mother Ship. Riley is able (with allies) to fight his way to the ship, but fails to bring it down. He is able to render a temporal block useless in the process, setting up a massive battle between time traveling heroes and villains in the midst of the ship, and he escapes in the confusion. Actions taken in 2008 prevent this future from taking place.

July 9: Amazing Kane reappears in Paragon City for a short period, assists allies of the Adventurists, and disappears again.

Late July: "Crucible"; Stellar Protector learns the location of the homeworld of his Stellar Gem's "Crafters". He goes there in the hopes of learning more about how to use his Gem, and to find reinforcements from other Stellar Protectors that may exist. However, upon arrival he comes to a dead world; an artifact there plunges his mind into a "mental test", which he believes he fails. Unbeknownst to him, the Crafters still exist as beings of Mind; they decide to turn loose approximately six thousand Gems to worlds occupied by the Nictus-and send four to follow Stellar (without his knowledge) to Earth.

August 2: Aaron Richardson, using a "pen name", writes to the Paragonian Times hinting that he is on the cusp of being able to do something very terrible on the behalf of the Council and/or Fifth Column, and asks for advice from Aesgir, who is behind the Tavern on the Edge; Richardson seems to be on the edge of something else as well. (Magic's Shadow)

September 1: Winter Tornado angrily leaves the Union and Paragon City after a heated clash with Night Wonder. (Winter Tornado)

September 16: Mark Thompson and Nivera are married; they hold a reception in the Tavern on the Edge. (Stellar Protector, Hyperion Force)

October 15: “The Darkening”; The Superiority makes itself known to the world by shattering the War Wall between Dark Astoria and Talos Island. The Banished Pantheon attempts to darken Talos Island in a manner similar to that of Astoria. Union Supreme is able to counter the attack. Afire is severely injured; Mike Steele is contacted requesting a variation on his Necron power source to assist in stabilizing Afire’s powers. (Union Supreme, Invictar)

November 1: A couple of weeks prior, Stellar Protector became aware of four new Stellar Gems arriving on Earth and bonding to people around the world. Realizing that they could be easy pickings for the Nictus, he steps down as Executive of Hyperion Force to spend his time helping these new Stellar Protectors in adjusting to the new life ahead of them. (Stellar Protector, Hyperion Force)

December 13-16: “Turning Points”; Old Ranger attempts to locate Winter Tornado in Switzerland, and the two become drawn into a scheme by Arachnos led by Operative Rostov. Rostov is stopped from gaining the power of a Crown of Earth, but maintains his power base. After the event, Winter Tornado formally resigns from the Union Supreme, but does decide to return to Paragon City-but only after he gives the Crown to a longtime friend, Melinda Dobson. Not long afterward, Rostov is awarded the title of Arbiter. (Old Ranger, Winter Tornado, Operative Rostov)

December 30: A new Ebon Thunderbolt appears in the Rogue Islands. He seems to have no connection to the original one, who had been previously captured and sent back to the authorities at Protectorate Earth. He convinces an associate to take up the alias of Professor Dredd, and the two form a mercenary group they call the Black Syndicate. (Ebon Thunderbolt/Professor Dredd)

2011

February 8: Invictar joins the Union Supreme, after constructing a new high-tech battle suit using newly invented technologies-including a network of Invictar power cells.

March: Dracofire of the Conglomerate of Worlds arrives on Earth. He claims to be a representative assigned to evaluate the planet Earth for entry into the Conglomerate. However, the fact that the area he had landed in is the Rogue Islands, and the first group he had become officially affiliated with was the Entropy Legion made one wonder if he was an ambassador, or a scout for a conquering invader. (Dracofire)

April 11: Stellar Protector is involved with a conflict with Praetorian Earth, both there and at his home Earth. The war with Praetoria takes a psychological toll on the hero, who isn’t a soldier/warrior by nature. At the same time, the Stellar Gem continues to allow greater and greater access to its full potential-a situation which vaguely alarms him.

June 8-16: “Fall of the Gems”; Stellar Protector becomes aware of a situation when all of the other “pure” Stellar Gems are destroyed by an unknown force. He is later contacted by Aaron Richardson, who reveals he was coerced into doing it-and also reveals the device used to do so was intended to destroy all the tainted Gems on Earth. With Stellar’s help-and with the sacrifice of the Nictus Ar’Kadell-Richardson destroys all but four of the tainted Gems on Earth.

July 11: Shadesworn finally falls victim to the curse of the Oblivion Blade. Worse still, his soul is the last needed for the Spirit of Oblivion to attempt to bring an end to Creation. A number of Unionists are able to find a way to banish Oblivion for an Age (at least), but Shadesworn is lost. Also of note is the disappearance of Winter Tornado in Winter’s Realm, after providing Unionists a “back door” into Oblivion’s Realm.

