Goblin Wars

“*It was long, long ago. When the men of the first age had just established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. It was then when the goblins decided that, in their arrogance and delusion, they would crush those who stood against them. A terrible war waged between them, and then another, and then another. It lasted for centuries.*”

The **Goblin Wars** were a series of centuries-long conflicts fought between the non-human goblins and the men of the Whispy Woods.

## History

### Prelude

Long before the First Age even began, in a period known as the Age of Darkness, the Whispy Woods was originally inhabited by a diminutive, non-human race known as goblins. Fiercely independent and many in number, they were nonetheless very destructive and their chieftains wielded great power over their people. Twelve thousand years ago, the first humans to live on the continent, known as the Mag Nuk, migrated there from isles of the eastern seas. The arrival of mankind indeed marked the beginning of the modern dating system.

### Conflict

Following the rise of men in the Whispy Woods, many goblins (who believed themselves to be higher than mankind) refused to aid the First Men. While not openly hostile to them at first, the goblins soon became far more antagonistic, purposefully slaughtering livestock, stealing food, and raiding villages of their supplies. The two races came to a boiling point in a series of conflicts lasting two thousand years.

Little is actually known about much of the conflict, including the exact length and scope of the conflict. It can be assumed that it lasted for at least a few centuries and was waged across the entire country. It presumably led to mass loss of life on either side, as well as immense devastation on both the flora and fauna of the land itself. While the goblins may have been numerous, they did not possess much technology, while their simple weapons were no match for the bronze weapons of man. This gave them the advantage in their fight,  However, the goblins remained fierce fighters who knew their lands well and they did possess one advantage that men knew nothing of - that of evil. Using these powers, they unleashed beasts of all kinds against man, but even that was not enought to turn the tide.

At one point during the conflict, the tide turned in the goblins’ favor. After losing his sword and seeing so many of his men die, King Athelard subsequently lost his will to fight. He was, however, reinvigorated when the blacksmith Donnon of Mog presented him with an enchanted sword. Following a triumphant battle, the goblins and their allies were forced to retreat, thus giving the victory to mankind. Several smaller battles were fought after that over a lengthy period, but not much had changed.

### Ending

After generations of warfare, the two sides had fought to a standstill. Both races were tired of the centuries of bloodshed, and promptly agreed that a representative army from both sides would fight one last time. The armies converged at an open plain in the central-most part of the Whispy Woods, and thus they battled. The leader of the men, a warrior shaman gifted with the power of foresight by Merlin, was the one to truly win the wars for his people. In the heat of battle, he decapitated the goblin gormash, their leader and king. Without their gormash, the leaderless goblins either fled or surrendered. In their victory, mankind flourished even more, while the goblins retreated the foulest corners of the world. The battlefield where the war was ended, after many years, became known as Goblin's Blight.