The Indians demand the return of the Crypt of Alkhamar to their control. The Crypt is one of many ill-known Indian ruins of a time gone past; Alkhamar was once a great Vedic king. The sixteen Mahajanapada kingdoms, united into the Nanda Empire, recently sent a missive to Persepolis with an ultimatum: Either the Crypt would be returned to Indian jurisdiction or the Haryanka Dynasty would declare war on the Achaemenid Empire. No reply is as yet forthcoming.
A complex of subterranean dungeons has recently been found in southern Mazanderan. Adventurers are flocking from all over Persia to try their luck there. Even mercenaries on the imperial payroll are defecting, lured by the call of limitless gold.
The Persian Empire's forces at the River Granicus, alongside the Hellespont, are routed by Alexander's forces. Asia Minor falls to Alexander with the exception of Orontes' Armenia, which remains faithful to Darius—the only positive in a huge loss to the Persian Empire. Alexander surrounds Armenia and proceeds south past Issus towards Tyre with the bulk of his army.
Increased Arabian pressure on Babylon only adds to the clamor from the war gods' disciples to expel Babylonia from the Empire and cast their deities from the lands of Persia.
Philip II of Macedon is authorized as Hegemon of the League of Corinth in order to conduct a war of sacred vengeance against the Persians in retribution for desecrating the Athenian temples 144 years prior. Philip strikes quickly and conquers several cities in Asia Minor. On his return to the Macedonian capital of Aigai, however, he was assassinated by one of his bodyguards, and the Persian Empire relaxed its guard.
With no information regarding Bessus forthcoming other than oral reports that he still blamed Darius for Arses' death, Darius had no choice but to proclaim himself God-Emperor. At the news of Philip of Macedon's assassination, he relaxed his guard in Asia Minor but successfully moved to foment rebellion in Greece.
Alexander III claims the throne of Macedon and ruthlessly suppresses the Greek rebellions incited by the God-Emperor. He marshals his forces and conquers Thrace with ease—a stark contrast to his conquering father's difficulties. Darius sends an army to oppose Alexander at the River Granicus near the site of Troy. The spear of Memnos is brought from Susa as a talisman of good fortune.
With the extremely aggressive Zoroastrian conversion decrees of Artaxerxes III behind them, the priests of the northern war gods begin to push more openly for the expulsion of the fertility cults from Persia—a move fought strongly by the southerners, who worship the fertility deities almost ubiquitously. Still, the Immortal Magi stalk in the shadows, slaying the particularly outspoken war god disciples.
Spurred on by the ineffectiveness of Arses, Irak begins to mass troops on the Khorasani border in a land grab. Irak is attempting to gain a route to the Caspian Sea for the purposes of maritime shipping and doesn't dare go through Mazanderan, clearly Persepolis' favored child.
The inhabitants of Punjab and Ajmir in the southeast are pushing for expanded borders, and some are even taking it upon themselves to pressure the Indian kingdoms with military force.
In his last days Artaxerxes babbled incoherently about the Elder Gods and the Vengeance of Amun-Re. When he issued a command that all his generals should learn Arabian sorcery so as to be able to summon monsters to defeat the Son of Slaughter, Bagoas assassinated the God-Emperor by sorcerous means. At this time Darius was away in Ghilan and Armenia and without his knowledge. By the time Darius returned, Bagoas had set up Artaxerxes III's young son, Artaxerxes IV Arses, as God-Emperor and his puppet king.
Philip II of Macedon attacks Thrace, but with Persian assistance he is repulsed. Artaxerxes warns that Philip's ambition is only the beginning and that the "son of slaughter" will be coming soon to destroy Persia and replace it with Greek civilization. He is mostly dismissed as mad.
In Corsan (Bactria), many men are clamoring for severed ties with the dependent Khorasan, and some are even threatening to undermine the ancient Khorasani mountain fortresses.
Up until his death the God-Emperor Artaxerxes set about unifying the Empire. He took into his company an astrologer who warned him of a coming war "greater than any Persia has ever seen." He unified Persia in its current borders, leaving the rest of the empire in cowed submission. Darius Codomannus, the hero of the Cadusii wars, maintained good relations with the Armenians.
Artaxerxes initiates a new wave of northeastern expansion into the frontier and annexes the new United Parthian Frontier Territory.
Artaxerxes successfully retakes Egypt, sets himself up as first Pharaoh of the XXXI Dynasty, and publicly takes the title of God-Emperor. Memphis is razed and religious artifacts are stolen at will; some say that the Egyptian gods cursed Persia because of this wanton destruction.
The provinces of Cyprus, Sidon, and Asia Minor (with the exception of Armenia, under the grateful Orontes) declare their independence with Theban support. Their revolt is crushed by Artaxerxes personally, and this is the first time he is called God-Emperor, though he himself does not use the term.
