In 1602 the Lunar Empire made a major effort to crush Sartar. The Red Emperor himself led the army and crossed the The River south of Dwarf Ford. They marched towards Runegate Fort, where most of the Sartar army awaited.
The two main armies faced each other near Runegate Fort. The Lunar army made camp and rested, watching and waiting. At the height of the Full Moon specters haunted the Sartar camp, and an army of corpses marched out of the Upland Marsh and assaulted Runegate. The defenders were skilled and valiant as they cut down the undead that clumsily clambered over each other to storm the walls. Their priests worked hard to kill the dead with magical fires, only occasionally dampened by moonlight, and the healers exhausted themselves to help their companions.
The next morning, the Lunar army attacked the fort using the newly killed corpses as if they were ramps to scale the walls. When the main army attempted to intervene, the Lunar cavalry harassed them and did not allow them to get close.
That night, a glow from the north unreasonably frightened the Sartar army. Many fled and saved themselves. Others watched as a huge bat, town-sized and glowing like the Red Moon itself, heavily flew into sight and clumsily swooped towards Runegate. The city spirits attempted to halt it, but were crushed when it landed right within the walls. The very towers themselves burst from this effort, and the people of the city were seared and eaten. However, the eastern gate (the “Rune Gate”) and those sheltering beneath it survived both the attack of the Crimson Bat and the subsequent inferno.
The buildings in Runegate have been rebuilt over the last fifteen or so years, but the town still visibly bears the brutal scars of the battle.