King Balor's domain and Imperial armies captured and took over most of Montana. King Balor himself took over House Balor upon his return, without contest. The legends of Balor are, of course, all true. A half-born Fae, half-born Fomorian hero in the wars between the Tuatha and the Fomorians. He can command all creatures of the dreaming. He did personally track down High King David to end him for his crimes against the world. Sure he's got a flair for the glowing green, and his domain doesn't sustain nor support actual life. That's what everyone else is for.

So great was his glory that mere squires and knights could not withstand his presence for long. Mere sight of the High King would strike them blind and the sound of his voice would strike them deaf.

The other Imperial houses were those affiliated with the Shadow Court. The de Medici and Merovingian families of House Ailil were prominent. So, too, were the Onassis of House Leanhaun. Those with a flair for conspiracy suspected that the Shadow Court continued to plot against the throne. They uncovered ties between them and Aitu, the Crimson Weaver, who spreading a plague of nightmares throughout the kingdom.

They encouraged competition between the domains present at court, and against one another. Leveraging their own titles, they exchanged favors with other nobles to advance their own agendas. Many of these favors ended in their favor, expanding their own personal power. Nobles came to distrust the two princes. Yet they continued to strike deals with them out of necessity.

The princes' rivalry led many nobles to investigate one or the other on behalf of a deal struck. Prince Ailil's decadent lifestyle was responsible for the bankruptcy and downfall of the Medici family. Prince Synthas had a hand in the ritual which brought down the Shroud which led to Balor's return. It was widely known that each were part of the Shadow Court before the fall. Rumor spread that their affiliation with that faction persisted. Many suspected that Prince Ailil plotted against Balor. It was no secret that he believed that House Ailil should rule rather than House Balor. Yet such suspicions were never proven. Likewise, many kenw that Synthas sought to bring about Endless Winter and the death of all things.

Following the warnings of his Imperial Oracle, Balor knew the threat that approached. The High King had already begun construction of his next city, and Nul did not know where to find it. The Imperials reclaimed the ruined city of New York. Over the span of a century, they built the new Imperial City in secret, aided by their most trusted vassals. As Nul struck at Montana, Balor laughed as the ruins of New York breathed new life.

The skyscrapers jutting from the flooded city lit up as beacons of hope. Yet the central feature of the New Imperial City, was the High King's own Freehold. Forged by the Master of Ravaging, Calamity, the Freehold was awesome and monstrous. Built of Cold Iron, the tower's foreboding black facade was a fitting home to the High King. Forged by one the most skilled craftsman in the world, the freehold is an awe-inspiring sight. The tower is asymmetrical and jagged, as if walking through nightmare itself. In the highest most jagged spire of the freehold is the High King's throne room.

Throughout the first year of these diplomatic efforts, the Aether remained ominously silent. Finally, they made their first overt move since the end of the war. Attacking the kingdom of Jukurrpa, the Aether seized New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. With aid of Dischordia and the Jade Empire, Jukurrpa reclaimed the islands. Though driven from the islands, the Aether's corrosive touch remained, staining it black. Many wondered if the Aether's attack foretold a resurgence of open warfare. Others suspected it to be misdirection for a greater attack to come.

Through a cunning whisper in the right ears, Lady Calamity Bambi Rose of Archive planted the seed for Princess Maeve to wed the Ambassador from the Sultanate of Glass. Maeve, eager to be the first to bring another kingdom into Dischordia, lept at the opportunity. After months of careful negotiations, she married Ambassador Fadil of the Sultanate. The event was almost marred, however, by the duplicity of the Vizier of Wind, who plotted to assassinate Fadil, a rival for his position, on his wedding day.

The event was almost marred by the duplicity of the Vizier of Wind. The Vizier plotted to assassinate Fadil, a rival for his position, on his wedding day.

Princess Maeve's marriage to Fadil cemented the alliance between the two kingdoms. With Fadil’s promotion to Vizier of Wind, the couple rose to the title of King and Queen.

For centuries, Shokar, the Immolator of Pompeii, remained imprisoned. Following his capture during the War of Nightmares, he was bound within the Society of Deus. Despite their best efforts to cure him, Shokar's burning curse yet remained.

When the Kingdom of Aether attacked, Shokar's prison weakened. Two decades of war chipped away at the wards which held him. Finally, as the war came to an end, the wards failed. No longer magically bound, Shokar escaped his prison and made his way home. A trail of fire and destruction followed in his wake.

His escape marked a resurgence of the Nightmare Plague. Those who remembered the first outbreak turned to the Dream Catchers once again. To their dismay, the hope which once fueled them had weakened, and they failed to contain it. Many domains resorted to purging the infected, but a few held hope that they would find a new cure.

Nobles of Appalachia tried an unorthodox gambit. They invited the Nightmare Lands to send an ambassador to one of their courts. Others questioned the wisdom of inviting one of their greatest enemies to court. Their fears were soon validated. The Nightmare Ambassador promised the plague would spread, and claim thousands more lives. Yet, very soon after he made that threat, the Nightmare Lands became a domain of Dischordia. On the Unseelie holiday of Samhain, Aitu, lord of the Nightmare Lands, swore fealty to High King Balor.

Confronted by a common enemy, Balor and Lazarus agreed to put aside their differences. For the two decades of the War of Aether, the two kingdoms put significant effort into diplomacy. They began to resolve centuries of turmoil, until a series of incidents drew them back into chaos. Alyosha Buljiev, the Tzimisce Prince of Carpathia, stood at the center of these plots.

