The Great Backfire

The Great Backfire is remembered as one of the most catastrophic magical disasters in early history—a moment when an expanding frontier of Vini magic collapsed violently and tore apart the heart of their civilization.

Long ago, the Molivin, a sister tribe of the Vini, pursued dangerous experiments in death-magic, lunar magic, and forbidden runes. Pressured by ambition and guided by a visionary ruler who demanded rapid breakthroughs, their necromancers attempted a ritual meant to elevate their power beyond mortal boundaries.

What they unleashed instead was the Backfire.

In a single night:

1. The Moliross were annihilated as a people.

Their bodies unraveled, their spirits twisted, their flesh burned away.
What remained rose as:

• Moliross Mistwraiths
• Moliross Bloodseekers
• Moliross Skeletal Warriors

Their capital of Driwoshomn became a haunt of drifting fog and predatory undead.

2. The land itself was corrupted.

Across the region now known as Druin Frar, forests withered, animals fled, and a curtain of pale mist seeped into valleys and plains.
Living magic warped.
Stillgleam pockets collapsed inward.
Spoil took root.

This corrupted zone remains one of the most dangerous regions in the world.

3. The Vini people were forced to flee.

The Backfire drove a wedge between the surviving Vini clans:

• Those who fled north-northeast to the safety of the coast became the Vinesh.
• Those who fled south and upward into the lone mountain became the Drimvin.
• Those who stayed behind were consumed by the mists.

The event shattered a shared ancestral homeland and ended the old communal identity forever.

4. The Mistfall became a permanent frontier.

The mists birthed by the Backfire did not fade.
They linger, drifting like a predator’s breath across forests and abandoned valleys.
Mistwraiths echo the sounds of battle to lure the Drimvin.
Bloodseekers stalk the edges of settlements.
Skeleton warriors still haunt ruined roads.

No society has reclaimed the heart of the Backfire zone.
Most believe none ever will.

Whether viewed as disaster, curse, or divine punishment, the Great Backfire is the single most defining catastrophe of early Vini history—and its consequences still shape the continent today.