History of Mortal Magic - Volume II

Published by the Academy of Mortal Magic, an entity of Andrinor's Trust January 25, 2116

• Contents of this book may not be reproduced for any purposes without the consent of the High Mage Council of Avlis*

HISTORY OF MORTAL MAGIC, VOLUME TWO - GREAT WAR AND THE GOLD

For all the suffering caused by the Fairy War, that conflict was but a prelude to the clash that grew from it: the Great War. To this day, stories of the Great War, waged more than two millennia ago, bear witness to the horror of unbridled aggression, and the dangers of magic unbound by restraint or caution. History records that the orcs of Dobrekon began the Great War, though exactly why has been lost to the ages. All accounts hold that before the war, Dobrekon was a nation at peace, engaged in brisk trade with its neighbors, and with sizeable populations of elves and humans dwelling among the more numerous orcs. It has been speculated that perhaps the orcs were angered at the bloodshed caused by the Fairy War in their own nation's forests, or perhaps Dobrekon saw an opportunity for gain provided by enemies divided against each other. Regardless, Valok's children decided that after a century of escalating battles between the fairykind, the time had come to purge their home and the lands around of the fey.

The Dobrekon military's assault, strengthened by baatezu from the Hells, broke the fairy armies swiftly, driving the fey from the orcish lands. In the face of this common foe, O'Ma's and Titania's fairies turned from their own war, pledging to delay that fight "until evil was purged from Avlis", and rallied together against the orc armies. Even so, both fairykind continued to take heavy losses and face defeat after defeat to the well-organized Dobrekon soldiers.

However, the Dobrekon military made a tactical error. In their ambition to purify their nation, they did not limit their assaults to the fairies, but attempted also to forcibly remove the humans and elves that inhabited Dobrekon at that time. These men and elves took up arms in defense of their homes, and gained the support of the elves of T'Nanshi and the dwarves of Galdos, with the intention of eliminating the aggressive orc armies permanently. These combined forces broke the Dobrekon military and drove the orcs from their own homeland.

The war continued the next 50 years, with the appearance of the first dragons of Avlis. Still yet... the destruction of the Gold Order is coming to fruition...

Over five more decades, the War raged. The orcish armies regrouped in this time on the western coast, one force to the north building the stronghold of Brekon (the precursor to the self-same city), and another to the south loosely holding its lands. They fortified their positions as best they could, particularly around Brekon, but even with the aid of the stone dragons, they slowly lost ground. However, the Gold Order of Mages had divined a ritual for an evocation of immense power. This spell would end the war by releasing a horribly destructive force, powerful enough to kill all the peoples that stood against the orc armies, from the smallest pixie to the mightiest metal dragon.

In what was to be the final year of the Great War, the orcs cast their spell. But the evocation did not function as expected. It is uncertain what went wrong, as all who were present at the actual event very likely died. Some legends handed down suggest that an artifact of great power was used during the casting, twisting the spell, while other legends indicate a cadre of elves and dragons from T'Nanshi sacrificed themselves to thwart the orcs. Regardless, that final spell by the orc mages is now known as the single greatest disaster to ever befall Avlis.

It cannot be overstated the scope of the destruction this spell wrought. In the blink of an eye, a tremendous wave of power swept across the entire world. Lands were ravaged from as close as the grassy plains just north of Brekon to as far as the former orc homeland of Dobrekon, which to this day largely remains a barren waste. The destruction was not complete, but countless people of all races were killed. Most devastated of all were the orcs themselves, among whom all mages were killed by the arcane power, effectively eliminating the Gold Order. Such an impact this had on the orcs' psyche that the church of Valok sponsored the Holy Order of Dominators, whose purpose it was and still is to put to death any orcs that seek to wield arcane magic.

However, there are some remnants of Gold that were non-orcs, they remained in the background, and were basically a non-factor for much of the Mortal Magic History for a long time.

In gatherings of the Fold of Nine, instances of Gold mage appearance were sporadic, but during these times, there were basically no Orc Mages, for they were hunted.

-Composed by Lorewarden Hilde Meyldur -Edited by Melonius Mennallin -Proofread by the High Mage Council of Avlis.