The smell of a burned out body, or enervated as the official term is, can be nauseating. Takes you out in an instant if you are not prepared. The smell of a whole bunch of them? That is just brutal, you need to leave your nose at the door for that. — Archives of The Arcane War
The Arcane War, is the second most influential conflict in the history of Aelliria. It has helped shape the world into its current state, and brought forward major political changes and rivalries. It's end also marks the unofficial end of reign for the Order of the Deceived.
The Conflict
Prelude
For thousands of years, the Order was integrated into every kingdom and ruling most of them with an iron fist. Following the end of the Irruption Wars, barriers were placed over all portals and gateways in and out of Aelliria, some of them even got demolished and Axionis was founded around the base of Mandrel. Any religious worship was banned by royal decrees and persecutors were thrown in jail, or worse.
Turmoil and unrest swept through Aell for hundreds of years, until all this effort seemingly beared fruit. After abandoning the worship of the Exemplars or other deities, the people of Aell found a peace and started to rely on themselves. However, several powerful arcane wielders would be emerging from time to time, trying to fake themselves as a new deity. For this purpose, almost two thousand years after the inception of the Order, Imperator Pilfirik Manton the Blue decided to initiate a new state of order by bringing forth The Knights of The Sigil. The Sigil Knights as they were also called, were a highly trained arm of the Order, designed to chase down magic wielders who posed threats to society. They were based out of Ashbourne and were trained partly in The Academy.
For hundreds of years, they were hunting down rogue wizards and mages who tried to ascertain their positions in the world's global political landscape.
When Imperator Alessanda the Magnificent took over as the highest official of The Order she wanted to struck a deal with the Empire of Ilion. She wanted to change the headquarters of The Order from the cold, desolate Axionis to a city within the Empire's borders. This violated many accords and contracts that the Empire had with The Order and her offer was declined.
Using the excuse of, what later was found to be planted rogue mages, Alessanda ordered the Sigil Knights to move against the Empire and backed them with the entirety of the Order's forces.
The war lasted for years and it ended up involving almost every major and minor kingdom within Aell. Some joined to support the Empire, others joined forces with The Order while some just found an excuse to fight each other.
The political landscape changed drastically, quite a few times over the course of the war.
The Order was winning in every major battle but were betrayed from within in the end. Infiltrators from Nove Quisia entered Ashbourne and laced the drinks and food of the arcane wielders there with mind numbing poison. This caused them to go under their captor's control who used them to start a ritual, aiming to open the portals and bring outside forces into Ashbourne. A small force led by Vancerey Graven, High Justicar of the Order entered Ashbourne and in a fight that noone survived, ended up creating the worst single natural and artifical disaster in the history of Aell. All the remaining Dragons were part of this force, and subsequently all three remaining Dragons became corrupted and eventually had to be hunted.
The entirety of the kingdom of Ashbourne was destroyed, becoming inhabitable. The Order lost the majority of its forces and was forced to surrender to the Empire. Whatever happened in the city of Ashbourne, noone can say. But reports say that there was a bright blast, echoing across the skies, deafening and blinding everyone in an enormous radius.
Following the surrender of the Order, Imperator Allesanda was forced to dissolve what remained of the Order shortly afterwards. Her fate is unknown as she was exiled from Sizhia. The Empire gained a foothold in Sizhia and consolidated its alliance with Nove Quisia while the Iolcane Imperium was banned from the main continent.
The kingdom of Cydonia lost much of its territory as well and Zadelair expanded its own.
With The Order dissolved, its remaining members founded a new organization, The Keepers of The Grey Mantle also known as The Greymantles. In addition the Knights of The Sigil were also disbanded and assimilated within The Academy, part of their regular courses. Later they reemerged and are now known as The White Knights of The Rose or simply White Knights.
Historical Significance
The Arcane War was also the second biggest conflict in terms of lives lost in the history of Aell. An estimated one hundred thousand and twenty souls perished during the events, especially during the destruction of Ashbourne and the subsequent disfigurement of the remaining Dragons.
The Arcane War marks the downfall of The Order but it also marks the start of decline for the Empire's influence. Years after, the Empire overextended itself and only five cycles later, the coming of Princess Nataleigh brought an end to their expansive ways.
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