Ilder Massacre

CW: Violence

A terrible tragedy that took place in the Draconian Village of Ilder in the year 526.

The Druidic Village

Ilder was known as the Druidic Village in its time, founded on land directly on the edge of and even bleeding into the Elven Forest. It was meant to be close to nature, founded by Village Chief Otikul Nurdesh alongside Ordoth Mardaar and Funxeth Soliann of the villages

Otikul Nurdesh by Jarhed

Bortan and Evity respectively.
The Elves were not pleased with this. They did not like the Draconians encroaching on their lands, and would often send small parties of soldiers to spite the Ilderians.

Grand Ignorance

The Grand Wizards who reigned during the time of Ilder never saw much need to help its people.
From Crordoth Narakas, who did not even acknowledge the newly founded village, to Nyxius Gririn who believed that it should be absorbed and become part of Evity, the early days of Ilder were of ignorance.
Then came Drixodal Vortrin, who actively took resources from Ilder and funneled them into other villages and his own pocket. Finally, there was Thalmejis Durzire. Durzire had no idea what to do with Ilder after the others had done such irreparable damage to it, and so he simply left it alone, giving Otikul Nurdesh full control over its fate.

A Weak Village

This led to a weaker Ilder, where they were struggling despite their central location and vast resources. They were alone, stranded. They had to take any help they could get, and help was so sparing when Yirthum to their South and the Elves to their North all hated them.

Ordoth Mardaar by fyrcracker

Ordoth Mardaar was the Chief Protector of Ilder and was responsible for its security. Many said that there was no threat too great for Ordoth, and he trained many soldiers to help him in his protection of the village.
None, however, could match Ordoth. He was said to be a savage beast on the battlefield, a brilliant tactician and an overwhelming physical force.
Ilder may not have been the strongest, but no other village had Ordoth Mardaar. Otikul Nurdesh was happy with that. He wanted to just lead his people, and if it took Ordoth Mardaar for them to feel safe, he'd keep Ordoth around. Then, when Ordoth was gone, there was Ordoth's family. His wife Olthash and his son Oraakil. They could grow to fill his place.
As for the nobility, Funxeth Soliann did not consider herself a combatant. She did not see a need for it, training her beasts to do every daily task for her. Some say she contributed to the culture around Ilder that made it such a pushover, so weak. She was the pull to Ordoth's push in the village.

The Tragedy

Ordoth was not enough of a detterent for the Elves.

Ilifaren by Jarhed

In what seemed at first to be a routine annoyance, Oraakil and Olthash Mardaar saw an army of Elves mounted outside of Ilder.
At the head of this army, it seemed, was the Wood Elven leader of the Hunt, Ilifaren.
Olthash Bifaeth Mardaar was training her son Oraakil at the time, but he had been struggling to use his wings to fly. Now, she told him he would need to use his training. She could not have known the scale of the attack that was coming.
Only when Captain Marnis arrived, the second in command of the Elven Army, did Olthash know something was off. Marnis did not just go anywhere, he went where it was important. Sure, he hunted with Aeydark, but rarely did he set foot outside of the Elven Forest.
Unless... an attack was coming.

Captain Aeydark by Jarhed

Major Players

There were many figures of import who took part in the Ilder Massacre, be it on the offensive side of the Elves or the defensive side of the Draconians. They will be listed below, separated into the two sides.

Elves

The High Elven, Wood Elven, and even Draconian forces who were against Ilder.

• Captain Marnis- The highest ranking Elven soldier present at the Hunt, Marnis covered up any sign that it would be happening from Captain Commander Narkard and ultimately it is said that his rage destroyed a large portion of Ilder.
• Captain Aeydark- The leader of the hunt, Aeydark organized and planned the Ilder Massacre, wanting to hunt what he perceived as invaders on the land of the Elves.
• Huntress Ilifaren- A prominent figure in Wood Elven hunts, Ilifaren is considered one of the luckiest people alive. She attended the Hunt in Ilder to try and stop it, but managed only to save herself and buy time for some few people to escape.
• Krildrac Calumorn- The Village Chief of Tamd and former classmate of Ordoth Mardaar who was hired to distract him as the massacre took place.
• Captain Nœud- An Aspirant Captain who took part in the hand, but died during the Massacre.

Draconians

The forces of the village of Ilder.

