Deismaar,
graveyard of heroes,
birthplace of the gods.
Mount Deismaar once stood at the heart of the thin land bridge between the continents of Cerilia and Aduria. Now Deismaar is a deep crater beneath the Straits of Aerele and sailors steer well clear of the waters where mirages appear from time to time and ships vanish under clear skies without a trace.
When the humans of Aduria fled Azrai and migrated to Cerilia (amongst other places) Aduria was not emptied. Those corrupted by Azrai remained, as did those who defied his power. When Azrai had conquered Aduria utterly, he turned to Cerilia and those who had fled him centuries before and the War of the Shadow commenced.
During the War of the Shadow, the humans of Cerilia discovered that Azrai had amassed a vast army in Aduria and was marching north with the intention of crushing all those who refused to kneel to him. Haelyn realized that this army was so vast that if it was allowed to spread into Cerilia it would be unstoppable, he sent word to the leaders of the other human realms and they agreed to make a stand at the thinnest point of the land-bridge – Deismaar.
The battle was long, no quarter was asked and none expected, at least a third of those who fought died, eventually the gods themselves took form and battled to the death on the slopes of Mount Deismaar, their deaths ended the battle as the mountain exploded; the land bridge itself had completely collapsed within a day of the death of Azrai and Anduiras at each others hands.
The forces known to have fought at Deismaar include:
Anuireans: Led by Haelyn and Roele, the champions of Anduiras. The Anuireans formed the core of the human defence, as one would expect from the most populous of the peoples and the closest geographically to Deismaar. Haelyn ascended to godhood after the battle, Roele united Anuire into a single nation, named his twelve greatest allies Dukes in honour of the twelve tribes of the Andu and formed the Anuirean Empire encompassing much of modern day Rjurik, Brechtür and Khinasi.
Basarji: The great ships of the Basarji were led by Halimah Arassi of Ariya while its substantial land armies (mostly cavalry) were led by Avani of Basaïa. A descendent of Halimah, known simply as El-Arrasi, won his people a substantial measure of independence in the Anuirean empire and the Basarji renamed themselves the Khinasi in his honour. Although most modern scholars assume that the Basarji forces were primarily naval in nature the Basarji only truly became a naval power after absorbing the Masetian people, the bulk of the Basarji forces at Deismaar were land based explaining why so many of the Basarji survived compared to the Masetians.
Brecht: Led by Wulf Danig of Danigau and Sera of Müden the champions of Brenna the sailors of the Brecht harried the armies of Azrai along the north coast of Aduria for months, slowing its progress to a crawl before facing it directly at Deismaar. The Brecht anchored the western end of the Cerilian forces and were one of the few forces to with-draw from the battle in good order. Wulf returned to Danigau after the war, and his strategic genius and magical abilities ensured its independence from the Anuirean empire.
Masetians: The Masetian people followed Nesirie, high priestess of Masela and sailed to defend Cerilia. The Masetians suffered severe losses against the Vos and goblins during the war of shadows, and were almost annihilated at Deismaar. Within a decade of Deismaar the Basarji had completely conquered the Masetians and now the only pure-blooded Masetians likely live on the isle of the Serpent.
Rjuven: The Vikings of the Rjuven followed Erik into battle at Deismaar beside the berserker-jarl Pieter. Erik ascended in Reynir’s place and his druids guide the Rjuven (now called the Rjurik) still. Pieter never settled in any one place, a nomad in blood and deed he roamed the forests for decades, but vanished during the early days of the Anuirean empire.
Vos: The Vos of Cerilia were led by Belinik and Kriesha, the Vos of Aduria followed the Lost, powerful sorcerers granted power by the blood of Azrai to use true magic. The Vos of Cerilia fought the Basarji, Brecht, and Masetians for years before Deismaar, their decision to abandon their gains at head for Deismaar convinced the humans of the east side of Cerilia that the crucial battle of the war would indeed happen at Deismaar and that they must heed Haelyn’s call for aid.
