The Great War

Military action

Details the War begun by Hosia the Dragonlord, which ended the 2nd Age of Meaghana.

The Great War and the End of the 2nd Age   The world has changed. Not slowly, or carefully but with the sudden burst of war, was the old world torn away leaving little more than ruins and ashes with which to build a future.
  It is said that the first tremors of this change came at the command of the Dragonlord. He saw the death of the Lord of Strife as the beginning of the final war in which good would eradicate evil and leave the world a blessed paradise. Deeply desiring this, the Dragonlord called to his followers that they should make ready and carry out his crusade on the mortal world.
  And so it was that the newly crowned King of Asteria; Thorne Quall, took up his father's sword and called for all the other kingdoms to join him in Holy War. Sil'korma heeded his call, but neither Medina nor Fetesca would join him, worried as they were that this battle was simply his young hot blood thirsting for glory.
  But King Thorne was blinded by the righteousness of the Dragonlord's cause, and declared that those who would not answer the call to battle had sworn themselves to darkness and would be treated in kind. And so Asteria marches on Medina.
  With Lightning speed, the forces of Asteria swept through southern Medina and came to siege the city of Southpointe, where the church of Pthalo was strong. The Asterian forces, supported by the Lorekeepers of Aiden, commanded the city to surrender and join in the great crusade. But the Knights of the Crimson Tear who defended Southpointe would not have their people forced into what they saw as an unrighteous battle, and refused.
  Thus was Southpointe the first casualty of the war. Brave and stalwart as they were, the Knights of the Crimson Tear could not stand against the arrayed might of all of Asteria, and so was the city broken, and the few survivors fled into the mountains.
  But the echoes of Asteria's aggression carried far. And Fetesca declared themselves allies of Medina and mustered their forces south to defend the Bardic Kingdom. But their progress was stopped by the Dragonriders of Sil'korma, who unleashed their power against the Fetescans Also at this time did another of the Dragon Lord's allies show themselves. Lythus god of the sea, believed that the Dragon Lord's war was to be the final struggle between Good and Evil and commanded that his Sea Elves join into the fray. This command was the last spark needed to ignite the tinder of a strained relationship with the humans of Fetesca, and so the Sea Elves marched upon the ancient port city of Soidon.
  And so too the Followers of Viridian, seeking the favor of the Dragon Lord, did sail out from Arakeen and attack the islands of Sebram, to claim them for the glory of the Silver Seraph. And with the destruction of Soidon, no help could come to Sebram who fell quickly to the Arakeenian onslaught.
  But not all of the mortal forces of Lerias bowed to the Dragonlord's will. The Elves of Talen' Seere decried the aggression of Asteria and swore to oppose them, but their military might was limited by the Godly oaths taken to not use the Elvish Portals in War, and so the Elvish council remained undecided on how to proceed. On the other side of the Continent, the Gnomes lead by the Mirsol of Brilla declared Asteria the hand of Tyranny and so the Gnome Protectorates emptied themselves to spread chaos throughout Lerias in opposition to Asteria.
  And in the Heavens, the Gods themselves became split on how to react to the Dragon Lord's actions. Some sided with him; while others, including Meaghana herself, chose to remain neutral. But one god in particular could not remain uninvolved. Robanus, lord of the Dead and God of Judgment, saw the Chaos that the Dragon Lord was unleashing and is scarred him to his core. He also saw the cowardice of his fellow gods who failed to stand up and defend their charges, and he knew shame. And so he was moved to act as he never had before.
  Drawing upon his powers Robanus called forth the soul of his true father, of whom the Dragon Lord was just a reconstituted shard. And so by the power of the Lord of the Dead was Hosia, God of Time reborn. And with this act, did the war spread to the Heavens themselves. For Hosia, the Timelord would not shrink in his duty and would bring this rebellious shadow of himself to heel.
  Unknowing that the Timelord had returned to oppose them, the Asterian forces pushed through the central mountains of Medina towards the capital of Whiterose. The clerics and adventurers loyal to Mittierim sought to oppose this mighty army but were swept aside as easily as the remains of Medina's army. However, upon taking the capital King Thorn discovered the Queen Faeborn and her family had disappeared, and no one knew their whereabouts.
  While King Thorne spent his time trying to recover the Faeborn queen, the forces of Karsis and those of the Drow from beneath Medina joined together and poured over the border in an attempt to overpower the Asterian forces. This obvious movement from the forces of evil drew the attentions of the Dwarfs of Eastforge and Stonesong, who like their brothers from Asteria joined the Dragon Lord's forces in opposition to them. Meanwhile in Horizon, the Time Lord attacked his great citadel to reopen it and reclaim its power which was rightfully his. The Goddess Viridian, who had sworn herself to defend the Citadel of Time at any cost faced off against him. Their battle was one for the ages and their blows shook the foundations of that heavenly realms, but in the end there could be only one outcome. The Time Lord reclaimed his power and now would bring the time stream itself into battle as his weapon.
  In response to the Time Lord's victory, the Phoenix Emperor, honoring ancient oaths, swore himself to the side of the Time Lord and commanded the forces of Ritsaku to sail for Sebram where they would bring the forces of Arakeen to a halt.