• Chief Otikul Nurdesh- The Village Chief of Ilder, Otikul Nurdesh was believed to be fairly absent for large portions of the Massacre, he actually was responsible for many of the disappearances.
• Ordoth Mardaar- The Chief Protector of Ilder who was distracted for a majority of it, then being responsible for burning it all down in the Flame of Ilder.
• Olthash Bifaeth Mardaar- Wife of Ordoth Mardaar, she managed to hold back Marnis and get her son to safety before vanishing, presumed dead. Instead, she had been captured by Otikul Nurdesh.
• Oraakil Mardaar- Son of Ordoth and Olthash Mardaar, Oraakil learned to fly here and was the one to alert his father to the massacre.
• Funxeth Soliann- A water mage with a desparate desire to become a famous noble through charitable works.

Aeydark was the one to lead the soldiers into Ilder, though Marnis gave the order. Not just a small dispatch, but a full army. The forces of two of the three Corps of the Elven Guard, though it was likely not the entirety of either of the two Corps.

Captain Marnis by Jarhed

Captain Marnis targeted the buildings, destroying them as Aeydark ran through the streets to cut people down.
Ilifaren tried to warn Olthash, to run with Oraakil and get away. But Marnis was already enraged, as he screamed out:

“This is for the men who died… to your barbaric attack. For them… I’ll kill every last one of you. Then, they can bathe peacefully in the moonlight of their afterlife.”

— Captain Marnis Goriish

Marnis had, previously, been the subject of an attack by a Draconian who claimed to be from the area around Ilder: Tanosh. Tanosh had not intended to kill, but had killed some of Marnis's subordinates accidentally. Marnis cared immensely for his soldiers, and even the injury of one of them was taken by the Captain as an offense towards himself.
Therefore, he held his rage not towards Tanosh in specific, but to those who had perpetuated the culture that allowed Tanosh to thrive. The people of Ilder. Marnis could not have knownt that Ilder did not exist at the time of Tanosh, that he had already been nearly 100 years too late. For Marnis was an Elf. Marnis did not understand how other people did not live so long. How much could change in 100 years of Draconian history.

Olthash Bifaeth by fyrcracker

Olthash kept Oraakil behind her. She did not want her son to be in front of such a terrifying, rage-filled man. Oraakil, however, wanted to fight. He had watched his father rush into battle and wanted to be as strong as Ordoth. Yet Olthash said to him:

"Oraakil… stay behind me, okay? Don’t run forward… never run into a battle. Wait for it to come to you… only when the battle comes to you will you know that what you’re fighting for is right. Those that run carelessly to fight care more for the fight than the outcome.”

— Olthash Bifaeth Mardaar

Olthash defended Oraakil from Marnis's attacks, Ilifaren being unable to save either of them. Oraakil's mother was not as physically strong as Marnis, but her Puppetry was able to hold him back long enough for her to give Oraakil an order.
Oraakil was told by his mother to fly. Something he had been failing to do before, but now it was important. Now he needed to do it, otherwise the two of them and their village would be wiped out. Oraakil needed to fly to his father and get Ordoth to stop Marnis. Only Ordoth could, the rest of Ilder was too weak and Olthash knew that Otikul Nurdesh would not help. Otikul Nurdesh was up to something.
With his mother's help, Oraakil flew to the southern edge of the village. To where Ordoth was. He cried, worrying for his mother. Yet he knew his father would be the hero of this story.

The Chief Protector

Ordoth Mardaar had been preocuppied with bureaucracy, being forced to oversee a trade that was happening between Ilder and the alchemist village of Tamd. His former classmate, Krildrac Calumorn, was the Chief of Tamd and had visited Ilder personally to meet with Ordoth for the trade. Calumorn claimed it would go smoothly that way.

Krildrac Calumorn by Jarhed

Many find this, in hindsight, suspicious. The trade was scheduled very last minute, and for the isolationist Tamdians to have the Chief personally visit a classmate who he was not on friendly terms with was odd. Many say Krildrac was hired by the Elves to distract Ordoth. The truth was not very clear, though Krildrac was later killed by Ordoth for even the potential of being affiliated with the attackers.
Oraakil made his way to Ordoth, warning him of what had happened. Ordoth immediately threw away everything Krildrac had brought to Ilder, taking his son and flying to their home.
Returning, Ordoth found nothing remained. His wife was gone and Marnis, seemingly, had fled. Ilifaren had run away in shame and all that was left was blood. Not enough for a corpse, yet still Ordoth believed his wife had been killed.
Entering into a rage-filled state, Ordoth developed Impossible Fire Magic, burning down the remnants of Ilder that Marnis had not destroyed himself. Turning the village he was meant to protect into a ruin. Traumatizing his poor son and destroying his legacy, all that remained of it now was ash and blood.

