“… And there, by either divine providence or transcendental wisdom, nestled in the crook of the river Paon, with her wide, life giving banks did Io the First, great patriarch of our nation, found the city which would share his name. Io, has a greater place ever graced this good earth? I would challenge any man to put forward an alternative. Io: with her great, gargantuan palaces, her roads, cutting through the earth like arteries, bringing the life blood of culture and civility to all her corners. From her mammoth ports to her golden capped churches and indomitable walls, no city has or ever will be greater!

And for a city, so lovely and strong, are there a people greater than mankind to inhabit her, to shelter within her walls? Of course not. It is in our eyes that the lights of her glory is reflected, it is on our skin that the water of her baths flow, it is in our mouths that the fruits of her bounty find purpose. Io is the mother and Io is the father of us all. Praise be the father!” Page 4, Records of the Empire, Loremaster Cast’Aville.

It is from this great quotation which I wish to start this history of The Sunset War. For there is no superior introduction to the direst struggle of mankind than with a description of her greatest city and exposition of the virtue and beauty of her and her people.

So it is with that, that I start. In the 456th year after the death of the great king Io, who led us to the city of his name did humanity face a tribulation most gargantuan. For it was on this year, that the hordes of darkness, pouring from the west like a pestilent plague upon the land, declared their first heinous crusade against us. And it was in the subsequent years that we would face both our darkest and ultimately greatest hour. For it was in the three great battles that followed, those events of martial virtue that were the battles of Breaker Hill, Bamdleton and finally the Last Stand of Sir Rowe that the war was won, and humanity was forged into the masters of this great earth and the beasts of night were forced back into their holes and hovels.

The following passages will attempt to recreate, through the sources available to us. What happened at those great battles and what effect they truly had on the war.

Note: My Prince, this was the only fragment of the text you requested, “A Comprehensive History of the Sunset Wars”, that could be found within the royal library. We shall continue our search for the rest, but we warn you that it may take a large amount of time due to poor organisation methods of previous Loremasters, nevertheless we will begin a comprehensive delve into the deep vaults of the imperial library.

Sincerely, Loremaster Siam’Siak