The War for the Higher Plane

A Synopsis

The War for the Higher Plane started with Vigo and Abyssal’s attack on the Six Higher Powers of the Myth Wood. The first battle in the war went in Vigo’s favor, with Abyssal outright defeating or scattering the various Six Higher Powers. The Monarch was turned to stone. The Chaos Beast chained. The Mystic was beaten by Abyssal but managed to use some of the power he had stolen from the Realm’s Rover to freeze his attackers in time for a short period. The Arbiter, Sentinel, and the Recarnit retreated with the Valkyrie Eir, to Eir’s Garden.

        In the Garden, the three of the Six Higher Powers that were still free to move about, with their allies, regrouped and planned their defense. The Arbiter, Sentinel, and Plutus of the World’s Tree investment group, merged their powers into a barrier that surrounded the Myth Wood. It prevented Vigo and Abyssal from leaving the Higher Plane. The cost for the barrier was not just the power the three put into the barrier, but the life essence of the Sentinel and Plutus. The Arbiter returned to his previous form of Grimner Harbard.

At this time, before Vigo and Abyssal unfroze, the Monarch and the Chaos Beast released their power back into the Myth Wood. Though chained or turned to stone, they were still able to relinquish their power and put it outside of Abyssal’s reach. The relinquishing of their power returned them to their previous forms of Dirk McCormick and Sam’El.

The Recarnit, safely behind the barrier, released his power into Eir’s Garden. Now that the garden was part of the Myth Wood this power traveled through the link shared between the two realms into the Wood proper. He returned to his previous form of Luis MorningStar when the power transfer was complete.

The Mystic’s power was put into a clear crystal with a golden miniature figure of a wizard in it. This crystal was given to Burnheart, the Wizard of Brannheim. The Mystic returned to his previous form of Agamemnon but found that the power of the Rover forced him to travel between realms. The end result was that all of the Higher Powers were either dead or Einherjar again.

When Vigo and Abyssal came back into the flow of time, they quickly learned what the Six had done. Abyssal turned Sam’El, the former Chaos Beast, into D’Eir, the keeper of the dead. Then Abyssal created the Blighted by fusing Shadows of the Void with the soulless forms of Einherjar of the Myth Wood. The Blighted were sent to the Lower Plane of the Myth Wood to conquer it for Vigo. A Lich was created and sent down from the Higher Plane to lead the Blighted against the people of the Wood. His primary focus was finding the Blue and Green skull prisons of Ordo and Lady Myth.

The Blighted, under the direction of the Lich, engaged in battling the Jarls of the Myth Wood and their people time and time again. The Blighted won many victories for their Lord and Master, the Lich. They were able to take Champion’s Hall, King’s Rest, Old Tickle town, the Arena of Valor, as well as many of the Gnome Mines. However, they never dug in and defended any of the places they conquered. The result was an ever-changing battlefront. The Lich used this changing battlefront to scour the Myth Wood for either of the two remaining Skull prisons. Though the Jarls of the Myth Wood faltered in defending their lands, they excelled at keeping the Skulls out of the reach of the Lich.

Burnheart who had been given the crystal containing the power of the Mystic, developed a plan to use that power to defend the Myth Wood. Burnheart, with the aid of Jarl Elric and Morgan Daniels, used the magic of the crystal in conjunction with the blacksmiths of the Wood to reforge the Blue Skull prison, of Ordo, into a cube. The plan had been to use the cube to control the monstrous Revenant that roamed the Wood. With the aid of the Revenant they could beat back the Blighted. Ordo, still imprisoned within the cube, had other ideas. He chained Elric, Morgan, Burnheart, and the Revenant to his prison. This transformed the four into Devils. The four Devils then began terrorizing the people of the Myth Wood.

        With the Blue Skull now a cube that was death for anyone to touch besides the four who were chained to it, the Lich put all his attention on the Green Skull. It became harder and harder for the Jarls to keep the Green Skull from falling into the Lich’s hands. In a desperate bid to prevent the Lich and his Blighted army from getting their hands on the skull, Jarl Faolin locked the Green Skull in the Mage’s Tower. He then had the Blacksmiths of the Wood, with the three hammers of Unmaking, seal the Mage’s Tower away from the lower plane of the Myth Wood. In this way removing the skull from their reach.

        While the war raged on in the lower plane of the Myth Wood, Grimner now with his memories returned to him, decided his time in the Myth Wood was at an end. He felt he owed the realm a debt however, so he concocted a plan to thwart Abyssal. He convinced D’Eir to leave the realm with him.  So Abyssal would not notice his absence, D’Eir disguised BroDar as D’Eir. Then he and Grimner left the Myth Wood. It is unknown where they went and what they did on that journey…

At the moment that the Tower was sealed away, D’Eir returned to the Myth Wood. With him was Hela of Helheim. They entered the Higher Plane of the Myth Wood through a gate that D’Eir knew of from his time as the Chaos Beast. Hela, with very little effort, subdued Abyssal and bound him in his skull prison once more. D’Eir chained and cast Vigo into the black chest known as Shadow’s Hold. D’Eir with objects and energies he took from other realms modified the chest, with the aid of the Blacksmith Vandergrah and his hammer of Unmaking. It’s nature somewhat changed, however it was still filled with Shadows of the Void.

