Third Fel Uprising

The Third Fel Uprising, from 1370-1387 AD, was another terrible conflict involving the demonic power of the fel and was one of the last major conflicts involving the Second Alliance.

Beginning of the Uprising

Wandering of Yssshark

It began over twenty years after the previous Second Fel Uprising, when the aj'ra Yssshark Motssloksh travelled to the east. Yssshark was one of the last pupils to Etsasya Ss'srakos, who and when his master had died, Yssshark fled. He wandered for over twenty years, initially merely trying to survive. He continued to practice and perfect his dark arts, and his rage and hatred at the world continued to grow. Determined to burn the whole of Telarith down and fulfill his master's last wish, he slowly began to create his own army.

Coming to Dreos

Yssshark found his way to the island of Dreos in 1364, and came across the rogue druid Loramthen. This particular dreor had been disgraced by his peers, for trying to delve to deep into dark magic, and was the perfect assistant. Yssshark took Loramthen under his wing, teaching him to harness the dark powers of the fel. In secret, the two began to summon demons and monsters from other worlds, and slowly convinced others to join their cause. Their followers were enhanced with the blood of demons and felfire, become horrible, but strong and powerful, creatures. Slowly they began to prepare for another conflict, which would surely come.

First Conflicts

Naturally, the growing cult-like army within Dreos would attract some unwanted attention. The first conflicts were between dreor druids, and as rumors and reports escalated, the dreor began to grow concerned. During this time Yssshark had also expanded his operations, planning to attack the Aether Islands. In 1370 he led a large force of his followers and destroyed the Sun Fall Fortress, one of the larger fortresses of the Telari Order. This sudden and shocking attack stunned many lithryns, and was the beginning of the Third Fel Uprising.

Course of the War

Early Stages of the Uprising

Yssshark knew that the major kingdoms of the world were still weak from the Second Fel Uprising, but were still too strong for his forces. Thus, his goal throughout the entire conflict was to focus on the Aether Islands, the stronghold for many powerful organizations, most notably the Telari Order. The early stages of the war saw brutal fighting in the eastern regions of the Aether Islands, as Yssshark pressed on towards their center, the great Fortress of Light, Lith'maytesh. It was here that the powerful naaru V'aren and D'oren resided. It he could taint the Eye of the Aether, and destroy their fortress, it would be a major blow to the worlds defenses and could potentially be used as a new staging ground, from where Yssshark could summon demons and invade the rest of the world.
The Telari Order, of course, did not stand idly. They quickly rallied themselves, but did not yet call for aid from other nations, believing that the other kingdoms still needed time to recover and that this was a smaller threat.

Battle of Skyfall

Yssshark had amassed quite a following, as his pupil Loramthen continued his work in Dreos. Many flocked to his cause, bolstering his ranks. He made good use of them, quickly advancing, mostly ignoring major fortresses of the Telari. There were some conflicts, but no true major battles, as Yssshark was hesitant to engage in combat until he was ready.
Around the massive floating island called Kyran, however, his sailing army at last came upon a massive fleet of the Telari in 1372. They planned to engage from Kyran, and rain fire and arrows upon the sailing invaders. However, Yssshark had planned for such an attack. He led a large force and teleported upon the island, behind enemy lines, and led a surprise attack from behind. The Telari warriors were decimated, but fought on hard.
But despite their bravery, the Telari were outmatched. Yssshark revealed the true power of the fel magics he had practiced, and tore apart the entire island, destroying it and the Telari troops upon it. Kyran was blasted apart by vile green fel magic, and chunks of it fell to the sea below. Thus it was known as the Battle of Skyfall, a major blow to the Telari.

Advance Towards the Eye of Aether

The Telari were stunned by the loss, and quickly realized that they had overestimated their adversary. With most of their troops still holding down other forts and the loss of many soldiers, the path was open for Yssshark to advance.
He quickly led his forces straight towards the Fortress of Light, intent of sieging and capturing the capitol of the Telari. Though he faced resistance along the way, as several brave commanders used their wit and courage to slow him down. Progress was slow, and so Yssshark decided to split his main force amongst his greatest generals, who would each take different paths towards the Eye of Aether and regroup there.
Some of the groups would be defeated, such as the force underneath Cashan Abrith'esa that was wiped out at the Battle of Telandol Reef. But for the most part Yssshark's forces slowly made there way towards the fortress-city, as the Telari were still spread thinly. Even so, they did manage to call upon the aid of the former members of the Second Alliance, but with the vast distances reinforcements could very come to late for them. In addition, many nations, like the blue mer shogunate, was focusing on internal issues and could offer little aid.

Siege of Lith'maytesh

Yssshark's scattered forces regrouped and reached the great fortress and capitol of the Telari Order, Lith'maytesh, in 1375 AD. They then immediately began the process of besieging the fortress, but this proved to be a more difficult task than expected. The defenders fought with all their fury, and the fortress was one of the most well-defended in all of Telarith.
Though its defenders fought on, they suffered great losses. Yet they had hope in the arriving reinforcements that were coming from the Second Alliance. Yssshark was forced to split off his troops to fend off any reinforcements, and managed to fight back a large lithryn army at the Battle of the Crying Sword.
After nearly three years, Yssshark had expanded his presence throughout most of the Aether Islands, but had only managed to hold off enemy forces thanks to plague, careful planning, and sheer luck. The Order of the Felguard in particular was starting to unravel his hold, and he began one last desperate attack on the fortress. His forces managed to finally penetrate the walls, but the naaru D'oren sacrificed itself in grand explosion to destroy a large chunk of his army. An arrival fleet of lithryns, raleryns, and even some tharmer forced him to flee.
The disparte patchwork of warriors who had arrived at the fortress meanwhile reaffirmed their loyalties. At the Accord of the Aether, the nations of the lithryns, raleryns, and blue mer reformed the Second Alliance to once again combat the grave threat before them. Leading them would be Sathanthir Saeynra'Esha, the prince of Telar at the time.

