The Seventh Age had ended with the proclamation of Ursula I by the Gods Themselves, the first time since the creation of the Empire they had appeared in the sky over Axis. It yet remains a mystery why this was so important to them. Only a dozen years into the rule of Ursula the First, discontent over her governance had grown, as amazingly a peasant girl knew little about running the largest empire in the world and thus was somewhat a captive of her advisors, leading to disjointed policy. Also the old Emperor had his supporters. Civil War loomed, a prospect nobody wanted particularly given the gods seemed to be involved. In desperation the Archmage was asked to find a way out of this mess. She considered, and then after a week's consultation and study proposed a solution. Empress Ursula had a son. The old Emperor had a granddaughter the same age. The two were quickly married as soon as decently possible, and thus any prospect of civil war was averted. This gained the wizards a great deal of credit and clout in the empire and a probably undeserved reputation for wisdom and common sense.
A little after this, they say the Elf Queen took a human mage as a lover. Most elves deny this and say it is a human legend. It's definitely true, however, that the elves started being more free with sharing their magics with the humans around this time... was this a wise decision? Time would tell, but the wizards profited greatly and their skills waxed. What was to come, however, would define this age. It was another gnomish Archmage, a century in, who led the expedition. Did he know what he would find, or was he after something else? Unclear. What he recovered, however, was the singular arcane methods and dweomers of the Wizard-Tyrants of the Gnoll Empires, a civilization which may have predated the snake people, or possibly occurred during it. And they were powerful beyond all expectation. Wizardry in the empire exploded. Sometimes literally. Mages became like minor demigods at the higher levels of art. They built wonders across the land, delighting and often terrifying people. It was a second age of cogs, except this time the wonders were that of magic, not artifice.
A common wonder of this age was the Many Viewed Mansion, where a house would have lovely faces and views and porches.... in multiple cities and estates. The Duke of Clyde's Stately Home had no fewer than 47 locations across the Empire. The Prince of Shadows was known to have LOVED this. It made things so, so much easier.
Other notable wonders include:
Historians have debated the biggest drawback of the Gnoll-Magic beyond, well, leading to invasion. That depends on who you ask. Some say that turning the wizards into walking demigods badly destabilized the politics and power structure of the empire. Many agree that the empire became unhealthily dependent on it, just as it had on automata in the second age. And of course there was the odd magical disaster, such as when everyone in the city of Tellenburg aged backwards 37.8 years, causing all young people to cease to exist and many old people to lose valuable skills. Then too many of the more terrible magical oddities such as the Owlbear come from this period. Everyone agrees though that the invasion dwarfed them all. It was at the close of the second century of the age that a long highway of the Iron Sea was suddenly tamed. None of the wizards had done it. The explanation became clear when the First Gnoll Armament, thousands of ships and transports, landed. Thus began an age-long war of survival for the Empire, the Gnoll Wars. The good times were over. Some wizards walked the planes in this era, seeking power and allies against the Gnolls. Where in the planes did the Wizards find succor against Gnoll-kind? The White College sought the highest of the upper planes, and returned with a battalion of warrior women clad in silver and gold armor, with white wings and glowing halos that made them impossible to look directly at. They were a rock on the battlefield, but they were few and only made a different in some battles. The Blue College returned with the Queen of Crabs, who told them she was lord of all crabs and would summon leviathans to crush their foes' ships. Unfortunately, once in the Iron Sea, she declared it open season on everyone, and many Giant Enemy Crabs assailed the hapless Empire. The Red College found that there were, in fact, Gnoll Succubi and conjured them to go and bring corruption to the foe. This actually worked, although it probably brought corruption to the Red College too, which would bite them in the ass in later ages. The Black College traveled the planes and, after many adventures and dead mages, brought back a single tome to the Archmage, who took it in trembling hands. And while the Green had long since ceased to be a college, they did their part by spreading the plague of lycanthropy far and wide. For who better to fight a furry monster than another furry monster? This would last beyond the age. Very few people, looking at what is now Concord today, would have imagined its origin as a war fortress. Because while the Dwarves and Elves have been brought together by the Empire in the prior age, the war against the Gnollish invasion was what truly forged the bond. Against the invading horde, friends to none of the three races, all three were forced to work closely together. Jealousies over magic vs. mechanism were forgotten, as the greats of Elf and Dwarf worked together, mixing disciplines to create powerful war machines to fight the invaders. Foundries sprang up around the Twine of the Three, and