Terror March

In 1683, the last year of Apoxlins Sentence (1485 - 1683), a storied general returned home. He had long served the Ba'lith Empire. In the decades between his rotations to The Hells, he fought alongside the mortals of Ba'lith and any other looking for a general that had been trained by one of the best. Otherwordly beyond doubt, something forged by the gods, Raxcvillibus entered Ba'lith's capital seeking service. He was soon denied, and he knew why. He just needed to hear it from those that would one day feed his terrible blade. Rax's spy network, built over centuries, was spread far and deep. They learned that the Church of Coeus was behind the decision to cut-ties with one that had served the empire with loyalty and distinction. They feared his long exposure to Asmodeus would result in his seeking the emperor's sash.

For the next nine years, he prepared for war. The objective was to topple the Church of Coeus, those ruling the affairs of the Ba'lith Empire.

On 9 War March 1692, Raxcvillibus summoned the members of his order of death knights, the Lix Tetrax. These knights and their minions travelled from the dread hold Tas'dvr Mout, traversing the jungles of southern Ma'Ohari and entering Azrik. In addition to his undead knights, Raxcvillibus brought along his Soul Annihilators, 19 fire giants that suffered Drachlaz's labs, becoming death giants. Outside of these elites, the army had 20,000 cambion dwarves out of Smizerak, a maleraunt mercenary regiment out of Kilth, and four Gol'hakh mercenary companies out of Goth-Dyvermoir.

In their march south, Rax's army left ruin and devastation, plundering and burning the holds of the Torgilm Confederacy (1475 - 1719). This was mere show, because this confederacy was no friend of Ba'lith.

North of the Marmarath Fortress, things turned in his favor, as planned, when a Ba'lith army, one that Raxcvillibus had led in the past, switched sides. Together they defeated a renegade army of the Torgilm Confederacy. Holed up in Marmarath, this force was under the dark magic of the Zombie Drakon; cultists of the Cult of Worms. Rax did not lay claim to this great river fortress. If he had, his goal of entering Ba'lith would probably not have succeeded. In a secret pact signed between him and the Torgilm Confederacy, the citadel would be theirs if he succeeded in capturing Ba'lith's capital. Known for his honor, the confederacy believed in the pact, they only worried about what it would bring if Rax sat on the Broken Horn Throne.

Rax's goal of conquering Ba'lith was based on gaining support of those that had long served with him. He had served Ba'lith since 1629, roughly thirty-five years with the other half away on one of Hell's worlds. A field general that fought alongside his troops, he was highly respected, and for some generals he was their best chance at gaining more power for themselves. As a result, more than half of Ba'lith generals joined the invader's growing army. This led to a division in Ba'lith, with some taking the side of empire's rulers, the Church of Coeus, and others taking the side of the generals, and Raxcvillibus. Two years later, this division turned bloody, the start of a civil war. This ended the Terror March, and started the Coeus Civil War (1694 - 1697).