First Cataclysm

The **First Cataclysm** was the horrendous series of wars that obliterated the North and crippled the Old World.

### Causes

The First Cataclysm's origins were rooted in the First Wars, the even larger conflict that led to the Dark God's first defeat. He survived, however, and the Accursed continued to work to bring about his resurrection. Keth were seen in increasingly worrying numbers, and Cil'tulthulis, lord of Nyan Marmu, urged Ansyrotas III, King of Xajil, to act against the dark forces (using the Scripture of Vaulgesh. Ansyrotas III finally realised the plight of his nation, responding by rallying the first Host of Man and declaring war on the Accursed in 2120 of the Second Age.

### The First Host of Man

The first great army consisted of a coalition force of both men and Eldar. Ansyrotas III had managed to rally Maktosa to his cause, as well as token contingents of other Old World nations. Akkisir also contributed a relatively large section of its strength to the host.

The first battle, on the plains of Jhayita, was ultimately indecisive. The Host withdrew and wintered in Vangesh, before almost outflanking the Horde and hounding it to the gates of Um'taran, where they began a costly and famed Siege of the dread fortress, failing miserably to break its black iron battlements. For three years this continued, before the host found itself encircled by Keth, who appeared from underground tunnels to the rear of the Ring Mountains. The Host was all but destroyed, and Ansyrotas III fled south, leaving the North to war alone.

### The Fall of the North

Now the nations of the north were left to war alone. Naerus collapsed amid internal strife, Vangesh razed to the ground by Keth legions. Hajiki, attempting to retake the fortress, suffered a crushing defeat and withdrew from the scene. In 2127, Knaruturi allied with Hajiki in an attempt to defend Mycagalon, but the city was besieged and destroyed. Countless innocents were slain. The next year, Makkason II, King of Hajiki, was slain during the Second Battle of Mycagalon, a doomed attempt to revive the war effort of Knaruturi, which was crumbling away before the tide of Keth. The quick demise of Akkisir seemed inevitable.

But the ancient nation was determined to survive. Xandisti I inflicted a crushing defeat on the Horde at Nyerhi, driving the Accursed back for a time. But such victories were ultimately empty, and he was eventually forced to beg for help from Xajil and the Old World. Ansyrotas III took pity, raising the Second Host of Man and marching with all haste northwards. This combined force managed to defeat the Horde at the Battle of Jhayita in 2135, after launching a series of successful raids to retake Knaruturi and Naerus, raising what remained of Hajiki's scattered strength to their banners. This all led to the Second Siege of Um'taran, which lasted two gruelling years. Yet again, the titanic iron battlements stood no matter what. Several attempts to scale them resulted in thousands of casualties. Eventually, after a serious disagreement with Xandisti I, and with his troops deserting, Ansyrotas III abandoned his ally and returned to Xajil with his piece of the Second Host of Man in an unprecedented move. The siege, however, continued.

### Summoning of the Dark God

The Dark God was finally summoned for the first time in history in winter of 2139, drawing Dragons, Keth and Trolls to his call. Shocked and terrified by this newfound danger, the Kings of the Old World united into a replenished Second Host of Man and marched north with all hope.

But it was too late. Despite summoning the greatest host of the age, Ansyrotas III's Host was obliterated by the innumerable numbers of the Dark God's servants. He was slain, and the Flamesword, a gift from the Eldar, was lost. Akkisir's armies were completely destroyed. Xandisti I was killed while attempting to defend Nyerhi. Gothsir was obliterated, and the holy order of knights with it. Mak Zenirya barely held against repeated assaults, the survivors locked into the keep.

Teihuer, the ancient capital of the Rhogorochi people, survived the ordeal, mostly forgotten by the Dark God, whose mind was bent on conquering the Old World before his enemies regained strength. But the Eldar helped these people, Cil'tulthulis slain in an attempt to divert the Keth. Those survivors withdrew into their two surviving mansions. It was at this point, however, that the Flamesword was retrieved from the Scarlet Plain and returned to Calamir, giving a faint spark of hope in the hearts of men.

### The Dark Years

The Old World, its armies exhausted, began to collapse. The City-States were almost overrun, a sole few individuals besieged in the strongest cities and fortresses. Even so, Mardar Valamentar, an excellent general of Xajil, managed to continually defeat the Horde at various engagements, until he and his army were forced to withdraw to Calamir, which had never actually been taken by direct assault, and was third only in defensive strength when compared Um'taran itself.

The city held in the face of overwhelming odds, preventing the fall of all the eastern reaches of Xajil and Scalindia. Valamentar even managed to drive the Horde away, rallying what allies remained to him with the Flamesword in grip. In a last-ditch attempt at survival, the Third Host of Man marched north.

### The Defeat of the Dark God

The Great Battle of Um'taran was arguably second only to the Battle of the Darkness in size. The Host of Man, around 10,000 strong and no more, faced the entirety of the Dark God's gathered might, which numbered at just over two million Keth. Hundreds of Dragons flew in the skies. Innumerable Kasijaks flew around the figure of the Dark God, which remained behind the combined Horde. The battle was said to draw on for days, the men falling and dying while cutting down hundreds of enemies each, before the Dark God, sure of his victory and blinded by pride, marched forth himself to destroy the last enemies he had. But, as he did so, Mardar Valamentar revealed the Flamesword and cast it once, the energy breaking his arm and rupturing his blood vessels. The Dark God was straight on by the blast, his spirit all but destroyed. The Kasijaks vanished in flaming agony. The Dragons were almost all consumed by the ensuing holocaust of fire, and those that survived hid themselves in deep places at the roots of the earth. Any remaining Keth and Trolls fled.

Mardar Valamentar, crippled and burned, returned as a god. He, and those that survived the Cataclysm, did what they could to rebuild a shattered world.