The civilizations of two thousand years ago were already old, decadent and had a layer of corruption that was slowly eating away at the infrastructure holding the whole mess together. When 10,000 refugees arrived on the Western Shore from a land who's name has been lost in the ages, the governments were slow to act causing a series of events that caused the beginning of the Settlement Wars.

The refugees were desperate for food, shelter and a new life. The local cities and governments didn't have the resources needed to support a huge influx of mouths to feed. At first, the governments simply did nothing assuming things would take care of themselves or assuming it was the problem of another part of the bureaucracy. As the resources of the area were drained, the refugees were cast away, either through legal channels with banishment or through violence and harassment. The refugees began moving from one empire to another, the Spire version of the gypsies.

The leaders of the refugees, a council of three people who were considered by the refugees as heroes, led the refugees through the lands of western Spire in search of a place to call their own. Through several close calls with disaster, the Council brought the people out with few losses, strengthening the loyalty of their people.

A local baron saw the refugee's path would bring them through his lands, and in the process, decimate his people's resources. He didn't care about his people, only that they wouldn't be able to pay their taxes and support his comfortable lifestyle if the refugees were allowed to pass through. He didn't have the manpower to force the refugees to go someplace else so he decided on a more subtle approach.

By this point, almost three years after the landing of the ships on the western shore, the number of refugees on the move had dwindled to around five thousand. Marriages, jobs and death at the hands of predators or bandits had slowly dwindled their numbers. The five thousand that remained were those who weren't the kind who settled before they became refugees: professional soldiers, adventurers, and those who had formed a bond with their fellow wanderers.

The baron saw this homeless army coming and decided to send them a warning, not understanding the powder keg he was about to light. Under the cover of night and concealed by an invisibility spell, an assassin crept into the camp a few days before they would arrive at the baron's border. He killed the three council members in their sleep but was caught in the act by a passing guard. The assassin was captured and interrogated, revealing the baron's plan to demoralize the refugees, making it easier for his forces to send them running.

This act sent the remaining refugees into a fury. This fury was focused at the baron and his lands by a charismatic lieutenant named Katala Alvarone.

Three days after the assassinations, the Battle of Tumkal Bridge started the Settlement Wars. The Refugees met the advance picket force of Baron Kopostres in time to prevent the Baron's forces from destroying the only route into the barony for a hundred miles in either direction. Over the next two weeks, the Baron's forces put up a reasonable defense but they were outnumbered, under experienced and lacked any sound leadership. By the end of the third week, the baron's keep was overrun and his forces were scattered. It wasn't till word of the keep's fall reached the ears of the neighboring baronies and duchies that any of them even stirred to protect their borders.

At first, Alvarone and his people were content to keep what they had taken and settle in but none of them had any knowledge of running a barony so troubled times came. Raids from orc and giant tribes in the nearby hills, a rise in banditry and a worsening famine, brought on since most of the farmers in the area had been levied into service by the baron, caused a downward spiral that Alvarone and his advisors could not stop.

Within a year, Alvarone realized he needed supplies from his neighbors but they refused to deal with a usurper. His men were growing restless and hungry while the surviving peasants were realizing that the new ruler was worse than the old one. This brought Alvarone to the decision to take what was needed from his neighbors.

The debauched and shortsighted rulers of the neighboring lands didn't stand a chance against Alvarone and his army. Corrupt commanders and advisors he faced made his rapid land grabbing easier. One mage order in a duchy north of the lands he controlled even went so far as to approach him with a deal: The mages destroy the local defenses from within and Alvarone grants them all property rights to the ducal palace north of the duchy capital. This palace still stands inhabited by the old mage order. However, the members died long ago and only the ghosts, cursed to exile within their palace-tomb, still wander the crumbling walls, killing all who enter to sate their rage for a few moments.

As time passed, Alvarone and his army abandoned all pretenses of looking for a place to settle in and became a wandering hoard. They were similar to what they had been a few years before, but they no longer bothered themselves with paying for essentials or respecting local customs. Now, under the near tyrannical grip of Alvarone, they took what they needed and left the rest to fend for themselves. The throne of the empire didn't care about Alvarone as long as the local barons and dukes were able to continue sending in their tithes. Over the next few years, several bands of adventurers were hired and sent out to destroy Alvarone's army, meeting various degrees of failure.

Alvarone's army was camped in the foothills several days northwest of Spire. One of his scouting units had discovered an abandoned keep buried in the side of a cliff wall. Alvarone sent a few units of his men into the fortress and rooted out a small community of goblins there. Further searching revealed that the keep was dwarven in origin but no sign of the previous owners or the original purpose of the keep could be found. Recognizing the growing need for a base, Alvarone split his force into two groups. One would stay and rebuild the keep for their own needs and fortify its defenses. The second group went out on raids to stock the place with food, supplies and expert labor by any means necessary.

Alvarone's army vanished from the public's sight for the better part of five years. Then reports of vicious raids on small settlements in remote sections of the hills began to be heard through the taverns of Sadakat. Soon, the people of Sadakat knew Alvarone had returned. Twice a year, Alvarone would send out raiding parties to gather enough supplies to keep them supplied for a time. Each raid was followed by an ineffective counter attack by the local barons. This pattern continued for twelve years, each side claiming some sort of victory each time.

Then Alvarone's Keep fell silent.

For a year and a half, adventuring parties and scouts for the nearby baronies tried to breach the doors of the keep or penetrate the walls with scrying or destructive magic. And for a year and a half, nothing happened.

On a hot day in the middle of June, a group of adventurers set up a camp outside the doors and began their attempts to gain entry.

From the Journal of Intar the Loremaster of Uldar Keep:

We have set up camp and Turgal, our expert on breaking buildings, is looking for weak points in the stones around the huge gates. His first reports are not promising. We had heard of the "unbreakable walls" of Alvarone's Keep but Turgal and Brenik wanted to see for themselves.

My part in this expedition won't start until someone opens those doors. While I'm waiting, I'll be gathering samples of the local insect life. This area was well catalogued several years ago by Henrikson but I may get lucky and stumble upon a new find. Wouldn't that be grand!

I have been sitting above the entrance to Alvarone's Keep for two days now. The army of demons has been marching out of the gates in single file non-stop in that time. They form onto the back of a column four demons wide and continue marching out of the valley. Taking gaps between units into account, that?s roughly 200,000 demons stretching two miles long. I haven't had anything to eat or drink in that time. I plan on attempting to sneak away sometime tonight. I don't know how the doors were opened; I was out searching for samples when it happened. I heard a loud explosion similar to the special powder kegs Turgal brought, only slightly deeper in tone. When I returned, my companions were all dead and the army was on the move. I dared not do anything or I would meet the same fate as my friends. When I get away from here, I will make my way overland to Spire to warn people of what's happening here.

Intar never made it to Spire. His journal was found by a dwarven scouting party in a shallow gully in the hills around Alvarone's Keep several weeks later.

