User:The ed17/History of the Wars
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I do not know if all of these wars actually ocurred in the books; druidsofparanor.org was an online RPG game based on Shannara, so they may have made these up. Everything down to the "Border Wars (Free Born and Federation)" is correct...beyond that, I'm not so sure....I'm almost completely sure the_ed17 15:30, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Shannara
[edit] History of the Wars
[edit] Great Wars
These wars spanned hundreds of years, where the different people fought and destroyed everything in a battle for dominance. The Great Wars was a war where buttons caused entire cities to be destroyed in the blink of an eye, a war where no one was safe from harm. The result of the wars plunged the world into a dark age, where for thousands of years, the survivors hid away in remote locations. It was in these locations, that the people banded together, changing as a result of the wars, and when they began to emerge from hiding, the world was not as they remembered.
[edit] First War of the Races
Elves, Trolls, and Dwarves all joined together to unite against the race of man, and for many of those races, it was the first time they were ever united under a single banner. It was at the end of this War, that the Elves began to maintain a standing army, and before Brona became the Warlock Lord, he knew that in order to succeed with his future plans, the Elves must be neutralized beforehand. It was after this War that the Four Lands were divided into the racially dominated areas it is today.
[edit] Second War of the Races
With the untimely assassination of the Elven Family, the Second War of the races began. Without the might of the Elven nation, the Warlock Lord moved through the Eastland and across the Borderlands, finally coming to the Elven Homeland, just after a newly crowned Jerle Shannara ascended the throne. It was in this time, that Bremen went and had forged, the Sword of Shannara, the legendary weapon that would be used by Jerle to destroy the Warlock Lord.
[edit] Valley of Rhenn
Granted the terrain and mobility edge, the Elves battle the Northland army within the Valley of Rhenn. With the help of Bremen and a few other remaining Druids, Risca, Mareth, and the young Allanon, the Elves were able to turn the Northland army from Arborlon, only to have unexpected aid come from the East, as the Dwarves caught the northland army in a pincer, helping to defeat the Northland army upon the Streleheim Plains.
[edit] End of the Warlock Lord
After surviving the Second War of the Races, Brona once again gathered his forces, preparing to march upon the Four Lands. After capturing Eventine Elessedil, the Warlock Lord sent his troops straight to the Borderlands, separating the West from the East. Aided by Allanon and Flick Ohmsford, Eventine was saved from his captors, and with his rescue, the Elven Army rode to the aid of Tyrsis and the Borderlands. All would have been for naught, had Shea Ohmsford not braved the Northland to stand face to face with the Warlock Lord, and destroyed him using the Sword of Shannara once and for all.
[edit] War of the Forbidding
Fifty years after the destruction of the Warlock Lord, the Elves were forced to call for aid when the Forbidding began to crumble. Demons began to appear from the failing Forbidding, and it was made known that the Ellcrys must be reborn, and the Elven girl Amberle was the chosen one. It was the brilliant leadership of Stee Jans and the Free Corps that held Arborlon from the Demons. In the end, it took the a combined effort from the Wing Riders, Dwarf Sappers, and Rock Trolls working in unison with the Elves to halt the Demons until the Ellcrys seed was planted. The battle was won, but at great costs, perhaps to the Elves most of all. Not only did they lose the crown price Arion Elessedil, their great King, Eventine, was slain as well.
[edit] Haley's Cut
The first battle against the Demons, the Elves decided to make their first stand in Haley's Cut, proceeding from there to specific fall back points until they would at last come to defend Arborlon within the city itself. It was in this battle that Arion Elessedil was slain, and Stee Jans became the military commander over the Elven defenses and attacking.
[edit] Shadowen War (War of the Free Born)
Many years after the death of Allanon, a new threat began to rise across the Four Lands. The shade of Allanon called together the descendants of Brin Ohmsford, the one who carried his blood trust. Given charges by the shade, each member of the Ohmsford family had to complete their quest, or else the lands would fall. For Wren, she had to find a way to return the Elves to the Westland. For Coll and Par, they had to recover the lost Sword of Shannara. Walker Boh had perhaps the most daunting task of all. He was charged to return the Druids to the Four Lands. As well as the challenges faced by each member of the family, the Shadowen Seekers, led by Rimmer Dall, sought to stop them from succeeding in their plans at every turn. With their allies few and scattered, and the Federation crawling across the Lands, all seemed bleak for the Scions of Shannara.
