Outsider War

The Outsider War was a conflict between the Ones Below and the native people of Ailar. Increasingly destructive tactics by both the Ones Below and the Sarathi Empire eventually led to The Devastation. The war ended with the Ones Below imprisoned beneath the earth and the Sarathi Empire destroyed.

The Conflict

Prelude

In the first century FE, Sarathi researchers from the Silver Tower of the Stars and Crystal Tower of Magic began researching interplanar travel. With the help of artisans from the Mithril Tower of Making, they succeeded in opening portals to the Astral, the Elemental, and other worlds in the River of Souls. In 66 FE, researchers at the Silver Tower identified another plane, which they called the Star Beyond the Stars. Ten years later, the mages at the Crystal Tower opened a portal to this new plane. A host of aberrations flooded in, marking the start of the Outsider War.

The Engagement

The Ones Below quickly took control of the area surrounding the portal. While the Crystal Tower was able to teleport away to safety, the surround lands were not so fortunate. Within six months, the Ones Below occupied most of the continent of Drayah. The only resistance came from a handful of Sarathi strongholds and a number of Orcish guerrilla groups.
Half a year into the war, the Sarathi Empire had recovered from the initial shock and began to fight back in earnest. Armies and fleets were raised in strongholds outside Drayah. By 54 FE, the entire continent had become a battlefield. However, the Empire was not able to contain the threat of the Ones Below. Detachments escaped to other continents, where they opened further portals and called in their own reinforcements.
The Sarathi made some attempts to form alliances and coordinate defenses with other powers, but cultural differences, communication issues, and the Empire's sense of superiority often undermined these efforts. The only close allies of the Sarathi were the Elves who fought alongside the Empire for years. As such, the war progressed on several scattered fronts:

• The Mind Flayers set up underground bases on the continent of Antaheem and proceeded to infiltrate the civilizations of that land. They started by kidnapping and brainwashing commoners to act as spies, but soon converted high ranking aristocrats and other leaders. When the populace realized what was happening, many revolted, leading to a civil war. This further weakened the region, allowing the Mind Flayers to spread their influence. Eventually, the people of Antaheem established the Three Rivers Alliance and formed a special military outfit dedicated to finding and slaying the Ones Below and their puppets.
• The Deep Masters conquered many underwater regions and, through their telepathically controlled minions, coastal areas. They were opposed at sea by an alliance of Merfolk and Tritons. On land, fighting was fiercest in Suralam. Many groups, including the goblin-kin, were uprooted and forced inland, where they eked out a living in arid grasslands. An alliance of dragons - usually solitary creatures - held the southeastern regions of the continent.
• The Shapers of Flesh set up clandestine laboratories around the world, with their largest holding in Exedilica. They quickly conquered several city-states in the southwestern region of the continent, then turned their attention north to the Mithril Tower of Making. The battles between the Sarathi's arcanotechnical creations and the Shapers' mutated servants were among the most brutal in the course of the war.
• The Eye Tyrants assaulted and took over the Crystal Tower, turning into a massive hive for their kind. From there, they struck out at targets seemingly at random - occasionally even against other factions of the Ones Below. They possessed the ability to quickly traverse long distances, and wherever they appeared, death and destruction quickly followed. All people of Ailar quickly learned to fear the approach of the "flying eyes."

In FE 52, four years into the war, the Deep Masters summoned a massive tidal wave to sink the city of Guilder. This act, and the subsequent escalations from both sides of the conflict, led to The Devastation. By 50 FE, the war was global in scale. From localized skirmishes to continent-scale destruction, battles played out on every continent of Ailar.

Outcome

The Outsider War lasted for more than three decades.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

56 FE

Ending Date

20 FE