The army of demons, led by Alvarone himself, marched into the foothills and began a bloody war that shook the already crumbling foundations of the Old Empires to the ground. His army, formed by an unholy pact with a demon uncovered in the unending excavations Alvarone's men were doing in the deep recesses of the keep, was almost unstoppable. Never needing sleep and only living off the flesh of their victims, the demons moved at a relentless pace across the lands of Spire killing any they could find.

The demon host swarmed the lush grasslands that once thrived just south of the Spire Peaks. Confident in the demon's natural immunities, Alvarone split his army into several smaller warbands and sent them in all directions to decimate the land before concentrating on Spire itself.

Within a year the lands were under the control of Alvarone's Demons. He then set his sights on Spire itself.

On the next spring thaws, the Demon Host of Alvarone moved up the passes toward Spire. Each of the four "Road Keeps" put up a heavy resistance, their numbers bolstered by hired adventuring groups. When the last keep finally fell to the host, Alvarone called for a stop to the Host's advance. Slaves were then set to the task of digging fortifications and rebuilding the keeps to protect the Host's flanks and rear during what was sure to be a long siege. The taking of the keeps and the following digging in took a full war season and Alvarone was forced to delay till the next spring before the true assault could begin.

During the winter months however, neither side sat idle. Alvarone sent regular small raider forces to Silver Spire's outer settlements to weaken the moral of the defenders while simultaneously increasing his own army's supply of food and slaves. Meanwhile, the defenders of Silver Spire sent raiding parties out to harass the outer perimeter of the Host's encampment. These raids were also designed to find a weakness in the demons that could be exploited. To this point, only weapons with enchantments could harm the beasts, and none of the governments had the resources to equip a force large enough to handle Alvarone's Host.

One of these raiding parties was successful in capturing one of the demons. It was brought back to Silver Spire and the Tower of Azuth for study.

Alvarone was livid when he heard of the capture of a demon. He knew that if a simple weakness were found, his chances of a total victory over the lands of Spire would be in jeopardy. He ordered the Host to attack, despite the poor fighting conditions, even for demons. Mud, heavy winter rains and not enough prepared siege engines meant a tough fight. The Host threw themselves at the city walls while the parapets were guarded by clerics and mages from throughout the city. Scattered through their ranks were adventurers with the right equipment to hold their own against Alvarone's Host. The city guards were forced to stand back, away from their posts, and watch helplessly as their homes and families were defended by strangers.

For the better part of a month the ad-hock defenders of Silver Spire fought off the Host of Alvarone while the clerics and lore masters of the Tower of Azuth studied the captive demon. Eventually the priests discovered a weapon that could harm the beasts. Weapons forged from pig iron on an anvil blessed by Tyr and quenched in water reflecting the light of the full moon could harm the demons of Alvarone's host. All through Silver Spire, the crafting guilds and blacksmiths were ordered to move their anvils and quenching pools onto the streets of the city in preparation of the next full moon.

Word reached Alvarone of the discovery and he redoubled his efforts, having less than a week to breach the walls before the rising of the next full moon. Inside the city, the guards were rounding up any and all pig iron that could be found while blacksmiths worked non-stop creating molds for weapons to produce them in mass quantities. On the walls, adventurers and spell casters held the parapets while the Host of Avlarone threw themselves at the walls in a never ending hoard of demonflesh.

From the Collected Letters of Ruban al'Mair:

It is midnight in the Silver City and like so many others here I cannot find sleep. I have left the safety of my room at the Broken Wheel Inn and have been wandering the streets since. Above our heads the few flying soldiers of Alvarone's Host swoop and soar, dropping stones, bundles of flaming pitch and wood, and diseased bodies.

From my position on the rubble pile that was once a shrine to Gond, I can see the tops of the city walls. The defenders are silhouetted by the spells of destruction raining into the enemy. Explosions of fire, shards of raining ice, pure golden light crashing down from the night sky, and pillars of flame pouring from the clouds above. Every heartbeat that passes kills a dozen demons. We are able to part the heavens and bring the wrath of the gods themselves down upon our enemies. The mightiest champions the world knows are defending our walls. And the city prepares to create the weapons we need to beat the enemy back.

And still we have little hope.

Just after penning the final sentence in his letter, Ruban al'Mair, a bard of renown, was killed as a stone dropped by one of the demons circling above crushed his head.

As the night wore on, the howls of demons mixed with the ringing of hammers. The smiths across Silver Spire worked at a feverish pace to create the blades needed by the masses of soldiers waiting outside their shops. The weapons created that night were lacking in quality. Raw pig iron is a poor medium for a weapon of war; it doesn't hold an edge and is brittle in extreme temperatures but they were all that the soldiers had against the demons.

As the night deepened, the people's hope grew. They saw the guards slowly being armed with the new blades, the walls were holding, the gates stood firm and the defenders on the walls were finding their second wind. Then the people heard a commotion on the walls near the main gates. Some of the wall defenders fled at the sight of what they had seen outside. The High Magus of Silver Spire, Kolamnas, was summoned. It is said that when he looked outside the walls, he went pale as a sheet. He ordered the defenders off the walls and into the plaza below, telling them the gates were going to fall.

Once the defenders were away, Kolamnas gathered his energies and began a barrage of spells at the advancing horrors. The sands of time stopped three times as he leveled spells that shook the earth, broke the barriers to planes and sundered the ground. He then left the ramparts and stood among the defenders with the words, "I injured them" on his lips.

A terrible roar was heard and then the gates were sundered. The stunned defenders saw three beasts stride into the plaza. Each was as tall as five men and were cobbled from the bodies of the demons that had fallen in the siege.

The war wizards and high clerics of the defenders were quick to act against the demonflesh golems. They called down their remaining spells and prayers upon the beasts. When the golems closed the distance to the defenders, the warriors surged forward to engage them. As they clashed, the Host of Alvarone surged through the gates and met the newly armed soldiers.

The war in the streets had begun.

The fighting raged for hours. The defenders fought valiantly but were slowly forced back by the sheer numbers of demons. Hour by hour, sections of the city were lost to the Host as the defenders were pushed back. Eventually the defenders found themselves protecting the last bit of ground in the city remaining: the Market. The fighting became fierce and desperate as the defenders were attacked from all sides.

Kolamnas, seeing the desperation of their situation made the ultimate sacrifice. He held his Staff of the Arch-Magus over his head and charged into the middle of the three golems while ordering the fighters to fall back. With the words, "For the Spire" shouted for all to hear, he brought the staff down in an arch, striking the ground with such power that the staff shattered, releasing all of it's power in one final destructive blast. The explosion of energy threw demon and defenders alike to the ground as smoke and flames filled the air.

For a moment, the city did not breath, then, as the smoke cleared, people saw Kolamnas was gone, as were the three golems. The city guard let out a war cry that, it is said, Alvarone himself, standing outside the city gates, could hear. They threw themselves at the Host in a fury that only those seeing their own deaths looming can match. The defending adventurers, now with no golems to distract them followed the guards in the charge.

Just after dawn, the defenders began retaking the city, one block at a time.

