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LORDS OF THE EARTH
CAMPAIGN 54 |
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| Turn Four Newsfax (A.C. 2796-2800) |
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"Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking." "However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" |
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A BRIEF PLEA -
This sweet dog, now know to the Humane Society as "Angel" is one of the last to go unadopted. If you or anyone you know is willing to adopt Angel, we would be willing to foot the costs of transportation. Vivian says that she is one of the most affectionate, smartest dogs she has ever known. You can find out more at the web site of the Humane Society of North Texas: www.hsnt.com and clicking on "available pets". Her ID number is: HSNT ID: 96871-25. Thanks for listening.
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GM'S NOTES -
1. READ THIS! This is the last turn in which I move fleets, armies or leaders if the player has not listed EVERY intervening sea zone and region through which they must pass. "Region X to Region Y, 3 AP" will FAIL, no matter how obvious the move is, or how critical to your plans. Every region on a separate line, please. 2. Don't mix in movement AP with the AP for the next order. Put movement on one or more lines (one line for each region or sea zone) and the eventual order (combat, diplomacy, whatever) on a separate line. Otherwise, you won't move, even if it made sense to you. 3. The Base Rules say that if an Allied Leader successfully uses Diplomacy, the region or city gains its new status in relationship to the ally, not in relationship to your county. There is just no way I'm going to keep track of that! So in L54, Allies cannot conduct diplomacy, period. 4. The Have Children order can be given without costing AP any time the King, Queen or Heir is in the capital (not the homeland) and issuing the following orders: Rule, Administer, Defend, React or Govern. 5. See the FAQ for some important tips on how armies react to danger and invasions. 6. Leaders can cast (or assist) only ONE spell per turn.
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MEDARHOS - North-Western Medarhos -
The Kingdom of Tirgonia -
The Harkorian League - First Councillor Alastor died of a brain hemhorrage in 2796 at the age of 54. His death sparked a summer of contentious debate and secret deals in the halls and villas of Cadares. But the result was never really in doubt. The powerful sorcerer Clytheus had more personal prestige and better family contacts than any other Councillor and was recognized as First Among Equals by Northhale of that year. Clytheus spent the first years of his rule attempting unsuccessfully to improve the morale of his army, still struggling in the shadow of the defeat at the hands of Daerond. Councillor Gadaxes, governor of Erzerus, was successful in securing the city's water supply by building a series of subterranean passageways leading from the river to fortified positions within the city. Councillor Ranos died in 2796 of the bloody flux and was replaced by his son.
The Edgemoor Orcs -
The eerie silence of the hills was broken by a long rolling ululation of anger and challenge as the local orcs swept down upon their invaders like an avalanche. For the second time in five years, Graulor found himself faced with a numerically similar force and a desperate situation. Once again, it was the king's brash daring and personal prowess that turned the tide for the Edgemoor orcs. When the day ended, Graulor's army held the field, but half his troops were injured or scattered. It took the remainder of the month to collect them, whereupon they immediately set about the systematic enslavement of the Vioduni. The reaction of the Viodun orcs was, if anything, more violent than before, and this time, they outnumbered Graulor's reduced army. With a bestial ferocity, the Vioduni resisted their oppressors, meeting them in small skirmishes and engagements that sapped the strength and will of the Edgemoor Orcs. By the onset of winter, Graulor's orcs had had enough and had quit the field for the warmth and safety of their homes. Reluctantly, Graulor went with them, returning empty-handed. Survivors of the ill-fated expedition continued to return to the Edgemoors for the next several months. Meanwhile, Azgon the Foul divided his time between governing the city of Zaramaka and raising spirits to help clear landslides and shore up cave entrances. He proved more effective at the latter than the former.
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South-Western Medarhos -
From there, she traveled on to Vilayan, where she used her own considerable charm to convince Lord Finrod to become a member of her council and cause Vilayan to become a full part of the Confederation. Word came to the queen about this time that her general Barakor Wildaxe, a hero of the Worldspine Wars, had passed away in 2799 at the age of only 35. Lord Finrod himself passed away in his sleep in 2800. These twin losses appear to have greatly affected the previously vivacious queen, for she fell in in the summer of 2800 and died of a fever before the onset of the winter snows. After two weeks of mourning, Elianna was crowned queen. Meanwhile, the rather inept Lord Artanis was "mysteriously" sent on a secret and dangerous mission. He returned to Tathlann, babbling and incoherent, in the summer of 2798. One centaur, a shaman of the Great Meadow, swore that the lord had spent a fortnight in his hut, raving that he had seen "Tarteros, the Pit and a burning cloud of fire."