smoke often obscured the light of the Beacon, which now illuminated a watch-gallery placed at the very top. Dwarvish artisans worked with High Elf magic users to try and fashion the Beacon itself into a weapon of war. The Wood-Elves built training grounds, and houses of storage, supplies for the Elven Rangers who formed a watch-network and scouted out the invaders, armed with arrows tipped with special arrowheads forged by the Dwarves, receptive to spells and magical energies. Dwarves manned fortresses at nodes of the network, planned and placed by the forestry skills of the Wood Elves, and supplied through tunnels planned by the Shadow Elves - though not without much wariness and rancor on both sides. Until the time the war was over, though, they couldn't afford to indulge in their racial frictions - survival was paramount. The worst defeat of the Elves was the Battle of Underwood, five years into the Second Gnoll War (3584 IY). The Gnoll army had advanced into the heart of the Wood Elves' network, leading the Shadow Elves to plot ambush; with the High Elves providing magical support, the Wood Elves stealthing through the forest to attack, and the Shadow Elves emerging from their underground tunnels to attack the rear. What destroyed them was a sudden attack from the twisted monsters of the Underworld, long brooding over the punishment they had taken from the Elves in the prior age, and thirsting for revenge. After destroying the Shadow Elves' contingent, they boiled out of the tunnels instead, enveloping and destroying the Wood Elves. Far worse than that, though, was the attack of the Alhoons on the High Elves. Sliding in on the paths of magic, combining psionics and magic, the undead monsters wreaked havoc on the brains of the spellcasters, leaving many mindless and drooling husks. The damage they did was not something that would be recovered in a generation, or indeed many generations, until the time the High Elves might once rise again. In the end, the Wood Elves came out with the least damage, and formed the backbone of Elven strength for the rest of the Age. But none forgot the evils visited upon all three. The Siege of Montblanc is considered one of the major turning points of the War. The Elves sing many songs of their deeds at this battle. It was a time of desperation. It was a time of glory. As the remains of the Elven forces retreated, the denizens of the Underworld retreated - even they didn't care for Gnollish looks - but the victorious Gnolls looked ready to destroy everything on their own. But as they retreated, the dwarves made their preparations, for the ruins of one of their great cities lay beneath Montblanc. As the Wood Elves made camps in the foothill forests and licked their wounds, as the remains of the High Elves were cared for by their arboreal kin, the Shadow Elves met with their erstwhile Dwarven opponents, and plotted. Reinforcements came through the tunnels, as the Gnolls wore down the forces on the surface. When all looked lost, the Shadow Elves burst out from hidden exits, alongside the dwarves who guided them, sweeping through their tired bretheren and driving off the Gnolls, saving their kin and earning their (grumbling) gratitude. Elves and Dwarves built war machines together in this age. One such was the Fire Turtle. It didn't look that impressive; an upward-pointing cone about 10 yards across, a metal shell with a flexible lip that reached almost to the ground, hiding the wheels it rested and moved upon. But the small row of tubes near the base provided a clue to the machine's function, as did the six metal rods sticking out about halfway up the cone. When it moved close, enemies would hear a hissing sound, followed by roars of flame from the tubes, joined by lightning forking off of the metal rods. Sadly, it was too heavy and slow to be of much use in fast offenses, but it was invaluable as a rock of defense. Icon Notes The Aristocrat: He led an army of nobles, mercenaries from Fellgarden and Masque, and the Blue Priests of Pandius into the Empire, asserting himself the true heir to the Empire. Instead, he died at the hands of Ursula I, then was later raised as an undead servant of The Tyrant Emperor of the Gnolls, leading a force of ghouls. He then tried to break into the Lich King's tomb in 3630 IY and was never seen again. The Diabolist: The Diabolist tried to corrupt the Gnolls, only to be captured by the Tyrant Emperor of the Gnolls and sacrificed on an altar for dark power. The Explorer was a famed adventurer who traveled the world. She would vanish from the Empire for many years at a time, then return with fabulous treasures and tales of distant lands. Sometimes, she traveled by ship; on other occasions, she set off on foot or went through one of the Archmage’s experimental portals. (Other modes of transport employed by the Explorer on occasion: kidnapped by derro, tied to a roc, flung by a catapult, flung by a giant, flung by a giant catapult [along with her twenty companions and their horses], stowed away on a flying castle, eaten by the Stone Thief). She was active in the Seventh and Eighth Age. She was slain by the Gnolls in the first months of the war. The Huntsman: A ranger of tremendous power who directed guerilla war against the Gnolls. Eventually captured and the Tyrant Emperor of the Gnolls ate his heart. After his death, the High Druid returned to the land for a time and led a war of Trees against the Gnolls. The Serpent was not a true icon in the Seventh Age or Eighth Age; rather, she was a Green Dragon who sought to take the place of the Green. Bitter over her