Fey Wars

The Fey Wars were a series of conflicts of varying relation to each other in Sossis and to a lesser extent Tira Vella that arose out of the aftermath of Fey involvement in wars and general distrust and dislike for the Fey among men.
While most consider the Dark Age in Sossis to end around 1250 with the increase in stability brought about by the emergent feudal order, wars did not cease and actually increased in scale with the increasing complexity of society in Sossis.

The Tselyian Phase (1303-1341)

It wasn’t until the consolidation of the more centralised and stable feudal states in Sossis and Tira Vella around the 13^th century that any sort of organised warfare was attempted against the Fey. Various states at various times, starting in 1303, would enter into alliances, known retroactively as the Tselyian Accords for the city of Tselyis where the first alliance was formed, against the Fey and lead substantial punitive expeditions into the Feywild. The actions of the members of the Tselyis Accords would encompass the first phase, the so-called Tselyian Phase, of the war, lasting nearly 40 years.

The Mad Phase (1341-1403)

The second phase started in 1341 when House Alvaleryn began to use the Tselyis accords to further their political ambitions rather than to fight the Fey. The Fey Wars devolved back into the convoluted system of alliances between men and fey that defined the centuries prior to the Tselyian phase, though on a larger, more destructive scale. This so-called Mad Phase was defined by excessive brutality and witch hunts, in which many people were tried and executed by local mobs for supposedly working with the Fey.

The Burning (1403-1406)

The horrendous destruction wrought by the 62 years of the Mad Phase caused House Varani to take drastic action, and in 1403 led a small, independent force into the Feywild. This began the third and shortest phase of the wars, the Burning. To the rest of the world, the situation was essentially unchanged, but after three years struggling to gain enough of a foothold in the Feywild for their ritual, on 1 the Wane 1406, the Martyrs, a group of 30 Varani mages, opened a hole in the Feywild to the Plane of Fire. The Martyrs were all killed instantly, but the fire began to consume the Feywild. In just three weeks, the entire Feywild had been burned down, entirely destroying the Fey’s ability to make war against or alongside men permanently. While the action infuriated some powerful groups who were not informed of House Varani’s intentions, the news was met with celebration by many. The Burning had put an end to a brutal cycle of violence that had been ongoing for over 500 years, and while wars between men would continue with only a brief pause caused by the Burning, the sheer scale of violence caused by the involvement of the Fey was halted and the perception of warfare began to shift back to its more noble image it held before the Fey Wars as the scale and brutality of wars shrank. It should be noted, however, that this effect was felt most in Sossis, which had the most involvement in the Fey Wars. In fact, reactions to the Burning in Eussis were much more mixed, as Eussis had largely not experienced the cycle of reprisals present in Sossis and Tira Vella, and many were confused or upset at the event. Many had been unaware of the Fey Wars entirely. Eussis would arguably not experience wars as destructive as the Fey Wars until the Wars of Enzimian Expansion of the 24^th and 25^th centuries.