Citadel of the Raven (battle)

In the year 1374, the joint forces of the League of Extraordinary Paladins, led by the mighty Nassim Molrin, assaulted the final stronghold of the Zhentarim, the Citadel of the Raven. Fzoul Chembryl, Chosen of Bane, engaged in mortal combat with the Chosen of the Triad ... and eventually fell. However, the battle was not without complications, and the region has been uninhabitable ever since.

Politics and Theory
Nassim's planned assault against the Zhentarim is based upon religious theory from the Time of Troubles. The Gods and Goddesses of the myriad pantheons of Faerun are, by the command of AO, entirely dependent upon their worshippers for their powers. In a horrifying plan of attack, Nassim sought to eliminate every single follower of Bane upon the planet.

The assassinations and duels leading up to the formation of the League wracked Faerun, toppling untold numbers of low- and high-ranking Zhentarim and priests in a bloodbath which left many smaller towns devoid of a power structure.

In early 1374, Nassim founded the League of Extraordinary Paladins -- a literal group of two thousand paladins, mostly from the Triad, although others soon flocked to his banner, seeking to eliminate evil once and for all. Others (including Keldoc Mirrorwind, Khelban Arunsun and even Nassim's own sister) tried to convince him that such absolutism would only beget further evil. Nassim was beyond reasoning: the Crusade had begun.

Battle Strategy
The paladins assembled in the Dalelands, that bastion of strong-hearted folk, and swept north, obliterating the entire city of Zhentil Keep in a single day. The very rocks burned, and many innocent people died -- not all living in the keep were members of the actual Zhentarim organization.

Based temporarily in Hillsfar, the League took stock of their situation. The Zhentarim's greatest fortress, the Citadel of the Raven, was a mighty fortress which was nigh unassailable. Still, Nassim divided his forces, assaulting the structure from above and below, using divine powers to rend paths through the mountains and destroy magical defenses.

The Zhentarim, led by Fzoul, met Nassim on the battlefield -- only to find their Citadel being assaulted behind them. They rushed back to the gates, only to be thwarted by the arrival of the Church of Cyric, via many portals. The Church, sensing an opportunity to remove Bane from power once and for all, moved in with great numbers to eliminate the Zhentarim. The war between the Black Hand and the Black Sun had begun ... with Nassim caught in the middle.

Fallen Gods
Into this mess strode many Chosen and bodily Avatars of the Gods themselves. Whole regiments were devoured by demonic forces too horrible to name, or incinerated by holy light that forever blinded even the casters with its incadescence. Nassim slew Fzoul; Bane slew Cyric; Nassim slew Bane.

Far above, the tiefling Mordeth was accumulating the power from the release of these dying souls. With the deaths of Bane and Cyric, Mordeth had more than enough energy he needed: he stole the Portfolios pertaining to both dieties and entered a chrysalis state to transform himself into a God ... without the blessing of AO. Indeed, the mad being sought to displace AO as the Overgod and disrupt the fabric of the universe ... but that story was told in The Chronicles of Amn.

The Flying Citadel
The entrance of a flying citadel into the fray was unexpected by all sides -- but none paid any attention until it began to rain electrical energy down upon the armies. Its presence was a mechanism to gather the energy of the souls being released; it worked quite well.

Cirque de Suzail
The troupe known as Cirque de Suzail did battle in the Flying Citadel, while the armies clashed below; while they stopped Armen Cormaeril of the Fire Knives from accomplishing his objectives, they were unable to stop Mordeth's own plans.

When Mordeth left, the citadel dropped out of the sky like a stone, crushing the mortal body of Nassim Molrin underneath.

Aftermath: The Blood Marshes
The amount of death and unholy destruction surrounding that place made the area all but uninhabitable. In the place of those mountains is a Blood Marsh that spans for miles in all directions. The shrieks of the undead inhabit this place, and some say they still see the giant spirits of Nassim, Fzoul and the Gods themselves roaming about in its deepest portions.

The nearest city-states of the Moonsea are Phlan and Hillsfar; neither will send any expeditions within a mile of the place.

The only known people in close proximity to the place are the abbeys of Kelemvor slowly being built along the periphery; the clerics there seek to tend to veterans of the war, as well as destroy the forces of undead who occasionally try to escape the Marsh.