In the year 957, after decades of peace, a new war erupted between the Empire and the League. A fleet of powerful Imperial Astral ships packed with new technology attacked the League’s territory. The League’s fleet, led by their Mages, fought back valiantly but ultimately were doomed in the face of such firepower. They had no choice but to flee and leave their allods undefended.
With a blockade by the Imperial fleet restricting access to their allods, the League Mages reverted to opening portals to allow them to maintain a level of control. For a long time this remained the case, until the League finally succeeded in attacking and capturing a ship from the Empire. Elven mages studied the ship intensively and discovered the secret of the Imperial fleet and reverse engineered it to suit the League’s purposes. In the year 962, after five years of continuous blockade, the League finally broke the Imperial monopoly of the Astral space and the war entered a fierce new phase.
In the meantime, invasions by the demons, which had been infrequent but always a constant risk, picked up in both frequency and intensity. Among the peoples of the allods, a new form of cultism emerged, with groups of Humans, Orcs and Arisen greeting the demons. They considered the demons a just punishment for the inhabitants of the allods, and by serving and assisting the demons on their unknown mission, they would ensure their survival.
Over time, this form of cultism grew in popularity and visibility, spreading across the allods.