Great Lockist War
- Like the Anubi and Takula before us, we, the Lokh [Khellin] nearly went extinct in the mid-65th millennium. However, the Anubi were cursed by an incurable plague, and the Takula simply had the misfortune of being unable to adapt to a miniature ice age. We have nothing to blame for our brush with death... but ourselves.
- --Author unknown; widely attributed to one of the surviving members of the Craxela family
The Great Lockist War (64,597 to 64,643) was a large-scale war that took place on Trilok. The war nearly eliminated the Khell race, and marked the end of the era of Trilok's status as a collection of warring countries and city-states. To this day, this war was the worst that has ever been fought on Trilok, and one of the worst ever fought on all of Ramath-Lehi.
Growing Problems
Prior to the war, Trilok was not a single nation, but 46. Many smaller wars and battles had been fought between countries, and as such the area was politically volitile. Indeed, many of the surviving Khell noble families had been the ruling families of their own nations, from the Adamaints to the Volithins.
Several families were chosen to have a representative on the Council of Twelve, and as such, the prestige of being on this council was highly prized. The Adamaints' grasp on their seat was solid, as was the Volithins'. However, the other families represented constantly had to fight keep their position, as other nobles sought to usurp them and earn their own say in how the whole world would be run. (Not all of them knew that the true power was in the hands of the Mahji-Graders, not the Council.)
In addition, the constant conflict between the nations and noble families resulted in an arms race of technological development. Engineers, scientists and mages were valuable, and as such weaponry, armour, vehicles and even magic with power never seen before or since was constantly being developed. Rumour has it that many families even violated their agreements to abolish slavery, and had secretly captured and sold many civilians and soldiers into "indentured servitude". Whether this is true is uncertain.
On top of all of this, there was another, growing problem: Trilok was becoming overpopulated. Even with how large their cities and fortresses could get, there were simply too many mouths to feed, too many pendragons to shelter, and not enough jobs to pay them all.
With these problems amongst others brewing, the Council and many nobles realised that Trilok simply could not go on the way it was. Something had to change.
Change came in an abrupt and brutal manner in late 64,597 - not because of the Adamaints, Volithins, the Council or any of those, but because of the prince of one small city-state.
