Vertani War

The events leading up to The Vertani War began in the year 379 AF, when members of a race of giants opened an intra-planar portal to Sapience and entered as visitors to our world. Initially, the foreigners were met with curiosity and civility. The portal itself was examined, and one impulsive adventurer, Zenui, managed to travel through the portal to the plane on which the giants' home of Vertan exists. It was not long, however, before some Vertani were attacked and killed by adventurers who did not welcome the newcomers.

Shallam initiated peaceful relations from the beginning, some of them acquiring a rudimentary fluency in the Vertani's native language. To facilitate the learning process, the Vertani sent a priest named Ralem to take up residence in the Saoghal Valley, which they referred to as "The Temple of the All."

On the 21st of Eros 379 AF, the Vertani diplomat Hingar met with leaders from each of the city-states. After explaining some facets of Vertani culture, Hingar gave each leader a unique red torc as a gift of good will. He then invited all the city-states to participate in a continent-wide competition called the Game of the Eyes.

The Game of the Eyes commenced in Aeguary 380 AF, supervised from atop Mount Karnoth by the Vertani Overlord Estan, of the Sorathia region. Ashtan triumphed, Eleusis took second, and Hashan took third. Following the competition, diplomats, guards, and mages from the House Feranki presented the three cities with impressive silver monuments. Hashan was the first to use their new monument's resurrection capabilities, even using it on some against their will. Eleusis used the monument once but then banned it from further use. Suspicious from the beginning, Ashtan refrained from employing its monument in any fashion.

It wasn't long before mysterious golden cubes were discovered in the Dardanic Grasslands, and by the power of Feranki mages, a Vertani fortress solidified from these cubes in seconds.

The Vertani quickly sought to ally themselves with Tasur'ke, El'Jazira, Dun Valley, and Thera, hinting at a future Vertani Empire. (Whether the villages wholeheartedly agreed to this "alliance" is a subject much debated among mortals.) Once again, mysterious golden cubes were strategically placed, and Vertani fortresses appeared within the villages of Tasur'ke, El'Jazira, and in Thera. This was perceived by many to be part of a plan to annex our world to the Vertani Empire, and was met with great hostility, particularly on the part of Ashtan and Mhaldor, who declared war upon the foreigners.

Several skirmishes resulted, most of them ending with equitable losses on both sides. Soldiers from Mhaldor stormed the fortress garrison in Tasur'ke, slaying many Vertani including General Luftyr. The giants organized a counter-strike against the city of Mhaldor under a new general, Kadran, and bellowed their battle-cries in honour of the fallen Luftyr. In yet another battle, fighters from the Ashtan-Mhaldor alliance overwhelmed the Vertani defensive forces and killed Overlord Estan.

Estan was succeeded by Overlord Drafaris, who struck a major blow against Sapience with a single command. After one major altercation involving a number of Theran soldiers, who had since allied with Ashtan in their fight against the Vertani, the power of the foreigners was truly revealed. In a fiery rain of meteors, Vertani mages brought about the complete destruction of Thera, reducing the village to mere rubble.

In 386 AF, following the exile of Overlord Drafaris, the new Overlord of the Vertani, Mournria, moved the Theran fortress away from the destruction of the village and sought assistance against Ashtan and Mhaldor from the other city-states of Sapience.

The majority of Vertani occupation forces in Sapience were decimated in events that followed the destruction of Thera during what is referred to as the Fall of the Vertani. Destruction of the Vertani fortresses was made possible through the expertise of the Blackrock Dwarves, and all four had been completely decimated by the year 389 AF, affectively ending the war.

A small faction of survivors, led by Commander Daqsool, remained as guests of Shallam for some period of time. Gathering his scattered peoples, Daqsool built a new settlement within the Dakhota Hills and it has been christened Tir Murann.