Editing Charn (section)

==The destruction of Charn==
Jadis was responsible for the eradication of all life on Charn but blamed the destruction on her sister. Jadis and her sister fought a civil war for the throne, which Jadis eventually lost. She claimed she had offered to spare her sister's life if she surrendered, so the resulting destruction was the unnamed sister's fault. Jadis obliterated her kingdom and all its people rather than relinquishing her power over them.

According to Jadis's own account, her sister had started a long and murderous civil war.  There was a solemn oath between her and the unnamed sister that neither side would use magic, a pact broken by the sister, who gained the advantage as a result. Jadis recounts that during the civil war, she "poured out the blood of her armies like water," but was eventually defeated.  In the final battle, which was fought in the city itself over three days, the sister defeated the last of Jadis' forces.

Within the ruling family of Charn, there was knowledge of an evil spell, the ''[[Deplorable Word]]'', which would destroy all life except the one who spoke it, though the word itself was a mystery. Although her ancestors had bound themselves and their descendants with oaths never to seek knowledge of this spell, Jadis had sought it out and learned the word "in a secret place and paid a terrible price to learn it."  Her sister knew Jadis had discovered the Deplorable Word but did not think Jadis would use it. Facing defeat, Jadis spoke the Deplorable Word, which annihilated all life under the sun apart from herself.

After this, she put herself into an enchanted sleep in the Hall of Images. During her [[suspended animation]], all water in Charn dried up and the once-magnificent city crumbled into ruin.