First Rift War¶
"The demons at first obeyed him and helped him conquer Theraec and most of the north." — History of Terrun (S386)
The First Rift War, 1689–1804 MA, began when the orc summoner Thu'karam opened "the first recorded abyssal rift" and ended a hundred and fifteen years later with the death of two archdemons at the battle of Arne-Athosia. The 2020 history marks it "REGIONAL" (S386); the 2014 compendium lists it among the historical events of Numenia (S372). The two accounts are identical in text.
Course of the war¶
"The first recorded abyssal rift was opened by an Orc summoner named Thu'karam. The demons at first obeyed him and helped him conquer Theraec and most of the north. The demons were able to convince Thu'karam to widen the rift and allow more of their brothers through, including two arch-demons, Mephistus and Asmodean. Overestimating his control of the demons proved to be his undoing and his horde of demons turned on him and his Orcish army. The demons spilled south into what currently is the Empire of Thyssia, conquering a majority of those lands. The remaining peoples of the continent banded together to defend the western kingdoms along the Dragonspine and Cloudhall mountain ranges. Battles along these ranges raged for 70 years, until the arch-demons were slain in the battle of Arne-Athosia. After the fall of the arch-demons, the demon armies were weakened by infighting and were eventually crushed" (S386, S372).
Aftermath¶
The archdemons' deaths were not permanent; "their souls are now reborn into mortal forms after each death", and both appear again in later ages (S372). The rift itself is the first of the sources' "Abyssal rifts", which the compendium explains are opened where magic-use turns Mithis away from the work of the Abscission and which "are not stable and only allow some number of Demons through before closing" (S372). The second such rift, at Halath, opened of its own accord four and a half centuries later in the Second Rift War. Whether the Rift Wars are the Second and Third Demon Wars of other documents under other names is an open question recorded on the Demon Wars page.
Gap
The sources name no battle but the last, no commander of the alliance, and no fate for Thu'karam beyond his undoing. Nothing says what became of Theraec or the north between the orcs' conquest and the demons' defeat.