  On the other side of the continent, the Sea Elves and forces of Sil'korma pushed the Fetescan's back. Seemingly outnumbered, Empress Liara prayed to help from the Holy Union. The Union in turn sought aid from the Time Lord. In response Robanus and the lands of Gwyneth marched south and engaged in bloody battle with the Sea Elven forces. While this action was successful in driving the Sea Elves back into the ocean, the cost was high. Much of the forces of Gwyneth were destroyed and the lands that once served as Fetesca's coast were corrupted and became overrun with undead and other monsters.
  Fearing the power of this coalition of Law, Brilla commanded his forces to join with those of Glug the Goblinlord to increase the power of chaos in Lerias. This new alliance swept north, bringing chaos and madness to any they encountered.
  In Medina, the combined forces of the Asterian's and the Dwarfs broke the forces of Seras. Rather than be destroyed like their allies, the Dark Elves accepted the protection that Talen'Seere offered to all elvish people and retreated to the island kingdom.
  This pushed even harder for the new Elvish Homeland to enter the war, but Sepia was still bound by her oaths. That is until a mysterious advisor appeared and proclaimed that the only way to break the God Oath was the with the power of a different God. This advisor then leads Sepia into Arcadia to steal the soul well of Storms from Brilla himself.
  Back on the Main Land, the Dragon Forces of Sil'korma continued to push their advantage into the lands of Fetesca. In response the Time lord called forth Menlok the Grey Dragon from the depths of the Citadel of time. This ancient Dragon god used his powers to strip the blessings of the Gods from the Mortal Dragons of Meaghana. Not only did this weaken the Dragons of all species, but it broke their loyalty away from their mortal masters. Without these massive creatures to support them the battle for Fetesca became much more even.
  With Sepia's attack on Arcadia common knowledge, the Gnomish forces choose to accelerate their plans. Half of their number continue on to Asteria as planned, and the others travel with the Goblin Forces to the Black Gate. Their aim is to open the black gate and bring forth daemons to end the war by plunging the world into chaos.
  The Dragonlord's forces join the attack on Fetesca, and in response the Holy Union pledge themselves to the Time Lord. Seemingly in response the Druidic Lands of Keltria were beset by forces loyal to the Goddess Lust, who sought to destabilize the region as did the other Gods of Chaos.
  At this time the Dwarf God Folgrim realized that he had joined the wrong side of the war, and forbid his followers from joining in on the attack against Fetesca. Instead they traveled south to lend their aid to the Elves of the Whitebark Forest. During the battle, Sepia Goddess of Storms and Punisher of the Gods revealed herself and lead the Elves of Talen'Seere against the Gnomes.
  The Time Lord finally faces off against the Dragon Lord as their forces clash in Fetesca. Meanwhile, the Goblin/Gnomish force at the Black Gate released the trapped daemons, who immediately begin destroying everything within reach including much of the remaining Minotaur forces in central Lerias, who had avoided notice up to this point.
  It was then that Sepia's mysterious advisor revealed herself to the Tarathenelia Stargazer, the Goddess of Magic. She reveals the actions of the Gnomes at the Black Gate to the rest of the mortal races and brings the Mages of Drem into the battle to help force back the Daemons.
  Knowing that it would take more than pure force to return the Daemons to the Abyss, the Time Lord summons Omadon from the past to break the seal around the Nine Hells and restart the Blood War to draw off the Daemons. Omadon agrees on the condition that the Time Lord also restores Cylence Coldeyes, the greatest of his Strife Lords. The Lord of Time agrees and so Omadon God of Strife returns to the world, without the powers of the soul well of Evil.
  Having been routed from the Whitebark Forest, the Gnomish forces arrive in Asteria and begin attacking the humans there. Sepia commands her forces to protect the humans, much to everyone's surprise.
  The final battle for Fetesca occurs outside of the city of Blackholm. Here the Time Lord finally destroys the Dragon Lord and reclaims the name of Hosia. The other Gods who opposed him are captured and will be judge in a tribunal.
  Cylence Coldeyes leads an assault on Avernus, the first level of Hell. Here she destroys Saeran Lord of the First and those most loyal to him. With the Borders open, Grynwell Lord of the 9th swears the forces of Baator to Omadon.
  At the same time Hosia now unites the Fetescans, Dwarfs, and Elves in joining the Dremites to push back the Daemon Forces. What little remains of the Asterian forces return home to engage the Gnomish Threat.
  With pressure from both sides, the Daemons are driven back through the Black Gate and the Mages of Drem reseal it.
  With the War over Hosia reforges the Sun Throne and reclaims the post as head of the Pantheon of Gods. No one opposes him in this. His first order of business is to hold a tribunal of the Gods for each deity involved in the war. Most of the Gods were found to be acting in within their purviews and were not punished.
  However Meaghana was found guilty of betraying the Sun Throne through inaction. Her punishment was to be sealed with the world and remove herself from all contact for 1 mortal year for each year she ruled as head of the pantheon. However Meaghana decided rather than accept this imprisionment, she dispersed her godly essence into the world itself, essentially giving up both her powers and her life as a separate entity.   Folgrim Dwarflord was also found guilty of supporting destruction over creation and was bound to forge a new moon in which to seal the growing portal to the Barrens which was swelling with the new power accumulated from all of the loss inherent in the war. This moon appeared in the sky in year 102 of the 3rd age.
  Finally the Tribunal uncovered one last bit of information, that the true cause of the battle was Timandra, Goddess of Balance. She worried that the strength of the gods of Good would upset the balance and so it was she who advised the Dragon Lord that the end of the world was nigh and to begin his war. While this information stripped away much trust the other gods had in Timandra, she was commended by Hosia for supporting her Purview.