Aegis of the Embered

The Aegis of the Embered, is a global defensive pact and alliance created by the Ashen One, following the attempted assassination of the Empress of Mirrah, Muriel by the Realms of Morion.
=== Precursor Events ===
During the Fourth Age (The Age of Dark) the rule in the Hollow Lands of Londor began to crumble, soon being deposed by the previous nations that they had taken over during the Third Age. With several events such as Ren's Rebellion and The Rebellion of Morion, the leadership fell to only Lilliane as Yuria fell to Drakeblood Knight Ren. Soon, there were only remnants of the lands of Londor as they began to move eastward along the continent of Dwyrain, soon settling near the lands of Ancient Drangleic, becoming known as Morion and led by the last member of the Sable Church, Liliane, now going by Lady Liliane. Almost all of the nations that Londor took over established their rule again, including Jugo and Mirrah. Forossa, however was the only one to not return, instead mostly becoming part of Mirrah and the Eastern Lands, who also returned, but technically never went away and were instead just subjugated under Londors rule, but were allowed to keep their name and ruler, Isshin.
A long descendent of King Aurous became king of Jugo, who also named himself Aurous and a woman known as Muriel ended up ascending the throne of Mirrah, becoming their Empress and began to reconstruct their lands and take down any affiliation with Londor that were constructed in their lands, with Mirrah taking down the Towers of the Sable Church, which acted as Londors capital. 
Eventually, Morion heard of this and began to create a vendetta against Mirrah. Morion recreated the Sable Church, representing the original Three Leaders of Londor. The Three trained soldier units were called the Umbral Sentinels, Shadowblade Assassins and the Eclipse Diviners all led by three separate leaders. The leaders were Master Shadowblade Lyra, Chief Sentinel Frieda and True Diviner Kaela, leading each respective unit. Lyra was tasked with assassinating the Empress Muriel, with the plot officially attempted in the year 376AD, however the attempt does not succeed entirely, but manages to slay Empress Muriel's only son, Gothard, leading to Muriel declaring war on Morion, starting the War of the Hollowed Realms. As this assassination attempt happened, Kaela and Frieda launched an attack on the Eastern Elvish City of Broadleif, killing most of the elves and soldiers stationed there, before razing the city to the ground.
=== The Aegis Is Formed ===
Soon after, the Ashen One, King of Lorithia, received word of this and for the first time in history, a King of the Western Continent travelled to the Eastern Continent, accompanied by Lord Roderick Ashwood and The Rhosyn Lords and met with Empress Muriel, expressing his condolences for her son. There they created the first alliance of the global pact, with them coming to name it as the Aegis of the Embered.Soon after, due to their long lasting alliance between the two, King Guthrie IV Catarina joins the Aegis, amassing an army of Catarinian Warriors and accompanied by their Sieg Knights, ventured over to Dwyrain. Within the North-Eastern part of Mirrah, Guthrie had the idea to establish a new city-state, one that the Aegis can lead from, in a strategic location, whilst also acting as its own governed city by all of the leaders. The city became known as Emberholm.
The last nations to join the Aegis were that of Jugo and the Eastern Lands, who both pledged allegiance to their common enemy, before sending their own knights to aid the cause. The King of Jugo, King Aurous sent 1000 Ant Riders to help the cause but remained in Jugo, instead sending his main captain of his armies called Frugel of Jugo. The Eastern Lands of Higashi sent 20 of their own Knights called the Drakeblood Knights, each able to fight with the strength of 100 men as well as sending 2 Fire Drakes and led by their Captain, Ren, who were to act as a personal guard for Empress Muriel. Ren's personal dragon, being that of Ieyasu happened to be one of the Fire Drakes.
