The Age of War
The enmities and hatreds formed during the Age of War still echo to this day. The Great Ulcer and the Dark Ages forged the Humans into a hardy and aggressive people. This led to increased warfare throughout Belkan?th and the lands in the east. Unfortunately, many of the races had learned an increased sense of cooperation. This set the stage for the wars to come.
As they entered the Age of War, diplomacy quickly became a practiced art form (except for the Dwarves, who sent multiple messages to Elven kingdoms asking to harvest their woods for forge fuel). The Humans of Belkan?th formed an intricate web of alliances throughout the continent.
Therefore when the nation of Caraniamor sent the king of Guinel his son?s head in a basket, things became very complicated. Soon several kingdoms, called the Durianor Concord were at war with several other nations, called the Carerion Alliance.
For about seventy years, these two alliances warred back and forth land changing hands between them. Countries left alliances and new nations joined.
In 2589 PI, Humans sacked several Halfling cities. The Halflings attacked nearby nations with little regard to which alliance they belonged.
In 2558 PI, one of the Human nations razed a Halfling village to the ground. They left evidence that Gnomes had been the culprits. The Halflings attacked the Gnomes. The Gnomes joined the war, attacking the Halflings.
Several Human nations believed that the gnomes really had instigated it. They counterattacked the Gnomes.
So now two Human alliances warred with each other. In addition, the Gnomes and the Halflings fought, and several individual Human nations were at war with the Halflings and the Gnomes.
This was the chaotic state of the world for over a century. Although the players changed from decade to decade, most historians agree that it was one protracted war.
In 2428 PI, the Kingdom of the Elves entered into the war on behalf of one of the nearby Human nations. This brought a counter attack from the Gnomes. The Halflings answered by siding with the Elves. The implications spread like wild fire, and the amount of hostile nations peaked again.
For over sixty years, the battles continued. Slowly the participants changed alliances and backed out until only about 10 percent of Belkan?th was at war.
Then in 2361 PI the Dwarves, at the behest of the Gnomes, entered the fray. Every Elven nation joined, certain the Dwarves would take this as an excuse to seize woodlands to fuel their forges. Every Dwarven nation joined.
This plunged all of Belkan?th into war. Not a single nation was spared as disaster and bloodshed echoed across the land.
The Gray Death had an outbreak, festering in the mass graves.
At the height of the war, King Arvarian of the Kingdom of the Elves met King Zaruk of Uzar?g on the field of battle. They fought amidst the swirling troops for hours. Finally, they stepped apart and looked at each other in exhaustion. Arvarian saluted Zaruk with his sword. Unfortunately, the Elven archers took that as a sign to fire and peppered the Dwarven king with arrows.
In 2218 PI, all sides declared peace. This had more to do with the simple inability to wage war than and actual ending of hostilities. The people of Belkan?th looked upon their brothers and realized that they simply didn?t have the strength to fight another battle.
King Garak, Zaruk?s heir, let the peace stand. He took control of his father?s kingdom and tried to rebuild.
His son Balag argued they should seek revenge, for he loved and respected his grandfather and couldn?t bear to see him lost to Elven treachery. In time, however, his father convinced him they should rebuild their nation.
Garak died in 2172 PI. Balag took over his father?s kingdom. He let envoys of the Elves back into Uzar?g, and things went well. He even invited Arvarian into his kingdom on several state functions. It seemed that he accepted the king?s explanation of the death.
Then in 2075 PI, Balag invited Arvarian to Uzar?g for a private feast. Though his entire family was invited, Arvarian left his son, Gl?redhel, in charge of the kingdom. At the feast, Balag invited Arvarian to carve the roast. Arvarian carved slices for his entire family and Balag as well.
Within 20 minutes, all but Balag were dead.
The Dwarf had thoroughly poisoned the roast with a toxin used in the fermentation of Darlan Gok (Dwarven ale). Balag had a strong resistance to this poison from years of drinking. The Elves did not.
His century-long plan for revenge had finally come to fruition.
Every Elven nation took up arms, and soon all the old alliances and hatreds were renewed. One by one, the nations of the world rejoined the fight, until all of Belkan?th and many lands of the east marched to war.
For over two centuries the war raged. This time, the resources of the longer-lived races had not been fully renewed, and so in 1838 PI, the armies ground to a halt and declared peace.
For half a century peace reigned. Balag?s great-grandson Gibak sat on the throne. He considered himself a friend to the Elves. It seemed this time, peace would last.
Then rumors resurfaced about the Fell Hammer. They said that a Human king wielded the hammer and planned to use it to conquer the world.
Over time Gibak came to believe these rumors. He coveted the Hammer as much as any Dwarf.
