LORDS OF THE EARTH CAMPAIGN 54
"LORDS OF THEEURTH"

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Hearing I ask from the holy races,
From Heimdall's sons, both high and low;
Thou wilt, Valfather, that well I relate
Old tales I remember of men long ago.

I remember yet the giants of yore,
Who gave me bread in the days gone by;
Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree
With mighty roots beneath the mold.

Of old was the age when Ymir lived;
Sea nor cool waves nor sand there were;
Earth had not been, nor heaven above,
But a yawning gap, and grass nowhere.

Then Bur's sons lifted the level land,
Mithgarth the mighty there they made;
The sun from the south warmed the stones of earth,
And green was the ground with growing leeks.

The sun, the sister of the moon, from the south
Her right hand cast over heaven's rim;
No knowledge she had where her home should be,
The moon knew not what might was his,
The stars knew not where their stations were.

Then sought the gods their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held;
Names then gave they to noon and twilight,
Morning they named, and the waning moon,
Night and evening, the years to number.

The Elder Eddas, The Voluspo

1. I've been told by the Powers That Be that I've been doing trade incorrectly for Primacies and Religious Orders.  Nations previously trading with these positions may suddenly notice their trade routes gone this turn.

2. When building troops, list them exactly as they are on the turnsheet.  That is, write "5xc", not "xc x5", not "5 light cavalry", not "5lc" and most certainly not just "xc", leaving me to do the math!

3. When transferring troops between leaders or between a leader and a garrison, write "-10i to L04 Barney", not "Fred gives his troops to Barney".

4. There are no names on the map broken up for length.  They are all spelled as they appear.  Thus, "Ben Thael" and "Kame Wai", not "Benthael" and "Kamewai".

MEDARHOS -

North-Western Medarhos -

The Skane Jarldoms -  Ruler - King Bjarnalf Capital - Vanaheim Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Medahros Spirit Cult

The Kingdom of Tirgonia -
Ruler - King Merrimillien
Capital - Tirgon
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

With the Crown Lands occupied and the capital under siege, all the efforts of the kingdom were focused solely on defense at any cost.  King Gareth instituted a massive levy of taxes, imposts and tariffs.  In addition to taxes, he forced the merchants of Tirgon and Alqualondë to loan him large sums of cash. While this might ordinarily be cause for rebellion, the Tirgonian lords saw this war for what it was - a struggle for survival against the forces of darkness.  They paid and loaned willingly rather than be conquered by orcs and the undead. Gareth used the influx of cash to raise thirty-five hundred cavalry at Tirgon and more importantly, to hire eight thousand mercenaries to defend the city. (See The Tirgonian War, below).

A blight spreads rapidly across the grain of the Crown Lands and of Sothwall.  Curiously, the blight tapers off markedly near the province borders.

THE TIRGONIAN WAR
(2851-2852)

The year 2851 began with the murder of King Gareth of Tirgonia.  He was found poisoned in his bath, and two of his cooks strangled and thrown down a well. This boded very ill for Tirgonia, as no leader of national stature was left to defend the city. Young Merrimillien was acclaimed as the heir, but was yet too young to lead. At nearly the same moment, multiple attempts to murder the two invading commanders, Kron the Brilliant and Baron Gauros the Arisen, left Kron injured.  Gauros escaped unharmed. The Edgemoor and Ascar forces laid siege to the city in early Agaleon, sending huge flaming spheres hurtling over the walls.  They rained fire and stone at the hapless defenders for three months, frequently testing defenses and trying to undermine the city's low walls. The local

garrison commander did what he could, but his forces consisted almost entirely of cavalry, and he was up against the military genius and sorcery of Baron Gauros of Ascarlon. Among the allied besiegers, it was the highly-trained Ascar humans and their undead servants who carried most of the weight of the siege.  Untrained in siege warfare and bored by the lack of slaughter, the orcs were used as shock troops whenever a breach was probed. The first three months of the siege proved devastatingly deadly to the Tirgonian forces inside the walls and nearly cost them the city and the country.  But they hung on through the awful pounding and refused to yield, even though more than eighty percent of the defenders were killed, incapacitated or deserted.

At that point, Tirgonian Duke Parcilus arrived in the city by ship and took over the command of the stricken Tirgonian armies.  He had fewer than two thousand effectives left and decided that his wisest course of action was to await the expected arrival of allies out the north. Parcilus directed his men to continue the fight.  They were more than willing, since food and supplies continued to pour into the city by sea.  Shipments of foodstuffs from the halflings of Aelissia began to arrive on the docks.  Unfortunately, Parcilus proved no more effective a commander than the captain of the garrison.  The Ascar siege engines breached a large section of the eastern wall of the city and the orcs poured in.  Tirgon was taken and her defenders slaughtered.  The walls were destroyed. Young King Merrimillien and his uncle Natel were taken prisoner.

The allies had no time to enjoy their victory however, for three new armies now converged on the city less than a month later.  From the north, Boris Bamsndvaerder and his nine thousand Skane light infantry linked up with Prince Marcus of Tirgonia and his six thousand troops, including four thousand cavalry. At almost the same moment, Vabrak of the Edgemoors arrived with fourteen hundred ogre mercenaries in tow to join the Edgemoor/Ascar army, which now numbered just over ten thousand effectives.  With Tirgon's walls in disarray, the Skane and Tirgonians were able to pour into the city to attack the orcs and Ascars in the streets and on the many stairs of the once-fair city.  The battle devolved into bloody street-to-street clashes and small groups fighting for possession of single buildings.. Boris's army had the advantage of numbers, cavalry and scouts and his allies now fought in their homeland for the very survival of their nation.  Too, Skane leaders brought him accurate information on the Baron's forces. But the Dark Court armies had their own unique advantages.  The Baron is one of Theeurth's mightiest sorcerers and his dark magics fortified his troops and tore at the enemy.  Orcish mages caused the bones of their fallen enemies to spring up around their army in razor-sharp defenses, making the narrow streets nearly impossible for cavalry. It was numbers and elan that carried the day, however, and the Dark Court allies were forced to withdraw into neutral Aré.  After regrouping for several months, the Skane army numbered just under eight thousand, while the Tirgonians had five thousand. These settled in to defend the homeland and capital.

The Orcs and Ascars licked their wounds in Aré, having gotten away with slaves and royal prisoners.  Orcish reinforcements arrived and after regrouping, the orcs numbered more than six thousand and the Ascars less than four thousand.  The Dark Court allies decamped from Aré in the Spring of 2852, and conquered the lightly-defended Purple Hills.  Kron and his army remained there while Gauros and his troops marched home.

The Harkorian League -
Ruler - Councillor Cheos
Capital - Cadares
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

were too young to assume control, and the League once again descended into chaos. Violence between armies was averted when Cheos seized command of the main force at Cadares and negotiated a return to the old oligarchic system of government which had prevailed in Harkoria before Alexeos had seized power.  Most of the provinces agreed to this system, and remained loyal to Cadares, but the men of Maxis and the elves of Viator had had enough and declared their independence.

The Edgemoor Orcs -
Ruler - King Hauge
Capital - Zaramaka
Dominant Race - Orcs
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

South-Western Medarhos -

The Brythnian Confederation -  Ruler - Regent Keltos Capital - Carrenthium Dominant Race - Taurid Dominant Religion - Medahros Spirit Cult

The Queen sent Megeira north by circuitous routes to punish the evil Ascars for their many crimes.  Five thousand powerful centaur cavalry rode with her.  In the Dacian Hills, they were joined by Argous the Bull, immense minotaur commander of that province. Back in Tathlann, Queen Rhea studied under the tutelage of Harkorian bishop Theon, and converted to the worship of the Lords of the Grail.  While this may or may not have been beneficial to her soul, it did little for the Confederation, for the queen sickened and died within weeks over her conversion.  Throughout the steppes and hills of Brythnia the word spread of the anger of the spirits with the faithless queen.  Contrary to popular expectation, however, there was no uprising.  Lord Keltos took over as regent for the queen's infant daughter. Meanwhile, just a month after the queen's death, Commander Megeira died in her sleep in far-off Vaanes.  Argous tried to assert command but the Brythnian officers would not submit to the command of a feudal ally, and so after an election of a temporary leader, they marched home again to Tathlann. While the army was off in Vaanes, a force of one thousand orcish cavalry raided the hills of northwest Brythnia (See The Worldspine Orcs, below.) Brythnia hired the Runeknights adventuring company, which traveled south in 2851 and came back triumphant in 2853, claiming to have slain a powerful demon in the Firefields.

