Difference between revisions of "War of Night"

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attacks from shadows and raiders, the month has not been marked by
attacks from shadows and raiders, the month has not been marked by
significant, devastating incident.
significant, devastating incident.
==Slyphian 451 MA==
Late in the month of [[Slyphian]], the Nazedha struck again - this time at
Enorian. The city had spent much of the days before preparing for an
attack from sea, aided in no small part by explosives from the Troll
[[Ferlbo]], and the machines of the dwarven engineer [[Rhulin]], but the Nazedha
attack proved too much for what defenses had been mustered.
Making headway against ballista fire, catapult bombardment, and the
combined forces of the brave defenders, the Nazedha swarmed the city,
taking it and driving the surviving Enorianites into exile upon [[Mostyn]]
and [[Ilhavon]]. Unable to destroy the Sparks, the Emperor has settled for
flying the Empire's flag upon Enorian's palace.
The defenders of Enorian were not the only forces to lash out at the
Nazedha forces, however - days after the city fell, the [[Cabalists]], in a
ritual led by the Commissar Akaryuterra Ryotega Junakutz-Lionheart,
focused the heat of the realm upon the city, burning not only its
buildings but many of the occupying Nazedha. The death toll from this
magical attack is currently unknown, but it was not devastating enough
to break control over the city.
==Haernos 451 MA==
Shadows swarmed the continent during the winter month of [[Haernos]],
setting upon the four Cities of the continent and the countryside at
large. Nazedha and Sapient natives alike fought tooth and nail against
raids of unprecedented strength and ferocity, driven by Ati, the Shadow,
and the Shadow Lord Murgraxis.
A lull in the fighting was broken by Yettave Arcan Bouchard, inquiring
of Ati whether the raids had come to an end - as if to spite him, yet
more shadows descended in the wake of his question.
Although there were fears that the Emperor Baelak Shipbreaker would
attempt a ritual to bring about Lanu Du and the prophecies of the
Nazedha during the month, it became clear that numbers within the
conquered City of Enorian were insufficient to permit him to do so.
Although a raid was attempted against the Enorianites taking refuge in
the Ilhavon and Mostyn, the defenders successfully repelled the oncoming
Nazedha.
It became clear, in the wake of this small victory against the invaders,
that dissent was occurring among the Nazedha ranks - forced to assert his
authority publicly against the Chieftains of the tribes of [[Karthek]] and
[[Adessim]], the Emperor recalled his forces, biding his time in spite of a
previous promise to bring about apocalypse by the new year.
Only time will tell whether the Emperor will attempt his eldritch ritual
and try to bring about an end to all things.
==Variach 452 MA==
Upon the month of [[Variach]], the Nazedha Emperor Baelak Shipbreaker found
a solution to the problem of too few sacrifices - intending to suppress
rebellion within the ranks and fulfill the prophecy and the ritual
simultaneously, he took the men of the Nazedha tribes Karthek and
Adessim and put them to the blade alongside captured victims, using them
to spill the necessary blood.
He was not met without challenge, however - braving the Nazedha-infested
City, the combined forces of Sapience, aided by explosives from the
dwarven engineer Rhulin, attempted a last-ditch strike to stop the
ritual in its tracks. The Nazedha forces proved fearsome, however, and
hope seemed lost until a fragment of [[Omei]], taking the form of a glowing
cat, opened a portal past the Nazedha lines and straight to the Nazedha
Emperor - now ascended into the form of a [[Chaos Lord]].
The ensuing battle, in which the Duamvi Aban was mortally wounded, raged
across a good portion of the day - many of the Nazedha fought amongst
each other in the streets, driven to rebellion over Shipbreaker's
slaughter of his own men. Surrounded by chaos, it was unpredictable from
moment to moment what would serve to hurt the Emperor, and what would
not - but in the end, the people of Sapience emerged victorious despite
their losses in the battle of Enorian.
