Age Of Morakh

The Age of Morakh was a century in which the dark god Morakh was summoned directly to the Material Plane. This was a serious calamity, and many effects of it still linger to this day. It began with the siege of Sunkeep City, and ended with the death of Morakh by the combined forces of the Fourtold and The Four.

Prelude

In 433 J.F., the Order of the Black Star, led by the lich Zerk, conspired to unite many of the forces throughout the world to lay siege to Sunkeep City simultaneously. They had agents planted in the Kingdom of Graymoss, the Thunderaxe Union, and Alran Esari, as well as agents within the Jodek Empire itself who meant to disrupt their defenses. While some of these efforts were thwarted, the combined efforts of Graymoss VI, the Loyalist Pentari, and the Duergar, the siege on Sunkeep City was devastating.

Unknown to both sides, however, was the fact that the siege itself was not meant to succeed. The mass death in one location was instead used as fuel in one of Zerk's rituals, which was enough to summon Morakh directly. Morakh took control of Sunkeep as his throne, and began his reign of terror.

Aftermath of the Siege of Sunkeep City

Empress Unafine was not found after the attack, with many believing her dead. However, she was instead summoned quickly to the Elemental Plane of Water by Levira. Seeing this intervention from The Four, Morakh distanced the Material Plane from the Elemental Planes, preventing planar travel or other interaction. This distancing would have cascading effects until it was corrected later, by weakening the effects of the elements on the Material Plane.

With the Empress missing, the Order of the Dragon's Blood took to their second priority: protecting as many citizens as possible. They evacuated around 3,000 civilians from the city, and they migrated as far north into Kataballo as possible, where they would found Sanguine.

Many citizens remained oppressed in Sunkeep, unable to escape to safety. A resistance force began to organize itself within the city, but their efforts were mostly limited to securing food and other necessities to the people.

Stabilization of Power

Over the next few years, Morakh took several actions to secure his power in the Material Plane. He summoned his Lieutenants, and he also bestowed power to Zerk to cause him to become a fourth Lieutenant, with dominion over Necromancy.

His first military target was Alran Esari. Khallek's forces slashed and burned their way through the forest, leaving the land dead in their wake. The city tree was killed, demoralizing and weakening any Esari counterattacks.

Morakh also to secured territory for the Pentari and the Duergar. The Kingdom of Graymoss was conquered for the Pentari, with Zerk's legions of undead piling up on the Stonekin Wall. Xornathet led the assault on the Thunderaxe Union, taking Thunderhollow and forcing King Gond Battleblade to detonate Overmount.

Other Events

In 23 M.A., Gorgalosh challenged Morakh to a duel as guardian of the Orcs. Morakh defeated Gorgalosh badly enough that worship of him stopped, and many wondered if Gorgalosh had died.

Nivlazath spent his treasure hoard on equipping many would-be heroes (including Tervak, the then-Avatar of Amp) in attempts to defeat Morakh, but none were successful. Defeated, Nivlazath found himself in Sanguine, where he served as governor.

As the only notable Avatar| of The Four remaining on the Material Plane, Vière was captured by Duergar and imprisoned in Thunderhollow.

The End of the Age

In 100 M.A., the Fourtold were revived by one of Kelri's angels. After a successful quest involving the liberation of Vière and gathering of all of the Avatars of The Four, the reuniting of the planes, the accidental revival of Gorgalosh, and the acquiring of powerful magic weapons, the Fourtold were able to lead an attack on Sunkeep City to defeat Morakh once and for all.

Notable during this quest was the selection of new Avatars. Nivlazath was chosen as Avatar of Amp, and Unafine was selected as Avatar of Levira. Arios' new Avatar was an arbitrarily selected Goliath, whose mantle was removed at the end of this conflict.

The most devastating single blow to Morakh's forces was a Wish used by Morthos, who undid Necromancy and all of its creations. This instantly destroyed Zerk and his undead, which carved a path straight to the dark throne of Morakh.

The Fourtold, empowered by The Four, were able to deal significant damage to Morakh. Then, taking advantage of his weakened state, Draaj secured the killing blow on his master. This act transferred much of Morakh's power to Draaj, who assumed the position as the new god of darkness. Draaj happily left the Material Plane, wishing no further conflict.

Aftermath

Many things returned to nearly the way they were before the Age began. Unafine restored the empire, Gorgalosh resumed his position as god of the orcs, and Erskine Goldwright of the Fourtold reclaimed Graymoss and became its new queen. The dwarven lands took some time to reclaim, as the Duergar were very skilled in defensive warfare. The conflicts leading surrounding this effort became known as the Bloodstone Wars.

The lack of necromancy also prevented the raising of the dead. This was especially notable since it meant that Alran Esari could not be returned to life.