Witch and Goblin War

The war between the sorceress Merridal Krauv, and the Kingdom of Ibarant, whose devastation ultimately lead to Ibarant's economical collapse and absorption into Barce.

## Merridal Krauv

Formerly a student under Grand Magus Raibyn Carberos at the Quiwenys Institute, Merridal's obsession with the royal family of Ibarant lead her to believe that she was one of the heirs to the Ivory Throne. The prevailing narrative is that she had several audiences with the King's Regent, Orthalas Norjor, in order to petition for her rights to land and title, and eventually the Ivory Throne itself, but Norjor and his advisors had reviewed the claims and deemed the evidence too tenuous to grant her admission to the royal court. This drove her obsession into madness, resulting in her imprisonment and then declaration of war against Ibarant.

Some of the rumors, particularly from House Cthuwa, say that she was granted only one audience with the Regent, and that she was only interested in having her noble status recognized, with a vague interest in the annual stipend which came with it. Her claim denied, she attempted to appeal the decision several times, but she was refused another audience with Norjor. She eventually found the means to teleport herself inside the royal court, appearing before the Regent and requesting that her appeal be heard. She was arrested shortly after, and thrown into prison under the charge of attempted assault on the royal court.

In either case, Grand Magus Raibyn Carberos petitioned for his student to not be tried and executed, and on King Eduayn's thirteenth birthday celebration, some eight years after she was arrested, Merridal was released in Raibyn's custody.

Whether it was through Merridal's experience that she was convinced Norjor was not working in the best interest of the people, or through madness at the slight to her pride, Merridal forsook her relations with the civilized races of Tal'Ria, and sought to kidnap, recruit, and inveigle the goblin witches of the Scarlet Ravens to raise an army of the undead for her.

## Battle of Woln

With a series of raids and disruption of the trade routes into and out of Ibarant, the King's Regent was beginning to feel the economic strain of attempting to keep the kingdom afloat and protect the citizens against Merridal's undead army. As time passed, the White Blades continued to devote more and more troops to the protection of Ibarant, until a Verwallen was called, and Teagan den Kilthorn was declared Solari Prime.

Near the village of Woln, some six days' ride south of what is now Ythir's Cove, the forces of Merridal Krauv met against the White Blades, and with the help of the goblin clan which would eventually become the Tomb Prowlers, Merridal's Blight-Towers were destroyed and her undead army was defeated.

## Aftermath

Raibyn Carberos was forced to step down as Grand Magus having lost the confidence of the Arcane Council for petitioning for Merridal's release after her arrest, and the goblins of the Scarlet Ravens took the moniker of the Tomb Prowlers. Due to her actions and leadership, the descendants of Teagan den Kilthorn have been held in high regard in Ibarant  and Barce, especially by the White Blades.