The Huns invade the land, prompting the Visigoths to migrate south.
381 AD[]
Earth[]
Athanaric dies.
391 AD[]
Thrace / Earth[]
Alaric invades the land with a mixed band of Goths and allied peoples, but they are stopped by the half-Vandal Roman general Flavius Stilicho.
394 AD[]
September 5–6[]
Earth[]
Fighting for the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I, Alaric leads 20,000 Goths to defeat the Frankish usurper Arbogast at the Battle of Frigidus. Despite sacrificing around half of his men, Alaric receives little recognition from Theodosius. Disappointed, Alaric leaves the army.
395 AD[]
Earth[]
Alaric is elected King of the Visigoths, becoming Alaric I.
Alaric marches toward Constantinople until he is diverted by Roman forces. He then moves southward into Greece.
Greece / Earth[]
Alaric sacks Piraeus, the port of Athens, and destroys Corinth, Megara, Argos, and Sparta. As a response, the newly-appointed Eastern Roman emperor Flavius Arcadius, Theodosius' son, appoints Alaric magister militum in Illyricum.
401 AD[]
Italy / Earth[]
Alaric invades the land.
c. 401 AD[]
Earth[]
Aric and Deidre marry.
402 AD[]
Rome, Italy / Earth[]
Stilicho recalls troops from Britain and the Rhine frontier to defend Italy.
Sunday, April 6 (Easter)[]
Pollentia, Italy / Earth[]
Aric leads his fellow warriors into battle against the superior might of the Roman Empire. While the Visigoths fight valiantly, they are overwhelmed by the Romans and suffer a brutal defeat. Aric is further devastated when he discovers Rolf has been mortally wounded and his beloved wife, Deidre, has been taken captive, along with the other women and children.
In hopes of freeing his people, Aric leads a band of warriors to raid what they believe to be a Roman slave transport, unaware the soldiers they attack are not Roman or even human. They belong to an alien race known as “The Vine,” who leave "plantings," infants of their own race genetically modified to look human and infiltrate societies.
Aric and his men fight bravely, but are ultimately outclassed by the Vine’s technology. Defeated, Aric and Gafti are captured and taken aboard a Vine colony ship travelling through deep space. (Continue reading here)
410 AD[]
Cosenza, Italy / Earth[]
Alaric dies and is buried in the Busento River.
2012 AD[]
Rome, Italy / Earth[]
Aric wills the armor back to Earth to exact his revenge against the Roman Empire. On the sand of the Colosseum floor, he is confronted by scores of Italian police and military. Realizing 1,600 years have passed, Aric takes to the sky and disappears.
26 hours later[]
Quebrada Carhuasanta, Peru / Earth[]
In an attempt to recapture the armor, the Vine planting Patrick Clement, head of MI-6, dispatches a strike team into the Amazon. The team is accompanied by another planting, Alexander Dorian, head of Orb Industries.
The strike team confronts Aric, but is quickly destroyed by his hand. Only Alexander survives.
Two days later[]
Indeterminate Time[]
Vine Colony Ship / Deep Space[]
Once they arrive, Aric and Gafti manage to slip their bonds and venture into the colony ship in search of an escape. In the process, however, they stumble upon a bizarre alien ritual centered on a suit of mysterious armor that seems to have a mind of its own, known as "Shanhara." They watch a Vine priest present the armor to the Vine commander Pith, who accepts the armor and lets it flow around him.
Before Aric and Gafti can learn more, they are recaptured by the brutal Commander Trill. During the ceremony, however, the armor denies Pith and kills him.
With no hope of escape, Aric and Gafti are sent to work as slaves in the Vine’s deadly gardens.
Overcome with starvation, Gafti steals one of the alien fruits he is cultivating in the gardens. He is attacked by Vine guards, and when Aric rises to defend him, the guards sever Aric’s hand as punishment for his insubordination.
Years of subjugation tick by, but Aric’s quest to return to his loved ones never abates. Slowly, an escape plan is formed.
Aric rallies his enslaved comrades and they turn on their Vine masters. The men suffer heavy casualties, but manage to make it to the ceremony chamber in which Shanhara is held. Aric approaches the mysterious armor, not knowing that it had killed all who tried to wear it before. He reaches out his hand and the armor flows around him, seeming to accept him as its new host and granting him extraordinary powers and abilities.
Using this newfound strength, Aric defeats Trill and escapes from the colony ship. (Continue reading here)