WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE COSMERE SERIES, INCLUDING WIND & TRUTH!
With the Cosmere RPG getting closer, I’m working on some resources to help DMs and players with campaigns you may want to be running.
One challenge is knowing how the lore all fits into current events in the Cosmere, and perhaps more specifically, on Roshar itself since the Stormlight Archive will be our only setting for the time being. This is especially complex because the Cosmere is so vast and doesn’t have a hugely well-defined timeline of events housed in a single place.
Because of this, I’ve put together a timeline of significant events for both the wider Cosmere and for Roshar. Hopefully, this will be especially useful for those that want to maintain parity with the lore and know what other events should be occurring or have already occurred.
Just be warned, this article contains some MAJOR SPOILERS for the books of the Cosmere, including Wind & Truth. This is your last chance to turn away unspoilt!
Timeline of the Cosmere
For this timeline, I’ve focused primarily on the big events that affect the entire Cosmere and show what order the events of books occur in.
Unfortunately, the actual Cosmere timeline is quite fragmented. I’ve tried to work things out as best I can, but undoubtedly, as the Cosmere expands, elements of this will become clearer and may need revising. However, we can be mostly confident of the order of events, even if the exact years are not fully clear.
0 years after the Shattering
The Shattering of Adonalsium – The Dawnshards were used to kill Adonalsium, splintering its powers into 16 shards.
0-2,000 years after the Shattering
Splintering of Dominion and Devotion – Aona and Skai are killed on Sel (the world of Elantris)
Timing unknown
Ambition (shard for the world of Threnody) is splintered
About 3,500 years after the Shattering
Exodus from Ashyn to Roshar. Odium arrives on Roshar.
About 6,000 years after the Shattering
The Breaking of the Oathpact on Roshar
About 8,000 years after the Shattering
Tanavast (Honor) dies and the shard of honor is splintered.
About 8,700 years after the Shattering
Rashek ascends as the lord Ruler via the Well of Ascension. He reshapes Scadriel.
About 8,900-9,000 years after the Shattering
Events of Elantris
About 9,700 years after the Shattering
Events of Mistborn Era 1 – Preservation and Ruin are killed. Sazed becomes Harmony, taking on 2 shards.
About 9,990 years after the Shattering
Events of Warbreaker
About 10,000 years after the Shattering
Events of Stormlight Archive Arc 1 – The True Desolation occurs. Taravangian kills Rayse, taking the shard of Odium for himself. He also takes the shard of Honor.
About 10,050 years after the Shattering
Events of Mistborn Era 2 – Technology on Scadriel reaches industrial era levels. Trell (Ambition) begins interfering with Scadriel.
Unknown time later
Events of The Sunlit Man
Timeline of Roshar
Roshar is the world of the Stormlight Archive and has a detailed history spanning 5 books, 2 novellas and thousands of years of conflict. Most of the events have timings that are a bit rough due to the nature of the hints and clues we have. I’ve tried to only include main events so this doesn’t become too convoluted.
As we come to the events detailed in the books, the timings become much clearer and more specific. The hope is that those running Cosmere RPG campaigns can use this to reference what might have occurred, and what might have not at the point they set their campaigns.
If you want something much more detailed the 17th Shard user Jofwu has made a very detailed timeline that was very useful in piecing this together. I did have to convert timelines from the Vorin calendar used here and the more Cosmere specific method of basing events from the Shattering so it’s hard to be precise, but again, should give a good picture of when events have occurred.
About 2,500 years before the Shattering
Roshar is created.
0 years after the Shattering
The Shattering of Adonalsium – The Dawnshards were used to kill Adonalsium, splintering its powers into 16 shards.
About 350 years after the Shattering
Honor and Cultivation arrive on Roshar.
About 2,600 years after the Shattering
Odium arrives on Ashyn.
About 2,950 years after the Shattering
Intelligent spren are created.
About 3,481 years after the Shattering
Honor goes to Ashyn and engages in war with Odium.
