Many years ago, when the hills of Verdalis were still young, Prism followed the teachings of the Alellii without deviation. The teachings were handed down to the line of the Priestesses, and faithfully they taught those teachings to all the land, and all the people of Prism followed those teachings loyally. But the knowledge held by the line of Priestesses was powerful, and slowly within the Priesthood came those who sought that knowledge not for service, but for power. And these grew in number. And as they grew, so did their pride and their lust to rule till ultimately Igavae, a priestess whose heart had left service for the love of power, challenged Elyssa, then High Priestess of Prism, for the right to rule the Priesthood. Elyssa denied Igavae's challenge, and sought to banish her from the Priesthood. It was only then that Elyssa realized Igavae's treachery, for with Igavae went a score of priestesses, and to them came all those in the land they had won to their cause during their travels.

Igavae and her followers went where they believed they could do the most damage; to the heart of the land, Sangcoeur. And there they sought to poison the land from the heart out, spreading their teachings and winning more and more to their side. And so the line of Sorceresses began. Before this time, the land surrounding Sangcoeur was a place most beautiful in all of Prism. The plains were lush and fecund, and the river that ran through it was known as the Crystal River, and was pure and clear. Sangcoeur was like the jewel of all the land, and the lands surrounding it the crown in which it sat. But slowly the work of the sorceresses poisoned the land where they lived. With their spells and sacrifices they destroyed the beauty of the region of Sangcoeur, and their evil flowed out from the heart of Prism. During this time Elyssa and the priesthood were not powerless, nor were they idle, and they knew it was up to them to mount an attack, to destroy this cancer as it spread throughout Prism and to cut it off before it could take hold, lest the teachings of the Alellii should be lost and the heart of Prism turn from good to evil. And so there came a time when the High Priestess led her priestesses to war against Igavae and her sorceresses, and the battle was fought at Sangcoeur.

The war was long and bloody and represents such a dark time in the history of Prism that, even now, it is spoken of only in whispers by wise men. So much power and such great evil was unleashed that the land surrounding Sangcoeur was forever scarred.

Although there are no winners in war, more of Igavae's forces were destroyed than those loyal to Prism, and she and her followers were forced further north, out of the heart of Prism and largely into hiding for many years.

When the last life was taken and the last drop of blood spilled, and Igavae and her followers had fled into the north, it was to Verdalis that Elyssa came. She was too weary and sad of spirit to continue her work, and too ashamed of the devastation she had caused, even in defence of the land, to return to her people. So it was among the animals of those hills that she spent the rest of her days in peace and sadness. The role of High Priestess passed to another, and Elyssa spent her life there, working as a healer, learning what she could from the animals and plants in this region, serving all who came to her. But with her she brought the remnants of war. And these she entrusted to a small group of animals and dwarves, and they became the Elders of Verdalis, whose service is to Elyssa and the priestesses who follow her, to keep safe until called upon to give up their charge.