The Great War: Dark Blood

## Dark Blood

   The period of the Great War known as the Dark Blood proved to the Ûr that their blood could spill as easy as those of the civilized realms of Eirethune.  However, not all of the grand battles would be in the favor of the southern realms.  The forces of the Ûr lords were still extremely powerful and vicious.

### Rape of Crocia

After the destruction in Teldor, the forces under King Lahdrin regrouped with their reinforcements from the west and south in the western part of the Smothe.   This unfortunately allowed a large force of Ûr to have their way with the cities, towns and hamlets in Crocia.  It is unknown as to what percentage of the population of Crocia was devastated, but the destruction was widespread and horrific.  Great temples, keeps and manors were turned into rubble, while fires blazed through every street and alleyway.  When news of this destruction hit King Lahdrin, he was crushed, but knew that if he moved his forces until they were fully reinforced, they would be destroyed, too; so he bided his time in pain, while awaiting help to seek vengeance.

### Battle of Surrin’s Damned

Although most of Crocia was now burning, King Lahdrin had finally been reinforced with a good number of troops from the south, both from Lebben, Sadav and parts of the Marches and Mote.  He also learned that part of the Ûr forces that had been in Teldor did not join the other group in Crocia, instead they were laying waste to western Surrin.  King Lahdrin acted and drove his force north towards Bamtie, where the Ûr force was heading.  Unbeknownst to either King Lahdrin or the Ûr force approaching Bamtie, was that Teldor had been able to gather a force from their eastern cities along with some troops from the northeastern Smothe.   When King Lahdrin attacked, he was outnumbered by the Ûr forces, but the reinforcement from Teldor tipped the scales in their favor. The Battle of Surrin’s Damned caused large casualties on both sides, but the Ûr force broke apart.  Some of the Ûr pressed further in at Lahdrin’s forces, while the other half routed to the north.   The land erupted along the River Nant due to the use of form demons[1], but the Ûr mages would be silenced by the commitment of Lahdrin’s and the Teldor forces.

### Battle of Eastern Cries

In the east, another large force of Ûr left Detmanth and pushed their way south into the Eastern Smothe, Osebb and Eastlom. With renewed vigor, the nobles and armies of Udbotsi and Osebb mustered and force marched out to meet them. Unfortunately, the Ûr Lord, Geirgan Thord, was luring them into a trap in the southern Amed Plains. When the Udbotsi and Aden Shahn armies finally grouped up, they saw only a small force of Ûr present to meet them in the plains. Geirgan Thord had prepped and area of the plain south and east of his own forces to engulf the charging armies as they approached[2]. The earth became liquid and swallowed and suffocated a large number of the vanguard of the Green Cities and Daemore forces. With them out of the way or reorganizing, the Ûr assaulted the Osebb forces, routing all remaining.

### Battle of Coten Heights and the End of the Bryan Bridges

In the west, the forces of Bavarin, Southland and Angleside had pinned a large Ûr force inside the House of Vaddoren complex. The Ffydd Mountains, behind the complex, were difficult to navigate, so it was relatively easy for the civilized forces to observe the Ûr forays outside the complex. Finally, however, the Ûr needed to do something other than continue to destroy the few arcane holds hidden in the complex, and go out and find war with the besieging army. Ûr Lord Kierka-Rai had his arch mages execute rituals of passage through the mountain core to permit a great force to temporarily pass to the north into the Kreenan Plain. This force began ravaging and destroying the settlements and hamlets in the plain while heading north of Portmunt to the Bryan Bridge. This vanguard then disrupted the southern footings and bracings for the the bridge, sending it into the sea, while salvaging some of the Astelion for use being gathered as a giant ram and mass of metal, named Duw Bwyst or Beast God.

They were going to assault Kreenan in a massive assault, but they had learned that the Southland and Bavarin forces had not only reinforced the siege army at the House of Vaddoren, but were also racing north into Coten to support the Angleside army, getting help from even some rag-tag forces from the Western Isles as well. Kierka-Rai decided instead to turn west to face them near Calan, just below the Halls of the Coten Dwarves.

The Coten Dwarves were great articers and knew well the power that Beast God could rend if used against any wall or structure. They also well understood Astelion and were aware of a few weaknesses that the material possessed, that they had not publicized since the Bryan Bridges would have faced danger. With the bridges gone, however, the Coten Dwarves were free to deliver a surprise to the advance Ûr army. The chief weaponsmith, Gorn Bort [3] equipped several of the finest warriors of the Halls with specially made hammers which enabled them to shatter the Astelion of Beast God with only a few well placed hits. The Ûr headed towards the Halls but before they could reach them, the armies of Angleside and Bavarin struck from both sides. The hammers struck and the Astelion ram shattered into dust along the steep slopes of Coten. The Ûr vanguard force was wiped out, and the south west was nearly free of Ûr threat.

### Battle of the Dark Wood

Western Balmorien was in dire shape.  Marauding Ûr troops were wiping out villages as they spread out across the western plains of Balmorien, but now they were looking further west and into Calandiren.

