The Sunscourge Heresy

The Sunscourge Heresy is the name given by those still loyal to Sól and the Phoenix to the event precipitated by the Fall of Lagarde and the Binding of Mère Fleur wherein Ashtoreth created the Phoenixtear through a tainted Rite of Panacea and holy Intervention that created the Plagueborn and then consumed the Phoenixtear to ascend to become the first goddess of Frey since the Ruin. The event took place within the forsaken Florist chapel hidden beneath the Solist chantry across from Castle Antenor's front gates, in the catacombs of Pont de Fleur. The event also involved the defeat of Alyssia and the death of Godric Aldane in a vain but valiant attempt to avenge themselves upon Cyrus. The event is known simply as the Phoenixfall or the Ascension by those loyal to the Empire and by those who worship her Imperial Majesty. The Sunscourge Heresy occurred upon the dawn of 5E.10.1.1522, after the Binding of Mère Fleur upon the night of 9.29.1522 and the fall of Lagarde upon the night of 9.28.1522. It was followed by the departure of the Court of Locusts and the naming of Cyrus Chalfont as lord and master of Lagarde and Castle Antenor, along with the end of the Dawn's Herald as Lemuel bent the knee to Lord Chalfont and then departed for greener pastures with his wife, Eleanor Rayne, and reclaimed son, Cecil. The Sunscourge Heresy ultimately lead to the Rasping War, the fall of Noslith and the rise of the Empire of Izevel.

The Sunscourge Heresy was felt immediately by the Cardinals, leaders of the Solist Church, who ordered the Fifth Crusade to return to Caer Sól for further orders. The Fifth Crusade had at that time joined in secret with the army of the Yellow Rose, preparing for a Bregatian uprising against King Richard II of House Arvendon. Ashtoreth appeared in Caer Sól not long after, slaying the Cardinals and sundering Mt. Loinnir from the earth below in a show of divine power. Meanwhile, Duncan Gardner and Tyffayne of Bregate and the White Rose, respectively, had gone about their plans, attacking Agrawel and Castle Arvendon with the support of the Cumbrian armies of Earl Ethelhelm Beldrec, Elric Thrussell their greatest and most fallen knight. Richard II was slain in the Fall of Agrawel; shortly after, the march of the Fifth Crusade was halted as they were transformed into the Black Crusade by Ashtoreth's power. Caer Tenebris sprawled above Lake Loinnir before Ashtoreth opened up the Worldwound, and the deluge followed. The lake of light became the Lake of Darkness.

In the deluge, much of Noslith was swallowed up in the waves amidst the rising sea level; the earth flooded, shifted and shook, storms raged, new mountains rose, new islands appeared, and new rivers and lakes were filled. Elric and Ethelhelm were left to rule over the flooded cities and castles of the fallen kingdom; however, those still loyal to House Arvendon had gathered in Newport and had managed to survive the deluge through arcane power. Lead by Henry Malvern, former knight of the Dawn's Herald, and Princess Calanthe Arvendon, the last resistance rose against the new Empire and its puppet kings of Bregate and Cumbria. The Last Kingdom was perhaps fated to fall yet fought on until the bitter end with the city of Newport as its capital and last stand. After the fall of the Last Kingdom, the Northern Marches and Wraemore fell under Imperial control; the wars of conquest raged until Traewyn ceded most of its territory to Izevel in an infernal treaty, ending the long period of strife with most of the world under the control of Ashtoreth and the Empire of Izevel.