Second Imperial War

Mournful elven songs sing that the First Imperial War was the beginning of the end for the Ancient Elven Empire, whose glory would never again be seen by the Twin Worlds. If the first war between humanity and elvenkind was the beginning of the end, then the second was when that ending truly came to pass.

Historical Significance

Unlike the First Imperial War, which has mostly been reduced to myth and legend, the Second Imperial War is much more well-known. This is mostly due to the presence of eyewitnesses, such as the rare baelnorn, or the infamous Ansarien Ill'conter.
To most living at the time, the hostility was all too sudden. Human communities would find themselves under attack by a force equipped with elven arms and armor. Elven cities struck by the retaliatory attack didn't know what they had done to provoke it.
In the end, the war was the result of the madness of one man. Ansarien Ill'conter was obsessed with the daughter of a local lord, but her heart was set on a human woodsman, instead. In a fit of rage, he killed both his rival and the object of his affections.
He blamed the human race for the tragedy he caused, and used the terrible power of his glaive, Dominion to enslave their minds and sent them after their own people. Those his army attacked suffered the horror of being forced to fight against their own family and friends.
The confusion caused by these surprise attacks led the already tense relations to explode into open warfare. Humanity found itself under attack from two fronts, and no one save for Ansarien knew why. It almost seemed that the mad mage's crusade would actually be fulfilled.
This instability lasted until the elven empire discovered the source of this anomalous army, and marched against it. They hoped that with Ansarien out of the picture, peace could be restored. Ansarien's forces could not survive such a campaign on two fronts. The swordwizard was captured and imprisoned beneath the earth by the Grand Cabal.
During this time, the war between the Ancient Elven Empire and the fledgling human kingdoms still raged. Humanity was under heavy attack, but their cities, such as Ondolan would not fall so easily. With the tension against elvenkind already present, they had prepared for such a conflict.
The elven empire, on the other hand, had already been waning for as long as human civilization had been rising. They lost a great deal of ground, including cities like Vil'serenn or modern-day Port Vald.
By the time the war was over, the Grand Cabal was in hiding, for fear that humanity would push on until all elvenkind was wiped from the Twin Worlds, instead. Most of the elves that remained fled to isolated places, such as the city of Veille, or the isle of Iv'arill. Elven civilization would never recover.

Legacy

In the wake of the Second Imperial War, the Ancient Elven Empire was truly gone. What elves remained stayed far away from the sight of others for a very long time, with some groups keeping others away forever. Elven culture mostly degenerated, to the point that the ancient tongue was lost and replaced by the far simpler language of the modern elves. As beautiful as elven songs and cities are today, it is painfully clear to any elf that it is nothing compared to what was lost.
Human civilization, on the other hand, rose to dominate Amaun, and not even the Second Rising could stop that expansion. The Kingdom of Mandia was founded soon after, followed by Candalia. When Tamasia was founded, the face of Vald took shape, and it all started with the fall of the elven empire in the Second Imperial War.

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

3775 1R

Ending Date

3780 1R

Conflict Result

Fall of Ancient Elven Empire.

Location

Vald