Dischordia's Ambassador, Dorian Osbourne, uncovered rumors of a dark ritual Buljiev was planning. He investigated the matter with the aid of the Hierophant, Zachariah Baldric. They discovered legends that the ritual would end the world, and informed their lord. High Pontiff Radu Bistri saw a chance to prevent the ritual, dispose of a rival, and reclaim his homeland.

Bistri coordinated several domains in a three-pronged attack to achieve his goals. On the eve of the Samhain holiday, Bistri himself invaded Odessa. Though he claimed it was to draw Buljiev's army from defense of the ritual, he hoped to gain a foothold in Carpathia. The Hierophant led an arcane counterspell, to unweave the magic of the ritual. Finally, a covert team infiltrated Buljiev's castle with the mission of assassinating him.

Bistri's attack was successful, and he laid claim to Odessa. The Hierophant's counter-ritual succeeded in thwarting Buljiev's ritual. But the covert team failed in their task. His ritual in tatters, Buljiev escaped the attempt on his life. A formidable abomination known as Gangir nearly destroyed the would-be assassins. Lazarus declared war on Dischordia in response to this unprovoked attack. In retaliation for their aggression, Lazarus' response was swift and devastating. He launched a crippling nuclear strike against several Dischordian domains. Each target chosen would be a threat in the conflict to come.

The union of Princess Maeve to Ambassador Fadil brought the Sultanate of Glass into the fold. The Sultan promoted Fadil to Vizier of Wind, and Maeve became a Queen. Maeve bore the Last Son of Gwydion. Near the end of the War of Maelstrom's Rebuke, an agent of Baba Yaga abducted the child from its nursury.

Great Grand Craftsman Julius Artok III, esquire, Herald to King Balor challenged the Imperial Smith Valravn, to a duel for the title. He claimed to have developed a technique to forge the souls of an enemy into an item. This technique offered a means to finally put an end to enemies that they could not kill. He proved his new technique by forging an abyssal spirit, and claimed the title of Imperial Smith. The Hierophant, concerned the technique was dangerous, restricted teaching it to others.

Aranta-Shadur had lost its domain lord, and the main port for their navy. Lazarus' Kingdom seized the opportunity to grow their hold over the oceans. Many Dischordian domains fought on the front lines in Carpathia. They struck a noteworthy victory in Kiev, but faced repeated defeats in Bucharest. The Wolves of the North focused their attacks in the territories of Germany. Others researched the means to try and kill the immortal warlock Rasputin.

Meanwhile, Lazarus’ Empire launched numerous coordinated strikes against Dischordian domains. The Grim Legion’s ghost fleet assaulted the Imperial City of Dischordia and conquered many Empyrean cities along the east coast as well as a few islands of Imperial Bermuda. Russia was able to bring the Nightmare Lands to its knees, and Rasputin slew the Crimson Weaver, Aitu, in personal combat. As the Legion marched on Dischordia with impunity, no domain could muster a strong defense to turn aside their assaults. The chances of Lazarus’ victory grew.

The Shadow Court desired the child to complete the ritual of Endless Winter. The Russian witch, Baba Yaga, sought the child for some nightmarish purpose. Some claimed the Silence too had an interest, but their motives remained mysterious. Maeve and Fadil refused to risk the safety of their child. They responded to these alarming rumors with increased security. Yet their precautions proved insufficient. An unknown agent abducted the child from its nursery during the final months of the war.

To everyone's surprise, even the Kingdom of Aether sent representatives. Observing the intent of the gathering, they offered a chance at peace in their own conflict. Of course, they expected certain concessions in return. They demanded that the Court of Empires, formed to combat the Aether, abandon that mission. They further demanded that they be welcome at all gatherings of kingdoms. Though many questioned their obvious ploy, the Aether's diplomats were quite persuasive. Their delegates convinced many other kingdoms to support their agenda. Most agreed out of a desire to keep their enemies close, but the end result was the same. Aether would join the Court of Empires.

The Aether's offer of peace required a difficult choice for those assembled, and a high cost. The first option: accept the darkness into reality and restore the balance of creation and destruction. Or the second, deny them and accept reality's ultimate end. The steep cost of acceptance complicated this decision. Without a vessel to bind Ahriman, a powerful abyssal entity, it would consume the world. But, to bind it required the sacrifice of a child to contain the darkness.

Two children had been abducted from their parents for this purpose. The first, the Last Son of Gwydion, child of Imperial Queen Maeve. The second, the Last Daughter of Eve, child of Hierophant Zachariah Baldric. In the end, it was Queen Calamity of Archive who chose to sacrifice the Last Daughter of Eve. In doing so, she bound the darkness with a name, and ended the darkness' war on reality. The souls of all mankind would be safe from Oblivion. The sacrifice adjusted reality towards an age of enlightenment for mankind. If the path stays true, the next age promises to be an Age of Ascension.

Some feared this was the first signs of Endless Winter and Banality claiming the world. Some blamed the Treaty for welcoming Aether into the world. Yet it started much longer ago, with the Queen of Carnival's decree that all were Prodigals.

A year after that decree, another Carnival saw another Queen, and another Decree. This decree reversed the former, stating that none are Prodigals. Still, the Boons did not immediately return, and many feared they would be gone forever.

Many nobles were hostile towards Nul, given the animosity between the two kingdoms. He was likewise antagonistic, not only to Dischordia, but to existence in general. As court came to a close, a clockwork angel appeared and cleansed Nul in a burst of blinding white light. The Angel, later identified as the Avatar form of the Oracle, Baldric, then vanished. An abyssal darkness followed in his wake, declaring Nul's usefulness at an end, and disintegrated him to ash. Dischordian nobles did not mourn Nul's death, but grew concerned about entities with the power to kill him so easily.