The Betrayal War
The Betrayal War refers to a conflict between the Gods and other Extraplanar beings that took place in the Reshaping Year of Betrayal. The eponymous betrayal is that of the Dark God, Tharizdun, who attempted to usurp the divine power of the other the New Gods of Empyrean in order to destroy them in pursuit of his ultimate goal of destroying all of existence.
Tharizdun eventually lost this war and was bound to the Insensible Cage by the other the New Gods of Empyrean. The Betrayal War also resulted in The Moonfall, a catastrophic event that took place on Ora.
The Rape of Ishtar
The event that began both the Reshaping Year of Betrayal, and the war itself, is known as The Rape of Ishtar. Tharizdun secretly attempted to siphon away some of the divine power of Ishtar, in furtherance of his plot to destroy the the New Gods of Empyrean and the entire the Empyrean Universe.
Tharizdun's gambit failed due to Primus's dilligence and Ishtar pursued her attacker through The Underworld as he fled. The resulting chaos and destruction as the two gods fought was reported to the New Gods of Empyrean by Asmodeus.
And so it was that the other gods went to war, with the exception of Morrighan who by force of their divine will was now holding the planes together in an attempt to contain the destruction being wrought. Ashtar in particular made a solemn vow to destroy Tharizdun for harming his lover Ishtar, and he descended through the planes in the form of a mighty comet of fire with all the speed light could muster to come to her aid. When he found the two gods they were locked in combat with no clear victor in sight. The three of them fought on and even as the other New Gods arrived the Demon Lords of The Abyss came to Tharizdun's aid in enormous numbers, relishing the opportunity to potentially overthrow the New Gods that had so recently subjugated them. Under the cover of his demonic allies Tharizdun was able to escape into the depths of The Abyss.
Onslaught in the Abyss
This conflict raged on throughout the Reshaping Year of Betrayal and into the next year. After the initial swath of destruction through the entire Underworld, most of the fighting was contained to The Abyss. It was discovered that the already seemingly endless number of demons held there had been secretly multiplied by Tharizdun to serve as his army in pursuit of his scheme to destroy the Empyrean Universe. He had promised the demons survival and dominion over the entire Underworld which he would spare as part of their deal. He had made similar bargains with some of the powerful Primordial Elementals as well, who resided in their own layer of The Abyss after The Planar Expulsion.
Eventually one of these Primordial Elementals, a being of pure fire called Fiernus realized Tharizdun could not possibly keep his promises and still achieve his goal of total destruction of the universe, and so convinced the other Primordials to switch sides. Being a primordial of fire, Fiernus approached Ashtar with news of the elemental's intentions, but in exchange they wanted their own plane of existence to rule over without interference from the gods. Ashtar, being rash and hotheaded agreed wholeheartedly before consulting the other gods. When they heard of his bargain they were furious knowing the great power they would be giving up to create and hand over an entire plane to the elementals. Ashtar offered to reneg on the deal but Bahamut admonished him. A bargain had been struck and must be honored.
Fiernus told the gods of the secret citadel of pure obsidian hidden deep within The Abyss where Tharizdun was cloistered and lead them there. Ashtar rushed into the fight, crashing through the Citadel Black, nearly destroying it completely. Bahamut made a frontal assault against the surprised demon hordes, slaying them by the hundreds with his disintegration breath. Meanwhile the twins Rona and Anor created a massive storm that washed away the battlefield and obscured the approach of Ishtar who, seeking the point of utmost darkness within the demiplane, was able to pinpoint the location of Tharizdun deep in the dungeons of Citadel Black.
There she confronted the Ebon God in single combat. Tharizdun took the form of a massive 300ft tall suit of shadowy black Umbral Armor, armed with the greatsword Darksever. Ishtar matched his size and fearsomeness in her shining Quicksilver Armor. She wielded her enormous scythe Apolune and bore the mighty shield Albedo. Their fighting tore through their surroundings and soon other gods joined in the fray. Ashtar fighting by his lover's side with the burning fury of the sun and Ishtar gleaming with the cold determination of the night. Then The Dyad arrived and one of their masks laughed at Tharizdun who turned to look at his new foe. Ishtar seized the opportunity and was able to gain the upper hand, she landed a mighty blow with her great shield, slamming Tharizdun through the ethereal veil and into The Substantial.
Meanwhile, the rest of the gods fought off the hordes of Demons. Bahamut fought the Demon Lords Pazuzu and Miska the Wolf-Spider, the battle was hard fought but eventually he over came the powerful demons, crushing Miska under his claws and ripping his head off with his teeth, but not before Pazuzu wounded the Dragon God in the shoulder, a wound that has yet to heal all these millennia later. Unfortunately, Pazuzu was able to escape.
Conclusion And The Moonfall
Following quickly after Tharizdun through The Veil and into the world of Ora, Ashtar pierced his shadowy form with the Ray of Eternal Sunlight pinning him to the ground.
And then, in the peak of her rage, now standing 300ft tall on the continent of Halcyon, Ishtar reached out to the heavens and pulled down the third moon, Oona, crushing it in her grip and slamming it down onto Tharizdun, smiting him with all of her divine fury. This is the historical event known as The Moonfall, which created the Slash.
The cataclysm that followed was largely contained by Rona who held back the crashing seas, and Silvanus, who held the planet together, but the damage was done, the continent of Halcyon was marred forever creating the Moonfall Gulf and killing millions of mortals in the process.
However, this final blow was sufficient to subdue Tharizdun who was then restrained by Primus and brought back to Mechanus for judgment.
The Judgment of the Betrayed
Largely concluding the events of the Betrayal War, was The Binding of the Dark God, wherein Tharizdun was stripped of his power and sealed within the Insensible Cage as punishment for his crimes.
The Conflict
Prelude
Battlefield
Historical Significance
Legacy
Belligerents
Strength
Bolstered by their enormous legions of loyal Celestial subjects, the New Gods were capable of putting forth a truly mighty army of millions of powerful individuals.
Casualties
Objectives
Strength
Though the Demons of The Abyss and Primordial Elementals initially fought for Tharizdun, he ultimately stood alone. However, Tharizdun is immensely powerful and represented an existential threat to the universe itself.
Casualties
Objectives
Strength
The Demons of The Abyss are unlimited in number, representing a truly unstoppable chaotic force.
Casualties
Objectives
They were promised conquest and dominion within Tharizdun's ultimate vision of an empty universe. However, the majority of them likely fought simply to do so or for their own reasons, such as vengeance against the New Gods for their banishment to the Abyss.
Strength
The Primordial Elementals represent raw primal power, uncontrolled by divinity or arcana, they are limitless in number and are formed of the very elements that make up the universe.
Casualties
Objectives
They were promised conquest and dominion within Tharizdun's ultimate vision of an empty universe. However, realizing the Dark God's plans did not leave room for their continued existence, they defected to the side of the New Gods, with the goal of a plane of their own to control.
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