Corruption War

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The Nether Portal, source of the corruption in Wynn.
Corruption War
Aliases	War of Corruption
Theaters of War	Wynn Province
Major Events	Opening of the Nether Portal (0 AP), Destruction of Ancient Nemract (Around 0 AP), Destruction of Old Detlas (78 AP), Destruction of Akias (347 AP), Corruption of Theorick (589 AP), Battle of Ragni (886 AP), Arrival of the Villagers (900 AP)
Duration	0 AP - Present
Information	A war that has been ravaging Wynn for the last 1000 years, mainly fought between the Humans and Bak'al's undead armies. Thanks to Bak'al's defeat by the hand of Bob and the arrival of the Villagers to Wynn, the war has slowly been shifting towards the Humans' favor.

“	If there is a "cure", I'm sure it will have something to do with understanding the portal. I leave this journal in the hopes that it will be found and help those understand this plight better than I. Though I admit, my information is not helpful. The corruption acts independently and without intelligence. It does not think, it simply does. It's like an idea, a concept. An idea is something that can not be destroyed.	„
	~ Garoth, Studying the Corrupt

The Corruption War is a conflict between the Humans of Wynn, supported by the Villagers of Gavel, and the mindless force of influence known as the Corruption, which has been raging on for 1000 years. Most of the conflict has been between the forces of Wynn and the Corrupted general Bak'al, who has destroyed entire cities and laid siege to others numerous times during the past millennia, under orders of the Dern Beast, embodiment of the Darkness.

The Corruption War, which is the main storyline of the Wynn Province, has affected the world in many ways, not just in Wynn: in Fruma, the homeland of the Humans, the royal government of the province decided to close its gates and isolate itself to protect itself from the Corruption when the outbreak first begun. However, as the war continued, soldier recruits from Fruma (who are mostly prisoners sent to Wynn, likely to die) have poured into the province to help with the war effort. The Villagers of Gavel, although unaffected by the Corruption, have greatly profited from trading with Wynn and from the adventurers that constantly pour into their lands through Llevigar. In the Silent Expanse, which has also been spared from the Corruption, the connection between the realms has been shattered and warped as the war evolved.

The war has also greatly changed Wynn culturally: before, it was an insignificant land mostly inhabited by farmers from Fruma, few and far between. Yet, when the war began, the province soon found itself as the center of the world, ironically becoming more prosperous as recruits from Fruma and merchants from Gavel poured in. The conflict has alo transformed the province into a land of warriors, with children being trained to kill at an early age and a strong sense of unity and community forming through the entire province.

The Corruption War is part of a bigger conflict, which serves as the main storyline of the game, known as the War of the Realms.

Prelude

Main article: Corruption

The Corruption is a byproduct of the greater War of the Realms, the primordial conflict between Light and Darkness. When the forces of Light and Darkness fight, the chaotic force of Corruption is born. At an unknown point in time, the realm today known as The Nether, connected to Wynn through the Nether Portal (at the time inactive), was ravaged by the Corruption and completely overtaken by it.

History

The war began when the Nether Portal, the gateway to an ancient realm known as the Nether which has been completely destroyed by the Corruption, was uncovered by a group of miners who were digging for emeralds. The lead miner was the first man to enter the Portal, and became the first Corrupted, turning into a mindless beast known as the Corrupter of Worlds. The Corruption soon spilled out from the desolate realm on the other side, creating the Roots of Corruption in the area surrounding the Portal.

The Corruption began spreading more and more through its roots, raising the dead along the way. The first city to fall to the Corruption was Ancient Nemract: the forces of the city were quickly overwhelmed by the undead and most of its population was massacred, though the dead were later raised by Charon for his Forsaken Legion.

Meanwhile, more unsuspecting adventurers were being drawn towards the Nether Portal. One of these adventurers was Bak'al, a soldier and the second human to ever walk into the Portal and come out alive. However, unlike the Corrupter of Worlds, Bak'al retained some of his intelligence when he exited the Nether, though he was broken by its influence. At this point, Bak'al began serving the Dern Beast for reasons yet unknown, and was set on destroying Wynn.

In 78 AP, Bak'al attacked Old Detlas, forcing its inhabitants to flee to Ragni or Troms, the two greatest fortresses in Wynn and the only ones that could bear the burden of the Corruption, although barely. He would continue to sow destruction across the province for many centuries, even destroying the city of Akias near the Detlas Suburbs in 347 AP. For a time, hope was bleak in Wynn as soldier after soldier fell to the Undead hordes.

However, around this time, things changed. A man gifted in the ways of magic known as Marius Twain began gathering orphaned gifted individuals from across the province and adopting them, creating the Twain family. His most notable adopted children were Theorick, Rickeo, Dwendle and Mael. The Twains protected the province for years with their magic, credited with being the reason the province was kept alive. However, Theorick quarrelled with Marius over him getting material rewards from the people of the town he lived in, Nesaak, in exchange for protection, and eventually left the family.

Yet, in 589 AP, the Corrupted armies began attacking even the town of Nesaak, and Theorick devised a plan to finally get rid of the Corruption once and for all: enter the Nether Portal, and eradicate it at its core. Theorick travelled to the Roots of Corruption, but when he entered the Portal (becoming the third person ever recorded to do so) and exited it, he was broken and corrupted, slipping into insanity. Fearing that he'd lose control and cause destruction, he returned to Nesaak and froze the entire region permanently, halting the spread of Corruption into the area but also killing many of its citizens. He sealed himself into the Ice Barrows afterwards.

In 623 AP, shortly after Theorick's downfall, another person would meet his same fate. Garoth, a scholar from Elkurn, wanted to understand the Corruption to find a cure for it, and made a camp in the Roots of Corruption. However, when he examined the Nether Portal up close, a shadowy figure pushed him in by force, and he came out corrupted, completely unhinged unlike Theorick who'd managed to keep some of his sanity. He then hid into the Lost Sanctuary where he conducted experiments on wild creatures and even drove some of them to extinction for amusement.

In 854 AP, the legendary hero Bob was born in the Decrepit Sewers during a raid on Ragni, in which the population hid in the sewers to avoid getting massacred by the undead hordes. His biological mother died in childbirth, so he was adopted by Momo. Starting at 12 years of age, and after Momo died, Bob began travelling the province searching for the "four masters" of the four classes which Momo had told him about. He trains with his masters, even exiling Slykaar during his training in Troms for using human souls to defend the city against Corruption, and eventually becoming a master of the four classes himself.

In 886 AP, after burning through the Nivla Forest with his army, Bak'al approached Ragni once again, this time to finally take the fortress down for good. However, Bob was there awaiting him, and confronted Bak'al, defeating him: it was the first time Bak'al had ever been defeated, prompting him to disappear from the battle, Bak'al was never seen again in Wynn. The battle turned the tide of the war in the Humans' favor, as the undead were no longer as organized, and Wynn's population began to recover.

Shortly after the victory, more hope arrived: in 900 AP the Villagers arrived in Wynn and brought luxurious goods and magic with them. The Villagers founded an alliance with the humans of Wynn that would go on to save the province. The Humans were taught magic by the Villagers and the province was greatly enriched by the trade from Gavel.

Although Bob disappeared in 984 AP, the province was again filled with hope as the Humans finally had the advantage over the Corruption and the Undead, with cities such as Detlas flourishing like never before.

Trivia

• Due to Bak'al's position as "leader of the Corrupt", many believe that he is the literal leader of the force of the Corruption, similar to how Orphion is to the Light. However, this is not the case.