[centre][i]The Lich Years[/i][/centre]

The Great Lich Lord had descended upon Sviebard, and with him descended terror and carnage unlike anything the people of Sviebard had ever seen. So great was the catastrophe that in future, when the Great Lich Lord was long gone, people would know this era simple as [i]The Lich Years[/i]. The annals of Sviebardian history have no record of how the Great Lich Lord came to be or from whence he came, they simply know that one day there was no Lich, and then there was.

In the beginning, the tribes of Sviebard did not give the disappearances that were occurring too much attention. The fortified their towns and villages and trained their people to fight better and use their icy magics more proficiently. Other than the Wrolfin, however, none took the threat too seriously. Thormar of the Wrolfin attempted to mount a united effort against the Lich, but the tribes, jealous of the Wrolfin's powers and more fearful of them than of any 'Lich' whose very existence was questionable.

Thormar did not allow himself to be defeated by the petty tribal mentality of other Sviebardians and continued to appeal to them, but it was of no use. For five years did he prepare his people and train them, for five years did the ghouls prey on the tribes, and for five years did the Great Lich Lord lie in wait and prepare. 

Thormar had ordered his men to keep watch on the activities of the Lich, and they had long ago discovered that the vile creature had built a large, fortified town in the north of Sviebard, wherein dwelled, as far as Thormar's scouts could tell, a group of humans whose number came at a few hundred. However, what was more worrying was the [url=http://hdwallpapersfactory.com/wallpaper/aztec_temple_artwork_pyramid_light_desktop_1378x900_hd-wallpaper-193694.jpg]great citadel[/url] the Lich had built into the side of a mountain not too far from the town. His Furies had reported that the place was seeped in necromantic energies and all those townspeople who died were brought there. Moreover, they had often detected disturbances in the earth during the night and arrived to find groups of dead Sviebardians making for the citadel.

The Lich dwelled in this mountain citadel, for the Furies could sense his presence when watching the area, though he had never been seen. Only the ghouls were seen as they went about the tasks set for them by their undead master. There were others, of course. The town was overseen by a giant, armour-clad man whose presence was unlike anything the Furies could understand. His was not a chaotic or even a necromantic presence. In fact, there was about him an aura which suggested the very opposite, though the Furies could not understand why such a creature would side with the Lich. There was also the huge man with impossible power who had about him the markings of a divine being, and like the armour-clad man, the Furies could not understand why he sided with the Lich.

As it were, the Lich's years of preparation were soon to come to an end, and Sviebard would feel the terrible grip of death upon it.
[hider=Summary] The Wrolfin Furies prepare and attempt to unite the Sviebardian tribes, to no avail. 
Wrolfin scouts discover that the Lich has built a fortified town as well as a great citadel.[/hider]
[centre][u][b]***[/b][/u][/centre]

After the completion of the citadel [i]Purgatos Sepulcha[/i], which took two years, the Great Lich Lord had not left the gigantic tomb-citadel. His days and nights were spent in eternal wakefulness and his experimentation knew no end. In his bid to create the purest and most sanctified of creatures, which embody the ultimate, untainted absolution of death, he had worked long and hard and no living being laid eyes upon him for those three years of work. The Silent Six, now reduced to five, did not see so much as a shadow of him, and Cassios, Rejys and Kanros - who were left to their own devices in Kathar - heard nothing of him.

No one bar the undead ghouls dared enter Purgatus Sepulcha, and a group of them had been assigned the task of delivering the dead to the citadel where they were entombed. The Ghoul Lords Akenaten and Sapthah were themselves among the first to be experimented upon and had slowly begun to change over the years. By the dawn of the fifth year, two had become completely different beings from ghouls. Unlike the grotesque mockeries of death's purity that ghouls were - indeed, the Great Lich had grown to despise those tainted creatures - the two Ghoul Lords had grown into refined, pale, pure-skinned creatures of monumental necromantic energies. The Great Lich Lord dubbed them 'vampires' and saw them as an embodiment of deathly purity - almost as pure as him. No longer were they the Ghoul Lords, but Vampire Paragons [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/82/f2/3c/82f23c130566f90858bea74138c47f70.jpg]Akhenaten[/url] and [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d0/2c/51/d02c518ceecb04ed138f082a855777aa.jpg]Sapthah[/url].