Ruling parties of the Aegis at its founding were as followed:
* Lorithia
** The Ashen One, King of Lorithia
** Lord Roderick Ashwood
** Lord Alayas Rhosyn
** Lord Urias Rhosyn
* Mirrah
** Empress Muriel of Mirrah
** Lord Eldemar of Broadleif
* Catarina
** King Guthrie IV Catarina
** Sieg Knight Sieghilda
* Jugo
** King Aurous II Jugo
** Knight Frugel of Jugo
* The Eastern Lands of Higashi
** Emperor Isshin of Higashi
** Drakeblood Knight Ren
=== A Battle to End All Battles ===
After the Aegis was formed, King Guthrie, like many Catarinian Kings, had a prophecy about a great battle to come, with several details that he saw in the vision that helped pinpoint when and where this battle could take place. He saw a battle in a river, under an eclipsed moon and thousands of warriors battling. In the vision he also foresaw his own death, but only revealed this information to the Ashen One and the leader of the Sieg Knights, Sieghilda. The Eclipsed Moon detail, gave the Aegis the knowledge of when the Battle would take place, as it only appeared every 193 years and the next one would appear one day in the year 382AD.
One day, word came that the armies of Morion were marching on Mirrah and that night, the Eclipsed Moon began to appear in the sky. Knowing the battle to come, the Ashen One began to order the advance against Morion, but pleading with Guthrie to stay at Emberholm. Instead Guthrie revealed to his army that this battle would be his death and refusing to stay behind, saying he would not abandon them and would fight to the very end. Unfortunately for the armies of the Aegis, Lord Ashwood, The Rhosyn Lords and the cavalry unit were patrolling the northern border at the time of the eclipse, meaning that the army was without one of its strongest units. Nevertheless, the two armies eventually clashed that night on the Mirrahnian border at the River Drang and the battle took place. Thousands of warriors fought in the shallow waters of the River, with many of both sides suffering great casualties. King Guthrie did indeed perish alongside the leader of his Sieg Knights Sieghilda and her son Sieglynx being slain by Lyra, leading Siegwyn as the last surviving Sieg Knight. The Drakeblood Knights had only 3 that remained, one of which was Ren and both Fire Drakes were slain, including Ren's dragon Ieyasu. Most of the Ant Riders also perished and a large portion of the main armies were killed. Morion lost all three of the Sable Church leaders, with Frieda being overwhelmed by the Ant Riders early on, Kaela was slain by a rageful attack by Sieglynx (who was then slain by Lyra) and Lyra, who was wounded by Sieglynxs attack tried to withdraw from the field but was chased down by Siegwyn and beheaded by him. Morions army of Hollowed Undead were effectively decimated and lost the entire force of the Umbral Sentinels and nigh annihilation of the Eclipse Diviners. The battle only ended after the Ashen One channelled his ancient embered status, using the power of the Eclipsed Moon and launching a devastating plunge attack from the air into the Undead army.
Following the clear stalemate, the Ashen One and Lady Liliane met in the middle of the field and called for a temporary truce of hostilities between the two sides. They agreed on no hostilities for five years to give the chance to fully army up once again. As these were agreed upon, Siegwyn approached the two leaders with the head of Master Shadowblade Lyra, dropping the head at Liliane's feet who was now powerless to do anything, before ordering the retreat. The decimated armies returned back to Morion and Emberholm alike.
=== The Non-Aggression Years ===
In the five years of truce, there were several events that transpired for both the Aegis and Morion. The Aegis attempted to try and recruit for the war, basing on the fact that this was a war of the upmost priority if the world was going to live in peace. Luckily the sacrifice and subsequent historic tale of King Guthrie IV was told around Catarina, which inspired many to join the army to fight for the cause, hearing King Guthrum's rallying cry for war. This also seemed to be the case for many other soldiers especially from Mirrah and the Eastern Lands, mostly because they shared the continent with Morion and therefore saw them as the biggest threat to peace on Dwyrain, not wanting them to rise up again as Londor. The remaining several hundred elves under the leadership of Lord Eldemar began training in their own form of combat. Their unique skillset gave rise to a quick and efficient way of dispatching an enemy with their sleek and swift movements making them almost impossible to fight against, becoming skilled in a fast form of close quarters combat but also becoming skilled in ranged weaponry. Of the almost 400 Elves that survived the attack on Broadleif, nearly 350 were capable fighting male and female warriors with the remaining being children and several other woman who wanted to ensure the race survived.
