History

The History of the in-game world of RuneScape spans five distinct ages (roughly just over 12,000 years in total), the fifth of which is currently taking place. Transitions between ages are made when major events occur, such as the discovery of Rune essence. Currently, it is year 169 of the fifth age; it appears to have been this year within the game since its release.

First Age
In the First Age, the "blank plane" of RuneScape was discovered by the god Guthix, which he then christened Gielinor. He shaped it as he saw fitting, and created savage life forms. It was Guthix who brought Humans to Gielinor from another world, which some believe is Earth. He then created Runes for the Humans using the Stone of Jas. Gielinor was thus dubbed RuneScape by the Humans after Guthix created Runes for them. Some of the oldest intelligent races by that time were the TzHaar and Elves. Elves supposedly arrived in Gielinor through the World Gate, led by Seren, while TzHaar race was created when a "volcano shook the foundation of the earth". After completing his work, Guthix went into a deep "slumber", unaware of what was going on for the next few thousand years.

Thus ended the First Age.

Shortly after, Zaros, "The Empty Lord", several members of the Desert Pantheon, and possibly several other gods, including Armadyl, god of peace, arrived on this plane. The Mahjarrat also arrived from Freneskae, and took up under the lead of Icthlarin, son of the desert god.

The First Age lasted roughly 4,000 years, from the finding of the "blank plane" to the deep slumber of Guthix.

Second Age
In the Second Age, the Mahjarrat abandoned their ruler, Icthlarin in favour of the more powerful god, Zaros. The Mahjarrat are a tribe of very powerful, long-lived but still mortal warriors. Zaros built up an empire, with seven major fortresses scattered across the land. These fortresses were built on the sites players are able to teleport to in the Ancient Magicks spellbook. This empire lasted about 2,000 years.

A group of Mahjarrat led by Zamorak, one of Zaros' generals, began a revolt against him in order to seize power for themselves. Zamorak managed to get hold of the Staff of Armadyl, which during battle, accidentally impaled both Zaros and Zamorak, causing Zaros' godly powers to run through the staff and be transferred to Zamorak. Before Zaros vanished, he uttered a curse that fell upon all those involved in the revolt. Disgraced at what had happened, the other gods banished Zamorak. Being only just born of godhood, his power was not strong enough to resist - but once recuperated, he returned to RuneScape. Following this, the God Wars began.

Thus ended the Second Age.

The Stone of Jas is involved in this story, though it has never been made clear when. Many speculate that the Staff alone would not have been enough to overpower Zaros, and thus Zamorak must have had the Stone during the fight - possible evidence of this is Lucien who has obtained both relics (i.e., if only the staff was needed to gain power Lucien wouldn't have made the effort to trace the Stone). It is also speculated that Zamorak found the stone during his banishment.

We are told by Juna that the Second Age was a time of higher culture, before civilizations were wiped out or geared towards war because of the God Wars. Of these races there is no trace and almost no memory. Surviving members include the Light creatures which are said to be the remnants of a long dead race.

Third Age
Not much is known of the Third Age, as it was the era during which the God Wars took place. It lasted 4,000 years, from the betrayal of Zaros by Zamorak, to the end of the God Wars and the creation of the Edicts of Guthix. Although only Saradomin, Bandos, Armadyl and Zamorak were recorded, many more gods participated. After nearly 4,000 years of constant war, Gielinor was on the verge of complete destruction. Guthix, awoken by the conflict, looked down and saw the devastation created by the war. Enraged, Guthix demanded an immediate end to the fighting and pronounced the Edicts of Guthix. With the passage of the edicts, the gods could never again walk the earth, they could only have influence through their followers. If a god ever did attempt to directly affect the balance of the world, a designated ancient cult of Guthix's followers would awaken him, and he would remake the world as it has never been, destroying RuneScape as known by its modern inhabitants in the process. The Desert Pantheon, due to being less powerful, were allowed to stay on Gielinor.

Thus ended the Third Age.

Fourth Age
The Fourth Age of RuneScape is also known as "The Age of Mortals" and lasted exactly 2,000 years, from the end of the God Wars and creation of the Edicts of Guthix, to the discovery of Rune essence.

