Part 4 : The New Age
The humans, at this point in history, have managed to start two small settlements on the island of Draconius. The two cities, Augustus and Marentha, were built on the northern coast. Initial scouting showed the entire island to be uninhabited, and many people sailed down from the mainland in order to start a new life here on Draconius. About three years after the first settlements were started, Fort Regan's construction began. Fort Regan was built in order to help reinforce the human's position here in the northern tip of Draconius. Even though the island seemed uninhabited, the fort was built at the request of the military due to their lack of trust toward the Thepa.
After about one year, the fort's main structure was completed. The soldiers garrisoned here had no idea of what was to come. A few short days after the completion of the fort's inner keep, an immense army was spotted to the south. The humans were caught by surprise since they believed the island to be uninhabited. Fort Regan was holding about 800 men, the enemy army was estimated to be somewhere near 20,000. Preparations were made for a siege and word was sent to the two cities to begin evacuation. The soldiers in the fort were ordered to hold the army as long as possible so that Augustus and Marentha could be cleared. Volunteer militia men were sent to Fort Regan to help reinforce the numbers. About 350 men came to help, giving the fort about 1150 men total. This still was nowhere near enough to stop the army.
Six days after the army was first spotted, the enemy encamped themselves in a valley just 2 miles to the south of the fort. The soldiers of Fort Regan were awed by the size of their opposing army. The next day the siege began. The fort was crushed in the battle and only a handfull of men managed to escape through a tunnel below the fort. These men made their way to Augustus just in time to catch an evacuation ship that took them off of the island.
The incidents on Draconius started a rampant outbreak of fear among the humans. The people were afraid of another Great War beginning so soon after the first. The humanoid races knew they were not prepared for a war of such a great scale. Only a few days after the evacuation of the island a message was sent to King Ithicles by a carrier bird, a raven. The message told of the coming doom of all humans and their allies. The letter also told of the origin of the dark elves, knowledge that had been guarded for the safety of the people. The letter was signed by Eronius Dominicus, the leader of the Midnight Circle as well as the "Sons and Daughters of the one true God, Zel'nar". It seemed apparent that the once forgotten dark elves had made their presence in the world known and were being aided by the Midnight Circle, the most powerful dark magicians in the world.
The King was a wise, though not very brave man. In his panic, the story of the letter spread through the kingdom like wildfire. Panic soon gripped the entire mainland. Most people knew the stories of the dark elf that led the monster armies in the Great War. Most people, however, did not know that the dark elf was the host of the god of evil, Zel'nar. Now the bastard children he spawned in the war were seeking their revenge, and with the Midnight Circle in their ranks.
News of the happenings prompted hasty actions, and an invasion force was sent to the island of Draconius to try to stop these dark elves before they could invade the mainland. The army made its way south on the island, retaking the cities of Augustus and Marentha in the process. Both cities were fortified and the humans held here for a while as more troops moved in. Shortly after reinforcements started to arrive, an army from the south seemed to sprout up from nowhere and attacked. The brave humans and their allies held the cities for days, killing countless monsters. The morale of the human army was soon broken as black and red dragons were seen in the skies above the island along with an army of overwhelming numbers.
Seeing no alternative, the human armies withdrew, boarding their ships and setting out for the mainland once again. None of these ships ever returned to the mainland. The dark elves used the seas to destroy all the ships and to kill the inhabitants on board. Only one soldier managed to survive the trip home. This one soldier had managed to climb onto a small raft and float toward the mainland for almost 4 days before reaching shore. He was found, nearly dead, and restored to health. During his healing, the soldier told of how the armies appeared out of nowhere to attack them, and of the return trip home. From the man's stories, the wind was so strong that it ripped their ships apart as the water reached up to suck them down to the floor of the ocean. Then as fast as it had started, the magical storm stopped, allowing him to escape. It was common knowledge that not even the most powerful mages has that kind of control over the weather and elements. Many feared the worst as they realized the power of the dark elves.
In the Godly Plane, Tri'osta realized what was happening. She realized that the offspring of Zel'nar had retained some of the godly power, creating a severe threat to her races on the mainland. Tri'osta discussed the situation with Nil'far and they decided that the only way for balance to be restored was for the barrier that kept the gods off the Earthly Plane to be destroyed. From here Tri'osta would choose a number of champions equal in number to the dark elves. These champions would be given the gift of near immortality, and a portion of Tri'osta's godly power. While this was done, Nil'far would confront his brother Zel'nar and prevent Zel'nar from interfering or from entering the Earthly Plane.
Nil'far, the creator of the barrier, destroyed that which he had created and Tri'osta entered the Earthly Plane. Nil'far confronted his brother, and the two instantly began to battle over Zel'nar's entrance into the Earthly Plane. Tri'osta, on Xar'raj, chose her 22 champions, many well known, some not known at all. The power and responsibility were passed on to these champions as the war raged between the two brothers in the void between planes. Zel'nar attained the advantage and cast his brother through the void, sending him into the Earthly Plane. All in the span of a split second, Tri'osta crossed back into the godly plane as Nil'far erected a new barrier between planes. Nil'far poured all his powers into the barrier, knocking him nearly unconscious as his form passed into the Earthly Plane. Barely avoiding destruction, Nil'far managed to take an earthly host for his form.
The new barrier between planes was immensely powerful. Nil'far was now in a human host, limiting his power, and the power of one god cannot be influenced by another god, stopping Zel'nar or Tri'osta from being able to pass. The erection of this new barrier marked the beginning of the second age, an age in which the humans, their allies, and their enemies would have no gods. This change in the planet brought about another brief period of peace, as neither side was willing to make risky moves.