August 8: Aaron Richardson returns to Paragon City after having left it to search for a purpose, possessed of a number of mystical talismans long forgotten. He re-registers in the Hero Registrar as “Occult Explorer”.

August 11: Lord Winter re-enters the material realm early, using the possessed body of Winter Tornado as a host. Lord Winter manages to bring about a short cold spell to the world entire before heroes from Hyperion Force, using Summer Stones left behind by Lady Summer for emergencies, is able to drive Lord Winter out of its host and back into its realm. Winter Tornado makes a full recovery.

September 3-6: “Web of the Spider”; Old Ranger is asked by the US-SPD to perform a covert strike against an Arachnos WMD facility, which among other things was the shipyard for Volans-class sky carriers and Pantopoda-class submersibles. During the mission, he hooks up with General Donnell’s Fate Incorporated mercs, and winds up in a free for all brawl between Arachnos, Fate Incorporated, and the Superiority, who has sent agents to steal nuclear warheads from the facility. (Old Ranger)

September 13: Galaxy City is destroyed by Shivan meteors. One meteor strikes the Action Enterprises offices, killing everyone inside; including Agent Repulse and Emil Ehrlichmann. (Old Ranger, Agent Repulse)

At some point prior to the event, the Amazing Kane learns of the imminent attack, and tries to help save the city via time travel-but he is opposed by the Menders of Ouroboros. A battle with the Menders leaves Kane without the vast majority of his power, and in a building about to collapse from a meteor strike. The battle does, however, apparently affect Kane in a strange way, allowing him to begin to manipulate the flow of time itself. (Amazing Kane)

On a third front, the starship Song of Discordant Unity, after a mishap involving the Shivans attacking their ship, crashes down into Gemini Park. (Null Division)

On a final front, a ship attempting to deliver technology to Dracofire for the Entropy Legion is destroyed. He recovers with the Legion its “Black Box”, which has recorded the arrival of the Unity, among other things. (Dracofire)

October 16: “Facets”; Stellar Protector learns that his wife, Nivera, was captured a year ago and replaced with an imposter-derived from a “Nova Sequence” style clone-and imprisoned on her homeworld of Nemen. A day later, he immediately heads to interstellar space to locate and rescue her. Upon his return weeks later, he finds that Hyperion Force managed to find her and rescue her without him, and he ended up bringing down the wrath of a species he hacked off called the R’lk’km. (Stellar Protector)

2012

Late Winter: Stellar Protector learns from the Vanguard that a starship has been in Russian hands since the turn of the 20th century, and that all indications are that it is a ship made by the Crafters. Stellar steps down as a Director of Hyperion Force, and goes on indefinite leave. In the early Spring, Nivera announces that she is pregnant, and retires from the Force to join Stellar in Russia.

March 8-10: “Days of Yore”; Old Ranger is captured by the Superiority in an elaborate trap. Mind’s Psi, Accursed Warlock, and Witchling combine powers to probe his mind for unknown information-and to learn whatever else they happened to find in his mind. However, due to repeated exposure to Rikti mind attacks over the years, he is able to eventually break free of the mental trap and capture the Warlock and Witchling. (Old Ranger)

April 22: The Accursed Warlock is broken out of a prison transport by the Superiority.

June: The Old Ranger and Raven Moonshadow assist in an assault on the Lambda Sector in Praetoria, in response to Praetorian attack. Days later, the Gray Huntsmaster-Samuel Riley, the son of Praetoria’s Ranger-is given the go ahead to hunt down the “Lambda Twelve”, which includes the counterpart of his father. (Old Ranger)

July: “Nuclear Winter”; The Superiority accelerates its plans to activate soul-killing nuclear bombs housed in giant mech-men built in part by the genius of Zero Point. However, unknown to the Superiority, they have been infiltrated by Winter Tornado, who has disguised himself as the Accursed Warlock. In response to Dame Galilei’s attempt to test the weapons, Winter effectively takes down the Superiority-after Zero Point attempts to activate all of the robots. (Winter Tornado)

Summer: Stellar Protector and Nivera welcome their new baby into the world (her gestation period having varied wildly due to the nature of human and Nemenian genes). They name her Judy, after the deceased Mercurial Talon. (Stellar Protector)

December 1: The Battalion reaches Earth. The Coming Storm begins.

2013

Alternate 2013: An Aspect of Timelost claims to hail from a future when humanity has lost its wars; he remains evasive as to whether or not this loss comes at the hands of the Rikti, the Praetorians, or the Coming Storm-or something worse.... It is eventually revealed that this is from the machinations of Amazing Kane, who is using Timelost as a lock and key to a period of time where the world can be saved. (Timelost, Amazing Kane)

Autumn: “Storm”; the heroes of Earth make their play to stop Battalion once and for all. (Everyone)

2014

Autumn: “Unending”; the final story of Old Ranger and Stellar Protector.

CoH Character Timeline

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