Timeline (Ownage)

Crude Timeline:
~25 billion BCE

• The demiurge's universe comes into being
• So does the demiurge with it.

~14 billion BCE

• 'Soul-cancer' takes place
• The demiurge splits off the affected portions of itself, shatters the new soul, and strips itself of most of what was being consumed. Earth's oversoul-to-be cannot be dealt with this way. Perhapsa it was the core consume-y bit, or maybe it was trying to consume the demiurge's consciousness, 'divine spark', or whatever.
• The demiurge seals off Earth's oversoul, preventing it from expanding or producing awakened being naturally.
• The big bangs occur.

Between ~14 billion CE and 2000 CE

• Ananke, Thesis, and Khronos come into being and begin their respective rises to power.
• Universes begin being linked, gateways being opened by extremely potent beings from the respective worlds.
• Thesis becomes unable to support itself. Its physical body dies, but its soul remains undying and anchored to the physical remains.
• Khronos moderates his gain in power, reaching a 'ceiling', of sorts.
• Ananke is disatisfied with the paths pursued by both the others, and goes into hibernation while slowly amassing power.
• Things continue!

Timeline after that:

• Various high-end demons take notice of Earth. Their awareness of it had been limited at best in the past due to the shield around it, but the rising potency of souls or whatever gets their attention.
• Demons 'rapture' away a couple hundred thousand people

Early rough draft of timeline

January 1999 to October 1999 - People around the world vanish with no explanation, at the rate of several hundred a day. Although approximately five hundred people vanish each day, for a total of approximately a hundred and fifty thousand, these disappearances are too evenly distributed around the world for any sort of correlation to be made.

January 1, 2000, 5:01 AM UTC - The first rifts open over New York, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Paris, Bombay, Cairo, and Jakarta. These cities suffer heavy damage, though for the time being it's mostly confined to the area near the rifts.

5:12 UTC - The attacks lose momentum, substantial numbers of the demons retreating to the rifts they came from without any apparent cause; they had been completely unstoppable up until then.

5:20 UTC - The invasion not only recommences but also redoubles in force, the previous waves of demons apparently having been only a forward guard of sorts. New rifts form over Calcutta, Manila, Shanghai, Seoul, Mexico City, Moscow, Tehran, and Lagos. As this takes place the rifts over New York and Tokyo expand drastically, increasing in length and width by a matter of miles. Military responses do manage to kill some of the invaders before being overrun or forced to retreat; their progress is not considered to be in any way substantial.

5:30 UTC - The flow of invaders from the New York and Tokyo rifts abruptly stops, though all the others continue to be reinforced.

5:34 UTC - Military responses range from nonexistant to ineffective. Evacuation efforts in Tokyo and New York are considered partial successes, as the demons seem more concerned with spreading out than wreaking devastation; forces around Seoul have substantially more success than most others, in large part due to its high militarization. The French military forces able to assemble in such short order, presumably under the opinion that the demons would charge at anything that fought back, organized themselves in a heroic effort to draw the attention of the creatures away from the civilians. While effective initially, a flaw in their plan became apparent when the invaders began to merely circle around the edge of their range.

5:42 UTC - The rifts over New York and Tokyo stop expanding, just as two impossibly large creatures, both miles long from one end to the other, come through. They announce themselves as Khronos and Tartaros, respectively, and declare that the time for human occupation of the planet has come to an end. Just as awe-inspiring to many as their immense size is their ability to telepathically broadcast that message around the world. Khronos is by far the larger of the two, a mile high, nearly ten miles long, and more than three miles wide. Its movements are registered as sizable earthquakes. Many people who didn't already believe it was the end of the world change their mind.

5:59 UTC - North Korea 'responds' by invading South Korea.

6:02 UTC: The President of the United States authorizes the use of up to five B53 warheads to handle Khronos, and extends a similar offer to the Prime Minister and Emperor of Japan for Tartaros. Both scenarios call for a massive evacuation of both cities, though there's very little left of New York City proper, and Newark and Long Island are already considered lost causes. Tokyo is faring only slightly better. Although the invasion forces from both cities have mostly spread out beyond the immediate area, Khronos and Tartaros are both proving to be more destructive than the entire rest of their respective armies; both of them have abilities that seem supernatural, shattering initial hopes that their huge size would make it difficult for them to respond to attacks. Khronos occasionally jumps; his landing cause massive damage, registering as earthquakes reaching up to 8.2 on the Richter scale.