[edit] The Jut
The unknown base that Padisher Creel constructed within the Dragon's Teeth mountains, this base was where a majority of the Free Born hid away as they worked against the Federation. The fort was unassailable unless its lifts were taken, and were it not for a Shadowen infiltration, the fort would have remained a secret. It was a Shadowen Creeper that finally led to the evacuation of the Jut, and it was shortly after that evacuation, that the Rock Trolls came to aid the Free Born before the battle at the Valley of Rhenn.
[edit] Valley of Rhenn
With the return of the Elves to the Westland, the Federation acted quickly in responding to the rumors and marching northward. Wren, the new Queen of the Elves, took the Elven army out against the Shadowen controlled army, and held them at bay until Par and Coll could release the magic the Shadowen had imprisoned. When the Shadowen officers disappeared into a pile of ash and smoke, the Elves were quick to send the Federation Army reeling back to the Southland.
[edit] Border Wars (Gnomes and Dwarves)
Fought for as long as the histories record, the Dwarves and Gnomes have fought ceaselessly for lands within the Anar. Usually shifting from year to year, season to season, neither force has been able to fully push back the other. Although the Northern Eastland is primarily Gnome, and the Southern mainly Dwarf, each fight for the gray area between those lands, its actual line undetermined.
[edit] Border Wars (Free Born and Federation)
Once the Federation was defeated at the Valley of Rhenn, Padisher Creel and his Free born sparked an uprising throughout the Borderlands, forcing the Federation south past the Prekkendorran Heights. Both sides employed the aid of Rover Airship mercenaries, although it takes a substantial effort from the Dwarves and Elves to keep the Free Born and the Borderlands alive and free of Federation rule.
[edit] Dark Overlord
The mysterious figure known simply as "The Dark Overlord" swept down from the greater northeastern reaches of the Anar, killing and conquering with no quarter or sympathy. First, the Gnomes fell in horrible slaughter with nowhere to turn except their most hated enemies, the Dwarves. They found refuge in Capaal and Culhaven, but even the masterful fortifications of the Dwarves could not stop the Dark Overlord and his demonic host. Defeated at every turn, the Dwarves and Gnomes fled to Tyrsis. With an innumerable army, the Dark Overlord split his forces in two, one sent to besiege the Borderland capital, and the other to lay waste to Paranor. The Druids fled and put their power into keeping Tyrsis from falling. Victorious in defending the city, it was time to retake Paranor. All of the races, by this time, had united under the threat of a common enemy. And together, every race contributed to the retaking of Paranor and the destruction of the Dark Overlord.
[edit] Union of Odium
What was once thought to have begun with Rhaine Del-Tessar, soon escalated into a war that would quickly draw in the rest of the Four Lands. A former Druid from the first Council gathered by Walker Boh called Turin Kognas, learned of four powerful artifacts that could be used to subjugate the free peoples and destroy the Druids once and for all. From the Northland, the Black Irix emerged, its magical properties brought fourth when unlocked by the mystic Rhaine Del~Tessar. From the East, the Torc of Manipulation, a powerful bauble that could enhance ones telepathical abilities and control the minds of all but those with some degree of telepathy. From the South, the Rod of Tempest emerged, bringing back into the world, a weapon that could control the weather, calling upon fierce storms and natural disasters that could level cities in a matter of hours. The final Artifact sought by Turin, and undoubtedly the most powerful of the four, was the Rune of Forbidding, a stone that would grant one of demon blood, control of the Forbidding and the Demons within. The Druids, once alerted to the knowledge of these artifacts, sent out parties to retrieve the artifacts before the once Druid could. Betrayed and outsmarted at almost every turn, things seemed bleak for the Druids and their scant allies.
[edit] Battle of Trebleka
When the Union of Odium began to gather its forces, a Troll called Telsek Scyre went into the Northland to unite the divided troll legions against their common enemy of the Trebleka Trolls. Thousands of Trolls waged a war on all sides of Trebleka, the troll nation standing alone, save for a small company of Druids that were sent to assist them in defending their home. After five days of constant assault, one of the Druids employed a powerful magic that inflicted serious damage to the oncoming horde of Trolls, crippling them enough for the Trebleka Trolls to counter the attack and save their village.
