A squat, looming round fortress was built at the mouth of the fjord leading into Vanaheim, giving a commanding view of all shipping.  The many laborers who came to toil on the heavy walls of the fortress settled into an encampment which spread all the way to the walls of Vanaheim.  By 2810, the city was a continuous expanse from the old motte and bailey to the new stone fortress. 

Svenn Hvikdunkat, Varguth's brother, was appointed governor of Vanaheim. Although a marvelous talker, Svenn was hardly ever acknowledged as much of an administrator and much of Vanaheim's log roads were allowed to sink into the stinking mud of summer.

The Jarl of Suomar passed away in 2806, apparently without cause.  He was simply found dead in his bedchamber one morning in fall.  The jarl of Foldbjerg drowned in 2809 in a spring flashflood while fishing with his three sons.

Tirgonian Knight

Wintertide, 2810

What more would the gods have of me?  Of all the nations of Theeurth, to none have they given greater sons nor more cruelly ripped them from their nation's hearts.  Am I, then, truly cursed to have no heir?  The line of Arkemon Dragonsbane ends with me.  Must his kingdom do so also, you cruel deities?

My son lies dead in Harkoria these three decades, and my daughter dead or thrall to some noisome terror of the North.  My adopted sons, Orion and Marcus both lie beneath the earth, though I was a man grown ere either first looked upon their mother's breasts.  Oh, my beloved Marcus, truest friend and champion, you alone could know the despair I now feel, for you alone besides me have lost so many lofty sons.

And now the gods, not satisfied with this horrid fellowship of death, this feast of princes' flesh, have visited a new and greater horror upon the land.  Roldein withdraws his favor, and the lakes and rivers run dry.  The barley is withered in the fields and the cattle fall like winter wheat.  This drought, the worst in all the centuries of Tirgonia's habitation, lays upon our necks like the heavy iron boot of Him We Do Not Name.  Is this just, Agaleus?  Is this the care of a mother, O Calandra?

To whom now shall I entrust my kingdom?

                                                                     Aramayne
                                                                    King of Tirgonia and Duke of Bekanor

Black Duke Bishop Gethrick Morbanes

The terrifying entity known as Null traveled from Lycia to the capital at Aicherai, where he summoned up two thousand troops and then force marched them across the forbidding terrain of Uruk, Dhaur and Hinnom until they arrived at the camp of Lord von Taurek in Ghedrosia.  Null then returned to his mysterious pursuits in Lycia. 

In 2807, Von Taurek, camped outside of the heretofore impregnable orc fortress of Vanuma, laid siege to that city in earnest.  His forces were stretched almost beyond their capacity to ring in the immense city, and had the orcs managed to rally any defenders at all, they might have kept open lines of supply.  But the newly-married Black Duke knew his business well and the great fortress starved.  It had had no fresh supplies in ten years, and now disease and starvation began to run rampant through the orcs garrisoned within.  Von Taurek made a point of feeding his army well and within plain sight of the massive fortress walls.The city surrendered in early 2808, throwing open its adamant doors to the Empire. 

Von Taurek had only a single night to savor his greatest victory, however.  For that very night, Daerond's greatest general died abed with his young wife, of an apparent heart attack at the age of 47.

Elsewhere, thousands of slaves pushed a postal road to the Ghedrosia border.

First Councillor Clytheus, assisted by Councillors Maradoxus and Ranos, built elaborate fortifications around Trolium, preparing for an invasion that never came.  Maradoxus perished of camp fever in 2806.

Councillor Gadaxes was given the governorship of Morthales, but was so preoccupied with fear of the threatened invasion that his civic duties were all but forgotten in his plans to build and elaborate and sophisticated magical shelter for he and his favorite concubine.  A miscast spell (a minor fluctuation of the sibillant third syllable in the enchantment) created a vortex of powerful forces which messily shredded the nervous governor and scattered his remains across a city block.

