The Ninth Gate War, also known as the Great Gate War, was a global conflict between the nations of Tyrrell and the forces of the Forgotten. It was fought between the years 1180 to 1192 of the Second Age after the ninth gate was found and opened on Velta Island near the center of the Jeweled Ocean. The war was infamous for the Forgotten forcibly mutating people and creatures into dark chimeras bound to their will. It would prove to be one of the most destructive events in Tyrrell’s history, spanning multiple continents and causing millions of casualties. 

Prior to the war, the last dark lord arose and attempted to open a gate in southern Leide. However this was a trap for the Elderkin. It was a false gate that exploded when opened, dealing a heavy blow to the Elderkin task force sent to contain it. The real ninth gate was a massive city sized construct located on the Ruby Sea island of Velta. 

Disguised for centuries as the ringed fortifications around the walled city of Ateya, the city itself would be corrupted by the Forgotten Realm when the gate opened. The mutated and brainwashed inhabitants of the city would bolster the forces of the Forgotten. They would quickly take control of Velta Island before invading the surrounding countries on the Jeweled Ocean.   

Badly outmatched, the only hope for the nations of Tyrrell was to seal the ninth gate before they became completely overwhelmed. A strike team made up of the Elderkins greatest soldiers, warriors, and mages was tasked with infiltrating Velta island and sealing the gate. Known as the “Champions of Sperrhis” this group fought on a long quest to reach their objective. 

While most of the champions would be killed in their last battle, they were nevertheless successful in sealing the ninth gate. With the Forgotten’s magic sealed and their forces now in disarray, a globally coordinated counterattack managed to destroy their armies and restore peace to Tyrrell. While the Forgotten were eventually defeated, the Ninth Gate War would be unmatched in terms of destruction in Tyrrell's history apart from the Orcish Wars and War of the Dawn. 

Several times throughout the prior millenium, the Forgotten crossed through the gates to reclaim Tyrrell. However, despite many close calls, they were consistently thwarted. Each time the Elderkin grew more adept at fighting back the forces of darkness.

The prior attempt to use a gate in Elysia ended in disaster for the Forgotten. Their armies immediately came under attack the moment they crossed into Tyrrell by waiting Elderkin forces and were obliterated. Afterwards the Elderkin remained on high alert against the possibility of any future incursions. In particular the cyclops's of Elysia were constantly on the lookout for any sign of Forgotten activity. 

Deep within their accursed realm the Forgotten knew there were only 2 gates left unaccounted for, so their next attempt would have to be carefully executed. For centuries they plotted, creating new assets, breeding powerful monsters, and tempting new collaborators to join them within Tyrrell.

On the tropical island principality of Velta, Prince Hadoran claimed to have nightly premonitions about the impending return of the forgotten. In these visions he said he witnessed a new dark lord, nature set ablaze, and the complete destruction of Velta. Prince Hadoran then called an emergency meeting with other high kings and emperors from neighboring countries in his capital city of Ateya. 

Confiding with the other monarch’s, he discovered they all had the same premonitions as well. Concluding it couldn’t be a coincidence, they ordered a frantic search to locate the remaining gates. While it was known from past experience that the gates must be on the intersection of two leylines, their searches mysteriously turned up empty.

Without knowing where the Forgotten would strike next, Prince Hadoran suggested that his kingdom build a large naval task force to counter them if other nations would pledge to do the same. Then they could rapidly send in a unified force to confront the Forgotten at any location in Tyrrell. The other monarch’s agreed and the Ateya Alliance was formed. 

Meanwhile a humble human medic began an unprecedented rise to power. He traveled the world healing the sick and wounded. While at first his skill was attributed to his years of experience, he caught the Elderkin's attention when he began bringing sight to the blind, curing terminal diseases, and performing magic no other humans were capable of. 

A large cult developed around him. When he used magic to revive a dead girl, the Elderkin went to apprehend him. Rather than plead innocence, he publicly declared he was indeed the next dark lord chosen by the Forgotten. He proclaimed that the Elderkin were the true enemy to mankind and that his followers need not fear the dark ones. 

