Ferrin's War

Ferrin's War, 1372

Ferrin's War took hundreds of thousands of lives, cutting the population of Isenna literally by one-quarter. Death was omnipresent, borne on the figurative wings of the Térapith Selu - a hideous, twisted mockery of the Gods' creation.

They appeared as things nearly angelic - sweet-faced young women, pale as the winter snow, with eyes made of naught but whites - wide, and staring. Clad in dresses of the same colour, they walked Anoth soundlessly, sucking the souls and spirits from every man, woman and child in their way.

Some ran, and some did not. Most of those who did not were killed, or - worse - became the enemy.

The war was the most recent and costly (in terms of destruction and lives lost) conflict between Tsuruku and Runne, beginning in 1372OD and ending by the fall of the same year. Although political tensions had been rising since at least 1369, only occasional border skirmishes were recorded until Green Wizard? Kazk Anchartha? issued falsified intelligence reports to Tsuruku indicating an imminent (but nonexistent) military action against the Pascani front.

At the same time, Anchartha discovered the secret to producing a novel undead-construct hybrid, and - realizing its immense military application - developed a series of steps both magical and alchemical for reproducing the creature. His deployment of the Térapith Selu? was unorthodox - they were largely indomitable, resisting all forms of turning, magical control, and training - instead of announcing his discovery to the Tsurukan High Corps, he taught the secret to an old friend via correspondance, albeit under slightly inaccurate auspices.

The friend's name was Draemius Ferrin, a wizard of middling ability who resided in Tuvia, on the shore south of Brilandwen. When Ferrin created the first of the Térapith Selu from a village farmer's daughter, he quickly learned that they were not the boon to scientific experimentation he had been promised - and after his laboratory-home was invaded by several local youths, his creation killed him and escaped in the confusion.

In the months that followed, the single Térapith Selu reproduced and their numbers increased exponentially; soon, Runne's population was being torn to ruin as the nation collapsed from the inside. Although Tsuruku initially pressed the advantage with their own assault, their success was short - the White Dying? spread through the ranks, and into Tsurukan lands.

At approximately this time, Anchartha sought an ancient artifact called the Egg of Orcus?, a device linking to a spherical, recursive plane capable of holding hundreds of thousands of beings and returning them to the location of the Egg on Anoth Peras on command. Anchartha intended to capture the Térapith Selu in his country, and release them in the cities of Brilandwen, Remlas and Kelfast - the nearly impenetrable centers of Runne's military power. However, quick action by the same group responsible for releasing the Térapith Selu from Ferrin's laboratory intervened and destroyed the Egg.

As the White Dying threatened to swallow the world whole, the rulers of Runne sent out a cry for help to Artemia?, Toracroix, Ansica and Ihnladri?, invoking the ancient pact of the Arc of Lords?. The Arc of Lords was Runne's last hope - a holy alliance between the Gods and their people, between the leaders of men and their armies. The five nations' armies massed at the eastern coast of Runne, and they swept Isenna from one shore to the other.

The battle was as grueling as it was unrelenting. Faced with the horrible truth that a pinned soldier was dead or corrupted by the Térapith Selu, each warrior wore a silver amulet locked 'round the neck - a gift, such as it was, of the Gods in their impotence; if any knight of the Arc were to touch flesh with a Térapith Selu, he would be consumed from within by holy fire and burnt to ash.

The opposition was brutal, and the Arc lost fully two-thirds of its soldiers to the touch of the White Dying before the first and greatest of the Térapith Selu could be destroyed - but on her death, the rest died with her.

---