In 1774 PI, he took to the field. He seized the capital of every Human nation, searching for evidence of the Hammer. His army went wherever rumor carried him, and soon war sparked again. Nations took to the field to defend against Gibak. Neighboring nations, thinking it was a ploy to mass for invasion, attacked first. The world ignited in fire that torrents of blood couldn?t quench.
Gibak died, passing the throne to his son, Narak. Narak continued the war until his death. Finally Kaz?m took the throne, and he continued the war, but his heart was no longer in it.
As Kaz?m looked upon his son, he decided that he wanted to leave him a legacy of peace. As his life drew to an end, he decided the Fell Hammer was still lost.
In 1432 PI, he called an end to the war. By that time, he was almost the only one fighting it. The world knew peace again.
During this time of peace, Demon Lord Erc?ll, master of revenge, lived and died. His existence is a mere footnote on this age.
The peace lasted quite a while, until 1047 PI, when the king of Ingrast, an Elf named Manglas, came to a conclusion about the Dwarves. He decided that much of the evil of this age had been perpetrated by Dwarven kings, and that there must be something behind it.
He decided that something was a Warren.
After all, Dwarves didn?t seem to hate the Fallen Dwarves nearly as much as he hated the Fallen Elves. Perhaps they had formed a secret alliance. That would explain everything.
The Elves marched again. And the world was plunged into war.
The Rise of the Wizard King
The last conflict of the Age of War lasted for over two centuries. It didn?t truly end until the rise of the Wizard King.
Hegarion was born to a typical Human household. He was raised to be a warrior, but at an early age showed an aptitude for the difficult art of magic.
He was apprenticed to a mage and had outstripped his master by the age of 30. At the age of 39, he?d learned the most difficult of spells and had begun taking magic in new directions.
In 801 PI, his king (at pressure from the Church) declared magic witchcraft, in keeping with some interpretation of scripture (an unpopular one in this age). Hegarion teleported into the king?s castle, fought his way through the guards and priests, and killed him. He then withdrew.
Two kings tried to take over afterward. Hegarion sent both polite letters explaining why they were not the right men for the job. One went insane with paranoia and was removed, the other withdrew.
The third king met with Hegarion?s approval. He sent the Man a letter saying as much. He then sent a letter outlining the policies that the king should adopt.
They were all instituted without complaint.
In 745 PI, the king died and Hegarion decided that it was time to take matters into his own hands. He took the throne for himself and renamed the country the Kingdom of Sorcery.
Under his rule, the Kingdom of Sorcery grew. Neighboring nations could expect a friendly relationship with Hegarion if they didn?t anger him. One misstep, however, and they were killed. If their families resisted, they were killed as well. Then Hegarion would absorb their lands into his own.
But despite the brutality against his enemies, life under Hergarion was good. He did not tout moral or ethical ideals, but stressed personal freedoms, and while he was brutal with statesmen who?d earned his ire, he did not mistreat those he ruled.
He did not consider privacy a right, but he did consider freedom of thought a right. If an allegation was brought against a person, he (or later one of his agents) would scour the minds of both the accused and the accuser. Any crimes found were then punished, but there were no crimes of thought. Hegarion didn?t care a whit if you wanted to rape or kill or commit treason. He only cared about whether you actually planned on going through with it. Even then, many people would be let free because the examiner did not think they had the conviction to carry out their plans.
People so examined never had their secrets revealed, and before long, they grew to trust these examiners. Later the group was renamed the Confessors, and they were feared only by those who planned criminal acts.
By the year 500 PI, the Kingdom of Sorcery spanned all of Belkan?th, excluding only non-Human nations. The Might of Hegarion at this time was as great as it would ever be.
Hegarion sustained himself with strange and little understood magicks by this time. He became more and more interested in his research and less in politics. Some say that his physical existence became more difficult to maintain. Others say that he was merely becoming tired of the frantic pace of Humanity.
It was because of this, and the great distance, that the future Archdemon Aldron went unchecked for as long as he did. For years, rumors came west of the atrocities of Aldron. It wasn?t until the Aldron reached the age of 137 that Hegarion decided to act.
The battle greatly drained Hegarion. It is said he wasn?t seen for years after that battle, and that it took that long for him to heal and regain his strength.
Perhaps this is why he did so little in the years to come. As time passed, satellite countries declared their independence, and the Wizard King did nothing to stop them.
It was during this time that Saint Sepinus became the martyr. This occurred far to the east of the Kingdom of Sorcery, and by this time, such things passed without notice in the west.
One day, Hegarion vanished, his possessions and labs packed. With his loss, the Kingdom of Sorcery collapsed. It had been teetering for some time, and Hegarion had been the lynchpin holding it together. With his disappearance, each nation declared their independence.
