Torc Wars

The Torc Wars were thirteen wars waged over three relics forged in the Creation War by a necro-infused primordial named Maen Grirngrim. Very powerful items, with stories of "peasant to demigod", the Torcs of Maen Grirngrim got their power from the souls of previous owners, the three archangels killed by Maen Grirngrim, and a bit of their maker.

Riveted to one's head, becoming part of the wearer until death, they work by transferring some of the power of a dead previous owner to a new living owner. In the beginning, the transfer of these relics from the deceased to the next in line was done justly.

It did not take long for this to change, with the lure of seemingly ever-growing power leading to suspicious deaths in families, then tribal leaders being murdered by internal rivals, then nations going to war with the sole reason of laying claim to a Torc of Maen Grirngrim.

- Amân Balthôn, Durkoth historian, transcribed from a Tablet of Inendeep - "Maen Grirngrim's Traps"

With a lower than normal birthrate for humanoids, the many wars over the the Torcs of Maen Grirngrim took a heavy toll on the Durkoth's population. To make up for loss of numbers, the Durkoth went to war with the "backwards peoples" on the fringes of their empires, subjugating the Sussgurd, the Theegan, and the Dromite.

In the last year of the Torc Wars, the Horgon Confederacy (159 HE - 537 HE) was born. A union of the victors, established to deter further wars over the Torcs, its masters were Krak-Oth, Neld-Rac, and Rioch Tetrax. Each a Saint of Maen, under their watch peace and prosperity came, and wars, but never again a war over whether or not someone was worthy enough for a Torc of Maen Grirngrim.