The War of Three Hundred

"It wasn't just a war. It was the beginning and end of the world."
In the old world of Ihela , the increasing tensions between powerful deities, humanoid factions, and powerful creatures brewed into a multi-planar conflict known now as the War of Three Hundred. The name is derived from the number of years fighting ensued. While individual conflicts flared and eased, they all met a unified end with the destruction of the Xearrehan Kingdom and the evacuation of Ihela.

Prelude

Most of the history of the old world has been lost to time and conflict. Before the War of Three Hundred started, a few pieces of history are believed to spur the tensions leading to the war.

The Lust of the Divine

33 gods ruled over the world and maintained loyalty and power over the peoples of Ihela. Their numbers had grown slowly over time, but their antics drastically spiralled into chaos as more people of the world expanded their power and grew less dependent on them. Craving total obedience, the gods regularly cursed the peoples with disease, disaster, and chaos. The gods' confidence was shattered with the appearance of The Sunderer, who challenged and killed the god Aftopep in the noble realm of Asakoth. When The Sunderer killed the god of confidence and ascended himself, all the others began to fear for their future, as the large following of Aftopep crumbled, and alliances began to form to preserve their lives and status.

Rise of Dragons

Across separate material planes, dragons and giants have battles each other for territory and control. However, the dragons of Ihela soon whittled down most of the giants to minor populations and had primary control over the world, in terms of the majority presence of large fauna. With this control and with knowledge of the current struggles of the divine becoming further restless and disjointed, a plot was devised to usurp the gods and take the penance of the peoples in the world for their own.

The Disdain of the People

Subjected to both the increased recklessness of the gods, and the heightening pressure from dragons encroaching on different groups of peoples, struggles of power and concern of the future of nations rose steadily over time. Many of these groups began to isolate to prepare and protect themselves from oncoming conflict. Particularly the humans of Xearre, who had been subjected to the initial reports of dragon attacks, and the most vicious of disasters from the gods. Their weakness drove them to the extreme, and their plots began to form on how to take control away from the dragons and gods.

Entering War

Known as "0 B.E." (Before Evacuation), the Sunderer took the life of a second god, Exou. The remaining 31 gods convened in the chambers of Asakoth to deliberate further action and punishment to this figure. During these deliberations, The Sunderer arrived unannounced and accused the gods of being frauds and cowards. It is at this council that Ignia challenged him in the chamber, only to be the third god slain. Retiring from his challenge, the Sunderer gave warning of an oncoming threat of dragons to the peoples of Ihela. He returned to the material realm to defend against the first dragon invasion, known as The First Breath of Ice. Soon, infighting broke out between the gods, assassinating and dueling each other to weed out the weak and useless. Over the next hundred years, the number of gods would whittle down to 17, including the recently ascended Sunderer.

The Dominion and Fall of Dragons

By 100 B.E., dragons had successfully established total rule over the humanoids and others species of the world. Dragons outlawed religion and required full deification. For the next hundred years, followers of dragons would fully submit to the will of the dragons, seeking power and mercy from their terrifying grasp. Ascending to godhood, Dragons began attending the council of the weakened gods, threatening them and tormenting them for their weakened status.
During this period, resistances began to form in both divine and material circumstances. Metallic dragons saw the plight of the peoples of Ihela and worked to mitigate the damage being done by their Chromatic counterparts. Gem dragons also became mystical advisors to the gods, seeking to siphon enough power to them to overthrow their dominion. With enough time, the gods and dragons would all begin to battle in deadly conflicts on the material plane. The scars from these battles would mar the earth forever, but eventually the gods would come on top, with 12 surviving deities. The great wyrms leading the chromatic dragons were imprisoned, banished, or killed. Survivors scattered throughout the world, leaving only one viable group of great beasts remaining. The final group of power hungry beasts, led by the ancient blue dragon Zidinom the Enlightened, formed the Talons of the Dark, which gathered a cult following and sought to overthrow the peoples of the world from the shadows.

The Final Moments

In the last hundred years of the conflict, the humans of Xearre expelled and executed dragons and cult followers of the Talons of the Dark. Led by a figure known only as Count Dreadhallow, the figure sought the execution and banishment of all dragons, caring not for any affiliation of Metallic, Gem, or Chromatic. Dreadhallow raised an army and began destroying nests of dragons, regardless of their previous disposition, and slaughtered any people that slowed their path. Soon, their campaign led to dominating other nations and expelling any dissenters via dark magic and public execution. Their conquest to remove dragons turned into an empire building campaign to unify the world under a single banner.
In their final attempt to destroy Zidinom, Dreadhallow's army was defeated. Zidinom left them alive in a desert as punishment for destroying his plans and to watch them slowly die. However, Dreadhallow prayed and asked for redemption and help from the gods, which summoned the mercy of the god Provlos. The god of foresight began offering plans to Dreadhallow of how to defeat Zidinom, but the Count instead killed Provlos, absorbing his power. With this power, Dreadhallow returned to the Dragon and slew him, but at the cost of worrying the gods. Taking their armies and using vast arrays of summoning, the count entrapped and killed two more gods. With this power, they created a prison realm called The Shale, and spent years hunting and entrapping dragons in this domain, locking them away. Once complete, Count Dreadhallow set their sights on summoning all the gods, and overthrowing all of Ihela in a campaign for ultimate power.

Ending and Beginning

In the final year of the War of Three Hundred, Count Dreadhallow sought to summon the final 9 gods, ending with the Sunderer, to complete their unification of the divine, and wreak divine war on any people wishing to resist their vision of a dragonless, unified world. The continual summoning and destruction of the divine was slowly poisoning Ihela, however, and ruin was imminent.
A strange message was sparked in light in the fields outside of Dreadhallow's domain. A duel was proposed between the Count and a being unknown until now. Dreadhallow answered the call with 300,000 soldiers, and personally standing on the front of the line ready to battle. It is there when the Creator appeared. A being above beings, and divine beyond divine, a Creator was above and beyond godhood, and truly immortal. This being sought the absolution of war and injustice for the world, but knew the powers and poisoned magic staining the air and the soul of Dreadhallow was too great to simply dismiss without obliterating creation. Thus, the Creator called out to Dreadhallow, announcing a name, She being called Pilra. Naming herself sacrificed her immortality, but also gave her power to the land to withstand her power. With a quick battle and blinding light, Pilra purged Dreadhallow and the Xearrehan army, thus ending the three hundred year war.

The Conflict

Outcome

War had ended in Ihela for some time, but the land and air had been poisoned with magical destruction, making the world unstable and uninhabitable in many places. Pilra guided the gods to take the survivors of the world to another material plane, called Varsune. She opened nine portals, called Gates, and allowed each god to escort the peoples of the world to a new home.

Aftermath

Pilra spent time healing the realm of Ihela for many years. The sacrifice of immortality left her without as much power, but made the world strong enough to recover for the scars of the war. Thus, she created gates in Ihela to travel between locations quickly, tending to many areas of the world as needed.

Historical Significance

Legacy

Many years later, the species in Varsune began returning to Ihela in search of answers and histories lost. They found the Gates of Pilra and used them to interconnect societies to ensure peace and prosperity. However, the scars and ruins of the world had not been fully healed, and Pilra was never found in the world.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

~0 BE

Ending Date

~300 BE