Meanwhile, away south, Harcourt Blackgirdle and eight thousand Aelissian troops marched south in alliance with Queen Armallia of Corland in Operation "BugNorth" (See The H'rethek War, below).
The duke of Varbonne was more direct - Khairais was too distant to aid the simple herdsmen and villagers of his duchy, and so he repudiated his allegiance to the throne, declaring Varbonne to be his own possession, loyal to none other. The mage Beldaric was known to be performing some odd experiments in the palace dungeons that seemed to involve quite a lot of cut blocks of stone. H'rethek -
King Artorius and Sir Marrick sailed for the Neldorean Wood with five thousand soldiers. (See The H'rethek War, below).
The Neldorean Wood -
The Holy Empire of Ianthe -
The Holy Order of the Dawn -
THE H'RETHEK WAR Sixteen armies from ten nations (Aelissia, The Conorrian Empire, Corland, The Great Church, Har'akir, H'rethek, The Holy Order of the Dawn, Lorraine, The Neldorean Wood and the Valesian City-States) all prepared to do battle for survival or the glory of the gods. The Battle plan was this: two great multinational forces would meet, one at Garromais in the north and one at Elenuil in the south and both would march towards H'rethek, killing all the har'keen they could find. Meanwhile, the H'rethek had a plan of their own. Their allies seemed poorly coordinated. They would slip around the static line of defenses along the Sarronne by breaching the swampy Cavadhe and stabbing at Corland's main port at Oulenne. At the same time, the constant raiding of H'rethek's coast would be stopped by an army of fliers sent to destroy the Lorraine fleet at sea. Erdhonis, 2796 - Harcourt Blackgirdle marches the Aelissian army out of Quesante en route to meet up with Corland's Queen Armallia at Garromais. They number eight thousand mostly light infantry, slingers and cavalry. Alongside the halflings march the five thousand knights and men-at-arms of the Order of the Dawn under the command of Commander Brutus Arillius. Far to the east, the Order's Grand Master Marcus Sagitus leaves the Akasian Hills with five thousand reinforcements. In Conorria, the Great Church assembles a force of five thousand crusaders at Conorr and marches south towards the tip of the Miletian peninsula. In Har'akir, Beldar leaves the city of Qadras and sails north. In Lorraine, King Artorius and Sir Marrick embark five thousand soldiers onto cramped transports. In H'rethek, Brood Daughter #2 marches north with fourteen thousand warriors and drones, while Brood Daughter #3 buzzes towards the coast with two thousand fliers. Agaleon, 2796 - The Aelissian and Order armies arrive in Garromais, where they join ten thousand Corland soldiers and twelve thousand crusaders of the Church, for a total force of more than thirty-seven thousand men and halflings. The Church's general, Bishop Asterius, dies of a fever and is replaced by the universally disliked Bishop Iacobus (called "The Shrieker" by his men.) In the East, the Church's crusaders arrive at the port of Benemartius. In Har'akir, Admiral Feldar begins to load twenty-five hundred soldiers onto his fleet of thirty-five warships. In Lorraine, Artorius and Marrick set to sea. In the Imperial capital of Echoriath, Admiral Pederastes sets sail with forty warships, four thousand marines and twenty-five sturdy cogs. Brood Daughter #2 begins to cross the Sarronne. Brood Daughter #3 arrives in Dal*kor. Strynod, 2796 - The har'keen fliers begin to patrol the Corish Straits. A small fleet of ships leaves Pontezium in the Crusader States, bound for Elenuil. Maravis, 2796 - The Northern Army under Queen Armallia begins to cross the Saronne. The Great Church's crusaders begin to load aboard Imperial transports at Benemartius. The fleets of Akir Admiral Feldar and Lorraine King Artorius arrive at the Neldorean port of Elenuil and begin to disgorge rowdy human warriors into the tranquil elven city. Admiral Anaxes of the Valesian City-States sets sail from Orcholus with fifty warships. Cleon, 2796 - The Imperial fleet sets sail from Benemartius. Valesia's Anaxes arrives in the Akir port of Agazier and assumes command of the mercenary transports and warships hired by the Great Church (fewer than had been hoped - Accolon had paid more for hiring those they needed.) Brood Daughter #2 reaches the Cavadhe.