Ruornil: The Weaver, Ruornil led a small army of Good-aligned Vos and Anuireans who were dedicated to Vorynn, the old God of Magic. The purpose of Ruornil's forces were to convert the Vos and to convince them to fight on the side of Vorynn, their ancient God. However, Ruornil's forces eventually aided Haelyn's and Ruornil absorbed much of Vorynn's essence when the old God of Magic expired.
The Serpent: The man who would become the self-proclaimed god known as the serpent led almost as great an armada as that of the ‘loyal’ Masetians the champion of Azrai now know as the Serpent harried the Masetian and Basarji fleets along the length of the southern coast. The Serpent now rules a small realm in the islands off the southern coast of Khinasi, a fully transformed awnsheghlien he is said to be able to take human form only with great difficulty and has not left his realm in centuries.
Raesene Andu: The greatest champion of Azrai (in his own words) Raesene Andu led an army of renegades and mercenaries against his half brothers and those who stood beside him. If he had not penetrated so deeply into the ranks of the Anuireans he might have been close enough to Mount Deismaar when it exploded to ascend to godhood, instead his rival Belinik ascended in his place and Raesene, now the awnsheghlien called the Gorgon, has never forgotten that his success led to his defeat by his rival.
The elves: Most of the elves followed Queen Tuar into battle against the humans of Cerilia, at the height of the battle Tuar perceived the true nature of the lost and saw the truth of Azrai’s plan. Tuar rallied her people (her general, Rhuobhe, was one of the few to refuse to join her – in his view there would be time enough to stop Azrai after the humans had been annihilated) and led the elves against the forces of Azrai turning the tide of the battle and forcing Azrai to manifest directly to ensure his forces won the day with the consequence that Deismaar become not merely a battle of mortals, but of gods. Tuar vanished at Deismaar and is resumed dead. Rhuobhe lives still and controls the main pass between the range of mountains linking the west coast of Anuire to the heartlands.
Tal-Quazar: The greatest of the goblin kings at Deismaar, a cunning warrior and strong magician, Tal-Quazar is credited with trapping the Masetians on the shores of the land-bridge and exterminating the majority of their forces. Tal-Quazar was one of the first scions to discover bloodtheft, and also one of the first to discover the curse of Azrai and become one of the awnsheghlien. He is now known as the Spider and rules the Spiderfell during his brief moments of sanity.
Dorn Greybeard: The Thane of Baruk-Azhik, Dorn led his people to Deismaar not out of a desire to protect his lands – he feared neither beastman, goblin, nor god. Instead Dorn simply believed that standing against the shadow was the right thing to do. The proud lord of Baruk-Azhik is one of the few warriors to have slain one of the lost in single combat. Dorn vanished at Deismaar when the mountain exploded. Commonly forgotten is the fact that dwarves of most of the dwarven realms fought at Deismaar – long enemies of all goblin-kind the dwarves saw Azrai as the god of the goblins and marched in force to prevent him conquering the peoples of Cerlia, this mass march meant that the dwarves have a reasonable population of scions despite their slow birth-rate.
One point that was crucial in winning Roele’s later acceptance of the dwarven people was the dwarven warning of the mountains collapse after the battle, the dwarves felt the earth turning beneath their feet and in warning the battle’s survivors of the earthquakes and tsunami’s to come, the dwarves probably saved the lives of half the survivors of Deismaar. Roele never forgot this warning and when he formed the Anuirean Empire it respected the borders of the dwarves like few others.
The great beasts of Azrai: Azrai knew that his forces were weak at sea, while the Masetian armada was strong. Therefore he poured power into several great sea-beasts (the Kraken and the Leviathan survive to this day) and bade them to attach the ships of the Masetians. He also empowered a handful of other beasts - the Dread, the
terror known as
the Apocalypse and
the Grim Hound amongst them. None of these terrors have been seen by a reputable observer in over a millennia and it is believed that they were destroyed long ago.
