The Reign of Terror

Disaster / Destruction

The Demon Prince walked the land and there was blight everywhere.   His banishment signalled the end of the First Age of Rodinia.

The Demon Prince walked the land and there was blight everywhere. His Reign of Terror as it was known lasted but four months. In that time despair fell on the lands. But despair was not enough for the Demon Prince. He summoned hordes of his spawn from the depths of the Abyss and with his lieutenant, Larin Karr, by his side, he laid siege to and destroyed the great cities of men. So it was that the men and elves that shared the land finally came together to challenge him, as his armies approached the fabled Elven City of Sylvandale, deep in the forests.   On the longest day (Holy to Pelor, known as "Longsun"), of this year, the three armies of men, elves and demons met in the outskirts of Sylvandale. But the men, far from their homes, having faced defeat at every turn and with the unassailable might of the demon hordes marching towards them routed and fled. The resulting death toll among the elves was catastrophic, including complete destruction of the fair city of Sylvandale and the loss of all the Sylvarran, the legendary defenders of the city. At that time the great wizard Titus arrived and turned the battle, too late for Sylvandale and too late for the legendary Sylvarran, but in time to save the vast majority of the elven race. Finally Titus faced the Demon Prince alone, the Book of Vitiris in his hands.   Using a great spell of immense power he banished the Demon Prince from this realm for one thousand years.   In the years that followed terrible plagues hit the lands, forcing men to turn inward as they tried to rebuild. Orcs ran rampage over the lands and even the Dragon was seen with frequent occurrence. The elves, devastated by the betrayal of the armies of men, left the lands, moving into the small forest home of Eldaran, now big enough to hold their entire number, and shutting themselves off from the troubles of men. The Bloodwood gained its name as the spirits of the Sylvarran took their revenge on any men who entered their forest. It soon gained a reputation as an evil and dangerous forest. The great wizard Titus, aware that the Demon Prince was merely banished for a thousand years and not destroyed, and also knowing that the Book of Vitiris held great power for good or bad, decided to hide the Book. He realised that anyone controlling the Book would have the power to banish the Demon Prince for a further thousand years, or release him into the world once again. He locked the Book with the Key of Seven Stars and then left a note to the location he was to hide the Book and placed it inside the Key. He hid the Book in the Hall of Dragons and hid the key in Callindrill's Tomb deep in the Barren Wastes. Finally he made The Map of Titus – a map to the resting place of the Key. This he hid in the tomb of a cursed Dragonpriest in a fortress in the centre of Albion. He then took an apprentice – a young elf called Galadhrethin – and told him everything, including the location of the Map of Titus. He was to pass this information on to his apprentice in turn and so on, until a thousand years had passed and the Map could be recovered.