Northhale, 2796 - The Northern Army entered the har'keen region of K'chak unopposed and made winter camp on the south shore of the river. Sir Marrick's Lorraine fleet entered the Corish straits. The har'keen army burst upon a terrified Oulenne. BATTLE OF THE CORISH STRAITS It was eight bells of a blustery Northhale day when Admiral Sir Marrick was roused from his stateroom aboard the Gwynhwfyr by a shout from the crow's nest. "Bugs!" the lookout screamed. "In the sky! Thandor save us!" But the will of the storm god was not in evidence that day. Running to the aftercastle, Marrick squinted into the southern sky, shielding his eyes from the sun and saw...a black cloud. It was moments before he realized that it was a mostrous flight of har'keen fliers, diving out the sun! As the wallowing, slow merchant ships turned to race for the western horizon, Marrick's small band of warships turned to stay with them, knowing that if they separated, the ungainly cogs would be easy prey for the aerial marauders. The Lorraine sailors and marines are among the best in the world, but they were hampered both by Sir Marrick's indecisive leadership ("Squeaked like a lass what's 'ad her bottom fondled out'a turn," reported one old tar) and by this wholly new and unexpected threat. The insectile har'keen fliers came on in angry, buzzing, chirping waves that shredded sails and sailors alike, carrying men aloft and flinging them casually into the leaden sea. The sailors fought back hard with swords and bows and boarding pikes, but for many, it was not enough. By the time the har'keen returned to land, fourteen ships had gone to the bottom with all hands. Erdhonis, 2797 - The Northern Army under Queen Armallia's command began a campaign to round up and subdue the har'keen of K'chak. The many thousands of Corish siege engineers took three months to bring down the fortress that guarded the region. Many har'keen sought in vain for the villages and churches which once graced southern Corland, finding only weird fluted hives and nightmare subterranean labyrinths, where the fighting was often dark, close and utterly without warning. Still, with the warriors away, K'chak's hives were woefully undefended. Valesia's Anaxes and the mercenary fleet he commands enters the Sea of Bells and runs the gauntlet of sea serpents. His fleet loses only a few of its warships and merchants in the crossing. Brood Daughter #2 and her vast army begin to subdue the helpless folk of Oulenne. Agaleon, 2797 - Sir Marrick (and a great many sailors) refuse to put to sea again while the har'keen control the Corish Straits. Thirty-five hundred Lorraine troops are stranded on the island and unable to get to H'rethek. Strynod, 2797 - Bishop Iacobus ("The Shrieker") is killed in K'chak when he is overborne by a wave of angry drones and carried off into their tunnels. The Church troops are now leaderless and the Northern Army faces a crisis as many among the troops murmur that this is a sign from the gods that they should return home. Queen Armallia takes swift action, delivering a stirring speech to the crusaders about the souls of their dead companions who watch what they do. The crusaders agree to follow the queen to Kal Primus. The Imperial fleet carrying the Church troops and the smaller fleet from the Crusader States both arrive at the Sea of Bells just as the fierce sea serpents enter their mating rut. There is great destruction. Great ships are rammed or crushed, sailors plucked from the rigging to fall screaming into a hissing gullet. Six ships and nearly a thousand soldiers and sailors are lost. Akir Admiral Beldar puts to sea but wisely avoids the Sea of Bells by traveling through Roldein's Gate.
Daarlem, 2797 - Grand Master Marcus Sagitus arrives in Quesante with the Order reinforcements and immediately takes command of the defenses of the city of Khairais. The Southern Army, assembled at last on the plains of Elenuil, marches north through Belfirth. Led by Patriarch Flavius himself, it consists of more than thirty-six thousand men and elves from both Medahros and Vales. Anaxes of Valesia and Pederastes of Conorria decide to abandon their original plans to return home immediately with their fleets. Rather than brave the sea serpent frenzy needlessly, they remain in port at Elenuil when he armies leave. The Crusader States contingent, just under two thousand strong, remain in Elenuil as a rear guard. The har'keen begin to enslave the humans of Oulenne. The human uprising will be considerably less volatile than it's har'keen counterpart in K'chak. Maravis, 2798 - Dirt-streaked and battle-hardened, the Northern army enters the har'keen homeland of Ehkek 7 and is stunned to find no har'keen army present. Cleon, 2798 - The Northern Army assaults the extensive fortifications of Ehkek 7, perhaps the most extensive set of defenses anywhere in Theeurth. Redoubts, trenches, pits, moats and hidden fastnesses combine to make this region almost impossible to seize. Queen Armallia tells