It
was in the twenty-fifth century when the hordes of Otha of Zemoch
invaded the Elene kingdoms of western Eosia and swept all before them
with fire and sword in their march to the west. Otha appeared
invincible until his forces were met on the great, smoke-shrouded
battlefield at Lake Randera by the combined armies of the western
kingdoms and the concerted might of the Knights of the Church. The
battle there in central Lamorkand is said to have raged for weeks
before the invading Zemochs were finally pushed back and turned to
flee for their own borders.
The
victory of the Elenes was thus complete, but fully half of the Church
Knights lay slain upon the battlefield, and the armies of the Elene
kings numbered their dead by the scores of thousands. When the
victorious but exhausted survivors returned to their homes, they
faced an even grimmer foe – the famine which is one of the common
results of war.
The
famine in Eosia endured for generations, threatening at times to
depopulate the continent. Inevitably, social organization began to
break down, and political chaos reigned in the Elene kingdoms. Rogue
barons paid only lip service to their oaths of fealty to their kings.