Aelissia - Ruler - King Kendall Lowtide Capital - The Great Delve Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Great Lirien [A], The South Downs [A], Dhalken [EA]

common touch, hunted and fished with the local woodsmen and hunters, eventually convincing them that signing an alliance with him was their idea. The Moot chose Hayden Blackkettle, a halfling from the South Downs, to return to his home and convince the hill-folk that their futures would be better if they joined the Aelissian nation.  His patriotic speeches stirred the hearts of the locals, who soon signed a treaty of alliance. Ted "Dog" Plowman walked into the backwoods hills of Dhalken, visiting village meetings and speaking with

farmers and homesteaders in vale and hollow.  The folk of Dhalken were never noted for their hospitality, but they knew of Dog's heroics in the Brythnian wars, and listened when he urged them to better trade relations with Aelissia.

Finally, Leeland Brownbarley returned to the Brythnian capital of Carrenthium with a fleet of ships and carried back the last of the halfling troops in that country.  There were no parades or wild parties in the Great Delve for these last thousand men, which had become increasingly staid and religious.  Thereafter, Brownbarley was governor of the Great Delve, where he struggled with the byzantine regulations and competing magistrates and businesses.

Suddenly, in 2854, the ground rumbled in Greensward and the Golden Sea rushed north.  The doomed inhabitants of the Great Delve had only enough time to rush out into their green and pleasant lanes and shout questions to each other when the earth shook with an unprecedented violence, and the sea slammed into the city repeatedly.  Falling buildings, floods, fires, disease and famine killed hundreds of thousands, possibly more.  Bodies were washing up on the shores of the Golden Sea for more than a year.  The Great Delve was gone, utterly destroyed. A great many halfling survivors looked at the new statue of Brandobaris and the powerful new religious orders and muttered their suspicions to themselves.

Corland - Ruler - King Bohemund Capital - Khairais Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Mauredoc [-], Rhavais [NT]

King Tancred opened wide the purse strings of Corland and ordered thousands of settlers to take up farmsteads in lands long emptied by war.  Oulenne, Andelais, Serry and Votois all once again rang to the woodsman's axe or the farmer's plow. Across the Sarrone river, towns were springing up all across Couronnais, where a new generation barely new the name "K'chak" and knew the terrors of the har'keen only as legends told about the communcal hearthfires. In 2851, a horrific pair of nighttime attacks were perpetrated on the monastery of Quesante and the Abbey of Khairais.  The monks of the monastery were slaughtered by an unknown agency, possibly a monstrous beast.  The scene of slaughter was nauseating, with the walls of the monastery painted in blood.  The preiests of the abbey of Khairais were slaughtered by "men in black, their eyes glowing red" (according to a survivor who hid under the altar.  The attackers piled the heads of the priests in a mocking display at the center of the great library and then fled into the night. In 2852, a new wave of sickness and disease washed over Corland.  Prince Fredemund was among the first to die, getting ever paler and weaker and finally passing on a clear, cold night in spring.  He was the first, but was soon to be joined in a royal fellowship of death.  In 2853, Guiscard of Mauredoc succumbed to the disease.  In the summer of 2854, Lord Balgar died while negotiating with Guiscard's successor.  Later that year, the king died of the same disease. When the king's chosen successor, his brother Bohemund, was crowned in Khairais, there were many in the petty nobility who were uneasy with the choice, sensing in the King's death opportunities for personal advancement.  There were small uprisings all across Corland, swiftly put down or quelled, save in the northern forests of Derandime, where once again the residents proved that their allegiances were shallow at best.

Lord Phillip concluded negotiations with the city of Rhavais, which agreed to allow the posting of Corland troops, but nothing more.  Lord Roger, before his death in 2855, managed to convince the sauruses of the Maggardh Fens to do rather more, and the scaly lord of that region swore fealty to the king in Khairais.

 

The Sea Empire of Lorraine - Ruler - Emperor Boru Capital - Armorica Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Lothian [NT], Persant [-HS], Malidisant [T]

Weary of war and death, Emperor Mordred sent Sir Morgan to Dines with a train-load of gold.  The Empire would pay tribute to the mighty orcs in order to purchase peace and room in which to gather strength.  Mordred instructed Morgan to negotiate for the body of his father Artorius as well as the ancient relic known as the Red Mace.  And for news of the Neldorean general lady Senelra.  The orcs accepted the tribute, but taunted Morgan, saying that their king drank his ale from a cup made of Artorius's skull.  Morgan died in Dines in 2851, and his troops withdrew from the region back to Andred. Upon assuming the throne, Mordred named his younger brother Boru as his heir for the Emperor had no sons of his own. This was well, for Mordred's allotted span ran out in 2858, when he choked to death on a fishbone. Boru was crowned Emperor amidst little fanfare. Sir Richard traveled to Lothian and Persant, pausing just a year or so in each place, exhorting the leaders to return to the fold of the Empire.  The Lothianites, eager for the trade goods and protection of Armorica, agreed to allow the Empire to station troops in their city.  But the prickly orcs of Persant took umbrage at Richard's bluff words and his brief stay and cast him out with angry curses. Sir Draken and Sir Dalarose of the Lonely Tower traveled to Malidisant and spoke with honeyed words to the independence-minded lordlings of the province.  They saw some wisdom in the knights' words and agreed to send tribute to the capital at Armorica.

rigid  cultural strictures of the Whisper Wood and began to take his ease among the delights of Callistus.  So too, did his army.  Infuriated and being sent to defend the upstart human empire simply grated on the young prince's pride and he decided to wait no more for his mother's death and his own ascension.  Fealurë dismissed his elvish army and struck off to seek his fortune among the nations of the world.

The Neldorean Wood - Ruler - Queen Nereil Capital - Elenuil Dominant Race - Elf Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

Queen Nereil continued to tend her forests, sending her rangers to plant a variety of Heart Trees, Silver trees and Talvor Pines, and to nurture the villages found throughout the Tarwood, Manariyë and Tiriya. She also once again promulgated her edict that none but her own subjects were free to wander the woods of Neldorea without her permission.  Such are the short lives and shorter memories of men that the queen finds it burdensomely necessary to remind them every few decades.  To the priests of the Great Church she gave specific permission to travel in her realm, but to no one else. Lord Taralom tendered the troops under his command to the queen and then took sail for Lorraine, where he took up command of the seventeen thousand elven troops there and lay in wait for the coming of the orcs.  But the men of Lorraine made peace with the orcs and left the elves with no war to fight. Agents were sent into orcish lands looking for their lost general, the Lady Senelra, but she was nowhere to be found.  It was as if she had vanished from the earth like a puff of summer smoke. In the far south, lord Demaroth who was mapping the Darsema Sea, decided that he liked the island women, the heady rum and the occasional bout of scurvy.  He and his crews went native, never returning to Neldorea.

The Exarchate of the Great Crusade - Ruler - Exarch Candos Capital - Pontezium Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

The people of the Crusader States continued to flood into the capital at Pontezium for safety.  Decades of war, orcs and dragons made them long for the safety of the city.  Inexplicably (to the inhabitants, at least), Pontezium had no walls, while the port of Regaldros rebuilt high and strong ramparts against invasion.  The citizens of Pontezium daily demanded that the Exarch build walls about the capital, and no one shouted this demand more loudly than the newest immigrants from the countryside. A flurry of divinations were used to guide the officers and men of the national army.  The Exarch and six thousand men moved to the Akasian Hills to defend the north, while Sir Bradley and twenty-five hundred troops guarded the Salt Shore. Meanwhile, Sir Finten traveled to Brythnia, where he began to preach to the taurids about the strength and power of the Lords of the Grail.  Unfortunately, just a month into his preaching,

Finten suddenly collapsed, ashen-faced.  The Crusader survived for another three months in the care of his hosts, but passed away in 2851 at the age of forty.

The Holy Order of the Dawn - Ruler - Grand Master Lactantius Capital - The Akasian Hills Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Adoria [-], Pontezium [OP], Echoriath [OH], Anicium [OH]

Master Domitius harangued the men of Anicium for more than two years, and managed to purchase some pleasant holdings for the Order on the banks of the swift-running Phaedon river.

Unfortunately, a great many of the Order's holdings were far beyond the control of the Order Fortress in the Akasian Hills.  These now began to degrade.  The Order Oratory in Faloricum degraded to a Perceptory. The Perceptory in Khelem Vala degraded to an Order House. The Order Houses in Niance and Eatris dissipated to nothing.

