"Today we commemorate the year 183 after the end of the great war that devastated the continent and took tens of thousands of lives from every civilization." Miss Glaewel says to the class

"And so, it is our duty to remember it today, so our fallen soldiers live upon our memory and that the great sacrifice they did wasn't in vane" She says with a solemn look

"Hithaerhel, Could you please tell the class how it started" Glaewel says to one of her students

"Yes Professor" Hithaerhel replies as she starts reading from her book.

"The Great War began in the outside of the town of Saa Thalor when a group of Dwarfs attacked a squad led by Captain Lasson while they guarded a trade caravan.
During the fight Captain Lasson killed Urist Borushdumat, the niece of the Dwarfs King. This led to a declaration of war from their kingdom.
Several diplomats were sent to reason with the king, but they where killed on sight. " Hithaerhel reads as she stops to turn the page.

"The superior Elven council decided to deploy defensive measures and raised the military to protect our cities, as the elf population that lived in bordering zones with the Dwarven Kingdom were relocated towards more secure zones.

A week after the declaration of war an army of approximately 3,000 Dwarfs attacked Saa Thalor and the small militia that was standing there to help the civilians to evacuate. Not a single Elf survived.
A retaliation was quickly ordered by the council." Hithaerhel reads

Seeing how the text book started going into details and since our class was already behind schedule Miss Glaewel began speaking.

"Several cities were attacked, sieged, burnt, reconquered and rebuild. Battles, skirmishes, and death was frequent and unavoidable. It was truly a dark lapse in history " She says

"The fight expanded and humans, Orcs, Goblins, Kashaks and several others species eventually joined the conflict. It wasnt until the battle of Eker Veldt that the war stopped..." Miss Glaewel says with a sad tone

"It ended" One classmate says to the teacher trying to correct her

"No, Technically it stopped..." Miss Glaewel says
"The fight in Eker Veldt was the most gruesome one. That battle alone accounted for almost half of the casualties reported in the war.
It was the only time where the main armies of every civilization in conflict faced each other at the same time. It lasted for almost 5 days where everyone fought practically without stopping.
In the end every side took so many casualties that it was impossible to keep attacking each other. That made to stop rather than ending through a peace treaty."

I raise my hand slowly

"Yes Aelith?" Miss Glaewel says

"Wouldn't that mean we are still on war?" I ask her

She smiles for a second and starts replying me

"No, you are forgetting that the war stopped 183 years ago.
We elves can live up to 1000 years easily, but Dwarfs, humans and most species have a much shorter lifespan. For them this war is something it happened a few generations ago.
They only remember it from books, while we still have soldiers that participated there."

At that moment the door from our class suddenly opens and one of the school directors quickly approaches Miss Glaewel, he whispers something to her and quickly leaves.

"Class... We have a report that says that the city of Saa Thalor is under attack" She says with a worried face

"We don't know by whom, nor their current situation, but our village chief has decided its best for us to go to our capital in the Elandre Woods as we don't know if those forces will move towards here given how close we are"

The class falls into complete silence...

Authors Note: Options within brackets will only provide additional information, or background related to people/places. They are optional and they don't advance the "story" in any way, but they are still a suggested reading ;)