The Void War

The Void War is the most infamous and catastrophic military conflict in the two thousand year history of Hasdall. Marked by the rise and fall of Sariel, and the unification of the people of the north, the Void War was the catalyst for a generational change. But it came at an incredible and irreplaceable cost.

Sariel’s army of orcs, hobgoblins, necromancers and giants was truly brutal and outnumbered the opposing force almost two to one during the largest battles of the war. They charged north from Ollm Unarith, and met little to no resistance until they were forced to cross the Warlord’s March, a feudal society of tribal half orcs and other outsiders, who fiercely defend their well-fortified towns and keeps with their lives. But the evil Drow warmancer Sariel was no match for even the fiercest warriors of The March. Although her army was overwhelmingly victorious at Warlord’s March, her torrid pace was slowed, enough for riders to reach the north and spread word of the enemy’s position, and their armies to mobilize. But onward Sariel pressed, up to the neck of the continent, through Carigon’s Shadow Pass. The Northern army was still two days ride from the keep at Ashminster when Sariel’s army invaded, and conquered it with relative ease. Her army pushed further north, slaughtering every small town and farming village along the way, and at one point had advanced as far north as the outlying towns southwest of Baystead in the east, and the former Fort Black on the Black Coast Bluffs in the west. Sariel was a mere miles away from dispersing her army in all directions, north and out of the bottleneck, and letting loose hell on earth across the vast north. But the army of the North pushed back, its banners united and its army at full force, and was able to force the enemy back in to the narrows, reeling a bit from the first stumbling block of their crusade.

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Bloody stand after bloody stand occurred, and some of the most gruesome battles with the largest casualties occurred in this narrow passage of land. But the North eventually prevailed, their defensive position was steadfast and seemingly immovable. They had entrenched themselves firmly in to the massive keep at Blackmarch, which was the last gate into the north. They were able to force the enemy back down the coast, and retake the keep city of Ashminster. As they beat Sariel’s army further and further back, they were successful in maintaining a strong eastern flank that prevented her army from traveling further inland.

The final battle of the Void War occurred in the jungle stronghold at Eshveneas, deep within the Jirengroth Vale. It was here that Sariel, realizing her imminent defeat, sacrificed her mortal self in a blood ritual to the evil lords of the underworld, in an attempt to descend to divine immortality. The evil lords were satisfied with the bloodshed and suffering she had wrought, and deemed her worthy of joining their ranks. Sariel’s physical lifeform was completely evaporated, as a blast of unholy power so severe, so large, and so catastrophic crashed down to the earth, and part of Hasdall itself was completely severed and sunken into the Ashen Ocean. Almost 3,600 square miles of land was lost, forced out to sea, where it is believed to be held in place on the ocean floor by powerful remnants of divine evil magic. An equally massive portion of the coast and inland Hasdall was also tainted with this negative magical energy. The entirety of the Jirengroth Vale, and as far to the east as 200 miles inland, has a blight on it to this day that has sullied vegetation, killed wildlife, and forced locals out of the lands. What those effects are is uncertain, as the area is largely uninhabitable long term, but it is rumored that new mutations of sickly monsters and beasts, and the souls of the fallen lurk in those parts. People refer to this area simply as The Void, and have named the bloody war after the same moniker.

The end to the war was devastating. All that were fighting at Eshveneas were instantaneously obliterated. Those who were fighting further inland, friend and enemy alike, were exposed to the fallout from the explosion. Men returning home from war bore gruesome disfigurements, and many never made it home. The magical blight cast upon them a breed of magic that even the wisest sorcerers, wizards, and magical practitioners could not reverse. Many of the great generals and battlefield champions that helped protect the North during crucial earlier battles, which pushed south and saw the war through to its final days, now live on only in great storybooks and heroic fables.

The Conflict

Prelude

At the end of the year 2,100 A.D., Sariel's army had grown to a staggering number. She had claimed the entirety of the Jirengroth Vale as her own, forced out or slaughtered the natives, and her orc generals had established strongholds throughout the jungle. Manipulated by evil magic and the fear of Sariel's necromancers, the orcs operated under her authoritative boot. The first campaign of the war was south of the mountain, at Redmir Keep. Manned by mercenary soldiers of the trade lords, Redmir Keep was a southern outpost held by emissaries of the Greywulf Trade Corporation. Sariel's army captured the keep with indomitable ease, and moved her army further inland. Next, she invaded the Oken Steppes, an area of land occupied by the horse lords of the south. Stalwart fighters and brave warriors, the horse lords were no challenge for Sariel, and their lands were destroyed, and their palisade settlements razed to the ground. In a brazen act of brutality, and what many believe marked the start of the war, Sariel ordered the many Thanes of each settlement, and King Eddorin, the ruler of the Oken Steppes, be captured alive. She brought the prisoners to the keep at Hölym, and had the Thanes slowly gutted and tortured, before eventually being beheaded, in front of their King and the people of the village. She then executed King Eddorin, utilizing a bloodletting spell that sucked the blood from every orifice on his body in to Sariel. He screamed and wailed in agony, until he finally collapsed and died. The villagers were executed in kind, and the Oken Steppes had officially fallen. Many consider Sariel's brutal execution of the lords of the horse lands to signify the start of the war.

Outcome

While the north was victorious, many of the men fighting near the Jirengroth Vale that made it out alive did not make it home. The powerful magical aura left in Sariel's wake created a malady that many now refer to as Jirengroth Fever. Extreme sickness, high fever, uncontrollable shaking, body blisters, rotting flesh and loss of sight are only some of the less painful ailments caused by the flu. Many of the men suffered direct effects of the blood spell, and either died almost instantly from uncontrolled hemorrhaging, or suffered in excruciating agony for weeks as their insides slowly decayed and rotted, and their flesh rotted off. Only skeletal remains were left after the fever took hold of it's victims.

Aftermath

3,600 miles of coastal land in southwest Hasdall was obliterated, and severed from the mainland. The remnants are believed to have been sunk to the bottom of the ocean, held in place by the powerful magical remnants of Sariel's blood magic.

Historical Significance

Legacy

The Void War would mark the end of a generation of feuding and in-fighting amongst the men of the North. It would result in the permanent unification of the northern banners, and the coronation of the country's first king. This war also created a growing disconnect between north and south Hasdall, as much of the South refused to join in the war effort.

In Literature

Scholars of all kinds are feverishly gathering information, traveling the country and garnering as many facts as they can, for historical documentation. Records and first hand accounts are known to be stored in the Royal Library in Rowanshyre.

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

2101

Ending Date

2105

Conflict Result

Sariel's army was obliterated as a result of her blood ritual. The army of the north was victorious, the races of men spared.

Belligerents

The Army of the North

Sariel's Army

Strength

Superior melee combat prowess, powerful weapons cultivated from rare materials, natural geographical strongholds

Overwhelming advantage in numbers, fearless mentality and ruthless aggression, led by a would-be evil God of war

Casualties

Hundreds of thousands of men were lost, in total, during the four years of wartime. Many great houses were destroyed, and noble warriors laid to rest.

Physical geographical casualties aside, the majority of Sariel's army was instantaneously erased as a result of her blood ritual. She too, left the mortal plane, and descended in to the pits of hell, leaving what small numbers remained without a leader, and defeated.

Objectives