With the God Wars over, mortals were able to live in relative safety once again. Many races went to great lengths for control over valuable land and resources, however, leading to fighting between them and little progress. There are also tales of undead necromancers raising armies to obliterate everything in their way, making things yet more dangerous.

One of the most powerful races of the Fourth Age were the elves. Upon discovering the God Wars were over and there was a great power vacuum to be filled, the elves quickly sent the Cadarn Clan, the clan that was the military force of the elves, to investigate. Upon discovery of the resources available, the elves built Arandar, a pass over the mountains, to give quicker access. Later the elves built a small village called Varrok. Before the seclusion during the God Wars the elves were friends with the gnomes, who gratefully accepted an alliance, as did the humans.

In 1930, the eastern elves lost contact with their brethren in Tirannwn and found that Lord Iorwerth had betrayed them all and taken control of the Tower of Voices. After the Baxtorian Campaign to attempt to reclaim their homeland, all was lost as the leaders of the Cadarn Clan were either dead or too young to rule. This ended the reign of the elves in modern day Kandarin.

Between the year 1225 and 1645, the Mahjarrat Bilrach discovered the castle known as Daemonheim and began his descent deep into the depths below the castle. Leading a group of zealous Zamorakians through a series of tunnels, Bilrach sought at the bottom an ancient power for himself and Zamorak.

During the early part of the age, humans were nomadic, travelling from place to place to survive. Eventually, permanent settlements were built, although they were still often attacked by enemies. In the year 1937, a bridge was built over the river Lum, and the town of Lumbridge was founded.

During the latter part of this age, humans began to build towns and cities, eventually establishing rudimentary feudal economies in much of the South-East of the world, although the kingdoms could not be considered "nations", and the continuing struggle with Goblins, or in wilder areas, Trolls and Ogres meant that progress was limited.

Even Goblins eventually started to build settlements of their own, but even today they cannot be considered anything near civilised. It is during this age that the Dwarven Kings were replaced by the "Consortium", and the Gnomes (who had suffered due to the hunting by humans) retreated to isolated, yet civilised and culturally advanced settlements.

At the end of the age, Humans stumbled upon a site of magically absorbing rocks, known as Rune essence, which could be used to create Runes. The site was the location of the Stone of Jas. As such, the Stone has imbued the surrounding rocks with its power, making it capable of storing vast amounts of magical energy. This enabled many to make use of powerful Magic, instead of being limited to studied mages. Runes spread among the human civilizations, and were powerful enough to hold other races back. This led to human dominance throughout the world.

Thus ended the Fourth Age.

Fifth Age
RuneScape is currently in its Fifth Age, the age of the dominance of Humans. This age started when Rune essence was discovered, allowing ordinary humans to learn Magic. This lead to the rapid expansion of Misthalin, and the founding of Kandarin and Asgarnia, and the eventual dominion of humans in most of the world. They also annexed (added to their territory) Varrock.

The only major catastrophe for humans was a brutal invasion of Kandarin, Asgarnia and Misthalin by the Fremennik tribe, who believed that only the Gods should have the power to create runes. They were eventually defeated before they reached Varrock, capital of Misthalin and largest city in RuneScape, and settled down into a small village, but the Imcando Dwarves were wiped out, due to their use of human-crafted runes. The Wizards' Tower was built as a place to research Magic. In the year 70 of the Fifth Age, the Tower was burnt down by Zamorakians, who had been denied entry.

In year 169, King Roald of Misthalin renovated a once ruined town in north-west Misthalin. The town's former name was Paddewwa, once a fortress of the former god Zaros in the Second Age. It came to ruin and destruction during the God Wars and has since been rebuilt and renamed Edgeville. The year is currently 169. This year, the secret of Runecrafting was re-discovered and once again taken into practice.

Thus continues the Fifth Age.

Trivia

 * In "Betrayal At Falador," Edgeville is mentioned, despite the fact that it was rebuilt one year after the time the novel is based; this is likely an error on the author's part.