[edit] Battle of Capaal
The first encounter with Turin's army came at the Eastland fortress of Capaal, in a battle that cost the Dwarves Culhaven in the end. Turin, with the newly acquired Torc of Manipulation, used his powers to create a detailed illusion of his Army of Mwellerts and Gnomes. He laid a three-day siege to the Dwarven Fortress with two hundred men, his real army of nearly twenty-three thousand remaining in the eastern mountains.
With this distraction in the East, Turin's right hand troll, Telsek Scyre, and the Liguithx, King of the Mwellerts, ambushed a brigand of Dwarves heading for the fortress, and using a vice technique, emerged with their small army nearly unscathed. He later marched on Culhaven, razing much of the Dwarven Capitol in one night.
The following day, Turin's army simply disappeared, his numbers still unknown to the forces of good.
[edit] Battle of Paranor
Seemingly alone and without any hope in sight, the Druids lay besieged in their own citadel, looking out upon a massive force of enemy. The Druids had retrieved the Rod of Tempest and the Rune of Forbidding, and Turin in his reckless anger and hate, came to Paranor to crush it in one fell swoop. His overconfidence was ultimately his downfall. One night into the seige of Paranor, raiding parties of Dwarves, led by the Druids who had gone to the East, attacked the camp at night, killing many in a few moments with a minimal loss to their own numbers. The Dwarves that had come to Paranor's aid, numbered only eight thousand in comparison to the twenty three thousand commanded by Turin, but they would not stand idly by and allow the Druids to go into the dust alone.
The Dwarves were not the only ones to come to Paranor's aid. The disbanded Border Legion, once thought gone for good, sent four thousand Infantrymen to Paranor, led by their youthful General, Justin Silares. They entered into the Keep, bolstering Paranor's defenses, but still hardly giving them enough to take Turin on.
After a three-day bombardment with seige weapons, Turin marched his army of twenty thee thousand to Paranor, tired of waiting for the Druids to surrender. At that moment of commitment to the citadel, the Dwarves, led by their Druid companions, launched a massive attack into the flank of Turin's forces, taking their sights off Paranor for the moment. Knowing that alone they could not withstand Turin's forces, the Dwarves were forced to retreat for the night.
Now knowing that he had enemies on two fronts, Turin turned his forces against the Dwarves, hoping to crush the remaining dwarves once and for all. With news that the eight thousand horse riders from the Border Legion had been decimated en route to Paranor, the High Druid Nigel called those within Paranor together. Courage took the heart of the people within Paranor after Nigel spoke, and they left Paranor's walls, marching out with the Border Legion Infantry to take on Turin's Army. The sun had barely crested over the mountains in the east, when a massive sounding of horns echoed across the Strelehiem. Eyes looked to the South west as a massive force of horsemen began to form upon the hills, four men forming at their center. The Cavalry they thought destroyed had bested those sent by Turin to destroy them, and with the rising of the morning sun, the Border Legion charged into battle, tearing through the ranks of Mwellerts, Gnomes, and Trolls. Although their numbers began to turn the tides, Turin's forces were still strong, and they had not even reached him or his elite guards.
In the end, it was the unexpected arrival of Daemik, the brother of Killian, and his force of demon-like men that completed the route of Turin's forces. Surrounded on all sides, Turin's army began to crumble, the might of the free peoples stronger than he thought. It took the combined efforts of his former apprentice Rhaine Del-Tessar, and the mysterious Druid Apprentice Acacia, to destroy the half-Shadowen monster Turin, and end his evil. Turin's other leaders met their ends as well, the Troll Telsek being killed by the Druid Apprentice Alar Triannon, and the demon enchanted assassin called Elebrin was destroyed by the High Druid Nigel. Liguithx, cruel King of the Mwellerts, was killed by Austpir, a mysterious tracker from the North, and the Assassin Samir, Turin's undercover agent who nearly ended Paranor's chances before the fighting even began, was killed by the Healer Druid Quickening.
[edit] Federation War
Coming on the heels of Turin's demise, a strong Federation that was left undamaged by Turin surged northward and seized all lands south of the Rapahallardran River. The mastermind behind the Federation advance was Seradrid Triannon, newly elected Prime Minister and long time Supreme Commander of the Federation Army. His plan was for a unified, dominant, and strong Federation; a birthright, the destiny of all Southlanders. With this, his massive army was a fueled and determined fighting force which met little to no resistance as it swept across the lands. The Borderlands fell within eight months of the Union of Odium's destruction, and for the first time in hundreds of years, it was Federation colors flying from the tops of the towers of Tyrsis. This, while meeting the Federation's goals, was not the end of Seradrid's ambition. With the ease in which Callahorn fell and the small dwindling numbers of his enemies armies, Seradrid's sights grew larger indeed, and his sights turned northward once more. This time, his sights would see the Federation's borders stretched northward unto the Northland Mountains and all of the Strelehiem. His enemy this time, the reclusive Druids still reeling and weak from Turin's direct assault.
