Siege of the Sun

"And so it was that Malovatar, son of the imprisoned god of fire, brought his armies to the gates of heaven , and Sanul trembled at his coming."

from "The Chronicle of the First Black Fire War" by Loremaster Thanedril

The siege of Nuril-Ambantil began in the year 7617 of the First Age, as Malovatar's vast host of twenty-five million soldiers appeared on the Rainbow Bridges leading to the Gates of the Sun. The army was a terrifying sight - rank upon rank of fire elementals, demons, and corrupted elves stretching back as far as the eye could see, their weapons and armor forged in the dreaded Black Fire .   At the head of this dark host rode Malovatar, mounted upon a nightmare steed of living flame. His obsession with freeing his imprisoned father Aejeon had driven him to gather the largest army ever seen in the Five Realms. Though three-quarters of his original force had been lost crossing the celestial reaches, Malovatar was undeterred - he would breach the defenses of heaven to reach his goal.  

"The armies of Light stood resolute upon the walls, their spears gleaming like stars, their armor bright as dawn. But in their hearts, they knew fear." - "The Lay of Sanul's Darkening"

  Thianon, High God of Light, had spent two years fortifying the sun-city and gathering his forces. The defenses of Nuril-Ambantil were formidable - the Gates of the Sun were fashioned from imperishable Sanulium, the same substance that held Aejeon captive. Legions of light-elven warriors lined the walls, while squadrons of Realm-Ships patrolled the skies above.   Yet even these preparations seemed insufficient before the overwhelming might that Malovatar had brought to bear. The Black Fire that wreaked such havoc in the lower realms was somewhat diminished in the Realm of Light, but it remained a terrifying weapon. Where its dark flames touched the golden walls, they left corruption in their wake.   The initial assault came at dawn, as masses of fire elementals hurled themselves at the Gates while siege engines launched balls of Black Fire against the walls. The defenders responded with arrows of pure light and beams of solar energy from the great furnaces of Ingamon. The battle raged for days as attack after attack was beaten back.  

"The very foundations of heaven shook with their struggle, and the mortals below watched in terror as the sun seemed to dim." - Tales of the Archivists of Merr

  But Malovatar was cunning as well as powerful. While the main assault occupied the defenders, teams of his most elite warriors used the chaos to infiltrate the city's lower levels. They emerged behind the defensive lines, wreaking havoc and forcing the defenders to split their attention between multiple threats.   The tide began to turn as more sections of the walls fell to the Black Fire's corruption. The defenders were forced to abandon the outer rings of the city, falling back to more defensible positions. But their retreat allowed Malovatar's forces to establish a foothold within the city .   Thianon made a fateful decision - he ordered the Great Furnaces of Ingamon opened to their full power. The sun blazed with twice its normal intensity, incinerating most of Malovatar's mortal soldiers. But the Fire God himself seemed to grow only stronger in the intense heat, as if drawing power from it.  

"And so night fell upon the Realm of Light for the first time since creation, as two gods who were once brothers met in final combat." - The Prophecies of Otsmani

  Finally, Thianon himself came forth to face Malovatar in single combat before the Gates. Their duel would decide the fate of the sun-city and shake the very foundations of reality . The High God of Light wielded his mighty spear Elwelanwë, while Malovatar brandished Glorim, his sword of Black Fire. The clash of their weapons echoed across the cosmos.    

"The Rainbow Bridges shuddered and groaned beneath the weight of their combat, as if the very foundations of heaven could no longer bear the fury of gods at war."

From "The Celestial Chronicles" by High Scribe Valandril

The duel between Thianon and Malovatar transcended mortal understanding. Their weapons clashed with such force that shockwaves rippled through the cosmos, threatening to tear apart the Rainbow Bridges that connected the realms. The light from Elwelanwë met the void of Glorim in explosions that blinded onlookers and scarred the face of heaven.   Below them, armies of Light and Fire crashed together on the Plains of Light outside the Gates. The Thiavesi light-elves, resplendent in their golden armor, fought with desperate valor against the corrupted Celevesi dark-elves. The very ground beneath their feet became a battlefield between radiance and shadow.  