her assembled generals "If the har'keen army were here, we should simply have to retreat. It is only by the grace of the gods, gentlemen, that we stand here alive." In the ensuing battle, they will lose nearly forty percent of their enormous force. The great number and strength of the field forts and castles cost them two more months than expected. In Oulenne, the har'keen assault the city of Caxonne and its fortress. As the drones lock their jaws and legs on the carapace or jaws of the drone near them, they form living scaling ladders allowing the massive warriors to ascend the sturdy walls of the city and throw the defenders from the parapets. The bloody battle continues for four days and is followed by an horrific orgy of violence. Brood Daughter #2 is killed by pot of boiling pitch thrown from the ramparts. The Hive Queen assumes command. Erdhonis, 2799 - The Southern army struggles into the stony wilderness of Dura, where the high passes are still clogged with snow. The har'keen loot the survivors of Caxonne. Agaleon, 2799 - The Northern Army begins the systematic slaughter of all the har'keen in Ehkek 7. Corland's Lord Rademund narrowly escapes death at the hands of a cornered warrior. The Southern Army begins its attack on the unaffiliated har'keen of Dura, chasing them from cave to hilltop to cravasse. King Artorius rides among his men wielding the legendary glowing weapon known as the Red Mace of War, while Akir Admiral Feldar is seen using a ring of Power, Hanjuro's Ring. Cleon, 2799 - The Southern Army begins to loot the caves and defiles of Dura. Little is found of value. The harkeen set fire to the ruins of Caxonne, starting blazes in wide parts of the city to ensure its complete incineration. Daarlem 2799 - Queen Armallia, overall commander of the Northern Army, is killed during fierce fighting to slaughter the har'keen of Ehkek 7. Momentarily isolated from her army in the thick of the fighting, she and her loyal house-knights are overwhelmed by a surging tide of har'keen. The har'keen begin their return trek by wading into the swamps of the Cavadhe. Northhale, 2799 - The battered Northern Army rests, trying to recover stragglers, deserters and the wounded. Rademund is now in command of the Corish army and Sir Brutus, Master of the Order of the Dawn, is in overall command. Queen Armallia's body is temporarily laid to rest in the land she fought to reconquer. Erdhonis, 2800 - The Northern Army lays siege to the har'keen capital at Kal Primus. It is defended by a thick wall and a stupendous fortress (instantly nicknamed "Despair" by the awestruck humans and halflings.) Luckily, the Corland contingent includes over five thousand siege engineers who immediately begin digging trenches and assembling siege towers. The Southern Army begins the extermination of the har'keen of Dura. Akir General Beldar is torn to pieces by an enraged har'keen drone which burrowed up into the camp one night. The har'keen army, now led by the Hive Queen, crosses the Saronne into Kz'zk. Agaleon 2800 - The har'keen army comes suddenly upon the human/halfling army fully surrounding the har'keen capital. Without waiting, the warriors throw themselve in waves at the interlopers. THE GREAT BATTLE OF EHKEK 7
As the sun rose in the sky, the two armies, hammer and anvil, struck each other amid the swirling dust. The allies had numbers on their side, and the genius of the Order's Sir Brutus, as well as thousands of the flower of Theeurth's chivalry - paladins of the Great Church, Corland's Knights of the Font, the Order's Knights of the Golden Dawn, and elite Aelissian slingers. The har'keen had size, strength and training, as well as an excellent leader in her own right. Blood and ichor blended on the grass sword and claw rang in the dusty autumn air. By Noon, the two armies had shattered each other's coherent units and the fight had devolved into a general melee. Up to this time, the slaughter had been approximately equal, but the chaos of open battle favored the har'keen and now the tide turned sharply against the allies. Unable to support each other effectively, the humans and halflings fell before the monstrous har'keen like wheat before the scythe. Nightfall provided the only safety or respite. Individual humans and halflings crept, crawled or fled the battlefield, but no units survived intact to withdraw. A great many were captured as slaves. A small number of the survivors would later regather in K'chak for mutual safety. The Hive Queen had victory and rescued her capital, but her expedition to Caxonne had cost her both K'chak and Ehkek 7. There was neither elation nor sadness in the Hive. Only resolve. Daarlem, 2800 - The Southern Army completes its obliteration of Dura. Neldorean Prince Lothran, husband to queen Nereil, disappears in the battle and is not heard from again. Neldorean commander Senelra raises a cairn to his memory. The army looks down into H'rethek proper, unaware as yet of the great defeat of their northern allies.
