War of the Blades: This ancient kingdom of Eternus was nearly brought down in the year 230 by a massive civil war known as the war of the blade. Prince Darius Lontree the XVI declared war on the enemies of the state but was opposed by his brother Alcott who believed the King to be compromised by his advisors.
Birth of the Modred - The young Prince claimed that he was besieged by a large group of enemies of unknown origin that had integrated into his midst. He called them the Modred and claimed that they were evil beings loyal to the powerful Dukes and Barons of the Kingdom who had grown tired of sharing the wealth with their subjects. With the use of some force of great corruption they were transformed into beings of great evil. According to the King they were spawned because the nobles were enraged because he would not relent to their authority in a land grab against the poor of the Kingdom and vowed revenge even if it cost them their very souls.
The Death of the Princess - The situation greatly deteriorated when the Princess was kidnapped and then murdered and her remains were placed on a spike in front of his palace. Enraged he had all the spies responsible and the middlemen who had hired them hung for their crime and placed on spikes in the yards of the corrupt Baronies. He quickly raised an army of loyal knights and brought down several of the powerful houses of the barons responsible. He demanded that they step down from positions of authority and be tried for their crimes. The Baronies claimed that he had his wife murdered to win the sympathy of the people.
The Cult of Blood - The baronies refused to relent and in turn hired an army of deadly assassins that came from the nearby Island of Drak Dur also known as Nightscream Isle. They were known as the Cult of Blood. The King fought valiantly but when the Cult of Blood ruthlessly attacked friends and innocents alike killing them and burning their cities to the ground the King started to lose ground. Only through an alliance with several outworld kingdoms did the tide of the battle begin to turn.
The Disappearance of the King - During the height of battle the King suddenly disappeared without a trace. Even his closest advisors could not explain what happened to him. The vacuum of power left the baronies to do what they wanted. The quickly establish control over many prominent cities and provinces. Many of the people cursed the King’s name but the others praised him for saving them from a deadly war which would have cost the poor so much more in lives and property. Some say he died while others claim he is still alive. Powerful sorcerers have scryed for him in vain and most believe that he perished, either at the hands of the Modred or perhaps by his own hand.
Rumors - There are various rumors but the most common is that he locked himself in one of the ruined towers of the nearby city of Gable after going mad. He is said to be a ghost that can turn those he comes into contact with to dust with a single touch.
The Aftermath - In the aftermath of the war of the blades the Kingdom splintered into several different factions, some controlled by baronies and others of royal blood and others controlled by those who claimed only to be loyal to the King. After a few hundred years to find an uneasy peace many of these competing interests joined forces and this ended with the splitting of the kingdom into two competing factions known as the Southern Kingdoms and the Northern Kingdoms. The two factions were able to tolerate each other but spent many of their resources making sure that the other kingdom didn’t have a leg up on them. They both were known to sabotage natural resources and engage in other forms of sabotage to make sure that the other did not get ahead of them. This lead to the Battle for Longrest which started in the year 533ad and is still going on.
