Marrishland Massacre (ca. 2800 - 3000 I.D.)

It is said that Marrish caused Meteos Niktos as a warning to the warring Mar that he disapproved of their misuse of his gift. Both sides largely misinterpreted this omen, so the civil war continued for several more years before the Mass — an enormous force of Drakes — emerged from the lands north of the Fens of Reur and began slaughtering the Mar. It is now known that of all the races living on the subcontinent at the time of the Marrishland Massacre, the Mar were the most fortunate.

The Hundred Tribes and the Fygae both fought the Drakes valiantly in spite of overwhelming numbers. They had little choice, as the Mass encroached first on their lands. Initially, the Drakes were reckless in their attacks on humans in the subcontinent. Within a few years, however, their forward momentum dragged almost to a halt and remained steady, overwhelming, but remarkably slow. This caution was likely the result of encountering magic-wielders for the first time. The initial assault on major Fygaen settlements was, by most accounts, a military disaster for the Drakes, and the wints of the Hundred Tribes also possessed potent magic. Drakes are incapable of using magic, putting them at a significant disadvantage against humans. The key to their victory lay in sheer numbers and largely superior physiologies.

While rumor of damnens and worse monsters filtered into Mar lands for several years before the first Drakes emerged from the Fens of Reur, the Mar took little interest in the hardships of their neighbors. The civil war absorbed all of their attention, and in the end, this worked to their advantage, as the Drakes clearly did not perceive the Mar as a threat until they had spent their fury on the Fygae and the Hundred Tribes.

The names of the Marduxes who ruled during the Marrishland Massacre have been erased even from the oral histories of the Mar. Collectively, they are called the Nar (meaning "fools"). The Drakes who encroached on Mar lands were mostly scouts, so the Mar regarded them as only a minor threat.

By the time the Mass took its first Mar prisoners, the war between the magocracy and the Litus Albus Alliance had begun to fade. The Hundred Tribes begged the Litus Albus Alliance for help in their war against the Drakes, and the Mar of the South agreed. The Fygae asked the magocracy for help, as well, but instead of aiding their neighbors, the Nar took this display of Fygaen weakness as an opportunity to sieze more land.

The Fygae had spent several centuries building up a defensive infrastructure, however, and the Nar invasions failed time and again over the next several decades. Once it became clear that the Drakes might be a genuine threat to Mar civilization, the Nar broke off these invasions. The Mass proved far more relentless. That there are no Fygae or wints in Marrishland and have not been since the end of the Marrishland Massacre testifies to the ruthless thoroughness with which the Mass exterminated their enemies.

By 2900 I.D., the last Fygaen city had fallen to the Mass, and no humans lived north of the Fens of Reur. By 2950 I.D., the Hundred Tribes had made a final stand against the Drakes and were defeated. By 2975 I.D., the Mass had put the last cities of the Litus Albus Alliance to the torch. By 3000 I.D., the entire human population of Marrishland had been wiped out with the exception of those in Domus Palus. That the Mass did not completely overrun Marrishland is nothing short of a miracle.

The magocracy had adopted a strict policy of non-engagement by 2850 I.D. and spent most of its time hiding the last bastion of Mar civilization from the Drakes. Becuase Domus Palus is surrounded by swamps on its south and east sides and bordered by the wide Lapis Amnis to the north, this stratagem actually worked. Despite the popular belief that Drakes prefer living in wet environments, they seemed content with control over all the best land in the subcontinent. Mar mapmakers and magocrats worked tirelessly to ensure that any Drakes who explored too close to Mar lands did not return, and it is known that the Drakes called the lands near Domus Palus "the forbidden lands" for many centuries after the Marrishland Massacre.

Many scholars believe there were other reasons why the Mass did not march on Domus Palus when it had the chance. Some postulate a civil war among the Drakes. Others claim remnants of the Fygae, Hundred Tribes, and Litus Albus Alliance continued to elude the Mass and distracted the Drakes for decades after their cities fell. Perhaps Dinah's Curse laid them low, though there is little evidence to support that, as Drakes seem almost immune to Dinah's Curse. Divine intervention arises in some treatises. It seems most likely, though, that having conquered roughly three million square miles of territory in two centuries, the Drakes decided to settle down and build a civilization of their own.

(Contributed by Weard Gilda Kronas)

Copyright 2005-2007 Eric Zawadzki and Matthew Schick. All Rights Reserved.
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