Hammer of the Gods (legendary weapon)
The Hammer of the Gods was a weapon of massive power that was fabled to be able to completely wipe out the existence of the Horde. The events surrounding its discovery and creation in the Third Age preceded the Godsdeath War.
The Discovery of the Hammer of the Gods
In the year 675 AD, Tomas, architect and historian of who had lived in the ruins of Caanae for centuries, informed a group of Kinsarmarians that he had recently learned of a long lost temple in the Shaahri Desert, which held an item of great power - the Hammer of the Gods. According to Tomas' research, the weapon could be used to wipe out the threat of the Horde for all of eternity.
When the entrance to the temple was discovered and unearthed by dwarves from Kaark'krazul, undead horde creatures emerged from within it and attacked the dwarven miners and those mortals standing guard over the excavation site. This puzzled everyone, as Tomas believed the temple was built in the First Age and should have never been discovered by the Horde, who did not exist in Aetherius until the Awakening. Shortly thereafter, people at the excavation site began falling victim to a curse that turned them into wraiths, and the assistance of Yanosyno, a mountain priest, was requested. He fashioned a spear out of wraithwood from the trees of Khandava and, hoping that his plan would work and not further damage the people behind the wraiths, impaled Ferriter, one of those affected by the curse. Fortunately, Ferriter was returned to his physical form and the cure was administered to all others affected.
As progress towards discovering the Hammer continued, a meeting was organized with representatives from each city-state of Aetherius and some neutral elders, including Tomas, Mathardan, and Cerise. The debate was heated and centered primarily around the question of whether it was right to use a weapon of such great power to cause a genocide of an entire species. Many also questioned that the legendary Horde empire even existed, and believed that Aetherius had grown to the point where they could easily repel any attack from the Horde's forces. The meeting was cut short when a strike force of Horde creatures arrived at the meeting and attacked everyone. In the battle, Mathardan and Tomas were both killed, but only Tomas returned from the Underworld. When confronted, Charon was adamant that Mathardan had reached the end of his life and his purpose, inexplicably, was to die a violent death to the Horde at that very point in history.
The effects of Mathardan's death were immediate - the city-states were now deeply divided over the issue of the Hammer. Khandava decided it was necessary to reach the Hammer before all others, and so Lionas met with Lyria and concocted a plan to plant a Leech Tree north of the desert. The roots of the tree, once fully empowered, reached out to break through the walls of the tunnels leading into the desert temple. Conflict ensued between those who wished to protect the miners and those who wanted to protect the roots of the Leech Tree, and much blood was shed throughout the end of the year.
At last, the miners succeeded in breaking through to the inner chambers of the temple, ahead of the Khandavans. Inside the temple, explorers found a room of four walls covered with runes, a broken altar, and something called the Stele. Before the temple and its hidden artifacts could be examined any further, Juganothion revealed that he had been plotting with the Horde for months and he opened a portal, allowing the Horde General Onkassus and his army to enter the temple and engage the adventurers within.
Everyone was quickly slaughtered, allowing Onkassus to begin searching the chamber for the Hammer. He was outraged to find that it was not present and retreated to his keep as his remaining warriors were killed off by the adventurers gathered there. Once things settled down, Tomas was able to lead the adventurers back into the temple and examined what was found inside.
The Stele was discovered to be an enormous stone with foul powers and was first found by the Horde in the early days of the Age of the Awakening. Somehow, the same army of horde creatures that destroyed Caanae long ago had also discovered this temple, and brought the Stele there to hide it away from the rest of the world. The Stele's power was incredible - it allowed the dead to rise again, explaining the presence of the undead horde creatures that had first emerged from the temple when the excavation began. The altar and the room covered in runes was determined to be necessary for the creation of the Hammer, which Tomas set out to begin deciphering.
Creating the Hammer of the Gods
As Tomas worked on deciphering the runes, he tasked his allies with venturing out to Karakas Beach to follow up on a lead that he had uncovered. There, Galt discovered an ancient ziggurat and inside was an undead hydra called Nakshatra. As one can imagine, the hydra protected the only item that Tomas needed to finish deciphering the runes, so his allies worked to defeat the creature, which only kept devouring those who engaged it. At the same time, Lionas and members of Khandava decided they did not want Tomas to retrieve the tablet, so they fortified the area and tried to disrupt the attacks of the others. Eventually, Gurn and Risca Arivan managed to slay the hydra and retrieve the tablet. It was decided that the tablet would stay within Celidon and would be protected by councilors there, though they did allow Tomas to examine it.
Another tablet was rumored to be hidden away in Sodiuar Lake, so an expedition set out to search the area. Another ancient temple was discovered, but the entrance had long ago collapsed, and so the dwarves of Kaark'krazul were commissioned yet again to dig out the rubble. Before they could finish, a battle broke out between the magickers from Kinsarmar and Celidon, and demonic warriors of Khandava and Stavenn. Demonic forces prevailed and eventually entered the temple, discovering the undead troll called Hrutchik. The troll was dispatched after a grueling battle, and the second tablet made its way back to Khandava.
The Khandavans plotted to steal the first tablet, not knowing that Tomas didn't actually have it in his possession. They tricked him into coming to the Council to look at the second tablet, where they abducted him and put him through hours of intense interrogation and torture, led by the cruel Lalaith Vian'Cirith.