"In that hour, when Light and Darkness made war upon the threshold of heaven, even the stars held their breath." - Songs of the Skyborn

  Realm-Ships wheeled through the celestial void, exchanging broadsides of pure energy. The vessels of Light outnumbered their foes, but the Malondrian ships were clad in Black Fire-forged armor that made them nightmarishly resilient. Their weapons left trails of darkness across the sky that refused to fade.   The Gerlandrian Cloud Cities that anchored the Rainbow Bridges began to buckle under the strain. Some broke free entirely, drifting into the void while others plummeted toward Edrion in catastrophic falls that would reshape the geography of entire regions.  

"We who survived that day saw terrors beyond mortal ken. The void between stars ran red with divine blood, and reality trembled at the breaking of ancient bonds." - Memoirs of a Thiavesi Warrior

  Malovatar's power had grown far beyond what Te Vevutur had granted any of the First Pantheon. Each blow he struck carried the weight of millions of corrupted souls and the bottomless hunger of the Black Fire. Even diminished by the Flare of the Furnaces, his strength matched Thianon blow for blow.   The ringing of their weapons created shockwaves that reached down to Edrion, disrupting its atmosphere and intensifying the already devastating effects of the Great Furnaces' flare. The oceans began to boil, and pillars of fire rained down from the fragmenting Ring of Astrion.   As the battle reached its apex, the last surviving Malondrian flagship made its final, devastating attack. The vessel, its Black Fire armor failing against the intense light, charged the base of the Gates. Its hull contained a final, terrible charge of Black Fire energy that had been preserved for this moment.  

"And so fell Thianon, most radiant of the gods, his light extinguished by darkness Unbound. The heavens wept, and all creation trembled." - The Lament of Beryl

  The explosion rocked the Rainbow Bridge where Thianon stood, causing him to lose his footing for just a moment. But in combat between gods, a moment was an eternity. Malovatar's blade struck true, and the High God of Light fell, his radiance dimming as the Black Fire consumed his form.  

"The scream of a dying god echoes through eternity, and the silence that follows changes all it touches." - Writings of the Blind Seers

   

"When a god dies, reality weeps. When Thianon fell, the very substance of light began to unravel, as if Sanul mourned its master."

Ancient inscription found in the ruins of Nuril-Ambantil

With savage triumph, Malovatar kicked Thianon's Black Fire-consumed form from the Rainbow Bridge, sending the dying god spinning into orbit around Edrion. The Spear of the Sun, Elwelanwë, separated from its master's grasp, plummeting toward the world below where its impact would tear open the earth and create the vast crater that would become the Torgate Sea.   Three of the remaining Eeirendel, mad with grief, pursued Thianon's blazing form as it fell through the celestial void. Their cries of anguish echoed across the heavens, a sound that would haunt the dreams of mortals for generations to come.  

"The streets ran with golden ichor as the Black Fire consumed all in its path. The screams of the dying mixed with the crackle of corrupt flames, creating a symphony of devastation."

"Records of the Fall", preserved in the Archives of Merr

Through the crumbling Gates of the Sun strode Malovatar, now grown to titanic proportions, his form a walking void that devoured light. The civilians of Nuril-Ambantil fled before him in blind panic - light-elves, soldiers, and minor gods alike scattered like leaves before a storm.   The Fire God no longer needed Glorim - dark whips of pure Black Fire extended from his hands, striking down all who stood in his path. Each victim's death seemed to feed his power, making his darkness grow ever deeper and more absolute.  

"In that hour, the light of creation dimmed, and shadows that had never before existed crept into the corners of heaven."