Rhanalor -

The many allies and feudal allies of Ascarlon gathered in Galati to respond to invasion, but despite the efforts of Brythnia (See above), none came.

The Worldspine Orcs -
Ruler - King Azog
Capital - Mount Kauroth
Dominant Race - Orc
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Waertag [FA]

King Azog ruled from the Throne of Despair and surveyed his stony kingdom.  To the north, the cultivation of Vilcea continued to approach completion.  To the east and south his lands had been devastated by the accursed Grail-lovers.  Thus, he sent his lieutenant Magoz Honeytongue, known as "Squint" to the independent city of Waertag.  There, the crafty orc played upon fears of a Brythnian invasion, and convinced the city's lord to become a vassal of King Azog. At about the same time, Gulgash the Rude and a thousand goblin wolf riders passed outside the city of Waertag on their way into Brythnia on what was billed as vengeance for the Brythnian incursions against the orcs of the Cendarinnes. Gulgash and his band sagely avoided tackling wealthy regions like Tathlann or the Great Meadow and restricted themselves to the impoverished hills they had raided repeatedly in the past.  The denuded Brythnian Hills brought the orcs no wealth, but some small amounts of silver coins and starved cattle were stolen in the Dacian Hills and in Orosel.

In 2852 thousands of ordinary orcs in the Maurellians heard a series of loud thunderclaps coming out of a cloudless sky. In Brolok orcs said that they heard the voices of giants ringing through the air, while in Vilcea farmers swore that they heard strange noises...scraping, they said, coming from below the earth.

Emperor Maugroth the Younger turned over control of three thousand troops and the governorship of Lederata to his lieutenant Gauroth.  The Emperor and general Durthaur then marched north to take war to Celendor. (See The Celendor War, below).  When the Emperor did not return from that venture, his son, Maugroth III was crowned emperor in Carcaroth. Prince Kargauth led a force of three thousand soldiers south from Carcaroth to Lederata, along with thousands of hobgoblin colonists who displaced the humans onto the stony ground and wild heaths, taking the best cultivated land for themselves.   Several feudal lords of Carhallas planned to gather at Elsend and then invade Celendor, but were dispersed after the army of Celendor raided Elsend and shattered the army of Zhagon. (See The Celendor War, below). Gauroth turned out to be a very poor choice for governor of so distant a province as Lederata.  Free from the direct control of Carcaroth, he revolted, planning to create

his own hobgoblin fiefdom centered around the port of Colanum.  But Prince Kargauth remained loyal, and the two sides fought the rich plain outside of Colanum. Gauroth had by far the larger army, more than seven thousand men.  But Kargauth's three thousand included some of the emperor's best cavalry, and besides, Gauroth was a noted military incompetent.  More than a few observers opined that this was why Maugroth had trusted him with so large an army.  The battle was an inconclusive affair, yet savage for all that.  Hobgoblins show no more mercy to each other than to their fallen enemies. Despite their huge numerical advantage, it was the disorderly and poorly-led troops of Gauroth the Rebel who fell back in disarray before the well-disciplined killing machine of the Prince's troops.  Gauroth retreated, having suffered nearly fifty percent casualties in his ill-conceived debacle.  In the months that followed, he lost even more as many of his troops crossed the lines to return to service under the clearly better leader, Kargauth.  Gauroth and his remaining troops melted into the wilderness to become bandits and mercenaries.

In Daul, persistent husbandry had turned the plains into fertile cultivation.

The Great Kingdom of Annvar - Ruler - First Councillor Voriax Capital - Varthane Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The Standard of Annvar

Celendor -
Ruler - King Elorian Mistmantle
Capital - Ennilas
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

The Forest Realm of Meledrian -
Ruler - King Eldareth Hammerhand
Capital - Laurelindë
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

King Eldareth sent "nightrunner" scouts into Celendor and came swiftly after them with all the troops he could muster, either of his own armies or those of his allies, as well as more than two thousand mercenary infantry. Along with him rode Lords Ulomindus of Nathlondeg, Rhias of Tirielinan and Voronhad of Finrothel, as well as the human mercenary Nishraan the Clever.  Before the climactic battle in Thuidhel, he was also joined by Lord Aeliniel, his trusted lieutenant (See The Celendor War, below). Prince Namardil once again showed his political acumen as governor of Laurelindë, installing many great works of art glorifying the freedoms of the Dark Court. Lord Balan was governor of Dalariadh, but managed little more than to hang on to power in the border town as gold and the injured rolled in. Lord Cerelindas was governor of Narbyndahl.

THE CELENDOR WAR
(2851-2855)

Erdhonis, 2851 - Lord Gudge of Annvar begins to train his troops to a more elite status.

Strynod, 2851 - King Eldareth Hammerhand of Meledrian, many of his officers and 17,000 elven troops and two thousand mercenaries head west towards Celendor.

                       - Lord Vorome of Celendor marches into Elsend with 11,000 elves.  He trounces Carhallas's defense, including sixteen hundred cavalry under the lord of Zhagon headed east towards Celendor.  The elves do not stay, but merely raid and move on.

Maravis, 2851  - The ponderously slow army of Carhallas shakes off the snow of winter and begins to ford the Esharias heading into Sallustium.

Cleon, 2851 -  The Meledrian army enters Dor Emmen.  Nearby feudal armies of Celendor turtle up and refuse to come forth to face the juggernaut.

Northhale, 2851 - A thousand-elf contingent of the Meledrian army under the command of human mercenary general Nishraan the Clever breaks off from the king's army and heads south into Rainas.

Berlas, 2851 - Vorome's Celendor army reaches Lethinan in southern Celendor, where it stays, watching the forest eaves.

Branaeor, 2851 - Having completed the pacification of Dor Emmen, the Meledrian army begins to forcibly convert the local elves to the worship of the Dark Court. There is an armed uprising which must be violently stamped out.

                         - Thirteen thousand Annvar troops, mostly cavalry, head south towards Celendor under Generals Gudge, Jariax and Soriax.

Strynod, 2852 -  A clumsy attempt is made on the life of Celendor's king Elorian Mistmantle, and leaves half a dozen courtiers poisoned.  The king is unharmed.

Maravis, 2852 - Nishraan the Clever and his troops pacify Riandas.

Daarlem, 2852 - The Carhallas army reaches Cthor.  Finished with the conversion of Dor Emmen, the Meledrians garrison the region and move west. A small Annvar army of fourteen hundred cavalry under Thesh of Arvamak enters the Celendor woods of Dauros.

Northhale, 2852 -  Having secured Riandas, Nishraan's Meledrian misfits march north. Thesh of Arvamak and his troops begin the pacification of Dauros

Berlas, 2852 - Eldareth and his Meledrian army begin the pacification of Imlarond.  King Elorian Mistmantle of Celendor sits aloof in his halls in Ennilas.

Branaeor, 2852 - Thesh of Arvamak begins to loot Dauros.  Vorome of Celendor arrives with eleven thousand elves and drives off the Annvar bandits before they steal the wealth of Dauros.

Strynod, 2853 -  Nishraan's Meledrians enter Nimbreth.  Vorome of Celendor returns to Lethinan.

Maravis, 2853 - King Eldareth completes the pacification of Imlarond and sets up a strong defense at the fords of the river Celethil. Nishraan easily defeats the twenty-five hundred elven archers of Nimbreth's Lord Vinitharya and begins the pacification of Nimbreth.  Gudge's Annvarites march unopposed into the Celendor province of Minhir.

Cleon, 2853 - Emperor Maugroth and his Carhallas troops enter Celendor at Duinan, having received intel of fighting in the north.

Daarlem, 2853 - The elves of Celendor under Vorome and the feudal lord of Sarnilas move to intercept Maugroth's hobgoblins in Duinan.  Gudge's Annvarites march into Thuidhel.

Northhale, 2853 - The Battle of Duinan and the First Battle of Thuidhel -

In Duinan, fourteen thousand hobgoblins, nearly half of them elite troops, faced off against eleven thousand elven warriors.  The warriors of Carhallas had more mounts, more elite warriors and more scouts, but were unused to fighting in woods, and were a very long way from home.  The elves, on the other hand, fought on friendly ground and were absolute masters of woodland warfare.  The hatred between these two old enemies ran as deep as any in Theeurth and neither asked nor sought any quarter.   The leafy verge of Celendor was watered with the blood of both races, and by the thousands. The elves fought  classic battle of fire and retreat, of attack from ambuscade and used their massed elite cavalry to great effect.  The hobgoblins had a far more heterogeneous force but stuck to the simple tactics of heavy assault and massed charges.  Neither side managed to gain a complete upper hand over the other, but it was the hobgoblins who chose to retreat from the conflict first.  Maugroth and his troops marched out of the woods to lick their wounds and recover their wounded in Cthor. On the retreat, the Emperor was struck by an arrow from out of the woods.  He survived for many months, but eventually sickened and died, leaving the army in the command of twenty-four year old general Durthaur. Lucky it was for Carhallas that the young general, now enormously powerful, was dedicated to the house of Maugroth and remained loyal.