Cadares

King Korl the Destroyer

Graulor's army, supported by his lieutenant Korl the Destroyer, marched through Haggsh and Dakhash to arrive at the woodlands of Veddakh, where Graulor announced his dominion by setting to the torch every habitation he could find.  In 2807, he defeated the Veddakh orcs in a small action along the banks of the Raethalas river.  Their three thousand poorly-led troops were no match for Graulor's six thousand veterans, including hundreds of deadly ogres.  Korl urged Graulor on to seize the soft wealthy farmlands of Dhurkun, but Graulor, mindful not only of the power of Ascarlon, but of the distance between Zaramaka and Dhurkun, settled for sending trade envoys to the Ascars.

Graulor died in 2810 at the ripe old age (for an orc) of fifty-one.  The king had been an enthusiastic soldier and murderer, but an indifferent sovereign, and had left no legitimate issue.  To the astonishment of all, however, Korl the Destroyer stepped neatly into the power vacuum, and had complete control of the army and government before any rivals knew the king was dead.

Nyssa and her counsellors set out a plan to track and kill the har'keen before they could grow strong again.  Drafting every available warrior, the queen gathered a formidable force of  more than fourteen thousand centaurs and five thousand minotaurs in the plains of Lloricam and sent out scouts in all directions.  Before long, they brought her the expected news - a vast host of giant insectile warriors was traveling up the Lyodan valley on the far shore in Riandos.  The queen and her army crossed the river in the early spring of 2806 and pursued the har'keen, finally bringing them to battle in a wide and nameless field of riotous wildflowers.

Like the Grail alliance before them, the taurids outnumbered the har'keen, who were a mere fourteen thousand.  Lady Elpenor offered her services as commander, but the haughty Nyssa peremptorily dismissed the experienced general, commanding to her look over the baggage train.  The queen, meanwhile, launched a headlong assault on the waiting har'keen.

The Brythnians held many advantages.  They had numbers, they had the tactical advantage, they had mobility,

King Otho Longacre

King Otho traveled from Deepwood to the Great Delve, disheartened by the widowhood of the lovely Maia Brandbaris.  On the way, he traveled with Rose Merriweather, widow of the late King Brandobaris, and comforted her.  Along the way, the two old friends found themselves becoming more than friends, and were married in the capital in 2807.  Two daughters were born of the union, in 2808 and 2809.

Otho's newest lieutenant, General Pip Oxback, a former carpenter and sometimes farmer from Little Lirien, was given command of the Aelissian army and watched the borders for any misadventures among the Big Folk.

King Otho requested his friend Jarvis Kegbelly to recover the Aelissian troops still in Corland, but Kegbelly was the Sheriff of Great Lirien, a region only allied to Aelissia and the troops refused to follow him.

The walls of the city of Khairais were built to a miraculous height and thickness, such as only those of Echoriath and Cruachan can boast.  Everyone knew that magic was afoot, for travelers came from near and far to marvel at their forbidding protective circuit, each block of unbelievable size and smoothness, set without mortar so close to its neighbor that a knife blade could not be inserted between them.

The kingdom rejoiced at the nuptials of Princess Marguerite, oldest daughter of Queen Armallia and the king's sister, to Prince Mordred, heir to the throne of Lorraine.  The wedding was held at the Great Priory in Armorica.

Queen Elevuil took her army and joined her son Prince Fealurë in the forests of Huareth, where together they labored to charm and wheedle the dour human foresters to improve their ties with the Whisper Wood.  The difference in religion, language and species made this a slow process, fraught with misunderstandings.  To the elves, the men seemed churlish and stubborn, while to the men, the elves seemed haughty and dismissive.  Yet what is time to an elf?  With slow patience, mother and son drew the settlers into trading compacts that allowed the Whisper Wood to buy and sell Huareth timber, food and other goods on their behalf.

The prophetess Vairë continued to hector the noble families of the Sunglades, speaking the old tales of Calandra, of Valkrys and of Valendria, of the wisdom of Eristemus and the justice of Agaleus, so that yet more of the converts to the Way of the Sword returned to the bosom of the Church.  Yet for all that, the Way of the Sword remained as popular as ever among the common elves, who eyed Vairë with deep suspicion and contempt.