The dark lord revealed that for decades he tried to heal those who had been harmed by the Elderkin and their senseless cruelty to humans, but had little success. The Forgotten then spoke to him through a space time rift and promised him they would treat humans far more humanely in the coming world order, if only they would open the next gate. 

Before the Elderkin’s agents could apprehend him, the dark lord used his powers to fight back and escape. Rallying other humans from around the world to his cause, he raised a small army that sporadically fought against the Elderkin. Once his cult had reached sufficient size, the last dark lord set about his final mission of opening the ninth gate.

Back in the Principality of Velta, Prince Hadoran held an emergency secession with the members of the Ateya Alliance. He explained that his spymasters had found the ninth gate's location. It was on the southern coast of the continent of Leide in a well hidden temple. The dark lord was on his way to open it. 

The alliance sent their naval task force to intercept the dark lord and destroy anything coming through the gate. Soon Elderkin forces from across the world converged on the southern coast of Leide, just as the dark lord was preparing to open the gate. Badly outnumbered, the cultists struggled merely to buy enough time for the Forgotten to be unsealed. 

Inside the temple the last dark lord frantically began his ritual to open the gate using the exact instructions the Forgotten had given him. Unbeknownst to all but the Forgotten, the structure he stood before was not one of the 10 gates that led to the Forgotten Realm. It was instead a highly flawed and dangerous prototype gate that had been discarded millennia ago. 

Just before the Elderkin could reach him, the dark lord completed his ritual and opened the false gate. Rather than leading to the Forgotten Realm, the portal that opened up led to the core of Tyrrell’s gas giant Sister. In the fraction of a second before the false gate itself was vaporized, an unfathomable amount of heat and pressure was released through the portal. 

Everything within sight was engulfed in a blast of superheated gasses and metals. The momentary change in gravity led to earthquakes and tremors throughout southern Leide. In the end both armies were devastated. Yet the death of the last dark lord was little loss for the Forgotten. He had successfully dealt a blow to the Elderkin. More importantly led them away from the location of the true ninth gate back on the island of Velta.

With most of his army off in Leide, Prince Hadoran and his closest followers secretly completed the necessary repairs to open the ninth gate. The entire time he had been a traitor to his fellow Elderkin. Wishing to become Tyrrell’s ruling Dark Prince, he completed the ritual and activated the ninth gate. 

For untold centuries the ninth gate had been hiding in plain sight. It was the city walls that ringed the Veltan capital of Ateya. The kilometers wide structure once stood as the largest of the ten gates before toppling to the ground in the early first age. Left abandoned and covered with plant life, the early Elderkin settlers of Velta built a city within it, unaware of its true origin. 

When the gate opened up, the entire city sank through the portal and was enveloped by the Realm of the Forgotten. All of the city's inhabitants were exposed to the corrupting energies of that accursed dimension, gradually transforming them into hideous monstrosities. Those who survived the transformation would be brainwashed into pawns of darkness, becoming elite shock troops capable of Elderkin magic. 

With little to stop them the assembled forces of the Forgotten emerged through the gate. Millions of troops, monsters, and unspeakable abominations funneled through. The Principality of Velta was utterly destroyed by them in a matter of hours. Now in complete control of the country the Forgotten would use the island as their headquarters in a war to control Tyrrell.

The Forgotten’s armies split into two large forces. One would sail north to conquer Ciradon, landing ashore on the Turangarian Peninsula. The other would sail south, establishing a beachhead on the Elgrusian peninsula of East Parthus. These early campaigns were disastrous for the nations of Tyrrell. Thanks to Dark Prince Hadorans treachery the Forgotten had many of the battle plans and contingencies of the Elderkin in their possession and acted accordingly. 

Entire armies were swept away by the might of the Forgotten as they captured thousands of miles of territory. Those within conquered countries were brutally subjected. For many it seemed like the world was about to slip eternally into darkness. 

Yet despite the overall losses there were still sometimes hard won victories by the people of Tyrrell. Certain unusually gifted, clever, or talented individuals managed to rally their people and successfully fight back. A surprising victory in Elruth managed to halt the Forgotten’s westward expansion, temporarily delaying the Forgotten’s plans.

