The First World War

The First World War was a war fought between the Liches and the Anehe. It lasted from 179-185, and resulted in the Undead losing much of their power and technology. It is a Major Event in the history of Thazdia.

Background.
"'See, Gods in this world are not born equal. There are those that are created spontaneously by the wishes of the living - the gods of the Kahorau'ha, Pietas, the God of Death, manipulated by Inuerene, and others... Lesser Gods, born of imagination and energies swirling in the living or the dying. Then, there are gods who are made divine by belief itself - the Kraken, Dragons, and more... In truth, these are merely creatures of this world with extraordinary powers. The ten of us, added together, could rival any of them with ease, given sufficient planning and preparation. Now, Carcharias... Inurene... That Spirit of Order... These are truly divine beings, and they are a horror to behold. They toy with our destinies and twist natural law as they wish. They bring about life and destroy it. They enstate arbitrary law and subvert it as mood dictates.' - One of the 10 Great Liches "

The 10 Great Liches of the Undead had long battled with the Gods in order to continue existing, but also, to remove the influence of the Divines from Thazdia. From their point of view, having lived through various atrocities and historic events orchestrated by the Gods, they were nothing but a source of suffering for the mortal races, petulant children with the powers to change reality according to their will. Therefore, the Liches thought, The Gods needed to be destroyed, for the good of The World. The Ravens, their allies since time immemorial, who they'd taught the secrets of arcane magic and necromancy, joined them in this effort. A plan to annihilate the Gods.

As further investigation uncovered, the Liches began work on a God-Killing Weapon many centuries before the war. In truth, it had been half-complete for many decades, with little progress. However, once the weapon neared it's completion, The Gods and the races of Thazdia both felt it. Inurene was first to discover her undoing in the works. Then, her children, and the god Unsias. The Anehe mobilized, calling on the Kahorau'ha, their allies, to join them in a campaign of annihilation against the Undead threatening their way of life. The Etars, then, hearing news of a war against the living dead, hired several Dismas mercenary companies, supplementing these forces with Storm Mages and Kvarken war machines. Before the battle began proper, a storm summoned by Unsias assailed the city, destroying many undead and parts of vital infrastructure.

The Battle of Cadaver Gorge.
The priestesses of the Anehe learned of the Liches plan, through powers bestowed upon them by Inurene. High commander Uzo rallied the Anehe forces from the south, numbering 3000 Warriors and Priests, as well as his greatest generals, and Marched on the City of the Dead.

The first engagement took place at the premises of the City of the Dead. A messenger from the Undead offered a last chance at peace, but proclaimed that those who cross a threshhold marked by the so-called "Cadaver Gorge" shall die. The messenger was shot by Anehe archers, and withdrew. Before the battle began, Uzo exchanged words with a scout from the Dismas mercenary company, who offered their full support.

When the Anehe forces crossed the threshold, Zombies and Ghouls sprung out of the earth and rock behind the front line, assaulting the Priests and Priestesses en masse. An admirable effort by Uzo himself and his elites kept the Undead at bay long enough for magic casters to summon vines blessed by Inurene, encircling the ambush and banishing them to the cycle of rebirth. Overhead, the Empire's current Uze arrived with the Kahorau'ha forces, numbering 2500 Eagle-Warriors with magical darts, and 1500 Wind-Priestesses, capable of slicing ghouls in half with blades of wind. To fully use their aerial superiority, Uze gave kvarken grenades to each of them, to bomb the City of the Dead from above.

The Siege of the City of the Dead.
The Anehe forces under command of Uzo and his generals approached the city through Cadaver Gorge, using the terrain and access to water to create vast and powerful bridges made of Inurene 's vines. These vines, in place of siege ladders and siege towers, created a path to breach the walls and descend into the City of the Dead. Even as a curse created by the 10 Great Liches caused these vines to wilt as they came in contact with the walls, they did their job.

Uze 's forces attacked from above, launching bombs and wind-powered javelins and darts. The City of the Dead's anti-air defenses, a series of towers powered by stores of negative energy, struck back, massacring almost the entirety of the Kahorau'ha and Uze 's elites atop them with withering rays, with a total death toll of 3000-3500, before shutting down due to one of the bombs causing an energy outage. The rays of negative energy, together with the shared horror and hate of the killed Kahorau'ha, caused a mass-reanimation event to occur, creating gigantic, crawling mounds of undead flesh. Kahorau'ha Wind Priestesses broke out of formation and routed, traumatized and plagued by the wailing voices of their undead sisters in their heads. In a state of shock, Uze and his elites clashed with winged Ghouls and made a daring dash across the airspace over the city, destroying several key locations before a swarm of undead forced a mass retreat. The Anehe tribal priests were left behind to destroy the undead monstrosities outside of the City, as their powers would be useless inside.