Indeed, along with the Ghoul Lords, the Lich had also experimented upon himself, for he was well-aware of the taint of chaos within him, and though Vowzra had subdued this chaos and integrated it into the Lich so that it could hardly be called 'chaos' anymore, the Lich was not pleased with this offensive impurity within it. For the Great Lich Lord was the very embodiment of that deathly absolution and could not stand to know that its own perfection was compromised. Through the years, it worked on the chaotic influences within it until it had completely expunged it. The mute child was ever by its side.

The Lich recorded all experiments and wrote long tomes on its thoughts and ideas, shelving them in the Sepulchalibraria, which was now home to the writings of Zerabil, Thulemiz and the Great Lich Lord himself. It also hosted many treasures, from the remains of various Dyun, Cimex (at various stages of their evolution) and armours of the Vowzra's Victors which the Silent Six had managed to salvage. Among them were the remains of Thulemiz's armour and his helmet, from the [i]Battle of Man's Fall[/i], which Greyus had taken when he had raided Ialu's home, along with various other things from the warlord's home - such as the destroyed remains of the Dyun Champion's head.

The experimentation and writing continued, even after the fifth year, but the fifth year dawned with the Lich suddenly wishing to see death spread beyond its mountain tomb...
[hider=Summary]
The Lich was experimenting on the Ghoul Lords, turning them into Vampire Paragons.
It experimented on itself, ridding itself of chaos.
It wrote much.
It ordered an attack on the Sviebardians.[/hider]
[centre][u][b]***[/b][/u]

Year the 5th of [i]The Lich Years[/i][/centre]

Akhenaten commanded the ghouls forth as the great undead horde advanced upon the tribes. The ghouls, numbering a thousand or more, rushed forward to scout and ravage the land before them in preparation for the main force. Two thousand skeleton soldiers made up the back-bone of the horde while Battle Brother Rejys led five hundred Wights - the resurrected Victors. The Great Lich Lord had experimented long on the bodies of the dead and had often sent one Silent Brother or another to gather up any remains of the Victors from the battlefield and Ialu's field of death. It was rather lucky that the Strong Tribe did not merely leave the bodies to rot into the earth, for their decision to put them on display or bury them in mounds meant that parts were fairly easy to find.

Mixing the dead remains of Victors with reinforced corpses which the Lich had personally constructed created rather powerful vessels for souls, and the Lich decided to imbue the souls of the Victors with some of that strange energy dragon souls had before implanting the souls into the bodies and raising them. Unlike other undead, the Victors were completely sentient. Their memories and personalities from their life remained and many of them were surprised to find that they had been raised as undead. They were sent to Kathar where Rejys took over and was granted the title of Grandmaster - though he insisted that his Victors continue calling him Battle Brother.

This force of undead, led by Vampire Paragon Akhenaten and Battle Brother Rejys decimated the Sviebardian tribes in the east, the Gnanrir and Bronji. Of the Gnanrir and Bronji, whose population had risen to one thousand six hundred and one thousand one hundred respectively, only six hundred managed to escape the massacre and found refuge in Wrolfin lands. Akhenaten raised the two thousand one hundred dead and marched the swollen ranks of the undead horde east against the Fradin Tribal Confederation, made up of the Azenii, the Fradin and the Fradin-Grez.

News of [i]The Slaughter[/i] in the west had reached the Confederation and they had quickly prepared themselves, allying with the Wrolfin and hatching up a plan to halt the advancing horde. The Confederate forces, made up of three hundred Azenii, five hundred Fradin and two hundred Fradin-Grez, met the undead horde on the frozen plains of Mirka, with the Mirkan hills to the south covering the advance of one thousand three hundred Wrolfin Furies.

The Confederate forces acted as the bait, allowing for the Furies to strike at the rear and right flank of the undead horde, dealing the forces of the Lich a catastrophic defeat at [i]The Battle of Mirka[/i]. The blasts of holy Kogleri vapourised the undead and sent their souls screaming back to their master, ensuring that the corpses were nothing but dust and thus unusable by the Lich. Rather than burying those who died in the battle, the Wrolfin demanded that they be cremated so that they would not rise again to fight against them.

