The following information has been collected by various scholars around the Realms and paints a brief but true history of the 30-year long saga that was the occupation of Darkvale by the forces of Rexan.
The Early Era
In the mid 990s a species of humanoid called the Aspis left their ancestral home in the Aspis Nor mountains and started a wide-scale invasion across the entire Realms. They were led by Illgoth, Rexan’s Avatar, and their army was commanded by a great champion. Aspis as a species were bound by the will of Rexan and executed this war under his bidding.
The heroes of the Realms were largely outmatched in this war and lost more battles than they won. Many areas of Chimeron, the Borderlands, and Banecroft were lost.
At the apex of the war, Sir Blade of Folkestone slew the enemy’s great champion in honorable combat. This blow to the Aspis was enough for them to treat for peace. This treaty allowed most of the Realms nations to stay intact. Darkvale, a vassal state of Chimeron, was ceded to the Aspis as a part of the negotiation for hostilities to end.
Heroes that called Darkvale home were not present for that treaty. In the aftermath it became known that many of them refused to abandon their land or their people and had taken to the crags and cliffs to become a resistance army. Much of the eventual fate of those heroes is unknown. Of those that refused to abandon the country was Sir Lars of Chimeron who was initially lost as he stayed behind to help safeguard Darkvale.
In the years after the war, in a series of quests in the Aspis Nor mountains, Sir Shane of Chimeron slew Illgoth with the Sword of Kings. Rexan was now without an Avatar. Illgoth would live again in the future but would no longer have a direct impact on the Aspis.
The Ascension War and the Aftermath
In the Ascension War, champions of many of the gods of the pantheon fought with supporters to attempt to ascend to become Avatars of their patrons. At this time Lars joined the fray as the champion of Rexan, having been turned into an Aspis. This was the first time people began to realize that Aspis had that transformation ability.
Sir Shane, champion of Rawonam, won the Ascension War. He became Rawonam’s Avatar but also allowed other entrants to that war to become Avatars of their gods in the process, including Lars who was compelled to ascend to become a lesser Avatar of Rexan.
The Middle Years
At some point in the years that Darkvale was in Aspis control, the demon known as Soultaker used the faerie-connected nature of the land to begin something called The Twisting. Among other effects, The Twisting mutated many of the natural born Aspis into a new species called Aspis-Fae. These creatures, warped by magic, were much stronger than their mundane cousins. They were also insane, savage, and more terrible than any Aspis or Fae that had ever been known.
Darkvale was always the home to many monstrous species as well as humans. Going back as far as the 980s, heroes of the Realms often engaged with those monsters in questing and sport. When the Aspis first took control it had little effect on the trolls and goblins and such that made Darkvale their home. They continued their lives in the caves and cliffs mostly unbothered by the serpents. After The Twisting this changed.
The Aspis-Fae being stronger and more cruel than normal Aspis quickly rose to the position of leadership. In 1007 it became known that the other monstrous species of the land were suffering under their lash. Many of them were being forcibly turned into Aspis. Heroes of the Realms led by Sir Owen had quested into Darkvale to help cull the Aspis-Fae threat. There the king of the goblins asked for their assistance in saving their people.
The Aspis-Fae were neutralized and the king of the goblins proposed allying with the heroes for the safety of the monstrous species. He proposed a trial to allow one of the heroes to become their leader. Sir Chan was selected by the heroes to undergo this trial and bested it. He signed a treaty that involved non-interference in the affairs of the monstrous species. This effectively put at least some of the lands back under the banner of Chimeron.
In time, Sir Chan left Chimeron but remained recognized by the monstrous species as the Treaty-Boss. This effectively ended the monstrous species' willingness to admit the lands in any way were part of Chimeron.
The War of Shadows and the Aftermath
While it was known that many refugees had escaped Darkvale during the early and middle years, it was also deeply suspected that many original citizens were killed or in captivity.
The Aspis, led by a high priest named Solomon and his acolyte, an ogre-magus known as The Disciple, began a new offensive against Chimeon in 1011. The reason why was unknown at the time.
As a part of this new offensive, under the cover of night, Aspis sowed disease through neighboring Chimeronian villages that turned the humans there into Aspis; many of whom immediately fell under the sway of Rexan and fled into Darkvale. It was easy to conclude that this transformation was the fate of all of the people who had never escaped Darkvale all of those years ago.
Chimeron and her allies met the Aspis on the fields of battle. They were joined by Sir Shane, still the avatar of Rawonam and an effective foil for the Shade of Rexan, a mortal extension of the serpent god’s power that also joined the fray. This was a hard-fought war and Chimeron lost several battles, but was able to push forward all the way to Fern Grove during the full course of the campaign.
It was then discovered that the entire war was a scheme instrumented by The Disciple, a pact between him and Rexan that excluded Solomon. The deaths in the war acted as the blood sacrifice to power a ritual. The final step of that ritual occurred when The Disciple tricked the heroes into using Garm’s blessing to obliterate Solomon. When that occurred, The Disciple was able to ascend to become an Avatar of Rexan.
At the conclusion of that war, Chimeron had won back and held the eastern half of Darkvale. Between the heavy losses sustained in the war and the blood sacrifice, the last of the Aspis-Fae were killed. The remainder of the country was held by the natural born Aspis following the will of Rexan and The Disciple who was now their leader.
Since the War of Shadows
The Disciple was unwilling to give up his claim to the eastern half of the country and for months engaged in guerilla tactics and raids to weaken Chimeron’s presence there. Eventually Chimeron determined that it was unsustainable to hold half the country while the Aspis were still willing to fight. Chimeron decided to withdraw rather than sustain continuous losses.
In 1012 the Disciple made an alliance with The Shadow King after he took the throne of the Shadowlands, giving him authority over Darkvale. This alliance did not last long, however, as the Shadow King was ultimately defeated in 1014. The Disciple retained full sovereignty over the nation.
In 1019 on the quest to free Garm the heroes completed trials in order to gain the aid of Justari in their mission. At that time the Avatar of Justari, The Red Knight, pledged to Ser Kovaks his aid in retaking Darkvale from the Aspis.
Later in 1019 Ser Kovaks met a priest named Brother Warren who was fulfilling a mission from Justari to build a temple just miles from the southern border of Darkvale. They helped Brother Warren build that temple, perhaps not entirely understanding that it would be the place that everyone would gather when it was time again to make war.