Elden had existed for many centuries in peaceful solitude to the neighboring human kingdom of Peladorne. It was not the centuries old veil of glamor that had protected Elden for so long against prying Human eyes, but the Godshollow. The Godshollow was an ancient and dark forest that spread wide and vast between the borders of Elden and Peladorne. The magics here were ancient beyond compare, primordial in nature and older than the fae themselves. It seeped into every root and stone and coursed through the veins of every terrifying and primeval creature that hunted in those dark woods. For many generations, the humans had enough self-preservation to not step foot inside the Godshollow. Mothers spun tales to frighten children into staying away, rumors spread rampant like wildfire of the horrors within. The rumors served the fae well and Elden did little to dispute them. Let the humans believe that about them, if it meant they kept to their own borders.
And it seemed to work, at least for a time… until the King of Peladorne stumbled upon some ancient magic more priceless than all the jewels in the royal coffers and decided he would stop at nothing to claim it.
The next 65 years of bloodshed and torture would bring Elden to her knees. Her armies were losing ground – quickly – and her people were scared. The fae would look to their High Lady Farrah for guidance, only to watch her be savagely cut down by the human invaders. Suddenly, the fae were not only drowning in the tide of a losing war, but were also caught in the chaos crowning of a very abrupt – and very unexpected – new High Lord.
Throughout the long and storied history of the kingdom of Elden, there have only been two ever documented cases of the title of High Lord or High Lady not being passed down from parent to child. According to the records in the Elden libraries, the first time was over 600 years ago when High Lord Rallon parted this world without any children of his own. He instead bestowed all the abilities and authority of the High Lord to his former lover. He would in turn rule as High Lord until he too would eventually pass the title and power to his daughter, and she to her son, and so forth for countless generations.
The second time was less than five years ago when High Lady Farrah of Elden, choking on blood in her final breath in the heat of battle, imparted the title and authority to the Lord Commander of her armies Brom Kastaros.
Brom had only been 27 when the war began. There was a very small part of him that remembered his youth before the war. There had to still be a part of him that remembered. Otherwise, what else would he have been fighting for? Pride? Glory? Not likely. There had been nothing glorious about the last six and a half decades of bloodshed. Even less so in the five years since the title of High Lord had been imparted upon him suddenly and without warning.
Brom was a creature of vengeance and he quickly adapted to the chaos of war. So much so that he questioned more than once if he had ever been destined for a life without battle. The war had taken so much from him in his youth, would he ever be able to find solace in comfort again? It seemed his High Lady had seen the same in him, as she eventually named him Lord Commander of her troops set him loose on Peladorne's invading army – a role in which Brom would learn to excel.
As Lord Commander, he was a brutally efficient killer and a leader of soldiers. Fae armies followed him, human armies feared him. But as High Lord? He's spent the last five years fighting a losing battle, not only with the human threat of Peladorne but also the inner machinations and political scheming of the remaining fae Lords of Elden. Their people were on the precipice of their own annihilation, and the fae Lords were too busy with petty infighting to mount any sort of significant war effort.
All they needed was one crucial blow to Peladorne to turn the tide of war – a wild gambit to also prove fruitful in regaining the support of his fae Lords and to wrest control back from the void. Brom was growing even more desperate by the day and struggled to keep his Lords in line. He didn't know how much longer Elden could hold out against the invading human threat, but he knew it wouldn't be long.
Brom knew that he could end the war once and for all if he could just find the right opportunity to strike at the heart of Peladorne. He just needed to find the right leverage.
