The Second Rift War

The Second Rift War was a relatively recent conflict that shook the Fey Court to its core and presented an existential crisis to the entire realm.

The Conflict

Prelude

The war began in the reign of King Oberon and was precipitated by the ill fated actions of a hapless fey called Kristiina Tallis. Kristinna Tallis was a junior enchantress working in the Vault of Old Magic at Shaldarenen. She had fallen under a spell, magical or otherwise, which put her in thrall to the former disgraced and deposed king Telberon. At this time Telberon was imprisoned in the Old White Tower, Hen Tŵr Gwyn for the crimes he had committed and been found guilty of in the Dangerous Magic Indictment. Under Telberon's instruction, Kristinna Tallis stole the Primal Axion which Sinrhyme Maddon had brought back from the ill fated Eyesight Expedition into the deep Discontinuum, many, many years before. This artefact had already been responsible for the death of queen Bronwyn Glathkind but it was about to do much more damage to the Fey Court.
As one of the most powerful fey sorcerers that had ever lived, Telberon was feared by his jailers and they denied him access to his powers whilst they held him prisoner, through the use of many powerful arcane bindings. Telberon knew that the Primal Axion possessed the necessary magical energy that would allow him to break free from these chains. In wielding the forbidden magic that led to his downfall, he had learned much and he had studied this particular artefact in some detail whilst he was still king.
To shatter the restraints of the Fey Court, Telberon's counterspells needed to expend a life force to provide additional energy, and unfortunately for the naive Kristiina Tallis, she provided that life force along with the device she had given to Telberon. So, as he walked abroad on the fields of Tân y Gwanwyn exaulting in his new freedom, Telberon carried the moral stain of a new fey death. Much worse was to follow. The artefact the former prisoner had used was linked to a dark realm in the Discontinuum. It was one which had risen into the dreams of seers, as long ago as the reign of Akasuki Ellethra and now those prophecies would come true. Using the fractures made by Telberon's magic mediated through the Primal Axion, the denizens of the realm of the Black Web were able to open a pathway to the Fey Court and their forces began an invasion. The Second Rift War had begun.

Deployment

It was fortunate for the fey leadership that they were already alert and looking for possible danger when the invasion began. The escape of Telberon had been swiftly reported by the gaolers at Hen Tŵr Gwyn and it was known that Forbidden Magic had been used. Although Oberon's advisors could have had no idea of the scale of what was about to happen, they also confirmed the loss of the Primal Axion from Shaldarenen at around the same time and had started to shift to a war footing before the first portals from the Black Web broke through.
The invasion came in many places at once, through multiple rifts, making it difficult to combat. Forces from the Black Web were initially concentrated at a beachhead in the Shadow Forest but there were also portals opened throughout Tân y Gwanwyn, especially near Hen Tŵr Gwyn and some even within the Great Circle Woods themselves. Later, more portals were opened close to Caer Cathasach and north of the Wood of Old Desires, threatening to encircle Shaldarenen.
The denizens of the Black Web were giant multilimbed black creatures somewhat resembling spiders. They headed armies of multiform minions, some of which were ant like, whilst others could fly. They surged over the grain fields and farmlands laying waste to everything they encountered and when faced with magical resistance, delivered their own arcane responses with shocking efficiency.

The Black Web by DMFW with Night Cafe

Oberon, instructed non combatants to retreat to the nearest of the four great fortresses, Jäätynyt Ovi, Castell y Blodau, Caer Cathasach and Shaldarenen itself. He then hand picked a number of groups of fey, skilled in the kinds of spell that may be useful in combat and started to launch counterstrikes, whilst retaining his more powerful mages for the defence of the castles.

Battlefield

The war progressed in two phases. In the first one, skirmishes and sorties were launched by the defenders from the castles but the focus was on rescuing civilians and protecting their retreat to the strongholds. At this stage, the Black Web was not present in sufficient strength to fight the nimble and well organised groups of fey magic wielders and they would usually fall back when confronted head on, but they still managed to ravage the countryside and caused much damage if left unopposed.
Later, as more and more troops poured through the portals, the Black Web grew strong enough to try to challenge the fortresses of the fey.
Their first attempts to take Jäätynyt Ovi and Caer Cathasach, however, failed dismally. Yet, Oberon could see that in the long term the fey would be overwhelmed if they could not find a way to fight back. That was when Telberon, horrified by the consequences of his escape, surrended to his brother and brought back the Primal Axion.
Titania, a powerful enchantress felt sure that the Primal Axion held the secret to the way to stop the Black Web and studied it day and night, also well aware that this same Token had killed her partner's great grandmother, Bronwyn Glathkind, when she had tried to shield it. So Titania was careful but pursued her task with urgency.

The Engagement

The last great battle of the Second Rift War, took place at Caer Cathasach where the commander of the castle, Vidit Rathjol and King Oberon were both killed. His consort Titania, however, successfully reversed the polarity of the Primal Axion and her counter spell destroyed the portals. But at the same time, she vanished in a maelstrom of inter-dimensional confusion when the Rifts were successfully sealed, invoking desperate spells to take her far from harm. It is now thought these worked too well. Her fate is unknown. Just like her father-in-law, Vilandiss Kanlaw, she may have perished yet she may still be wandering in the Discontinuum unable to return to the Fey Court.
In any case, the few Black Web troops that were cut off in the Fey Court were relatively easily cut down by the remaining fey soldiers and the war was brought to a successful conclusion.

Aftermath

Queen Mab's ascent to the throne after the death of her father and involuntary exile of her mother was the most immediate political consequence to follow from the end of the war. Her mature and thoughtful conduct in the organisation of the Rift War Crimes Trial of Telberon established a pattern of good governance for which she is now known and loved.
The landscape of the Fey Court had been damaged to varying degrees in different places by the invasion, nowhere more so than the Shadow Forest where the Black Web had opened many portals. Even when their expulsion was complete it took a long time to repair the damage they and their minion species left behind and the Shadow Forest is still home to mutants, cross breeds and distorts, the multi generational sufferers from the Black Web's genomic weapons.

Historical Significance

Legacy

The Fey Court has spent many years recovering from the invasion under Queen Mab and the social order did at length return to something like the form it enjoyed in the years before the war. The prohibition on Forbidden Magic, however, is stronger than ever and society is perhaps a little more inward looking with fewer wanderers than of old.
The Black Web lost a great deal of its strength and retreated to its heartlands but it remains a distant threat.

Conflict Type

War

Conflict Result

The Black Web were expelled from the Fey Court

Kristiina Tallis by DMFW with Art Breeder

Telberon by DMFW with Art Breeder

Vidit Rathjsol by DMFW with Art Breeder

Oberon by DMFW with Art Breeder

Titania by DMFW with Art Breeder

The Primal Axion by DMFW with Art Breeder