In the slums of the city, a pocket of defenders continued fighting. This group had been separated from the main force during the retreating to the city market. For nearly eight hours, this small group of city guard and armed locals were backed into a dead end alley, fighting against the never ending hoards of demons. The men were lead by Endar Urlmok, Captain of the Third Watch, a half-elf native of Spire. His command of the guard, and organization of the locals, kept his fresh men on the front ranks and the others regaining their strength in the back of the line, allowing them to fight an almost continuous engagement.

As the tide of the battle in the market was turning, the battle in the slums was taking a turn for the worse as the Host drove into the back alleyway with renewed force. The defenders became desperate as the wounded were brought forward to bolster the front ranks. The fighting became savage and brutal, the pig iron swords having gone dull from near constant use for over eight hours and the fury of the demons seemed spurred on by some outside force.

Then, behind the ranks of demons, Captain Endar saw the source of the new vigor among the demons. Striding into view was Alvarone himself. He was wearing armor made of tiny demons all clinging to each other and swarming over his body, his helmet was some kind of armored beetle, it's claws digging into Alvarone's temples and the back of his neck. His mace was carved into the likeness of a four-faced head, each face moved and mouthed obscenities at those around Alvarone. His cloak, made from the scalps of his original army, blew on a breeze none could feel.

Alvarone sneered and his mace shouted an order only the demons could hear and they stopped their attack. The demons moved out of Alvarone's way and he charged into the alley.

Alvarone charged the line of guards. His mace swung in a wide arch, felling three of the guards in one sweep, the long, copper tongues of the mace licking the blood and gore from their faces. The defenders brought their swords down on Alvarone but the demons swarming over him threw themselves in the way of the blades, sacrificing themselves for their dread lord. When their bodies hit the blood soaked cobbles, they vanished in a puff of oily black smoke.

Cackling madly, Alvarone strode through the defenders, felling them like wheat on harvest day. Endar strode forward and, with grim determination, engaged Alvarone. Alvarone brought his mace, Foe Drinker, down to crush Endar's skull like he had done with so many others. The captain brought his blade up and stopped the blow, rocking on his heels but unharmed.

Alvarone paused, as did the host around him. None before had been able to stand before him like this and survive. With a howl of rage, Alvarone swung again and again, each time the blow was deflected by Endar. The cobblestones beneath Endar's feet cracked with the force of the blows he deflected, the weapons striking each other sounded like the grand bell of the church of Gond but he stood firm.

Endar kept Alvarone in the center of the alley, maneuvering around, keeping the Demon Lord occupied while the defenders took the time to receive healing from clerics and replace broken weapons. The Demon Host milled about, not wanting to advance past their lord but not wishing to move away, they simply watched.

Alvarone was blind with rage. He only saw a whelp of a half-breed standing defiant before him with the audacity to not fight back. Alvarone did not see the defenders regrouping, he did not see his Host hesitate, he did not hear the sounds of battle approaching for, as he and Endar fought, the defenders from the market were retaking the city and were fast approaching the scene in the alley.

Alvarone swung his mace up over his head and, with a growl, brought it down in a deadly arch toward Endar's skull. The captain brought his blade up to block the vile mace but stepped aside at the last minute, thrusting the tip of his blade at Alvarone's unprotected face.

Foe Drinker crashed into the street, scattering the bloodstained cobbles in all directions. Endar's blade found its mark, sliding with ease into Alvarone's left eye and burying itself to the hilt, the end of the blade protruding out of the armored back of the demon-beetle.

For a moment the combatants stopped. The demons watched as the life-blood of their lord poured in a thick, crimson ribbon onto the cracked cobblestone street. The city's defenders held their breath as new life and new hope washed through them. Alvarone's knees buckled and he fell to the ground, Endar's blade slipping free of the mortal wound.

The sounds of the city being retaken registered in Endar's mind and he rallied the defenders into action, throwing themselves at the now leaderless host. With a renewed vigor, the defenders of Silver Spires pushed the demon host out of the gates of the city and into the surrounding hills. A majority of the demons fled through the broken terrain back to Alvarone's Keep and into it's shadowed depths. The others made small stands against their pursuers but were eventually crushed and broken.

A quarter of a century after the settlers first landed on the western shores of Spire, the last wanderer, Alvarone, ended his journey. Had he kept a journal, someone may have learned what had happened in the twelve years that his Keep was sealed to the outside world but nothing was found.

Kolamnus was dead, no remains were found anywhere near the site of his self sacrifice to destroy the demonflesh golems. A statue of Kolamnus was erected on the plaza where he passed away.

Captain Endar went on to become High Commander of the City Watch. Many followers of Torm claim that Endar was able to withstand the blows of Alvarone because the Lord of Defenders was watching him that day. Others point at Commander Endar's own words, "I had no other choice before me," claiming he was just in the right place at the right time.

Alvarone's body was taken to the main keep where rites were performed to prevent his return and his body was destroyed. Foe Drinker vanished somewhere in the last struggle. Many feel that it was taken back to his Keep by one of his demon followers. If it was, the nearly two thousand years to searching through the ruins of that Keep have not found it.

Almost a thousand years ago there was a general uprising in the City-state of Silver Spire. The decline of the general well being of the commoners combined with the growing decadence of the nobility led to an under current of discontent. After a short, bloody revolt, the heads of state were taken into custody and a ruling council of the rebellion leaders was put into place. The other kingdoms of Spire went into a rage over this, demanding the release of the noble families.

The council was initially adamant on never releasing the nobles for fear of the families gathering supporters and retaking the city-state but they soon realized that the coffers were nearly dry so a decision was reached. Talks with the other kingdoms of Spire began and an agreement was reached a few months later. The noble families would be ransomed to various kingdoms, with the understanding that the families would be responsible for the debts to the host kingdoms through indentured servitude.

The treaties were signed, the ransoms were paid and the wagons were prepared to send the families to the different kingdoms who had agreed to pay the ransoms. The night before they were supposed to be shipped away word about the arrangement leaked out and people still looking for revenge for years of oppression and hardship lashed out. The prisons were stormed and the noble families were dragged into the streets by the angry mobs. A mock trial was held for each family with predictable results.

The next morning the city streets were filled with the sight of hundreds of people swinging from improvised gallows lining the streets. Men, women and children were shown no mercy by the mob drunk on frustration, anger and cheap ale. The bodies were gathered up by the Guild of Graves and taken a few miles outside of the city and dumped into a mass grave. Several clerics were there to give last rights but it was too late, the spirits of the families do not rest peacefully, even to this day. Many undead, from simple skeletons to the more powerful ghouls and ghosts can be found roaming the outskirts of the city and sometimes manage to slip into the city itself.

The other kingdoms, on hearing of the deaths, went into an uproar, demanding both the return of the ransom money and the disbanding of the ruling council. The council refused. Within a week, the neighboring kingdoms were declaring war and bringing their armies to bear.