[edit] Battle of Paranor
Seradrid was a man who knew how to keep his enemies close. Such was a case for his defeat of the Druids inside of Paranor. Using a careful ploy and a pact made with the battle mage Duran, Seradrid was able to gain the Elven Army's assistance in striking down Paranor. Using a deep rooted mistrust, Seradrid's assassins had infiltrated the Elven hierarchy and murdered the King, the Queen, and their eldest son, framing the Druids for the atrocious act. Coupled with this, black robed magic wielders terrorized the deep Westland, killing and murdering as they went in the name of the Druids. Kassandra Denaris, the Commander of the Elven Army in unison with the Steward, Erevan Leonin, vowed revenge upon the Druids and accepted the hand of Seradrid Triannon when he desired to take the Keep. Using traitors on the inside of the Keep, Seradrid's Elites entered through hidden passageways with Elven Hunters in the dead of the night. Too late to put up an effective counter attack, the Druids were soon forced into the Healer Wing of the Keep, defending with their backs against the wall while a few of the Druids worked to open a hidden passageway. The High Druid summoned forth the protective magic of the keep, and as the last of the Druids made it from their home, the massive Citadel had disappeared into the night air.
[edit] Flight from Gith'naruka
Fleeing from Paranor, the Druid's sought refuge in the village of Gith'naruka, a tribe of Rock Trolls in the Northland. Lil'oka, one of Paranor's guards, was once a Maturen of the tribe, and so they were welcomed with open arms into their tribe. For nearly six months they remained there, however soon dissention among the Trolls began to emerge. The Elves, under an Imperialistic Kassandra Denaris had begun to push Eastward toward their home. Alone, they did not have the forces to contend with the Elven Army and their Trollish allies, but there was a standing offer by the Federation to back them in resistance to the Elven pressure. Without the Druid's knowledge, a deal was struck, and it was from a swift messenger from a Druidic ally living with the Stors that they discovered that a large Federation detachment was moving northward from the newly erected fortress city of Paralon. Under the cover of darkness, they moved southward into the Dragon's Teeth where under the careful direction of an Apprentice, the renegade Druids were brought to a place that was more myth than anything, and whose secret was passed to only the most trusting of Free Born. The Druids came to settle at Firerim Reach, and it was there that many of them remained until a time would come for them to act upon the Federation.
[edit] Battle of the Eastland
Using his resources once more, Seradrid turned his eyes to the Eastland, where for years a war of territory raged between the Dwarves, Gnomes, and even the reclusive Mwellerts. Controlling all of the Strelehiem and the Rabb, as well as Callahorn as far west to the Mermidon, Seradrid was able to outfit Gnomes and Mwellerts, and use them to fight his war against the Dwarves once his army had taken Culhaven. He would not see his own men die to the strategic Dwarves in their own homeland jungles, and so the more than capable Gnomes fought fiercely for the territory they desired so greatly, but even the desire of Seradrid to fuel the battles was growing tiresome, and he began to pull his funding from the Gnomes and Mwellerts under promise of reinstating their funding once they had made actual progress.
A group of Druids found their way into the Eastland, unknowing that Seradrid fueled this anger and hate between these races once more, but they were swift to realize where the motivation for their enemy came from. In a series of killings that went on for weeks, soon many of the chief leaders of the Gnomes were dead, and many of the Mwellert captains as well. With their drivers dead, the guerilla army began to fall apart, and the Federation fortified Culhaven and then pulled many of its troops back out into Callahorn, turning their eyes Westward to a ready-to-war Elven Nation.
[edit] Battle of Seryn
In a battle that took nearly a week to finish, there was never a clear victor up until the final hammer fell. Thousands of men and women lay dead on either side; bodies chocked the Mermidon River so badly that blood tainted the waters far past Varfleet. The brilliant mind controlling the Federation army, a brilliant warrior and tactician known as Zoelath, faced off against Kassandra Denaris herself. Zoelath had never lost a battle since he became the Field Commander of the Federation, and in a surprising move by Kassandra to forcibly march a contingent of troops over the Dragons Teeth to outflank the Federation, the mighty Federation was forced to fall back to the southern shores of the Mermidon. Zoelath and Kassandra fought till the death, and in the dying hours of the afternoon, General Denaris walked away from a headless body.
