The Coming of the War of Tears: Konrad's Boast
The rulers of the Elves, Centaurs, Giants, and men gathered again early in the tenth century of the Age of Kings to celebrate the millennial anniversary of the Grand Alliance against Chaos. The festivities were held in the Human realm of Alvaetia, largest and most prosperous of the Ten Kingdoms. An entire week of feasting, art, competition, and celebrations were arranged, and the entire city of Mellisar was used to house the great delegations. No expense was spared, and the revels and events of the celebrations were some of the grandest in the history of the World. Tragically, this great event held in honor of peace and unity would ultimately spark a terrible war.
On the fourth night of the celebration, King Konrad of Alvaetia gave a great toast before the evening feast. The King began humbly and eloquently, but by the time he had finished his speech the entire Elvish delegation had lowered their glasses. Accounts differ as to what the King of Alvaetia actually said, but his boasting toast offended the Elfking to the core, and the entire Elvish delegation left Alvaetia immediately, even though the celebrations were only half finished. The tension born of Konrad's remarks blossomed into trade embargoes, and finally the King Valdimanthor of the Elves sent troops to his borders, borders that had not been enforced or patrolled in hundreds of years. Men from the kingdoms of Ghand and Escalandor had gradually encroached into the Elvish woods, but now their presence was met with sharp reprisals. Soon the Hidden Court of Valdimanthor was in open warfare with the kingdom of Escalandor, and the War of Tears had begun.
Centuries of enmity and suspicion had finally destroyed the Grand Alliance, and ancient grudges were avenged tenfold in the War of Tears, the final conflict between Elves and Men. The War of Tears lasted for more than a century, but most of the actual fighting happened in two distinct phases, at the beginning and at the end. Initially, the Elvish armies launched yearly raids, striking one Kingdom after another. While the Sons of Men might have been able to defeat Valdimanthor's mighty hosts if the Ten Kingdoms could have stood together, too often petty rivalries among the Human Kings hampered or ruined their efforts, for many Lords were content to let their rivals bear the brunt of the fighting or even let them fall, hoping to gain lands and advantage from the chaos. After decades of bloodshed, the Elvish hosts cut a swath all the way to the heart of Alvaetia, where King Meynard, great grandson of Konrad, paid for his ancestor's insult with his life. Their pride avenged, the Elves withdrew back into their lands, but held large swaths of Escalandor and Ghand as an armed border against future Human aggressions. The first phase of the War of Tears ended, but there was no peace: for the Men of the Ten Kingdoms turned upon each other.
In mighty Alvaetia, King Meynard's two sons each scrambled for the crown, and began the War of Brothers, a bitter civil war that soon ensnared all the other kingdoms in webs of intrigue and alliance, drawing them into the war whether they wished it or not. It was a time of chaos and tumult in the lands that had been proud Ethyria. Pauses of a year or two were common, for each side had worn its strength to their limits. These respites were all too brief, however, and soon some atrocity or slaughter would spark the conflict again. Into these times was born Cambruin, the Warrior destined to become a King, the King destined to unite the Sons of Men, whose destiny was so brutally betrayed.
The Rise of Cambruin and the Foundation of the High Kingdom
Cambruin first gained fame and glory when the armies of the kingdom of Brethild invaded Caledorn, the land of Cambruin's birth. After a devastating defeat decimated the Caledornian ranks, an untried Knight only sixteen summers old took command of the scattered remnants of the army, and managed to rally them through sheer force of will. Cambruin launched a series of brilliant and brutal raids on the invaders, and even though his army was outnumbered more than ten to one, he quickly drove the invaders out of Caledorn. Cambruin won fame throughout the Ten Kingdoms for his valor and cunning, but this first victory came to mean far more. Essengal, the king of Caledorn, received a divine vision that Cambruin had been chosen to be the All-Father's holy champion on Aerynth, and that it was his destiny to unite all the Sons of Men ands recreate the Blessed Realm of Ardan. Essengal abdicated the throne of Caledorn, and named Cambruin his successor. In a single season, the bold boy had become a King.
There were many who questioned or dismissed Cambruin's coronation, until an ancient Loremaster revealed that the blood of the Kandorian dynasty of lost Ethyria flowed in Cambruin's veins, and the young Knight was the last scion of a line of kings. Wondrous tales of his glory and virtue spread like wildfire throughout the realms of Men. Knights and heroes from throughout the Ten Kingdoms flocked to Cambruin's banner, and the young king of Caledorn took the Golden Lion, ancient emblem of Ethyria, as his coat of arms. The time had come, the young king proclaimed, for the Ten Kingdoms to become once again. Cambruin urged his fellow monarchs to bend the knee to him, and join the new High Kingdom that he would build. Some realms were quick to comply, for they had been ravaged by the Elves and the War of Brothers and were anxious for peace. Other Kings stood fast in their pride, however, and refused to heed the upstart king of Caledorn. Soon, Cambruin found himself beset by the combined might of six kingdoms. The War of Brothers was quickly set aside, and the War of Crowns began.
