Military action
The second Mendevian crusade begins, which ends up constructing the Wardstones, but loses Drezen.
In 4638 AR, the demons counter-attacked. Forces led by the powerful marilith Zuhra Aponavicius captured the crusader city of Drezen and killed tens of thousands of Mendev's warriors and pilgrims. The Second Crusade was called to combat this menace, but the generals quickly realized that they were no longer dealing with uncoordinated groups of fiends: they now employed tactics and were led by powerful demonic generals. The crusader forces fought bravely, but soon decided that they were not going to be able to drive the demons back. Instead they opted for containment and relinquished any hope of ever winning back Sarkorian land. They created the Wardstones, massive monoliths capable of creating a nigh-impenetrable wall against demons, and placed them along the West Sellen and Moutray Rivers. This stopped the demonic advance at the borders of Mendev, Ustalav, and Numeria, saving the lives of tens of thousands in those nations; Sarkoris, however, was now lost for good. As the Second Crusade came to a close in 4645 AR, even though the wardstones were considered a great accomplishment, the crusade itself was deemed a failure by most.