Due to his investigative prowess, De'Angelo sought the title of Imperial Magistrate. Once so appointed, he attempted to establish an organization spread throughout Dischordia. Yet few other domains trusted him, and they raised questions about his intentions. The Voice of Balor stripped him of his title a few months later. Michael Dragosani, Baron and Sage of Deus, earned the title, “Champion of the People.” High King Balor recognized his ability to garner allies in the Wastelands.

With Odin’s departure after the Nightmare War, Michael Verkonis took the reigns of the domain. Verkonis, a former Sage of Deus, rejoined his allies, and brought the Wolves into their fold. His intent was to strengthen both domains, but it led to many difficulties.

Hal Morgan, Demon of War and lord of Unification, was only too eager to fuel this fire. He was the first to declare war, leading his soldiers to their deaths against his enemies. For each soldier that fell, on either side of the conflict, contributed to his legend and his power. Nada’s true loyalties emerged when he broke his oaths to Dischordia to join with Nul and the Kingdom of Aether.

Lazarus agreed to relinquish his claim on Constantinople. In exchange, he demanded Dischordia's non-interference in his dealings with Xibalba. The agreement allowed the tense peace to continue. Constantinople joined under Deus’ banner, claiming St Louis as its North American stronghold. Close ties between Al-Ashrad and Damien Vryce led to Constantinople joining Deus. While Dischordia gained new territory, Lazarus forged an alliance with Xibalba.

Much of the animosity towards the Ordo was due to Jonathan Morningkill of the Society of Deus. Morningkill, and the pack of shifters who followed him, sought to create a new Fera Nation. Relying on threats and intimidation, they cowed many nobles of the court. Aidan Shadowclaw, a Bastet of Constantinople, was one of their most aggressive recruiters.

In pursuit of his goals, Morningkill swore an Oath to reunite Shards of Helios and return the sun to the sky. Arantan nobles discovered their enemy's treason, and brought it to the Court's attention. They arranged a contract on Morningkill's life, which sent him into hiding. The Imperials placed great scrutiny on Deus, and DeAngelo, to root out all signs of treason.

The Lich King, Damien Vryce, made his way to the upper city to defend his city. He had little recourse but to challenge Nul, himself. Even as Vryce unleashed his arcane might, Nul's body mended itself. Each time Vryce thought his adversary vanquished, Nul reformed from another shadow. Vryce's power dwindling, Nul looked upon him with a small grin. With a gesture, Nul ripped Vryce's shadow from him, and his Avatar with it, and vanished again into shadow.

After his defeat at Nul's hands, Vryce returned to seclusion beneath the Society of Deus. None knew exactly what had transpired, but it became clear that Vryce had lost much of his power. All knew he was plotting his return to power, and a means to recover his Avatar a second time.

Yet Ordo's defeats continued to mount. In Vryce's absence, the Wolves of the North sought a strong leader. Odin's return answered their hopes. The Wolves broke from the Ordo, bringing many of the northern territories with them.

When the Aether struck at Constantinople, Al-Ashrad called upon the Ordo for aid. Gabriel De'Angelo and his allies responded, fighting to reclaim the portals to Contantinople... only to discover that Nul had severed them. None know for certain what transpired, but De'Angelo and his officers vanished in the chaos of the battle which followed. De'Angelo and those who accompanied him were never heard from again. Survivors swear they saw De'Angelo's army enter the portal moments before its destruction. Serabella and Adam of Rome fought to save St. Louis from total destruction at Aether's hands.

Shortly after De'Angelo's disappearance, the Society's elite army, the Amo a Deus, vanished as well. This left the Society of Deus quite vulnerable. Only the Society's Gargoyles, lead by Onyx, remained to defend the territory. Through their sacrifice, Deus survived the war. Onyx and the Gargoyles did not.

The Sage and Methuselah Councils of Deus grew restless, believing Vryce no longer fit to lead. As the power that had founded the Society began to unravel, it teetered on the brink of a civil war . Ambitious nobles maneuvered against each other as much as they maneuvered against Aether. Vryce emerged from seclusion to save what he had built. He acknowledged that he was in no state to lead. With the Sage Council as witnesses, Vryce placed Menelaus in the position of Domain Lord. Yet not all were convinced that the Primus of the Society of Deus would be so willing to relinquish his power. Many suspected that Vryce still held a firm grasp on the strings behind the scenes.