6:23 UTC - Moscow and Paris demonstrate at least mild success with fighting withdrawals, though in both cases the defenders are eventually overrun; they were really only token efforts to begin with, as both ciies were already considered lost. Attempts to engage Khronos and Tartaros prove disastrous.

6:34 UTC - Japan 'authorizes' the use of a single W80 nuclear warhead at full yield, on the condition that Khronos is first neutralized by America's response.

7:23 UTC - The evacuation of New York, particularly Long Island, is declared 'as complete as it reasonably can be'. It is later estimated that a hundred thousand civilians still survive within the city, though radiation and fallout are considered to be minor concerns.

7:28 UTC - The first of five bombs is armed just before the B52 bomber launches with its cargo.

7:32 UTC - The remaining four bombs are armed, and launched in separate bombers, with substantial retrofitting taking place mid-flight. They follow fifteen minutes behind the first, in case a single bomb isn't sufficient.

8:27 UTC - A full squadron of F-16 aircraft arrive in New York City in an attempt to at the very least slow Khronos down. Their attempts have no measurable effect on it, not even causing any visible injuries. The majority of them are wiped out, with a few managing to retreat.

9:57:10 UTC - The first bomb is dropped directly onto Khronos' head by a B52 bomber flying at the maximum safe altitude. This was deemed to be the most tactically sound option, as the creature's head was actually large enough to be targetted, and would ideally be a blind spot. The bomb's release was timed with one of his jumps, to assure a direct hit.

9:58:02 UTC - The nuclear warhead detonates, lighting up the night sky across the eastern coast of the United States. Khronos doesn't seem to respond, possibly paralyzed (and most likely blinded) by the blast. It's later determined that the city was relatively undamaged by the blast, Khronos' body shielding it. Seismic reading indicate that Khronos continues moving, though erratically.

9:59 UTC - The demons that emerged from the New York rift begin falling into disarray; their formations and organization, which previously were superior to that of the US military, degenerate into only slightly better than wild charges.

10:04 UTC - Khronos stops moving. The demons near New York regain some of their composure, though it's still not up to par with the level they were operating at before. Several retreat to New York City.

10:18 UTC - The cloud around Khronos' head finally disperses, revealing that the left a holes in his skull and four of his eyes sockets. It's later determined that had the blast struck anywhere else he would have most likely survived. Shortly afterwards his massive form falls to the ground, levelling what remained of the surrounding area in the resulting earthquake.

10:19 UTC - Immediately after Khronos is deemed incapacitated--nobody is quite willing to risk using 'terminated' just yet--a Tomahawk missile carrying a W80 nuclear warhead is launched at Tartaros, who is still occupied with levelling Tokyo.

10:22 UTC - The missile hits Tartaros in the side, failing to kill it. However, it does produce an immense crater in the creature.

10:23 UTC - Heavly injured, Tartaros retreats through the rift.

10:26 UTC - The invasion briefly halts across the world, reinforcements stopping and most of the already present forces drawing back towards their points of origin. Although brief, this this pause is considered to be one of the most critical moments of the first day. Militaries in and near affected nations take the time to organize themselves and evacuate as many civilians as possible to safer locations. In particular, England and Korea are considered to have survived due to this temporary lull in the assault. North Korea's infrastructure falls apart during this interim. New York is an exception; while some of the demons fall back, many others continue rampaging, though are stopped with relatively few losses due to their disorganized state.

10:51 UTC - A new wave of demons emerges from each rift, reinforcing the invasion for its second assault. New York receives relatively few reinforcements, though they bring a semblance of order back to the demons there.

