Ward History
Chapter 8- The Empire of Man
For a generation, Humans spread their influence across Ward. Through diplomacy or force, the Human empire was unstoppable and all the while the power and influence of The Old God grew. The Order of the Old God trained Knights from an early age. These knights acted as the right hand of the King. Whilst Great academies of knowledge were erected where new forms of magical disciplines were discovered. The eight disciplines of magic were based on the eight fundamental forces of creation. They were the foundation of discovery within the academy’s great halls. Developed in secret under the orders of the king another discipline was discovered, and it violated the very tenants of creation, Necromancy.
With the Human populations subdued, The Old God commanded the Humans to invade the lands of the Elves and spread its influence further. The Elves were secretive, keeping to their forest homes. The Humans began to send armies into the forests to force the Elves to bow to the King. This did not sit kindly with the Elves. For as peaceful as they seemed they were equally as arrogant, for they were once Angels and they would not bow to any god other than the one true god, The Creator. The Elves resisted and war broke out. The Elves were powerful. They had extraordinary physical skills beyond and normal Human, and in the long millennia since their fall they had become powerful users of nature and life magic. But for all the strength the Elves possessed the Humans had seemingly endless numbers. The kings army pushed the Elves deep into the woods, and eventually launched a siege on the elvan city of Evergreen.
The siege lasted for months. Sickness and starvation began to take hold within the sacred elven city. It was at this time the Human king brough forth his secret weapon. He unleashed his necromancers to begin to raising the dead of the Humans and Elves. Thousands of dead soldiers assaulted the gates while hundreds of dead Elves began to sow chaos within the wall of the city. Stunned by this heresy the generals of men stood by and could only watch as their comrades came back to life as stinking, rotting ghouls and zombies. The tide of battle had turned in their favor but they could not help but feel uneasy about this new sorcery.
Their walls were crumbling, and the dead were everywhere. So, the leadership of the Elves had to take drastic measures. With the distraction and chaos caused by the necromancers during the siege, a Dark Elf managed to sneak his way into the elvan city. A reluctant deal was made between the eternal rivals of Elves and Dark Elves for the threat of the Human empire was too great to be ignored.
Three nights passed and it seemed as if all hope was lost. But on the fourth night a loud war horn was heard in the blackness of night. Suddenly, the Human lines were being bombarded by catapult fire and then they came. A massive, bloodthirsty, savage horde of huge green skinned creatures called Orcs. They were not as refined as the Elves or even the Humans and carried crude axes and wooden clubs. But they flooded out of the darkness with a ferocity that would have put a Red Dragon to shame. With their massive, muscled bodies and thick skin these creatures seemed to be bred for battle.
For years prior to the invasion of the woodland realm by the Humans, the Dark Elves had been experimenting with the dark arcane arts to create a super soldier to crush their woodland kin. They captured and experimented on many different creatures from all over Ward. Combining their strengths and eliminating their weaknesses. Some were too powerful to be controlled and escaped into the world, whilst others were strong but faltered at the first sign of taking damage. But eventually after brutal and painful experimentation they created the Orc. The Orc was the perfect super soldier to fill out their armies ranks. They were strong, fast and durable. But most importantly they were bloodthirsty. So, the Dark Elves poured their hate and resentment of the Elves into the very fiber of the Orcs being so they might finally wipe out the Elves. But history had different plans.
The savage Orc legion engaged the Human army chopping a bloody path through their lines towards the Necromantic sorcerers. The Human battle lines had been shattered as the Orcs had hit them from the rear. The sound of metal and screams could be heard from the darkness. Vulnerable, the necromancers fled from the battle, and with them, their undead army crumpled and fell apart. The Human army was in complete disarray as commanders fled from the battle, and out of the Elven woods. The battle was over, and the empire was finally stopped.