The council found itself in a difficult situation, they had a very well trained and equipped standing army along with being in a defendable position but they had no chance to stand up to the combined might of the gathering armies. It was decided to bring in a general muster: all able bodied men of age within the city-state were drafted into the army. There were surprisingly few who resisted the draft, many historians pointing to a pervasive national pride felt during that part of history.

Before the end of the month, the City-State of Silver Spire was being invaded.

For the first few months of the war, Silver Spire's armies were simply trying to hold their mountain passes and the nearby foothills while the conscripts trained in the fields outside the city. This would have been a relatively simple task if the Council weren't faced with a lesson in irony: all of the highest-ranking officers of the army, being noble born, were lying in a mass grave outside the city.

Then word reached the Council of a young colonel who had held a foot-path through the mountains against a force ten times the size of the one she commanded in a protracted engagement that she was able to turn into a costly defeat for the enemy. They summoned her to the council chambers for a meeting. She was interviewed and questioned about various subjects regarding the war, her stance on the revolution and where her loyalties lay. The Council liked her answers and were swayed by her patriotism so much that they made her the general of the army of Silver Spire.

General Isabella Meywood of Drey Shire took command of the Army of Silver Spire in a ceremony on the steps of the council hall wearing the silver and white armor of state the next afternoon. In an hour, she was on the road to begin her inspection of the defenses the splintered army had set up. Within a week, forces were being redistributed across the city-state to better hold the land. Once the defenses were secured, she returned to the city and began personally supervising the training of the militia.

Being ordered around by a person who was a colonel less than a month ago initially put off Isabella's subordinates but many soon saw they were working with someone who would have been in that position if she had been of noble birth under the old regime. She soon had the militia training advancing quickly and began working on her plans for defense of the city-state.

She fielded the first of the militia units on the thinly guarded southern borders where the foothills gave way to grass lands then to desert. These units, and her ability to manage such a large force in the field, were put to the test when the sultan's army attacked days later. Her detractors soon lost most of their credibility as she achieved a stunning victory over a superior force by using the terrain to it's fullest giving her forces the needed edge for victory.

As the war slowly escalated, Isabella began picking her sub-commanders and put them in the command positions she felt were the best places to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. As time passed and each battle ending in victory, Isabella's popularity with the common people grew while the support for the Council waned with each bad decision on government policy was made. Many people felt that Isabella was the only thing the Council did right. The Council decided to make a martyr of Isabella by having her assassinated and blaming the coalition of kingdoms. This would, in the Council's mind, make the people focus on the war abroad and not on the troubles at home.

The assassin failed miserably. Not only did Isabella survive the attack unharmed, she was able to capture him and her people were able to force a signed confession out of him as well as testimony of the Council's involvement. Before Isabella could make it back to Silver Spire, the Council was dead by the hands of a mob, not all of the pieces to the council members were found.

Knowing that the Coalition would use this opportunity to attack in force, Isabella did not fight the common cry to make her the new ruler of the City-state of Silver Spire. Less than an hour after the blood was washed from the steps of the Council Hall, General Isabella Meywood of Drey Shire was crowned, making her Queen Isabella Meywood of Silver Spire.

Isabella was soon contacted by diplomats from the Coalition asking for the surrender of the city-state. She responded by saying that the mistakes of the Council were not hers or her people's and that she would accept fair terms of peace if the forces of the Coalition would remove their troops from the borders of the city-state.

The Coalition refused to pull back their forces. Isabella refused to surrender. The talks broke down and the fighting resumed, this time Isabella opted for an "aggressive defense" strategy. Her forces left their defensive positions and began taking key staging points the enemy was using for their attacks. Soon, the armies of Silver Spire were attacking border forts to prevent a resupply of the enemy armies; this blossomed over the next few years into sieges of keeps and then of cities as Isabella continued pushing forces back.

Over the next five years, Isabella took lands and deposed noble houses and set up locals she felt she could control or, if she couldn't find anyone suitable, she would bring in someone from the old city-state, which was quickly growing into an empire. One by one, the old kingdoms fell to the armies of Silver Spire. The non-human kingdoms stayed out of the conflicts, letting the short-lived humans settle things on their own so Isabella left those lands untouched by the war.

Ten years after the uprising of the people of the City-state of Silver Spire, in a ceremony held in Wyrmsbane Keep, Isabella Meywood was crowned Empress of the Silver Spire Empire minutes after the formal surrender of Sultan Bulshar Muthmeck.

The next twenty years saw an uneasy peace settle over Sadakat as the conquered people settled into a new life under a new Empress and the people of the city of Silver Spire adjusted to becoming the center of government for a continent. There was strife and uprisings, but Isabella held the peace with swift but fair judgments.

During this time, Isabella took a husband. In a massive ceremony held in the fields outside the city walls, Isabella Meywood married General Hektor Konstanton, one of her advisors from the war. In a move that surprised those not close to her, she took Hektor's last name as her own. A little more than a year later, Lonar Konstanton was born.

Hektor died while fighting a lizard tribe uprising in the Delola swamps five years after Lonar was born. Isabella sent her armies into the swamps and leveled every structure that could be found there, leaving only ruins behind that the descendants of the tribes still inhabit today.

Isabella passed away years later in her sleep, just before her son's fifteenth birthday. Emperor Lonar I was crowned in a grand ceremony that marked the beginning of the Konstanton Dynasty, a legacy that would rule over all of the human lands for the next five hundred years.

To say that the next five hundred years were without problems would not be correct at all however they were a time where many wonders of Sadakat were built. A road was build over the shifting sands of the grand desert. This road rested on thousands of pillars, sunk deep into the sand and stretched across the land and linking the oases of the desert. This road sits in ruin now, only the scattered pillar jutting up from the shifting dunes can be seen.

One of these wonders was simply called "The City". Built by Emperor Elkro III, The City was actually a castle constructed on a pinnacle of stone in the southern edge of the great mountains. Once the castle was completed, a group of the most powerful mages in the land was assembled. Scholars, sages and magical theorists were commissioned to work with these mages to literally lift the stone from its roots to float above the land. Elkro used the City as his main palace and meeting chambers. The City was linked to the ground by several portals scattered throughout the Empire in the keeps of the regional rulers. It was also used as a powerful psychological weapon. If Elkro heard of civil unrest, he would simply have The City moved to the area, making a powerful physical statement of the might of the Konstanton Dynasty. The pinnacle of rock alone was three hundred feet tall and bristled with firing platforms, balconies and observation rooms. The keep itself was made of white marble and the roofes were plated in polished brass to catch and reflect the first rays of the sun each morning.

Several other advances in medicine, theology, printing, metallurgy, as well as a rise in performing arts and literacy brought about a steady increase in the overall way of life for people. The concept of letting a field lie fallow to replenish the land for better crops became widely used, creating more food and giving farmers a chance to save gold for luxury items. This gave a slow rise to the merchant class, who soon had as much political power as the churches in politics.

While this period of history is remembered as a "golden age" on Sadakat, it was not without its problems. Assassinations, revolts, the occasional plague, drought, famine, flooding, and the thousands of other 'small' disasters happened, but through them all, the Konstanton Dynasty and the Empire of Silver Spire remained.

