The Battle of Pesh was a great battle between Law and Chaos where the Vaati used the Rod of Seven Parts to slay an agent of the Queen of Chaos. The fields of Pesh are said to reside somewhere on the Material Plane, though most scholars do not know where. The truth is that the fields of Pesh are near what is now called Diamond Lake.
Many thousands of years ago, long before the rise of human civilization, two ancient powers struggled to determine the fate of the still-forming multiverse. On one side was a primal being called the Queen of Chaos, a tentacled horror from an age before ages. Against her stood the rigid legions of the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, the most cultured of the elemental lords who ruled before the birth of the living races, and who yet controlled an empire that spanned worlds. Centuries of stalemate collapsed when the Queen of Chaos recruited her most potent ally, a ruthless Prince of Demons named Miska the Wolf-Spider.
Miska and his demonic legions laid siege to the Wind Dukes’ territory, routing the elemental armies and snuffing out the culture of Aaqa one world at a time. When all seemed lost, a consortium of seven great Wind Duke warriors withdrew from the conflict and developed a plan to destroy Miska the Wolf-Spider and break the back of the Chaos army. An epic quest ensued, in which these “Wandering Dukes” scoured the Great Wheel for a weapon or secret that would undo their hated foe. Drawing upon the lore of a hundred cultures, they constructed one of the most potent artifacts in history—the fabled Rod of Law.
They returned to the war at a pivotal battle on the volcanic fields of Pesh. There, the greatest of the Wandering Dukes plunged the Rod into Miska the Wolf-Spider. When the absolute law of the Rod mixed with the chaos of Miska’s blood, a great planar rift erupted, shattering the Rod into seven pieces. The Prince of Demons and the Wandering Duke vanished into that rift, while the seven parts of the Rod were scattered across the land.
Hundreds of Wind Dukes remained at Pesh, many dead or dying from wounds sustained in the tumultuous final battle. By ancient tradition, these soldiers would be buried on the world where they died, their elaborate tombs forever recalling the brave sacrifice of the heroes of Aaqa and serving as testament to the reach of their moribund empire. The Wind Dukes ranged south from Pesh, across an immense lake to a craggy region perfect for the task. Thus were the first tombs built in the hills surrounding Diamond Lake.
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Battle of Pesh. Great Library of Greyhawk, GreyhawkOnline.com. (view authors)