The Old War
The monster won, looked at his crown, and decided to bake bread instead.
The Old War was the continent-spanning conflict that ended a century ago, pitting the free peoples of Veil against the Deathless, an unkillable sorcerer-king who conquered kingdom by kingdom. It culminated in the Battle of Karsmoor, where the legendary company of heroes known as the Vaunt met the tyrant in a final, ruinous clash. While history books claim the Vaunt slew the monster and saved the world, the truth is far quieter: the Deathless won, looked upon his hollow victory, and simply walked away to become something smaller.
- Duration
- 20 years
- Key Location
- Battle of Karsmoor
- Antagonist
- The Deathless (Emrin)
- Protagonists
- The Vaunt (9 survivors at the end, 1 living: Cressa Thorne)
- Outcome
- Tyrant's voluntary abdication; World believes he is dead
- Legacy
- A generation of peace built on a comforting lie; the rise of new threats in the vacuum
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.
In Their Own Story
The wind howled across Karsmoor, stripping the last of the autumn leaves from the blackened pines. The battle was done. The Deathless stood alone in a circle of silence, his armor dented but unbroken, his hands empty. He looked down at the body of Perrin, the Vaunt who had fallen first, and felt nothing but the weight of it all. Then, a gust of wind cut through the smoke, biting cold against his cheek—a sensation so sharp it made him gasp. It was the first thing he had truly felt in twenty years. He looked at the crown on the ground, then at the two remaining heroes trembling before him. "Go," he said, his voice rough with disuse. "Tell them I am dead." And he turned his back on the throne to walk into the wilds.
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.