Hi! I'm bored today, and while trying out some minor modifications I made for my upcomming 40.10 Optimization Mod, browsed legends a bit. I thought I'd share a little something I found with you.
The War of Burning was a rapid conquest of the Helmed Drinks, and Elven civilization I can only assume suffered from severe beard-envy, by the Confederation of Mortals. The Confederation of Mortals is actually really quite interesting; it warred frequently with neighbouring Elven civilizations (who are immortal; I speculate that they had a religious belief that those who did not age did not possess a soul and weren't truly alive, and that was the cause of the wars, but that's just me adding lore where none exists) during the First Age of Myth, and spanned over two continents (mostly on coastlines, with some exceptions) plus multiple islands, forging a vast, Hanseatic League-esque trading empire.
Anyway, in 72, a new settlement, Strokesheltered, was founded by the Confederates. This marked the first incurision into elven territory in the south by the humans; they met with no resistance.
Perhaps emboldened by this, a human military leader named Mastrop Yountouched, accompanied by one of her many giant war animals (the woman had at least 6 throughout her life accompanying her in her journies) led her forces in the year 73 into the unprovoked attack (beyond the justification that elves ate corpses; a religious taboo) on the forest retreat of Tophides known as the Savage Onslaught. Outnumbered almost 2:1, the elvish garrison was massacred and Tophide pillaged with minimal losses. Among the Elves at Tophides was the current elvish Queen and her Princess; the realm was thrown into chaos, chaos the humans exploited.
Youngtouched clearly realized the potential for her war; there was much wealth to be had in slaves and pilfered livestock. Her lifelong goal of immortality could doubtless be sped up by fame and fortune; sacrifices to the gods aren't cheap, and at least her name could live on forever. Throughout the rest of 73, Youngtouched led 4 additional attacks, each of them a victory. Two resulted in conquests; one site was abandoned by the Elvens and taken without casualties, and another taken in the lengthy and bloody Steamy Siege. Notable casualties in these raids were the Helmed Drinks' Druid, the last remaining legitimate noble in the realm.
As the year 74 began, one of Youngtouched's soldiers (presumably a high-ranking Lieutenant) named Mucka Hushwhirl returned home from the fighting and became the Law-Giver of the Confederation. She gave Yountouched all the backing she needed for a further 14 raids on southern cities; each a success, each resulting in a conquest. By the end of the year, all elvish cities in the south had been burned except for one.
In two years, an entire civilization was reduced to a single settlement. The new Queen of the Elvish civilization lived in a human occupied settlement rather than in her people's free territories as a hostage; perhaps as a result of this, no further battles were fought between the two civilizations. Presumably the remaining settlement was ruled by decree as was in effect a tributary to the Confederacy. This state of affairs would last until 118, when a dragon brought an abrupt end to the Helmed Drinks. Oddly, the humans kept the queen on until her death in 908, when she was ceremoniously replaced by a child of another survivor of the war. Evidentially, within the new vast southern province of the Confederacy, the Elvish civilization lives on - only now they know their place beneath the human's armored boots.