Draco-Giant War

History

Post Apocalyptic tyranny

In 1070 BD in the aftermath of the cataclysmic event, the delicate balance among the races of Toriel shattered. Both dragons and giants, driven by territorial ambitions and hoarding instincts, disrupted the peace that once prevailed. A tenuous status quo emerged between the two factions, each wary of sparking a war that could prove disastrous for both sides.   Historically, dragons and giants had been adversaries, particularly since the Death of Surtur at the claws of Feth'razaal years prior. However, despite simmering tensions, actual conflicts were rare, as both factions understood the grave consequences such battles would entail. Nevertheless, the specter of conflict loomed ominously over both races.   Meanwhile, the few survivors of the Great Extinction found themselves enslaved by giants and dragons alike, forced to evade the tyrannical grasp of these formidable creatures.  

Prelude

Cycle of vengeance

267 BD through 262 BD   The fragile balance was shattered when a group of ravenous Hill Giants from the Frosted heights tracked wounded prey to the lair of a dragon named Numinex. Enraged that their feast had been usurped by the dragon, they attacked, managing to wound the dragon before meeting their demise at its claws.   Seeking justice, the dragon appealed to the Golden Five, hoping for intervention on behalf of the giants encroaching upon its domain. However, the council dismissed the matter as a trivial squabble, further infuriating the dragon. Incensed by the council's indifference, the dragon took matters into its own claws. Hovering above the hill giants' village, it unleashed its icy breath, encasing the entire settlement in a deadly frost, exterminating the giants within.   Upon learning of the massacre, the giants, though hill giants ranking lowest in the ordning among true giants, could not allow such an act to go unpunished. Dispatching a group of Cloud Giants, they ambushed the snow-colored dragon in its slumber, swiftly ending its life.   Neighboring dragons, in retaliation, decimated the villages of giants within their respective territories. Despite attempts by the Golden Five to quell the escalating conflict, their efforts fell on deaf ears, and soon, the skirmishes escalated into a large battles through the dwarven lands as the dragons of the frosted height united under a common army: The first dragon army.   Numinex, the original dragon attacked by hill giants became the breathking of that first army, assembling like-minded dragon under his commandment.  

The war

Loss of the first army breathking

262 BD through 259 BD   The First Dragon Army, seeking to assert its dominance over the giants of the Frosted Height, extended its campaign to the dwarvish strongholds of the Ice-peak Concord. Their goal was to subdue the dwarves and conscript them as infantry for their ongoing war. Numinex, harboring a personal grudge against the dwarves for their past opposition, spearheaded this assault.   For three years, the campaign raged as the First Army fought to secure control over the region. However, the dwarves fiercely resisted, and a well-organized resistance, secretly sponsored by Voninerike, managed to capture the First Army's Breathking.   Following this devastating setback, Kansaldi Fire-Eyes, Numinex’s second-in-command and a devoted acolyte, took control of the army. Unwilling and unable to expend further resources to rescue her captured Breathking, Kansaldi redirected the army away from the dwarvish strongholds. In doing so, she assumed leadership of the First Dragon Army and claimed the title of Breathking for herself.  

Dragonborn infantry

259 BD through 252 BD   As dwarves resisted the dragons' rule, Kansaldi turned to dark magic to create the perfect soldiers. Claiming the Book of Vile Darkness, she delved into its forbidden rituals, experimenting with dragon eggs and the essence of various mortal prisoners, including dwarves, humans, and halflings.   Through these vile experiments, and after 7 years of experimentations, Kansaldi successfully created the first dragonborn. These creatures were brainwashed and magically compelled to serve as tools and soldiers in the dragons' war. Unlike kobolds, who willingly served their draconic masters, dragonborn were bound by arcane influence and fought as infantry, bringing new strength and discipline to the battlefield.   The dragonborn, following Kansaldi's every command, became the foot soldiers of the first dragon army, an important force in the dragons' campaign.  

Lightfoot western peninsula absorbed

252 BD through 249 BD     Lacking substantial military resistance, the peninsula northwest of the Lightfoot Land quickly fell to the First Dragon Army and its dragonborn forces. While the region's residents have largely resigned themselves to the Army's ongoing occupation, the halflings remain defiant. Leading the resistance, they wage a persistent guerrilla war against their draconic oppressors, leveraging their agility and intimate knowledge of the land to strike from the shadows.  