Then a charismatic halfling was made the Grand Councilman of the Imperial Guild of Merchants.

Moranan Khol's ascension to the Grand Councilman's position was an uneventful one. Contrary to most of the bardic tales, he never gained a promotion to a seat held by a member who had died. All of the positions he took over were vacated by people retiring or taking positions elsewhere within the guild. He is also commonly portrayed as an over weight man with an unkempt appearance. This is also due to artists and writers taking an 'artistic license' to their works when portraying him. In truth, Moranan Khol was a handsome, easy going young halfling who had worked hard for his position in the Guild. His family was wealthy but not terribly so when compared to most other members of the guild council.

When Moranan took office, he found the Guild was in dire straights; its coffers were nearly exhausted, several members hadn't paid their dues in months and the Guild's ability to sway the policies of the Imperial Court had waned. He tried several times to get the delinquent members to pay their dues but hit a wall of strong, but polite opposition. As word spread within the guild of members not paying, some of the less well off members began refusing to pay their own dues; this lead Moranan to seek legal action against the delinquent members in order to get them to pay their back dues.

Some members paid their back dues while the other members resisted the legal action through bribes and back-room politics. Moranan wasn't an evil person, but neither was he a saint. He wasn't afraid to use his own underhanded methods at getting his guild back under control. He met with the leaders of a group known as Mask's Chosen, a rogue's guild based out of a growing city of pirates and cutthroats on the west coast. His goal was simply to have the other members pressured, without harming them physically, into paying their past dues. The plan initially worked well but it met resistance in certain members when they hired a guild based in Silver Spire, the Silver Daggers, to counter the Chosen.

As expected, this quickly escalated with each guild not wanting to lose face by backing down, even at the behest of their employers. There were minor skirmishes between guild members but the merchants were willing to look the other way, feeling it wasn't their concern.

One noble was entertaining several guests, including one of the delinquent merchants, at her home near Silver Spire. This merchant had set up a meeting with members of the Silver Daggers in a back room of the manor. The Chosen arrived in the middle of this meeting and a fight between the two groups began. No one is sure how the Chosen knew of the meeting or what caused the fight to begin with but it soon spilled into the main ballroom of the manor. Someone, and no one knows who, used a scroll or a wand that fired off a spell called "Wail of the Banshee" that killed all but a handful of the most powerful, influential people in the Empire including Moranan Khol.

The deaths of so many nobles, merchants and artists opened a floodgate of events too numerous to detail here. None of the survivors knew, or would admit to being, the person who brought in the hired guilds but everyone was ready to point fingers at who they thought was really to blame, sometimes it was even a coincidence that the blamed party was a political or business foe.

Emperor Molock Konstanton III was a weak ruler. He had let the Empire's lesser nobles run the larger affairs of state while momentum kept the day-to-day business of the Empire running. Emperor Molock had several chances to stop the chain of events that began that night, but he was not gifted with the foresight, or the backbone, of his ancestors.

What followed could only be described as an orgy of assassinations, climaxing in the death of the royal couple and their unborn son as the noble houses, and some powerful merchants, moved to take power from what they perceived as weakened houses. The end finally came as the Emperor was killed by an assassin's blade while he was hiding in The City. His wife, six months pregnant with their son, was thrown or pushed from the observation balcony where her husband was murdered. As accusations flew between the noble houses, tensions rose and soon blades were drawn. The City became the site of the first battle of the war that would signal the end of the Empire.

Several noble houses sent their personal guards into the City to secure it in the name of "national safety and to investigate the heinous crimes committed there". These units eventually came to blows and before cooler heads could take charge, full scale fighting echoed through the halls of The City. The fighting soon spread to the provincial palaces. Eventually the more experienced commanders took charge and pulled their forces into a defensive position around their house gates. One by one, the house guards were pulled back to the provincial palaces and the gates were closed. For the first time in three hundred years, The City was empty.

With the ruling family dead, the power struggle to fill the empty thrones began. At first, these power struggles were played out in meeting rooms, masked balls, and dark alleys. Over time, the power plays became less subtle; insults, duels, and slander were soon common occurrences at high society functions.

Open conflict soon erupted when a young sultan in the great desert declared his people to be independent of imperial rule. This sent a shockwave through the empire as dozens of local barons, dukes, and voivodes declared their own independence from the empire. Traditionalists were in an uproar to get the separatists beck into the empire, through force of arms if needed. Soon, border skirmishes and all out fighting erupted all over Sadakat. Fighting wasn't confined to just separatists versus traditionalists as the newly independent states moved to take much needed land from weaker separatists or traditionalists fought one another over who should be in charge of the crumbling empire.

For a few human generations, one land or another tried to rebuild the Empire but no one had the charisma or resources to handle this. To this day, some of the people of the City of Silver Spire still refer to it as an Empire. The City was shut down and, over time, its portals were dismantled for the sake of security.

Historians and scholars still hotly debate the exact date, but this was the end of the Golden Age of Sadekat.

From Volume 6 Page 217 of the History of Sultan Mulak al' Maisir Iinar
On this day, twenty-three years, five months, and four days into the rule of our Exalted Sultan, an emissary visited him from a kingdom from below the sands.

Ambassador Jallish Handar, one of the deep dwarves of the Under Kingdom of Ulish-Mar, came before his Eminence to beg for assistance in repelling a force from their borders. This force, as described by the Ambassador, was composed of a race of beasts said to be great floating orbs be-crowned with eyes. The Sultan was both quick and wise to see the preposterous notion of such a creature and sent the ambassador away with a token force of fifty of our newer recruits to aid him.

Translated from the Standing Stones of Sskilliknek in the Delola Swamps Transliterations in parenthesis.
On this spot, the settlement (tribe) of 'Near Deep Water' was destroyed (broken) by invaders from the dry caves (not wet holes). The raiders were orbs covered in eyes and they bore powerful shaman powers. Their allies (slaves) were the swamp gods (Translator: I believe this is the phrase for the creatures called 'Delola Ravagers').

From the log of Captain Eliana Fulstead of the Merchant Pruah, Silk Wing.
We made 12 knots most of the 4th watch and entered Kirkrain Bay this morn'. Astrid reports that it will take nearly a week to make the repairs to the rigging from the storm two days past. I've given him 24 hours.

When we entered the bay, we noticed the small fishing village was ransacked, at first we assumed raiders had done the work but one of our cooks, a former woodsmaster, said there were no tracks left by the attackers. Sections of walls on some of the houses are missing, as if holes were cleanly punched through them, leaving no rubble in its place. There is blood, but very few bodies. Most of the dead were obviously killed by magic, having no visible wounds upon their person.

Oddly, little was taken from the town other than people and food - I'd rather not dwell on that implication. We're taking what supplies we can to make repairs and leaving as soon as we're able. I'm doubling the guards till we leave and none may go ashore alone.

