First War of the Ironthorne Wall

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First War of the Ironthorne Wall
Great Epoch Age of Chaos
Location Blackstone, Realm of Ghyran
Outcome Chaos forces defeated
Combatants
{{{3}}}Blackstone tribes
{{{3}}}Sylvaneth wargroves
{{{3}}}Forces of Chaos
Commanders
{{{3}}}Lady of Vines Unknown

The First War of the Ironthorne Wall, or simply the First Ironthorne War was a victorious defence of the Jade Kingdom of Blackstone by an alliance of local human tribes and the sylvaneth led by the Lady of Vines. The victory was one of the few bright spots in the dark days of the early War of Life.[1a][2a]

Background

Over the course of the Age of Myth, Blackstone had become one of the most lush and fertile regions of Ghyran. When the forces of Chaos invaded the Realm of Life in force, Blackstone was one of their primary targets, and the kingdom became the site of heavy fighting.[1c]

Victory at Ironthorne

The early Chaos campaigns reached their climax before the fortress of Ironthorne on the kingdom's northern plains of Peth. There, the alliance succeeded in breaking the Chaos armies, ending the current threat to Blackstone.[1a]

Monument to Victory

In the wake of their triumph at Ironthorne on the plains they now called the Victory Fields, the allies constructed a monument to the campaign on the flat-topped mountain known as Blackstone Summit. From the top of the mountain, one could see across the plains to Ironthorne and the site of the great victory. Beneath the monument, they buried the honoured dead from the campaign.[1a][2a]

Subsequent Campaigns

While the immediate threat to Blackstone had been vanquished, the Chaos threat did not disappear. Over the course of the Age of Chaos, several more attempts were made by Chaos forces to take Blackstone, eventually rendering the once-verdant kingdom a barren, ruined landscape. Probably the most devastating blow came during the event known as the Ironthorne Sabotage, when a later alliance of Blackstone humans and sylvaneth was undone when many of the Blackstone shamans proved to be infected by blightworms, and the forces of Nurgle overwhelmed the allied army.[2b][3a]

Fertile Ground

During the Realmgate Wars, the Lady of Vines took Alarielle's soulpod to Blackstone Summit, reasoning that planting her mother-goddess in the soil that had been fertilized by the blood and bones of ancient champions would grant the Everqueen the greatest chance to be reborn in a form that could reinvigorate the sylvaneth's fortunes in the War of Life. Her intuition proved correct, and Alarielle was reborn in her war aspect, beginning the Season of War.[1a][3b]

Sources