an excerpt from the historical treatise written by the mute songstress Val Kyrie concerning Peltarch's war with N'jast.
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The N'JAST WAR
_There have been many wars over the centuries since the beginning of Dale Reckoning, but few, if any, can equal the long term destruction caused by the war that occured between the Nation of N'jast and the people of Narfell.
Officially, the war has its beginning in the assassination of King Golask the Obese of N'jast. When investigations were carried out to find who was responsible for the murder, the information they found pointed to several members of the Peltarch Far Scouts. The Peltarch Defenders knew that a cult of Cyric was working within the city and had been trying to root it out - it's quite possible that they were involved in this assassination attempt.
Diplomatic talks took place, but Peltarch refused to hand over those who had been implicated, and so war was declared between Peltarch and N'jast. Both sides made their preparations, and N'jast marched forth to the border of Narfell.
The N'jastian forces made their camp in the abandoned town of Ormpur, which had been run over by Frost Giants some years prior. However, in order to continue on their way to Peltarch, they would need to pass through the farming village of Jiyyd. Diplomatic talks took place, but the Jiyyd officials did not believe that N'jast would be content to simply pass through their town, and so refused them passage.
This action led to N'jast and Jiyyd going to war. In all likelihood, had Jiyyd not chosen to stand their ground and refuse N'jast passage, Peltarch would have fallen to the enemy forces and the war would have been resolved far quicker, although with very different results.
Jiyyd was defended by the Royal Troff Legion, led by Major General Grag and General Lyte Brigade. Other independant adventurers chose to aid them, including Ronan Redralen. Peltarch, while mustering their own defences, also sent their Archangel Division south to aid the defence, lead by Captain Neverith. The battle surged back and forth, but the might of N'jast was too much for the Jiyyd walls to withstand. The outcome was always certain, but the defenders made certain it was dearly bought.
During the defense of Jiyyd there were many actions taken, which would help to decide the outcome of the war in later days, including the self sacrifice of Solais Aran to bring many fallen defenders to life. Solais Aran, also know as the Lightbringer was a ancient spirit that helped his people escape Narfell during the fall of the Old Empire, protecting them from demons and the crystal collective. While the tribe’s fate outside of Narfell is mostly unknown, Solais remained here, working for the good of the world. There are rumours that he still acts for good, beyond the living, and that he interacts in some way with this world, but these can neither be confirmed nor denied.
Kara du'Monte, the then Paladin of Kelemvor was captured by the N'jastian forces in what turned out to be a ruse, for she then became their Grand Marshall, leading the N'jastian forces in their assault against Jiyyd and then Peltarch. It would later emerge that she had been corrupted by fiends quite some time prior to the war, and in fact was acting in league with them. These same fiends are also thought to be behind the entire war, having manipulated people to assasinate King Golask, as well as impersonating and replacing several notable individuals in Peltarch. She died at the end of the war, and is now a fiend in the service of the darkest powers imaginable, and her part in the destiny of Narfell is by no means ended.
Telli Thunden, the dwarven Priestess of Chauntea and Major in the Royal Troff Legion was given an order by Major General Grag to poison the river that provided the N'jastian forces with their water. She followed this order, and her goddess stripped her of her grace. Telli would labour for more than four years to recover the blessings of her goddess, but her actions on this day almost certainly cost the lives of many of her allies as the war continued. She did, however spend tens of thousands of her own coin to provide supplies for her allies, and fought without cease to defend Narfell, giving her own life at least once.
Dentin Strauss, a fanatical follower of Gond who had lived in Narfell for many years became obsessed with the armatures of the N'jastian forces and defected to their army. His prowess with the mechanical creations and skill as a priest led much strength to their army, but made him a marked man by almost all Narfellians. Dentin Strauss’ infamy includes the blowing up of City Hall and many days bombing of the city with so called “firecrackers”, bombs which set much of the city ablaze. Eventually, when the Lucky Ferret Inn was destroyed in a particularily harsh bombing (along with nearly everyone inside it), enough was enough. The Black Sails, irate by the destruction of their inn, initiated a raid outside the city walls to the N’jasti encampment, going for the Gondar’s blood. Despite casualties, the raid resulted in Aelthas bringing back Dentin’s severed head to the city. Somehow he was restored to life and later killed in lone action by Ronan Redralen. He would take these deaths as a sign that he should retreat, and did so, moving to N'jast with his wife and young son.
Major General Grag of the Royal Troff Legion was part of many heroic stands, assaults, and defenses, but his careless decisions have almost certainly been responsible for much of the suffering that occured during the war. It was his orders that led Major Telli to poison a river and lose her goddesses grace, it was his orders to detonate an Old Empire device in the ruins of Jiyyd which led to the opening of portals to the Abyss and the Hells.
There are many others who took part in the war on both sides, for good and ill, but these are the names most often remembered for their actions. Jerrick Rayfe, Martoushca Leaffall, Devlin Desario, Lyte Brigade, Z, Maya, and Benji are those who did much good, and still fight for the good of the people to this day, although perhaps in their own, unique way. For the path of the adventurer and hero is not straight, but meandering, following a different path for each.
