Invasion of the Gnomes
As the Grand Age was born, one could say the legends needed forces of evil for good to fight against. And so enter the Gnomes, one of two main antagonists within this age (the other being the nighthumans). Coming from lands beyond the Dwarven mountains to the north, it is said they entered in the dead of night on cold winter's day. By the time the sun rose, the horizon was filled with pillars of smoke, where Humans, Elves, and Orcs alike lay dead and burning. By nightfall the next day, they were gone yet again.
Over the course of the next 150 years, they would conduct similar raids , quickly earning the moniker "Scourge of the Ashes".