Lord Talorn traveled to the Fey Hunt, seeking any with whom he could parley, but found it a wilderness without habitation.

Queen Elevuil

Lady Senelra returned in triumph to Belfirth with the army from the H'rethek wars.  Upon her return, she released four thousand archers from service to return to their homes and rigorously trained the rest to the peak of their skills.

The great hero Valessia of Celendor traveled from Elenuil across the sea to Accolon, and thence down the Mulgaunt through Marador to Sengkar and consulted with the Tome Guardians at the Great Library.  She returned to Elenuil after eight months without a word of what, if anything, she had discovered.

Queen Nereil

Tarl Triumphant

The siege of Narranthus was to last far longer than might have been predicted.  Caught with only limited stores of food, starvation was quick to set in.  Yet the iron will of the Archons, including king Ulolis and general Athushan saw the citizens of the city through dark hours that would have broken lesser men far sooner.  Few days went by without Ulolis exhorting the multitudes to keep faith in Aeolan or without Athushan inspecting the troops on the wall and manning the defenses with them.  Yet as month wore into weary month and all food was consumed, as disease spread within the walls and fewer men turned out each morning to man them, the will of the defenders was sapped.  At last, in 2808, after twenty months of siege, the only surviving national leader was General Haespus, who threw open the gates and sued for terms.  A week of looting and orgy followed as fifteen thousand savage Airnim ransacked the city for every valuable, every woman and every slave. 

From there, Tarl moved smartly into the Riftmarch and laid siege to Haelopolis.  Without the steadying influence of any senior Archon, however, the Rift City capitulated after only two months and suffered the same fate as the capital.

Meanwhile, in Jaelethilis, Araghrun and Sunjidama brought their five thousand cavalry to bear on the scattered villages.  The Ianthan militia gamely fielded an army of two thousand lightly armed peasants and woodsmen who served creditably but futilely against the Horde.  Still further violence whittled slowly at Araghrun's army when the defeated Jaelethilans rose in rebellion at being taken into slavery, but again the result was inevitable.  Halianis proved no more difficult to crush and oppress, though there the pacified population was allowed to return to their homes, eyes downcast to avoid meeting the sullen gaze of their Jaelethilis kinsmen in chains.  Araghrun was delighted to find that the port city of Jarlhaven was completely without defenses, and his cavalry ran wild through the streets, helping themselves to whatever goods they pleased.

Queen Ava

Meanwhile, Sir Maradoc  and Princess Ava summoned strange blind gnomes who labored in odd grunts to build villages throughout Querenia to house refugees from the Horde.  And indeed those refugees did flee by the hundreds over the Lyodan. Maradoc went on to govern Pontezium, where he built a sturdy refuge for the royal family.

A Knight of the Dawn

The Grand Master also raised a thousand knights and turned them over to the command of Master Brutus when he returned from Corland and the H'rethek Wars.

Grand Master Marcus set out on a quest (the details of which were not widely known), accompanied by only a few hundred horsemen.  He died in 2809 in the wilds of Toruk Khend, north of Dhûnazhar.  It is said that his final words were swiftly carried back to the new Grand Master.

That Grand Master was Brutus Aurillius, hero of the H'rethek Wars.  Brutus had wasted no time in posting all his infantry around the Order's Fortress and setting out with cavalry alone on the trail of the har'keen army.  He picked up the rather obvious trail of destruction in Gistares and followed it to Riandos, having missed the battle between taurid and har'keen by several months.  He then followed this trail north into the forbidding Worldspine Mountains.

Master Marius, frail nephew of Grand Master Brutus, passed away in 2810 of a winter's chill in the Order's Fortress.