11:06 UTC - The larger, more poweful demons have by this time developed two names: 'Demon Lords' and 'Target Practice'. Although they are occasionally able to not only survive but also keep fighting after a direct hit from a Hellfire missile, this is a situation easily remedied by hitting them with a second missile. Many of them retreat or begin waiting until all substantial resistance in an area has been overcome, though each one of them to fall back is replaced by a hundred of their smaller brethren. Fortunately, those creatures prove to not be quite so impervious to bullets.

11:30 UTC to the end of the day - American forces around the world, particularly its navy, do what they can to assist nearby countries. South Korea's forces perform admirably, considering their situation. Lagos is considered a lost cause, though many forces in the middle east turn against the Americans, believing them to be in some way responsible for the arrival of the demons.

20:30 UTC - The President of the United States delivers an emergency address from Air Force One, detailing much of the situation. This is notable mainly for painting a clear, detailed picture of the situation, and for its objectivity. Although he doesn't try to say that everything will be fine, the way in which he presents his speech helps dispel much of the sense of mysticism around the invaders, pointing out that while they

January to April - The demons continue their onslaught, suffering minimal losses. Rather than pressing locations where they find ressistance they simply pass over them, opting to strike at easier targets. Although this substantially increases the amount of damage they're able to do in this period of time, it also allows the humans to begin organizing themselves and building up their defenses. Japan in particular suffers from an unrelenting assault, presumably as some sort of retribution for the nuclear strike against the massive demon who appeared there, though the areas surrounding New York

April to July - Several attempts are made by the demons to establish beachheads or other strongholds. After having them wiped out by ballistic missiles repeatedly, they learn their lesson.

Some time after August - The first Vassal appears, showing up inside some city that had been providing substantial resistance. The defenses are unprepared for a threat of that nature from the inside, and in the ensuing chaos the city is overrun.

Late 2000 to mid 2001: There's a drastic increase in the number of Vassals.

June of 2001: The first Awakened human who isn't a Vassal is verified to exist--there had been stories of others, mainly from pockets of resistance in Asia, Europe, and South America, though they were never confirmed. During the next few months the number of humans becoming Vassals decreases substantially, as evidence is presented that the power doesn't actually come from the demons.

During 2000-2001: Several areas that put up substantial resistance (China, most of Europe, parts of South America, etc.) are eventually overrun.

January 1, 2000, 5:01 AM UTC - The first rifts open over New York, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, London, Bombay, Cairo, and Jakarta. These cities suffer heavy damage in the surprise, but the initial attack is fairly light in comparison to what happens later. 5:08 UTC: The initial wave of demons seems to retreat back towards the rifts for no apparent reason. 5:18 UTC: Just as initial military forces scramble to respond, the rifts in Tokyo and New York split open several miles wider. New rifts appear over Karachi, Calcutta, Manila, Shanghai, Seoul, Mexico City, Moscow, Tehran and Lagos. All rifts currently open begin pouring out what is to become the 'main' invasion force. Military response manages to noticibly slay a few invaders, however it is neither enough to stem the tide, or for the invaders to notice that things may go seriously wrong.

Japan: Survives, loses the middle island; US support. Canada survives because of US Taiwan and Israel are highly militarized/US support (respectively), and nobody cares

China, India, South America,

11:17 UTC: With the successes in Korea largely attributable to South Korea's own forces, American forces stationed there, along with the vast majority of the Seventh Fleet, are moved to Japan to assist against the forces from the Tokyo rift. A few ships in Guam are sent to aid Manila instead, until the Third Fleet can arrive. The Second Fleet is largely recalled to assist against the New York rift, though a few ships are sent to aid Sao Paulo. Lagos is considered to be lost. The Sixth Fleet is largely dedicated to Israel's defense. The Fifth fleet attempts to stem the tide of demons from Tehran, but many forces in the Middle East turn on the American forces, believing them to be responsible for the arrival of demons.

An analogy for the attitude demons would have to wards humans about damage to the environment. Imagine humanity was starved for fossil fuels. Scraping it out of the bottom of oil wells, and rationed sparingly. Enough to keep us going for quite a long time, but certainly not comfortably. And then we learn that there's some coutnry that has so much oil they light oil wells on fire because they find the fires to be aesthetically pleasing.