The Black War
For many thousands of years the four great peoples of Lon-Elah flourished: the Iabeiorith to the north, the Korith Zadakal to the west, the Korith Ial to the south and the Korith Zinu to the east. But there were others, quieter folk, who did not desire such dominion and who kept themselves to themselves. There were the seers, encamped about the Rolnir, masters of the art of divination. There were the Gohedith upon Longohed, masters of stone, sundered from the rest of the world by the great ocean. And there were the Korith Peis, masters of the Namad Mahorelah, the lore of sorcery, withdrawn behind the walls of their single city Peis-Homa.
Now, the Korith Peis lived amongst the Iabeiorith, and for a long time were held in awe by their neighbours, but slowly that awe turned to fear. With the coming of Abamor, prince of the Iabeiorith, this fear turned to action, for Abamor would have all things his way and he would not allow that which he did not understand. So the Korith Peis were subdued by the Iabeiorith, for the Korith Peis would not use their powers for violence. Consequently, under the rule of Abamor, the practice of sorcery was banned.
It was said that it was this ‘conquest’ that brought about the Black War, as some of the Korith Peis chafed against the dominion of Abamor and would use their lore to throw off their shackles. It began with a celestial event the like of which had never been seen in living memory, a sword of heaven, when all the children of Great Rafarel were aligned in the sky. Some took this as a sign and began to work in earnest against the dominion of the Iabeiorith. Sorcery began its inevitable rise, rebellion mounting upon rebellion, until, in the one hundredth year of Abamor’s reign, the final act was set in motion and a plague was called up from the abyss, a plague to undo the Iabeiorith and wipe them from the world. It swept across the north, consuming all in its path, and it had a name, that plague, for it was called the ‘Agedobor’.
The Agedobor were hatred incarnate. They despised everything that was not them, and they would destroy it and despoil it, if they could. If it was high and mighty they would cut it down; if it was young and growing, they would turn it to rot. Their only delight lay in defilement, and so the Iabeiorith were swept from their cities and towers and the north was all but overrun. But if it were the Korith Peis that had done this, then they, too, were undone, for the Agedobor did not discriminate. They hated all things and would torment and slaughter all that they found, no matter who or what they were.
Abamor was slain in that first irruption, and his son, Abhimed, fled into the wilderness. In a vain attempt to halt the horror, he pulled together an army from the survivors, but against sorcery he was powerless. It was only in his darkest hour that he discovered he had an ally, for out of the darkness stepped Nalvahgey, and she was the greatest power yet to walk the world. She could call up the greatest forces and not be overwhelmed. She could call up the mightiest demons and not fear their retribution. It was even said that, at the end, the Ashar themselves would bow to her and answer her demands.
So Nalvahgey came to the aid of Abhimed, and against the sorcery of the Agedobor a greater sorcery was set. Redoubts were created where the Agedobor could not come, and so the Iabeiorith and the Korith Peis survived.
Nalvahgey stayed long at the side of Abhimed and gave to Aolkar, his son, a sorcerous sword culled from the depths of the abyss. She taught him all that she knew of the Namad Mahorelah, and come the time of Aolkar’s ascendance, they swept out from their fortresses and brought war to the Agedobor.
The Black War was a time of terror, when the powers of the abyss swept across the lands of the north. There were many defeats and many victories, but eventually the Agedobor were driven from the upper world entirely. Down they went into the lightless caves and darknesses below the Adroqin Vohimar, where they festered, hating the Ell with every fibre of their foul being but utterly powerless to come forth again.