These writings are the first recorded instances of the minor raids that lead to what many call the Great War. Few knew of the world beneath their feet, a place that some call the "Underdark". Fewer still knew of a race called the beholders or eye tyrants that lived in its deeper recesses. These creatures, evil to the core, are monstrous to behold; they are spheres as wide as a man is tall, hovering on the magic that courses though their bodies. In the center of the orb lies a great eye below that, a gaping, sharp-toothed maw. While disturbing in itself, the most disquieting aspect of a beholder is the crown of eyes; twelve eyeballs, as large as a man's clenched fist, resting on the ends of fleshy stalks, gazing in all directions. Each of these eyes can manifest a different power, from forcing a creature to obey the beast's commands to utter destruction, leaving not even a wisp of ash.

Historians now know that a beholder had united various beholder kingdoms in the deeper recesses of the underdark and had set his many greedy eyes on the surface world. Beholder Lord Kulathras had begun his plans for domination of Sadekat, above and below the ground.

Deep below the surface of Sadekat, Lord Kulathras had built an army. No records of how this came to pass have been found or, if they have, those that discovered them have not shared the knowledge. What is known is that Kulathras built an army of beholders, bolstered by allies and mercenaries, who built twelve massive citadels in the underdark, under remote locations of Sadekat. These citadels, marvels of defense and engineering, were to be the staging points for Kulathras' plans of domination. For years, he built his forces slowly, remaining out of sight of the prying eyes of governments and adventurers. His armies grew steadily, his defenses deepened and his slow acquisition of powerful magic items to aid his cause advanced.

For twenty years, Kulathras kept building his forces. He would still have has a difficult war ahead of him if it wasn't for problems that the surface world was just beginning to face.

The Nation of Kadrak-Bur and the City State of Silver Spire were plagued by orcs and giant-kind. A half-ogre warlord found a war club of incredible power that gave him the strength and force of will to unite the normally warring goblinoid clans. Soon he began raiding the roads leading into Spire and hitting remote mines controlled by Kadrak-Bur.

In the City of Montsoleil, a new mayor took office after the usual round of assassinations and disappearances. Khelras 'Black Eyes' Othran took control of the city's navy and sent it out to collect 'tribute' and 'gifts' from settlements along the coasts of Sadekat.

Farther north, the port city of Palvurst would have dealt with the pirate menace swiftly with their superior navy if it hadn't been nearly wiped out by an uprising of kua-tua. These ocean-born raiders would slip into the sheltered harbor, breach the hull below the water line with spells, and raid the ship of its cargo and crew once it had gone beneath the waters. Often, this was done during the day while people helplessly watched from the docks as the beasts pulled sailors under.

All across Sadekat, the kingdoms were forced to look to themselves; none saw the forces building under their feet until it was too late.

On a cold winter night the forces of Kulathras burst forth from their hidden strongholds. Umberhulks, mind-flayer mercenaries, and drow houses made up the bulk of his army while his beholder legion, Ten Thousand Eyes, provided the spear head of the attacks; using their many eyes to shatter fortifications and scatter troops.

In Silver Spire and Palvurst the invaders simply poured up through the sewers, hitting several districts at once. In other cities, the attackers came up right outside the gates, catching the defenders off guard.

The only city to withstand the initial attack was Andora'ra Taure on the north east coast of Sadekat. Surrounded on three sides by ocean, the land was too soft for the attackers to dig under the city or even close to it. Forced to surface a mile away, this gave the defenders a little time to close and bar the gates and call people to the walls to defend. For several hours the fighting along the walls raged until the sun finally rose, driving the attackers back. The people of Andora'ra Taure began hasty repairs to the walls and strengthening of their positions while swift runners were sent out to get aid from other cities.

While they waited for word to reach them, they spent several nights defending the walls from more attacks as Kulathras sent in reinforcements from other areas.

The other lands of Sadekat were not faring as well as Andora'ra Taure. Palvurst was in flames and was being looted and its people were being hauled away into the depths of the underdark. There was a resistance movement, but it had little real effect on the attackers.

Fliers posted all over Silver Spire within hours of the first attacks on the city
Friends and Citizens of Silver Spire! We shall never surrender the city of our birth to the depredations of the underdark invaders. Each single one of us must apply himself to the task of defending our beloved town, our homes, and our families. Let us barricade every street; transform every district, every block, every house, into an impregnable fortress.

Silver Spire was in chaos. The city hadn't fallen but bands of creatures roamed the city, fighting a brutal house to house fight as walls between homes were broken open by the defenders to move quickly from one area to another. Victory was measured in how many houses in the city were gained instead of how many districts were taken.

The fighting in Spire wasn't helped by an unusually harsh winter, making the passes into the city nearly unusable and cutting the city off from its normal supplies of food as well as removing any hope of retreat for the citizens. The attackers weren't faring much better as the local thieves' guild harassed the supply lines coming up through the sewers from the underdark, draining the attackers' ability to wage a war of conquest.

From a drow soldier's journal, captured by a gnomish defender.
We were told we could take the city of the sun walkers in a single day. We were told they were weak animals. They are animals, but they are not weak. They fight with the ferocity I have never seen. When we first started the fighting, many were laughing, confident that years of cave fighting had prepared us for this home to home fighting, but these sun walkers know the land better than us. As soon as we think we've taken on home and move to the next, they simply open up a wall and move in behind us, and the fight begins anew. They also have craftsmen building secret doorways in buildings, abandoning the home, letting us move in and make camp. Then they swarm in while we're -
The journal ends there.

In the first hours of the siege, the attackers had burned all the wooden structures in the city, leaving only blackened stone structures in their wake. A perpetual haze of smoke hung in the air while a nonstop snow came down. The streets were littered with the dead, but only for a short time as necromancers on both sides crept through the city raising the fallen to renew the fight.

Hell had come to Silver Spire.

An official communication via carrier pigeon.
Captain Methrak,

As you ordered, so have I done.

I am sitting on a rocky cliff over looking the city of Silver Spire. Below me I can see scattered fighting in the streets through breaks in the near constant snowfall. All of these engagements are short and end with neither side asking for quarter. Each side is also taking to burning any bodies at the end of an engagement, though I know not why.

I do not think that Silver Spire will be able to survive this assault by forces that seem to be connected to the same beasts that plague our homes, much less lend aid to us. After sending this message, I will try sneaking into the city somehow and discovering exactly what's going on here before returning home.

Ranger Master Olseth

Though reports are sketchy at best, it is now known that Ranger Master Olseth snuck into Silver Spire through a sewer outlet beyond the city walls. He was confronted by a patrol of the local thieves' guild and brought in for questioning. After a lengthy discussion with an unidentified dwarven male, Olseth was set free. Oddly enough, he was given provisions and led through safe passages back to the surface, near the desert's edge. He then made his way north to his besieged home.

