The War on Darkness

Purge of the Unholy

They think they can hide among us- corrupt our people, drink our blood! Not anymore, we will purge the demons from our Guardian City!

— General Ora Browning of the The Holy Vampire Hunters

The War on Darkness was a religious conflict between the Church of the Lightbearer and the Order of the Nisurach Circle.

The Conflict

Prelude

The Order of the Nisurach Circle had been planning an uprising against the Church of the Lightbearer, as they wanted to spread what they believed to be the truth about the demons and gods. They planned to attack churches around the city, whilst the vampires among them would drain more people, spreading the resources of the church and the government thin, until they could attack Virimbale Cathedral and kill the High Priest.

The Engagement

In the beginning, the conflict went mostly as planned for the Order. Vampiric members began draining and turning followers of the church, especially those that were vampire hunters or police. As more and more government and church forces were sent to investigate the attacks, small groups of cultists sent by the higher Order members burnt down some of the churches in the city.
However, on the 19th of December, the Church announced that that it was a demonic cult behind both the vampire attacks and the attacks on the churches, before having believed the two were unrelated. The Church immediatly requested temporary control of the police force, military, and all trusted vampire hunting organisations. They refocused all the forces into finding and wiping out the cult.
The Order realised that their plan had failed; even though the attacks were spread apart, and the churches burned had no traces of them, the church had worked out it was deliberate action. They had always thought the Church would be too proud to admit that there was occult activity in Starfell. But the order knew there was no backing out now.
They began more frequent and increasingly violent attacks on the churches. Cultists sacrificed themselves to preach in the streets, some even holding surprise attacks against the Fellian Police and Hunters that tried to remove and kill them. The Church realised they had only added fuel to the fire, and knew now it was the time to rally their forces and attack with their full might. In May, the church began to prepare for their assault, they began preaching to the people of Starfell, esspecially those affected by the attacks. They trained more hunters, more police, and encoraged civilians to help with the war effort. The Order saw this, and attacked with more ferocity than ever, with battles and bloodshed in the streets becoming a common occurence.
In August, the Church attacked. They executed anyone suspected of cultist behavior even without sufficient evidence, including children.

"Why- Why?! She was only a child! She didn't know what she was doing!"
"A child of Darkness will never be a child of Light."
"She did nothing- nothing at all!"

— Conversation between a mother and a The Holy Vampire Hunter after the culling of her daughter.

Many houses and hideouts belonging to members of the order were found and burnt down, the artefacts within them being destroyed or siezed as proof. The battles in the street grew fierce, with many more injured or killed, but eventually the Church's forces overwhelmed the Order. Most members were executed immediately, but some others were captured and executed in public, or tortured for infomation and then killed. As the war fizzled to an end, most of the Order had been wiped out, with only a few escaping.

Outcome

The conflict left many of the buildings in the city and the surrounding villages burnt and charred, both from cultist fires and "holy fires" from the The Holy Vampire Hunters.

"It was horrible, nothing like the holy city I had known before. There were corpses in the streets, some charred.. the fires still raged on, and in that moment, I could not tell if it was holy fire, or a corrupted one. Was this truly what our Lightbearer wanted? For today, this light only seems to bring destruction."

— Journal of an ex follower of the Church of the Lightbearer

"For the first time in my life I feared the bright streets more than the dark ones..."

— Interview from the Fellian Times

During and after the conflict, there were bodies laying in almost every street, this caused several outbreaks of diseases, especially within those tasked to clear up the rubble.

Aftermath

The conflict left scars on the city and the people within. A lot of vampires, especially those old enough to remember the war have become wary of anything occult, instead prefering to hide and try to live normally, but for some it has increased their hatred of the church, oping to feed on their followers instead of the standard raw meat as an act of revenge. In this way, the war has had a somewhat opposite affect for the church, as vampire attacks have increased since the conflict.
The War left the Church and it's followers even more sensitive to vampiric and demonic things. Before the conflict, most vampire children would be hidden by their parents, someone finding out that their friend was a vampire might keep the secret, but ever since, parents or friends would happily report them to the hunters, even if they had not attacked a single person. In the years following the war, Asylums in Starfell had an increase in patients, with anyone showing even mild disinterest in the church being forced there.

Historical Significance

Legacy

The War on Darkness is known as the most brutal and violent act against the occult in history, rivaling even the days the Church first outlawed non-Lightbearer worship. It is taught in schools as an example of the wrath Vsinerinm has against all things demonic, and a reminder of what happens if you become corrupted by dark forces. The Fellian Historical Museum has a special room dedicated to just this conflict.

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Urban

Start Date

September 3146

Ending Date

November 3147

Conflict Result

Most members of the Order were wiped out, alongside most of their documents and artefacts.

Belligerents

The Allies of Light

• Church of the Lightbearer

Agents of Darkness

• Order of the Nisurach Circle

Strength

The Allies of light was an alliance formed by the church, which consisted of the The Holy Vampire Hunters, certain rougue vampire hunting organisations, detective agencies, and the Fellian police force, which overall made them a fearsome opponent. Most of the people fighting were trained in combat, and they also had many other methods at their disposal to weed out members and execute them.

The "Agents of Darkness" consisted mostly of members of the order, as well as a few vampires who were tired of the constant fear of the Vampire Hunters. They had very few numbers compared to the church and it's allies, and almost none of the people fighting were trained in combat.

Casualties

Around a quarter of the people originally involved with the battle were significantly injured, with 14% of those people killed.

Most of the Order of the Nisurach Circle was killed in this conflict, alongside many non-member vampires.

Objectives

The objective was to wipe out all "heretics" and "demonic sympathisers" mostly meaing the Order of the Nisurach Circle.

At first, their main objective was to rebel against the Church, and spread the truth about Vsinerinm and the demons. However, as the battle grew more fierce, the aim then became to defend the artefacts of the Order, and the members themselves.