~85 Before Fifth Era (Fourth Era — Age of Darkness)

The best-preserved, and perhaps the only truly recorded, event of the Age of Darkness is known as Quintra’s Onslaught.

Arrival of the Strangers

Around 85 BFE, ships arrived at the southern Xaverion Islands from the southwest. Aboard them came a people unknown to the islanders: their skin pale as snow, their eyes blue like the open sky, and their hair golden or fiery red, shining like flame in the wind. Some believed they came from Estonya, and scouts were dispatched to cross the seas and seek answers. None ever returned.

The Zealots of Quintra

Soon the strangers struck. Reports spread that they were fanatics, zealots of Quintra, destroying everything in their path with blind fury. Towns and villages burned; their people were slaughtered. The only structures left standing in their wake were temples of Quintra. The survivors gave them a name that endures in dread: Quintra’s Onslaught.

Within a short time, the Onslaught had destroyed half the territory of what is now the Xaverion Islands. Refugees fled in waves as whole communities were erased.

The Counteroffensive

For a brief moment, the peoples of the islands united against the Onslaught, regardless of their faiths. The Ee’dornil opened regulated Waygates to take in refugees, and their Amazons and Druids joined the battle. The disciplined elven armies proved the most effective against the invaders, while the dwarven fortresses and their masterwork forges prevented the zealots from pushing further inland.

At last, through combined effort, the Onslaught was broken and defeated.

Backlash and Division

The victory came at a cost. Wary of Quintra and enraged by the devastation her zealots had wrought, some turned to retaliation. Temples and shrines of Quintra that had survived were torn down. Her followers were defiled and openly murdered by those devoted to Denday.

Thus, even in defeat, Quintra’s Onslaught became a turning point of the Age of Darkness. It proved that mortals could be just as destructive as the banished gods they once served. The zealotry of Quintra’s faithful and the reprisals of Denday’s followers deepened the age’s violence, while Ghor’s corruption spread unchecked in the chaos left behind.