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Rhanalor -
With courtly words in a speech none knew but the king and the kobold, Tarl responded. Satisfied, the herald turned and vanished into the wood. Tarl gave orders that no tree be cut, no fires lit and no game be slain within the wood, on pain of death. For four long months the Airnim struggled through the dense pine barrens and vast stretches of yew and alder eating only the supplies they brought with them and shivering by night,huddled with their animals. Yet none dared break the king's command, as much for fear of the forest as of Tarl, for all swore they heard voices in the wood, and saw faces in the deep shadows. But following the left bank of the Lyodan river, they came at last to the hills of Itherias where lately the taurids of Brythnia had done great slaughter among the orcs. And traveling further, they crossed the rushing waters of the Lyodan at a ford in Gistares and entered into the lands of Brythnia. The native centaurs were startled and fled before them, but the Airnim did not have conquest on ther minds. At least not yet. They paused a last in Hailh Endhor, setting up a great camp by the ancient stone bridge of the via brythnia, and merely kept the centaurs from scouting too close.
The Shadowed Realm of Ascarlon - The Ascar huddled inside their fortress-cities and prayed that the Airnim would spare them. Their wizards conjured meager amounts of food to try to avoid starvation.
The Worldspine Orcs - Even wounded, the lord of the Orcs may not safely rest. With the ancient spear Harrowheart in hand, Vaurog drove his army before him, and was joined by his allies Azog and Maghor. Ten thousand wild orcs descended on the independent dwarven realm of Lenicum. There, they swept aside the defenders, looted and pillaged the dwarf steadings and enslaved the dwarves they found there. Then, from that base, they raided Jaelitus and Phaedon in twin lightning marches, so that they were gone before any could respond to their actions. They carefully avoided entering the neighboring Imperial provinces of Acaris and Quaethos, however.
The Great Kingdom of Annvar -
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The Conorrian Heartland - The Conorrian Empire -
Emperor Varantius orderd an astonishing flurry of building across the Empire. The Conorrian heartland was blanketed in castles and strongholds. A powerful fortress ("Kastro") was built to watch over the fertile fields of Adoria. A dozen new merchant cogs were built at Echoriath and the aqueducts of Faloricum are at last complete. When these orders had gone out, the aging Varantius took himself to the "Second City of the Empire", Adamos, and attended to the governance of that city, leaving his son Aracalas in command of the Empire. Alas, the journey was too much for the elderly hero-king, and his heart gave out a year later. Arcalas was hailed as emperor and twenty days of games were held in his honor, including a mass battle of gladiators and beasts in the great coliseum of Echoriath, the Tarterum. Arcalas sent a great deal of help to his allies. He sent Pederastes and the Conorrian fleet to ferry the Church crusaders to Elenuil (See The H'rethek War, above), and also sent the Church several tons of grain and foodstuffs. He sent a large wagon laden with gold to the fortress of the Order of the Dawn in the Akasian Hills. And most of all, he sent grain, gold and troops to the Dhûnazhar dwarves. Senator Dominus and several Conorrian client states marched north with seven thousand foederati to aid the Dwarves (See The War of the Worldspines, below). A second tragedy struck the young Emperor. In 2797, he married a beautiful young Conorrian girl named Lucia. In 2798, Lucia died of complications from a stillbirth. Prince Selanus, engaged in cleaning up the worst slums of Echoriath, died in his bath in 2798. In 2799 and 2800, Senator Flavius Sextius received four thousand clibinarii cavalry from the hand of the Emperor. He founded a scholae for elite cavalry and worked diligently to train them in the most advanced cavalry techniques. By the end of 2800, he had dismissed half of the troopers, but could proudly display two thousand superb horsemen. Senator Gaius Calos traveled to the troubled town of Cyclados and worked closely with the city fathers. In the absence of any Thariyyan competition, the senator had little trouble convincing the town to create close economic ties to the Empire.
The Great Church of the Lords of the Grail -
The Patriarch personally raised and saw to the training of two thousand elite swordsmen, the paladins of the church. With these and a further three thousand trained soldiers, he marched to Benemartius, boarded Imperial transports and headed off to war. Bishops Iacobus and Asterius and twelve thousand soldiers of the Church also joined the H'rethek Crusade. (See The H'rethek War, above). Bishops Palladius and Alecius traveled the western Valesian Sea and established churches in the Llyran Republic and the Neldorean Wood.