Vilkhar, known as The Hammer, visited the peoples of Mahant and Dhurkun, binding them closer to the throne as feudal vassals and tributary states, respectively.  The portly Vachik, known for his unusual appetites in both food and companions, traveled to the former Ascar region of Napoca, demanding and receiving the feudal submission of the lord of that land.

The Baron paid off the nobility from whom he had extracted much gold in the wake of the Airnim disaster, and managed to build several small villages in Orodea.  He began overland trade with the orcs of the Edgemoor and Worldspine mountains, and the hobgoblins of Carhallas (trading across the Hammersea and up the Mistriven and Manndaran rivers.

Gauros the Arisen

The Imperial Flag

Then, Maugrath marched his army through Jezul and Zhagon and into the plains of Valaam, where the local hobgoblin tribes were akin to the men of Annvar both linguistically and in the particulars of their religion.  Here, too, the Emperor overran a tiny militia, looted the region and enslaved the population.

So mismatched were the armies in size, that few had the opportunity to comment on the complete and utter military incompetence of certain noble vassals of the Emperor.

In 2808, the Azkhadi priests held a lavish and deadly funeral for Ildriss, widow of Emperor Reor and mother of the reigning emperor when she died of consumption at the age of fifty-two.

Sir Poddicar the Fey

In its northern corner, Annvar receives little trade, and so King Udoin instituted a significant internal trade fleet at Coinde.

While the King ruled, his son continued as governor of Varthane.  The warlike Poddicar managed to father a trio of children, but cared little for his civic duties, preferring to display his martial skill in the lists.  Few civic improvements could be noted in Varthane.  Equally inept to the job of governance was Lord Marvaith, to whom Udoin entrusted the city of Coinde.  Marvaith enjoyed rich dinners and sumptuous balls, but knew very little of what happened in the city beyond his palace.

Lord Tellenor returned to the wild lands of Aclad and Gelio, hoping to bring them into the kingdom.  Once more, his casual approach, ignorance of their language or customs, and mediocre ability to negotiate doomed these efforts from the start.

The lords of Annvar watched the approach of the Carhallas army with growing alarm, and closely watch it still as it sits on their border.

Lorendon, 2810   

My Esteemed Hortius:

I am mindful of your isolation there in your hermitage.  You are called on, you say, to remove yourself from the company of men that you might live a life of contemplation.  Well, you would do well to contemplate the affairs of that nation from the bosom of which you sprang.  You may remain apart, but you shall not remain ignorant, not even if I have to erect a pillar next to yours and read you posts aloud from your father's pen.

Where to begin, then?  Perhaps with the cities.  In 2806, Our Dread Lord dedicated a new city in the hills of Isurium which he named Flavium in honor of Flavius Sextus, the former Magister Equituum per occidentum.  In 2809, he dedicated another on the shores of Eatris which he named "Arcalasium" in honor of the former emperor.  In 2807, workmen began to tear down the wall of Hadrasianus around Conorr.  Constantikos had  

A Conorrian Villa on the Phaedon river

The Patriarch

In Corland, the Church attempted to aid the repopulation of the south in the wake of the H'rethek Wars, but was simply unable to coordinate so vast a project so far from home.  Church troops from Corland were berthed aboard a fleet of ships and sailed to Agazier in Har'Akir to help defend the faithful from the ravages of the Marrakhan Horde.  He also hired the likeable dwarven mercenary Khedem-Var and five thousand mercenaries to aid the defense of Har'Akir.  Likewise, His Holiness hired six thousand mercenaries at Quesante and had them march east to defend the Crusader States from the twin threats of the har'keen and the Airnim Horde.

The Church largesse did not stop at colonization and mercenaries.  Large sums of gold were shipped to Har'Akir and Corland, while shiploads of

In 2809, Calidonus of Valesia, son of Grand Admiral Anaxes, took holy orders and joined the Church in a ceremony at the Great Cathedral of Vales.