The Ûr had initiated their sneak attack at the House of Caer Ddaden at the beginning of the war, but it was now time for these forces to sortie. When word came to the Ûr in Caer Ddaden that their forces in Balmorien were heading west, they blasted out of the besieging army and headed out across the Ar Dale to meet up with the army from Balmorien. The forces of Calandiren and Frostmark followed the Ûr army in pursuit across the plains, catching any of their foes forces who dared to stop and plunder.

In the east, the Ûr army was stretched out along many miles, crossing the Misniuil Plains in one long strand, also racing to meet up with their forces from Caer Ddaden. The Ûr were sometimes picked at by raids of clans from Rhorden, but the Ûr force moved on and into the Forest of Cellen, their eyes set on meeting up not far from the city of Cellen Wood.

The meeting would never quite happen, however, for the forces of Calandiren had been preparing the forest themselves. The forest spirits and creatures of wood were able to create enough barriers to slow the progress of the two armies. Even though the Ûr would burn, torch and darken the wood with their passing, the wood folk pressed into them still, making their passage harder and harder, as long as the magic of the wood could provide it. This gave the pursing Frostmark and Calandiren army the time they needed, for ent and giant would fight side by side smashing the stragglers from both armies at once. Where passage was slowed to the Ûr, the wood spirits made passage easier for the Calandiren allies. The forest blazed where the battles were fought, but the Ûr forces were broken part and were never permitted the ability to coalesce, making it easy for the concentrated Calandiren and wood allies to devastate the invaders.[4]

### The Far East Struggles

The Ûr forces at Thangku'Ur were reinforced by a portion of the main army that ravaged the plains of Thearth and Roane. Once the armies merged, a good portion of the force in Thangku'Ur moved out to meet with another clan horde coming off of the steppes entering Vendratti from the northwest. Unbeknownst to the Ûr, however, a large portion of the Kharin dwarves had driven south to join up with forces from Dag Dwarven Deep and Roane. This joint force would catch the Thangku'Ur force off-guard and attack them below an ancient volcano that had been sheared off by an eruption in the First Age, the Headless Peak.

The Dag / Kharin / Roane forces emerged from the crater of the Headless Peak, driving down upon the Ûr with not only great intensity, but also with streams of lava. The earth priest, Undgohg[5], had directed several of the earth-kin to release liquid earth upon the Ûr forces, covering large portions of their army in hot magma. The Ûr forces were broken, and retreated with whatever they could back to Thangku'Ur.

Meanwhile, however, the forces descending from the steppes did not engage the western forces. Instead, the Ûr found what they could in the plains of Vendratti and either consumed or burned it. Vendratti, by this time, would take centuries to recover from the punishment of this ravaging and from the relatively recent destruction that had taken place at the start of the 27th century.

## Links

Chronology of Eirethune

Previous, The Great War: Penetration

Next, The Great War: Plunge

## Notes

[1] Control of the form demons was facilitated by a bracelet worn by some of the Ûr mages. The *Armlet of Kang-Dwr* was believed to be able to control several demons within a radius, as long as the mage could hold concentration. Kang-Dwr was killed at the battle, with his arm hacked away from the corpse. The armlet was never found.

[2] Geirgan Thord was said to have great power over the elements and demons, mixing much of the mana that existed between them. His *Ritual of the Earthen Maw* was studied by some of the arcane scholars in Aachnarn after the Great War and it is believed that at least one of the arch mages there was able to recreate the spell.

[3] The *Ice Hammers of Gorn Bort* were actually made of metal, but they looked and felt like ice. They head of the hammer appeared like ice and it would not be possible to touch the head without burning your hand. Steamy frost exuded from the hammers at all times, making them a sight to behold. It is also said the hammers were quite heavy; the chosen wielders of the hammers being some of the strongest in the Halls, and having to use both hands to wield them. The hammers were returned to the Halls after the Great War, although it is said that 2 were lost during battles. One near the Battle of the Coten Heights, and another later near Dag Barrow.

[4] Ilythyan Asteir was a great druid of Cellen Wood who was instrumental in directing the spirits of the wood in how to best assist and thwart the armies that fought in the battle. It was said Ilythyan had made the *Ring of Living Wood* with which he used to commune with the spirits, enabling him to convey motive and emotion, to insure the trust of the spirits. Ilythyan was a great servant to not only Sylvana but also Esada, and many temples across Calandiren have some shrine to Ilythyan to this day. Ilythyan was lost while traveling in the Misnuil Moor, and it is believed that his ring was lost with him.

[5] Undgohg was no less an elemental mage than Geirgan Thord, though his focus was more on using Eirethune and its forces, rather than just spirits and demons. The *Horn of Undgohg* was capable of drawing forth earth in a liquid form before its wielder and shooting it forth in the cone of sound of the horn. The location of the Horn is not known, but after the Great War, Undgohg headed south into the wastes south of Kastgor, and he and his Horn were never seen again.