In Thuidhel, six thousand elite Annvar cavalry and four thousand elite light infantry assailed eight thousand elves. But the elves had more than just mobile troops: Thuidhel was a veritable warren of both permanent forts and temporary defenses.  The Annvarites had a better general, greater numbers, more cavalry, more scouts and far better battlefield intelligence.  But while the Annvar Jaegers were at home in the woods, the elite medium cavalry was not.  Moreover, the great distance from Annvar and the fact that the army had no train of supply behind it forced the men to live off the land, something at which the elves were simply far better.  The elves, of course, were masters of woodland warfare and were defending their most sacred homeland. Even more important, they had had three years to dig in their defenses and improve them, and it was by this, more than anything else, that the elves massacred the attacking humans.  The battle was brief and very bloody.  The Annvarites were cut off, herded into a killing ground of panicked horses and screaming men and butchered by the elven archers and swordsmen.  Half the Annvarites were killed or wounded, and the rest fled to Minhir, leaving their dead behind them.  Lord Joriax was wounded in the breast by an elven javelin.  The elves, meanwhile, sustained only minor losses, easily replaced in the months ahead. Celendor had won its second battle in a single month and the third of the war. Yet still King Elorian fretted, for the news from beyond the Celethil was grim. Yet it seemed that the rampaging armies of Meledrian had ground to a halt, sitting as they were in Imlarond and Nimbreth.

Meanwhile, sixteen hundred Annvar light cavalry begin to systematically loot the region of Minhir.

Erdhonis, 2854 - The Second Battle of Thuidhel - Lord Gudge and his Annvarites were nothing if not determined.  Having spent the winter months recovering some of their lost strength, they roared back into Thuidhel for a second go at the elven homeland. This time, aware of the elvish positions, the brave men of Annvar fared far better.  Poor Joriax was killed this time, by the shortsword of an unnamed elf who thrust the leaf-shaped blade under the nobleman's shield when the latter attempted to break an elvish shield wall.  But the king of the elves was wounded, too, struck in the shoulder by an Annvarite arrow.  But still the humans could not overcome the powerful defenses of the elves. They were forced to retire, but maintained tight discipline as they did so, withdrawing to Minhir a second and final time, for even months later, they had but half their initial force, while the elves had lost but one elf in five. And this was the fourth Celendor victory of the war.

Agaleon, 2854 - Eager to avenge the devastation of Elsend three years earlier, feudal lords of Carhallas, with sixteen hundred light cavalry (half their originally planned amount), charged into the Celendor region of Pinnas, only to find it absolutely blanketed with stout forts they could not overcome.  The riders quickly retreated to their home regions.

Berlas, 2854 - All through the summer, the main armies had sat, eyeing one another across the cool green vastness of Celendor.  Now at last the elves of Meledrian, convinced that nothing would get King Mistmantle to come to them, brought their war to him.  King Eldareth gathered his army to cross the Celethil and face his brother.

Maravais, 2855 - Having crossed the frozen Celethil in the winter, Eldareth's Meledrian army now seized control of Ithancelos.  And still the armies of Celendor did not bestir themselves.  Vorome was far to the south, guarding against a return of the hobgoblins, and wounded King Mistmantle clung stubbornly to the defense of his capital and homeland.

Northhale 2855 - The Third Battle of Thuidhel - Now at last the conflict came.  Brother against brother, for the kings of Meledrian and Celendor were brothers, the younger and the elder, and their hatred was sharp and bitter. The Meledriani had the greater army (14,000, their numbers having shrunk in minor battles and from leaving garrisons behind, compared to Celendor's fewer than 7,000 mobile troops, plus field forts), with more cavalry and scouts and better intel, not to mention many excellent subcommanders.  Unlike the Annvarites, the Meledriani were perfectly at home in the woods and moreover had secured a line of controlled provinces back to their capital. The sole Celendori commander was King Mistmantle, suffering terribly from the wound in his shoulder. The king was forced to direct the battle from a sedan chair, and the lack of his powerful leadership caused his troops to waver.  And that made all the difference.  The Meledriani came on in waves of archers, overwhelming the outer defenses and torching or bypassing the powerful Celendori forts.  Their vast numbers told the tale and their Celendori cousins began to waver, fall back and finally run pell-mell for the defenses of Ennilas.  His bodyguard was hard-pressed to hurry the king inside the walls before the great press of panicking elves made the gates as dangerous as the killing ground of the battlefield. The elves of Meledrian held the Celendor homeland.

The Conorrian Heartland -

The Conorrian Empire - Ruler - Emperor Saxonius I Capital - Echoriath Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Mogentianae [FA], Mynos [T], Conorr [A]

 Vargus to the Holy Order of the Dawn for education and training, then became the governor of Eleucria in Adoria.

Senator Basilikos traveled from Sexaginta to Mogentianae, where with honeyed words he convinced the leaders of that peninsular region to swear fealty to the Empire once again.  Basilikos then continued on to Echoriath to confer with the Empire.

Bishop Delos traveled to the holy region of Mynos and prevailed upon the leaders, most of whom were churchmen, to pay tribute to the Empire for its protection. Delos died of a certain disease most prevalent in the lower quarters of the the population in 2855.  Meanwhile, the elf mercenary Melial prevailed upon the comes per Conorr to bring the holy city back into an alliance with the Empire.

In 2854, the empire was again alarmed by an invasion.  This time, the invaders were not hobgoblins or warlocks but a large horde of nearly twenty thousand desert horsemen who rode out of the Wasted Lands in a cloud of dust and dung and seized the cultivated lands of Borophoros, so recently abandoned by the Conorrian army.  Exultant in their victories, they demanded tribute lest they seize more lands in the future.

The Great Church of the Lords of the Grail - Ruler - Patriarch Telerus Holy City - Conorr Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Tullieres [-], Malidisant [-], Belfirth [CA], Amorica [-], Ring of Karduk [CA]

The Patriarch's Standard

Too distant from the control of Conorr, abbeys in Carrenthium  and Rhavais degraded to churches. The church in Valesia's Zabu degraded altogether.

The news of the atrocities in Corland reached Conorr like a thunderbolt!

The Dwarven Realm of Dhûnazhar -  Ruler - King Thorin Capital - Khelem Vala Dominant Race - Dwarf Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Oeres [C], Khuruk Tor [A]

Moragh of Dianoxis died in far-off Adoria.  His dwarves laid him atop his shield and carried him home across the long leagues to Dianoxis.  Moragh had no sons and left his entire province to the king.

King Gregor ordered two projects.  For the first, he ordered Princess Georgette to oversee the movement of the capital from protected Eidolon to more centralized Vigilum. For the second, he sent thousands of peasants into the fields of Naugrias to till the land. Gregor himself headed up his army of eight thousand and marched out of the Hidden Gate, intending to pacify Vindobala.  Unfortunately the king died in 2851 in the province of Iaurinum.  Though the king had talked privately of naming his nephew Gregor as his heir, he had chosen not to announce the choice until the boy turned fifteen.  Gregor was only thirteen when the king passed away, leaving Princess Georgette the heir-apparent. Lord Forrester, Lady Chanrey and Sir Bedrose of Edhel Gorthas all approved of the crowning of Georgette, and in any case, Forrester was quick to move to Iaurinam to seize control of Gregor's army.  But several regions, loosely tied to the realm, chose to secede, including Iaurinam, Leucomagus and the city of Magrod.  Lord Forrester modified Gregor's plan to subdue Vindobala and instead subdued both Vindobala and Iaurinam, forcing them to pay tribute to the queen.  He then journeyed to Leucomagus and tried a gentler hand, claiming the region for Pelendur once again. Lady Chanrey tried to woo the hobgoblins of Othona, but their differences in language and race made it simply too difficult to accomplish with the short time she spent on it.

Sir Bedrose died in 2853, but his son renewed his alliance with Pelendur.

