Demonic Breaches
Recorded Trazon Incursions
Throughout the Illuminated Kingdom’s recent history, demonic breaches have marked moments when portals to the horrors of The Below were torn open by ritual, corruption, or cunning design. In response, the Illuminated Church dispatches the Balefire Knights, warriors of the light whose sole purpose is to contain these incursions and seal the breaches with sanctioned holy flames.
Each breach leaves a lasting scar upon the land. Though sealed, these sites remain unstable, shaped by the lingering influence of the Trazon commanders who led the incursions. The following records detail four such events, each named after the entity that crossed into Erenel.
The Balefire Rite
Sealing a Demonic BreachWhen a breach to the Below is identified, the Balefire Knights enact a sanctioned ritual known as the Balefire Rite, a process that binds divine flame to the wound between planes and forces it shut. The rite is not instantaneous. It requires preparation, protection, and control of the battlefield.
Establish a Perimeter
The first priority is containment. Balefire Knights and accompanying forces form a defensive ring around the breach, holding back emerging Trazon and any warped creatures already loosed into the region. This perimeter rarely holds steady. Pressure builds as the breach resists, and no ritual can begin until control is established.
The Sealing Circle
Once the perimeter is secured, designated Knights inscribe a sealing circle around the breach using sanctified blood and water. These materials anchor the ritual to the physical world and define the boundary through which Balefire can be safely invoked. The circle must remain intact as interruptions or loss of marking materials can destabilize the process, forcing the rite to begin again under worsening conditions.
Invocation of Flame
At the center of the formation, the acting Balefire Knight Commander leads the invocation. This is not a spoken prayer alone, but a channeling of divine authority granted through the Illuminated Church. Balefire is called forth. The flame manifests as a controlled, radiant inferno that does not spread beyond the circle, yet burns with enough intensity to rival the energies of the breach itself.
As the flame intensifies, the breach begins to collapse inward. This is the most dangerous phase as Trazon forces surge in a final attempt to break the circle. Those within the inner ring endure direct exposure to both Hellfire and Balefire at once, holding position as the boundary between planes resists closure.
The commander remains at the center, maintaining the invocation. Should they fall, the rite risks failure without immediate intervention. When successful, the breach seals in a violent energy collapse, leaving behind a scorched, unstable scar. Any Trazon that crossed into Erenel through the breach are drawn back into the Below as the tear closes.
Reporting a Breach
When signs of a demonic breach surface, speed determines survival. The Illuminated Church relies on its network across the Illuminated Kingdom and on local authorities trained to recognize early signs. These include unnatural heat, distorted animal behavior, voices with no source, and sudden changes in terrain. False reports are common, but hesitation carries greater risk.
Those who suspect a breach are expected to report it to the nearest Church authority or Crown outpost without delay. In smaller regions, this often means a traveling priest or a Crownwatch Tower. Messengers are dispatched immediately, and powerful divine magic is used if the threat appears imminent. In more remote areas, small towns were lost before word ever reached the Church.
Once confirmed, the report is escalated through Church channels and forwarded directly to a Balefire Knight Commander. Local forces are instructed to contain the area as best they can, though few are equipped to face what emerges. In many cases, their role becomes one of delay and survival rather than defense.
The arrival of the Balefire Knights marks the final stage of response. From that point forward, authority shifts entirely to the Church, and all prior reports become part of a sealed record. Those who witnessed the breach are often questioned and, in some cases, silenced.
Zinril's Scar
Southern Oathlands, 603 EoIFBalefire Commander: King Consort Victor Addington
Trazon Commander: Zinril, House Avernia
Zinril was a Trazon Sincaller, shaped for mastery over hellfire drawn directly from the Below. His form burned without consuming itself, with horns glowing like molten iron, and a body wreathed in a constant, controlled blaze.
Hellfire cast by Zinril clung to armor, weapons, and flesh, continuing to burn long after impact. Water slowed it but did not extinguish it. Soil smothered it only for it to flare again moments later. Those struck carried the fire with them, spreading it across the battlefield. Zinril used his hellfire with deliberate control, directing arcs of flame to shape the field of battle. Lines of burning ground cut off escape routes and forced defenders into tighter pockets.
