The Shattered War

The Shattered War was one of the greatest conflict ever within the world of Hycal; the ensuing fight ended with the balance of power between races shifted towards the rise of Humans the stagnation of the Elves with the rise of the Orcs and destruction of Auchixudor.

History
Auchixudor formerly known as Bereilith was once an island raised by Ecilos during the early ages of the world. The island landmass itself is home to a large observation fortress, designed to watch and guide the path of life on Hycal. Unfortunately, the watcher was a member of Eozur’s personal keeper whom was tasked with safeguarding and gathering data on the planet as the ages passed. However, with Eozur’s fall and subsequent corruption, the Keeper itself fell into silence and over the years corruption as it’s programming was conflicted and drove itself mad, ultimately destroying most of the data and former guards from which the Keeper created to safeguard the land itself. When Ecilos learned of the fall, he dispatched one of his lesser gods to deal with the fallen Keeper. Though the Keeper itself was never killed, it’s spirit and energy was kept locked within a vault, never to be unlocked or used again.

The island itself is a lush and jungle environment but covered with small plains and forest which was indicative of Ecilos’s work for he grew fond of grass, trees and all the things which made Hycal unique among the planets the Gods created. Yet it was distinct in that it also held a desert biome along with a colder region which was created artificially through magic. Although the Keeper and other guards grew silent and dark, the island itself was still autonomic and able to function without the need of a Keeper, though only weather and environmental were able to work.

Auchixudor or rather, the Keeper would remain silent for thousands of years, until the unfaithful awakening by a company of Mages and Scholars who traveled to the island. The expedition was created and lead by the former Ousilian Empress's brother, Thomasine II, Thomasine was the youngest of the Empress’s sibling and although he lacked the cunning and words for politics, he was gifted in the arts of magic and promptly rose through the ranks as one of the strongest if not one of the world’s greatest mage within the Empire. Thomasine II, discovered that deep within the island laid a dormant yet powerful magic, one he felt confident to discover and obtain. Once he reached the island he saw the various biomes and marveled at the ancient yet powerful magic which permeated from within the fortress of the island. The journey was only supposed to last two weeks yet it was nearly 3 months before any word reached the Empire. Thomasine II was correct, there was an ancient and powerful magic which laid dormant, yet he was consumed by it. Despite the power of Thomasine, the Keeper was orders of magnitude stronger than any human mage that could ever exist on Hycal, thus when Thom attempt to control and contain the spirit, the Keeper simply overpowered him and killed him but not before taking control of his body and memories while eliminating the host spirit but not fully, a piece of Thom still lives within his body but the Keeper maintained control.

Prelude
When Thom returned, he returned changed, he secretly hunted down the various Elder God’s artifact which were sprinkled throughout the Heartland. When first discovered the mortals of Hycal knew nothing of it, they believed them to be artifacts which were created to cement their ‘rule’ over their various Kingdoms and factions. Thomasine’s crusade for the artifacts was what drove the Orcs, Elves and Dwarves weary of Ousilian. Worse was, he killed nearly every single member of The Ruby Eye(Place Holder), a magocratic organization which was led by Thomasine and his own council upon which they created laws and rules to help the Emperor govern and watch magic over the Ousilian Empire, many of which are kept and still used in the modern Hycal. Not before he managed to persuade some of the Orc tribes to join him on his quest to power. Orcs were persecuted and hunted down on the mainland and followed Thomasine after his showing of power, believing that he would guide them to a new future where Orcs would dominate the world.

Once Thomasine had found and stored all of the Elder’s artifacts, he made his journey back towards Bereilith, using the same fortress upon which he once safeguarded and protected prior to his fall, he changed the spell used to draw on the power from the God’s plane and began to draw on power from the Nether, opening a portal for Eozur and his creations to pour through the land. The creation and opening of the portal was powerful enough that it’s shockwave was able to wipe out all life on the island, changing it into a barren wasteland, the shockwave itself send large tidal forces crashing onto the mainland, earthquakes which shook the land from almost every corner of the world.

Thomasine was not yet done, using the newly acquired portal, he channeled the energies of the Nether and brought with him five large towers, acting as bases of operation and defensive towers from which countless demons and spawns of Eozur poured through the portals.

The world quickly reacted, initially not together, Ousilian, Silvernor, Aeilath, the various Dwarven Kingdoms and some Orcish tribes staves off the attacks and sent but a small portion of their army to deal with the threat, unknown of what was to come. The mainland would soon hear word of the destruction of their expedition through the various attacks on the mainland. It wasn’t until each respective leader met in Vertwind did they combine their strength and for the first time, saw a united Hycal against the forces of Eoxur.

War
The campaign of Auchixudor would last half a year, fighting on the barren wasteland and the destruction of the five spires just to reach Thomasine and his portal took nearly two months. The siege of Auchixudor lasted four months and in the last month, Thomasine emptied from his fortress, shed his mortal form and took the form of his Keeper, though changed and corrupted. He would battles of Heroes of Hycal and it was here were champions like Laurien and others fell to Thomasine’s incredible power but stalled enough that the remaining members of The Ruby Eye and the last vestige of Thomasine’s soul was able to lock the Keeper back into his fortress, close the portal and end the Nether threat to the world. Unable to fully kill a being like the Keeper, they sealed him deeper and deeper in his fortress, sunk the building and the area around it into the sea so no mortal could ever raise him from the depths. The demons were eventually pulled back into the Nether when the portal closed.

Aftermath
Like it’s namesake, the war was by and large the greatest war ever fought, the island was rent asunder, the portal closing and the subsequent shockwave of such power being forcibly sealed and locked away was enough to shatter the mainland, rivers perished or found new paths, valleys and plains were upheaved and cliffs were broken from their top. Much of the island itself sunk into the sea and the areas that did survive took massive damage from the energy itself.

The world was safe, but the price they paid was dear, for the death of Laurien meant the end of the Ousilian Empire, the Silvernor Kingdom fell to deacy and the Dwarven Kingdoms hid in their mountains, grieving for their fallen. Aielath remained an isolationist and the Orcish Horde grew ever more daring as the corrupted Orcs spread throughout the land, fueled by the Nether and their hatred for the Humans, they quickly took command of the Horde, those few that escaped the Nether Orc’s raids and attacks fled and the various clans and tribes would remain scattered and weak.

The Ousilian Empire’s fall was three fold, the failing of his Son to properly lead the Empire, the Schism between the Loyalist and Dissients and lastly, the attack of the Nether Orcs which was the blade that killed the Empire itself, leading to the creation of the various Human Kingdoms which rose out of the Human-Orc war. The Ruby Eye, once a magocratic organization for Ousilian disbanded and joined Mithres Alymna, forming a neutral party with no political ties.

Silvernor’s decay came from their massive losses during the campaign on Auxhixudor, the other Elven tribes would eventually split and form their own lands, without the other Elven tribes, Silvernor grew smaller and smaller until their once proud Kingdom was nothing more than pockets of land barely held together by their new King.