About 3,500 years after the Shattering
Honor returns to Roshar. Human refugees and Odium also come to Roshar.
About 3,525 years after the Shattering
The Stormfather is created.
About 3,700 years after the Shattering
Honor, Cultivation and Odium agree to be bound by limitations. The first Desolation begins.
About 3,750 years after the Shattering
The first fused are created. The Oathpact is formed.
About 4,700 years after the Shattering
Nohadon’s desolation occurs.
About 4,800 years after the Shattering
The Knights Radiant are formed.
About 6,000 years after the Shattering
The breaking of the Oathpact.
About 8,500 years after the Shattering
The False Desolation – The Skybreakers break away from the Knights Radiant. Soon after this, the Recreance occurs and Tanavast dies, splintering the shard of Honor.
About 9,000 years after the Shattering
Nale is tasked with preventing the return of the Knights Radiant.
About 9,966 years after the Shattering
Gavilar begins his campaign to become king of Alethkar.
About 9,968 years after the Shattering
Dalinar wins Oathbringer in battle.
About 9,972 years after the Shattering
Dalinar and Evi get married. Gavilar is crowned and Alethkar becomes united.
About 9,990 years after the Shattering
Dalinar destroys Rathalas and Evi dies.
About 9,992 years after the Shattering
Shallan bonds with Testament.
About 9,993 years after the Shattering
Gavilar begins to revive the Sons of Honor.
About 9.994 years after the Shattering
- King Gavilar is assassinated.
- Shallan kills her mother.
- Shallan breaks her bond with Testament.
- Ehlokar declares the Vengeance Pact.
About 9.995 years after the Shattering
- Dalinar visits the Night watcher and Cultivation
- Taravangian creates the Diagram
- Tien and Kaladin join Amaram’s army.
About 9.996 years after the Shattering
Tien dies.
About 9.999 years after the Shattering
- Kaladin kills a shardbearer and becomes a slave
- Good becomes Ehlokar’s Wit
- Shallan kills her father
About 10,000 years after the Shattering
- Shallan becomes Jasnah’s ward
- Azure arrives on Roshar
- Dalinar begins having visions during highstorms
- Kaladin becomes part of Sadeas’ bridge crews
- Kaladin bonds with Syl
- Taravangian acquires Szeth’s oathstone, orders assassination of rulers
- Shallan begins working with the Ghostbloods
- Parshendi unlock Stormform
- Lift infiltrates bronze palace in Azimir
- Gawx becomes Prime Aqasix
- The Everstorm is summoned
- The True Desolation begins
- Taln and Chana return from Braize
- Urithiru is rediscovered and occupied
About 10,001 years after the Shattering
- Jasnah returns form Shadesmar
- Sadeas is murdered
- Dalinar and Navani are married
- Ehlokar enters Alethkar and is killed
- Kholinar falls
- Battle of Thaylen
- Jasnah is crowned queen of Alethkar
- Shallan and Adolin are married
About 10,002 years after the Shattering
- Shallan infiltrates the sons of honor and Ialai Sadeas is killed
- Kaladin hangs up his spear and decides to become a surgeon
- Shallan goes to Shadesmar with a team of lightweavers to Lasting Integrity to plead their case to the honorspren
- Urithiru is captured by Raboniel’s forces and subsequently repelled
- Taravangian betrays the coalition
- The coalition defends against the forces of Odium
- Azish is defended, as is Urithiru
- The Shattered Planes are gifted to the listeners but Thaylen city makes a deal with Odium
- Dalinar is killed in the Contest of Champions, he gives the shard of Honor to Taravangian who becomes a bearer of 2 shards, becoming a threat to the wider Cosmere and attracting the concern of the other shards.
Summary
Hopefully this is a useful resource for anyone running campaigns in the Cosmere RPG. The Cosmere is notoriously vast and difficult to document accurately, so please let me know in the comments below if you have any improvements.
