The Third Crusade (4665 ar–4668 ar)

Third Crusade (4665 ar–4668 ar): Now contained within Sarkoris by a combination of the wardstones, increased pressure from the Mammoth Lords, and the distraction of an entire nation to plunder, the demons continued to press against the borders but seemed largely content to revel in their captured realm. Meanwhile, as the years passed, the Mendevian crusaders grew more and more corrupt—in part due to the subtle machinations of the cult of Baphomet, which had successfully infiltrated numerous companies and faiths throughout Mendev, but also because the resource-strained church of Iomedae had increasingly accepted less trustworthy members into its war effort. The church launched the Third Crusade primarily as an attempt to galvanize the crusaders, but as its focus increasingly turned toward self-destructive witch hunts and internal squabbling, the crusade collapsed under its own corrupt weight. Ultimately, the Third Crusade accomplished very little within the Worldwound—apart from delighting and entertaining Sarkoris’s demonic masters.