The Church was not totally selfless in those years.  In the years prior to his death in 2810, Patriarch Flavius exacted tithes from the Llyran Republic and Har'Akir, and tried unsuccessfully to collect such rents in still-chaotic Corland. Upon the Patriarch's death, the Colleges of the Grail met in closed session to elect a new representative for the gods on Theeurth.  Bishop Palladius left off his work in the Crusader States and returned hurriedly to Conorr, where his enthusiastic supporters campaigned strongly (and ultimately successfully) to have him named the one hundred and ninety-second Patriarch of the Church.

Bisho Alecius also tried to hurry back to Conorr from Mauredoc, but was caught in the open in a terrible snowstorm and died a month later raving into his beard during a fever.

The Grand Abbey of Armorica

The Dhûnazhar Elite Guard

A Llryan Skyship

The Constans himself took flight from the Aerie in the spring of 2807 and accompanied by several squadrons of skyships and the smaller, faster skyskiffs, he flew in style to the port of Vorogrod in Jaelithilis, a region soon to fall under the Airnim hammer.  Once there, the skyships disgorged thousands of Llyran siege engineers who set to work preparing the city against any possible Airnim attack.  Constans Harko then returned to the sky and was soon after looking to the affairs of his nation from the Council Chamber in Tarrentica.

Caelan Bolusova, the Joraidan died in 2807 while conducting a census.  No one had had the heart to tell the old warlock that the Republic had had a working census for decades.

Queen Jerzuul

When the day came, eleven young women were arrayed before the queen in simple white togas.  They represented the finest Ahuran had to offer, and would compete in the spirit of Parmaadan.  It was for the queen to declare the manner of the contest, for this was Beolaan's insight: that by so choosing she could guide the choice of a suitable successor while also allowing all to see that Parmaadan was followed by the royal house. Jerzuul chose a three-part competition: Athletics, artistry and archery.  The games lasted for three days and on the afternoon of the third day, as the queen had forseen, only her seventeen year-old sister and nineteen year old daughter remained in contention.  The two stood at the archery lists taking shots from increasingly far away, each striking the bulls-eye until they stood at sixty yards.  There, Luriaal overcompensated for the slight breeze and shot wide, while Naomi's shot was in the second ring, a scant two inches from the bulls-eye.  Naomi was crowned as heir to her sister Jerzuul the following day in a lavish ceremony which Luriaal attended in good graces. The rest of the court had hied themselves off to Veij in 2806 for what the crown called a holiday, and so did not attend.

In Ilmultorn, thousands of peasants began to clear and terrace the hillsides and create small farms here and there amidst the loamy soil.

In 2809, disaster struck the Holy Matriarchy when children exploring a forgotten well in Sendorin stumbled across and awoke an ancient terror, forgotten for hundreds of years.  The huge dragon Sirrush, Terror of the Night, burst forth from the cavern where it had slept for ages and laid claim to the land of Sendorin. Long and sinuous, the immense drake's ruddy hid glittered in the light of the fires it set across its new domain, terrorizing the populace into submission.

The Landresses of Rarram, Naidhan and Ahristhon marched against the dragon, arriving with three thousand troops in the spring of 2810.  The armies were utterly wiped out, scorched and rended beyond recognition.  Kiara of Ahristhon was captured by the drake, while Lindaaral of Naidhan and Teolide of Rarram escaped with their lives.  Queen Jerzuul cancelled plans to join her court in Veij and instead remained in the capital.  She wisely chose not to confront Sirrush yet.

Also in 2809, a second disaster befell. A strange sickness swept through the city of Ilduskan. Nearly an eighth of the population of the city was struck low, and hundreds died, including several hundred soldiers.

Sirrush at Sunset

Sultana Farida

In 2806, fourteen thousand hardbitten orcs and ogres had streamed out of the West Marrakhan hills and seized the province of Awas Fahan and subdued the local militia. And there, it seemed, their ambition ceased. In the fall of that year, Lord Ojab was marching three thousand troops from Qadras to Har Mekelle and marched them straight into the bored nomads.  A brief and joyful (for the pursuers) hunt ensued during which time every Akir human in sight was cut to ribbons by the immense horde of cavalry. Ojab was wounded and returned to Har Mekelle without a fraction of his original force.

