War Of The Book

The War of the Book, which took place in 98 AT, was a vast war that involved all Ten Kingdoms.

History

The first galdori, in Estua, had written a book that came to be known as the Balshem Tome. This was the first grimoire ever written. In that time, magic was newer, rawer and stronger; the sorcerers who wrote the book had enormous power, and the words within the book even took on a sort of sentient power of their own.

The other nine kingdoms, jealous of the advances of the northern galdori, merged on Roannah, attempting to take the book by force. Little is known about what happened next, but it is said that every army in the country was wiped out in a single day. The book was purportedly destroyed thereafter.

After the war ended, Estua became sealed off from the rest of the world by an Everspell, which erected a protective bubble around the city. It is not known who cast this spell.

In Legend

Many centuries ago, the galdori were powerful beyond all imagining. Their control over the mona was complete. And they wrote a book - the first grimoire ever written - to document their incredible mastery of magic.

But the gods were unhappy that their subjects had overstepped the boundaries into which they had been born. The humans, now calling themselves "sorcerers," were usurping the magic that had been the dominion of the mythic beasts, the guardians of Vita. And so they decided to destroy the Book.

But they could not.

The Book, the gods decided, had become more powerful than the gods themselves. To keep from losing control of the world, the gods decided to destroy all galdori. But Alioe intervened, and rescued the armies of Anaxas. (It should be noted that each of the Ten Kingdoms believes that it was their prime god who intervened, saving their people from death.) The gods compromised by sealing off the city of Estua forever, to prevent the galdori from regaining their former power.

To this day, the galdori struggle to control the mona without the aid of the Balshem Tome. This is the explanation for the shortcomings of modern magic.