The Beastmaster

Funxeth Soliann had exitted her home, one built far too lavishly for the location, to find her animals panicking. She had wondered why there were no small birds to place her outfit on that morning, nor a rooster to wake her as an alarm, nor a frog butler to cook her breakfast. When she stepped onto the street, she found why.
People were trying to run, screaming down the street, but to Funxeth her animals screeches were far louder. The citizens she had tried to help were little to her compared to the lives she had cultivated, helped to grow.
At least, that was the case until she saw the people who could not run. Those strung up on the buildings, hung by their necks or their limbs. Many were dead by the ropes alone, their eyes bulging out of their heads and their necks breaking beneath the ropes. Those that did not die were holding onto the ropes, trying to break free. Yet Captain Aeydark ran through the streets, taking the easy prey as warm-up targets and cutting them down to prepare himself for the real hunt.

Funxeth Soliann by Jarhed

Funxeth did not believe she could handle Aeydark, no matter if she wanted to or not. She knew, at least, that Aeydark was not responsible for this. That was the person she found standing before her: Aspirant Captain Nœud.
Nœud fought with a rope, using his immense skill to hang the Draconian people of Ilder for his boss Aeydark. Funxeth saw him begin to hang people in front of her house, and knew exactly what to do. She ordered her squirrels to chew the ropes when Nœud turned his back.
This was initially all she intended to do in this fight. She was not a combatant, she was only a noble through money, influence, and blood. An ancestor in the distant past had been a powerful mage and she was coasting off of that inheritance.
Yet Nœud noticed her. He readied his rope, fast approaching the noblewoman.
It is said that Funxeth Soliann was beaten to quite a pulp by the Aspirant Captain. The extent is unknown, though it is said most of her major injuries were not sustained against Nœud.
Against Nœud, she was able to adapt and learn to use her animals for more than just everyday tasks. She learned to fight with the help of her animals. She could not fight herself necessarily, but she had no real need to. She had her animals, whom she had an incredibly close bond with as they had grown to serve her. At least, she saw it as a bond. To the animals, it was closer to forceful servitude.
Aspirant Captain Nœud, ultimately, was hanged by Funxeth's python, Cuddles. Funxeth Soliann, in a rage after witnessing her people being slaughtered by Nœud and his men, screamed out as she killed him:

"How does it feel? To have the life choked out of you, to feel everything you've ever had slip from your grasp because of the actions of a so-called enemy you never knew you would need to worry about? These people built their lives here, wanting peace amongst nature, and I came here to help them. The only help I can give them now is to take revenge. Goodbye, Captain."

— Funxeth Soliann

However, Funxeth found herself faced with another danger: Captain of the Corps, Aeydark. Aeydark was a hunter, and when faced with Funxeth's animals, he took this as a great challenge. This was the central fight throughout the massacre, the Hunter versus the Beastmaster as one tried to slaughter the people of Ilder and the other tried to protect them.
Aeydark was unable to get many of Funxeth's animals now that she had a grasp on how to fight with them, but she did lose some of them to the Hunter.

Sirlini Glirdog by Jarhed

Aeydark eventually realized he needed to take out Funxeth, and is said to have heavily crippled her right leg to the point that she needs to use a cane to walk around. Still, she kept him from killing her or some others long enough for an enraged Captain Marnis to drive Aeydark out of Ilder.

The Chief

Chief Otikul Nurdesh has been said by most official records to have not been present in Ilder on that day. Different stories say different things. The World Court's official recounting of the tragedy says he was in Stallbourne visiting a friend from his Magic College Class. The Puppetmaster Aaren Ildial claims that Otikul Nurdesh was meeting with him at the time, while former Chief of Ealla Sirlini Glirdog claims that Otikul Nurdesh had been out of the country at the time, off in Udai with the Korvians.
However, Ordoth Mardaar swore for years that he saw Otikul Nurdesh standing atop the buildings of Ilder during the massacre. Some said it was madness-induced hallucinations.
Only in 550, 24 years after the Massacre, was it revealed that Otikul Nurdesh was in fact there. He used his Capture Magic to capture a large portion of Ilder along with its population, holding them captive in a pocket dimension for 24 years in an effort to, as he says, keep them safe. One of these captured people was Olthash Bifaeth Mardaar.

