The infinite war between Heaven and Hell led to unexpected results as it headed towards different ways with the Sin War. It was unforeseen to have a third party in the war, which had the power to wipe out the forces of both Hell and Heaven from the battlefield. As a result, The Burning Hells and the High Heavens had to withdraw from Sanctuary and left the Nephalem to their fates, which didn’t improve the situation for the Nephalem whose powers were slowly getting absorbed by the Worldstone.
Most of the Edyrem’s memory had already been erased, nevertheless someone had to explain how thousands of people died during the Sin War. In order to cover it up, everything that was related to the Nephalem and the Sin War was concealed, and the folks were told that the people who died were victims of a terrible plague. Even so, a small group still knew about the real events despite all the lies, and they decided to keep away from any kind of religious dogmas in accordance with the knowledge that all of the destruction during the Sin War was the fault of the faithful fanatics of Triune and the Cathedral of Light. Even the city of Kehjan, which was home to both of the faiths, considered this as the beginning of a renaissance, and turned into what is known as “Kehjistan” to this day. This led to the rise of the mage clans once more. People started to reject any kind of religious beliefs and to believe in what they were able to see. Popular religions were suppressed and the kingdom turned to Al’Raqish, the mage council, for guidance instead of the churches.
Kehjistan
Once a house of 7 big and 7 small mage clans, Al’Raqish was now made up of only 3 clans which were able to keep their power and influence after the Sin War: Vizjerei, Ennead and Ammuit. All of those three clans, who had their share of destruction coming from the archdemons that controlled the church of Triune, agreed on the fact that rituals of demon summoning were extremely dangerous. So they forbade the rituals, and under the guidance of the mage clans, Sanctuary developed and grew, reaching prosperity and peace. At least for some time… Vizjerei, being unable to overcome their old habits, dragged the whole world into darkness once more when they surpassed the other two clans with thousands of active mages, and was overwhelmed by their pride. Ennead and Ammuit were aware of the secret rituals that Vizjerei had been performing, and in order to prevent them from causing another trouble with the Triune, they started to send assassins that targeted the key members of the clan. Thus began one of the most bloody events of history: The Mage Clan Wars…
It turned into a blood bath when the Vizjerei clan responded to the assassinations. In order to prevent any more losses, Ennead and Ammuit combined their forces and attacked the palace of Vizjerei in Viz-jun. The Vizjerei Ruling Council, realizing that they were in a war that they couldn’t win, had to hide in the shadows when the clashes spread to all of the eastern cities. Being unable to stand against the united forces of Ennead and Ammuit, Vizjerei was almost completely destroyed. However, just as the other two clans were about to call out their victory, the Vizjerei put their plan into practice: Demons. The tide turned so quickly that the mages of Ennead and Annuit lost a big portion of their forces to the brutal demons coming out from the Burning Hells before they even realized what was going on. The Vizjerei, who had to flee from the capital Viz-jun not long ago, now were the pursuers. The other two mage clans had to call their thinned numbers back to the capital. Just then, the siblings Horazon and Bartuc joined the war and completely changed its destiny.
The siblings were both members of the Vizjerei clan and one of them, Bartuc, was a ruthless battlemage. He had the title of “Warlord of Blood” because he was known to bathe in the blood of his slain enemies. Towards the end of the Mage Clan War, the merciless warlord had such great power that not only his enemies but also his own people were terrified of him. The demons that Bartuc summoned lacked any kind of control because the warlord believed that the demons were the masters of humankind, and serving them in such way would be rewarded. When Bartuc stood against his enemies in his blood-red armor, everything on his path was doomed to fall.
The other sibling, Horazon, was known for his ability to break the will of the demons he summoned. As opposed to the ones that Bartuc summoned, Horazon preferred keeping his demons under control. He was also wise enough to realize that Bartuc’s brutal and bloody course was causing devastation to his own brother and to the other mages of the Vizjerei. He was aware that, even if the Vizjerei won the battle, there would not be anyone to celebrate; so the Ruling Council decided to disband Bartuc’s army at the very moment of victory. But Bartuc and his demons were not so easily be disposed of… Having tasted blood once, they objected to this decision and drove the clan into a civil war. Bartuc, beating the path to Viz-jun’s gates by slaughtering his own people, challenged the Ruling Council. It was Horazon who stood up against his own brother to save the city as its battle-worn gates fell.
The final battle between the siblings destroyed what was left of the already devastated city. The city walls fell, the buildings completely crumbled… And when the dust cleared, it was only Horazon that was standing, and he was standing over his brother’s dead, broken body. Experiencing its dangers and devastation first-hand, Horazon forbade the demon summoning rituals yet again, and by that, ended the Mage Clan Wars. Feeling grief and sorrow after having to kill his own brother, Horazon created the Arcane Sanctuary for himself: A haven not even the Hell could find. It is said that he spent the last of his days in his sanctuary, studying the mysteries of magic.