War of Imbalance

The War of Imbalance was a time of vast destruction in the lands that would come to be called Serpent Isle. The two sides in the conflict, the followers of Order and the followers of Chaos came into conflict after Chaos warriors supposedly murdered the last Balance Hierophant (however, the Hierophant tells the Avatar a different story. And the real reason was deep religious intolerance on both sides, which finally exploded).

What followed was a conflict the like of which neither side would achieve victory in, as Order and Chaos vied for supremacy, whereas always before they had co-existed peacefully. Although the war was at first fairly even, the Order armies managed to tip the balance in their favour with the creation of the Automaton warriors, mechanical men who needed no food or rest. Against such an enemy, Chaos was hard pressed to defend.

Eventually, the forces of Order had their ultimate triumph over Chaos, as they bound the Chaos Serpent, and tore it into three parts, which became the Banes of Chaos. These beings were sealed away in specially crafted prisons in the Order shrine which opposed their untwisted counterpart.

Having seemingly won, Order's victory was short-lived, as without either the Great Earth Serpent (stolen from the Void by Exodus) or the Chaos Serpent to balance it, the Order Serpent began to go insane within the Void, withdrawing its guidance from the remaining Ophidians, as it writhed mindlessly, alone. The followers of Order thus left the Serpent Isle to a place unknown through the Wall of Lights.

During the quest for the Silver Seed, the Avatar travels back to a point 400 years before the events in Serpent Isle, to a point just before the end of the war. At this stage, the fortress of Serpent's Fang, a bastion of Order, doesn't play much importance in the war.