War of Broken Chains

Revolution

As the Ak'teshi Empire reeled from the Brood War in the decades following its conclusion, and its populace of slaves now vastly outnumbered their masters. From their perspective, they would have a better chance of liberating themselves if they struck while the empire was maimed and bleeding. Among the human, dwarven, and halfling slaves arose a small collective of influential, spiritual leaders and warriors.   These became the Mortal Heroes: Cairn, Elenwin, Arator, Duun, and Kusatta.   Kusatta discovered the first techniques of Dark Shamanism; the earliest forms of necromancy, which became a vital tool against the empire, but Arator and Mortrim, a follower of Duun, forbade these techniques. Regardless, Kusatta continued to practice in secret and demonstrated his power to his followers by killing and raising his former storm giant master, a High Mystic close to Ak'teshi leadership, but this foul act was discovered by the Ak'teshi, and the giants initiated a mass purge of slaves. This was the rebellion’s time to strike back.   The slaves fled empire-occupied territory under the leadership of Cairn. Former slave shamans and warriors fought off the assault of the Ak’teshi forces, retreating to the Jorthrost, as Duun and his dwarves used their knowledge learned from the stone giants and carved strongholds into the mountains across the regions of future Meyland. The most impenetrable of these strongholds was Duunhollow, built by Duun and his allies over the span of ten years. Duunhollow became a bastion sanctuary for all humans, dwarves , and halfling.   The followers of Kusatta retreated to the swamp, and under his leadership, these 'Dark Shamans' ambushed wandering patrols of Ak’teshi hill giant soldiers, draining their life essence and raising their bodies as undead to turn on their former allies. The battles that took place against the undead masses gathering in the swamp yielded catastrophic losses for the empire, and the more the Dark Shamans practiced their magic, the further the swamp deteriorated under the stress of excessive use of the necromantic magic. The swamp would later become known as the cursed Morbog.   Kusatta's followers named themselves the 'orcs', after reveling in the last noises their victims made before death.   With the combined assaults of Kusatta's Dark Shamans and their tides of undead warriors, and Cairn's valiant rebellion, the Ak'teshi empire was eventually reduced to ashes, and the remaining giants were forced to flee their homeland, resulting in the complete collapse of the empire not in a blaze of glory, but a pitiful whimper.   Shortly after the end of the war, Kusatta and his Dark Shamans were exiled by Cairn, and Mortrim for their hideous practices.