During Olseth's mission to Silver Spire, the people of Andora'ra Taure continued their struggles against the forces of Kulathras that had occupied their city. A group of city guard, adventurers, and citizens began raids against the garrisons of the occupation force. They would have had a harder task if Kulathras hadn't sent several units of his troops to Silver Spire to take that city. As the days grew into weeks, the freedom fighters' guerilla war had a decisive victory when a slave market was attacked and nearly six hundred slaves, all citizens of Andora'ra Taure, were released. While most fled to the safety of the nearby woods, a little over a hundred of them joined the cause directly. Another two hundred more acted as support from the woods, bringing in food, weapons, and intelligence from the outside world.

As the reports trickled in, the people of Andora'ra Taure realized they would get no help from the other cities of Sadekat. When Olseth made his report, the leaders of the resistance knew they had to free their people themselves. However, help would come from an unlikely source.

Two weeks after Olseth's return, a human from Silver Spire answering to the name of Becket arrived in the main camp of the resistance. He said that he would be the go between for the resistance camp in Silver Spire and Andora'ra Taure. At first the resistance of Andora'ra Taure did not trust him but he was able to prove his value, if not his honesty, by supplying them with information and tactics about dealing with the Kulathras forces.

Eventually, the leader of the Andora'ra Taure resistance, an elven man named Finrod Ancalimë agreed to meet with the leader of the Silver Spire resistance, a dwarf named Kain Goldboot. They agreed to meet in the basement of a ruined castle in northeast Deloa swamp as they felt this would make for a secluded enough meeting point to keep they many eyes of the enemy away.

Each group brought along one of their most trusted advisors and they agreed to meet just outside the castle, a remnant of the old lizard folk kingdom. From there, the plan was to enter the lower levels and find a quiet corner to make plans.

They expected to have to clear out some of the lizard warriors inside but instead they found something entirely unexpected.

When the four men entered the basement, they found it empty of lizard folk. Kain pointed out that this wasn't completely out of sorts; adventurers clear the place out from time to time. While they all accepted this, they decided to proceed with caution.

After securing a corner of one of the sub-basements, encountering no resistance, they sat down to make plans.

From the memoirs of Finrod Ancalime
Our discourse proceeded easily enough, despite Goldboot's lack of royal heritage. He was charismatic enough to be sure, but his gruff manner and unkempt appearance suggested to me a dwarf of low born status. I had thought this was as low as I would be forced to go in my selfless struggle against the Eye Tyrant but our unexpected guest would prove me completely incorrect.
As we spoke, we heard the sound of heavy boot-steps in the hallway outside. We quickly readied ourselves for the worst, drawing blades, or in my case, readying a protective ward. Into the doorway, and our lamp light, strode a tower of a human. He was a tall man with wide shoulders, his manner of dress - wide brimmed hat, feathered plum, brightly colored heavy sea coat, cutlass, striped pantaloons, and buckled boots - left no doubt in our minds that we were looking at one of the pirate kings of Montsoleil. He laughed a deep bellied laugh and made some sort of comment about not receiving his invitation but had invited himself anyway. He walked into the room, ignoring our weapons and warnings to stay out.
He dropped his immense girth into a chair, making the wood groan alarmingly, and produced a flask of foul smelling liquor from the pocket of his great coat. He took a long gulp, belched loudly, then informed us, "So, I'm here to help you two get your homes back and you're here to help me get my throne back".

The surprise guest was Frederic "Fat Fred" Jullmen, the former ruler of Montsoleil. He had been "assassinated" by agents of Khelras 'Black Eyes' Othran. Fat Fred revealed that his loyal agents in the city had uncovered a plot to have him killed so Black Eyes could take the throne of the city so he hatched a complex plot of his own, setting up a charmed doppelganger on the throne on the specified date. While the assassination was taking place, Fat Fred put himself on a fast ship out of town to let the dust settle and see who took his place.

While he waited in one of the many secluded cove that coast is known for, the invasion began. He heard of the quick taking of the city and, coupled with clues from his agents, realized that Black Eyes had been working with Kulathras from the beginning.

Fat Fred sent out a few of his ships to find any loyal to him that might still be on the seas. They gathered their new fleet and began sailing south along the coast, hoping from one port to another to set up a camp to plan the retaking of their city. That's when they learned that all of Sadekat was under attack. Fat Fred led his ships into the waters right outside the swamps, knowing that a force from the underdark would be hard pressed to find a dry spot of land to attack him from. Fat Fred's crew had discovered the old basement and had cleared it out of lizardfolk hours earlier. Hearing the leaders of the resistance enter, Fat Fred and his men his farther down in the depths of the basement while one of his stealthier men listened in on the conversation between the elf and dwarf. Sensing an opportunity, he stepped in.

His offer was simple: he helped them retake their cities and they help restore him to power. After a heated debate where Fat Fred pointed out they had no true alternatives, Ancalime and Goldboot agreed. Then, after nearly two days of constant planning among the three, a strategy was formed and put into motion.

Fat Fred sailed east out of the swamps to an island chain he and his followers used as a base of operations. Ancalime went north to his home of Andora'ra Taure. Goldbottom snuck back into the besieged city of Silver Spire.

Fat Fred set his carpenters to work building ships and crude barracks buildings while the remainder of his people stepped up their sea borne raids against the forces of Kulathras. These raids targeted the forces in and around Andora'ra Taure primarily but any beholder army forces along the coast were prey to Fred's corsairs.

Ancalime and the people of Andora'ra Taure used Fat Fred's distraction raids to bolster their defenses. More man-power and supplies were snuck into the city and the people of the elven city enjoyed a much needed respite.

Ona GreenHill was led into the meeting square of Descent. The balefire torches held by the people of the cursed village threw flickering green light across the halfling's clouded eyes. They stood outside the meeting circle while the children of the village were sitting within it, leaving a path for Ona to walk down. The slightly raised platform in the center was also empty. Ona refused to sit while speaking to a gathering, saying it wasn't proper respect to the past to sit while speaking of it.

When she reached the center of the gathering, she took a deep breath before speaking. Fr one so old, she still had a commanding presence, one that could not be ignored easily.

"I speak today about how we became who we are. Of how Huln-Ar died and was reborn as Bonegarden. Of the creation of Descent. Of Fat Fred, of Ancalime, of Goldboot.

"Today I speak of the last days of the Beholder Wars.

"I was a little child when the fleet arrived in our harbor. Then it was called Tangle Bay, named for the Tanglevine forest that grew just outside the walls of the city.

"That fleet was a sight to see. Nearly two hundred ships, from the smallest coastal trawlers to the flag ship of Fat Fred himself. Among their numbers could be seen the sleek silverwood ships of the elves, iron-plated warships of the dwarves, and a host of other vessels from far and wide.

"I heard the rumors that the fleet was stopping to do nothing more than resupply before moving on. The sailors spoke of continuing north to Andora'ra Taure in the hopes they could lift the siege. Our town was alive and bustling with activity as shop owners donated their goods or sold them at cut-rate prices for the brave soldiers going north. Even a small child as myself, still so young I was clutching my mother's hem, could feel that something important was happening.

"What none of us knew though was that the true plan had been to lure Kulathras and his army into a trap with Huln-Ar as the bait.