lack of success, she attacked the Green during the Gnoll Wars and was mauled; she then turned to the Lich King for help and he turned her into a Dracolich. But instead of getting revenge, the Dwarf King beat her to death and turned her bones into a throne, which he then gave to the Three as a bribe. In return, the Black ambushed one of the major Gnoll generals and devoured him. The Tyrant Emperor of the Gnolls: He worshipped Jammanderu, the Great God of Devouring, Ranivorous, Lord of the Gnolls, Harkilla, Lady of Conquests, and Miximec, the Wise Hag. After his sacrifice of the Diabolist, he commanded an avatar of Yeenoghu, one of the Princes of Demonkind. After his slaying of the Huntsman, he commanded an avatar of Kostchtchie, Prince of Wrath. This brought Hill Giants and some other giants to his side. Whatever the Archmage did, it damned him; Jammanderu manifested and ate him. Emperors of Note Ursula I (3333 - 3379): Born a peasant, she was descended from the First Emperor and apparently if followed the rule of the eldest child always inheriting, she was the proper heir. She had the power of the Emperor from the moment of coronation, but that didn't mean she was competent to rule. She became the puppet of her advisors and her reign was marked by discontent and noble in-fighting. Before Civil War could erupt, however, her daughter, Ursula II, married Ezio, the grandson of the last of the Golden Emperors, and things soon stabilized, though the Imperial Dynasty had fallen from the power and wealth of the Golden Emperors. The Empire was less centralized in this area and nobles had more power. She also thwarted the invasion of the Aristocrat, from Ascolais. Sven III (3488 - 3521): During his reign, the Gnoll Wars began. Before that, he had finished the job of restoring the Imperial Roadnetwork, only to see it help his enemies invade. He died fighting them. Battles of Note First Battle of Highrock (3338): An expedition from Ascolais declared Ursula I a usurper and tried to seize Highrock. This was a poor choice as their army smashed itself on the defenses and then the Explorer destroyed the Ascolais fleet and then Ursula arrived with an army; she battled the Aristocrat, leader of the Ascolais army, castrated him, forced him to eat his own genitals, then had his remains flung into the Iron Sea to be devoured. While she lacked governing skills, she truly had the Emperor's power. Second Battle of Highrock (3503): Gnollish forces tried to storm Highrock and failed, then tried to starve it out, but then a strange plague of hunger broke out and half the army ate the other half and then scattered in all directions, becoming wandering bands of Gnoll marauders for the rest of the age. It is generally thought this was done with the help of the Blue; some suspect this aided his ages later takeover. The Battle of Feasting Ghouls (3538): With the use of the Golden Carapace, the first Gnoll War ended; a twenty year truce ensued... which enabled the Gnolls to replace their losses and increase their forces another fifty percent. The battle left tens of thousands of corpses rotting, which ghouls feasted on for months. The Battle of Sudden Flame (3579): The Gnolls opened the second war with a surprise attack on the harvest. It was burned in many places and famine ensued, weakening the Empire, which was also cut off by now from all its old trading partners. It was at this time that the Aristocrat returned as the ghoul slave of the Tyrant Emperor, leading one of his armies. Historical Questions of the Eighth Age Historians have noted a dearth of work describing the Imperial perspective on the Gnoll Wars. Some opinions on why this is the case have been offered by later historians. Writing in the Ninth Age, Court Historian Kristiana the Golden attempted to update The Official History of the Eighth Age To Date. Unfortunately, she was only interested in gossip, and as a result, we have intense knowledge of who was cheating on who as the Empire burned and cities died. Writing in the Ninth Age in a letter to the Emperor, the historian Livy Reborn argued that it was better to focus on a better future than simply to sow sorrow. Also, he was too busy trying to reconstruct his history of the Second Age. Writing in the Tenth Age, the historian Lynn, whose gender remains ambiguous due to gaps in the historical record, produced a very high quality history of Highport during the war, but her sources were eventually lost in the fall of Highport. Writing in the Elventh age, Court Historian Jaybeaux's History of the Gnoll Wars is six hundred pages of ranting about how gnomes are all high on mushrooms 24-7, crude jokes about Gnolls, a 20 page section of knock-knock jokes, and twenty pages on the Siege of Calibran, a city mentioned in no other records, but which he covers in such fine detail that everyone assumes he plagiarized something. Calibran may have been in that bay south by southeast of Burrow on the Midland Sea. Writing in the Twelfth Age, historian Joan Scott argued that military history is a waste of time; the true life of the people should be laid out by history. Also writing in the Twelfth Age, historian Pierre Cardou argued that the history of the Eighth Age is neglected by humans for the same reason that people don't tell stories about how Hans shoved their head in a toilet when they were seven. How Did the Age End? Basically, after Underwood, the war goes badly. VERY badly. The elves and dwarves keep from being wiped out thanks to Montblanc, but the Empire was on the verge of ruin. The Emperor and most of his family died in the Imperial Palace