This civil war had its beginnings in the crowning of Zaramoth the Unmaker as Stellar Emperor following the sudden, supposed suicide of Emperor Veransk III. Many suspected Zaramoth's complicity in this death, and even those who did not knew well of Zaramoth's brutal and bloody conquests across eastern Aranna. While thirteen of the imperial Legions initially swore their fealty to the Unmaker, the 10th Legion refused, fleeing far to the west rather than accept his claim.