The Thousand Year War was a conflict between dragonkind and the giant nation of Ostoria. It began in the Time of Dragons, c. −26,000 DR, and lasted until c. −25,000 DR,[1] after both races reached a truce.[6]
History[]
Causes[]
In the few centuries that followed their arrival to Toril,[7] dragons generally kept aloof of the giants and ignored them,[8] maintaining a relative peace with the nation of Ostoria.[9] But they regularly preyed upon the herds of animals the giants founded and tended, such as elk and rothé.[8] This led to many minor conflicts with the giants,[7] as they felt slaying these poachers was not only desirable, but worthy of great honor[8] or "bragging rights." However, such conflicts were always personal, not tribal or regional, with most being settled by contests of might, skill, or wits rather than outright murder.[9]
The war truly began in circa -26000 DR.[1] It was uncertain exactly what finally set off the war between them,[9] but by most accounts it was when the dragon god Garyx sent an avatar to lead a flight of red dragons to attack the giant nation.[1][7] An assault that led to the burning and destruction of a cloud giant city.[7] According to giants, this occurred because Garyx had inflamed those dragons with thoughts of greed and envy over Ostoria's prosperity.[9]
With that act of aggression the giants finally felt that dragonkind posed a serious threat to them and Ostoria went to war.[1][4] And soon afterward, all races of dragonkind were involved in the conflict.[1]
Battle[]
The giants created a powerful colossus construct called Vonindod to help them in the fight against the dragons,[5][7] The battles acquired such an epic scope that they became the source of inspiration for many dwarven, elven, and even giant classical ballads.[4]
One of the most renowned heroes of the war was the frost giant Hjurnur Wyrmrever, who killed many dragons single-handedly,[6][7] though he could not match the Vonindod in terms of wyrms slain.[7] He was credited during this time with killing an adult blue dragon with a single blow of his axe and for breaking the spine of a black dragon over his knees.[7] He ultimately died fighting an ancient gold dragon general that had previously destroyed many a giant city,[7] though some would say it was a king.[6]
Hjurnur, son of Hjurgen,
leveler of Ranauroch,
son of Ottar,
Jarl of the northern wind-teeth,
son of grand Annam,
All Seeing, All Knowing, All Quelling,
All Father―
Fireheart,
Mighty reaver of the wyrm's core,
He who howled at the sun,
He of the quenched heart,
He who drowned in the river of swords,…
Despite the giants best efforts, the dragons ultimately drove them out of the southern portion of Ostoria. The Vonindod was then deployed in the northern reaches of the kingdom to defend the cities therein.[7]
After more than a thousand years of warfare, Ostoria finally reached a truce with dragonkind. Accounts of the nature of the truce were conflicting because many races accounted the event differently.[6][7] Historians among the smallfolk typically claimed that the dragons had abandoned the war for reasons of their own.[7] According to dwarven historians, the dragons wanted to end the war with the giants because they were fighting in a violent civil war that led to the separation of the chromatic and metallic species.[1][6]
According to giant traditions, Annam All-Father and Garyx settled the war by playing a game of wah-ree. The game ended in a stalemate.[6][7] A result which allowed the dragons to keep the territories they had won in the war.[7]
A third account stated that the war ended as a result of a curse that struck Tiamat after she slew an unknown giant deity. She was doomed to become a prisoner of Tiamat's Lair in Avernus, only able to leave the plane if summoned by a powerful ritual.[3]
Aftermath[]
After the end of the conflict, the giants dismantled the construct Vonindod,[5][7] and its pieces were shared among the surviving giant cities.[7]
By the time the war concluded, Ostoria had been reduced to a shadow of its former self. On the day the truce was declared, the nation occupied only the northernmost edge of Faerûn, the areas now known as the Great Glacier, the Cold Lands, and the Savage North.[1][6]
Some sages believed that, if Tiamat were to be successfully summoned back to the Prime Material plane, it would result in an end to the truce and the return of hostilities between the two races.[3]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
- Adventures
- Referenced only
- Storm King's Thunder
- Video Games
- Referenced only
- Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 7–9. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (May 29, 2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 11. ISBN 978-0786966240.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 7. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Christopher Perkins, et al. (September 2016). Storm King's Thunder. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-7869-6600-4.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 9. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 Tuque Games (2020). Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Ed Greenwood (2016-06-30). Volo's Guide to Befriending Giants (Web). In John Houlihan, Christopher Perkins eds. Dragon+ #8. Wizards of the Coast. p. 6. Retrieved on 2018-05-23.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Mike Mearls, et al. (November 2016). Volo's Guide to Monsters. Edited by Jeremy Crawford, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 19. ISBN 978-0786966011.