The Second Magic War

The Second Magic War broke out after the fall of the Wandering Isle and the Slaying of the Dragon King, because of the immense armies gathered to crusade for a cause, which after its completion seemed an illusion all along. Everyone felt duped. All sought to blame one or another’s cult, their God, their ritual practices, their heretic sacrifices, their idiotic motives, their stupendous miscalculations. War between men began with a fevered earnest. Magic was used with a ferocity beyond belief. Spells were crafted which were able to wipe a whole army off the face of the earth in a flash of incendiary or necrotic light or demolish entire cities into heaping piles of rubble with meteoric fire plummeting from a storm-wracked sky. Humans commanded the Gods’ powers mercilessly in slaying one another, while the Deities writhed in anguish and pain to see such death dealt between their Children. But the Gods have been unable to control their followers since the Rebellion of Typhoon. They made a tremendous effort to stop the chaos, but it had its own repercussions. For a time, all humans were cut off from magic, as the Gods retreated, allowing Typhoon to wreak merciless destruction down upon the world, while the lesser deities and magical creatures have filled the nooks and crannies of the world. This time is called the Severing, lasting for nearly three centuries. The dark age, which Myria is just now emerging from, was set upon us by our own Deities for our actions against one another. We deserved it in every way for our horrid killing, our betrayals, our loss of true sight. Now magic has slowly returned to us, and the Gods and Goddesses again shine their favor down upon our wretched souls. The Magic Wars left the most awful taste of sorcery in many lands mouths. As magic seeps back into the world, some places now outlaw the use of it entirely. Everywhere people are wary of the open use of arcane arts. For 1000 years since the Severing, the world has turned slowly, civilization lethargic to revive itself. Its vigor lost, but in the past two hundred years a new life has swollen within the Kingdoms of old. Reforging the ancient nations, mercantile and religious ties, which cross vast mountains and many seas, have been Reborn. The Reawakening of the Anaxanean Empire is but a gauntlet grasp away. And the Khagan of Rhodezephrys is grasping. Magic has not been utilized in war for centuries. A new war is upon the horizon, though, one in which all will change. Technology, the harbinger of progress, however, has come far while magic was forgotten. Enormous irrigation and aquatic transportation systems crisscross the lands of Telephos, while Bensilot has greatly improved their airship designs. To the east, the finest metals and medicines can be found in the great trade cities.