First Earth War

The First Earth War, also known as the First War, was an armed conflict that took place on Middle-Earth at the turn of the decade, between the combined forces of the orcish Prarvian Expedition (under the proxy of the Marching Horde and the ogre New Brotherhood against the human kingdoms of Avantia, Forgil and Phoenixgarde (Grevalon was informally involved in the war as Magecrown intervened at the behest of Prince Atherton).

Taking place between the years 0 and 5, it was the first war to occur since the Sun War in -295. It came as a major shock to the humans, who were used to peace and prosperity in the aftermath of Anthromor's break up.

Background
For the longest time, the orcs of Prarvis had lived peaceful lives in clan-based, shamanistic communities, engaging in benevolent trade with their Eldari co-inhabitants. But the resurgence of ancient evils, backed by an Chaos Gods, led to a desperate situation. Ota'tok, Elder Shaman of the Frostwolf clan, was fooled into making a pact with the demon lord Tiz'galath, a corrupted-Eldari commander of the demonic Marching Horde, which was sealed by the blood of a malicious giant, Surtyr. When the plot was revealed and Ota'tok's misgivings made public, he was keenly betrayed and arrested by his subordinate, Vez'nan, who unbeknown to the orcs had been made First Warlock by Tiz'galath himself. Now, all that stood between the warlock and untapped power was Middle-Earth itself, and Vez'nan keenly followed the instructions of his demonic master. Assembling an army of magically-engineered orcs, he allied himself with the two-headed ogre Il'grogg, Dark Lord of the void fanatics of the New Brotherhood, and they gathered in force for the big invasion. Seeing the disharmony among the newly-organised forces, Vez'nan and Il'grogg chose Deadeye as the Warlord, or military leader, of the orcs, while they held true power. This decision came after Kazzakh, leader of the Steelhammer clan, was exposed as a traitor after he led his people to the Kiba jungle to escape the Blood Pact. While he was hunted down, Agekh, a local sycophant, was made the new Steelhammer shaman.

Back on Middle-Earth itself, the malevolent sorceress Morgana le Fey was setting her minions to work on constructing the Genesis Link. It was a complex system of portals that would guide the orcs and shadow ogres through the universe so that they would reach the planet faster. The humiliations she had suffered at the hands of the Council of Seven intensified her desire for revenge against humanity. Co-ordinating with Vez'nan the entire porcess, Morgana bided her time until the Link was fully developed. To ensure not a single junior sleuth noticed, Morgana's cult - the Sinister Syndicate - harvested the bones of young girls inducted into and killed by the cult, enchanted them, and turned the remains into wards. While this was happening, Morgana was also working on her most powerful spell - Hand of Damnation - which would be so powerful it would turn Grevalon into dust and kill everyone inside it, so that she could build a 'better' society on its sandy remains, staffed by the seniors of her cult. Her burning desire for revenge took attention away from her plans, meaning she had to deputise - which, as far as she was concerned, was not a problem as all of the witches in the coven were fervently loyal to her.

The war
By 0, the Genesis Link was completed, and Morgana gave Vez'nan the ultimate signal - to enter. From their side, the orcs charged through the portal on his command, and in a matter of hours they had landed on the south of Phoenixgarde, where Syntrix, her associate, was directing the flow of ogre traffic. Almost immediately, Deadeye's bloodcurdling cries sent the orcs ripping through Phoenixgarde, with their first major target being Phoenixgarde City itself.

Not all of the Expedition entered Phoenixgarde first. The Genesis Link took Agekh to Forgil to take on the finest warriors in the realm. Il'grogg and Vovasor directed forces to Avantia, believing that the elementals of the planet would be found in the kingdom closest to the centre of the planet. That said, the majority of the forces were stationed in Phoenixgarde, and they began the brutal charge into human settlements.

The human reaction was that of...shock, initially. Reports of green-skinned brutes running rampant, raping, killing, kidnapping and looting were pretty much ignored. Laudrin, Grevalon, Sherwood and Muid Rulas initially did not believe the claims. It was only after the first assault on Phoenixgarde Hold and the murder of several foreign envoys that the attacks were realised.

Trivia

 * This mirrors the First War from Warcraft.