The Demon Ritual

The Demon Ritual was a major event near the end of the Third Age which changed the shape of the battle between the Trolls and the Crag Scholars.

What it was
The Ritual was a Servant binding of unprecedented magnitude. The necromancer-troll Baugi, an acolyte of Karlak, devised a plan to overthrow his undead master and assume Karlak's power by calling forth a Servant of unequalled power and investing himself with its power. To this end, he and his followers staged an attack on a minor Crag Scholar settlement, Flinders, and took hundreds of its people captive.

For several days, Baugi carefully prepared his huge mystical ritual, and finalized it with a summoning and a mass-sacrifice, unleashing a vast quantity of life-energy in his attempt to sate and bind the elder Servant Etymidion. Unfortunately for Baugi, his ritual failed utterly to contain the mighty being, and the sacrifices proved unequal to the task of binding it. In an instant, Baugi, his followers and Flinders all vanished, replaced by Marsh Demons, monsters of destructive power and rage.

Historical Significance
While the Ritual lasted only an instant, the Marsh Demons plague the south-western continent to this day, seeking to fulfill the confused dicta of Etymidion. This was an unexpected boon for Karlak's forces- while the Demons would tear them apart given the chance, they hunt the forces of the Crag Scholars with single-minded fervor. Attempts by the Trollish priests to expunge Etymidion from Baugi and his victims have met with no success, for the single-minded entity is not truly a demon, and the legendary steel of the Trollish warriors is wasted upon the blazing skin of the Sancti.