In regards to the war between N'jast and Jiyyd. Norwick stayed neutral, refusing to become involved in the hostilities for good or ill, and thus many refugees from Jiyyd went there to shelter from the violence. The Bugbear King Ostromog took the opportunity to attack Norwick and test their defenses during this time, hoping to find some point of weakness through which to gain the town. He was, however, unsuccessful. The threat of Ostromog had then been ongoing for many years, and is likely a chief factor in Norwick’s stance.
As things grew more dire, Jiyyd was ordered to be evacuated. The N'jastian forces, enhanced by armatures attacked all those who left the town to try and cause as much chaos and death as possible. The citizens of the Silver Valley also evacuated, but they took more silent and stealthy paths, and so passed unnoticed by the attackers.
The Royal Troff Legion made the decision to cede the town to the N'jastian forces, but the Jiyyd refugees grew angry when they were advised of this, and after General Lyte asked them to put it to a vote and remove the citizenship of the Legion as a whole from the town. The vote was successful, and the Legionnaires left to continue the war.
Explosives were placed in what remained of Jiyyd, and the defenders fought long and hard, yet eventually the order was given to retreat. Benji set the fuses burning and was the last out of the town, ensuring that no-one was left behind. Many N'jastians died in this last hurrah of Jiyyd, and the valiant defense surely bought Peltarch enough time to prepare themselves properly.
The Legion and the other adventurers who were working in defense of the realm then moved back into the pass to stop the N'jastians making their way to Peltarch, whereas the N'jastians took up station on the Crossroads and the area known as Sams Hill. Slowly they fought their way north, every inch of land dearly bought, paid for in blood. Eventually though, they arrived at the walls of Peltarch, with armatures and siege engines. At the same time that they attacked the southern walls, a force of Peltarch defecters attacked with forces from High Hold against the western walls, and undead raised by the N'jast forces attacked through the docks.
Peltarch intelligence also caught wind of an emissary sent by N’jast to the fire giants to attempt to persuade these too to march on the Jewel. Lycka Zomasdottir was sent on a last minute diplomatic mission to the fire giant king, facing Kara herself in the king’s hall once having proven herself worthy of admission (duel to the death against a fire giant). By proving Kara a traitor, Lycka got the fire giants (who are very strict in matters of honour) agreement to a neutral stance in the conflict.
The Beshaban cleric Elissa apparently led some sort of rite inside the old prison, with the aid of a being who maskeraded as Magistrate Miranda Greywing. The result was horrific for both sides, as a wave of ill-luck washed out to cover the siege, causing the death toll for both Peltarch and N'Jast to skyrocket. Civilian casualties alone from this were in the thousands, and the true toll will likely never be known. Afterwards, Elissa vanished, generally assumed to have fallen victim of the fighting herself or fled the lands.
During this time, Aurilite raiders in longships, sailing under a banner of blue with a white snowflake, harrassed the shorelines of the Jewel. They were more than simple raiders though, they had come for the blood of "the pink knight and his wife" amongst others, the one live prisoner taken delivering dire warnings and death threats. Also, a second naval threat destroyed the majority of the Peltarch navy. These Icelace pirates also sported a blue flag,
The defenders were forced to fall back to Defender HQ to make their final stand, the city around them burning and broken. Thanks to the efforts of the Spellweavers Keep and a powerful wandering wizard named whose name has been lost to history, a portal was opened up to enable travel between Peltarch and Norwick, helping the defence immensely. It was at this time that the bard Lycka Zomsdottir found a way to disable the armatures, although at a very high cost. The land of Narfell would be ripped in half, the glacier nearby melted, and the menhir system disrupted, but it turned the tide in the battle.
The defenders could finally fight back, and the N'jastian forces were forced to retreat, some heading back to Jiyyd, others fleeing by sea. The N’Jasti general finally surrendered after the battle of the docks in which persons such as Attentus, Cerulean Knight Kenton Seth, Far Scout Sierrah Ju’ent and numerous members of the Black Sails played an important role. Finally, the undead Eastlanders were cleared from the sewers in a long and gruelling fight, Ronan replacing Attentus as the flashy sorcerer by that time.
It was at this time that Major General Grag used the old Empire device that he had somehow acquired to blow up what remained of the N'jastian forces, utterly demolishing Jiyyd and opening multiple portals to both the Abyss and the Nine Hells.
The few N'jastians that survived this hellish blast ran for their lives. Dentin Strauss had already left the realm, but Kara du'Monte remained. She awaited the Narfellians in the remains of Jiyyd, wanting to help them in their attempts to close the portals. Many of those gathered would not accept her aid, however, fearing some sort of deception. Some took up weapons to fight her, and Celestials came down to join the fray. The battle for Narfell finally ended with the death of Kara du'Monte, slain by those she had once called allies.
The Druids of the Circle of Quercatha Terr enacted a powerful ritual to seal all extraplanar creatures within the ruins of Jiyyd, so that they could not spread to the rest of the realm, and the larger portals were closed. Demons and Devils still fight in the ruins there, although there are some who still are trying to cleanse the former battleground and return it to the goodly people of the realm.
And so ends the story of the N'jast War. By no means is this a complete account of all the actions taken during this event, for to record such would take an entire library of books. Furthermore, the results of all actions taken during the war have not seen the light of day, and there is likely to still be more revealed as the years go on._
