Shadow Winter

The Shadow Winter is the name given to the period of time when the Demon King Meitor allegedly ruled the world until his downfall at the hands of the Soul Hero Liken. Over the five year period, war, disease and famine decimated the local populations. This was combined with unseasonably cold summers caused food shortages and starvation.

   Many people blamed King Meitor for the failed harvests, so uprising were particularly common. Scholars agree that the end of Year 0 marks the end of the Shadow Winter, and not the suspected date of Meitor's death around six months earlier.

## Origins

Experts can not agree on what brought about the beginning of the Shadow Winter. What is known though, is that in 5 NP, the then Prince Meitor suddenly murdered his father, the king of Drogna. No one can agree on Meitor's motivations, but he suddenly seized control of the throne at the age of just 22.

Within a fortnight of his succession, the newly styled Emperor of Drogna sent his armies into the neighbouring Republic of Setfaross. What few accounts remain talk of slaughters in the street. Men, women and children of Setfaross were enslaved by Meitor against their will, and forced to fight their own people.

It took just three weeks for the Setfarossi capital to fall, a shock to other countries across the world. As a result, banners were raised in hopes of stopping Meitor's conquests at Setfaross.

## The Stall at Pyre Waste

After the fall of Setfaross, Meitor controlled the northern half of the continent. The four remaining countries in the east, whose names have been lost to history, banded together to form the Coalition Army.

For Meitor to enter Coalition territory, he would first have to cross the Pyre Waste with his armies. This proved more of a challenge than he originally anticipated. The dry and sandy terrain acted as an excellent natural barrier. The shortest route across the Waste was also so heavily fortified at the time that several million men would have perished in the attempt to storm it.

This was a significant problem for Meitor, whose large army had swelled to over two hundred thousand men. Far from home and without provisions, morale began to drop. This situation lasted almost 18 months until the Battle of Grenze.

## Battle of Grenze

Frustrated by the stalemate on the Pyre Waste, Meitor headed north to a location known as the Shadow Portal. He returned a few days later with a new blade, blacker than a moonless night. This blade, or specifically sabre, was used by Meitor to slay the Coalition Army by himself. Reports from the time suggest that the sabre mutated Meitor, giving him sharp wings which were used to slice through the opposing ranks.

After the battle, the coalition army collapsed almost overnight. Meitor sent his armies across the Pyre Waste, winning battle after battle. Within a matter of weeks, Meitor had control of the coalition capital Grado, which is modern day Rausten.

## Other key events

Approximately halfway through the Shadow Winter, Meitor grew bored of no conquests, and so he burned the Great Library, the pride of his childhood. Still not satisfied, Meitor decided to burn Grado as punishment for the coalition resistance.

Meitor also erected the Haunted Tower in the centre of Liken as a means to monitor the population from up high. However by doing this, Meitor inadvertently caused the formation of the Trident Association.

## The End and The Mad King's Sickness

Meitor was supposedly slain by the Soul Hero Liken at the Shadow Portal, trapped and forced to live in another plane of existence for eternity.

Fragments of Meitor's soul remained, so he used them to spread disease across the land. This became known as the Mad King's Sickness. Almost no one survived the affliction. It was only when Liken sacrificed himself again that the sickness disappeared.