There was no isolated incident that instigated the Dragon War. Toffoun and Amalgami killed Blackheart. Tentineh revealed his army in Greshendale. Lord Shaelin killed Kenderax. Gorwinua’s army was earliest of all, waging a guerrilla war against Bavastatner for six years before the Dragon War officially began. The combination of these events led to the meeting of the ten Heroes of the Dragon War.

While the ten Heroes of the Dragon War were united in their efforts, the same could not be said for all the leaders of Cimmeria. The Heroes asked for help from the mortal leaders of Cimmeria and most came to their aid. King Cogard of the Dwarves wished to remain out of the war, but Shaelin’s attack on Fangaroot made neutrality impossible. He joined the fight against the dragons. The Elves of Valor and Hardtop fought for the mortal armies. Tracy brought Crafterton and Nomingburg into the fight. The human settlements of Nox and Phoenix joined the mortals as well.

Queen Shortrastor made the opposite decision. She provided the ground soldiers for Bavastatner’s war against the Orcs. King Aeetes of Colchis, an ally of dragons from the Heroic Age, used his considerable power to aid the white dragons when he could.

The Elves of the Dry Woods fought a civil war with the druidic Naturalists supporting the dragons and the Patriots supporting the mortals.

The only large communities that remained neutral during the war were Croshan’s Dark Elves and Crux. The Dark Elves took advantage of the chaos of the Dragon War to raid the surface for supplies, hitting the dragons and the mortals. Crux, the city of the undead, saw no advantage to joining either side. The Antenator kept his servants neutral.

King Cogard’s sons played their roles as the dwarven military commanders and diplomats during the Dragon War. Steffern oversaw the defense of Jord. Yentbern acted as a liason between Cogard and their allies. Coldruin led the dwarves attack force alongside his father. Albirnon assisted the other three sons with their tasks depending on who needed support the most. King Cogard was happy to see his sons working in unison to oppose such a dire threat to their existence.

Sadly, Cogard’s wish for a united Dwarven nation led by his quadruplets would not last. The relationship worked well for the first few months of the Dragon War, but as the conflict dragged on for more than a decade, tensions rose between the brothers. Cogard broke up multiple fights between his sons, some of which seemed to border on murderous. After the dragons were sealed away, Cogard’s sons vowed to never have anything to do with one another again.

A few years after the Dragon War, King Cogard suddenly took ill. He died sick in his bed, without a sole successor named for his kingdom. He had four sons, but they were quadruplets, so none had a greater right to the throne than any other. The brothers gathered on the edge of the river east of Jord to discuss the succession. The conversation swiftly turned to blows and the brothers left to prepare for civil war. As the war started by the river, the waterway came to be known as the Cogardes River, after the four sons that began their conflict there. The war lasted several years and only entrenched the separation of Cogard’s nation into four separate kingdoms. Albirnon in the Western Underdark, Steffern in the Northern Underdark, Coldruin in the Terror Mountains, and Yentbern at Jord.

Many speculations were made about the death of Cogard. Some say that Albirnon poisoned his own father. Others claim that Queen Shortrastor poisoned him to sow discord among her political enemies. Still others claimed that it was a simple sickness that took the young king quickly. No one knows for certain.