The Old War

Lore & Background

The survivors of the Vaunt, ashamed that they could not kill him and terrified of what would happen if the truth got out, forged a legend: that they had struck him down. They told the world the Deathless was dead, and the world, desperate for peace, believed them. A century has passed since then. The continent has healed, villages like Hollowmere have grown back over burned bones, and a new generation knows war only as stories by the fire. Yet the vacuum left by the tyrant's departure allowed new evils to stir, and the old lie now hangs heavy over those who remember the truth.

Reader's Guide

The truth of Karsmoor is a secret kept by the few survivors of the Vaunt and the Deathless himself. They tell the world he died to spare it from despair; if people knew their savior was merely a tyrant who got bored, the peace would crumble. This lie allowed a generation to grow up without fear, healing the land in Hollowmere and beyond. However, the vacuum left by his departure has created new dangers: old soldiers still waiting for orders, gods who remember the war, and a new, crueler conqueror rising in the north to fill the empty throne.

Did You Know?

• The Deathless was not killed; he voluntarily set down the crown after Karsmoor because victory felt empty.
• Only one member of the Vaunt, Dame Cressa Thorne, is known to be alive a century later.
• Hollowmere was burned by the Deathless's own orders during the war, though he alone remembers this fact until Book 8.
• The 'Killing Blow' legend is a deliberate lie told by the surviving heroes to protect the world from the truth.