In 2855, the ancient Pelendur province of Keldior, now at some distance from the new capital, rebelled against Queen Georgette's rule.

VALES -

North-Western Vales -

The Llyran Republic -
Ruler - Constans Hermione
Capital - Tarrentica
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail
Diplomacy - Halianis [F]

The Holy Matriarchy of Ahuran -  Ruler - Queen Rhia Moonshadow Capital - Sedeskan Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Maddari Diplomacy - Ahristhon [EA]
Queen Rhia ordered that the walls of Ilduskan be torn down and the stone be used to create new quarters to the city to hold the influx of people and merchants that were beginning to gather there in the wake of the dragon's disappearance.  The Queen the ordered her witches to summon servants from the Overworld to repair some of the dragon's damage to Ilmultorn and Veij. She summoned eldritch aid herself, using Overworld entities to count and maximize her nation's taxes and income. Lady Dawn Wolfkin spent years training her small army to a battle-hardened readiness, keeping the princess Yvonne with her.  From there, she went on to Ilduskan and looked for further signs of the evil Fleshweavers. Mira Lynxpaw and High Witch Elahtiel of Naidhan marched their armies into Sendorin, where they were hailed as liberators.  They could find no trace of the dragon... Julia Lark went to Ahristhon to conduct diplomacy but died of a stroke in 2852.  Even in that small time, she managed to convince the leaders of Ahristhon to conclude favorable trade treaties with Sedeskan. Landress Lucille of Haalthor died suddenly in 2853 at the age of forty-nine.  She was unable to continue her investigations against the Fleshweavers.  Her daughter reaffirmed Haalthor's allegiance to Sedeskan, however.

Maddari missionaries sent to Parram and Sandrettos failed to excite any interest in the Mother Goddess among the pagans.

A strange pustular disease broke out among the garrisons of Lann's field forts in 2852, necessitating the closing of a few. Strange blights spread out through the crops of Lann and Maddukan, hurting the farmer's yields.

Har'akir - Ruler - Sultan Shazanon Alouda Capital - Mar Awas Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Dua'lim [-], Makhat [C], Husen [-], Qadras [EA]

The Sultan recruited two thousand lightly-armed warriors and sent them to serve with his allies in Damo and Dikhil. He also sent slaves and engineers to drive a road from Mar Awas to the Entelle border, while plans were drawn up for the road to run all the way to Husen, the cultivation of which was nearly complete, much to the discontent of the Elekar elves who resided there.  Akir merchants continued to try to establish trade with a diminished Conorrian Empire.  Their efforts were fruitless, and after so many decades, most of the factors and agents who had once supported this trade were dead or had moved into other businesses. Sultan Shazanon continued his reign by running roughshod over the merchant seamen, demanding and getting the routes he wanted for his country. Prince Schariar continued to languish in a Drormtish prison until 2852, when he succumbed to a bout of swamp fever. In the wake of his death, Shazanon promoted his own brother Kasim to the rank of prince. Lord Abu Bahar traveled to the Khamin peoples in Dua'lim and Makhat, attempting to reestablish old loyalties, but his short stays did little to encourage confidence that the sultanate had their interests at heart. Lord Nooldor put to sea in the Sea of Bells with forty warships, flying the red pennon of the Red Pact of Vales. Lord Ab Khas invoked ancient pacts with the djinni to come and build an extensive system of wells in Har Mekelle. Lord Isaam traveled to Husen and Qadras on diplomatic misisons.

The elves of Husen agreed to an alliance with the Akirs, while the men of Qadras saw the benefits of close economic, if not military or political, ties.

Allied lord Diwan of Damo marched his three thousand light infantry into Har Mekelle to help guard the homeland.

The Valesian Empire - Ruler - Primarch Centorius II, Euristis Capital - Centauris Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Hypylus [-]

The men of the Valesian Empire prepared for an invasion from the east.  Twenty warships were launched in Vales's deep harbor, and three thousand soldiers, hoplites and engineers were added to the rolls in Centauris and Ventas. The navy practiced its maneuvers on a daily basis, at great expense to the crown. However, while the Primarch ruled from the throne of Centauris, his indolent son and heir Diomedes merely dallied with his wife, producing a son in 2854. Lord Argus traveled to Hypylus, there to entreat the region into a full alliance with the Empire.  But Lord Argus was famously tongue-tied and a truly abyssmal diplomat.  He did, however, do the most diplomatic thing he knew how, which was to suddenly die in mid-harangue in the court of Hypylus.

Lords Hylas and Ajax put to sea with a combined total of one hundred triremes, patrolling the Gulf of Thariyya, on the lookout for an Accolon invasion force. Hylas died of scurvy just before returning to port in 2855.

Luxur -
Ruler - General Adnas
Capital - Thedelos
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Merwal [-]

Spymaster Delsither spent 2851-53 searching Habu for signs of cultic activity.  In 2853, he entered Merwal.  This supremely unpleasant person attempted to harangue the natives of the great city, explaining that their grievances against the crown were both childish and treasonous, and that right-thinking sathla should stone those who questioned the will of Thedelos.  The huge crowd was incensed and immediately became riotous.  They stoned Delsither to death at the feet of the statue of Udjo.  The garrison was forced to kill more than a dozen rioters before the angry and sullen crowd dispersed.

Meanwhile, Luxur and the Holy See of Udjo cooperated in rebuilding the cultivation of Habu, destroyed in the Drormt attack ten years before.

The Holy See of Udjo - Ruler - Pysus Zurthes-Li Holy City - Merwal Dominant Race - Sathla Dominant Religion - Autumna Diplomacy - Kesydon [CH], Naqada [-], Habu [AB]

The Holy See continued to build its power base by establishing schools in Merwal.  The Arch-Priest Pysus traveled to Naqada where he attempted to found a monastery.  Instead, the old sathla died of a heart attack on a hot summer day in 2852, leaving the work unfinished.  Loyal Zurthes-Li was elected to replace the old Arch-Priest. Also, the church elders voted to change the very name of the Arch-Priest's title to "Pysus". Far away to the south Mistress Shivinjia attempted to cross the uncharted Galderi Coast and was never heard from again. Zurthes-Li labored diligently, both before and after his elevation to the role of Pysus, to found an abbey in the rapidly-blooming forests of Habu.

Missionaries sent into war-torn Drormt were summarily eaten alive.

The Company of the Silver Axe served the Holy See in the distant south, but did not report any success.

The Serpentine of Mykele -
Ruler - Sauressh Isskor
Capital - Oroyon
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Kilni [NT], Ikka [T]

permanent treaty of passage from the natives.  In nearby Ikka, the hero-diplomat Vaasik the Grey negotiated a treaty of tribute with the locals.  He had originally promised them a diplomatic marriage with Sauressh Markessh, but the dictator's death ended that possibility because Isskor was already married.

In 2854, there was vast excitement in Oroyon over something called The Dragonstone, which was kept securely locked up in the Sauressh's personal treasury.

North-Eastern Vales -

The Kingdom of Thariyya - Ruler - King Mogrihan Vahdin Capital - Uls Fakhar Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Naushqa [T]

King Mogrihan married a fetching halfling lass of Abin and within a few years she had given him a son and a daughter.  The King, an accomplished wizard, spent much of 2855 in his tower, summoning exotic energies. Prince Zarahan defended the capital at Uls Fakhar until his death in 2854 at the age of fifty four.  Zebadda Zendowan commanded the twenty ships of the Thariyyan navy and patrolled the Gulf of Thariyya flying the red pennants of the Red Pact of Vales until 2855.  The fleet returned to port at Uls Fakhar, carrying Zebadda;s body, for the admiral had died at sea. In Naushqa, Relequa Vahdin kept a close eye on the Accolon army as it transited back towards Dammarask, then spoke with the Naushqan leaders, convincing them to pay tribute to the king in Uls Fakhar. In this effort, he was aided by his cousin, the crown prince Azek, whose sorcery made Relequa a better diplomat. Relequa died in Naushqa as the result of a hunting accident. Meanwhile, the feudal hill lords of Abin, Bari and Meheskar gathered their combined force of twenty-five hundred halflings at Shood to guard against invasion.

The Warlocks of Accolon - Ruler - Emperor Elijah Cuu Capital - Dammarask Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

watched the borders for trouble. Fitzroy von Jankmon, with four thousand troops, guarded the southern port of Nuradeem.The feudal lords of Hatti and Dursarc pooled their forces to defend the Mulgaunt valley at Dursarc, should the elves decide to march north.

