War of Tyrants
The war of tyrants was one of the defining historical events for humanity.
This asylum was mercifully granted by the head of a powerful clan of giants. The human refugees were granted land and founded the nation of Ravil.
For 23 years humanity was able to recover, to adapt to this new world and raise another generation in peace and quiet.
The Jotnar of Haven were deeply embroiled into the civil war caused by their empire breaking apart.
In one such engagement, the head of the clan that granted humanity refuge was slain. His name has been lost to time, but the name of his hated replacement has not: Wefolin Kazra.
Wefolin was the next in line in succession for clan leadership, allegedly because multiple ranks of those that would have gone before him died. He was young, brash and cruel.
It did not take long after Wefolin took power that he began pressuring the humans more and more into joining the war on their side as payment for the land and aid given to humanity.
Humanity agreed, and the Jotnar made good use of them for a time. Humans are roughly half the size of Jotnar and thus can fit in much smaller passages and were thus used for infiltrations and sabotage missions. They assisted in several crucial victories against the foes of the jotnar.
At first the human forces that were part of the war were only a small number of volunteers. However through the centuries the population of humans began to climb to a more sustainable level. This did not go unnoticed by the Jotnar. As the war went on, as more fantastical weapons were deployed and the casualties on the sides of the jotnar mounted, the giants were using the humans more and more to cover their flanks and their retreats, as barely more than cannonfodder.
This eventually created a great deal of resentment in the returning human survivors and the human communities as a whole. In the beginning this was a noble fight for humanity to earn the respec tof their benefactors and defend their new homeland, but as time wnet on it was seen more and more that the Jotnar were simply exploiting humanity with callous disregard.
Eventually a tipping point was reached. More and more communities refused to participate in the Jotnar civil war any longer as time went on until the Ravilian council officially declared their withdrawal from the war due to their inability to meet the recruitment quotas imposed by the Jotnar.
They immediately attempted to get the humans back in line, but were not very successful. For every settlement they bullied into sending their young off to war, two more packed up their belongings and hid in the forests and mountains. The jotnar occupied several human cities, but stretched their forces even more thin in the process.
Eventually, during a moment of weakness, the ravilian city of Vreka killed the jotnar garrison occupying the walls and declared that they would be bullied no longer.
In response, the jotnar sent an army to make an example of the rebels. The fighting around Vreka was fierce and the city was almost completely razed by the jotnar force sent to pacify it. However this was not enough to quell the embers of rebellion lit within the hearts and minds of humanity.
The beginnings were slow as the various human cities realized the kin of Wefolin had not the manpower to force all of humanity into compliance as they might have had several centuries ago. Behind closed cutrains, agreements were made and military pacts forged. Then, several cities together entered open rebellion simultaniously, throwing down their shackles. The armies sent to bring those cities back in line were defeated by the militaries of multiple cities working together.
Even in the cities that remained under occupation, rebellion smouldered. Sporadic at first, the occasional supply raid or building set aflame, but it soon escalated into assassinations and more uprisings like in Vreka years prior. With outside military assistance, even those cities and towns were freed in time.
After only a few years, the republic of ravil was free from their jotnar overlords and started openly waging warfare against them.
The jotnar's military resources were so occupied by their continuing infighting that humanity was able to firmly entrench themselves, taking advantage of any opportunities and bleeding the giants from the fringes. Despite their newfound independence and military confidence, humanity was seen by all clans as the lesser threat, easily suppressed once the other clans were brought into compliance.
This all changed with the most extraordinary event of the entire conflict: the desecration of Kharak.
However, as they had in other areas of the world, the Jotnar went on to build the divine tower of Kharak upon the plains; A great magical construct built by the Jotnar to regulate the climate of Kharak into being much more hospitable.
Before the Jotnar Civil war, Kharak had become a fertile plain of grasslands and forests. Even with the ongoing civil war, the land was scarred but more than able to recover in time.
However, in the year 381ND, a band of humans assaulted the divine tower of Kharak in a suicide mission, lead by Canoth a powerful necromancer, to sabotage the tower. They snuck into the Jotnar settlement and whils the magus defended the tower's entrance, the rest of the group climbed up its interiors and severely damaged its delicate systems.
With this singular act the heart of the jotnar population on Haven becama uninhabitable, as the tower of Kharak began heating up the area to unbearable Levels. Bad for humans, even worse for Jotnar.
The giants of kharak were doomed. Some fled north, running into the fortified lands of Ravil, some fled south and fought eachother over the scraps of food that could be gained from the southlands, and some kept fighting even as the land around them shriveled and died.
This would end up being the first definitive sign of the jotnar empire's end on Haven, for while they were not yet defeated, the damage done to their species was immense.
The damage was so great that it caused the remaining clans of jotnar to put aside their differences and focus exclusively on eradicating humanity. There were still heavily entrenched fotresses and cities in the lands now known as Gallica, but they would too fall in time, the jotnar forced to flee into the inhospitable north.
During this time, humanity went from scattered remnants to a minor civilisation, to a force nipping at the heels of the fighting jotnar and finally to a full-fledged usurper of the world of Haven.
The war was concluded in the year 600ND durig the council of Magnola as the forces of Ravil and Gallica declacerd victory over the Jotnar, having forced the scattered remnants of their people into the harsh north of Pucraele.
Pucraele was also part of this convention, but actually would have to deal with isolated pockets of giants for many decades to come.
The Prelude
Due to the previously occuring War of Burning Skies, humanity was untethered and without a homeworld. Some of the survivors of that dreadful war sought refuge on the nearby Jotnar homeworld of Haven.This asylum was mercifully granted by the head of a powerful clan of giants. The human refugees were granted land and founded the nation of Ravil.
