The Demon Wars

## 2387-2404 The Demon Wars

### 2387 The Foreboding of Girkahd

To many in Eirethune, south or north, there was a warning from Girkahd about a door that was to be opened, not just by someone on Eirethune, but also by a god-spawn that was competing to be recognized.  In one such foreboding, the words were heard by a street priest in Fathe Nûn named Daidau.

> The spawn cannot be forgotten when someone else remembers them.  The Unraveler shall be drawn to words on your world. It will be tied to those few, so unbind them or The Unraveler will find you all. Close the Gate once the recallers are gone.
>
>

Only a few people heard Daidau, but one was an adept from the Temple of Mata, so the words were recorded and remembered.

#### 2387-2400 Raids and the End of the Ffydd

Hunters in the Athro and West Mote Hills first reported large number of raiders heading west.  Clans of Ûr with worgs and beasts of various sizes.  Shadows and fire and steeds to carry them. The Chwaer plains were reported to be more agitated than normal, with raiding parties heading for the hills.

It wasn’t long until those Ûr raiding parties were on the western slopes of the hills moving into the plains.  There were raids into the Kreenan Plain and even in the plains north of the Athro Wood, but not in numbers that reflected what the large number of scouting reports had seen.  Troops were sent out from Banor and Kreenan to help push the raiders back, which worked to at least repulse the raiders a bit.  Reinforcements helped even further and kept the damage to the settlers and farmers in those regions to a minimum.

The biggest raids, however, were not seen in the Kreenan or the southern Athro Plains.  The largest raids went straight across the Athro Hills, through the western Athro Plains into the Ffydd Mountains.

The Dwarves of the Ffydd Halls watched the plains periodically, but they never thought they could be threatened by the Ûr that inhabited the area.  They were completely taken off guard, especially since the raiders were led by a great liquid wyrm of metal and sludge known as The Unraveler.

An Ûr priest of Girkahd and Mardank who held up in the Chwaer Mountains had constructed a thin gate to the realm of Seybok.  And when The Unraveler saw it could cross there, the membrane shattered and the Unvraveler burst through.  It fed on minds and dreams and warped the thoughts of all around the gate before gathering what creatures were still around.   The beast and all of its Ûr companions headed to the east in a furor, preparing to wreak havoc on whatever they could find.  The raiders went everywhere in the valley, but the main force headed west towards the Halls of the Ffydd, seeking something that the Ûr would not have ventured to, but a target that the Unraveler had for some unknown reason.

The dwarves did send out word, but it was quite late, when the attack from the force of the Unraveler came up on them.   The Ffydd Dwarves had been loners for centuries and now it would cost them.  The dwarves had no problem with most of the Ûr, but the Unraveler was exactly that – something that could deconstruct what it found, tearing down rooms and life, digging deep and rising strong, ignoring any barrier that was put in its way.  The dwarves either died or fled, although they destroyed most of the attacking force, but not the Unvraveler.

The word was heard by Kreenan, Fathe Nûn and House Vaddoren that the Halls of the Ffydd Dwarves were falling.  They all mustered, but it was too late to save the halls.  Refugees were taken care of, but the great halls were lost. They were now filled with all manner of beast and spirit leftover from the conflict. Yet, the sense of the Unraveler had been diminished. Somehow the Ffydd had trapped the great being within the Halls, though no one knew how or where inside the dark and deep of the Ffydd Mountains the Unraveler lay. What was left of the worm was only an Echo of its former manifestation, trapped below and forever in darkness.

#### 2400-2404 Closure of the Chwaer Gate

When the relieving forces arrived at the Ffydd Halls, the divining mages that accompanied the forces saw that the Unraveler had become just and echo of what it was and believed it safely entrapped inside the mountain. However, a larger threat still remained to the east. The forces now sought to close the gate in the Chwaer Mountains from which that demon-god-spawn had come.