Velisimil of Phalces, an ally and great friend of Centorius since the two were students at the academy of Eristhones together, died in 2807.  The succession to the throne of Phalces was contested by his sons, and a small but bloody feud broke out between the two, dividing families and becoming an increasingly bloody vendetta over the next two years.  The lawless province quickly ceased to be a productive member of the City-States, and the feud still continues.

In 2809, Calidonus , son of Grand Admiral Anaxes, took holy orders and joined the Church in a ceremony at the Great Cathedral of Vales.

Maelon Hoplite

General Zsalvi

Fresh from its exhilarating recapture of the holy city of Merwal, the sathla empire of Luxur was riding high.  Thousands of new recruits entered the army, and hundreds of settlers were sent to Keferis, there to replace the Valesian settlers and infidels so lately driven out.

The trouble started when General Zsalvi traveled to the region of Kerma for negotiations with it's lord, Kusnar.  The general had been in Kerma for less than six months when he died one morning in an apoplectic fit over Kusnar's demands for concessions.  Suddenly, the empire was without a leader or a designated successor.  The various military commanders eyed one another briefly and out came the knives.

Captain Ystuv, in command of the riverine fleet at Pyrayus was the first to declare himself master of Luxur, and was acclaimed by his troops in Pyrayus's vine-shrouded forum.  Ystuv immediately seized several of Kusnar's relatives, thus assuring his personal loyalty.

Likewise, General Kaltass, commander of the army in Merwal declared that by right of holy conquest it was

The Sauressh knew that his nation must have a capital, and from time out of mind the Mykele had regarded Oroyon as their true seat.  Thus, he swallowed his considerable pride and with a guard of two thousand warriors, continued to negotiate with the new masters of that city.  His rhetoric and appeal to ancient custom and loyalties was remarkably effective.  In just five years, he managed to convince the city to allow him to control its contracts and economy.

His nephew Kouresh had a similarly brilliant success in the stiff-necked realm of Naszgiri, which had so long rebuffed the attentions of Mykele.  By 2810, the jungle chieftains recognized Mykele's right to regulate trade in the region.

Meanwhile, Lisal'assh and Heshtreth took an army of six thousand and marched into Gulanabat, a strange, swampy jungle where the trees glow a sickly green at night and the stunted sathla worship debased demon gods.  In a brief and brutal series of battles, the Mykele nobles took the sathla of Gulanabat prisoners and marched them back to Naszgiri as slaves.

Sauressh Sishtreth I

Uls Fakhar

Concerned merchants in Uls Fakhar sent a chest of gold to the Sultan in Har'akir to help the war effort against the Marrakhan orcs.

King Al-Kadem could read the bitter tea leaves for Ianthe, and ordered that all the Ianthan shipping in Uls Fakhar be confiscated on behalf of the government.  Most of those ships were out of the harbor at the time, but several trading cogs and their cargo were seized.

Otherwise, it was pretty quiet around here.  Yep. Pretty quiet.

A Warlock of Accolon

Meanwhile, the general known only as The Anointed One gathered an army on the banks of the Mulgaunt, including three thousand elite regulars and fifteen hundred mercenaries recruited from the scum of Dammarask's slave quarter and marched down the Ashen Way towards the skarn-occupied province of Carru.  They bivouaced in the dusty wastes of Dur, waiting for word from Bishop Trollkin, who rode ahead to offer peace and alliance to the warlike Skarn. 

In 2808 the word came - the skarn would not bend to Accolon's demands of submission and religious conversion.  And so The Anointed One and his troops rode into Carru expecting to easily ride over any opposition. The truth was somewhat different.  The skarn are primitive, but are large and intelligent fighters.  A guerilla campaign against the Accolon army succeeded in slowing its advance and sapping its strength.  No single battle was had, but at long last the skarn slunk back into the Naran desert muttering curses.  The nine-month war of maneuver had cost Accolon more than six hundred of its regulars.

