The Great War: The Beginning

== Vaelen Egorath and the Passing of Knowledge ==
The war began before there was violence, but not before there was desire.   In the libraries and temples of Aachnarn, many students of magic studied and learned various disciplines, discovering new ways to influence mana and the forces of magic across the world.   Adepts arrived from all over Eirethune, seeking a life of knowledge and education, of gaining advantage over the mundane, of going beyond themselves to understand more of what lies beyond all people.  A fine dream for many, but not for all.
Vaelen Egorath was a half-elf from Davis Clearing, born of a hill elf mother and human father.   His father was quite overbearing and strict, demanding much of his son, berating or beating him when he felt Vaelen did not comply.  Vaelen’s father had been an adept at a temple of Mata himself, and later opened his own enchanting shop in Davis Clearing; yet he wanted more of his son, no matter what his son wanted.  Vaelen’s Drow mother was more reserved and subservient to her husband, which made Vaelen quite upset at her for not challenging herself more and succumbing to whatever wish or insult Vaelan’s father would inflict.
In Davis Clearing, there was a small temple to Mata, but there wasn’t much of a library, which strongly irked Vaelan’s father.  Vaelan’s father had worked with an alchemist from House of Caer Ddaden, and so he worked to get Vaelen an apprenticeship in the house staff to learn and serve.
In the House of Caer Ddaden, Vaelen was treated fairly, made to work hard, but his arcane training was slow in coming, which bothered Vaelen deeply.   He felt that the racism against his Drow heritage was the real reason his training was so slow.  Vaelen knew he was dedicated to expanding arcane knowledge and to prove to everyone that a half-Drow could be an arch mage if given the chance. 
A few years went by and the deep resentment continued to build inside Vaelen as he served the House mages.  The mages continued to instruct and advance Vaelen’s knowledge, having commended his dedication and ability on more than one occasion.  On the outside, Vaelen was cordial and appreciative, but brewing on the inside was contempt for those keeping him back, slowing his progress and knowledge of the arcane world.
Vaelen was being permitted more leeway, both in access to the libraries of the House and in the facilities present in the complex.  This gave Vaelen a bit more ability to investigate a wide range of disciplines, artifacts and constructs present in the House.   There was a Gate Artifice in the House that was used between the Houses in times of war, but this was off-limits to Vaelen unless he was accompanied by a mentor.  Vaelen knew the importance of the Gate Artifice, and that significance instilled a great desire in Vaelen to understand and use the ancient and powerful device.
Although Vaelen was an angry, young man, filled with some degree of resentment, it is unlikely that he was fully aware of everything that was to unfold in the upcoming weeks.   Vaelen knew how to get to the Gate Artifice, even though it was forbidden, because he had gone there many times with mentors and knew much of the schedule as to when it was unoccupied.   It is believed that Vaelen went once on his own and attempted to use the Gate Artifice for the simple desire of looking out and seeing who was there, but that simple, inquisitive moment was enough to enable others to see.   House of Vaddoren had a seer at the Gate Artifice who saw Vaelen and immediately questioned him, telling him not to use the artifact, or there would be repercussions.  Unfortunately, another person saw him, planted a suggestion in him, asking him to return but to focus on only one name when staring into the Gate Artifice, Thang-Gwr.
Thang-Gwr was the arch mage and clan master of the Grogthank clan, strongest of the clans of the Ûr Lords.  When he heard the inquisitive words coming through the minor gate artifice that he had possession of, he knew that he had an opportunity.  A suggestion had to go out to Vaelen to return, but to only focus on Thang-Gwr so that the other houses would not be notified of the artifacts use.
Over the following weeks, Thang-Gwr continued to manipulate Vaelen into communicating with the arch mage, providing him with information about what was available in the Caer Ddaden library that could help him expand the ability the smaller artifact that Ugok-na-Korgat had been able to acquire at the Bowl of Death during the Scourging of the Vendratti.  Little by little bits of information were being gathered, first to know what Caer Ddaden had available to it, and later to expand the artifact. Thang-Gwr also made it so that Vaelen was under the belief that he was talking to another student at the House of Thangku’Ur, and that they were both working to hard for what they were getting out of the whole apprenticeship.  Thang-Gwr also enchanted Vaelen to forget periods of time where the items or passages that Vaelen was acquiring or transferring were too sensitive for anyone to remember.
Finally, the moment arose when Thang-Gwr had expanded his artifact enough so that he was going to be able to transfer something through from Vaelen.  Thang-Gwr asked Vaelen if he could borrow a book on Gate dynamics (with appropriate suggestion and charm), Vaelen brought the book forward, and it materialized in Thang-Gwr’s hands.  Thang-Gwr did not keep the book, rather he now knew enough of what he had to do to enlarge his artifact for his own purposes.  As long as someone would answer Thang-Gwr’s call, there would be a way to cross over.
Thang-Gwr went to the clan leaders so they could understand what would be capable, and how careful they would have to be for the ability was probably good for only one time.  Once a force of Ûr had crossed through a Gate Artifice to another and was discovered, the other artifacts would certainly be reset, shutdown or destroyed to prevent any other crossings.  The word was spread to the other clans, and all began to turn their eyes to the south and west again, wondering what destruction they would cause, and what power they would gain.
== Breakthrough ==
A couple weeks more of careful communication transpired between Thang-Gwr and Vaelen.   Making sure nothing was obvious, nothing that Vaelen would do would seem out of the ordinary, out of routine.  In the central plains of the steppes, not far from where Thab Nardiak once stood, the main Ûr force was gathering.   However, near Grogthank Dûn, several clans had also gathered, awaiting instructions and transport to locations deep within the nations of Eirethune.
The morning started the day like any other day, but it would end in destruction.  This time when Vaelen arrived at the Gate Artifice, he spoke once to contact Thang-Gwr, and those would be his last words.  Thang-Gwr and a group of other clan arch mages came through and started to create enchantments to lock the Gate Artifice open.  Then, taking the face of Vaelen, they used his naiveté to contact the other Houses, and slip a group of Thang-Gwr's best assassins through to start to take control.  Each gate was now locked and ready for the mages to start pulling the clans through.   To each of the four Houses of Raj Gohn, the clans were pouring.  Clan Mages using everything they had and more to make this great assault.  The Houses were being eaten from the inside, swarmed over, corrupted from within.  Dark hordes and powers breaking apart centuries upon centuries of power, and deep levels of protection for the people of Eirethune.   The House Holds were breaking apart, and the House forces either fell attempting to keep the invasion at bay or retreated to attempt to warn and join the peoples of Eirethune.
At the same time, the main force had started marching south west, directly towards the center of Thearth in Balmorien.  Four other groups immediately attacked the main Dwarven Holds in Kazden and Kharin Dûn, locking them down and in their mountain halls.  Finally, in the far west, the Night and Ice Giants heard the call, and pushed southward off of Icereach and on to the coast of Frostmark.   The Great War had begun.
== Links ==
Chronology of Eirethune
Previous, Second Age: The Great War
Next, The Great War: Penetration
== Notes ==
[1] There are many, many artifacts probably still present in the ruins of the Houses of Raj Gohn. One known artifact was the Rod of Planar Traversal. These rods were used by the Ur Lord mages to keep the Gate Artifces open. They appear as black, metal rods, but they have the ability to exist in multiple planes, making them dangerous against inter-dimensional beings, but also capable of keeping the gates open.