"Fat-Fred had discovered an artifact below the town. It was housed in a vast cavern and was suggestive of the shape of a cup or chalice. This cavern, hidden for many long years, was a frequent hide-out for Fat-Fred during his days as a smuggler and pirate. The goods and supplies that we were giving the troops were being secreted away in this cavern. Some of those "sailors" were actually mages, scholars, and artificers who were working night and day to turn that cavern into a fortress with the Chalice at its center.

"After weeks of preparation, the fleet left. Or so we thought. In truth, the ships left but the soldiers were left behind in the Chalice Fort, as they called it. Fat Fred and his mismatched army set to work on the final preparations for what was to come while his fleet harried the coastal camps of the beholders in lightning fast raids. These raids were engineered to create as much chaos among the ranks of the enemy as possible, which, in turn, enraged Kulathras.

"When Fat Fred was ready, he sent word to the fleet to come back to Huln-Ar. And more importantly, they were to be seen coming here.

"The fleet made a daring raid against the besieging army outside Andora'ra Taure that caused considerable damage but nothing that would have lifted the siege. A wise commander would have let the raiders go but Kulathras was livid and provoked into action.

"The mages working for Kulathras were ordered to summon imps to follow the fleet and report back. The fleet could have easily destroyed or outdistanced the creatures but they allowed them to follow. Kulathras' advisors smelled a trap but he would hear none of it. His war had dragged on far longer than he had wished and he desired a decisive victory. Once he learned that the fleet was ported in Huln-Ar, he ordered his army to move, and move quickly."

Ona took a sip of water to sate her parched throat before continuing.

"The fleet lay at anchor in Tangle Bay again but this time they would not be leaving. The ships were abandoned and some were scuttled to block access to the bay by the enemy's fleet, small as it was. Sailors and marines flooded into the city and commandeered homes to defend the city against the approaching army.

"Those of us who were displaced were taken to a small cavern system below the city. We huddled in makeshift shelters to ward off the cold air of the caves. In the two weeks it took the army to arrive, people brought down building supplies from above to make the cavern a little more livable.

"I did not see the fighting when it started but, when the dust had settled, we learned from the few survivors of that terrible day what had transpired.

"Kulathras's army was unable to penetrate the Tanglevine that protected us so he was forced to split his army and attack from each direction along the coast. These were, of course, where our strongest defenses were. Kulathras breached the walls but at a heavy price.

"The defenders, both the city watch and the land bound marines, made the underdark invaders pay for each cobblestone, each city block, in blood. The beholder's army slowly advanced though. And eventually they took and held an access point to the sewers. There were defenders down there, to be sure, but that was fighting the invaders were used to. They excelled in the cramped conditions of those tunnels and made rapid advances through the city as they surfaced behind the defending lines, trapping the men between two bloodthirsty forces.

"Below the city though, Fat Fred, Ancalime, and Goldboot waited. Their sages, scholars, and experts had told them how the Chalice worked and they were waiting for Kulathras to enter the city himself before springing the trap.

"With the forces of Kulathras winning, the warlord gathered his bodyguards and entered the city while the fighting still raged in the streets and below in the sewers and caverns. His forces had discovered the caves we were hiding in and were pressing the attack on the guards that had been assigned to us. The units attacking us were mostly drow and orcs, with a handful of goblins in support.

"We're not sure what happened in the cavern that held the Chalice. We do know that something went wrong. Perhaps the wrong incantation was made, perhaps a glyph was scribed incorrectly, or perhaps one of the scholars got something wrong. Regardless of why, Huln-Ar was destroyed and the Bonegarden was born.

"There was a thundering crash, followed by the ground going liquid beneath our feet. Part of the floor gave way and I watched, horrified, as defenders and invaders fell into a black chasm. In other parts of the chamber, stone pillars thrust up out of the ground, grinding people into the ceiling. For what seemed like an eternity, the earth lashed out blindly at us, killing indiscriminately. Then, nothing.

"A silence so complete it was deafening fell upon us all. No one dared breathe. In the guttering light of our torches the people of Huln-Ar and the forces of Kulathras regrouped on opposite sides of the chamber, neither sure of what the next move should be. That choice was made for us when those who had died in the battle or the chaos that had passed moments ago rose as one, swift as an arrow, and attacked us. The dead attacked anyone living, old alliances forgotten. We won that fight but more came. And then more. We survived that first night only by setting aside our quarrel with the underdark army. If our groups had separated, we would have all been lost.

"We soon learned that half the city had vanished beneath the ocean, creating what we call Blood Bay. The two armies still fought each other, but only as undead and that each night, the dead would rise again to continue fighting. For two hundred years they have fought, and in that time no ground has been gained. The buildings above have been blasted and cracked so often that they look nothing more than piles of stone. We were able to scavenge much in those first few months, enough to get us a foothold in our cavern."

Ona paused a moment, lost in a memory she did not share. Finally, she continued, "I am tired my children, I would sleep for a time. But before I go, I tell you this: A city was sacrificed that terrible day to win freedom for others. And every evening that passes, we here in Descent are reminded of that price as we are forced to fight those we once loved."

Ona walked out of the circle of people. They all bowed their heads in respect.

With the death of Kulathras, his army fell to ruin and those he had subjugated rose up and beat back what was left of his people.

Several hundred drow soldiers and dozens of priestesses lost their lives that day. This weakened the Lloth church enough that a cult worshipping the Shadow Dragon Azulios was able to make a play for power in the largest drow city in the underdark, Myth'Dryanorri.

A deep orc tribe calling themselves the Poison Claws, were nearly decimated in the attack. Their lands in the underdark, near Myth'Dryanorri, were conquered by a deep bugbear tribe called the Nest Guyaa. The Poison Claws migrated to the surface and eventually found themselves on the edges of the Deloa Swamps. They vanished into the swamps and haven't been seen since.

Silver Spire slowly rebuilt and regained it's prewar might within a couple of generations. A similar device to the one under Huln-Ar was found under Silver Spire but it was destroyed before it's full destructive powers could be used against the city. It is believed that the destruction of the Chalice beneath Silver Spire is what partially lifted the curse on Huln-Ar but, because it is still there, it is believed that there is at least one more Chalice somewhere on Sadekat. Who or what built these is still a mystery.

With Huln-Ar gone, the treaty with the creatures of the Tanglevine was ignored and it has been clear cut for generations till all that remains in a tiny copse of trees nestled against the foothills of the Spire Mountains.

A place called Myth'Onari, one of the staging points of the invading armies, was abandoned by the remnants of the invaders. This was soon retaken by a drow trade house that wished some privacy in their dealings. They, in turn, lost it to treachery from within to a powerful tribe of frost giants. It is uncertain what happened after that since the place known as Undermountain sealed itself soon after, shutting the fortress away for over a hundred years. It is now called the Lost Fortress as it seems no one who holds it holds it for long.

Andora'ra Taur, an elven city, still has not recovered from the war. The slow birth rate among elves has left large sections of this once proud town deserted. Whole sections are walled off and few are brave enough to venture within because of the beasts said to roam the ruined streets.