The Lightning War

After the Mageban and the formation of the Crystal City, the Crystal Wizards kept out of the affairs of the Empire, content to train wizards in secret and avoid direct conflict. But after one of the Nerathi Maegi opened a rift to the Shadowfell, the Crystal Wizards felt they needed to do something, and soon.

With the Empire reeling from various rebellions, and the Elves of the Greenlands willing to fight, the Crystal Wizards found their perfect moment to act. Using a mystical servant as their messenger, the Crystal Wizards sent a missive to the Empire of Nerath. They declared the Greenlands free of Nerathi oppression and tyranny and now under the protection of Krysstalt.

Emperor Brevdol, having seen his father lose control over Craggonen and the Dwarves, was not about to see the Greenlands and the Elves go free. But he was wise enough to realize that he could not fight a typical war against them. The Elves were too well acquainted with the Greenlands and would slowly bleed any large army. And the Wizards would be able to do any number of amazing things with their arcane powers. He decided to send a fair sized army to occupy the region, but he also sent a large number of Imperial Maegi and the best commandos he could find. Rogues, rangers, horse poaches and chicken thieves, even merchants loyal to the Empire who had experience with traveling in the Greenlands, they were all hired on as irregulars and sent to combat the Elves.

When the war began to rage, however, the Elves and their Imperial counterparts played second fiddle to the Crystal Wizards and Imperial Maegi. Balls of fire flew across the sky, immolating everything in their paths. Strange fogs rolled in without warning, only to be dispersed by a crackling bolt of lightning. The arcanists on both sides made liberal use of teleportation abilities and were constantly moving.

Unlike The Winter War which depended upon the seasons for battle, the Lightning War raged year round without pause. Many Wizards and Maegi died at each others hands over the near twenty years of war. In the end, the Empire was pushed out and several years later, officially gave up any claim to the Greenlands.