The Dwarven Realm of Dhûnazhar
- King Valand had no intention of lavishing his realm's
wealth on mere comforts. There were orcs to kill! He set the
bookish Lord Roin to figuring out what assets the kingdom had left while
the rest of the dwarf lords assembled an army at Khelem Vala (See The
War of the Worldspines, below). THE WAR OF THE WORLDSPINES Assembled at Khelem Vala, Valand and his allies headed an army of eight thousand, including a thosuand of the fearsome King's Elite guards. They were joined in the late autumn by Conorrian general Dominus and seven thousand Conorrian foederati (allied troops). The two armies then marched west into Endorwaith. At the very moment that Vaurog Breakspear and his orcs were raiding dwarven lands to the south, Valand Dragonsbane and his Conorrian allies stormed into Endorwaith and overwhelmed the meager native troops. Met on a high plateau beneath a perfect cerulean sky, the royalist faction easily drove the defenders back towards a dangerous precipice. There, on the edge of the Abyss, Valand Dragonsbane gave terms of surrender to the defenders who grudgingly accepted. Leaving a thousand dwarves to garrison the strong places of Endorwaith, the army marched on west. The allies met with stiffer resistance in the orc-infested Blue Peaks. The orcs fought them tenaciously for every cave, every ridge and every tiny vale. And, when the victorious allies began to slaughter all the orcs in the region, the resistance only became stiffer and more vicious. Nonetheless, by the summer of 2798 the mayhem was past, and the orcs of the Blue Peaks were no more. Valand and Dominus returned to Dhunazhar, while the feudal lords and their troops returned home.
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VALES - North-Western Vales - The Llyran Republic -
Landress Harana of Haalthor died in her sleep in the summer of 2799. She was quickly followed by the queen herself, who took a chill one unusually cold night and never recovered. Crown Princess Jerzuul was crowned Queen of Ahuran three weeks later in the Cathedral of the Mother in Sedeskan. The Queen's companion Jana Steelwarden was named governess of Ilduskan in 2799, a task at which she succeeded admirably. Another minister, Ydrial the Green, was governor of Mahaaran in 2796, but accomplished little beyond amassing an enviable wardrobe. In Ilduskan, the dwarf mercenary Khedem-Var continued to study the ancient plans for what he termed a "metalship" and declared that further study was necessary, perhaps in the Great Library of Sengkar.
The Valesian City-States -
Archon Meikos brought gold and settlers (refugees from the fall of Keferis) to Hypylus for the new city of Sirtis, then traveled south to treat with the halflings of Thuces. Though he tried to entice these diminutive folk into an alliance, they politely declined the invitation. Finally, the Primarch established a Valesian adventuring company, known as the Silent Blades of Artorius. This intrepid band traveled to the new city of Sirtis, and then vanished into the south. As of 2800, they had not returned.
Luxur -
The Autumna Primacy
- The Primacy invested heavily in its own organization, trying to create a school for priests of the fanged god. A prelate was sent to the Mykele capital of Oroyon to aid that government in bringing Autumna to all the people. Trade was started down the mighty Artaxes towards the Drormt capital of Breeka. Grand Priest Kyssthi thundered the word of Udjo from the Cathedral of the Sun in Pyrayus, and many in Luxur heard and became serious about their faith. High Priest Slaasthess marched east with two thousand church archers and nearly five thousand sathla mercenaries (See The Fate of Keferis, below).
Keferis - THE FATE OF KEFERIS While the defenders of Merwal waited behind their massive walls, a huge sathla army marched into siege positions around the city, including ships and siege engines. Part of that force then marched south into Egu. It would take the defenders weeks to discover that most of their besiegers were merely illusions. The Luxurites had marched south to rampage into the Keferis hinterlands. General Ksonyos died before leaving Habu, and his command was assumed by Speaker Jesserek. There were two Luxurite forces in Egu. The first, under command of Speaker Jesserek, amounted to ten thousand troops, including the human and sathla mercenaries. The second, under command of Astalis of Aysira, amounted to nearly five thousand. These troops quickly crushed the human opposition in Egu. Much to the surprise of the locals, they were not enslaved. However, every Keferis noble or government official was hung and quartered. Then the sathla marched on, leaving the folk of Egu to make their own way. The two armies then split up and the pattern was repeated in Arran, Itura and Gatz. These four battles were brutal but their results inevitable. The sathla then paid the mercenaries and returned to Habu. With this example in place, the Valesian nobles still alive in Prophep, Chalmen, Phalego and Osaru simply renounced their allegiance to Keferis. Only the men of Merwal continued to fight on behind their enormous walls.
Mykele -
Lords Lisal'assh and Heshtreth led a force of four thousand sathla into the jungles of Mudugea, where they enslaved their distant cousins, looted their homes and dragged them back to Sia in chains. The Yurahtam Nomads
- Spurned by the pagan orcs of the Nineser Hills, Quor and his vile (but large!) band of cutthroats have decided to carve out an empire for themselves!