That was not all, however - soon after the death of the Emperor, the
skies opened, and it seemed for a moment that the ritual had worked.
Unfortunately, however, for the Nazedha, it had not been sufficient to
awaken Lanu Du, the Faceless God, merely to stir It in Its slumbers. In
response, It lashed out at Enorian, flattening the City and much of the
remaining Nazedha army before rolling back over and resuming its sleep.
As the people of Sapience returned to the ruined lands, they discovered
a crater where Enorian's palace had been, filled with ocean water - and
just off the shore, the remnants of the Nazedha fleet. Boarding the main
vessel and killing the Emperor's skald, they descended into its depths
and rescued Qeddwyn, the Wise - [[Lenci]], the Luminary tutor - and
capturing the Empress of Nazedha, [[Freydha Shipbreaker]].
While Qeddwyn traveled with Bloodloch, Lenci set off in an effort to
save what was left of the Sparks following the devastation of Enorian.
The Empress, meanwhile, was taken into the custody of Enorian, after
commanding the remaining Nazedha forces to surrender. The Nazedha
Empire, as it transpired, was no more - without Baelak to unite them,
and with many of them frightened of Lanu Du after witnessing It
firsthand, they had become splintered and fragmented into their old
tribal rivalries.
In the wake of this destruction, three new personages emerged - the
first two were Goddesses. One was [[Ethne]], the Rekindled, the
reincarnation of [[Mebrene]] into the Ogre smith [[Katshkele]]; the other, a
Goddess of new origins altogether, was [[Avareti]], titleless and
ill-understood as of yet. The third was a prophet, reincarnated from the
soul of the first Illuminai whom Lenci had carried with her for many
hundreds of years - and this was [[Kayalenki]], sent by the Gods to serve
the cause of Light in Enorian. Avareti, being tethered to Shadow, made
Her way north toward [[Spinesreach]], while Ethne remained in the south.
Kayalenki went to the ruins of Enorian, however, and called upon the
fragment of Omei embodied as a glowing cat - and together, with the cat
sacrificing Her essence and Her being to the effort, they raised not
only a Temple, but a [[Grand Flame]] that was an amalgamation of the Spark
of the [[Luminaries]] and the Crescent of the [[Daru]]. Standing at the center
of the ruins and casting its light downward upon the nearby territory,
the Temple stands as a moment to the Gods and to the triumph of Light
over the Nazedha.
The shadows have remained quiet in Variach, though there is no telling
when they will strike once more, and with still-greater vehemence.
==Severin 452 MA==
Upon the month of [[Severin]], rebuilding began in the ruins of Enorian - as
Rhulin, the dwarven architect drafted plans in preparation for the
reclamation of the city, refugees trickled from the Ilhavon and Mostyn,
whether to return to the villages, to the sacred places of their various
Gods, or simply to go to the Temple at the center of the ruins.
The last vestiges of the Nazedha threat were resolved permanently as,
under the authority of the Empress Freydha Shipbreaker, wife of the late
Baelak, they surrendered to the forces of Enorian. The prophet,
Kayalenki, prayed for cleansing - and was answered by hundreds upon
hundreds of the defeated Nazedha, pure of Corruption, marching out of
the waters. They had been reborn as [[Arqeshi]] - Nazetu free of [[Chakrasul]].
The Arqeshi, uniformly recognizing that they had no desire to return to
their previous state, and that there would be no place for them in the
islands they had left behind, agreed to join with the Enorianites; many
divided amongst the guilds, while others entered into service as
laborers and carpenters, ready to build a new city upon the ruins of the
old.
The shadow raids have remained steady but restrained, with no word from
Ati, the Shadow nor the Shadow Lord Murgraxis. The rift grows ever
wider, to the point where it eclipses much of the sky - with the Gods
still giving no clear response, the time in which a solution to the
threat remains viable is ever dwindling.
