The Fifth Cycle (-4000 to -3000)

A few vocal voices among the Ebal’eshan were enraged by the role which Idorûn and Kovûnkal played in their misery. It was through that agreement that the Ebal’eshan were bound to remain overpopulated in Voryndal while the Alor’eshan were free to construct a world of their desire. It was also through Idorûn’s pillar and well that the Eshanic power gained through violation of the mandates was stored. They represented the worst of the First Feud’s aftermath. Yet, why now? This question is difficult to answer, and the author has expended long years attempting to map the motivations. In a sense, it was simple. Times were changing, the Glimmering Ascension was past, and the status quo of Voryndal no longer suited its ambitious denizens. In another vein, the prosperity of Voryndal meant that its races continued to multiple and civilizations grew. Over-population became an increasingly noticeable threat. Prosperity, then, signaled the eventual downfall.   With discontentment growing, it was certain that leaders would arise to mold it. A coalition of Ebal’eshan rallied together behind a figure named Zewilir. He, like many of his kin, was a veteran of the fierce fighting which blackened Zaregallis some 4000 years prior. He, like many of his kin, was infuriated by the terms of Kovûnkal to which Ácolitus agreed without second opinion. This made him a suitable candidate for any insurrection, even if his name was scant known or mentioned anything otherwise. Zewilir bid that the Eshan come forth alongside their olûndari creations and reject the mandates. Their target? Misladur. No other single location better represented the dominance of Ácolitus and his laws in Esha. The first interested Eshan approached him around the year -3766.   The year was now -3764. Zewilir cleverly withheld his power until the moment was proper. Rumors did spread of possible rebellion, but neither Ácolitus nor his agents wished to pre-maturely violate the unspoken peace of the Glimmering Ascension. A great tension hung over the continents while each side prepared.   Zewilir struck in the summer of that year. It began with the long-planned attack against Misladur. Thousands of olûndari warriors along with a score of Eshan departed from their dwellings with death in their hearts. This was the most dangerous stage of the rebellion. If they failed now, the wrath of Ácolitus’ undamaged strength would crush them without struggle.

With the initial attack upon Misladur an astounding success, rebellious sentiment against Ácolitus erupted throughout the world. Insolent Eshan and their races ousted the agents of Koluthollas or slaughtered those who resisted, causing considerable damage as their temples and holdings were torched.   The steadfast resistance of Idorûn carried an unexpected consequence for the rebels. His imprisonment in that place appeared an ever-greater cruelty, for he was honorable in upholding his duties while the treacherous masses hurled insults and fire against him.   As the support for Zewilir began to epp away, the more radical elements of his faction escalated the war to its final bloody crescendo. Those who once fought for the dignity and future of all Eshan became reviled among them. The fervor died with a whisper.   Agents and Eshanic allies of Ácolitus tracked Zewilir and his surviving followers to the land of Perdamus.   The outcome of this vicious slaughter left deep scares upon Voryndal’s landscape. Eshanic power was used and abused, fortifications sundered the flowering fields, and the corpses of hideous behemouths punctuated the hills. Certain regions which were most terribly damaged took upon an appearance like the Nathrovayen Fringe of Qadayen fame.