Kurotsuki, known as The Black Moon, governed the port of Agharra.  While he did manage to dredge the shallow harbor, He was most noted for ambitious projects that always seemed to run out of money or energy.  Nightshade the Abjurer, a powerful warlock, spent the period governing Nuradeem, and was very successful in repairing many of the worst scars of war.  Unfortunately, he died horribly of a case of rabies contracted from a desert bat.

Bishop Mukhador traveled the lands of the lower Mulgaunt, helping to establish churches in the outlying rural areas, ensuring that the might and power of the Dark Court was understood by all. 

Yagrax, called "The Howler" accomplished much the same task in Eumana and Nuradeem, but he did it with hot irons and the living dead.  All the citizens of that frightened region kept their eyes downcast, and no one did they fear more than The Howler.  "The Howler can hear the slightest whisper," they told each other, and those who could took ship for distant harbors, never to return.

Gezz Half-Shadow

Queen Madariel

But ancient queen Madariel did not neglect the growth of her realm, and invested liberally in knowledge and training of her subordinates (particularly her troops). Trade emissaries were sent to the Yurahtam Horde, but these never returned and were presumed eaten by the ogres.

Princess Vaeril Fallingwater continued her talks with the lords of Khithi, repairing the damage done ten years earlier by brash young Glorfindel.  So lovely and persuasive was the princess that her hosts impulsively swore an oath of fealty to her and to her mother the queen, swearing eternal loyalty to her house.

Vaeril Fallingwater and the Swan Standard of Marador

Ogre Warrior

Particularly hard-fought was the battle of Karnin, where the local orcs, knowing the fate of their neighbors, waited by the thousands for the Horde and descended upon them in the narrow, snow-choked passes. The Karnin forces were led by a wily and accomplished orc chieftain named Yekrund, who caused his fellows to roll boulders and pots of burning pitch down the mountainsides onto the Horde and made full use of the terrain against the horde cavalry.  During this battle, Quor was briefly captured by Yekrund's orcs, but managed to survive until his ogres could cut a bloody path to his rescue.

Rarely able to bring the full power of their sixteen thousand cavalry to bear, the Horde was also forced to leave approximately two thousand cavalry behind in each province conquered as a garrison against the restive natives who chafed against their new masters's worship of the Dark Court.  By the time Quor was able to bring Zab-Kin to heel, his force consisted of a few hundred cavalry and ogres and a large group of civilians who had followed the horde through the whole campaign.

Y'grak also had built a series of spirit-mounds and basking rocks throughout the province of Drormt, creating the religious and practical centers of many new communities in the ancestral bogs.  The Regent also let it be known that human refugees from Keferis were welcome in Drormt, but few humans chose to leave the forests to take up a life amidst the mosquito-plagued saurus fens.

Young Kra'quam took command of the Drormt army and patrolled the borders lest invaders take the steaming kingdom unawares.  Lord Keek'za was appointed governor of Breeka, and proved to be an efficient administrator. By all accounts, Keek'za is an astoundingly boring conversationalist with breath so bad that many sauruses would choose to swim across the Ulailai to avoid him.  But his grasp of finances, laws and bureaucracy allowed him to manipulate the trade clans and fisherfolk with superior skill.

King T*ko, now middle-aged, began to think of peace and the continuance of his realm.  He spent his time consulting with the merchants and horse traders of Nyange, who saw something new in the once-brash warlord and agreed to swear fealty to him, granting the king a true capital at last.

Os'Elm and Maduan traveled to Durudin to speak to the sathla and try to smooth the way for this wealthy region to enter the new civilized Sendahl polity. Thus, Sendahl's entry into the ranks of civilized nations was accompanied by a significant expansion of its political power and influence. However, the move to a sedentary lifestyle placed sudden strain on a newborn government ill-equipped to deal with the demands of village life. Sendahl's vast cavalry army alone ate far more grain than Desiket could grow, and suddenly demanded payment, an expense which King T*ko could not meet.  As a result, the collection of taxes was sparse and spotty, leaving the government desperate for money and food.

