The Battle of the Four Armies marked a terminal escalation in the power struggle over the shadow-laced dominion of The Netherveil. Long-fractured tensions between the Crimson Hand—a cabal of Demon champions—and the Shadowlords of Evernight boiled over as The Sunsations conspired with the Tribunal of Netheril to aide them in this coming battle. At the heart of it all was Archshadi Neverus, mad prophet and cursed vessel of Valekith, the Severed Shadow.
After retrieving the Hands of Valekith from first Shadowlord Mortis (before the battle) and a slain Lucius, Neverus completed his transformation, becoming the Avatar of Valekith. The last vestige of the fallen Mythar archmage fused with his mortal flesh, erasing what little remained of his will. In service of his master’s lingering essence, he activated the Soulmonger Crystal—forbidden constructs nestled beneath the Floating City of Netheril.
With one cataclysmic pulse, they ignited.
The Four Fronts
The battlefield was the festering Dread Marshes, choked by festering fog and soaked in pestilent bogs. Upon this cursed soil, four armies met in apocalyptic confrontation:
- From the northwest, the Gloomguard and Shade legions from City of Evernight, rallying beneath black banners of their Shadowlord lieges.
- From the northeast, the Night Mothers Chosen, led by colossal Death Giants and fanatical Priestesses of the Night Mother Nyx.
- From the fortress, the Crimson Hand unleashed cascades of lesser demons, hounds of war and winged monstrosities pouring into the marshes like a blight.
- Overhead, the floating city of Netheril cast its terrible shadow—Valekith's throne of seething shadow...
The Sunsations infiltrated the Crimson Hand Fortress amidst the chaos. Guided by a saved Guy the Grateful and protected by the resurrected spirit of Thomm, they carved their way through halls of writhing bone and gilded sin before battling the cursed champions themselves.
Fate's Cruel Flux
Inside the crimson hall, the Sunsations faced the demonic champions of the Hand. Erwin the Prideful, Tarkus the Wrathful, Astrid the envious, and Lucius the master. During the confrontation, a reborn Ghad'Rah (Gibbly) turned on the party, nearly eviscerating Guy before Thomm struck him down once more.
Outside, the marshes turned into a charnel sea—Shadow felled Shade, Revenant clashed with Fiend, and sorcerous fire consumed both. It was a theater of ruin fit for no victor.
Then came the end.
From atop the spires of Netheril, Neverus—now fully Valekith’s Avatar after killing Lucius and retaking the Hand of Valekith—ignited a storm of soulfire. The Soulmongers flared with a sickening green glow, arcs of purifying arcane lightning raked across the field, vaporizing tens of thousands. Flesh turned to dust. Bone turned to salt. The Dread Marshes bled no more.
The fortress itself crumbled under the strain.
Flight and Folly
The Sunsations barely survived. As they staggered from the collapsing fortress, they were confronted by The Curator—a scholarly black dragon disguised in veiled guise, servant of the Matron of Memories. In a moment of terrifying clarity, the mad goddess' servant revealed his masters intent and transformed the Sunsations into ravens, flying over the erupting volcano beyond the Crimson Hand Fortress and to the peaks of Raven Rock. It was only later, when they arrived at the Museum of Lost Memories, that the mad goddess' plan to preserve them forever as “living relics” would be revealed.
Apocalyptic Aftermath
When the soul-storm ended, only one figure stood amid the corpses of four armies:
Shadowlord Decimus, bathed in the ash of flesh and blood of demons alike. Yet, he would later be hunted down and captured by the Sunsations as a bargaining chip to trade with the Matron in exchange for the Ebony Amulet and Talyen's life.
The floating city of Netheril would waste no time moving over the City of Evernight and consuming the souls of any whom remained there.
The Crimson Hand was annihilated. The Night Mother's Chosen fractured. The Shadowlord retreated into the deep recesses of the Ebony Fortress. And the Sunsations, forever marked by what they had seen, would carry the burden of that day into the final battles of the Fifth Age.
Legacy
The Battle of the Four Armies was not a war for territory, but for dominion through incalculable death. It signaled the death knell of Valekith’s earthly influence, and laid bare the true horror of his unchecked ambition.
There was no a victory.
Only rapture...
and reaping.