[edit] Battle of Paralon
When the Federation began to move back into Callahorn out of the Eastland, all Druids across the lands were visited in dreams by the Shades of the Hadeshorn, calling them to the Valley of Shale. It was there that the Druids were told what they had to accomplish to end the threat of the Federation, and one of their tasks was to retake the city of Paralon, Paranor's friendly ally in her shadow to the west. Nigel, Paranor's High Druid, led this force with the help of the Druid Brian. They were able to count on help from both their Gnomish and Dwarvish allies, as well as parts of the Border Legion under the direction of Brenden and Justin Silares. They battled a long standing member of Paranor's Guard, trusted enough to have been Captain when Jon Faloon was sent on a mission by the High Druidess Killian. He was the prime traitor when the Federation came to Paranor, and he was in command of the Federation's northern force, the army that held down Paralon. With Dwarven sappers, a resilient army of Gnomes, and a detachment of Elite Elven Rangers trained by Gai'an de RuAvon, Paralon was soon under siege. Late into one evening though, a message was intercepted by some of the Druid scouts, orders for Hawkins to pull his men from Paralon because of Civil War raging in Arishag. The Druids sent the message along with a peace offering for the Federation. It was taken, however not before the damage was done to some of Paranor's own. Regardless, the Federation army was permitted to leave, and after the truce was offered, only the traitorous Druid Guard Hawkins met his death at the hands of the Druids.
[edit] Arishaig: Civil War
Alar Triannon was charged with the task of recovering the Black Elfstone from the shade of Risca, informed that it was in the hands of Seradrid in Arishaig. With the Borderman went a small group of people, each understanding the slim chances of their own survival in Arishaig. For Alar, the quest to Arishaig was for a different reason; that of rescuing his adopted daughter from his uncle's hands. Twelve representatives of the Druids went to Arishaig, and they found the city torn in civil war. Gangs had sprung up throughout the Jewel of the Southland, and the only the central plaza and the Triannon Estate remained controlled by the slim remainder of the Federation Army. After striking a deal with one of the rebel leaders, Alar and his troupe made their way through the catacombs of his family's ancestral home, each with a task to complete. Viirtzi, the Mwellert, was charged with the task of slaying Hasimir Skaggs, a formidable politician and warrior in Seradrid's service. Cerion and Keston were to slay Malton DuPres, Seradrid's right hand man. Vide, the former Black Asp and reluctant Druid Apprentice, was asked to slay the man she had once served and killed for, the Assassin Lord known only as Skinner. Alar and Quickening would seek out their adopted daughter as well as Seradrid. Each had a member of the Druid Guard with them, and before all was said and done, only two of the five would return to see Paranor's walls once more.
While the battle outside of the Estate raged on, Cerion and Keston succeeded in slaying Malton DuPres, and escaped back into the fray to their comrades. Viirtzi slew Hasimir with the aid of Emily and Achei, and Vide managed to bring down the leader of the Black Asps. Three of Paranor's guards died while protecting their Druid charges, the last of which to die was Paranor's long time Captain, serving the course of six High Druids. He was slain saving the lives of Alar and Quickening from a collapsing ceiling.
Alar and Seradrid fought through the burning house alone, a long fight that led them through walls and crumbling floors before Alar's blade finally pierced Seradrid's armor to bring his life to an end. During the fight, the Black Elfstone fell through the cracks of the burning floor and into an icy pool below. The Borderman succeeded in recovering the Elfstone before returning to Paralon, and with it the High Druid was able to summon Paranor back into the lands once more.
As a result of the government being overthrown and any inkling of what was once a strong centralized government dissolved under Seradrid's reign as monarch, Arishaig is in a constant state of Civil War. Factions have sprung up not only throughout the city, but also across the southland. Some lay a claim to the throne, others push lawlessness and anarchy, while small factions, working separately from one another, attempt to restore law and a centralized government where the people wish it.
[edit] Source
Druids of Paranor.org---the site is now down/gone (I have no idea why) but I apparently saved this on my computer while browsing awhile ago...I wish that I had saved more than just this and this...here for reference for anyone who needs it.