Uze joined Uzo in breaching the city, giving air support, until the winged Ghoul swarm becomes far too large to fight in the air. The surviving Eagle-Warriors, under 300, were told to return to the Kahorau'ha Chiefdom and notify the Skyking of the Kahorau'ha of the shocking power of the Undead. With this, in the cause of failure, a second assault on the City would be prepared ahead of time. During the breach into the City of the Dead, the warriors of the Anehe were blessed by Inurene, and with her on their side, cut apart untold hundreds of thousands of Undead, including self-aware undead and reanimated Ravens.

When the City of the Dead was breache by Anehe forces, the Dismas mercenary companies joined the fray, numbering 5200. Among them, were chariot archers, artificers in control of Etar-made kvarken bombers, and Ballistae, also created and given to the mercenaries by the Etars. Storm mages assisted in directing arrows and other projectiles as they flew through the air - another piece of evidence pointing to the Etars being involved in the conflict.

Once the kvarken bombers launched their first set of explosive charges, several Magical Automatons activated throughout the besieged city. Humanoid metal dolls, animated through the use of necromancy and fragments of the Veins of the Earth, shot down several bombers with rays of negative energy and basic magics, before being engaged by Uze. In a state of temporary insanity, Uze destroyed multiple automatons with explosive charges and kvarken grenades, before being skewered with antimagic blades, thus destroying his connection with Inurene and the other Anehe and killing him. The fighting continued for what seemed like eternity, but the forces opposing the Undead managed to continue fighting without losing consciousness or dying from overexertion thanks to Inurene's blessing. Far into the battle, the Zombies and Ghouls stopped emerging from their barracks and street corners, and were replaced by Magical Automatons and Ravens who lived in the city. including the women and elderly. Still, they were all destroyed by the Anehe swordsmen, posessed with the will of their Goddess.

Gruesome losses of life on the side of the Raven citizens brought upon the fury of Ravenport. After being contacted by magical means, the High Necromancer of all of Krakens Maw sent out over 5000 Deathguard and Necromages to make chase atop undead mounts and assist the Undead and overtake the Dismas and Anehe forces while they are busy. This attempt yielded little, however, because the Raven backup arrived too late.

The Appearance of Summoner Kan and the Aftermath
After the battle seemed to be over, and the forces of the Undead ran dry, the Anehe forces approached the center of the city - a gigantic silo, suspected to house the God-Killing Weapon. However, all they found inside, was The Strange Vault and Summoner Kan. The battle between the Anehe and Dismas mercenary companies, and Summoner Kan, one of the 172 Liches of the Undead, was lengthy, and resulted in a death toll that shook the nations of Thazdia and left the participans traumatized, at 6000-7000 dead in less than 10 minutes. Thanks to a number of Storm Mage - directed missiles and enchanted arrows, the barrier protecting Kan was brought down moments before she was able to erase the chariot archers and the anehe with the signature tactic of the liches - summoning undead hordes to encircle the enemy and speed-casting the fireball spell over and over. When Kan was struck by over fifty bombs and ballista bolts point blank, the lich's magic barrier was shattered, and she was made vulnerable. By this time, the Ravens ' forces had arrived, and were targeted by several bombers while entering the City to protect Kan and drive away the Anehe and Dismas. Summoner Kan used the remainder of her powers to instantly teleport the Deathguard back to Ravenport seconds before they were decimated by the explosions. Uzo, assisted by his elites, delivered the killing blow, beheading the lich, thus making The 172 into 171.

In the aftermath of the battle, the City of the Dead was sacked and burned to the ground, after the victors failed to open The Strange Vault, or find out where the other 171 Liches were. The Magitech created by the liches became unusable after the destruction of the Undead, and fell apart. Few creations, such as magical heaters and light bulbs powered by negative energy, were re-created by the Ravens, much later. The City of the Dead, and the former territories of the Undead, were shared between three factions: a small part for the Ravens, to prevent full out war and appease the offended faction, knowing they still hold sway with the Great Krakens, the true masters of the Sea, and two lions shares of land for the Etars and Uzoeso Empire.

Historians are unsure of the more suspicious elements of this event. The mysterious disappearance of the other liches, the Strange Vault, and the alleged unselective rampage of Unsias ' miracle, used to destroy the City of the Dead.