Tainting of the Fae

An event known as the Tainting of the Fae began in mid-107 CE when citizens of Magnagora slaughtered the Moon Avatars in Ethereal Serenwilde and fed them to Gorgulu, the Devourer of Souls. In a decision that was then uncharacteristic of Magnagorans, the city's leaders - including Daevos, Valek, Bricriu, Brona, Arilyon, and Morslade - would embark on a campaign to raise the Great Spirit of Crow and empower Him. Of course, followers of the Great Spirit of White Hart in Serenwilde struck back and even though Crow was raised, the White Hart soon vanquished Him.

The Champion of the ur'Guard, Valek Feyranti, pushed the Magnagorans to persist in this plot, and soon after they developed a plan that might allow them to finally outsmart their opponents. The sacred moonglory, vital to the forest of Serenwilde, required centaur colts to properly propagate and bloom. Serenwilde, enraged by this diversion, used the spear of Nintoba to summon His wrath upon the foul Magnagorans. The Marshall of the Serenguard, Gregori Mes'ard, led the combined forces of Serenwilde - including Jasper, Dumihru, Bau, Munsia, Terenas, Elryn, Citera, Athan, Ibaesha, Lyth, and many others - to the Cosmic Plane of Nil to strike at Gorgulu directly. Their hope was that the trapped essence of the Spirit Moon could be released if the Demon Lord were killed. Even with the blessing of Lisaera and allies in New Celest, the defenders of the Moon were unable to thwart Magnagora and it seemed as if all hope was lost.

The Magnagorans succeeded in empowering Crow and this time, they immediately drove Him to attack the forest of Serenwilde and snuff out the Flame of Glinshari. With the Flame extinguished, the Magnagorans were free to travel to Faethorn and kidnap the wild fae. Their plan was thus revealed: ritualists of Magnagora would corrupt the very souls of the wild fae within the Devourer of Souls Himself, and then send the tainted fae out into the Basin of Life to spread the Taint and leech power from the Pool of Stars and the Moonhart Mother Tree.

Many days passed and the tainted fae grew stronger, but eventually the Magnagorans could not keep up a defense against the combined forces of Serenwilde and New Celest. As Gorgulu grew hungrier, they could no longer supply Him with enough fae to devour and strange plants began to infest Nil as a result. Serenwilde took advantage of this new distraction and endeavoured to relight the Flame of Glinshari. With the Flame once again protecting the barrier between the Ethereal Plane and Prime, the tainted fae could no longer multiply.

Things turned even worse for the Magnagorans at this time, unfortunately. The essence of the Moon had clearly transformed Gorgulu, and He broke free from the Demon Lords of Nil and turned His attention towards Them. It had always been Ashtorath's desire to overthrow Luciphage, so He sought an alliance with Gorgulu. His scheme was ended when Gorgulu devoured Him, and then shortly after He devoured the Queen of Cruelty, Nifilhema. Something about the death of the Demon Lords caused the tainted fae to once again return to the Basin, this time in terrifying waves that overwhelmed the enemies of Magnagora. It was now obvious that the Magnagorans had created a catastrophe by mixing the cosmic power of Nil with the etheric nature of the fae. The only solution was for a ceasefire while all inhabitants of the Basin looked for a way to destroy Gorgulu and release the trapped essence of the Moon. An uneasy alliance between the Nihilists and the Moondancers was formed through the efforts of Count Brona Feyranti, Heresiarch of the Nihilists, and his aide, Bricriu. As the tainted fae multiplied, more and more power flowed into the Megalith of Doom.

Leaders of the Seren came to an agreement with the Nihilists to allow their ritualists to help reveal Gorgulu, who had hid Himself throughout the very fabric of the cosmos. Just as their ritual was about to conclude, the Emperor of Magnagora, Daevos Feyranti, turned upon his citizenry and attacked the ritualists. Just as Gorgulu had so greedily feasted upon the fae, a small contingent of Magnagorans were unwilling to return things to relative normalcy in the Basin and lose this new source of immense power. Enraged, Luciphage sent out his archdemons to punish the traitors, allowing the ritualists to once again attempt to destroy Gorgulu.

There were many casualties, as one might imagine, but eventually the Devourer fell and the Moon Spirit was released. The Moon Avatars began to heal, and in fact became even more powerful than they ever were before. Luciphage restored the Demon Lords and the Nihilists returned to Magnagora to study the ramifications of Gorgulu's transformation. The surviving tainted fae were hunted to extinction, and with that, the saga of the Tainting of the Fae ended.