==Ios 452 MA==
In the depths of [[Ios]], the Shadowbound, led by Ati, the Shadow, turned
upon Bloodloch, intent on not only devouring and subjugating it, but
bending it utterly to the will of the Shadow Mother, Ohlsana.
Challenging Bloodloch to either perish or to surrender their Primus,
[[Abhorash]] Nehekhara, they were answered by the Primus himself advancing
into the cold desert, challenging the Shadow to come and take him.
A fight broke out among the Primus and the Shadow, the two figures
battling across the dunes. Though the Primus fought bravely, shredding
the creature's flesh and spilling its dark blood upon the ground, he was
ultimately rent apart by Ati's powerful limbs, his mist swallowed. It
seemed, for a time, as if the Primus might have perished upon the
[[Mhojave]].
As Ati rose to rejoin the Shadowbound, however, it soon became clear
that Its victory was not sure - It began to struggle and shrink in upon
Itself, devoured from within, unable to prevent the attack from within
Itself. Moments later, the Primus reformed upon the desert - having not
only slain Ati from within, but having absorbed Its shadowy essence as
well. Time will tell what new capabilities he has been endowed with, in
light of his gruesome victory.
Shortly afterward, the Shadowbound and the other denizens of the Shadow
Plane fled from Bloodloch, fearing that the Primus would devour them as
well. The Shadow Lord Murgraxis, swearing vengeance upon the realm for
Ati, the Shadow's demise, proceeded to unleash more of the Shadow
Plane's creatures upon the realm, focusing upon the cities of
Spinesreach and [[Duiran]].
==Arios 452 MA==
In the month of [[Arios]], the Goddess [[Iosyne]], the Malevolent grew impatient
with the seemingly interminable pace of the war against the Shadowbound
and took more direct action - namely, by propelling Herself into the sky
and engaging in direct combat against the creatures in the heavens.
Tearing through them in droves, She engaged the rift, using Her own
considerable power over shadow to temporarily stop it up, commanding the
people of Sapience to march to Sterion.
The [[Minotaur]] village was not only found open to the continent at large,
but infested with Shadowbound - the combined forces of the continent
pushed them back in spite of great losses, seeking the source of the
rift. This lay beneath the ground, and the portal itself was guarded by
the Shadow Lord Murgraxis, the sole General of the Shadow Mother's
forces.
Murgraxis proved a fierce and formidable foe, slaying warriors in droves
as they advanced before him - the battle was long and difficult, but
inch by inch they drove him back against the boundary between [[Prime Material Plane|Prime]] and
Shadow and forced him through, slaying him and sealing him into the
Shadow beyond. Though echoes of the Shadow Lord persisted, slaying
several more in the wake of his defeat, he was gone - but not slain.
The night sky was left empty for the first time in months - and Iosyne,
the Malevolent retreated to nurse the grievous wounds She had sustained
in battle with the Shadowbound. Shortly thereafter, the people of
Enorian, aided by Ethne, the Rekindled, performed a ritual to raise the
sun into the sky once more - afternoon returned in full force upon the
fifteenth of Arios, the sun blazing down upon the lands with renewed
strength and brilliance.
In the wake of the War of Night, one third of the continent's living
population has died - whether by sickness, by starvation, at the hands
of the Shadows, or in combat with the Nazedha invaders. The greatest
losses were suffered upon the eastern portion of Sapience, though the
western part of the continent was by no means free of suffering, rent as
it was by the Shadowbound. The presence of Shadow had permanently warped
Sapience - time now passes differently, the days progressing slower than
before, the sun and the night both imbued with a greater strength than
they had previously possessed.
Though the War of Night is ended, it has left its indelible mark upon
the world and the heavens, a constant reminder to the people of Sapience
that threats of great and unimaginable power lie barely constrained just
beyond their reach. There is no telling what other consequences might
befall the continent as a result of the extraplanar conflict that has
wracked it.
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:History]]
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