Of the one thousand ghouls that set out for Mirka, only three hundred returned, while the previously two thousand strong skeleton force was decimated to nine hundred, and the force of raised Gnanrir and Bronji was reduced from two thousand one hundred to eight hundred, while the Victors suffered no losses.
The Confederates lost, of their total one thousand strong army, a good five hundred while the Wrolfin did not lose a single Fury. This first undead advance came to known as [i]The First Undead Horde[/i].
[hider=Summary]The First Undead Horde occurs - an attack on the Sviebardian tribes which sees the Gnanrir and Bronji lands seized by the Lich, known as The Slaughter.
The First Horde is defeated at the Battle of Mirka.[/hider]
[centre][u][b]***[/b][/u]

Year the 6th of [i]The Lich Years[/i][/centre]


The [i]Second Undead Horde[/i] struck a year later. Using speed and the power of surprise, the horde, this time led by Vampire Paragon Sapthah, quickly swept aside the Fradin Tribal Confederation, and the numbers who managed to escape were minuscule. With five hundred ghouls and a one thousand seven hundred strong skeleton force, as well as the Victors and the one thousand four hundred Confederate tribals who were raised as zombies. 

For the year between the First and Second Undead Horde, the Lich had fortified the new border and established control over the newly conquered land. Forts were set up and skeleton forces were stationed along the border, while strategic port towns were populated with undead as well as citizens of Kathar, where they begun work on a fleet.

Upon learning of the destruction of the Confederate tribes, the Wrolfin Furies prepared to strike back. A month after the Second Undead Horde, a force of one thousand five hundred Wrolfin Furies struck into ex-Confederate land and managed to push the undead out until the entirety of the south-eastern coast of the Sviebardian island was under Wrolfin control. After the tremendous victory, dubbed [i]The Furious Advance[/i], a Tribal Council convened, partially due to the death of Thormar, and it was agreed - with a great amount of forcefulness from the Wrolfin - that the other tribes would be dissolved and absorbed into the Wrolfin.

With that done, seventy four years of constant conflict between the Wrolfin and the Realm of the Dead began in which the Lich could not so much as drive the Wrolfin one inch back. The Furies conducted many operations behind enemy lines, but their foe was mighty indeed and it seemed like they were simply attempting to hold back the crashing waves of an eternal sea.
[hider=Summary]The Second Undead Horde occurs and the rest of the Sveibardian tribes are crushed, otherthan the Wrolfin.
Decades of conflict between the dead realms and the Wrolfin ensue.[/hider]
[centre][u][b]***[/b][/u]

Year the 17th of [i]The Lich Years[/i][/centre]

A strange tremor beneath the earth had the Wrolfin on high alert for a number of weeks, suspecting that the Lich was planning some kind of surprise attack from beneath the very earth. The Lich had, according to reports, built a huge fleet and advanced upon the second Sviebardian island to the east. There was no information available to the Furies on what had befallen those living there. Reports also confirmed that the Lich's forces had landed on the great continent to the west and were busy expanding their Realm of the Dead in that direction, where a small tribal kingdom had formed from those Sviebardians who had landed there and the indigenous population.

The underground tremors soon grew stronger and the area where the tremors were most focused were surrounded and placed under heavy guard. Within a few days, strange creatures spouted forth from the earth. While they were undoubtedly creations of the Harbinger of Chaos, the creatures did not appear to be chaotic per se. The Wrolfin entered negotiations with them and agreed to have them set up a settlement above the tunnel they had created.

As the months dragged on, trade between the Wrolfin and Rovaick began and the precious, high quality metals provided by the strange creatures proved most useful in the forging of even better armour for the Wrolfin Furies. The metals were far more susceptible to Kogleri blessings and enchantments, creating for far more powerful Kogleri-enhanced weapons and armours. The Wrolfin also hatched up an agreement with the Rovaick that once their tunnels connected to the great continent to the west the Wrolfin would be given free use of them.

