Ultima War

The Ultima War was a cataclysmic conflict between the forces of the dark lord Vecna and the people of Echelon. It was prophesied by the goddess Ioun as a vague event that would see the destruction of the planet, unless a group of heroes would rise to lead the world in a grand battle and defeat Vecna. It began and ended in the year 855 ME, resulting in Vecna's death and a pyrrhic victory for Echelon.

Prophetic Background

Many Celestial beings in the Outer Planes initially used the central Material Plane for many purposes, including a staging area, recruitment pool, and at times, a cosmic battlefield. Seeing the catastrophic destruction and hardship this placed on the lesser mortals, the gods decided to place a magical Seal on the Material Plane. This Seal was designed to prevent any Outer being-- good or evil-- of cosmic power to exert direct influence on Echelon.

When the Sealing was performed, the goddess Ioun used her gift of magical foresight to prophesy a method by which the undead Prime Evil, Vecna, would bypass the barrier and reenter the Material Plane. If this were to occur, Ioun's judgment was that the planet Echelon would be overrun with undead and effectively rendered uninhabitable. Her prophecy stipulated that "any who are Determined" would be required to lead Echelon to resist Vecna's invasion and prevent his victory.

Primordial Prelude

After the Sealing, Vecna and Gruumsh concluded that the capture of Echelon was of paramount importance in the Prime Evils' mutual desire to destroy the Upper Planes. Zehir was hesitant, wisely advising Vecna not to attack the Celestials directly. Asmodeus and Lolth also cautioned the lord of undeath, warning that Ioun's calculations of "the soon after" were unerring. Vecna countered that Ioun was not wise enough to predict either the convoluted creation of the elves or the dispensing of magic to the Races. Furthermore, Vecna was convinced that the latter would be the key to undoing the Seal. In the end, only Tiamat was convinced to side with Vecna and Gruumsh, and the three worked a plan to invade the Material Plane.

As the Seal did not prevent lesser Celestials or fiends from infiltrating the Material Plane, Vecna's forces worked to destabilize Echelon's governments from within, while simultaneously bolstering their ranks, for thousands of years. Meanwhile, Gruumsh commanded his loyal orc followers to constantly war with the Races, further preventing progress and unity among the scattered and diverse peoples of Echelon. Finally, in the first century ME, Tiamat allowed five of her most powerful brood to become harbingers of Vecna's Rebirth, sacrificing them before their hatching to the dark lord to become dragon liches.

While the dark powers were at work, the gods refused to directly intervene until it was absolutely necessary. However, legends of a prophesied Ultima War made their way into every major religion on the planet. Throughout the ages, clerics, priests, and shamans (and on rare occasions, angelic messengers) continually preached about the Ultima War. Passages in holy texts referenced "the Determined" less and less as a hypothetical abstract, and more and more as promised champions.

Finally, Racial understanding of magic grew to such a level that Vecna's Rebirth could be achieved. The Sealing did prevent planar rulers, including Vecna and other deities, from themselves moving the Material Plane. However, a mortal being-- with the proper knowledge and components-- could pull Vecna into Echelon, bypassing the Seal entirely. Once the Races achieved the powerful gate spell, the dark lord's plans were close to fruition.

A residuum-infused astral diamond was needed to complete the gate ritual. In 854 ME, the sorcerer Kas Dubaku, Voice of Vecna and prominent figure in his Cult, acquired the necessary components, and began experimenting.

The Calling of the Determined

With Vecna's plans unfolding rapidly, the gods were forced to respond directly. However, there was disagreement as to how to handle the situation. Some Celestials thought that any more interference in the mortal world was a direct violation of their mutual agreement to allow self-determination. Others, including the Creative Celestials, were insistent that the peoples of Echelon needed their protection from the Nine Hells.

Regardless, the Seal could not be broken. Pelor, Bahamut, Avandra, and Moradin searched the world for candidates to become the Determined, and in early 855 ME, settled on five individuals. Through a complex series of paradoxical events, chronomancy was used by Alastaire Breowan in the future to place a dimensional anchor on his earlier self and the rest of the Determined.

The first battle of the Ultima War occurred on the Tanjetto Isle in the elven Great Library. Alastaire Breowan, Raelyn Lionni, Casimiri Pickles, Wollyn Diggenplump, and Kevice Dryadson were asked to investigate missing personnel at the Library. The five, having traveled on the same ship to the Strongwater Isles, agreed to go together. Simultaneously in the abandoned city of Sheylas, some 1,200 miles away, Dubaku completed his first experiment with the gate spell. Coupled with the dimensional anchor on the five adventurers, the Nine Hells opened up briefly-- not in Sheylas, but in the Great Library at Tanjetto.

With the ritual imperfect, only lesser devils were able to enter the Material Plane. The five adventurers were suddenly caught in a fight for their lives against demonic powers. Lionni, Breowan, and Diggenplump were nearly killed, and the two others severely wounded, but the devils were repelled and the gate closed in on itself.

At that instant, the five heroes were pulled from the Material Plane by the Creative Celestials. This act caused some controversy among gods and mortals alike; it was seen by some as a violation of noninterference. In the interdimensional waste of the Astral Sea, the five adventurers were appointed to be the Determined. This event was even more hotly debated as a potential infringement on Racial choice. Even the name "Determined" became used as evidence supporting Predestination Heresy.

Cultural Depictions

The arrival of a force of undeath which would permeate the world was a prophecy told in nearly every culture on the planet. The sea elves of Strongwater, for example, believed that the arrival of certain marks would herald the arrival of warriors to stand against "the darkness". Humans on Pitharas tended to record and follow Ioun's prophecies with much more attention to detail.

The tabaxi people of Zatal knew of the "Moonless Night" in the Ancient World, eventually constructing (or discovering) the Jaguar Gate. The tabaxi used the Jaguar Gate sometime in the early Middle Era to completely bypass thousands of years, effectively "skipping" much of the Middle Era and the entirety of the Dark Age.