The Founding
Long ago, when legends were yet to be born, and legacies were still in the making, monsters and humans fought for control of this world. Humanity was not alone in their fight. Semi-divine beings known as the Diagin aided the human struggle against these monsters, known as the Fomorians.
For centuries, the King of the Diagan, Nuada, alongside his brother, Dagda, King of the Fae, had been trying to quell the insurrection of their cousin, Balor. Balor had Gateways constructed that linked to different parts of the Otherworld and our own to use as a launching point for his armies. Nuada and his armies counter invaded through these newly constructed Gateways, bringing the frontlines of this divine conflict onto Earth, a place of petty kings and small nations.
The Fomorians, who wanted nothing more than to wipe the planet clean, tried to rid the realm of humanity to create a new base in which they could regroup. The human kingdoms banded together, creating one massive multi-national army to fight against these creatures. It was as chaotic as the seas in a storm, with each commander and general from different nations vying for total control. This led to the creation of several mercenary bands as armies splintered off or soldiers abandoned their posts. The nations disbanded their one-world army and began funding these self-governed mercenaries.
Meanwhile, the Diagan continued their own fight separate from the human struggle. The combination of every Diagan nation was indeed a powerful army, but the strategy and tactics came from Nuada’s lead. The Fomorians were well aware that Nuada was the true strength behind the Diagin, so Balor sent his only son, Malificus, to destroy Nuada. Malificus led a small strike force into the Heart Camp where Nuada drew up battle plans. In the dead of night, Nuada was slain by Malificus. Dagda awoke to the sound of screams and gurgling, finding Malificus standing over his dead brother. His shock got the best of him, and Malificus managed to escape. With no living heir, the crown of the Diagan fell upon Dagda, who had a newfound spirit of vengeance and hatred.
With a kingdom at war and their way of life at risk, the Diagan needed a strong leader. Dagda found his strength not in a wish for peace, as his brother did, but instead, he wished to see Malificus’ head on a pike, and he was willing to sacrifice any people or nation to see that come to fruition.
The humans had trouble maintaining morale during this time. Although they would win some battles, such an occurrence was rare, and they were losing the war. They needed something, or someone, solid. Some humans sought out certain Diagan who held camp at many places across the world, begging for their assistance and swearing fealty to them. Other humans fell under the banner of The Emissaries of Equilibrium, which believed that the Otherworld was a calling from the cosmos and nature itself to bring humanity to a new age; and to reach it they must destroy all who resided there. Thus, a second war was started, between these soldiers and the entirety of the Otherworld.
Some of the Diagan felt threatened by humanity, but others saw them as a powerful ally. Dagda was among those who wanted to join with humanity and fight the Fomorians alongside them. He saw the humans as the perfect weapons against the Fomorians; not at all intimidating until you see their plans in action. He met with the leaders of what he saw as the strongest of the mercenaries; The Order of the Land (Irish), The Soldiers of Iron (English), The Knights of the Serpent (Scottish), The Knights of Devotion (Spanish), and The Sanguine Order (French). Though it was a difficult task, he managed to get each of them to meet together, and there he made the proposal of an alliance between these orders and the Diagan. Wary of the very people who caused this conflict, each leader was cautious about signing, yet each did. It was on that day that the Lorgaire were formed.
The Fall of Balor
The Fomorians reacted exactly as Dagda had wanted them to: not at all. The Fomorians continued to fight with both the humans who got in their way as well as the Diagan. Balor of the Evil Eye, named so by the Diagan, and founder of the Fomorians, reveled in the chaos that he caused, but he wanted it to end soon. The armies were getting restless, and the constant conflict led to the collapse of Fomoria. With the armies being all that was left of the former kingdom, Balor knew that he needed to end this war and focus on rebuilding his nation. To do that, he needed to stop the fighting at its core: his vile cousin, Dagda. He knew the new king was blind with rage and hatred for the Fomorians, so whatever he planned, it needed to hinge on that.
Balor and Malificus were shaken to their core when the Eye produced another Bearer. Because of the Law of the Eye, this new Bearer was to be raised by Malificus. During training, Malificus had come upon naming his son Lazarus; in the Fomorian tongue, “The Eye Provides.”