The Fight Continues

Yssshark may have been beaten, but the war was far from over. Over the years Yssshark had corrupted many regions of the Aether Islands, and established for himself a terrible fortress, the Felhallow, in the southern region of the Aether Islands. This would serves as his headquarters, and here the mage would rest and recover. Severly wounded during the siege, he began to spend his time summoning more terrible monsters, creating vile creatures and mutations, and delving further into the practice of fel magic. In his stead he charged Kassans Shin'ss'a, a genius tactician.
Kassans successfully began a countercampaign against the newly formed Grand Army, creating several nomadic armies that constantly travelled and harassed the larger force. For several years this strategy was successfully used, with the constant movement of the fel armies making it difficult to fight and defeat them. Kassans saw many successful victories at Wallensha, Katayn, and the Echoside Isles, but his many of his own forces suffered great losses as well. This period saw some of the most brutal fighting, as conflicts and skirmishes were fought all over the Aether Islands.

The Turning Point

By 1383 the both the forces of the Second Alliance and the servants of Yssshark were equally devastated and tired of the conflict. Knowing that the time to strike was when his enemies were at their weakest, Kassans decided to lead a major offensive towards the eastern regions of the Aether Islands, and perhaps even briefly press on towards Telreymor. He hoped to secure a victory of the lithryns and distract their forces, but all his plans would fall apart. 
During the offensive he suffered great causalities from the Order of the Felguard, who constantly harressed his army. And at the Battle of the Green Flame he severely overestimated his foe, causing his ranks to break. In addition, a new batch of Telari reinforcements proved the final blow, and nearly the entire army was wiped out. Kassans himself was slain, and most of his troops were killed.
The Battle of the Green Flame proved to be a turning point in the war, as one of the largest groups of the Third Fel Uprising was wiped out. The loss of Kassans was equally devastating, as no other general was quite as skilled and tactful as he was. With renewed vigor, the armies of the Second Alliance pushed forward, capturing many enemy fortresses.

Later Stages of the War

The Great Retreat

With the momentous loss at the Battle of the Green Flame, the remaining armies of Yssshark began to pull back and reorganize. Many splintered off into small units that fought guerilla wars, while the rest went on the defensive in their holdings in the south. 
For the next four years they mainly off the continual advance of their enemies, as the Second Alliance met fierce resistance in the region. They took heavy casualties, but steadily moved forward.

Last Major Offensive

Yssshark by now had been turned into a monstrous creature, with horns and wings and strong talons, and had molded his warriors into powerful creatures capable of taking on ten men by themselves. However, he realized that there numbers were few and rapidly dwindling, and that the only thing that awaited them in the future was a slow death. In one last desperate plea, he assembled the rest of his armies, and marched out to strike down his foes.
Yssshark led his forces against the surprised army of the Second Alliance, but they quickly recovered. He aimed toward one goal, the fortress of Dawnsource. Losing it would have been a blow to the Alliance, and Yssshark also had a plan to unveil his secret weapon to ensure success.

Battle of Dawnsource

The fortress of Dawnsource was impressive but did not have the greatest defensive capabilities. However, Yssshark was unaware that the commanders of the fortress alerted the greater armies of the Alliance. Both sides knew this was to be the final deciding conflict in the war, and held nothing back.
The great armies clashed on the island of Catalam, where the fortress lay, and fought for hours. It was a bloody and terrible conflict, but the forces of Yssshakr were slowly retreating. This, however, was a ruse. He then revealed what years of study had allowed him to create: a monstrous titanic and demonic creature, towering hundreds of feet high. Powered purely by rage the the demonic fel, it immediately set about to destroy the armies of the Second Alliance.
The lithryn king and commander of the forces, Sathanthir Saeynra'Esha, led a brave group of his best warriors against the beast. With his sword of holy light and magic, he fought on, cutting at its legs and realeasing bolts of pure holy magic at the beast. This did not but irritate and annoy the creature, but that was Sathanthir's plan. The blue mer mage Kerriganna LenSaraishia had meanwhile channeled all her arcane talent into pulling on of the smaller floating islands in the region, and pushing her talents to their maximun she pulled the great rock right out of the sky. It thundered towards the beast, crashing into its head and killing it instantly. 
The collision quickly damaged the army of Yssshark, and also caused the death of Sathanthir. But the army of the Second Alliance, reinvigorated, charged forward and routed and killed the entire remaining force. Yssshark himself was killed while trying to flee, and the rest of his troops were slain.

 Aftermath

The Third Fel Uprising was the last of its kind, though the damage would once again take a long time to heal. The Aether Islands had suffered greatly, and it would take decades and in some cases centuries for taint of the fel to dissipate. 
The Telari Order was devastated, and would take quite some time to reappear in major world affairs. All the member races and nations would also go back to their homelands, and many would suffer great repercussions because of the conflict, such as the dreor or the lithryns. 
The Order of the Felguard had however proven to be very adept at fighting such threats, and grow exponentially. They began many campaigns to seek out the last remnants of the Yssshark's followers, and helped establish securities to ensure that such a conflict never happened again.

Related Historical Events

• 1370 AD
  Third Fel Uprising