For 23 years humanity was able to recover, to adapt to this new world and raise another generation in peace and quiet.
The Time of Servitude
However it seemed the gods had other plans for humankind.The Jotnar of Haven were deeply embroiled into the civil war caused by their empire breaking apart.
In one such engagement, the head of the clan that granted humanity refuge was slain. His name has been lost to time, but the name of his hated replacement has not: Wefolin Kazra.
Wefolin was the next in line in succession for clan leadership, allegedly because multiple ranks of those that would have gone before him died. He was young, brash and cruel.
It did not take long after Wefolin took power that he began pressuring the humans more and more into joining the war on their side as payment for the land and aid given to humanity.
Humanity agreed, and the Jotnar made good use of them for a time. Humans are roughly half the size of Jotnar and thus can fit in much smaller passages and were thus used for infiltrations and sabotage missions. They assisted in several crucial victories against the foes of the jotnar.
At first the human forces that were part of the war were only a small number of volunteers. However through the centuries the population of humans began to climb to a more sustainable level. This did not go unnoticed by the Jotnar. As the war went on, as more fantastical weapons were deployed and the casualties on the sides of the jotnar mounted, the giants were using the humans more and more to cover their flanks and their retreats, as barely more than cannonfodder.
This eventually created a great deal of resentment in the returning human survivors and the human communities as a whole. In the beginning this was a noble fight for humanity to earn the respec tof their benefactors and defend their new homeland, but as time wnet on it was seen more and more that the Jotnar were simply exploiting humanity with callous disregard.
Eventually a tipping point was reached. More and more communities refused to participate in the Jotnar civil war any longer as time went on until the Ravilian council officially declared their withdrawal from the war due to their inability to meet the recruitment quotas imposed by the Jotnar.
The Rebellion begins
Needless to say the descendants of Wefolin were not happy. They had one and all been born into the war and had never fought in a world where they could not rely upon human warriors and servants.They immediately attempted to get the humans back in line, but were not very successful. For every settlement they bullied into sending their young off to war, two more packed up their belongings and hid in the forests and mountains. The jotnar occupied several human cities, but stretched their forces even more thin in the process.
Eventually, during a moment of weakness, the ravilian city of Vreka killed the jotnar garrison occupying the walls and declared that they would be bullied no longer.
In response, the jotnar sent an army to make an example of the rebels. The fighting around Vreka was fierce and the city was almost completely razed by the jotnar force sent to pacify it. However this was not enough to quell the embers of rebellion lit within the hearts and minds of humanity.
The beginnings were slow as the various human cities realized the kin of Wefolin had not the manpower to force all of humanity into compliance as they might have had several centuries ago. Behind closed cutrains, agreements were made and military pacts forged. Then, several cities together entered open rebellion simultaniously, throwing down their shackles. The armies sent to bring those cities back in line were defeated by the militaries of multiple cities working together.
Even in the cities that remained under occupation, rebellion smouldered. Sporadic at first, the occasional supply raid or building set aflame, but it soon escalated into assassinations and more uprisings like in Vreka years prior. With outside military assistance, even those cities and towns were freed in time.
After only a few years, the republic of ravil was free from their jotnar overlords and started openly waging warfare against them.
The jotnar's military resources were so occupied by their continuing infighting that humanity was able to firmly entrench themselves, taking advantage of any opportunities and bleeding the giants from the fringes. Despite their newfound independence and military confidence, humanity was seen by all clans as the lesser threat, easily suppressed once the other clans were brought into compliance.
This all changed with the most extraordinary event of the entire conflict: the desecration of Kharak.
The Desecration of Kharak
Before the Jotnar built their empire, Kharak was much like the rest of haven; Cold and with sparse vegetation.However, as they had in other areas of the world, the Jotnar went on to build the divine tower of Kharak upon the plains; A great magical construct built by the Jotnar to regulate the climate of Kharak into being much more hospitable.
Before the Jotnar Civil war, Kharak had become a fertile plain of grasslands and forests. Even with the ongoing civil war, the land was scarred but more than able to recover in time.
However, in the year 381ND, a band of humans assaulted the divine tower of Kharak in a suicide mission, lead by Canoth a powerful necromancer, to sabotage the tower. They snuck into the Jotnar settlement and whils the magus defended the tower's entrance, the rest of the group climbed up its interiors and severely damaged its delicate systems.
With this singular act the heart of the jotnar population on Haven becama uninhabitable, as the tower of Kharak began heating up the area to unbearable Levels. Bad for humans, even worse for Jotnar.
The giants of kharak were doomed. Some fled north, running into the fortified lands of Ravil, some fled south and fought eachother over the scraps of food that could be gained from the southlands, and some kept fighting even as the land around them shriveled and died.
This would end up being the first definitive sign of the jotnar empire's end on Haven, for while they were not yet defeated, the damage done to their species was immense.
The damage was so great that it caused the remaining clans of jotnar to put aside their differences and focus exclusively on eradicating humanity. There were still heavily entrenched fotresses and cities in the lands now known as Gallica, but they would too fall in time, the jotnar forced to flee into the inhospitable north.
The Conclusion
The War of Tyrants lasted all in all around 600 years.During this time, humanity went from scattered remnants to a minor civilisation, to a force nipping at the heels of the fighting jotnar and finally to a full-fledged usurper of the world of Haven.
The war was concluded in the year 600ND durig the council of Magnola as the forces of Ravil and Gallica declacerd victory over the Jotnar, having forced the scattered remnants of their people into the harsh north of Pucraele.
Pucraele was also part of this convention, but actually would have to deal with isolated pockets of giants for many decades to come.
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