Lorithia also began to recruit more allies for the war effort, seeking aid from people all around the continent of Gorlewynn. Across the Age of Dark, much like the Elves, other races were created as result of experimentation with the Dark Soul. One of these races was the Dwarves, who were created at the Dragon School of Vinheim along with the Gnomes. Both races are commonly attributed to their small stature, like that of the Pygmies, but the Dwarves were known to be a tough race and soon were known for their craftsmanship. Thousands of dwarves were created in Vinheim, with many breeding over the years up until the attack on Broadleif, honing their craft and an almost primal urge to fight. They had also constructed a great stone city beneath Vinheim to house them, which came to be known as Kârthrund: The Dwarven Capital. In 384AD, the Ashen One travelled to Kârthrund to speak to the King of the Dwarves: Brolin and discuss if they would become part of the war with Morion. Brolin at first was hesitant to join the war, as he did not wish to suffer the same fate of the Elves and being driven to near extinction. Brolin however understood that the Dwarves heavily outnumbered the amount of Elves that had ever existed, with approximately 7000 Dwarves alive at the time, when only 2000 Elves ever existed before the attack on Broadleif. With great discussion on how the war would have to continue, Brolin agreed to send 5000 Dwarves and led by himself and his good friend and captain of the army Roman.
The scholars of Vinheim created one other race with the experimentation of a deceased dragon and combined its soul with a the dark soul of a human, creating a totally unique type of being. Though first thinking it to be an abomination, but realised that the creation was more human than initially thought. This bipedal being, born head to toe in dragon scales that could also speak in the common tongue became known as the Dragonborn and were able to procreate with each other like that of human beings. They also had a very strong affinity with magic, specialising in the Dragon sorceries of Vinheim, which in turn was due to their ancestor Seathe. Over time they became strong and powerful beings and eventually, the Dragonborn race left Vinheim to found their own settlement in the mountains, led by their leader Melauthaur, settling their own kingdom called Tymanther. After the meeting with Brolin, the Ashen One attempted to meet with Melauthaur, but the Dragonborn King was not as friendly as Brolin, not even allowing the champion of Ash to enter its walls. The reason for this was because Melauthaur had already met with Lady Lilliane of Morion and agreed to join their side. The Ashen One did not take too kindly to this news, as a partnership with Morion effectively meant a partnership with the End of the World, but Melauthaur would not listen to reason, deciding that Humanity's time was over and the time of Morion and the Dragonborn was to arrive. As such the Ashen One left Tymanther with the shocking news of this alliance.
One of the last to join the council of the Aegis was that of Eldemar's wife, Alanor who initially believed that more females should be on the council, specifically asking the Ashen One for permission to join the council and bring up this problem with him. The Ashen One agreed that more females should be on the council, believing that women can be helpful to seek reason in a time of great turmoil. This also was due to the fact that one of the previous females on the council, being that of Sieghilda, perished in the battle of the River Drang and so it only seemed right to fill her place.
When the Second Conference of the Aegis took place, these were the leaders who sat at the roundtable at Emberholm:
*Lorithia
** The Ashen One, King of Lorithia
** Lord Roderick Ashwood
** Lord Alayas Rhosyn
** Lord Urias Rhosyn
* Mirrah
** Empress Muriel of Mirrah
** Lord Eldemar of Broadleif
** Lady Alanor, Lords Consort
* Catarina
** King Guthrum I Catarina
** Sieg Knight Siegwyn
* Jugo
** King Aurous II Jugo
** Knight Frugel of Jugo
* The Eastern Lands of Higashi
** Emperor Isshin of Higashi
** Drakeblood Knight Ren
*Kârthrund
**The Dwarven King Brolin of Kârthrund
**Roman: Dwarven Captain