The Lich may control the Sviebardian seas, thus preventing any attacks on the forces of chaos and death beyond Sveibard, but once these tunnels were complete, chaos everywhere would feel Wrolfin fury...
[hider=Summary]The Wrolfin meet the Rovaick and trade happens.
Rovaick promise the Wrolfin free usage of their tunnels once the one to Orabakh is complete.[/hider]
[centre][u][b]***[/b][/u][/centre]

In the eleven years since the The Furious Advance, the Lich had looked to advance elsewhere. By the seventh year a great fleet had been created and a small expedition was sent eastwards to the second of the Sviebardian islands. The expedition landed and found there a tough people who very quickly dispatched them, so a greater force was sent by the Lich, only to find that a powerful ward had been created around the entirety of the island, preventing the undead from landing, or even sailing too close.

Unfazed by this setback, the fleet sailed westwards and landed on the north-eastern shores of Orabakh, where the Kingdom of Zabolia had formed, led by a High Chief Kraros. Their's was a very tribal society, though they had great respect for their High Chief and his position generally prevented any disputes. The Great Lich Lord commanded Kanros to go forth and kidnap this High Chief. When the man was brought before the Lich, he seized the man's soul and drew it from his body before raising him once more as nothing but a puppet.

With this, the Lich used the High Chief to procure the unconditional surrender of the kingdom and annexing it. In the beginning the tribals were not too keen on the sudden influx of skeletons from across the sea, but as they mingled more and more with Katharians, they quickly grew accustomed to the situation. The Great Lich Lord thus managed to greatly expand his farm of living beings. While it was indeed painful having to tolerate such imperfect beings in his realm, it was necessary for the constant supply of corpses for his experiments and undead horde.

By the seventeenth year, the Realm of the Dead has expanded far into the new continent, largely into empty lands devoid of much civilisation, with the odd group of Kharigit Horse People passing through. Finding himself growing rather bored of expanding into unoccupied land, the Lich decided to put a stop to the expansion and instead stationed its armies at the border with the Wrolfin. Handing over the reins of power to the Vampire Paragons, the Great Lich Lord left his mountain tomb for the first time in fifteen years and, along with his mute shadow, made for the flying library of the god of knowledge - Alma'Toren.
[hider=Summary]The Realm of the Dead expands.
The undead attack Kuro and friends.
The Great Lich Lord leaves for Arguis' library.[/hider]
[centre][u][b]***[/b][/u]

Year the 77th of [i]The Lich Years[/i][/centre]

Nothing had been heard from the Lich since his disappearance decades ago. The Vampire Paragons had ruled the Realms of the Dead in his place and their territories had continued expanding slowly. The kingdom of the Uri. Duisis, had grown tremendously on the new continent and it now shared a border with the Realm of the Dead. A few skirmishes had taken place between them, but it seemed that there strange soul-weaving was particularly well-suited against necromancy, as was necromancy against it, creating something of an immediate stalemate.

The Silent Six had long planned to take care of the Lich and had bidden their time. Over the Lich' decades of absence they had prepared well, establishing communications with the Wrolfin - who were suspicious at first - as well as stoking hatred for the undead among the living subjects of the Lich. By the seventy seventh year, they were ready to set into motion the toppling of the Lich and the destruction of his realms.

The rebellion began with the defection of two hundred and sixty one Victors, as well as Rejys and the Seers, while two hundred and forty refused to defect and remained loyal to the Lich. At the same time, the capital of the former-kingdom of Zabolia, Cyrnaq, rose up in revolt, along with Sviebard's main port town, Ganinborg. The populations of the two towns were one thousand four hundred and one thousand one hundred respectively, and were by far the most populous settlements in the Realm.

With the defection of half the Victors to their side, the Wrolfin Furies immediately mounted the assault they had been preparing, striking out with two forces of two thousand northward and westward. The army marching west would march to Ganinborg, where it would reinforce the rebels there and prepare a force to sail over the water to aid the rebels in Curnaq. Meanwhile, the one striking northwards would capture Kathar and strike at the Lich's citadel.

The Vampire Paragons reacted with shocking speed to the rebellion, both of them raising a horde and marching out to meet the two Wrolfin forces. Each had at his command a force of two thousand ghouls, three thousand skeletons as well as one hundred and twenty Victors.
Sapthah took his forces south, but was too late to prevent the Furies from entering Ganinborg and was forced to lay siege to the town. Without a fleet, however, the Vampire Paragon could only watch as the rebel forces boarded what was once the Lich's fleet and set sail for the new continent.