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North-Eastern Vales -
King Vahdin then ordered "The Royal Edit". Any book in public view, plus the 573 Thariyyan Constitutions (including the Provisionals, Addendums, Etceteras, Eratas, and Rewrites), were all edited to reflect the Thariyyan Kingdom's name change. All mentions of "The Exarchate of Thariyya" were amended with footnotes that read, "The former Exharchate of Thariyya, now, lately, known as 'The Independent Kingdom of Thariyya, United'". Vahdin proceeded to rule his kingdom and his household both, producing three a daughter and two sons. Sezir Vahdin, the king's brother, traveled to Hassar to speak to the local leaders, but so horrified were they at the reckless actions of Uls Fakhar that Sezir's journey only made matters worse.
The Shadowed Primacy of the Dark Court
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The Divine Theocracy of Eumana -
THE BATTLE FOR EUMANA The Theocracy had not been idle. The fields bristled with castles and strongpoints, and the few mobile troops were dug in facing the Ashen Way. The clash between the two occured on the Feast of Blood, a day dedicated to the worship of the wild, bloodthirsty god Caravok, and it was a fitting offering to the crows of the god. The two sides were evenly matched at first, both in power and leadership. But as the sun started heading into the west and the crows began to circle, the elite Accoloni infantry began to outflank the fortifications and drive back the Theocracy troops. Once they began to withdraw, the Accoloni cavalry at last came into play, coursing among the broken Eumana ranks and slaughtering any who came within range of their sharp sabers. As many men died in the last hour of the battle as in the first ten. The few Eumana survivors fled within the protective walls of Nuradeem.
Thousands of Accolon troops were dead in a single, mangled instant, and the rest went streaming out into the fields of Eumana, shattered and defeated.
The Shadowguard of Marador -
While Queen Madariel ruled the realm from Lantar, her daughter Ilwendil Swiftbow governed the city itself. Or at least, whould have done, if she wasn't out hunting, riding and besting her mother's knights at archery and footraces. Administration just wasn't interesting to the young Crown Princess. Princess Vaeril Fallingwater visited the Prince of Gaja and through long years of careful diplomacy, convinced that lord to become a close ally of her mother's. Glorfindel of Beduina, on the other hand, was a warrior and a sorcerer, not a diplomat. So his brief visits to Laikwalambe and Khithi produced entirely different results. His blunt demands and careless approach bemused the sylvan elves of Laikwalambe, but his haste and lack of regard for local custom outraged the elves of Khithi, who, when they found him dallying with their lord's daughters, threw him in a well. The Prince of Khithi announced his hostility to the nation of Marador.
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South-Western Vales - The Steaming Kingdom of Drormt -
That very night a thunderous shaking caused all the water to rush away from the city. When light came, the river had moved far away from the city, leaving nothing but a stinking mud flat for more than a thousand yards.
Sendahl -
regions, heading first to Durudin and raiding into Ibkurru, Galzus and Gulanabat, then into Uszudar, where he raided the savage jungle tribes of Gulalagu and Lugalnaam. Then, he turned to the far south and raided Menrat and Bargi, on the borders of Mekebele. After each raid, the men were given half the loot. Gapa* never returned home, however. He died in the saddle somewhere in Kakushoqe on the way home. Upon returning home, T*ko began to worry about the line of succession. He was already an old man of 35, and had no children. He married and tried diligently to produce and heir, but his wife died of influenza in 2798. He then named his lieutenant Ba'keng as his heir, but the gods rejected his choice, causing Ba'keng to die of a heart attack in 2799.
Mekebele -
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South-Eastern Vales -
The Elven Empire of Sengkar
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The Valraj -
The Kingdom of Weshtayo -
Prior to his accession to the red-feathered cloak in Khulank, Nokrome tried his hand at governing the capital city. Unfortunately, the young man preferred pursuit of young women to the pursuit of his duites and nothing of consequence was accomplished. Lords Hakarome and Gamoray both died in 2977 when a captive elephant's sudden trumpeting stampeded their mounts in the annual parade for the king's birthday.
The Imperial Realm of Zikuyu
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The Despotism of
Torquas -
The Kingdom of Tas Dar
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In 2977, a popular dancer was hanged by Tas Darite shamans for offending the gods (she had danced for a tavern full of sailors on the half-remembered solemn holy day of the Spider). The resulting riots and anti-religious backlash caused priests and shaman of all stripes to go into hiding for several years and weakened the already weak Tas Darite faith in the gods. King Jharen died of a coughing fit in 2999,leaving no sons or heirs. The mood was tense for most of the year, but General Miakil immediately took control of the new capital and no one seemed inclined to dispute his right to the throne.