So ended the War for the Higher Planes

The price of victory was high. Hela required the Blighted be given the option of tying themselves to her, for their continued existence. They accepted her offer, becoming the Helions. This anchored a portion of the Myth Wood in the Realm of Helheim. Also, at the end of the war, a ship from Folkvangr arrived. In the ship was a chest, that if opened by nobility of the Myth Wood, in the Myth Wood, would anchor a part of the Myth Wood in the Realm of Folkvangr. Ambassador Riven and the Hunter opened the chest in the Myth Wood. After the anchoring took effect, the ship left the Myth Wood and returned to Folkvangr. On board was Jarl Elric, Ambassador Riven, the Hunter, Burnheart, Morgan Daniels, and the now covered cube of Ordo.  

Eir’s garden, having recently separated from Valhalla, was now completely bonded with the Myth Wood. While the war for the higher plane had been progressing, the Realm of Valhalla had come to consciousness. With this new found consciousness, the Realm desired the return of the part of itself that was Eir’s Garden. In this way Eir’s Garden now acts as an anchor for part of both Realms to exist in the other.

If this was not enough, the power of the Myth Wood returned to the Monarch, the Mystic, and the Recarnit. However, Grimner was not in the Myth Wood to receive the power of the Arbiter. Likewise, D’Eir was torn between Helheim and the Myth Wood, so the power of the Chaos Beast did not return to him. The soul of Gadin was missing from the Myth Wood. The power of the Sentinel remained in the barrier that surrounds the Myth Wood.

Only three of the Six Higher Powers are represented in the Higher Plane of the Myth Wood. It has fallen on those three to find replacement souls for those missing positions. Only those found honorable enough will be considered worthy to ascend to the Higher Plane.

        In the 3rd and 4th age when the Elves ruled the Myth Wood, governance was a matter of strict adherence. The Elves being a long-lived race were not quick to change and believed in a sovereign head of state. However, they also understood the need for redundancy and empowered local governance.

        When the original Elven races of the Myth Wood, Ljos’Alfar and Dokk’Alfar, joined forces in the middle of the Second Age, rules were put in place over sovereignty. It was decided that the stronger ruler of the two races would be elevated to High King/Queen. This High King/Queen would then have the authority to guide and make sweeping laws over the two races. The High King/Queen was not empowered to rule the individual races but guide them as a whole. The first High King was Volund of the Dokk’Alfar. He was victorious over Dain of the Ljos’Alfar.

        At the height of the Elven Kingdom, two Kings and one Queen ruled the Myth Wood. King Oberon Alberich of the Ljos’Alfar, ruled all of the Light Elves. He was also recognized as the High King over all the Elvish races. Queen Titania Alphane of the Dokk’Alfar, ruled all of the Dark Elves. King Gadin Fistarada of the Fen’Alfar, ruled all of the Gray Elves. Each of these Kings and Queen ruled in a somewhat different manner, but their rule over their individual people was absolute.  

Oberon ruled from his capital of High Guard which he had built over the ruins of Shadow’s Hold. High King Oberon ruled with the aid of advisers. Each adviser was a Duke over a piece of land in the Ljos’Alfar lands in the north Myth Wood. Second to Oberon amongst the Ljos’Alfar was the Archduke. If Oberon were to perish the Archduke would become King of the Ljos’Alfar, but not necessarily High King of the Elves.

        Queen Titania ruled from her home of Dhghhiem which was built within a cave structure in the west Myth Wood. She ruled as a tyrant. Her people were fanatically loyal to her and obeyed her every command. She did place chieftains in charge of areas of her lands to run the day to day operations of those areas. To the best of historical knowledge, no line of succession was in place for the Dokk’Alfar.

        King Gadin ruled from Gray Arrow Keep in the south Myth Wood. While his rule was absolute, he only exercised his command over the Gray Elves in times of war. In times of peace each Gray Elf clan had its own Elder and internal workings. The Elders would meet once a year at a great feast at Gray Arrow Keep. Here they would vote on different matters as well as hold a tournament to see who would carry Farin’Gar for the next year. In the event that Gadin perished, the current holder of Farin’Gar became King of the Fen’Alfar.

        All three Elven races ruled themselves, yet bowed to a High King/Queen. The role of High King/Queen was determined by which one of the ruling monarchs was the most powerful. This was decided by full-out war between the three Elven races. However, in the case of High King Oberon, both Titania and Gadin surrendered to him before bloodshed occurred.

        In the event that the High King was not in attendance but had not perished, then the other two rules would step up as joint kings or queens in the interim. They would continue to enjoy joint power until such time as the High King/Queen returned. If, however, it was discovered that the High King/Queen was dead then war to establish a new High King/Queen would commence. If it was discovered that one of or both of the interim Kings/Queens were responsible for the death of the High King/Queen, then those responsible were disqualified from the High King/Queen selection process.

        In this way the Elves ruled over themselves and were able to present a strong unified front against their many enemies. They were the undisputed rulers of the Myth Wood from the start of the Third Age to the beginning of the Fifth Age. They subjugated the Gnomes, and Humans. Eliminated or exiled the Aes Sidhe, and Demi-Gods. It was not until the Gray Elves sided with the Humans, after the Culling of the Three Cities, that the Elven rule was overthrown.

Paper on the Histories of the Myth Wood Elves

Information gathered from the library of Gray Arrow Keep

Brother Arcadia