The Prophecies of the Blind Seers

Some brave or foolish souls attempted to bar his path. A group of Thiavesi warriors formed a shield wall before him, their armor gleaming with the last light of the dying sun. Malovatar swept them aside with casual brutality, their bodies corrupting and crumbling to ash where his power touched them.   The Fire God's mind reached out across the dimming city, searching for his father's presence. He could not directly sense Aejeon through the Sanulium prison, but he could feel the void where his father should be - a blank spot in the fabric of reality.   In the heart of the city stood Icteia, the great pyramid prison crafted from pure Sanulium. Its dull grey surface absorbed what little light remained, making it appear as a wound in the radiant architecture of heaven. Before its gates stood Otsmani, once a trusted brother of Thianon, now revealed as a traitor.  

"Some say Otsmani's betrayal was born of jealousy, others of foresight. But in truth, fear can corrupt even the hearts of gods."

Whispered tales of the Otaru

A hundred Thiavesi warriors in dark grey armor flanked Otsmani - the first of what would become the Otaru, the Fallen Light Elves. Their eyes held the hollow look of those who had witnessed the death of all they once held sacred.  

"When Otsmani laid his hand upon the gates of Icteia, heaven held its breath. In that moment, the last hope of the Realm of Light crumbled to dust."

The Mourning Songs of the Thiavesi

 

"The Spear of the Sun fell like a meteor of divine wrath, its impact forever changing the face of Edrion. Where it struck, the world split asunder, and the waters rushed in to create the great Torgate Sea."

From "The Sundering of the World" by Sage Kalindril

As Malovatar descended into Icteia with Otsmani, Elwelanwë plummeted through the celestial void. The spear, forged in the Great Furnaces of Sanul and imbued with Thianon's divine essence, burned with such intensity that it melted the very air around it as it fell.   The impact created a crater three thousand miles wide, shattering the eastern reaches of the ancient continent. The seas of Metrianus rushed in to fill the void, creating what would become known as the Torgate Sea. At the center of this new sea, the spear stood upright - a monument of divine craftsmanship that would come to be known as the Sunlit Spire.  

"The Spire rose like a finger of accusation pointed at the heavens, its grey surface drinking in the light of the dimmed sun. Around it, the waters churned with powers beyond mortal understanding."

Tales of the First Mariners

Within Icteia, Malovatar found his father's sarcophagus - a massive coffin of pure Sanulium that nullified all divine power within. Unable to use his godly strength while in contact with the substance, he was forced to physically push it from the chamber, his muscles straining against the weight of his father's prison.   Once clear of the pyramid's nullifying effects, Malovatar's power returned. He hoisted the sarcophagus under one arm and boarded Otsmani's waiting realm-ship, which rose into the darkening skies of Nuril-Ambantil unopposed.  

"They say the waters around the Spire still hold echoes of divine power. On stormy nights, sailors claim to see visions of the final battle reflected in the waves."

"The Mariner's Guide to the Torgate"

The realm-ship descended through the celestial spheres toward Edrion, its passengers witnessing the devastating aftermath of their victory. The northern reaches of Metrianus had become a vast dead zone of Black Fire corruption. The impact site of Elwelanwë glowed with residual divine energy, visible even from the heavens.   Over the centuries that followed, mariners would discover that the waters around the Sunlit Spire held strange properties. Ships that ventured too close reported temporal distortions, their crews experiencing visions of the ancient battle. The Spire became both a navigational landmark and a place of power, drawing settlers who would eventually build the floating metropolis that shares its name.  

"In the shadow of heaven's fallen weapon, a city rose - not of divine making, but crafted by the hands of mortals who dared to build their homes where gods once warred."

Chronicles of the Spire's Founding

Malovatar directed Otsmani to make for the Crystal Palace of Fold, his fortress that served as a direct passage to Malondria. There, he would work to free his father from the Sanulium prison, though the task would prove far more challenging than he anticipated.   The Sunlit Spire remained, an imperishable monument to both divine hubris and mortal resilience. Its presence would forever alter the geography, politics, and destiny of the realms - a reminder that even in defeat, the light of Thianon continued to influence the world in unexpected ways.  

"Where divine weapon meets mortal ambition, legends are born. The Spire stands as bridge between heaven and earth, a beacon of possibility in a world forever changed by the wars of gods."

Writings of the First Spire Council