The last Great Demon War Abridged

While the exact start of the war is not known the earliest records date back almost a hundred and fourty years to the emergence of the Archdemon Vaz’goruth and his horde through a portal in the modern day Arpegia mountains in Eastern Khel. The early years are shrouded in mystery as the old kingdoms were nearly brought to the edge of annihilation. Within the first year nearly a quarter of Solesia was under Demonic rule. Some of these places remained till the end of the war and have had a vast impact on the ecology of these locations to this day.

After the first year the demonic hordes slowed, this is believed to have been a result of a band of heroes who managed to defeat one of Vaz’goruth’s generals wounding him greatly and forcing him to retreat. This spread fear among the Archdemons horde as it showed even their greatest generals were not invincible. It is thanks to this that the kingdoms were given time to gather and reorganize in better hopes of mounting a steadfast defense and eventually, striking back at the hordes themselves.

This respite lasted for nearly 4 years as rumors of infighting amongst the generals spread as to who would resume the offensive. Little is known about Vaz’goruth’s whereabouts at this time but scholars believe he had returned to the demon real expecting his generals to handle his war in his stead. Though the demons did perform raids and expanded their territory the number of towns that fell to the horde was far bellow what it had been in the first year.

After this stall in the Demon advance some of the farther off kingdoms began to believe they were free of harm. This would be shattered when the archdemon himself would open another portal in the western glacial lands near central modern day Otorin. This horde would be headed by the archdemon himself with a 2 new generals and would begin marching towards the current demonic held territory in a bid to form one united territory.

This would be a much tougher march than the demons had expected as many of the kingdoms had strengthened their forces and began making wide use of enchanted weapons and armor. Once a luxury reserved for great generals and kings now could be found across the battlefields being wielded by Captains and Sergeants. The results of this plus the inactivity from the previous generals would cause the task of a united demon front to take years.

Writers note: It is to be stated this did not turn the tide of the war against the demons. Merely slowed their march to victory.

It is from this point we will skip nearly 30 years to cover the last 5 years of the war.

At this point in history nearly two thirds of Solesia we either directly under demonic rule or had been ravaged by it. The remaining kingdoms grew weary and desparate as nearly 2 generations had spent their lives fighting and dying to this horde. Many records from the time state that it was believed the Archdemon and his generals could not be defeated with what remained. This however would change thanks to two major causes.

The first of these being the rise of the four heroes of legend. While much of their story is shrouded in mystery it is no doubt that they played a vital part in the defeat of Vaz’goruth and his horde. Though some records conflict between if there were four or five heroes their impact on the war is without a doubt. Thanks to their efforts all the archdemons generals would be defeated one by one of the next 5 years and at the end the Archdemon himself would fall and his essence returned to the demon realm.

The second cause however was the advent of magiteck. Duke Leothen would forge an army of mechanical soldiers that alongside the heroes would push back and inevitably destroy the demonic horde that had tormented Solesia for almost 40 years. These armies would go on after the war to liberate lands still held by lesser demons and eventually return the continent to the hands of mortals.

Post note: While tales give most of the credit for the archdemons defeat to the Heroes of Legend it must be noted that without the use of magiteck to bolster the armies of the remaining kingdoms it would have been a nigh impossible task for the four on their own.