A Historical Timeline

23,908 B.C.-The Great Conjunction destroys Atlantis; the survivors drive the demon Banol Kax back to the underworld and construct a barrier of psi energy that fluctuates in strength depending on the position of key planets. These magi vow to pass their skills from generation to generation, so their descendants will be able to hold the demons behind the barrier during the next Great Conjunction, in 2012 A.D.

9792 B.C.-The last remnants of Atlantis are driven under the ice-cap when a secondary cataclysmic conjunction shifts the earth’s poles. The surviving magi flee, eventually winding up in Egypt, where they teach the emerging culture their religion, science and art.

3114 B.C.-The magi, now called stases (meaning ‘guardians of the border’), bootstrap the emerging culture by teaching them to write in an intricate system of hieroglyphics. Classical Egyptian civilization is born. This begins the Age of Mankind, according to the Mayan calendar.

1351 B.C.-The pharaoh Akhenaten forces all of Egypt to convert to the monotheistic Cult of the Sun; the polytheistic priests are slaughtered, including the stases. Only a handful of the magi, mostly children, survive to flee from Egypt.

1350 B.C.-The magi travel across the seas and begin living with the Olmec, who erect their first stone temples around \ this time, signaling the birth of Pre-Columbian civilization. The magi, who now call themselves the ‘guardians of the night’, or Nightkeepers, teach the natives their systems astronomy, religion, writing and science, eventually catalyzing the formation of the Mayan Empire.

985 A.D.-Renegade Nightkeepers splinter off, forming the Order of Xibalba. The dark lords of the Banol Kax are loosed from behind the barrier, bringing death and destruction. Although the Nightkeepers manage to defeat the dark lords and resurrect the barrier, there is now a weak spot, located in a set of subterranean river tunnels beneath the Yucatan peninsula. The Nightkeepers construct a temple around this spot, and later build the city of Chichen Itza above the site. The carnage wrought by the Banol Kax signals the end of the Classical Mayan Empire and ushers in the Post-Classical Mayan Empire, with its emphasis on violence and human sacrifice.

1519 A.D.-Despite the Nightkeepers’ warnings, the Maya, Aztec and Inca welcome the Conquistadors into their lands, bringing the end of Pre-Columbian civilization. Over the next few decades, over 90% of the Maya disappear.

1521 A.D.-In an effort to eradicate the human sacrifice practiced by the native peoples, Spanish missionaries kill the polytheistic priests, burn the books of the Maya, and destroy many monuments. All but a handful of the Nightkeepers are slaughtered (and all of the order members), and their accumulated knowledge is destroyed. The few survivors flee north and begin living with the Hopi.

1891 A.D.-The Nightkeepers are endangered by the anti-Indian policies enacted against their Hopi hosts. With less than 200 years left until the Great Conjunction, they must ensure their survival. A vision leads them on a harrowing journey back into Mayan territories, where they discover a cache of artifacts. Upon returning to the Americas, they sell off the treasure in order to fund their needs, little realizing that the artifacts contain valuable information on how to defeat the Banol Kax when the end-time approaches.

1930 A.D.-The Nightkeepers construct a training compound in a remote section of New Mexico and begin to prepare for the end-time, attempting to assemble all the known spells, histories and legends into an archive.

1984 A.D. -King Scarred-Jaguar has a vision telling him he can avert the end-time if he leads the Nightkeepers in an attack on the temple beneath Chichen Itza. Ignoring his trusted advisors, he follows the vision; the Banol Kax break through the barrier and slaughter the Nightkeepers, their children and servants. The few survivors go into hiding, hoping that the barrier is sealed and the apocalypse averted.

2008 A.D.-Jaguar-Strike, son of the dead king, learns that the barrier has reactivated and he must reunite his people and prepare for the end of the world. In the process, he falls for the sexy cop who is the gods’ destined sacrifice, and must choose between love and duty. . . or die trying. (Nightkeepers, 6/08)