The Kingdom of
Ukanve - King Damwen turned over his army to his lieutenant Mazool and spent two years developing a census of all the Ukanve lands. Then, he traveled by boat to the elven region of Rhundal and tried to convince the elves to join his growing kingdom. The elves paid the colorfully-dressed human little heed, and laughed when he publicly claimed their land. Mazool and Vardoof of Hyrdrsha took their combined army of seven thousand human soldiers and crashed into the orc-dominated jungles of Nyelru and Tareng. They fought small but vicious battles in both places and enslaved the brutish orcs, bringing them back in chains to till the soil of Yezhu'u. All were startled by the arrival out of Nyelru of a large horde of orcs (see The Despotism of Torquas, above) in the autumn of 2800. War was surely upon them.
The Grand Duchy of
Meneen - This was an auspicious time for the Grand Duchy, which extended its trade far beyond its previous reach. The Grand Duke traveled to Uthor Gil, Sandor and Urvupal, managing to convince the first and last of these to allow him the right to base cities on their coasts. The Meneen fleet stood ready with settlers to do just that and swiftly established a city called Olonàr in the region of Urvupal, south of Kerendis. Messengers went out from this new port to all the ports of the Ymarian sea, opening trade with every port.
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Rumors from Elsewhere -
Elven knights out of Celendor have suddenly rushed across the Taklamakas mountains and down the Wolf River valley for reasons unknown.
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GM's Tip #4 -
Each turn, I will use this space to present a useful rules hint. Eventually, all of you will know what LOTE GM's and experienced players know. RAIDING FOR FUN AND PROFIT Anatomy of a Raid Raid is a Combat-based Leader order designed to move in, steal goods and get out before the locals can react. It can result in the acquisition of GP, Agro or both, depending on what the player orders. It is not a set-piece battle, and so the presence of local troops doesn't stop it (though they will reduce its chance of success and possibly kill some of the light-hearted lads doing the raiding.) It is a very good idea to share half the loot with the raiding troops. Most LOTE games require you to explicity state this or run the risk of mutiny. In L54, it is assumed unless otherwise ordered. It is important to realize that unlike the various Attack orders, Raid does not affect the region where raiding army is located. It affects an adjacent region. So don't move your troops into the region you want to raid. Move them into an adjacent region and issue the Raid order, noting in the notes section which region you want to raid.
Factors Affecting the Success of a Raid Positive Modifiers include:
Negative Modifiers include:
How the Loot is Calculated First, the GM calculates the available GP that could be stolen. This is a result of the GPv of the region and the amount of regional PWB present. Then, based upon the raiding leader's Combat roll (as modified), a percentage of that total is taken in loot. From this it should be obvious that raiding unpopulated wilderness regions is going to generate only a very small amount of GP or Agro, whereas raiding a wealthier region has a much greater potential for loot (and opposition). A region may be raided more than once in a turn, but the total loot taken cannot exceed the total available, and successive AP's spent looting in a region increases the chances of a reacting army arriving to drive off the raiders. The Results of Raiding Raiding reduces the value of the public works, Primate sites, Religious Order sites and Merchant House sites in the region. If all of a region's public works are destroyed, the GPv of the region will be reduced.
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Page Completed 21 March 2006 |
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Daarlem, 2796 - Lorraine's Sir Marrick took the
kingdom's ships and returned to sea to fetch more soldiers.
Feldar's Akir fleet returns to the Sea of Bells and is stunned to find
it full of writhing sea serpents. The normally elusive beasts were
fiercely aggressive and repeatedly attacked Feldar's fleet. Most
were too small to hurt the wooden hulls, but some were large enough to
crush entire vessels within their gigantic coils. Three Akir
warships did not return from that perilous crossing. The battle was not
entirely one-sided, however, for Feldar's flagship, the Vusseir,
returned to port bearing a large serpent's head nailed to its bowsprit.
Ten thousand har'keen warriors and drones
faced off against seventeen thousand humans and halflings on the weird
hive-dotted plain of Ehkek 7, within sight of the forbidding walls of
Kal Primus. The allies had reduced the fields and population of the
region to dust, and now that dust rose as a great cloud at the approach
of the Hive Queen. Though the allied line could have stretched far
beyond the flanks of the har'keen column, they had learned from bitter
experience of the ease with which the har'keen warriors could shred
through a standard battle line. Thus, Brutus arranged his army in
a dense wedge which he drove forward at the har'keen like a maul
splitting a log of oak.
King
Norrim ordered an expansion of the new port city of Dürn in Qiya,
and had an impressive fortress built at the mouth of the
harbor. This squat, slope-sided turret looms like some
titanic beetle over all the ships that enter the harbor.