In 2852, word came that as a result of her attack on Conorria, Accolon's ships were no longer welcome in the ports of Farmuz.

The Shadowed Primacy of the Dark Court -   Ruler - High Priest Gezz Half-Shadow Holy City - Dammarask Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Unaagh [-UN], Sharar [-], Ishku [C]

.The Primacy gave up control of the city of Unaagh to the Empire of Accolon, but sent Princess Sialesse to Ishku and Sharar to look into the possibility of controlling those southern provinces directly.  Missionaries traveled to Hecadia and Kerendis, where they preached the power of the Dark Court and its liberating philosophy of strength, desire and freedom. Large crowds gathered to hear the preachers and to hold sacrifices and rituals. Princess Anna Comnena, whom many in Conorria viewed as the rightful ruler of that empire, died at the age of fifty in Dammarask.  Her years in Accolon had changed her, and she asked to be buried with the full rites of the Dark Court.

The Shadowguard of Marador -  
Ruler - Queen Madariel Shadowfoot
Capital - Lantar
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail
Diplomacy - Nivrost [F]

South-Western Vales -

The Steaming Kingdom of Drormt -
Ruler - Queen Xochilti
Capital - Drormt
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Munampt [F}

Queen Xochilti summoned all the warriors she could and ordered that they defend Drormt with their lives.  The queen led them with skill and sorcery, driving out the sathla invaders and slaughtering the sathla missionaries (See Luxur, above). Meanwhile, Lord Kabraaz cajoled the sauruses of Munampt into a full confederation with Drormt.

Sendahl - Ruler - King Ole*kus Capital - Nyange Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult

The Grand Empire of Mekebele - Ruler - Emperor W'tanabe Capital - Awayal Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Itu [NT]

The jungles of Eza resounded to the impact of the woodsman's axe and saw and the braying of mules pulling stumps and drawing plows.  Slowly but surely, this central province was being tamed and turned over to cultivation.  In addition, the Empire was busy building forts in Menrat and several communal longhouses in Awayal. Young Emperor W'tanabe, only seventeen years old, ruled the from Awayal while also starting a new family.  He married Xila, the daughter of a wealthy merchant.  She was dull of mind but full of hip and soon gave him a large family.  In 2852, she gave birth to triplets, three girls.  In 2853, she gave her husband a son and heir, but in 2854, she died in childbirth, leaving the emperor a widower at twenty. Lord Tnute traveled across the Vine Sea to the island of Itu, where savage and primitive saurus tribes held sway.  Tnute spoke of the many realms that surrounded the Vine Sea and

played expertly on the Ituans' fears of domination.  They agreed to allow Mekebele merchants and armies to land on their island from time to time.

Lord Assini governed the capital and proved himself an energetic, if somewhat less than imaginative, administrator.

South-Eastern Vales -

A Strange Occurrence - Shamans and wizards from across South-Eastern Vales noted the sharply decreased presence of magical flow over the last five years, making spell-casting difficult.  Philosophers believe this is a natural disturbance in the magical field surrounding Theeurth.

The Dwarven Realm of Aurdrukar - Ruler - King Belak Shieldbreaker Capital - The Brass Tower Dominant Race - Dwarf Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - [C]

Banner of Aurdrukar

Banner of Khor-Naland

King Norrim Forgemaster, feeling old, transferred all but a small ceremonial guard to the command of his son, Belak Shieldbreaker.  Seeing the swift expansion of his nation, the Dwarf-King spent huge quantities of gold to improve the communications and governance of his realm.  He also continued to fund the road to Onu which would one day stretch to the southern reaches of the kingdom. King Norrim died on a fall day in 2853 at the age of two hundred forty-nine.  His death was attended by his son and all his ministers.  The king was buried in the Hall of Ancestors, seated upright in a stone throne, his war axe across his knees.  When the rites to the god Agaleus had concluded, his son Belak was consecrated king by the bishop of the Brass Tower. Prince Bain continued to conduct diplomacy with the tribes of Unukuro, but left them unimpressed with the realm he represented. Meanwhile, Thulnor, Rignus of Hikka and Voinar of Qiya each traveled into the wilds to seek out adventure.  Thulnor found nothing but an endless array of flinty hills.  Rignus was nearly the victim of a cave-in in the winding hills of Unukuro, while Voinar was beset by goblin bandits in the sweltering jungles of Chumku.  He managed to outsmart and evade the bandits while stealing their meager accumulated wealth.

The Kerendis fleet then immediately put to sea and could be seen from time to time patrolling the Ymarian Sea.

Elsewhere, Sengkarian elves settled in denuded Sorion, prominently flying the Imperial flag lest they too be taken as slaves.

The Sengkarians sent out three diplomats, to Baseshu, Ozhayar and Sola.  The elves of Ozhayar and Sola were eager for imperial protection against slavers and so agreed to send tribute or feudal troops.  But the elves of Baseshu, being inland, agreed to nothing but a vague statement of friendship.

The Kingdom of Weshtayo - Ruler - King Uraji, Red-Feathered Lord Capital - Khulank Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Bedraku [-3 YfC], Chne [-]

The Imperial Realm of Zikuyu -
Ruler - Emperor Bhekizizwe
Capital - Ivallkyu
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Zalu [FA]

The Valraj -
Ruler - Sultan Khalood
Capital - Muddakir
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Phanat [NT], Durjas [C]

The Grand Duchy of Meneen -
Ruler - Grand Duke Salene
Capital - Yaz Meneen
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Gandar Shab [NT}

Grand Duke Salene put to sea with a score of ships laden with cargo bound for the north.  He left behind orders for the elves of Yaz Meneen to build a wall around their fair city, which they did, of hard stone faced with white marble and elegant crystals.  Salene was taking settlers north across the Jaundor Sea and Shorral's Mirror to expand the trading city of Olonar, and to increase its garrison.  From there, he sailed down the great sea to Gandar Shab on the Gates of Arthys, and negotiated trading and basing rights with the localKhovar elven tribes. Meanwhile, Admiral Feantë put to sea with more than fifty ships. In the hold he had Lord Gilendyl's thousand elven warriors of Uthor Gil.  They sailed beyond the Gates of Arthys, past their old homeland to the Rendej Sound, where they stormed ashore at Aclimea to seize control of the ancient elvish ruins there.  The crews of Feantë's warships fought alongside the archers of Uthor Gil, pitting five thousand elves of Meneen against three thousand elves of Acclimea.  The natives had troops more suited to the jungles, and were willing to fight bravely for their homeland, but Feantë was a leader such as the elves of Aclimea had never encountered.  He outmarched, outfought and outthought them, and beat the natives in five straight days of running battles, so that in the Spring of 2853, they sued for peace, offering tribute if the powerful elves from beyond the sea would stop their terrible war.  Feantë agreed, promising to return every few years to collect their tribute.

The Kingdom of Ukanve -
Ruler - Queen Eamata
Capital - Ukanve
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Hyrdrsha [NT]

Queen Eamata, at the age of forty-three, married a wealthy merchant of Ukanve, naming him the Prince Consort.  Two months later she surprised the entire court by announcing that she was with child and in less than a year gave birth to three identical triplets, daughters with auburn hair. Lord Cedrick returned to Hydrsha with an extravagant series of gifts for the local lords who had once been allies of the Ukanvans.  The tongue-tied Cedrick was a warrior, not a talker, so he let his queen's wealth do the talking.  He returned to his queen with an agreement to allow troops and merchants to pass through.  The lord of Hydrsha spoke clearly to the soldier from Ukanve: "Our lands were ravaged in your war, City Man.  Rebuild our lands and we will be allies." Cedrick died in Hydrsha before returning to the capital. Meanwhile, though she was engaged in the bliss of a young marriage, queen Eamata was not idle in her duties.  She levied an annual tax that could be paid in labor, and soon had large gangs of the poor and landless to labor on a fine, broad, paved road running from Valoss City to the port at Ukanve.

The Kingdom of Nikitya -
Ruler - King Ivan
Capital - Vikitana
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Serriku Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Kachka [C]

King Ivan and his lieutenant, Olaf, traveled to Kachka to get the king a bride.  He married a daughter of the local nobility but the two were present in Kachka for such a brief time that the locals hardly noticed they were there or that she was gone.  Still, it gave the king an excuse to claim the territory and he did, if only in name. Ivan then returned home with his bride and fathered a daughter in 2854. Ivan's stern hand on the ship of state corrected many of the economic woes of the previous years.  He also rounded up more than two thousand soldiers suspected of disloyalty and committed them to digging irrigation ditches in the hardscrabble soil of Piunani. Olaf, meanwhile, traveled through Piunani and Puinissik, looking for...something.

