The Zioth is the night when all five moons are new at once. It is said that on that night, which occurs once every 1020 years, the world is destroyed and rebuilt. Zioth is an acronym for the initials of the five moons (Zabrigar, Ilsapeich, Ot, Tirop, Halkak). The word Zioth refers both to the 1020 year period, and to the event itself.

There are no records of a time before the Zioth. The more religeous among us would say that is because there was nothing to record; the world was created one thousand years ago, and will end twenty years from now, only to be created anew.

A thousand years ago, the five moons entered the sky on the same night, beginning at once the months of Halkak, Tirop, Ot, Ilsupeich and Zabrigar. That night was called the Zioth, and all reckoning of years is based on that date. Soon, the Zioth will come again. On the first night of the onethousand twentieth year of the Zioth, five moons will be new at once. The Jarramites call this a mathematical inevitability. The Andrithans say their goddess will cause it to happen by her own hand, unless all become righteous and repent their evils. Zahirans embrace the coming of the Zioth, in the belief that the world must be destroyed and rebuilt to maintain the balance.

Scholars have broken the history of the world into eras. The first of these is known as Enaerv (en-Erv', Sarnam for “the beginning”). The first half of the first century was a dark age from which only vague tales of the Zioth emerged. Even myths and legends don't begin until Unolm (oo'nOlm, “the first era”). The stories tell of numerous races emerging and populating the world, man only one among them. Barbaric tribes of humans battled against each other to increase their meager territories, and other races interfered when it suited them.

The real stuff of legends comes from the next period, known as Midynd (mid'ind, “the middle years”). Those who deny the existence of magic have endless trouble extracting actual historical fact from the allegory and hyperbole that dominates this era. Mixing history and legend together, one can assemble a story of humans gaining a growing foothold on the land, but by no means dominating it. Human monarchs continually sought to expand their empires, and used any methods at their disposal, whether it meant hiring wizards against the advice of religious leaders, or offering duchies and earldoms to dwarves and elves in exchange for services. Magic or superstition flowed through the world like water, affecting every person and every aspect of life. The use of magic peaked on the eve of the year five-hundred ten, when, for one night, only Tirop shone in the sky, and the dragons danced around it like fireflies all through the night. Scholars reckon the period of Midynd to have begun in the three hundreds, and lasted through the six hundreds.

Things begin to stabilize in the next period, known as Teral (te'r&l, “the conquest”). This period is dominated by territorial and religious wars against the magical races and even against magic itself. It is during this period that legends of powerful human sorcerers give way to the loose sort of mythology that is prevalent today – elves sneaking off with babies in the night, gnomes helping a kindly cobbler in secret, and that sort of thing.

At this time, the Zioth is a generation away, so the world continues on its path, and the people go on with their lives. There is a limit to how much one can worry when there is food to put on the table. It is now Paranzioth (pa'r&n-zI-oth, “the days before the Zioth”), the period which began in the last quarter of the tenth century, and will continue until the Zioth itself. The world, as far as its political structure and technological achievement is concerned, is stable and shows no sign of change to come. Legends and Myths abound, but actual magic and intelligent non-human races are best left to storybooks.