Legacy

The most clear legacy of the Ilder Massacre was the destruction of Ilder that it created. As the smallest of the Draconian Villages, it had only an initial population of about 8,000 people. About 6,500 people died in the massacre, with another 1,000 going missing after being captured by Otikul Nurdesh. This leaves only an estimated 500 survivors of the Ilder Massacre. Of the 3,000 Elven soldiers who were present, it is said that about 1,200 died in Ilder. Here are the known survivors on each side:

• Ilderian
• Chief Otikul Nurdesh
• Funxeth Soliann, the Noble Founder
• Chief Protector Ordoth Mardaar
• Chief Successor Oraakil Mardaar
• Lorzavur Exikmaan, Guardian of the Forest
• Yunxus Parvroth, Secondary Protector
• Krichor Parvroth
• Darthan Drygax
• Zenzita Gichad
• Kliccak Phixoria

Elven

• Captain Aeydark Lesuant
• Captain Marnis Goriish
• Captain Demie
• Captain Repos
• Aspirant Captain Rapport Valhana
• Aspirant Captain Monstre
• Commander Deces Garcon
• Huntress Ilifaren

This led to its founders Otikul Nurdesh, Ordoth Mardaar, and Funxeth Soliann banding together one more time to found a new village further east, away from the Elven Forest. A Village that would hold the same purpose, but would be known instead as Dembar.
Funxeth Soliann would be crippled, now using a cane and not going out as often. She had grown stronger, but now feared what would happen to her in a large battle like that if one were to ever break out again. Still, she raised up more animals to aid her if she ever had to fight again.

Oraakil Mardaar by fyrcracker

Ordoth Mardaar's rage grew to a fever pitch, where it became uncontrollable. He tried to attack Otikul and was imprisoned for it, later breaking out and helping to found the Army of the Revolution. He became the Mind Mage and broadcast the Revolutionary Proclamation. It would be his actions in 548, however, that started the Grand Crowning, the World Court's plan to take over the World.

Ilder Returns

Oraakil Mardaar, Ordoth and Olthash's son and the young child who had been raised to one day lead Ilder, would live with the trauma of the Ilder Massacre for the rest of his life, watching the people of his village and even believing to watch his mother die. He grew the same rage as his father, as he grew up around it with no other source of comfort but his father.
However, as the years went by, and Oraakil lost his father and instead gained a family of his own, he learned to control this rage.
With the help of some former residents of Ilder like Lorzavur Exikmaan, as well as Evity and Waire's nobles Drorthod Lormorn and Uustac Acoria, Oraakil Mardaar and his son Hardel Mardaar refounded Ilder in 548.
There was much fear from the new Ilderians that the Massacre would happen again, but all those fears were put to rest with Oraakil Mardaar's spech in 550 to the people of Ilder once it had been fully built up again:

The Re-Opening of Ilder
By Oraakil Mardaar

"Citizens of Ilder, I have heard your concerns: Fear of the past returning. I understand those fears more than anyone. I have had those fears myself, but the past is not the future. The past does not have anything to be other than what we make it.
The past doesn't need to come back if we don't want it to. The future is ours and we can protect ourselves.
I can protect you in this new future of ours.
Ordoth was the past, but I am not Ordoth. He could not defend from attacks, only fight and attack himself. Fighting is what caused the Ilder Massacre. Ordoth's anger helped cause the destruction but I... am not like my father. I can control my rage, and I will only attack when it is absolutely necessary.
Under my protection, I will ensure that this village will never fall again."

Captain Marnis attempted to destroy Ilder again, but realized thanks to Oraakil that he was not doing so for any reason other than misplaced rage, that the people of Ilder did not truly do anything against him or his people and that Oraakil just wanted to protect his people as Marnis did.

The Coup of Zephys

In 550, Otikul Nurdesh staged a coup against the Grand Wizard Salasar Feaphed, in which he not only revealed where he was and what he did during the Ilder Massacre, but also freed the Ilderian citizens as a show of how he was a good leader who protected his people.
These freed Ilder citizens, then, were forced to take part in the Coup, largely against their wills, thanks to the Blindfold of Helle wielded by the Head Priest of the Temple of Helle, Vornush Wrakris.