The Shanatar Empire -
Ruler - God-Emperor Uruk
Capital - Feroe
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The God-Emperor

God-Emperor Uruk spent heavily on the civil service, bringing in bright noble sons from the major cities to run his government through the promise of status and a means of support so lacking for many second sons in the Empire.  The ranks of magistrates swelled and soon the collection of taxes and the administration of justice began to run smoothly again. Agriculture occupied much of the rest of the nation's wealth and attention as the forests of Malil and the steppes of Leilan were put to cultivation.  Finished in Leilan, the new frontier became Afarees, where the God-Emperor granted land claims along the postal road to anyone who would till and sow at least fifty acres of the hard-packed arid earth. As usual, magic was a common sight in Shanatar.  The God-Emperor's wizards summoned Gharzil landsharks to drive lengthy canals from the Argabazos river into the rich soil of Zeynif, while the God-Emperor himself called forth the power of the earth itself to improve the fertility of Chamir. Lord Ferroi assumed the governorship of Naifir, where he spent most of his time hunting in the deserts of Pas. Lord Yulleran proved himself yet again to have an uncanny ability to squeeze money from both nobles and merchants in the position of governor of Feroe.  Lord Tunnivarran traveled to the port of Huzzein and took over as governor there.

The Farmuz Emirates - Ruler - Sultana Falak al Azhkatûm Capital - Azhkatûm Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Ahmuzay [FA], Navilok [FA]

The year 2851 started out with great tragedy.  The heir to the throne, Imad al Azhkatûm had traveled to visit his birth-father, Sioun al Amakhar, when the two were caught in a terrible sandstorm out of the Anvil of the Gods.  They and all their party were killed by the heat and dust. Grieving, the sultan named his seventeen year old granddaughter Falak as his heir.  This proved needful, for the old sultan died in 2854 at the age of ninety-two, and Falak, then twenty-one, was crowned as Farmuz's first ruling sultana.  The Emirs grudgingly renewed their oaths to the girl, but made it quite clear that they expected her to marry one of their sons, and soon. Before he died, Sultan Javir cut off all trade with Accolon in the wake of Dammarask's attack on the good Grail-worshipers of Conorria.  For good measure, he cut off trade with Accolon's ally Kerendis, too. Dashing and brilliant lord Mustafa ben Shiraz traveled to the deserts of Ahmuzay.  He could have easily ridden there by horse or camel but characteristically chose instead to arrive on the flagship of a fleet of twenty warships.  So eloquent and charismatic was the emir that the desert tribes named him brother and quickly swore an oath of fealty to the Sultana. Lady Najya al Zahmer, serious and dour, displayed far less showmanship than her male counterpart, but nonetheless convinced the lord of Navilok to likewise swear an oath of fealty to the Sultana.

 

The Kingdom of Vaudan - Ruler - King Vachim Capital - Chegamum Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Orithia

"Different rules in Vaudan" is an old saying known not only in Vaudan but in its surrounding neighbors.  Another is "More plans than a Vaudani shoemaker."  No one said it made any sense, but the phrase was common enough.  In any case, King Vachim was to prove the point in 2851 when he renounced his kingship over a vast swathe of his territory.  He granted summary independence to Anoush, Iqaara, Maaldus, Mehrans, Ramchir, Saaef, Samil, Yezdarna and even the hills of Ul'il with their rich soil and richer gold mines. Keeping only the central territories of Jadh, Noo'im, Tokumande and Vaklatos reduced Vachim's kingdom to a lean, efficient nation over which he had far greater control and in which the reactionary nobility had far less. After weathering the storm of protest and allaying the very real chances of revolt and civil war, Vachim moved onto the next part of his project - changing everything that remained.  The age-long feudal society of Vaudan, with its rigid structure of nobility, was declared null and void, to be replaced with a system based on caste and class. He tried to go further and institute reforms that would have freed the serfs from working the land and allowed them to take up trades, but this was a step too far.  The farms would not run without serfs and without farms, all would starve. Almost unnoticed amidst all this strife was the continued building of Vachim's own great tomb complex, the Crystal Ziggurat in Noor'im. With the release of so many territories from Vaudani control, trade to the Shantar empire was interrupted, to be replaced soon after by enterprising merchants of both nations who took to moving trade goods up and down the Chamir river. Vachim himself traveled around his extensive territories in the years before announcing his reforms and collected the far-flung garrisons to a central location at Chegamum. He performed the Blood Ritual in the three rivers, then settled down to administer his many reforms over his reduced nation.

Vachim's son Eldred attempted to move his father's reforms into the realm of the mercantile houses, but got hopelessly confused.  He fared better as governor of Chegamum, where he was seen as just and firm.  He also fathered two children, a boy and a girl.

Lord Mehrvand hired The Doomriders of Ul'il (ironically no longer part of Vaudan...) and sent them to hunting down a great serpent which had taken up residence in the Chamir River near Iljainu.  The Doomriders fared poorly in their first outing, losing half their number to the monstrous serpent and doing the sauruses of Iljainu little good.  Mehrvand himself went on to govern the city of Iljainu. Lord Zadfar was commissioned to be the governor of Nrinayri, but died of heat stroke on the road to that city in 2851.

Farvardin, Castellan of Nrinayri, an ally of King Vahim, traveled down the Gardagos River to Bayindu on the Otorii Sea, where he preached the simple gospel of Orithia to the bloodthirsty Serikku spirit cultists of the region.  He had some small success in raising the interest of the nobility, if not exactly converting anyone.

In 2854, an eerie violet curtain of light was seen to rend the nighttime sky over Noor'im, dancing and undulating in an unseen wind.  Mutterings and half-heard voices could be heard in still places, and the populace took this as a great omen.  No one could agree on what it meant, however.

The United Clans of Mainos -
Ruler - King Kaedhrol Greyfeather
Capital - Badmira
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Orithia

 

The clans of Mainos began to stir themselves to action.

The Kingdom of Ahandu -
Ruler - King Staraash
Capital - Zathurrin
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Orithia

 

The lizardfolk of Ahandu looked to their neighbors with reptilian calm.

The Kingdom of Kasadir -
Ruler - King Faren III
Capital - Tamiyot
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Orithia

 

The folk of Kasadir plied the Dragon Reach in their sleek, small ships.

The Kolyut Isthmus -

The Sylvan Realm of Hecadia -
Ruler - Regent Renser
Capital - Belgramma
Dominant Race - Halfling
Dominant Religion - Orithia

Old Emperor Vataun of the Eight Ports spent his final years improving his realm.  He established small logging villages in the forests of Atarami and Siot, and gave their freedom to the humans of Evuldar, Impaz and Apubosh.  Most importantly, he personally founded the city of Lepreum in Rundar, laying out its precincts and most important temples himself.  Before his death, the small town was a center of farmer's markets and fairs for the whole region. The Emperor did in 2854, and after a suitable period of mourning was succeeded by his son Avedis, then twelve years old.  The noble families of Hecadia honored their dead emperor's wish that his friend Renser be appointed as regent for Avedis. Renser underwent the Orithian rituals of purification and abstained from the company of women for a month before his investiture. Lord Harlowe governed the city of Belgramma during the years 2850-51, proving more interested in martial maneuvers than in the difficult and dirty work of governance. Priests of the Dark Court traveled the lands of Hecadia, preaching their gospel of hate, tyranny and strength.  Many Hecadians flocked to hear them, enraptured by their promises of power.

The Kingdom of Kerendis - Ruler - King Jorald Makkure Capital - Orbelain Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Rabiate [NT]

King Jorald announced his choice of his adopted son, Jalak, as his heir, but the nobility cried foul, refusing to accept the nomination.  Some sensed the possibility of advancement in the choice, and others simply decried the King's choice to ignore his own sons for the benefit of another noble house.  Jorald was forced to rescind the nomination. Jorald then dispatched Bishop Dargune Soulhammer along with the mighty Kerendis fleet to darken the seas east of Sengkar and return to them the Princess Royal Shariel. Jorald then journeyed south with a small honor guard of one thousand light infantry to Rabiate, where he negotiated a treaty with the locals to allow the movement of military and merchants. Colonists made their way to Nisvet, and returned the province to its former wealth, while many laborers dug irrigation ditches and built slave farms in Ambalas. Slaves constructed wharves in Orbelain. As in Hecadia, priests of the Dark Court worked tirelessly to bolster the faith of their evil congregations, giving strength to the dark masters that ruled in Orbelain.  The wharves of Orbelain were host to idle ships as the Emirates of Farmuz refused to accept trade from Kerendis and the Farmuzi navy turned back ships flying the Kerendis banner. Lord Karlos continued his governorship of Methedras and continued to line his own pockets with great abandon. Lord Sembis governed fractious Orbelain with energy but without, it must be said, much success.