Though they sent a few representatives to court, none were consistent fixtures. Nobles came and went from this domain, unable to make their mark on court. One steadfast representative, Nishipuri, sought to restore Ordo to its former glory. He served as a Whisper to the Voice under Doc, and interim Praetor after Tzeentch’s ill-fated tenure. Yet neither position was to last. Nishipuri vanished without a trace following an ill-fated assassination attempt of Alyosha Buljiev.

The Ordo sent troops to fight at the Praetor's command, but they led no battles and claimed no territory. They received considerable scorn from their rivals for their lack of action, but they offered no explanation. They claimed only that their plans would become clear in time.

As the war waged, officers on battlefields across Europe reported witnessing magical duels. In each case, an unknown man appeared to challenge a Lazarean Tremere officer to a Certamen duel. In each case, the man defeated his adversary, before vanishing once again.

Before long, the man's identity became known: the infamous Primus Damien Vryce. Vryce had remained in seclusion for more than two decades, since the opening volleys of the War of Aether. Ordo nobles revealed nothing of his re-emergence, or what his plans might be. Yet, month after month, Vryce continued his campaign of Certamen. It soon became clear that each challenge was more powerful than the last.

Vryce's plan came to fruition in the final months of the war, on a contentious battlefield in the city of Kiev. Vryce appeared, and challenged Grimgroth for his control of the Ceoris council. They drew the Certamen circle, and set upon one another in a flurry of magic and blades. In the end, Vryce emerged wounded, but victorious. Vryce retrieved a talisman from Grimgroth's ashes before vanishing once again.

Even as Vryce dueled Grimgroth, the armies of Ordo laid siege to the Tremere city of Vienna. Hundreds of magi chipped away at the Tremere's wards. The Methuselahs of Deus hammered at the physical structures with unmatched force. Once the wards had fallen, the outer walls offered little resistance. When Vryce re-appeared, he brandished the talisman of the fallen Grimgroth. The Tremere of Vienna surrendered, and Vryce the now-vacant seat on the Ceoris council.

Yet the victory was not without its cost. Adam, Lord of New Constantinople, fell during the battle. The death of their lord severed New Constantinople’s Oaths to the Ordo Trismegistus. Chaos engulfed the city, and all contact with them was lost.

As Europe reeled from Dischordia's devastating attack, Aether seized their chance to cripple both. Cities which had fallen to darkness during the War of Aether bled shadows like an open wound. Abyssal armies swarmed from these tears in reality. Shadow-eaten vampires, spectres, and demons laid waste to surrounding territories. The Aether fought without regard for their own destruction, and inflicted considerable damage.

One such attack consumed the city of New Constantinople, as the Gateway Arch portal unleashed an army of demons and djinn. Citizens fled, only to find the city surrounded by spectral remnants of the Domain of the Dead. They fought a desperate battle but, without their lord's leadership, suffered devastating losses. They carved an opening through the enemy, affording survivors the means to escape

A column of refugees fled, without rest, for the safety of the Society of Deus and the Second City. Their spectral pursuers thinned their numbers with each passing mile. Only a fraction of the refugees survived to reach the safety of the other cities. Each refugee knew that Nothing remained in the city of New Constantinople.

Those refugees who reached the walls of the Society of Deus found it, too, under siege. Many of the outlying cities had already fallen to the endless waves of abyssal enemies. Nul’s forces appeared to take particular delight in slaughtering the city of Saint Cloud... the settlement which housed refugees from the former Domain of the Dead. Yet some of the outer cities were saved, by a great shadowy dragon. Though none can say why, the creature appeared and aided in halting the Aether's advance.

The Twin Cities themselves were well-defended behind their magical, eldritch-green walls. As the Sage Council took up defensive posts, the abyssal threat battered the walls. Deus nobles, known for their arcane studies, unleashed waves of magic to turn back the attacks.

After hours of determined persistence, the first cracks formed in the walls. Black tendrils seeped into the cracks and picked away at the brick. Arcane sigils and wards burned them apart, but the tendrils were without end. The wards finally failed, and a section of the wall crumbled away. Dark fog poured through the streets, reducing anyone it enveloped to mere shadow. As it neared the center of the city, a lone figure floated above the tower.

Through the driving rain, the citizens of the city saw Damien Vryce for the first time in decades. Though the body was not his own, his magic was a telltale sign. At his command, lightning and fire tore into the shadowed army, shredding their forms. When the last of the Aether’s minions had vanished, he vanished once again into an arcane gate.