When training was complete, Balor and his armies were being pushed back by the Lorgaire. Recklessly, Balor sent Malificus and Lazarus alongside a massive force to invade and destroy the newly renovated Lorgaire headquarters, the Fortress of the Pact. During the siege, Malificus sent Lazarus to the frontlines so that he could experience a real fight. What he did not expect was for Dagda to come out of the fortress wielding Lanaotrumn, the Blade of Light. Dagda forced his way through the army, his eyes set on Malificus. Lazarus fell back to defend his father, but he was slain by Dagda right in front of him. At the moment, Dagda decided that, instead of killing Malificus, he would hurt him in a worse way. He used a property of Lanaotrumn, touching the pommel to the body of Lazarus. The fresh corpse of the son of Malificus rose up, light pouring from his eyes. Dagda told Lazarus to kill Balor, and, picking up his spear, he complied. Lazarus took off, flying to the fortress where Balor commanded from.
Malificus called off the siege and Dagda went back to the fort. By the time Malificus had reached the fort that Balor was commanding from, he saw Lazarus flying down to an oak. Malificus approached him and then saw the head of Balor in his hand. Lazarus reached out to the tree, and it listened to him. The blood of the Evil Eye was replaced with that of the natural blooded Diagan. He placed Balor’s still bleeding head upon the tree and turned to his father. Lazarus produced a dagger and wordlessly carved the Evil Eye from his head. Tossing the organic orb into the lake, Lazarus flew off without ever saying a word to his father. The rest of the retreating Fomorians approached the lake and saw that the eye had opened a Gateway within the lake. “The Eye provides,” said Malificus before ordering the Fomorian armies to retreat back to their home. Back to Fomoria.
The Respite
The world grew calm. Lorgaire still hunted down the few remaining Fomorians, those who thought they could carve their own domain on Earth, but peace nevertheless found its way to humanity. The Pact still held, and as a show of alliance between the two, the first City of Nature was created through a union of Diagan magic and human ingenuity. Many Diagan even resided in these cities due to their striking resemblance to their home, but their human origin was unmistakable. Some people, already adjusted to a more natural, nomadic lifestyle, became so close with Diagan that they gained the ability to bend nature to their will. These people were commonly referred to as Druids, and with their help, many more Cities of Nature were created.
Meanwhile, the Tuath De, the governmental circle of the Diagan with Dagda as the King, and the leaders of the Lorgaire were preparing for the next strike from the Fomorians. Experimenting with the mixture of Diagan blood with humans had garnered no results. The springing up of Druids, however, gave the idea that perhaps stronger Diagan could grant powers to humans. The solution should have been easy, but Dagda had never thought of granting powers to humans the way he does to his own knights as he did not believe they had souls. Regardless, these humans with Diagan powers were partially Lorgaire but lived to carry out the will of their patron, which consistently involved the destruction of Fomorians. Minor conflicts between Diagan and their human subjects sprung up occasionally, and many powerful Diagan found it easier to reside on Earth alongside their devotees.
The Rise of Malificus
The nation of Fomoria was no more. That happened long before, but it still stung Malificus, who was all but raised by the nation more than his now-dead father. There was a calm in the lands when the Fomorians returned due to every Fomorian being raised to join the army. Malificus knew he needed to rebuild. The war was far from over.
Fomoria was doused in industry, every soldier became a worker, and every worker built forts and walls and siege devices. Malificus revived Fomoria, and the skies across the Otherworld grew red, and smoke poured from the Gateways. Malificus created outer defenses first, great fortresses that stood on paths between the vast and tall mountains that had once risen at his father's word. The fool Diagan fell upon the forts, wasting their troops while Fomoria regained its standing. The nation was reformed under the Eye, trusting of the Eye, and obedient to the Eye. Malificus reformed Fomoria to be the ultimate weapon, the nation was sharpened against the rock that surrounded it.
The Eye ached for chaos, it ached for Malificus to finally destroy the Diagan. It told him it was time. Using the Gateway to the Resting Place of Balor, the Fomorians invaded the earth again, with it as their main target. Malificus knew he could protect his home against the Diagan, but slowly Fomoria would wither away if it was not able to expand. The lands of the Diagan would need too much work to make it worth all of the fighting, nature was too abundant there. Earth, however, was closer in resemblance to Fomoria.