The Great War The War started when the Sithi killed Prince Varthis; favorite son of the Emperor Vedin, about a century ago. The Empire sent five full Talons to Maladon and founded a Redoubt on the Isle of Haven after being pushed back from landings on the banks of the Sable River. Imperial forces husbanded their strength for a year, building up the defenses of Haven, and then launched a massive assault on Sithi lands as soon as the Mysts parted and fresh supplies arrived. The War was long and bloody. The Sithi had the advantage of magic but were fewer in numbers. The Empire sent fresh waves of troops every year and one by one the Sithi strongholds were thrown down. The turning point came after Lord Galvinus ordered the burning of the forests around the mouth of the river and this seems to have broken the Sithi's will to fight. After 25 years of inconclusive war where the battle-lines raged back and forth, the Sithi abandoned their homelands and fled into the forest. They never gave battle again and have seldom even been glimpsed since that time. The ruins of their ancient strongholds now stand as mute testimony to their now-vanished race. But the Emperor was not satisfied and ordered a colony to be laid over the ruins of the Sithi homelands. The Colony was cautiously built but there was no sign of the Sithi. In time, Haven was abandoned, as the lands around the Colony became safe and the guard was relaxed. Haven Haven was originally a redoubt and supply point for the Army of the Empire during the original Great War, that ended 71 years ago. It is located in an aura of 0 and hence no magic will work on the island except cantrips; and so it was always safe from Sithi attacks. Haven was never taken during the Great War, and is the last surviving outpost of that era. The Imperial Colony The old Imperial Colony was started 50 years ago, at the end of the Great War. It was sited somewhere to the north of Haven; in the lands once claimed by the Sithi. It's exact location has been lost after a fire in the Imperial Hall of Records in Valmar twelve years ago. The colony thrived for 22 years after the end of the Great War but then all the inhabitants completely vanished without trace. The expedition launched to find them found the lands around the colony mysteriously changed and wild and fled the Isle. They were executed for their cowardice but no expedition was sent back within the lifetime of Emperor Vedin. Maladon Isle Maladon is a vast forested Isle that boasts ranges of mountains on the Northern and Southern coasts. The island has only been circumnavigated once during the Great War and all of the maps from that expedition were lost in a fire at the Imperial Hall of Records a decade or so ago. Indeed, no accurate maps of Maladon exist and the Eastern half of the Island was never explored even during the period of the original colony or the Great War. In fact, less than one third of Maladon has ever felt the tread of human feet and so the interior of the Island is a complete mystery to the Empire.