King Consort Victor Addington led the response with strict discipline. Engagement demanded constant movement, with no position held for long. Orders focused on containing the flame rather than holding ground, using layered rotations to prevent the fire from spreading through the ranks.
The final sealing required Addington and the Balefire Knights to push through Zinril’s burning perimeter to reach the breach. The ritual was completed within a ring of flame that burned for hours after the portal closed.
Angenus’s Scar
Northern Oathlands, 608 EoIFBalefire Commander: Domerian Kalt
Trazon Commander: Angenus, House Netherion
Angenus was a Trazon Doom Commander, bred for leadership through an overwhelming presence. His form was rigid and imposing, with forward-curving horns framing his head like a demonic crown. His authority on the battlefield was absolute.
Those who stood before Angenus felt a compulsion to obey, carrying out his orders without regard for self-interest or personal safety. Angenus did not deceive or bargain. He commanded through unwavering dominance, and the will to resist faltered under his gaze.
Balefire Commander Domerian Kalt led the response under extreme conditions. The engagement required striking through enthralled Thalorian civilians and compromised militia forces to reach the breach itself. Orders were executed without hesitation, as delay risked total loss of control.
The breach was sealed through decisive action, though the cost is reflected in the Crown’s silence surrounding the event. The area remains deeply affected. Those who linger near the scar report intrusive thoughts and a persistent sense that their decisions are not entirely their own.
Lymakar’s Scar
Western Crownlands, 614 EoIFBalefire Commander: Caldus Thalamon
Trazon Commander: Lymakar, House Netherion
Lymakar was a Trazon Siege Architect, bred to construct and command infernal war engines. Her frame was tall and rigid, with jagged horns that resembled fractured battlements. Lymakar would not rely on conventional forces, but on siege warfare.
Upon her emergence, the ground itself reshaped into platforms, trenches, and firing lines. Under her command, Trazon assembled towering siege engines from blackened iron and bone, structures that took shape with unnatural speed. These war machines hurled burning masses of slag and bone, shattering walls and igniting anything they struck.
Balefire Commander Caldus Thalamon led the response to a steadily expanding war front. Direct assault proved ineffective, as the siege engines outpaced destruction. Thalamon shifted strategy, directing his forces to disrupt construction points before the engines could be fully formed. The approach proved effective, though it came at heavy cost to the accompanying Grenchester Army.
The final push required a concentrated strike through Lymakar’s central foundry, where the largest of the war engines was taking shape. The sealing ritual was enacted amid collapsing constructs and burning debris, sealing the breach as the battlefield fell in on itself.
The land remains scarred by half-formed structures of fused iron and bone, many of which have been scavenged or stripped down over time.
Atavistic’s Scar
Eastern Crownlands, 621 EoIFBalefire Commander: Rauthen Sunderscale
Trazon Commander: Atavistic, House Kathanor
Atavistic was a Trazon War Beast Commander, bred to create and deploy mutated shock forces through Hematurgy blood magic and abyssal experimentation. His form was massive and hunched, with thick, jagged horns and a body layered with scarred muscle that looked stitched and infused.
Creatures under his command were warped by fleshcraft, twisted into violent, unstable forms. Warhounds sprouted extra limbs and split jaws. Livestock became hulking, bone-plated horrors. Even fallen soldiers were repurposed into grotesque constructs driven by brute instinct.
Balefire Commander Rauthen Sunderscale led the response along a vital eastern trade route as the breach expanded. Engagement quickly devolved into relentless close-quarters combat against waves of unstable creatures that showed no regard for injury or survival.
Sunderscale held the line through his veteran presence, reinforcing weakened fronts and rallying forces where collapse seemed inevitable. Strategy gave way to endurance as the battlefield became a grinding attrition.
The final push required cutting through Atavistic’s inner ranks to reach the breach itself, where the commander continued to produce new abominations. The breach was sealed under sustained assault, and the remaining war beasts collapsed soon after. The land remains hostile to natural order. Wildlife near the scar resists domestication, and creatures born in the region often display unnatural aggression or deformity.
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