The second dragon army

262 BD through 222 BD   The presence and attacks of dragons increased throughout the realms, especially in the region now known as the Wasted cliff. An ambitious dragon named Sseth formed a second Dragon Army, proclaiming himself the Breathking of this force. In a move to dominate the local giants, Sseth subdued them in just over a year.   In response, Voninerike dispatched the Sunlight Legion, a troop of elite Fire Giants warriors and martial artists. With their aid, the fire giants mounted a staunch resistance, turning the draconic dominion into a prolonged and brutal campaign. Among the defenders, Aastrika emerged as a fierce warrior, feared even by the eldest dragons.   After 37 years of relentless fighting, Voninerike could no longer sustain the Sunlight Legion. The conflict culminated in a two-year-long siege. During this period, the fire giants sought every possible means to overcome the dragons' overwhelming might. Their efforts led to the creation of the legendary Orb of Dragonkind, a magical artifact intended to control dragons, akin to the Dragon soul. However, the Orb failed in its purpose, merely attracting dragons instead of controlling them.   The failed attempt to wield the Orb of Dragonkind ultimately forced the Sunlight Legion to evacuate the giants from their homeland. Most of the giants used this opportunity to sail north to the Giant Island, escaping the dragons' wrath. Meanwhile, Aastrika and her unit remained behind, luring the dragons into the deepest caverns of the Underdark, where magma and lava illuminated the treacherous depths. There, they faced the dragons in a final, desperate battle, ultimately destroying the Orb of Dragonkind.   The destruction of the Orb transformed the region into a nightmarish wasteland, barren and useless to both sides. Numerous dragon perished in the catastrophic event, yet Sseth Uth Matar survived and reaffirmed his position as Breathking of the Second Dragon Army.  

Dragon Armies Regroup

222 BD through 251 BD   With the territory under the Second Dragon Army's control rendered useless, they decided to regroup with the First Dragon Army in 222 BD. Together, the united forces of the dragons swiftly conquered the remaining free territories of the Lightfoot Land in just under five years.   With most of the eastern continent now under their control, the dragon armies spent decades regrouping and consolidating their power. During this Time, preparations began for the invasion of Siniadòr. To maintain control over the Lightfoot Land and its surrounding territories, a Third Dragon Army was formed, composed of dragons who chose to remain and assert dominance over the region.  

United assault

158 BD through 136 BD   The first true military test of the combined forces of the First and Second Dragon Armies was their successful invasion of the unprepared survivors of Green earth, including the Yuan-ti, orcs, and other inhabitants. This decisive victory convinced many neutral bands—hobgoblins, ogres, orcs, and minotaurs—to align with the dragon armies, though several holdouts remained.   Among these holdouts was the Horseskull clan, who sought ways to preserve their neutrality. Refusing to align with the dragon armies, they turned to their ancestral spirits for aid. However, the elemental powers of their spirits proved insufficient against the might of the dragons. Sseth's wingduke, the second-in-command of the Second Dragon Army, chose to honor the Horseskull Clan's neutrality. Defying orders, he stood as their protector.   The wingduke's decision cost him his rank and, ultimately, his life. He died defending the Horseskull Clan, but with his final breath, he revealed the secrets of the Circle of the Draconic to the orcs. This sacred knowledge, combined with the orcs' existing shamanistic traditions, gave rise to a powerful new practice. This fusion of traditions enabled the orcs to endure and thrive through the dragon's era.  

Godly intervention

Messing with the gods

136 BD   Despite the global scale of the conflict, many dragons chose to abstain from the war, seeing the countless deaths of their kin as evidence of its futility and unwise risks.   The situation, however, took a dramatic turn when two renowned dragons, Caelestrasz and Merithra—demigods and children of the dragon gods—fell into the hands of the giants. These two had earned legendary status among their kind, often saving their kin in times of peril. Their capture marked a pivotal moment in the war.   Prior to this event, Ysera had refrained from taking part in the conflict, dismissing it as a needless sacrifice of dragon lives. But with her offspring abducted, she called upon all dragons to rally to her cause.   This call to arms shifted the balance of the war, drawing nearly all dragons into the fray. The formation of the Fourth Dragon Army, led by the Breathking Doraka of the Golden Five, marked a new phase in the conflict. The war’s escalation also prompted direct intervention from the dragon gods themselves, who sought to reclaim their children and protect their kind.  

Siniador invasion

late 136 BD   In the autumn of 136 BD, the First, Second, and Fourth Dragon Armies launched their long-anticipated invasion of Siniador.   The Second Dragon Army captured a key coastal giant settlement before driving deep into Siniador, overrunning the Roaring plains and continuing their advance northward. Meanwhile, the First Dragon Army, accompanied by its dragonborn forces, attacked from the east through Crackskull Pass. However, the frost giants, resolute and battle-hardened, mounted a fierce defense and began organizing a counteroffensive against the invaders.   Captured non-giant enemies were enslaved and sent to labor camps controlled by the dragon armies. However, a major riot within one such camp disrupted the First Dragon Army’s campaign, forcing them to delay their northern advance while dealing with the unrest. Amid the chaos, many slaves managed to escape, embarking on perilous journeys to the Ice-peak Concord in search of sanctuary.   The dwarves of the Ice-Peak Concord, wary of the danger and resources refugees might draw, refused them shelter. As a result, most of the escaped slaves found themselves hiding among the ruins of ancient kingdoms, while others succumbed to starvation in the harsh and unforgiving lands.  

