Overview
The Xolterra War was a long false conflict in Thalcoris, fought around Xalatun and the nearby essence towers. Xoh'Metztli's resonance-based control made Tenari kill other Tenari. The Tenari believed they were fighting foreign enemies. The Xolterra War ended when Cassian killed Meliora, the moon-shard wielder, and destroyed the goddess's essence inside her.
Hidden Control
For generations, Tequaltor sent all Tenari through the war school, soldiers and mages cycled through Xalatun, and most of the fighting around Xalatun happened near its essence towers. The public story lacked a traceable starting point, a certain enemy, and a clear distinction between the Tenari forces killing one another near Xalatun's towers.
The control came through Xoh'Metztli's resonance magic and the moon shard, carried by voices, songs, and priestesses. Xoh'Tenol chose Tazarin as the sun-shard wielder meant to free the Tenari, and Tazarin kept himself shielded for decades as he searched for a way to break Xoh'Metztli's control. Cassian resisted the control with strong mental defenses. Near an essence tower, Tenari soldiers and mages killed one another, and Kaelion broke free from the control.
Exposure and End
Near Xalatun, Tenari bodies lay among the supposed enemy. Around the same time, Kaelion reached the same realization near another tower. Razen and Zayren attacked Eira under the control. Lythariel retaliated with darkness magic, severed Zayren's arm, drove Razen back, collapsed a tower, and left Xalatun and the surrounding savanna badly damaged.
In Aurivallis, Cassian traced the control to Meliora. Xoh'Metztli's bargain with Xol'Zahir used Tenari essence as payment to keep Xolterra from being plunged into darkness and cycles like Xalmyrra. The tower battlefields concentrated deaths near essence towers that fed Jorhan's essence-draining network. Cassian killed Meliora and destroyed Xoh'Metztli's divine essence, breaking the spell across the Tenari.
Aftermath
When the control shattered, Tenari in Aurivallis, Tequaltor, and Xalatun collapsed, screamed, recovered memories, or struggled to understand what they had done. Tazarin, Amaril, Kaelion, Razen, Zayren, and Splin spent two days with surviving Tenari stabilizing Xalatun, healing survivors, clearing rubble, moving supplies, and redirecting water. Tazarin thanked Cassian for saving the Tenari. Razen and Zayren accepted responsibility for their part in Eira's near-death and the massacre around Xalatun.
The end of the Xolterra War also changed Thalcoris's place in Xolterra. Tazarin could request aid from Thalassai, Tequaltor later became Tequaltor Magic School, and Thalcoris remained a Tenari nation with closer contact with its southern neighbors. Kaelion accepted Xoh'Tenol's sun shard during the aftermath and became Thalcoris's future ruler. He then left to find Eira, Lythariel, and Isrynn.