Silent Wave refers to both the undead legions and its invasion which devastated Lusitania. The Silent Wave in its prime was an organized and ever-expanding force, but has since then receded considerably in power. It remains, though, a looming threat to the realm and it is unclear how the legions came to be, since all preceding occurrences of undead were limited and mindless, without apparent organization. The term Silent Wave comes from the fact that the undead legions slowly spread all over Lusitania while being completely silent and apparently unstoppable.
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Table of Contents
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History
First Appearance
The coming of the wave was completely unexpected since it appeared instead of another great evil. The demon Balanaar, after years of preparation, was finally invading Lusitania and all attempts to prevent it proved unsuccessful until, for unknown reasons, its coming never came to be, having the realm instead been invaded by the Wave. It is speculated that the guild of the Necromancers had something to do with it, since the first area decimated was that of Yew. Many necromancers died or disappeared during the first stages of the invasion, and the ones remaining either don't recall anything, weren't present in Yew or aren't talking about it.
Until then, undead were minor threats, which appeared mostly on graveyards and places of death, hardly drifting from such locations and even less showing signs of organization, displaying a state of conscience akin to an animal, but in Yew they revealed themselves focused and organized. They also had showed a particularly deadly trait: undeath spread wherever they went, not different from a plague. In their presence the deceased slowly returned to the world of the living, and even their own after slain would later return. This made them an almost unstoppable force which threatened to overwhelm all adversaries by pure attrition. It proved extremely hard to release any region from undead control, and most cities were massacred by the Wave.
Their expansion was very slow though and, before they fell, most cities had time to prepare or evacuate its population. Skara Brae was the first to face the Wave but its citizens had already fled to Trinsic. Eventually the undead came for the golden city and even though it resisted for some months due to its heavy fortification it was eventually overran and, without a chance of escape, most of its population was slain and joined the legion's ranks.
By this time the Wave was already in Britain and its people was fighting with everything they had to save their capital. They were able to hold the Wave for some time until, for some unknown reason, the undead stopped spreading in that region. They kept attacking, but undeath didn't spread as it did until then, which restored some confidence to the people.
Orcist Revolt
The Orcs, being extremely territorial, despised these undead but were forced to withdraw or face extinction. One Orc arose and took leadership of the scattered tribes, guiding their savagery and focusing their goals. Knowing they needed a secure place to survive and expand their numbers, they decided to take Trinsic for themselves to which all Orcs gathered for the assault. Organized, they proved to be fearsome adversaries and in an all-or-nothing effort they were able to destroy every single undead in the city. Once in control, their only goal was to reestablish their numbers. They renamed the city 'Mazgakh'.
Death of Lord Iberius, King of Lusitania
In time the realm was overrun with undead and while Minoc showed the same effects as Britain and undeath didn't spread there, Cove and Vesper threatened to be consumed before the Wave. By this time it was a matter of survival and even old enemies banded together for their lives. Believing both Cove and Vesper to be easily defended, the first due to its walls and the second do to difficult access to the islands that compose the city, Iberius and his guard went to Cove since Britain was under no apparent danger.
Once there, they easily protected the city as expected but Vesper was said to be close to lost. Iberius prepared to head for Vesper but before arriving there they were ambushed by Orcs in the crossroad to Minoc and, for everyone's surprise, Lancelot revealed himself as a traitor to Lusitania, killing Iberius and fleeing the scene, maybe believing none would survive. Uther, however, was able to pull together his warriors and survive the assault, only to find that Vesper had already been overrun by the Wave and that Lancelot had planned this betrayal all along. Dramatically, after returning to Cove they found it overrun by Orcs. The sum of these events shook up Uther badly, who had no choice but to return to Britain.