Moreover, the change in governmental focus to cultivation and civilization meant that the still-plentiful steppe tribes became distanced from the central government.

King T*ko

Emperor Mufun ruled from the throne of Awayal and discreetly established a harem of concubines while awaiting the majority of his seven-year-old bride.

Prince D'Hargi governed the city of Kaznuma, establishing both a local messenger service and a series of deep-water wells. Warleader Bor'ufan governed in Awayal, which proved more intransigent in its ways, but he nonetheless managed to establish a guild of tanners in the outskirts of the city.

Nightdancer, lord of Eura, died in 2808 of blood poisoning after stepping on a large thorn and refusing to allow the witch-women to attend to it.

Banner of Khor-Naland

Now in Sengkar he caused to be raised a great cathedral to the gods, open to the air and filled with trees and growing things, such that it was marvel to behold and elves came from across the Empire merely to worship there.

But this was not the greatest blessing upon Sengkar in those years.  For in 2810, Valoril Greenshield was granted a daughter, a rare and blessed event in the lives of the deathless elves.  The feasting and celebrations in Ezrand were euphoric with joy and extravagant demonstrations of fealty to the new princess.  The new order of knights swore their service to her while yet her eyes were barely open.

Lord Namaril the Hunter continued his diplomacy in Radhrost, convincing the allied prince of that green province to swear fealty the Emperor. Princess Gahaliel continued in vain to woo the stiff-necked and isolationist elves of Kibeyes (they allowed her to attend their feasts and hunts, but simply refused to hear her arguments on behalf of empire). Lord Talan of Mita continued to work with the wild elves of Ozhayar, but at the end of five years was only able to tell the Emperor that there was "some little progress" on the matter.

The Havens of Jarende

The Monsoon Palace, Muddakir

Several hundred more Ghandoori Foot Guards were added to the Sultan's personal army, and that army and its allied force in Tanoxus remained on high alert for any possible incursion into the jealously-guarded realm.

Nokrome also looked the economic health of his kingdom, sending every available ship to the dwarven port at Dürn, even though some were now returning half-empty.  The wonderful artwork, jewelry and weapons made by the little earth-masters was highly valued in the ports of Weshtayo. Finally, Nokrome proved to be a lusty lord and fathered four children - two boys and two girls.

Black-Feathered Lord Lanza governed Rendulha during this period and took the opportunity to befriend the hereditary lord of the city, White-Feathered Lord Sorirome, who agreed to swear fealty to Nokrome.

Numanthaur ruins at Rendulha

Empress Neela

She herself traveled to Chru and convinced the horsemen of that wild region to become her clients and live under her protection. 

The City of Lhoren Dar

Kind Adier fathered two children.  A son was born in 2808 and a daughter in 2810.

Lord Markil was governor of Darious, and proved to be a talented administrator, but one more inclined to use his talents to line his own pockets than to create useful public works.  Something of the reverse might be said of Prince Sendor - he tried so very hard to create lasting monuments to greatness, but his projects always seemed to die of lack of funding or materials and little got done.

In 2809, the barons recognized King Adier as their divinely-appointed monarch, and the power of the kingdom was acknowledged to be his alone.

Galens's campaign was comprehensive and well planned.  Lekandi warlocks summoned wild beasts and birds to harass the enemy flank in Unu, while Lords Rikkers and Malachi of Gyanlay raided Arumbom and Mitjurraw, respectively, to pin down enemy forces.

There were several unforeseen obstacles along the way.  The most serious of these was that on the very day that Lekandi's proud armies crossed the Fikoshan frontier, the restive elves of the city of Gyanlay arose in rebellion, proclaiming their ancient rights as a free people.  Lord Malachi immediately returned to the city to protect his vassals and properties and at a stroke Galens had lost not only his ally but his raids on Mitjurraw and his entire small naval force.

RESULT