The open Chwaer Plain still was home to thousands of Ûr, in clans that had no desire to allow the forces of the west the freedom to do what they wished.  Battle upon battle continued, fighting Ûr and demon alike. A mage from Kreenan, named Vidra, created an interdimensional metal to assist the forces to fight back against the demons who came with Unraveler [1]  The armies were doggedly attacked by small raiding groups before they could fight another larger battle; yet the armies continued on their path in and around the Chwaer Mountains.  The armies slowly cleared out the area around the foothills of the Chwaer Mountains, and then made their ascent.  There were dangerous clans in the peaks of the mountains where the gate lay, but the armies needed to continue their quest.

Eventually, the clans were either destroyed or dispersed in the upper peaks and the Gate to the realm of Seybok lay before them.   The gate had been transformed into a portal where creatures from all manner of plane or realm were able to pass. A tremendous ensued with these beasts of other worlds, causing great devastation not just to the forces attempting to close the gate, but to the high peaks themselves. The mages and priests with the forces conducted many rituals and sacrifices, and finally the beasts that had been unleashed were either destroyed or sent back to whence they came. The gate itself was all that was left for the forces to face. The gate had been opened by a great mage, Irbahnd, but there was something strange about this particular gate as it could not be closed with the more commonly known rituals. The gate itself was a living manifestation, tied to the life and arcane force of Irbahnd, a being between worlds.

To close the gate, the mages Elzarin and Theomar created and conducted a ritual requiring arcane symbols made of Uzbent (Vidra's material) to grasp the spirit forces of Irbahnd. [2] This ritual allowed the gate to connect with their own magic forces while they passed through the gate to a plane unknown to all. As the mages transported, the life forces of Irbahnd clung strong and were dragged to whatever plane Elzarin and Theomar had been brought to. The gate was now closed and gone, although the high peaks had been transformed sufficiently that the membrane between worlds there was still quite thin.

#### 2402-2550 Aftermath

After the departure of the Unraveler, the people returned home, exhausted though elated that their world was a little more stable, at least for a time. Unfortunately, however, this was not true for much of the vanguard who had rallied to defy the Unraveler. Leaders from the north, west, east and south were all subjects of vengeance from the followers of the Unraveler.[3] There were noble families lost in an instant who had been great defenders of the region. It is unknown how their holdings were undermined so quickly, but nonetheless, the Unraveler had its final victory. The demon beast would be trapped, but not without dragging some of his greatest foes with him.

## Links

Chronology of Eirethune

Previous, Dark Lords of the South

Next, War Across the Bryan

## Notes

[1] The force lieutenants of the armies that fought against the demons in the valley required something to make sure they could kill them. The mage, Vlidra of Kreenan, had worked with some artificers to create a liquid, interdimensional metal, named *Uzbent*, that could coat weaponry to cut through demon and spirit alike. It wasn't easy to make or procure, but it is said that there are missing stores of the metal somewhere out in the Chwaer Plain, near the path that leads to the top of the Chwaer Mountains. There might also be some research materials on how to make it in the smaller temple to Mata in Kreenan.

[2] The arcane symbols constructed to close the gate were made of Vidra's material Uzbent. There were four symbols in particular that Elzarin and Theomar found that showed the greatest strength in latching on to the spirit of Irbahnd, namely: Tarbin - The Changeling, Styree - The Passage, Orz- The Eruption, and Hahmgill - Support of Man.

[3] One of the more notable of the lost nobles who fought in the Demon Wars was Lord Ioun Thanzadt from the Mote. His House had long served as defenders of the Mote, protecting and insuring the safety of the lands south of the Chwaer Plains, yet no more. In one brief moment, the great Thanzadt Manor south of Taitronen was destroyed and eradicated of its people. No one knew what became of the inhabitants, but the keep was torn asunder, plundered and left for the wild creatures of the Athro Wood to consume. It is possible that in the depths of the keep, there might be some of Vidra's[1] secrets remaining, but the keep has had so many different occupiers over the centuries, it is difficult to know.