: The Great War started much later than Balor's initial
: attack.
: First Balor nuked Muirthemne, created the Barrier, and
: had the Ghôls take over the Dwarven cities, all in one
: blitzkreig year. After that, battles raged east of the
: Cloudspine between the Dark and the survivors of those
: first attacks. Light states in the west periodically
: sent forces over the mountains to attack the Dark
: hordes, but there was no coordinated military effort.
: This lasted for 33 years or so.
: The Great War proper started when the Dark consolidated
: their hold on all the lands east of the Cloudspine,
: and the western Light states--Province, Berserks, and
: so forth--finally got their act together and fought as
: a united force.
: If you're wondering why only those last two decades of
: the war actually got called "The Great War,"
: it's probably because the people who made up the name
: all lived in the Province, and didn't really care
: about the war until it got to their front door. :-)
Actually, I've always assumed that the Great War reffered to the entire 50 years of the war. Does it ever say the "Great War" (quoted) lasted 18 years? It says "17th year of the War in the West", and such. It also says "7th year of the War in the North" in the prologue. In the Encyclopedia, I've classified them fractally; the Great War was 2431 to 2481, the War in the West was the last 17 years of that, and the War in the North was the last 7 years of that.
