Alliance in the Ice - The Guardians of Noindaith

Traxl, The Legacy of the Roman Empire - The Great War

The disintegration of the empire into East and West was a lengthy and complex process that spanned several centuries. One of the main reasons was economic decline. High taxes burdened the population and businesses, while inflation undermined the value of the currency. In addition, the lack of resources made it difficult to maintain and renew important infrastructure such as roads and bridges, which in turn hampered trade. The decline in trade hit the empire particularly hard, however, as important routes and production centers fell into disrepair, further weakening the economic base.

Politically, the empire was shattered by a series of internal conflicts and power games. In the west in particular, the instability of rule contributed to the problems. Many of the rulers came from the military and often lacked the necessary competence or legitimacy, which led to frequent changes of power through intrigue or even murder. This political instability was exacerbated by the division into a Western and an Eastern Empire, with each part having its own political and military leadership. The split led to competing interests and exacerbated internal conflicts, which undermined the cohesion of the empire.

When the sons of the last ruler Valentinian I died childless before their time, a war broke out between the western and eastern parts of the empire over the succession. The Eastern king Theodosius I came to power, but he was not accepted by the Westians. After a long, costly civil war, known as the Great War, the empire finally split into the Western and Eastern kingdoms. Lengthy diplomatic efforts followed, but despite the efforts of several rulers, the empire has remained divided to this day.

During the Great War, a group of shamans from all parts of the country came together to consider how to settle the war. They were aware that they were too few to be able to settle the Great War. They called on their ancestors for advice. In visions, the ancestors showed them ways to end the Great War. They saw that failure to intervene would mean a complete fragmentation of the continent into many individual states, which would continue to fight each other in major and minor battles over the millennia, making lasting peace almost impossible. So the shamans wanted to use their magic to end the war and preserve the unity of the Western and Eastern Empires. They created an energy that got completely out of control, the demon Noindaith.

Instead of removing people's negativity and ending the war, the demon played on the darkest aspects of human nature. He deliberately intensified the negative emotions of humans, such as anger, mistrust, hatred and sadism. The conflict thus became many times more cruel because the demon stirred up discord between the parties.

It was only when the humans succeeded in driving out the demon with a concerted effort that the war lost its intensity and peace negotiations, which had been on hold for years, were resumed. But the peace was fragile. The hatred and discord that the demon had stirred up were now so deeply rooted in both parts of the empire that pacification was only superficially possible.

For centuries and generations, people had to recover from the scars of war. Over time, they returned to their common roots and traditions. It was a long road back to true peace before people were able to forgive and trust each other again.

The shamans, who had played a key role in banishing the demon and who called themselves guardians, followed the demon's tracks. They followed up clues when the electron cloud was sighted or the remains of a bloodbath were found somewhere. As there were fewer and fewer such clues, the Guardians, using their magic, concluded that the demon had retreated into the ice of the Copper Heights. So they founded a village in the middle of the Copper Heights on the border between the Eastern and Western Realms and set themselves the task of guarding and keeping the demon at bay over the centuries in a kind of secret society.

The guardians were led by a chieftain, but overall it was a less hierarchical group. The children were raised in the village, and once they reached adulthood, they were given the task of guarding various areas in the Copper Heights and keeping an eye out for signs of the demon.

The guardians operated secretly and tried to keep their knowledge, which they mainly passed on orally from generation to generation, a secret. Their aim was to protect the Copper Heights from a resurgence of the demon. For there were warnings from the elders that it could awaken again. For this reason, artifacts were hidden in secret places in the Copper Heights to strengthen and protect the guardians in the event of another outbreak of the demon.

Regular rituals were used to keep the demon in its inactive state and to control it. These rituals involved a precise sequence of chants, dances and spells with which the guardians put themselves into a trance, invoked the ancestors and asked the wind spirit for help.

The guardians received wisdom and guidance from the ancestors, often in the form of dreams or signs in nature. This enabled the guardians to make decisions or foresee future events. The ancestors could also pass on their magical powers to the guardians to strengthen them.

The wind spirit, a kind of nature deity, controlled air masses, could form barriers or disperse the demon's electron cloud in all directions. It also sharpened the guardians' senses and gave them almost superhuman vigilance.

Drums were used in the rituals to keep the rhythm of the ceremony and chants to tell the stories of the ancestors, the wind spirit and the creation of the demon. Masks and amulets were used to manifest the presence of the ancestors and the wind spirit during the ceremony. Sacrifices, such as food or valuable objects, were made to ask for the wind spirit's favor. With the combined power of the guardians, the wind spirit and the ancestors, it was possible to subdue the demon.