Loss of the first army

late 136 BD through 124 BD   The dragon armies, bolstered by the power and influence of their gods, rapidly conquered vast territories in Siniador, encroaching ever deeper into the giants' lands. In retaliation for the dragon gods' direct involvement, Stronmaus, god of craftsmanship and forging, created a weapon of unparalleled might—the Jotun Hammer—and entrusted it to the storm giants. The hammer was claimed by Lamiza, a formidable storm giantess who soon rose to prominence.   With the dragon armies pressing their assault and targeting major giant settlements, Lamiza took command of the giants' forces. Uniting the scattered remnants of Voninerike’s warriors, she gathered the Army of Jotun. With this newfound strength, Lamiza led her army southwest, navigating the Highlanders Mountains to outflank the dragon armies entrenched in the Wind’s Path Valley.   The decisive battle in the valley saw Lamiza’s leadership shine, as the Army of Jotun dealt a crippling blow to the Second Dragon Army, wounding breathking Sseth and shattering their offensive. Buoyed by their victory, Lamiza pressed her forces further south.   However, a new threat emerged as the First Dragon Army advanced from the south, forcing Lamiza to redirect her forces to intercept them near Crackskull Pass. There, the Army of Jotun and the First Dragon Army clashed in the largest ground battle of the Draco-Giant War. The ferocity of the combat inflicted catastrophic casualties on both sides.   The tide of battle turned with a devastating charge by the heavy hill giants, whose sheer might shattered the First Dragon Army’s ground forces. The battle concluded with the complete destruction of the First Dragon Army, marking a critical turning point in the conflict.  

Loss of Siniador

124 BD through 103 BD   The Jotun Army continued its march, advancing steadily toward the Roaring Plains. However, a massive Dragon Army force, comprised of the Fourth Dragon Army and the surviving remnants of the Second Army, rapidly approached. This formidable coalition was determined to crush the Jotun Army and end the giants' resistance once and for all.   Realizing her forces were insufficient to face the combined dragon armies in a direct confrontation, Lamiza devised a cunning strategy. She withdrew her army to Wind’s Path Valley, then led her frost giants to the shores of the Insatiable Lake. There, they used their mastery of ice to construct a massive dam, blocking the lake’s outflow.   As the dragon armies closed in, Lamiza’s fire giants melted the dam with their flames, unleashing a colossal deluge of icy water that swept through the dragon army’s infantry ranks, devastating their ground forces. The battle then shifted to the skies, as the dragons took to the air. In the ensuing aerial clash, the giants used spells like Earthbind to drag dragons from the sky, neutralizing their air superiority.   The giants emerged victorious, dealing a crushing blow to the dragon armies. Over the course of the next 33 years, Lamiza’s leadership and tactical brilliance enabled the giants to systematically clear most of Siniador of dragon forces, bringing a decisive end to the dragons' dominance in the region.   In recognition of her triumph, Lamiza was celebrated with a week-long festival, her name immortalized as one of the greatest heroes of the giants' history.  

The second army cunning plan

103 BD through 101 BD   A small group of dragons from the Second Army infiltrated the territories controlled by the Jotun Army, using their ability to shapechange into giants to approach Lamiza unnoticed. Exploiting their deception, they assassinated Lamiza. However, rather than letting news of her death demoralize the giants, the shapechangers decided to usurp her identity. Posing as Lamiza, they manipulated the Jotun Army into walking straight into a trap set by the Fourth and Second Dragon Armies.   The ambush turned into a slaughter, with countless giants falling to the dragons lying in wait. This devastating blow shattered the Jotun Army's resistance and allowed the dragon armies to regain their momentum. They marched unopposed through Siniador, successfully reclaiming the western territories and driving the surviving giants further and further north.   Despite this victory, it came at a steep cost. After over a century of relentless conflict, the dragon armies’ numbers had dwindled significantly. While the bulk of their forces now consisted of infantry conscripted from conquered regions, enabling them to maintain their advance, many dragons grew deeply concerned about the fate of their kind. The prolonged war and mounting casualties left the dragons questioning whether continued conflict could ultimately lead to their extinction.  

Ultimate siege

101 BD through early 1 BD   The united dragon armies successfully pushed the giants back to their island stronghold, marking the beginning of the longest siege of the war. Isolated on this remote island, the giants made numerous attempts to escape, sparking deadly skirmishes that further diminished the dragons' numbers. However, each attempt only resulted in more devastating losses for the giants, as the dragon forces retaliated with overwhelming force.   After a century of relentless siege warfare, an unspoken truce emerged between the two sides. The giants, worn down by years of conflict and losses, agreed to retreat to their citadel of Hammerfall and the surrounding islands, abandoning their previous territories. In exchange, the surviving dragons assumed guardianship over the world, bringing an end to the open hostilities between the two ancient powers.  

Aftermath

Last battles

late 1 BD   The large draconic infantry, stationed north of Siniador, dispersed following the truce, continuing to wreak havoc on the region for several more years. The dragonborn, now freed from their draconic masters, whose numbers had dwindled so much that they retreated into hiding, journeyed south, gathering in the Isolation Desert.   This newfound, relative peace allowed the humanoid tribes the opportunity to thrive and repopulate the land, marking the dawn of the modern age.