Eternal War

The Eternal War, (PROSE: The Pit) also known as the Vampire Wars, (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors, The Quantum Archangel, World Game) or Great War, (AUDIO: Zagreus) was a protracted and bloody conflict fought against the Great Vampires early in Time Lord history, during the Dark Times. (PROSE: The Pit) It was part of a larger series of Eternal Wars, (PROSE: Damaged Goods) the Time Wars. (PROSE: Sky Pirates!, River of Time, et al.)

Beginning
Because the story of the Eternal War was never recorded in the Matrix, there were varying accounts of its start. (PROSE: The Pit)

According to a transmission which Sam Jones received on Anathema (and which may have been influenced by Faction Paradox propaganda), the war began when Rassilon first opened a black hole in an attempt to draw power from other planes of existence. The black hole reached through to an inhabited plane, and monsters with great leathery wings and bat-like heads swarmed through the opening. (PROSE: Interference)

According to The Book of the War, the Yssgaroth escaped into Spiral Politic during the anchoring of the thread. They destroyed the machinery responsible for the anchoring, creating the caldera. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

According to The Thousand and Second Night, the djinn survived the destruction of their world "before the first time"; the "cauldron of creation" also survived from this "world before the world", and Rassilon filled it with an infinite black emptiness in which he could dissolve the current world and create a new one. Iblis, the leader of the djinn, wanted Allah's power for himself, so he convinced the djinn to help him steal the cauldron and bring it from Jannat to Jahannam. Allah formed his angels into five great tribes and many smaller tribes and sent them to defend the cauldron. (PROSE: Head of State)

The conflict
The ferocity and resilience of the Vampires made their defeat very difficult. (TV: State of Decay) They drank the angels' blood and feasted on their power. (PROSE: Head of State) Led by Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu, Gallifrey’s forces pushed the Yssgaroth back into their own universe over a thousand years, though billions of people were killed and whole star systems were destroyed. (PROSE: The Pit)

During the war, arriving during the Kotturuh crisis, the Ninth Doctor and Rose arrived on a shadow planetoid where Commander Rassilon was leading Gallifreyan forces, calling themselves Space Lords by this point. The two escaped Rassilon’s custody during an attack of Cucurbites, with the Doctor intending to leave immediately such was his fear of the war, however Rose was kidnapped by a Vampire. Forced to return to the Space Lords, the Doctor conspired with Androkan to steal Rassilon's ship and go in pursuit, tracing Rose to a coffin ship. Unknown to them, Rassilon had a tracker on her ship and called for reinforcements to follow them. Aboard the Coffin Ship, the Doctor and Androkan were captured. The Gallifreyan was killed, however the Doctor‘s biology intrigued the acolyte of the Three Mad Sisters. He took the Doctor before them, revealing they’d turned Rose. The Doctor fended off the attacks of the Vampiric Rose, managing to send her to sleep as Gallifreyan forces attacked. The Sisters died in the attack and the Doctor instigated a revolt among the slaves they'd turned, curing their addictions with synth-blood. He ejected Rassilon’s ship to distract the Gallifreyans and helped the Coffin Ship flee, freeing the formerly enslaved Vampires from the war. Rose recovered from the vampire virus on a moon the Doctor found. They then left the Dark Times aboard the Doctor's TARDIS. (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty)

Rassilon rose to power on Gallifrey during the war. (PROSE: The Pit) Whilst President he once left the safety of the fleet to investigate rumours of a Vampire hive. He was captured by the Ra'ra'vis who forced him to perform time experiments for them. Rassilon was saved by the Vogan Jorus and gifted him his presidential seal. (PROSE: Jorus and the Voganauts)

According to one account, the war began to turn in Gallifrey’s favour after Lord President Rassilon ordered bowships into construction. Based on the findings of General Skellis, the bowships were designed to exploit the Vampires' vulnerability to being impaled through the heart. (PROSE: The Multi-Faceted War) Another account suggested bowships had been created earlier in the war, when Rassilon was still a Commander, by the Mithras Hives. (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty) The Time Lords also used Stake Drives and the twelve original War TARDISes. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen)

Eventually, all but one of the Great Vampires — the swarm leader — were found and destroyed. (PROSE: Interference) The node points in the metastructure of history that were outlets to the Yssgaroth's universe were blocked and reinforced by forced-matter shells disguised as planets — unless someone attempted to drill to the planet's core. (PROSE: The Book of the War) These planets included the Althosian system (PROSE: The Pit) and Earth. (PROSE: Interference, Head of State) The idea to hid it inside Earth came from someone who was neither a djinn nor an angel. The djinn could not reach the cauldron hidden within the Earth, so they mixed with human women and created the Mal'akh, who lay in wait until the angels returned to take the cauldron back to Jannat. (PROSE: Head of State) Iphigenia was also located on a universal ley line as protection against the Great Vampires. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin)

After spending years searching in vain for the King Vampire, Rassilon declared the war over. (PROSE: The Multi-Faceted War)

Legacy
The war became a legend throughout the universe, with few exact details known. (TV: State of Decay) Vampire legends existed in many cultures, including Earth. (PROSE: Goth Opera, Vampire Science) Vampires were viewed as extremely scary by Gallifreyans. (PROSE: World Game)

When Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu returned to Gallifrey after the war, he discovered that religion had fallen out of favour and Rassilon had risen to power. He then left to guard the final opening. (PROSE: The Pit)

One of Rassilon’s titles was "Conqueror of the Yssgaroth", (AUDIO: Zagreus) and his throne was made of the bones of giant bats. (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet) Rassilon's involvement was detailed in The Record of Rassilon. (PROSE: Still Need a Title!)

Every Type 40 time vessel included a message from Rassilon saying that it was a Time Lord's solemn duty to lay down his life to kill the King Vampire. The war caused such widespread loss of life that the Time Lords rejected the use of violence forever. (TV: State of Decay)

General Mirraflex, the founder of House Mirraflex, achieved notability during the war. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

The Fourth Doctor would finally resolve the war by killing the King Vampire, who had fled into E-Space. (TV: State of Decay)

The term "eternal war" was later used to describe a different conflict, being used by the Iron Legion, (COMIC: Doctor Who and the Iron Legion, AUDIO: Doctor Who and the Iron Legion) who had fought in the Second Time Front of the War in Heaven. (PROSE: Warlords of Utopia)