Dreams of Fire

When the country of Trair Echan was founded, they had a king, Verendus. Verendus was benevolent, but also a stubborn king. 
It is said Verendus paid his dues to the Gods and to the elementals. He had fought tooth and nail to be king of this new kingdom, and woe be to the ones who challenged him. He solved disagreements swiftly and without mercy, in accordance to the ways of his people from before the founding of the kingdom. Above all, his kin worshipped Hexetaar - as Hextor was known in those days - and believed everything could be solved with force.
Once, on a dreary autumn day, the king was visited by a young woman, barely more than 18 summers old, claiming to be a seeress. The myth tells she fell to her knees and begged the king to listen to her as the kingdom was in danger. Verendus listened even if this woman had no way of possibly being right in her claims. The seeress, Iyan, claimed that if Verendus did not lay down his sword at the feet of the next child brought to court, the kingdom would be shattered until a witch were to rule all of Trair Echan. Verendus found the idea preposterous and sent the young seeress out of court. She was tied to a horse and sent into the swamps, never to be seen again.
And so it came to be that Verendus forgot about the seeress' words. 
A year passed, and on a beautiful autumn day, a small boy, sickly and alone, was brought to court by his attendants. Verendus, not at all worried, let his attendants care for the child. Unfortunately, despite the staff's best efforts, the boy died.
This was when the boy's true father, Meraki the Red, turned up at the castle gates. Having learned of his child's fate, the rival warlord declared war. Meraki implored Hexetaar to curse Verendus, his bloodline and his claim to any throne, and promised the God of strife his tithe in blood as long as there was war within the plains of Trair Echan.