The Demon War

•  Demon War 10-23 CE

The first major event following The Ending was a mass scale demonic invasion of the world. Following Zenobia’s necromantic wave, the mortal world lit up like a beacon for fiendish entities. The huge amount of death swelled the River Styx with the souls of the dead. Before this, demons and devils knew of mortals and enjoyed capturing their souls from the Styx, however they did not know where the mortal world was. Now, they had the location. The devils continued focussing on fighting Haudh’s legions for control of souls, while the demons and their lords prepared the ground of the mortal world for an invasion. For 10 years, the abyssal forces grew their mortal cults and began constructing cross-plane gates to allow large groups of demons through. After years of planning huge waves of demons poured through, killing at will. 

The countries that were hit the worst were the Freedlands, Kyrgen Coalition, Relictus and Lentasect. The continents of Heping, Rajana and Abhir were fairly unscathed as any strange cultist activity was shut down promptly. The abyssal forces rampaged across Latys for nearly a decade. They tried and failed to take the Pannan Forests as the guerrilla tactics of the Edhellen elves and Pannan creatures kept them out. An abyssal army tried taking the city of Noyvda however their forces were pushed back from the walls by the staunch Noydani and dwarven defenders, while Kjellan forces harried their rear. The city of Necrossan fared well due to the power of its necromancers and endless amounts of undead. 

However the two remaining Imperrex cities, the Steppens of the Freedlands and the Krygen Coalition were ruined by the war as their populace was rife with cultist corruption. In 15 CE an anti-demon faction was created, which would become known as the Shackled Church. Led by a priestess of Rexen from Relictus named Flaminia, thousands flocked to her banners. The adherents of her following were merciless to their enemies, rounding up any suspected cultists and flaying them, often hanging them from city walls and standards. Flaminia and her forces became as ruthless as the demons themselves however this proved successful in intimidating any would-be cultists. Their forces liberated Relictus and Lentasect, before splitting into two armies to relieve the Kyrgen Coalition and Freedlanders. 

The force arriving in Krygen land found the dark elves to be decimated yet triumphant. The various houses had pulled together and pushed back the invading abyssal forces while the army under Flaminia arrived in the Freedlands to find it ruined and abandoned. The demonic armies and their cultists had enslaved many of the Steppens and brought them to the edges of the Moir Lake to fuel an immense ritual to bring through their abyssal lords. Demonic and mortal forces clashed along the lake edge in an intense melee. Flaminia spearheaded an assault on the demonic gate and, emboldened by Rexen’s power, she fought a monstrous demon lord that was coming through the gate. The demon was pushed back through the gate and Flaminia closed the gate on herself, ordering her followers to shackle her to the gate to keep it shut. Rexen blessed Flaminia with power and turned her and the gate to solid stone with a halo of sunfire shining above her head, keeping it shut forever. 

Since The Demon War the Shackled Church has enclaves in most cities. Although their patron god is Rexen, they venerate and deify Flaminia and continue the brutal tactics that were used during the war. Any hint of demonic or cultist activity will draw their hunters who will mercilessly root out any abyssal corruption.