1. Events

Great Northern War

War
1940

Beginning in 81 AN, the long rivalry between Ra'Onitia and Leddig Slatte tipped into conflict. For decades, the royal houses of Leddig Slatte grew fat on the lucrative trade in metals and ore from the Dwarven clans of the Dorwine Mountains. Overtime, Leddig Slatte became more restrictive with trade seeking to exploit the demand from their southern neighbors in Ra'Onitia. The resulting taxation and trade controls became an erosive force in an already troubled rivalry. In the spring of 81 AN, when the first dwarven caravans to brave the thawing winter reached the capital city of Laerenholm, King Barov Von Drovis secretly ordered the entirety of all mineral shipments and inventory to be held in the royal treasuries, while announcing to Ra'Onitia diplomats that Leddig Slatte had no inventory to sell. This ploy attempted to foment artificial demand spikes for key resources and inflate the prices beyond normal market rates. 

The Von Drovis plan, coincided with a crisis far to the south. Ra'Onitia's limited domestic supply of iron and minerals was dealt a crippling blow as their mines in Ra'Montosa fell to mysterious raiders from the underdark. With no flow of resources from the north, Ra'Onitia plummeted into recession while Leddig Slatte maintained a their charade.  The Von Drovis deception would have likely resulted in complete collapse of Ra'Onitia were it not for a band of Barovian minstrels known as Nabenback. These bawdy peformers were enjoying a long run in Laerenholm, and in the revelry that notoriously followed Nabenback performances, the secret storehouses of Dorwine iron were revealed to the minstrels, who carried the proof south, ultimately revealing the plot to Ra'Onitia officials.

Shortly thereafter, the Horselords of Ra'Onitia rode north and opened hostilities. The resulting war lasted over 50 years ranging from minor raids and skirmishes, to full sacks of settlements and cities from both countries. The borders expanded and contracted several times over the course of the war, and much of the land known as the Barovian Steppes saw bloodshed at some scale. 

The war concluded when a band of wizards known as the Fangs of the Veil parlayed their influence over the VonDrovid throne and were provided military escort to central steppes and front lines of the war, where they promised to deliver victory to Leddig Slatte. They conducted a necromantic ritual. Their magic raised the fallen soilders from both sides of the conflict in massive numbers, and the undead turned on their parent countries destroying both from within.  

Following the fall of these former nations, the Fangs of the Veil took command of the undead hordes building an army of their own and pillaging the former nations. But to the south, the neighboring nation of Hatterwol rallied troops to ride North to drive back the hordes. The Hatterwollian troops drove a wedge between the Fangs and their armies sending some East through the dense forests of the Parasa, and others west across the open plains. Separated from their coven, the power of these wizards seemed to fade, and their abhorrent armies returned to the grave, though he great wizards themselves were never captured.

The steppes of the northland were ravaged by the roving hordes of undead creating a barren inhospitable land where once he flourishing nations held sway. The former cities reduced to rubble, and the abattoirs and war graves of the region continue to spawn and endless supply of undead fodder making the region a treacherous expanse braved only by traders and scavengers foolhardy enough to tempt fate.