Akhenaten was more successful due to the proximity of Kathar. Upon finding that the humans there harboured rebellious thoughts, he put the entire town's population of three hundred humans to the sword, before raising them as zombies and continuing south to meet the Wrolfin on the Plains of Mirka.

Out-numbered by the five thousand four hundred and twenty strong Undead Horde, the two thousand strong Wrolfin force did not seem in a very powerful position, but the Battle of Mirta's Furies ended with an overwhelming victory for the Wrolfin forces, who obliterated the undead from a distance with blast after blast of Kogleri. One thousand three hundred of the ghouls met their demise while the entire skeleton and zombie force was crushed. Those Victors who had sided with the Lich were kept out of the battle, but were quick to withdraw when the Vampire Paragon met his demise at the end of a Kogleri-enchanted great-sword.

The Wrolfin force, with no more than twenty losses, gave chase until the Victors reached Purgatos Sepulcha and fortified themselves within. With no visible entrance and mighty wards placed on the place prevent magical attack from affecting it, all the Wrolfin force could do was camp outside the citadel and wait.

Further south, the port of Ganinborg was soon stormed by Sapthah. Being the far more intelligent and ruthless of the two Vampire Paragons, he made relatively short work of the defenders. Five hundred Wrolfin Furies were crushed and raised again, while the one thousand one hundred population of Ganinborg was also called back from the dead by the Paragon. Well aware of his brother's defeat by this point, he decided to conduct an attack on Wrolfin lands while the majority of their forces were away.

He was met by a force of one thousand Furies on the Slaughterlands, where a cataclysmic battle took place. Though he far outnumbered the enemy, Sapthah well knew that the Furies had the advantage in a field battle and decided to turn the battle into one of manoeuvres. The main undead force pulled back while skeletal riders flanked the advancing Furies. The Wrolfin flanks turned to face the cavalry, only for the cavalry to withdraw, peppering the Furies with missiles. Unaware of the trap, the flanks split off and chased after the cavalry, only for the main force to attack the remaining Furies before turning on the other two thirds of the army and swamping them.

While the losses for the horde were huge, what was more important was victory. The entire Wrolfin force was wiped and their dead raised, while the undead horde lost a huge number of its force, it was still powerful enough to turn northwards and march against the remaining Furies there. By the time Sapthah had arrived, however, the Wrolfin force had long withdrawn to Wrolfin territories, leaving the Lich's Victors in the citadel.
[hider=Summary]The Silent Six, Rejys and half the Victors defect to the side of the Wrolfin and rebellions arise in Cyrnaq and Ganinborg.
Vampire Paragon Akhenaten is killed and Sapthah proves his military genius.[/hider]
[centre][b][u]***[/u][/b]
Year the 79th of [i]The Lich Years[/i][/centre]

Cyrnaq had finally fallen and all the rebels were put to the sword. None were spared. Vampire Paragon Sapthah had not spared any living beings within the Realm, having scoured the Lich's territories on Sviebard and killed them all, before crossing the water and laying waste to all human villages he came across. Cyrnaq was the final stronghold for rebels and living beings alike, and with its fall the Realm of the Dead had finally become worthy of its name.

All that remained now was to march upon those despicable Wrolfin and wipe them from existence. He had faced their army of one thousand five hundred here, the one that had managed to cross before he assaulted Ganinborg, and had wiped it from existence. He was certain that, compared to the mighty horde he now had, the Wrolfin had nothing. He would destroy them all and raise them once they were dead and have them remain forever in servitude of the Lich they had spent their lives resisting...
[hider=Summary]Sapthah destroys the rebellion and all life in the Realm of the Dead and turns his sights upon the Wrolfin and the traitors.[/hider]
[centre][b][u]***[/u][/b]

Year the 80th of [i]The Lich Years[/i]

There descended a shadow in the night
Upon the home of Quay
Subtly did it descend, remaining out of sight
Above the king did it rise up, for it had words to say:

'I have learned of an artifact
Which thine right hand does possess
If thou hast wisdom and some tact
And wish to avoid stress

'Thou wouldst giv't here
And I would disappear.'[/centre]

[hider=Maps and Populations]
[img]http://screenshot.net/4emn1sx.jpg[/img]
[img]http://screenshot.net/oylwkij.jpg[/img]
[/hider]