The First War

vs.

* Death-Cult of Nerull
* Demon-Legions of Orcus

### History

The first war, sometimes called "the First Great War", "the War of Shattering", or "the Shattering of the Isles", marked the end of the first era. In 5383 FE, Underground groups from a death-cult worshipping Nerull were able to open gateways to the nine hells. Located in six key locations spread across Mauritania, Coielia, and Kashmir, the cult was able to amass enough forces to assault the Pinecone Islands, and tap the well of divine power left there from the creation of the world.

Due to the key locations of the gateways, the cult was able to storm the castle at the heart of the Coielian capital of Cortain, Briefly seizing control over the political center of the autocracy in an attempt to gain a second-wave foothold on a more densely populated landmass. The foothold fell when the Archmage Tamdar Folkor, of the floating city of Ithar's rest, sacrificed the city of Ithar to stop time in a field around Cortain Castle until the assault on the Pinecone Islands could be completed.

### Aftermath

The combined armies of Coielia, Mauritania, and the Kingdom of Kashmir were aided by coordinated flights of metallic dragons, operating under the command of an enormous golden dragon, rumored by some to be an avatar of Tiamat. Later comparisons and investigations suggest that this may have been the first appearance of Dal'Ithar since the founding of Kashmir. Together, they were able to best the forces assembled in the name of Orcus and Nerull, and re-take the Pinecone Islands.

As a consequence of this assault, the well of divine energy concentrated there was destabilized, scattering the energy to all corners of the plane. The resulting energy feedback destroyed all six gateways, but also split the islands into a large atoll, destroying the temples built there. This atoll was renamed the "Shattered Isles" following the battle.

The scattering of the source of so much divine energy greatly reduced the strength and numbers of the dragon populations. While still maintaining viable numbers, they were no longer the relatively common sight they had been previously in the First Era.

### Political Aftermath

The unbalancing effects of conflict on such a grand scale also weakened several extant governments. After the war, the Grand Army of Mauritania under the leadership of High General Tiberius Fulbert, refused to return to pre-war levels of readiness. Under command of the High Admiral, they were able to stage an effective coup against the previous Mauritanian bureaucracy, citing incompetence and corruption, and install a human-centric supremacist militocracy calling itself "the Empire of Mauritania" that lasted through the Second Era.

Tynnarth of Coielia, Sorcerer-Regent of the Coielian Autocracy and last scion of the line of Coielia, died from wounds sustained during the fighting to retake the castle at Cortain. Before his death, he chose to reform the autocracy into a monarchy, incorporating "... a parliament of all sentient races, that the other children of the gods may flourish without the rule of dragons". The Monarchy still stands, although its area of influence shrunk to only the eastern end of the continent when the breaking of Coielia disrupted the extensive logistics and transportation networks required to maintain the previous sphere of influence.