Ophidian Conflict

The Ophidian Conflict had its beginnings in the Lesser Elven Civil War. As the eldrus began pushing the wyrd elves out of the River Lands, the wyrd elves first sought refuge in the Wylds. While tjhe fortress of Saxon had been built at the Great Tarn as a gateway to the Wylds, no one took the possibility of an invasion from the Wylds very seriously. After all, aside form small pockets of man and elves, no known civilized races lived in its stifling jungles. It was infested with cannibals, barbarians, monsters and jungle predators, so it was dangerous, but there was no organized force within the Wylds that would constistute a threat to the other four Lands of Damocles.

The wyld elves moved on into deeper portions of the Wylds; others migrated as far as Haven, on the border of the Broken Lands. Thus, the eldrus exchanged one war for another.

The Second Age saw the emergence of demi-humans, and the sudden influx of elven refugees into the Wylds drew the attention of one of these new demi-human groups: the ophidians. These reptilian humanoids had been steadily amassing an army within the Wylds. Fiercely militaristic, they viewed the "elven incursion" as a threat to their new empire. In short order, ophidian spies discovered the truth of the state of affairs at the Tarn.

## The Ophidians take Saxon

Upon learning that the elves alone manned the Tarn fortresses while the dwarves and men were off fighting the Third Troll War and that a mere skeleton crew of elves garrisoned the fortress of Saxon, the ophidians, led by Severus Khan, attacked Saxon and slaughtered its thinly-spread elven forces in a single night.

Come morning, the other Tarn fortresses were shocked to see a strange banner flying over Saxon. Fearing the worst, a delegation was sent to investigate. The delegation never returned. Alarmed, Commander Peregrin Cygnus ordered the pegasi calvary of Fyrgold to scout out the fortress. The riders returned with strange reports of strange lizard men manning Saxon's defenses and the tents of an army of at least 4000 strong on the other side of the fortress. Commander Cygnus sent word by his fastest pegasus rider to the eleven capitol of Cor Domi, requesting immediate reinforcements. Unbeknownst to anyone, forces under Dagus Khan and Kali Khan numbering 8000 strong were already marching upon the border of the River lands in retaliation for the "elven incursion."

## Reinforcements

The reinforcements requested of the Arturan Knights by High Chancelor Tsai of the Elven High Council when the Arturan knights and dwarves manning the Tarn fortresses set off to fight the Third Troll War arrived just in time to defend against the first ophidian wave. As the full extent of the threat became known, gryphonriders were sent to both Pendraconis and Devongard Keep, the stronghold of the Knights of Greyhelm in the Broken Lands, calling for immediate aid. Sorely taxed by the demands of the Third Troll War, Pendraconis responded by sending an additional 400 knights, but this severely impacted the Arturan knights' ability to patrol the Green Lands. Half of these troops and an additional flight of griffon-mounted knights were sent to the Great Tarn; the other half was sent to aid the elves in the River Lands. Devongard responded with 250 mounted knights, a force representing 90% of all Greyhelm knights at the time. In addition, they recruited 300 foot soldiers from the countryside of the Broken Lands and marched on the Tarn.

## Battle at the Great Tarn

The ophidian army proved cold, calculating and utterly ruthless. The reptilian warriors used alchemical bracers to blow themselves up as suicide bombers if they thought they were near death or defeat, causing further damage to the defenders in the process. They also seemed to have the ability to control wyrms and had no qualms against using the beasts fro siege purposes. Severus Khan's forces actually breached and temporarily held the fortress of Dunholt, but were driven back by the Greyhelm reinforcements.

The elven pegasi calvary and the Arturan griffon riders proved to be a tactical advantage that the ophidian general could not overcome. Severus Khan's ground troops, though numerous, found themselves pinned down by the aerial might of the other Tarn fortresses. Unable to remain on the open field of battle, trhe ophidians pulled back to Saxon. Try as they might, the other Tarn forces were unable to evict the ophidians from their stolen fortress.

## Battle in the River Lands

Meanwhile, the other Khans had been convinced by the accuracy of elven marksmanship that the River Lands would not be taken by mere brute force. With their forces sorely depleted after several months of fighting, Dagon Khan and Kali Khan retreated back into the Wyldes. The elves were aided in their victory by Arturan knights and by tribes of centaurs. The latter's aid did much to temper elven attitudes toward demi-humans. Elves tended to see demi-humans as abominations, perversions of true nature, much like the Corrupted Elders. The fearless savagery and brute strength of the centaurs was somewhat refined by their contact with the elves. The elves came to view them as invaluable allies, especially years later during the satyr uprisings.

The elves tried to take the battle to the ophidians, but found the effort futile. They settled for tighter border patrols and plenty of watchtowers, while they began work on the Great Wall of Eli which now fully separates the Wyldes from the River Lands.

## Saxon Accord

The war formally ended with the Saxon Accord which gave official control of Saxon to the ophidians in return for safe passage for humans and elves back from the Wyldes to their own lands and immediate cessation of all aggression by all parties. the ophidians promptly renamed the fortress Soth.