The Beginning of the End

But the technology came at a cost. The Great nations of Terra Novus became greedy and territorial, scorning diplomacy for a faster means of acquisition: War.

Roughly 1200 years ago, during the height of the Verdunni War, in which all 3 races were manipulated by the Council of Verdun, the Dwarven kingdom suddenly withdrew all of its forces, hastily retreating back into the Underdark. The Council of Verdun, being comprised of immensely powerful and even more power-hungry magi, lost their contact with the Dwarves as well, now manipulating only two thirds of the armies of the world. The Dwarves had vanished. The Council of Verdun used their influence amongst the Elves and Humans, temporarily halting any further hostilities towards each other, and began to investigate this disappearance. The Dwarves had attended no peace negotiations, and had no contact with either Human or Elven leaders. The Dwarves had sent no ambassador speaking of a truce or surrender. When the Elves and Humans tried to send envoys of their own, they were thwarted from even gaining entrance to the subterranean Dwarven realms. All cavern entrances into the Underdark were sealed from the inside. Overnight, the Dwarves isolated themselves without a word, and were not to be heard from for another 20 years. The Council of Verdun feared that the Dwarves had broken free of their control. Elves and Humans alike feared the worst; that the Dwarves had withdrawn and were planning a massive regroup and assault into the very hearts of their capital cities.

Twenty years after the Dwarven isolation began, scattered reports of attacks on human and Elven settlements started to pour in. The Dwarves had emerged again, but these attacks were far more savage and ruthless. The Dwarven armies were destroying civilian towns and farmsteads, not military targets. Some dark force was now controlling the Dwarven armies.

(It is at this point that history itself becomes, as is so common when dealing with man, open to interpretation)

Some see the Council of Verdun as a good force, containing corrupted elements; sleeper agents lurking within and biding their time. The others see the Council as a saint-like overseer, infiltrated by agents of a sinister power. According to either of these beliefs, the following opinions are the prevailing theories.

The Righteous Council of Verdun decided that since they had lost control of the Dwarven nation, they would flood it in an effort to save the remaining two races. Several powerful members of the Council of Verdun, controlled by the same evil force as the Dwarves, interfered with the ritual to flood the Underdark, trying to save the Dwarven race and their dark master, and it worked. But at a cost: the floodwaters came instead, from the ocean, flooding entire continents.

The Dark Council of Verdun, drunk with power and rage, lashed out at the Dwarven Nation, channeling a powerful ritual to drown their entire race. This act of genocide was prevented by several key members of the Council deciding at the last moment that they could not and would not be personally responsible for the destruction for an entire race. They attempted to reverse the ritual, and nullify its effects. But tampering with such powerful forces can often have surprising results. The waters that should have heralded the Dwarven races watery death instead swallowed nearly all of Terra Novus.