The land of Morden varies from the windswept dunes of Hyphrates in the south to the massive,
old-growth forests of Valkenholm, from the rocky moors of Cairn Kainen’s highlands to the frozen shores of Steppengrad. The enormous canyon of Stone’s End, the monolithic Weeping Colossus, and the ancient necropolis of Luxarrra are among the breathtaking vistas found across the nations of Morden.

Over the centuries, since it was first colonized, the land transformed from a fertile, but undeveloped subcontinent to a blustering mix of cultures and civilizations. Then, the Grand Coven invaded and battled the Armies of Light. The war devastated the region, toppled the governments, and resulted in untold deaths.

The Witch Armies
They came through the Outlands, boiling over the Darkwall Peaks in their multitude. Huge throngs of undead things and living creatures twisted beyond recognition by witchcraft. Rank upon rank of hired soldiers from across the great sea bolstered their numbers.

In the vanguard were the Accursed—shambling Mongrels, plodding Golems, loping, gibbering Vargr, lithesome Damphyre, along with their fellows. At their head strode the great usurpers, the Witches of the Grand Coven. Cunning Baba Yaga, mighty Sanguinara, the twisted Chimera, and their sisters led their varied armies over the Darkwall Peaks and into the unsuspecting lands of Morden quick as lightning, taking the unprepared mortals completely unaware and easily sweeping aside the initial, hastily assembled resistance.

The Witch armies spread out and the heroes of the Alliance gathered their armies to oppose them. The entrenched forces settled in for a savage war of attrition that would grind on for decades and only really end with the Great Betrayal, when the Grand Coven was broken and the Witch armies scattered to the winds.

The armies that shattered Morden during the long war were a strange and powerful mix of magical and human combatants cobbled together from a broad variety of sources. First there were the Accursed, mortal men and women forced or coerced into eternal servitude and made to fight as shock troops and heavy infantry in the van. Behind these mighty and terrible warriors came the banes, once normal beasts twisted into horrible mockeries of their natural forms by Witch magic.

Finally, there were mundane soldiers—men of negotiable valor from the exotic lands of the Sakurada Shogunate and Nordheim far across the roiling sea. Paid in blood-stained gold, these corrupt men gladly fought shield to shield with the Accursed for a handful of silver.

For decades after the initial invasion, the Witch armies and the forces of the Alliance fought a series of brutal wars. Slowly, the Witches overpowered the defenders of Morden and solidified their control over their conquered lands. Despite their power however, the Witch armies were not a unified force. Indeed, the forces of the Witches fought each other as often as they fought against the mortals.

Allegiances formed and dissolved as individual Witches jockeyed for power. This internecine fighting mattered little to the beleaguered defenders, however. Few mortals could tell the difference between one army of hideous monstrosities and another despite their individual liveries and banners.

The Betrayal
After decades of war with the Witch armies, the Alliance began to realize that there remained little hope for victory. Large portions of the surviving nations of Morden had already fallen to the banes and the Witchmarked. It seemed it would only be a matter of time before all would crumble.

The heroes of the Alliance hatched a plan with the Seelie Fey. The Fey made a false offer to ally with the Witches. While the armies of the Alliance fought a holding action against the Witch armies in the Ash Plains, the heroes and elite units hid in the Fey’s Summerlands. As the Djinn and her forces passed by, the armies of Morden unleashed an attack. In the course of the battle, King Auberon’s blade pierced the Djinn’s ethereal flesh. A massive blast of uncontrolled magic was unleashed as the two forces came into contact.

In an instant, an enormous surge of magical energy passed between the otherworldly Summerlands and the physical world of Morden. The wave of energy killed tens of thousands
who fought in the Ash Plains—on both sides of the conflict. Some who had fought in the Summerland’s battle were spontaneously transported back to Morden. Others vanished from the physical world with no explanation—whether they travelled to the Summerlands, elsewhere, or were simply vaporized is unknown.

Since the Betrayal, there has been no further contact with the Summerlands, the Seelie Fey, or the Djinn. Not even the Unseelie Fey or the surviving Witches know the ultimate fate of those who vanished during the battle. In the end, this battle proved enough to end the war, though not in quite the way the Alliance had intended.

Recognizing their mortality, the remaining Witches lost their thirst for conflict. Many blamed each other for the mistake in allying with the Fey and for the apparent death of their sister, the Djinn. More than half of the Witches took their armies with them and retreated back beyond the Darkfall Peaks. Seven remained behind, securing their hold over the nations of Morden. After all, without the leaders who had vanished in the final battle, there were no human armies to protect the remaining nations.

When the Witches abandoned their armies, the beings they transformed were left behind.
These Accursed had to fend for themselves. Some remained loyal to the Witches who had cursed them. Others tried to recover the humanity they had lost, proving themselves as the heroes Morden needs.