Author:Richard Di Ioia

Used with permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission.

The Bakluni mages were gathered within the confines of Tovag Baragu, each summoned privately by priests and priestesses of Istus - the Greatest of Powers. The mages were not told why their presence was needed this night, they were only told to bring their greatest artifacts and items of power. The High Priests had yet to arrive and even though all the mages respected the faith of Istus and its priests they began to be restless.

"What are we doing here in the middle of the night waiting on the whims of priests. Are we not the greatest mages the Empire has ever known! We are not dogs to be summoned and made to wait for scraps." Thus spoke Jan-Talub one of the younger mages who had perfected many spells of destruction used on their Suel foes.

"Fate bids you to be here on this night to witness what should never have come to pass." The High Priest spoke these words as he approached the center of the circle of stones. The mages had no more than a few moments to register these words when the night sky was filled with bright blue bubbles of light. As far as the eye could see the bubbles stretched and started to fall. Blobs of light fell to the earth below and where they landed nothingness happened. No tree, no structure, no living creature existed any longer. But the destruction did not end there. Much like a stone causes ripples in the water when it strikes, the bubbles caused ripples in the air that spread across the landscape and the destruction spread. Within moments of the first bubbles striking the earth the Bakluni empire was no more - disintegrated beyond a trace. Only Tovag Baragu with the priests and mages within still stood.

"Istus could not stand back and allow this genocide of her people to happen without taking a hand. You have been spared for a short time to take revenge on the Suel. Your Fate has been postponed for only two months or until you leave this place. At the end of the two months, you will suffer the Fate that should have been yours this night." With those final words the High Priest sat down and said no more.

For two months the Bakluni mages plotted their revenge, great magics where prepared and perfected. Artifacts of power were sacrificed to create fuel the Spell. The magic was tied to the stone of Tovag Baragu and the Spell grew in power.

Meanwhile, the Suel flush with victory over their foes celebrated in their cities. The younger Suel houses traveled north and East into the once Bakluni lands and claimed them for their own. With them the Suel brought their slaves - the Oeridians and the other lesser races. For two months the Suel ruled supreme and plans for expanding the empire started. But then the Red Clouds started. And the fire without color. For days a heat distortion would be seen and where it ended flames would erupt from the ground. The colorless fire fell for three weeks and cities crumbled under heat and flames. Whereas the Suel's cataclysm was a cold, calculated and planned means of genocide, the Bakluni's was one of spite and hate. Filled with raw power of destruction and revenge the fire fell and the Suel lived in terror.

At the end of the three weeks, nothing flammable remained of the Suel Empire. In the northern Bakluni lands, the younger Suel houses survived outside of the influence of the Spell. But a new terror arose, the Oeridians slaves rose up in revolt and threw off the yoke of their masters. The Suel fled east and west with their slaves always behind them hunting them like dogs. Thus ended the first era of Man upon Oerth.