The War of Roses

Military: War

The Rise of Venus the Unwithered and her attempt to take over Tera'tun.

After 10,000 years of life, Elune's heart was broken and the moon split. The majority of these chunks of the previous moon reformed into the four moons seen by the residents of Amicis today. However, a handful of moonshards fell from the sky and hit Amicis.   Some turned into large crystal formations that are still visible on the surface of the world, such as the one that lies at the center of The High Prison in Merkart. One such moonshard struck Tera'tun in the center of the country, creating a crater that would one day form the lake at the center of Gallat.   On the eve of the new year of 2500 FM, the plant bloomed and began to grow. The large plant that bloomed from this boasted a large, pink, five-pedaled flower with several white-tipped reeds at its center. Every night at the stroke of midnight people could hear the singing and music many historians believe to be the works of Cota: the patron of the feys. This continued on for a decade, a month, and a day.   On the second day of the second month in 2510 FM, the pink five-pedaled flower warped and twisted into the form of a beautiful woman. She looked not unlike an elf, save for her soft purple skintone and long pink hair. As it had become something of an attraction to listen to the music that struck at midnight, there were over two hundred gathered to listen to the performance and witness the birth of Venus the Unwithered.   At first no one knew what might be made of this strange woman, and so they did not know the danger that was before them. Venus conjured vines and brambles from the floor that sat upon and strangled most who were present for her rise. The survivors all recalled that she declared she was a punishment sent upon those who lived in Tera'tun. Maive Welcat later recalled the event to Tera'tun's scholars and historians.   "She rose like a planer being and peered around her as if she'd suddenly been cast into the ocean without a moment's warning. She saw what nearby structures had been erected and her body began to glow with a terrible, red energy which she unleashed at the nearby homes and sheds, demolishing them.   She turned to us all and called out 'You who have been gifted with the beauty of the called have instead mocked and destroyed what you were granted. You are unworthy to claim the beauty of the world and so the beauty of the world shall claim you.'   She began to kill us as though we were nothing more than ants to her. What few weapons we had did nothing to her or her vines and brambles. As it turns out, those who died first might've had it easiest."   Three days and nights passed, in which several of the warriors from the surrounding kingdoms approached the crater to try and capture or kill Venus the Unwithered. Everyone who approached her died, and their bodies were used to fertilize the ground only to be give rise to horrible plantlife. This gave birth to beings like the treants, aartuks, corpse flowers, and other horrifying beings. These quickly spread over much of what is now the Dark Swamps, Gallat, Ninetta, the Broken, the Rage of the gods, and Lothel. The freezing temperatures in the mountains of the Kragnak Range and the Warrior Leader of the Wild Woods—Francia Brawen—managed to keep theses plants from absorbing the whole of Tera'tun. These was helped by the efforts of a few talented flame wielders that would eventually go on to become the Solari.   The War of Roses lasted for twenty-two years, and saw its own rise and fall of several heroes:   Andrie Lightspeaker: an elf who studied the effects and the weather on plantlife and helped coordinate much of the attack or defensive efforts that the flesh-and-bloods used. She was buried under the roots of several treants pretending to form a small wood. When she tried to take refuge from an encroaching field of corpse flowers, they trapped and suffocated her.   Zoli: A cast out amongst the Yaun-ti who commanded the efforts and focus of the creatures of the wild. These turned informant for him and allowed him to reveal and utilize much of the weakness of the plantlife, particularly necrotic and fire magics. He was eventually killed by the very group that had cast him out in an effort for them to gain favor with Venus the Unwithered. She killed them when they reported back.   Grehd: A white and red Aarakocra who led the arial efforts during the war. It was his efforts that eventually created the islands that was Volantris Hall. From here the plants could neither reach the flighted beings nor sense their attacks. It was pivotal in the war effort.   After the twenty-two years of war, Peter Riverwood led the final assault that led to Venus' death and drove the majority of her plantlife into the ground. The silver of Peter's blade melded with Venus' body to form the silver chair, which to this day acts as the throne for the king of Tera'tun. Peter Riverwood claimed the throne and drew the territories of Tera'tun so that they might never again be so open to a devastating attack and thus far, they have never suffered so much damage as they did in that war.