Despite these setbacks the war remained in the Forgotten’s favor. Each day more vile chimeras and mutants were created by the ninth gate, quickly replacing their losses. A war of attrition greatly favored the Forgotten. The cyclops’s best mathematicians calculated that unless the gate could be closed, they stood less than a 1% chance of victory. 

Realizing their only option was to attack the gate head on, the world’s best warriors and military masterminds assembled in the arctic city of Sperrhis to discuss strategy. Eventually it was decided that the armies of Tyrrell would attempt to punch through the Forgotten’s defenses around the Jeweled Ocean. Then a strike team made up of the world’s greatest warriors would infiltrate Velta Island and seal the ninth gate. 

Finally armies from around the world would launch one final counterattack. Failure would mean the complete subjection of all of Tyrrell for the rest of history. These great warriors, soldiers, and magicians became known as the “Champions of Seperrhis”. Accompanied by a large army they set out to close the ninth gate.

At first the quest to reach the ninth gate went well. The new champions proved to fight well together and the armies assisting them were some of the best in the world. When the Forgotten caught wind of their plans however they did everything they could to impede them. The fiercest monsters and toughest shock troops were sent to kill the Champions of Sperrhis. The endless hordes of darkness took their toll as the armies of Tyrrell endured grievous casualties. 

With the champions getting closer to Velta, the Forgotten began intentionally destroying Tyrrell’s environment in order to weaken the leylines. This forced them to take on riskier missions to speed up the journey. Eventually the armies of Tyrrell reached the Ruby Sea, but were too depleted to continue any further. All would depend on the Champions successfully sealing the gate.

When the champions came ashore they found Velta Island completely transformed. The vast rainforests that once blanketed the island were cut down to feed the Forgotten’s war machine. Native species had gone extinct, replaced by the vicious beasts of the Forgotten Realm. Vast wildfires burned out control, blanking the sky with smoke so thick it darkened the sun. 

Rivers of fire flowed across the island and even the water itself had become toxic and undrinkable. The Forgotten were terraforming the island into a mirror image of the Accursed Realm, a fate that might await all of Tyrrell should the champions fail. On this island the small band of heroes would face the most powerful of the Forgotten, a formidable challenge even for them. 

Once they reached the ninth gate they discovered Hadoran, Prince of Darkness, had been waiting. In the battle that ensued, most of the champions of Sperrhis would be killed or go missing. Several would sacrifice their lives to ensure the gate was sealed. Yet in the end Dark Prince Hadoran met his demise and the ninth gate was successfully sealed.

The sealing of the ninth gate proved to be the decisive moment in the war. With the Forgotten’s leadership and best forces sealed back into their realm, their armies fell into disarray. Without a direct link to their realm, the dark magic they utilized was greatly diminished. The lack of supplies and fresh troops crippled the Forgotten’s armies. 

With all of Tyrrell united against them, the forces of darkness were unable to stop the massive continent wide counter attacks that took place. Inspired by their allies success, uprisings took place in all the territories still left under the Forgotten’s control. Although some pockets of resistance would continue in more isolated regions of East Parthus, within six months of the gates sealing the war was practically over. 

The Ninth Gate War had ended in an unexpected defeat for the Forgotten. Left in shambles they would spend the entire rest of the Second Age sealed tightly within the Forgotten Realm. Despite many attempts, they were never able to find a way to open the tenth gate. They had united all of Tyrrell against them and every effort was made to ensure the ninth gate war would be the last. 

Despite winning the conflict, the war left Tyrrell devastated. Millions had been killed or left displaced. Most nations surrounding the Ruby Sea had been severely damaged, if not outright destroyed. The Principality of Velta in particular had been wiped clean off the map. 

The island was left uninhabitable for years afterwards. Eventually a multinational coalition of Elderkin countries would set up a base on the island in order to eliminate the remaining monsters, restore the damaged environment, and insure no one could ever tamper with the gate again. 

Less capable of defending against the Forgotten’s powers, the Lesserkin nations of Tyrrell suffered especially badly. This would contribute to the Elderkin’s overall dominance over Tyrrell for the next 2000 years.