Invasion of Deltora

The invasion of Deltora was the first major attack on Deltora by the Shadow Lord. Beginning with raids in the north, the invasion was halted during the winter and concluded with the Battle for Deltora, resulting in the monarchy of Deltora and the uniting of the seven tribes through the Belt of Deltora.

Prelude
Opal began to predict to have dreams predicting the invasion of Deltora. She awoke from a dream, telling of a wasteland beyond the mountains, of grey men who were not men, of terrible flying beasts, and of red eyes burning with hate. She also spoke of a man who could fight the Enemy, a man of iron and fire, who wore a band of bright stones around his waist. When Opal travelled to Del and grew old, she held each of her descendants only to find that they were not the one.

As the Shadow Lord grew in power, he began to create monstrous beasts in the Factory. Branded with the symbol of the Shadow Lord, these beasts raided the northern tribes of Deltora. With the aim to take prisoners back to the Shadowlands, the beasts fought until death. The raids continued until it became a part of everyday life in the north.

Invasion
As the raids continued, red clouds began to boil behind the mountains as the Shadow Army streamed through the pass in the Northwest of Deltora. Led by human leaders, the army killed and burned every living thing in its path. Comprised of the Greers and Ak-Baba, the tribes of the north fought the army separately. Dragons battled the Ak-Baba and although many were slain, they managed to kill many Greers. As the fighting continued, it became clear to the tribes of the north that the Greers were mortal and they were slain in their thousands. However many were killed, thousands more took their place.

The army spread its way along the mountains from west to east and began to pressed on towards the south. Due to the division of the tribes, the army overwhelmed everything in its path, for no single tribe could repel the army. One by one, the Dread Gnomes, the people of the Mere, Plains and Ralad were forced to abandon the countryside of their territories and retreat to their towns and cities. When the army could not defeat a town in its path, it went around it, determined to move forward south. News of the army moved slowly, as communication between neighbouring tribes was rare. Many people fled their territories, seeking refuge in the Del and Jalis territory and warning of the danger to come.

In Jaliad, the Jalis prepared for war in enjoyment. After listening in contempt to the warnings of people who entered their territory, they killed them without mercy. Confident that the army would regret fighting their tribe, they could not imagine a force their tribe could defeat, for they had never lost in any fight. As they sharpened their weapons and prepared for battle, they revealed in a merry feast. In Del, the strongest troops marched out of the city to defend the borders of their tribe's territory. Although they had left with a crowd cheering them on their way, the people of Del felt unsafe. Foreigners hurriedly set sail for home as more news reached of the slaughter in the north, and terror gripped the city.

As suddenly as the invasion had began, a hard cold winter caused it to falter. Regardless, intent on advancing at all costs and utterly careless of their lives, the Greers froze to death in huge numbers. The army was too far south from the mountains for replacements to be sent with speed and as the Shadow Army's numbers dropped rapidly, its commanders were forced to halt during the winter. The people of Del rejoiced in the apparent victory and in being spared, for their talisman was the gem of faith. However, many continued to prepare for war, knowing that that they would be only be safe for as long the winter chill. One group of Greers, led by Wrass and Sheela, attacked what they believed to be Raladin. However, the Ralads had built a duplicate city to trick the army. They burnt the fake town to the ground, took all furniture and camped there over winter.

Aftermath
The invasion led to a number of important events in Deltora's history. It saw the unification of the seven tribes, the establishment of the Deltoran monarchy, and the Belt of Deltora. Deltora itself was also named after the sequence of the gems on the Belt.

The invasion was also significant for the Shadow Lord, who realised that a more discreet plan would be needed to take Deltora. This would involve its numerous plans that paved the way for the subsequent attacks on Deltora.