The Kingdom of Threns -
Ruler - Queen Gathael
Capital - Vaayil
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Changshai Spirit Cult

Casting a long and calculating look upon the south, Queen Gathael declared a war upon her neighbors, the Free Cities of Ruanach.  The queen gambled that she could split the landward portions of the new nation from those on the seaward island before Ruanach could gather its strength to oppose her.  Recruiting fifteen hundred elite infantry, she and Lord Riakak marched forward to war. (See The Ruanach Expedition, below). Meanwhile, in Vaayil, Prince Nijon ruled in his mother's stead.  The prince married a girl from a fine Sukan family, but she died in childbirth in 2852, leaving Nijon a widower at the age of 24. Lord Kamer't governed the capital city, and proved himself to be an excellent administrator with a head for taxes and no tolerance for corruption.

The Kolyut Hegemony -
Ruler - Hegemon Balegard Tenhands
Capital - Ketarid
Dominant Race - Hobgoblin
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The hobgoblins offered a truce to Threns, to which the men of Threns did not respond.  Grim Balegard Tenhands ruled his realm with an iron fist, and so too his household, where his favorite concubine presented him with a pair of strong daughters in 2851 and 2854. Jortak the Destroyer, heir to Hegemon Balegard, took four thousand hobgoblins and marched into Aya to punish the presumptuous Ayan clans for their effrontery in kidnapping Ilgrist of the Nine Temples.  Jortak and his army were met on the plains of Aya by twenty-five hundred defenders, many of whom were heavily armed.  But their leaders could not hope to match Jortak for cunning or ferocity, and the Kolyut troops hacked a bloody path through the Ayan defenders, who were forced to admit defeat and duly produced the prisoner.  When Ilgrist was safe, Jortak commanded the entire region be looted and enslaved as a monument to the folly of opposing the Hegemony.  Incensed, the Ayan tribes rallied and yet more troops opposed Jortak, which is just what he desired.  Having flushed out the last defenders, he slaughtered them, too, and marched his prisoners back to Ketarid where they served as slaves in the noble households. Meanwhile, the Kolyuts put to sea under the command of Haggar of Nistha and raided the land of Bayindu on the Otorii Sea, driving its people inland and looting their towns and temples. But Haggar lingered in Bayindu for years, giving the Khaynd peoples time to rally their considerable army and small navy.  The Kolyuts were forced into a hasty retreat to the beach before a much, much larger army from all the Khaynd lands.

King Efrites defended his nation's homeland against the machination of Threns (See The Ruanach Expedition, below).

The Ruanach Expedition
(2851-2853)

in 2853, Threnish queen Gathael and her eight-thousand man army marched into the forests of Navikes, part of the realm of Ruanach. These included two thousand elite Karoon Lancers. An attempt by the locals to murder the queen in her camp was put down and the assassins hung from trees in their own villages.  But here Gathael committed the sin of overconfidence and divided her forces.  Giving command of half her army to Lord Riakak with orders to subdue Navikes and catch up to her, she marched into the Ruan homeland of Daal with only four thousand troops.

King Efrites of Ruanach was not a fool. A large portion of his army and navy were stationed in Daal against just such an attack, and the King's son Maglys was leading them in a planned defense of the homeland. Maglys's army consisted of six thousand troops, five sizeable castles and twenty of Ruanach's feared Black Sail Reavers. Maglys's men, moreover, were fighting for home and family and had created formidable defenses over the past two years.

The Threnish forces were superior in leadership, scouts, cavalry, sorcery and intelligence, but the Ruans had their defenses and their fanatical devotion to their homeland.  More importantly, they had a solid advantage in numbers.  Gathael's small and lightly-armed force stood no chance against such a determined defender, and within a week the Threnish army was smashed, disorganized and on the run.  Queen Gathael escaped to rejoin Lord Riakak, but had lost her entire army.  Maglys refused to follow the Threnish into the woods, and so returned to his defenses. Gathael and Riakak assessed their situation and settled into Navikes to await reinforcements.

The Delves of Ahum - Ruler - Queen Dahlia Capital - Saumya Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Nuree Diplomacy - Vishadi [FA]

Queen Dahlia announced at an elaborate and well-attended feast that her paramour Prince Consort Fosca Proudfield, would become her Lord Chancellor. While Proudfield prepared for that role, the Queen spent five years creating an accurate census of all her lands. During this time she also gave charters to farmers seeking to settle several small towns in Athipiy. Her uncle and heir, Prince Crane, patrolled the jungles of Amovish, on the watch for sathla uprisings or worse, armies from the south. Lord Cedric Swiftleaf continued to work with the elves of Vishadi to improve their position within the Delves.  Cedric died in 2852 at the age of fifty-six, but first managed to convince the elves to supply troops when the Queen called upon them. Halldred Earthcloak, Augustus Smoothskin (the Sheriff of Sukurem) and Valens Roughbelly (Mayor of Rusilam) worked to spread the Nuree faith among the elite leaders in the southern border provinces.  Each found it to be very difficult, given the alien speech, race and religion of the sathla inhabitants. Valens died in 2854 and was succeeded by his son.

The Orcish Raj of Virityal -
Ruler - Raj Algoz
Capital - Chharit
Dominant Race - Orc
Dominant Religion - Nuree

The orcs looked to their defenses, building defensive towers in Amutosh, Hilakav and Mahanja, and fortresses to guard their ports at Chharit and Kamadha. Vast gangs of goblin laborers sweltered in the blazing sun of Randar to irrigate the slave farms and to build barracks for slaves and guards alike. Raj Algoz stood watch over the homeland with an army of five thousand (including two thousand elite Maghadha Lancers), while his son Prince Taureg governed the capital of Chharit with another four thousand soldiers in reserve. Lord Gordash governed the city of Kamhadha and Lord Vangandek ruled in Garupal.  Of these, Vangandek proved himself most resourceful and efficient, managing to build a slave arena and a temple to the Three-Faced god.

The Empire of Rajahdan-
Ruler - Emperor Vaasthek Blood Arrows
Capital - Jalahl
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna

With a significant investment in the public works of Rajahdan and by letting go of the outlying regions of Gattapal, Tulkish and Virunir, the Emperor managed to improve his own power over the remaining central provinces. The Emperor and his allies Exchol of Assarat and Ankhac of Sugrand, sorcerers all, summoned the Coiled Slaves, an other worldly race of serpentine builders to create monuments and facilities in Rajahdan, Balrava and Palavan. Prince Loqgoq, heir to the realm, conducted a thorough survey of all the Empire's wealth and riches, presenting a complete tax roll to his scaly father. Lord Ulgrent and a fleet of fifteen warships sailed north along the Ahum coast and into the Ruan Straits, but Ulgrent was driven back by storms, pirates and ill luck, and failed to find his way amidst the rocky inlets and foggy banks. Lords Itzaquet and Szychall stood watch with a large sathla army in the hills of Assarat, where they could respond to either halfling or orcish invaders. Neither of which showed the slightest signs of coming. Autumna missionaries went north to Viraben and preached the ancient message of the serpent god. Despite the differences of race and language, there were many among the population who heeded the call.

The Emerald Realm of Lekandi -
Ruler - King Galens Eagleheart
Capital - Suwelho
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Ukele Spirit Cult

The isolated realm of the elves in Ukele continued to prosper, with several beautiful hearttrees growing in Kiandelez.  Ever cautious, particularly since the appearance of strangers from beyond the world, King Galens continued to construct hidden strongpoints and forts in Lekandi. The King and his court sought for information on the fabled Swanwing Font, but were unable to discover anything useful.

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.

ESPIONAGE ORDER

A leader can give the Espionage order only once per turn.  Executing it successfully allows that leader to act as one point of Intel or Intel bonus.  Moreover, successfully executing the Espionage order does not mean that the Intel op it allows or supports is successful!  A leader can successfully direct a Battle Assistance op and the BA op could still fail.

So... Time spent aids the Espionage order.  Gold spent aids the Intel op thus created or supported.  But if the Espionage order fails, the gold is still spent.

Page Completed 23 March 2007