Artaxerxes attacked Egypt but was defeated by an alliance of Egyptians and Greeks.
Artabazus of Lydia and Orontes of Mysia (Armenia) ignore Artaxerxes order of disbandment and rebel against him with Athenian help. At the end of the rebellion Orontes is again pardoned and Artabazus flees in exile to the court of Philip II of Macedon.
Artaxerxes forces Athens to leave Asia Minor and regains control thereof. Reasoning that his forces can no longer stem revolts in Asia Minor, the Emperor also orders that all Persian armies in Asia Minor be disbanded.
The Cadusii, inhabitants of the Ghilan province, rebelled once again against the Achaemenids. The soldier (and future emperor) Darius Codomannus distinguished himself both in battle and in negotiations and was advanced to a high rank because of his role in the resolution of the conflict.
Artaxerxes III, a successful general, took the throne when his father died and promptly murdered most of his family in order to head off any attempts to dethrone him.
Philip II of Macedon accedes to his throne and begins a 22-year campaign to subdue Greece under his rule. By the end of this period he is successful and has united the Hellenic world into the League of Corinth with himself at its head.
Several satraps of Anatolian provinces revolted against Artaxerxes' rule. He defeated them and executed all but Orontes of Armenia, who had betrayed the other rebels and aided Artaxerxes in his victory. This is the same Orontes who would later oppose Alexander's conquest.
A joint effort by Egypt and Sparta to take Phoenicia and the Mediterranean coast is defeated by Artaxerxes II and the Mazanderani Scaled Fist, which takes heavy casualties and vows never to fight for the emperor again.
Artaxerxes II attempts to reconquer Egypt but is repulsed.
The Cadusii once again rebelled and were defeated by the forces of Artaxerxes.
Artaxerxes turned on his Athenian allies and formed an alliance with the Spartans, winning back the Anatolian Mediterranean coast in the process.
Artaxerxes subsidized the Athenians, Thebans, and Corinthians in order to facilitate a war against Sparta.
Egypt successfully gained its independence from Persia, which was too divided by the Greek war and a civil war to retain rule of the rebellious province.
Artaxerxes II ruled the Persian Empire during a time of wars on multiple fronts. He rebuilt and modernized the city of Susa but let Persepolis fall into disrepair.
The reign of Artaxerxes II began in bloodshed as his brother Cyrus the Younger returned from Asia Minor with an army of Greek mercenaries to challenge Artaxerxes for the throne. Cyrus won the ensuing Battle of Cunaxa at Babylon but was killed during the victory and so Artaxerxes maintained his rule.
The Cadusii revolted against the harsh rule of Cyrus the Younger but their rebellion was quickly put down by the aforementioned.
Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II, was sent to Asia Minor to carry on the Greek war with greater fervor. He fought in this campaign until he returned to oppose his brother for the imperial throne.
The Medes rebelled briefly against the reign of Darius II, but he quickly quashed this feeble revolution with Farsi troops.
Persia entered into an alliance with Sparta in order to harry the other Greek city-states, especially Sparta's Athenian foes.
Xerxes II ruled for 45 days before being murdered by his bastard brother Sogdianus, who then took the throne for a matter of days.
Sogdianus was in turn murdered by his brother Ochus. Ochus adopted the name Darius II at his accession and ruled for two decades.
Persia, Athens, and Argos agree to a ceasefire.
Xerxes is assassinated; his son Darius is framed for the murder by Xerxes' killer and guard commander Artabanus. In revenge, Xerxes' younger son Artaxerxes kills Darius and takes the throne. He later finds out Artabanus' role in the murder of Xerxes and executes him personally.
Following the Battle of Salamis the Greeks drive the Persians from Greece. Xerxes continues his rule over the diminished empire.
Darius the Great dies and Xerxes accedes to the throne of Persia. The war against the Greek polei continues. During the war the temples of Athens are burned and desecrated.
Darius attacks mainland Greece.
Darius makes Imperial Aramaic the official language of the Empire, though local languages remain in common use.
The Achaemenid Empire is at peace within its borders. The population grows greatly.
Darius pushes the borders of the Persian Empire to the northeast, establishing a firm foundation for the Frontier. The Free City of Mashhad is made an independent satrapy (province) due to the extreme valor of its men during the conquest..
The imperial capital Persepolis is founded by Darius the Great. The population of Persia begins to boom due to the agriculture coming from Punjab as well as Egypt.
Darius and the Khorasani push the cults of the Elder Gods back to the current border and establish the border states of Punjab and Ajmir, populated by the Khorasani.
Cambyses dies and Persia (or what remains free from the Elder Gods) erupts into civil war. Darius the Great takes control of the empire and begins to push back against the cult.
Indian forces of the Elder Gods sweep across Persia, conquering all the way to the Khorasani mountain fortresses, which are besieged.
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