First Holy War in the Name of the Order

Military: War

Marking the beginning of the aggressive expansion of the Order, the First Holy War was the first war involving a unified Continent and the first involving a direct war between humans and elves.

In 1094, under the leadership of the Primas of Westatoras, a group of devout priests and warriors of the Order were gathered and sent on a holy mission to convert the Dark Elves to the Order.

They set out with years worth of rations, 12 priests and almost a hundred crewmen and soldiers for protection. Their journey to The Darklands was relatively smooth, but upon their arrival, they quickly angered the local population. Despite their best efforts, they were captured and enslaved by drow warriors.

Some of them managed to escape and word of their enslavement reached the ear of the Probare. As a response he held an unprecedented sermon, urging the Orderly rulers to take up arms and free the enslaved priests. The religious rulers of The Continent answered the call and huge armies began organizing and began travelling to The Darklands in 1095.

While the majority of the human forces were gathering on the shores of The Darklands, the forces of Kojata 'the Blessed' took initiative and began pillaging and capturing cities, including Yi'Riila, a holy city of the drow that had the Grand Altar of Volublectyth in it. Destroying the sacred temple angered the elves, drawing them out from their more defensible positions into a pitch battle with the forces of Order.

The Battle of Yi'Riila began in 1098. As the dark elf forces chased the defeated Blakfort forces, the rest of the Order met them in an open field. The largest battle up until than point took place. Tens of thousands of humans, dwarves, horses, war machines and even centaurs clashed with thousands of elves on the field of battle. The battle lasted for months with skirmishes, nightly raids and open-field battles that took place daily.

After the battle, dark elf resistance dissipated and the rulers of the Dhaerenuiin Impaerin surrendered to the humans. The surviving priests were sent home and all occupied cities on the shore were formed into a new realm, the Righteous Kingdom of Yi'Riila under the rule of Bertha 'the Lucky' Blakfort.