For five long years Cambruin fought against his rival Kings, and all the while his fame grew unchecked. Tales and songs claimed that the young king was invincible, and a master of strategy and tactics. Far from being a simple warlord, however, Cambruin was also pious, and devoted to the good of the people. From this came Cambruin's Code, a new system of laws and customs based upon Justice and virtue. Even Cambruin's enemies were quick to join his cause, for the young king was gracious and merciful to his defeated foes. Hero after hero joined the ranks of Cambruin's Champions, including a young Knight named Caeric Blackhammer who seemed, if anything, even more pious and invincible than the king he served. Cambruin met and wedded the princess Bronwyn of Melavaunt while on campaign, laying the groundwork for a future dynasty.
Finally, Cambruin and his champions destroyed the last resistance to his rule at the Battle of Saint Wend's Hill. Cambruin was crowned and ordained the High King of a new, united realm. The old fire of Ethyria burned brightly again, but Cambruin would only reign ten years before his realm was sorely tested by the wrath of the Elves.
The War of Tears Resumes, and Humanity Prevails
After a "golden age" of harmony that lasted a decade, Cambruin found himself in conflict with the Hidden Court of the Deathless Empire once again. The High King chafed at the notion that large portions of Escalandor and Ghand were held and occupied by the Elves. These lands were for the dominion of Men, and had been guaranteed to the kingdom of Ethyria by treaty at the beginning of the age. Cambruin demanded that the Elfking Valdimanthor return the captured lands, but the Elf responded with scorn, saying that the Deathless Empire had made its treaty with Ethyria, and Ethyria was no more. Furthermore, the Sons of Men had proven themselves to be completely untrustworthy, and the Deathless Empire needed the captured territories to serve as a buffer against the wanton war and savagery that plagued the petty kingdoms of Men. Galled by Valdimanthor's haughty boast, many at Cambruin's court howled for vengeance. Too many heroes had lost brothers or fathers to the Elvish Host, and a peaceful settlement was impossible. Cambruin invaded the occupied marches of Ghand and Escalandor, quickly seizing the final pieces of his High Kingdom.
The High King had walked right into the Elfking's trap. For twenty years, the Deathless Empire had been continually gathering its strength and marshalling its armies, waiting for the moment to deliver the final stroke. Hordes of savage Minotaurs, bound by sorcery to the Elfking's will, surged into the High Kingdom at the head of the Elvish Hosts. Covens of Elvish Wizards and Magi wove spells of ruin and confusion, twisting the weather and even the land itself to their advantage. For the first time Cambruin tasted defeat, and indeed was lucky to escape at all from the Slaughter of Ghand. The Elvish onslaught, led by Valdimanthor himself, spent the next five years cutting a broad swath through the very heart of the High Kingdom, and none of Cambruin's efforts could turn the tide. Hope began to fade, and soon it seemed that the High Kingdom was doomed to fail.
At the grim Midwinter feast, a vision of Shadowbane, the Sword of Destiny, appeared to Cambruin's assembled court, and nine of the High King's greatest Knights undertook the Quest for the Sword. For two years the Knights searches, while Cambruin fought to keep the Elvish Host at bay. Nine Knights had taken up the mighty quest, but only one was destined to succeed: Caeric Blackhammer, who finally left the confines of Aerynth and found himself trapped in the Lands of the Dead. There on of the All-Father's Archons came to Caeric in his hour of need and blessed him, transforming the humble Knight into the First Paladin. Caeric found Shadowbane at last, and slew the mighty Lich Queen Ithriana, scattering her black host. Caeric finally emerged from the Lands of the Dead and raced back to the High King's aid, arriving just in time for the Battle of Rennelind Field, where Cambruin's final defeat seemed certain. With Shadowbane in his hand, Cambruin was invincible. He slew King Valdimanthor in single combat at Rennelind, and with the Elfking's death the spells that ensured the loyalty of the Minotaurs were broken, and the savage beastmen turned upon their masters. Valdimanthor's Host was broken, and the tide of the War of Tears had turned forever.
Disregarding the advice of some of his Champions and even the Patriarch of the Holy Church, Cambruin was not content to drive the Elvish enemy from the High Kingdom: he resolved to repay the Elves for millennia of pain, war, and suffering. As long as the Deathless Empire endured, Cambruin decreed, Humanity would never know peace or safety. And so the final phase of the War of Tears began, when Cambruin and his Champions invaded the forests of the Elves. The Elves were cunning and clever, hiding in the woodlands or masking their cities with spells, but Cambruin would not be deterred, and scoured the Elvish lands for nearly twenty years, destroying the Elvish realm city by city, league by league.
As the war dragged on, a new enemy, strife, crept into Cambruin's court. The religious purity of Caeric the Paladin offended many Knights, who could not hope to follow his example. Many feared that the more religious Knights would receive the better portions of the High King's favor, while his first allies would be forgotten. A plot by King Essengal's daughter to destroy the honor and reputation of Queen Bronwyn nearly brought Cambruin's court to ruin, and as the High King campaigned in the heart of the Elf lands, other enemies took advantage of his absence to raid the High Kingdom with impunity. Troublesome as all of these events were, the virtue of the High King and his Champions won through. Cambruin's court emerged from the storm intact. The roots of treachery ran deep however, and finally bore bitter fruit on the eve of Cambruin's final victory.