The Golden Hall

Chapter 8: The First Anthropoidal War

The elves today are the closest allies to the human race, so close to as having the nickname “The Cousin Race”. To most that are ignorant to our past, it would be shocking to know that we once considered each other as arch adversaries. The elves of the past were rarely the victims of hardship, this is because they were constantly aided by their divine father Auskash. They were an extremely egomaniacal race. Most elves believed in Elven supremacy, which was the belief that all non-elf races were created purely to serve them. When their attention was captured by humans, a race they found immensely inferior, they were awestricken. The elves knew little to nothing about  mankind, they knew not of their origin nor their capabilities. When elves first discovered the existence of humans they simply ignored them entirely. From their perspective, humans were nothing more than unintelligible beasts, equal to the fish in the ocean and the worms in the dirt. It is believed that all creatures created by The Bestial Elder-gods were nothing more than simple animals, no matter their abilities or intelligence, they are labeled as beings without free-will. Beings created by the principle gods however, even the ones created by Sarathil, were considered greater beings in the class system of sentient creatures. beings in this category are called Anthropoids. The elves did not know of Humhal, nor that mankind was his mortal incarnation. To them Auskash was the ruling authority among the principle gods, second only to the parent gods. Therefore, they saw humans as beneath even the fairy races, which they believed were the most inferior anthropoids of all at the time.

Considering all that elves had believed, to see a race they once thought were useless even as slaves become a mighty collective that had outdone them in every aspect they felt proud of in their progress was outrageous. Collectively, their self image the dominant race was demolished. They wanted not only to defeat this new object of their hatred, but to also break it, watch it crumble like a stale pastry under a warhammer. They wanted to make an example out of mankind. This furious mob ,under the guidance of their equally furious monarch, prepared for what they didn't see as a war, but rather, genocide.

The elven armies amassed enormous battleships that could carry a thousand armies into a war with the Void. They named this collection of vessels The Arcs of Wrath. They made the journey from their continent to the home continent of man. A great deal of islands, colossal islands, and subcontinents were used as pit stops for this genocide hungry militia. Word inevitably spread across the entire planet. The kingdoms of the other races did nothing to neutralize this atrocious crusade under fear of annihilation. Arrogance irradiated from the colossal army, with the idea of certain triumph dulling their judgment like strong ale. They soon set camp in Traiskhal, a colossal island neighbouring the human continent, a barren land inhabited only by mountains. The army planned a surprise assault for the fastest route to victory. The arrogant crusade was immediately detected by the kingdoms of the coast, which alerted the landlocked nations. The allied kingdoms quickly agreed on simply convincing the invasion focused militia, not through diplomacy, but intimidation.

The elves were prepared to invade, but before they could, they were stopped by a mysterious sound. Chanting echoed all around the camp, first difficult to notice, but soon impossible to ignore. Elven scouts spotted light emitting from beyond the horizon. Fear quickly made its home in the soldier’s hearts. The army of man soon made its way into the sight of the elves. It was truly a sight to behold, an endless line of soldiers stretching from each end of the elve’s sight, with a field of warriors following it. The elven king demanded composure from his trembling army, summoning back his soldier's confidence with a pride restoring speech (translated from the third language of the first elven kingdom) “What do we see before us, a powerful enemy? No! We see insects in armor. An illusion of strength! These lowly worms insult us with their sad attempt at sophistication and might. And yet I see men, that last night, were making bets on the amount of heads they would see mounted above their fire pits in their homesteads, soiling their armor and pleading to Auskash to let them see their women! You dare doubt yourselves? Shameful! You WILL crush these pathetic creatures, return home, and conquer your eager women! They have no father, no god, no hope, no right to hope! We are the children of Auskash! The sons of the mighty! End your pitiful cowering, and demolish these putrid things!” His army reassured, the elven king lead the charge. The army of man stood unmoving. The blood-thirsty monarch targeted a small, frail-looking soldier. He lifted his sword, and as he swung with all his might, he sealed his fate.

The soldier caught the elven sword with only his teeth, the shock of the sudden stop bouncing off him into the king’s wrists, shattering them. The king howled in pain, bringing a halt to the charging elven soldiers. The small human soldier then grabbed the wounded elf's arm, and twisted it, destroying the bones inside. The slack jawed warriors could only watch in horror as their king, the one that they were willing to die for, screamed in pain like a child with a scraped knee. The elven king then scurried for cover behind the front line of his army whilst his soldiers gave him glares of astonishment and apalment. A general of the human militia standing atop a small plateau then gave the elves their warning. “We pose no threat to you! We have never attacked you. We wish only that you go in peace. To not do so is a grave mistake! Leave now, and your lives will continue.” A human archer that was present in the battle took note of the elves response. He stated : “After the general gave our warning there was a long pause before their reply that would be entirely silent if not for their monarch’s pitiful wails of anguish. My brother's in arms in I could see the series of emotions our opponents endured. First, surprise. Then came fear, a heart stopping fear. Next was confusion. Finally, vengeful rage. I then knew of the elves foolish hubris.”

The army of furious elves then charged the human defense. The battle mages were given confirmation from the general to begin their assault. Enormous magical automatons made of the battleground arose and began to hurl giant boulders at the elven infantry. Massive pits spewing flammable gasses opened below the surprised army and were ignited by fire raining from above. The armor-clad human foot soldiers mowed through thousands of quivering elven crusaders. Human steel was riddled with the humiliated blood of the elves that sought their irradiation. The army once filled with certainty and arrogance was now reduced to a fourth in their original numbers and a humiliated and sniveling king. Their childish leader demanded they surrender, and so they did, in hopes of mercy. The human generals ensured mercy, aload peaceful leave, and even provided help in the respectful burial of their fallen, which was accepted as quickly as it was offered.

Once the remnants of the crusade returned to their homeland, they began the process of informing the families of the deceased soldiers. Women and children wept tears of unfathomable sorrow, the sword brothers of these casualties provided as much comfort as could be given, but the king had other plans, those of a political nature. He knew that once the tears were wiped from the eyes of his people, they would need anwers. A scapegoat was needed, but the humans were too powerful to be a viable candidate since placing blame in a group would always end with violence. He needed something weak, something that could be easily seen to have the blame. He decided on one group, and in doing so damned himself to never have his name remembered or recorded, a punishment most cruel to beings like elves. He decided to blame his own soldiers, the veterans of the massacre. This choice would spark an age that would inevitably give birth to the first God War to have human participation, and make peace nothing more than a dream for over one million years. This bloody age is called The Age of Pointed Fingers.