Lim-Dûl's War
| Lim-Dûl's War | |||||
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| Information | |||||
| Era | The Thaw | ||||
| Date | 2946 AR | ||||
| Location | Shandalar | ||||
| Characters | Azar, Bani Bakur, Kenan Sahrmal, Lim-Dûl | ||||
| Outcome | |||||
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Lim-Dûl’s War was a pivotal conflict on the plane of Shandalar that reshaped the balance of power and established the foundations of the plane’s magical defenses.[1] The war pitted the powerful necromancer Lim-Dûl against the last defenders of Shandalar, culminating in the creation of the Great Barrier and the rise of the plane’s protective guilds. It marked a turning point in Shandalar’s history, both in terms of its physical security and the institutionalization of magical oversight, as the confrontation forced the surviving heroes to innovate powerful arcane measures to contain Lim-Dûl's destructive ambition.[2]
History
Twelve years after the War for Shandalar, when Faralyn, Tevesh Szat, and Leshrac were repelled from Shandalar[3], Lim-Dûl reappeared with an army of undead at his back. The necromancer's goal was to seize control over the mana-rich plane. City after city on the plane was destroyed until, after years of war, only one city remained, Ardestan. Ardestan became the last refuge against the evil necromancer, defended by Commander Bani Bakur. The city came under siege, and it was plain to all that Shandalar would soon fall to this invader.
Kenan Sahrmal, the protector of Shandalar, had other plans. Since his apparent death at the hands of Lim-Dûl, he had been training two adepts. One was Azar, the other’s name has yet to be revealed. During the siege of Ardestan, Sahrmal counseled patience, telling his students that they were not yet ready to take on the might of Lim-Dûl. Azar, unable to witness the suffering and inevitable fall of Ardestan without doing something about it, left their hidden sanctuary and went to the defense of the city. Upon learning of this rash action, Sahrmal and his other apprentice went to Azar’s aid.
Azar had stolen a spell from Sahrmal designed to target the necromancer’s spirit and imprison it within his body, drawing power from it to erect a Great Barrier around Shandalar much akin to the Shard. Within the defense of a Circle of Protection, Azar prepared to cast the spell. Lim-Dûl was prepared, however, and waited nearby.
When Lim-Dûl had been beheaded twenty years earlier, he had survived by transferring his soul into another body.[3] This time, he planned to transfer into Azar’s body. When Azar’s spell was complete, Lim-Dûl initiated his counter. The combined spells had the unforeseen effect of trapping both spirits within Azar’s body. The body went limp as the two souls warred for control. Saddened, Sahrmal secretly buried the body, for the Great Barrier had come into existence, and it depended upon the confinement of Lim-Dûl.
Thus ended Lim-Dûl's war, but the necromancer was not done. He would return to attack Shandalar again many years later, in the Wizards' War.