during the fall of Axis, although an heir survived. At this point, the current Archmage decides she has no choice and locks herself in her study with the tome the black college brought back from the planes. It isn't clear what she did, especially because she had to be scraped off the walls and ceiling and floor of her study afterwards, but all Gnoll-type magic within 500 miles of the continent ceased working, and stayed broke. The Iron Sea went berserk and swallowed the navies of both powers. The Gnolls went mad. The wonders and wizard-devices of both sides failed. What was left was an broken Empire, tumbled back into a new dark age, mobs of peasants sullenly hunting infinite Gnoll deserters to lynch. Things Which Remain In Later Ages The Amphitheater of Revenge: Lest the Gnolls think the Underworld had aided them, the denizens there planned something special to commemorate their visit. During the Siege of Montblanc, Gnolls began... vanishing from the army. No one thought much of it at first, every army can expect a few deserters. The army's war council grew more concerned as the disappearances moved up the ranks - corporals, sergeants, lieutenants - culminating in the loss of one of the councilmembers themselves. All was explained, a few weeks into the siege, when the war council was invited to come join their missing companions - who had been rescued by their friends in the Underworld. Not being fools, the council sent a trustworthy but low-ranked lieutenant. They were glad of this restraint when their representative returned, barely holding on to what remained of its sanity and desperate to share its experiences on the basis that insanity loves company. The unfortunate Gnoll was taken to a place deep underground, where an amphitheater had been prepared. The rows of the audience had been filled with the mummified corpses of the missing Gnolls, staring at the stage and hands raised in applause. The officers filled in the ranks of the chorus, spread in arcs to either side; at the center was the missing councilmember, arm raised in declaim, wearing the Gnollish equivalent of a jester's costume. (No one knew where the hosts had found the image of a Gnollish jester. No one wanted to know.) After giving the lieutenant plenty of time to take in the scene, they released him to return through the endless twisting corridors of the Underworld and present their best wishes to the army. Mustard's Last Stand: During the Age of Exploration, various noble families had taken the name of imported spices; these families had been merchants in the spice trade who bought noble titles. The House of Mustard then turned to war and produced both heroes and shmucks over the centuries. One such schmuck was Colonel Mustard, who commanded a force of light cavalry raiders during the Gnoll Wars. His early success with hitting Gnoll settlements behind the lines made him overconfident and led to an attack in the ruins of the Hornburg, a city along the Wild Wood Coast which the Gnolls had sacked. His two thousand man unit found itself beset by 20,000 Gnolls, flinds, hyenas, ghouls, and other creatures. They were slaughtered; only a man who got blinded by an arrow in the first five minutes, followed by his horse carrying him off, actually survived. The ruins are still there and undead stalk the streets, ruled by the ghost of Mustard, they say. The Serpent's Nest: The Serpent would perish in the Eighth Age, leaving behind a huge hoard of treasure protected by deadly traps, illusions, monsters, and clouds of poison gas, somewhere in the Wild Wood. It has yet to be fully plundered. Shadow of the Past: There is an area in the middle of Santa Cora which blocked by wooden barricades down the middle of the street and warnings in many different languages. It's a small neighborhood about 3 blocks by 3.5 blocks with a small tower at the center. The reason it is blocked off is because within it is always the day Santa Cora fell to the Gnoll army. The day ends, then it starts again from the top. For centuries now. Nothing inside from that day can leave, but anyone going in is likely to die horribly at the hands of the Gnolls. The screams as afternoon comes have driven the property values around it way, way down. Still, some have braved the place and emerged with valuables, as apparently LOOT can leave, just not creatures. They say the Priestess will fix it some day. They say all sorts of things. Some of them may even be true. The Wonder Wheel: Not every Elven-Dwarven collaboration was wise. It remains unclear exactly what the team of Elves and Dwarves thought they were doing. The Wonder Wheel resembles a wagon wheel which is some two hundred feet tall, made of the heartwood of elder Kalinar trees, shod in the finest Mithril-Adamantium alloy. A small team of Elves and Dwarves rode in the 'hub', in a gyroscopically suspended chamber, driving it. The Wonder Wheel proved to have all sorts of problems, from leaking depressing music to not operating well anywhere that was not absolutely flat. Its job was to simply roll over Gnolls and their war engines. Unfortunately, the Archmage's Gnoll-Magic smashing rite made it go berserk; it still roams the Empire, looking for Gnolls to slay; no one knows what the fate of its crew was. For the most part, it doesn't hurt anyone who isn't a Gnoll, but it can be tricked; it's not clear how as it ignores communications and seems to easily see through illusions. It did show up and squash demons at Bald Mountain, but that's assumed to be some sort of fluke or manipulation by an Icon.
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