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LORDS OF THE EARTH CAMPAIGN 54
“LORDS OF THEEURTH”

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Turn Nine Newsfax 
(A.C. 2821-2825)

hear an army charging upon the land,
And the thunder of horses plunging, foam about their knees
imageArrogant, in black armour, behind them stand
Disdaining the reins, with fluttering whips, the charioteers.

They cry unto the night their battle-name:
I moan in sleep when I hear afar their whirling laughter
They cleave the gloom of dreams, a blinding flame,
Clanging, clanging upon the heart as upon an anvil.

They come shaking in triumph their long, green hair:
They come out of the sea and run shouting by the shore.
My heart, have you no wisdom thus to despair?
My love, my love, my love, why have you left me alone?

James Joyce, I hear an army charging upon the land

GM’S NOTES

1.READ THIS.Let me put this politely:  You have one turn to do, I have forty-plus.  Guess which of us is responsible for making your orders legible?  If you don’t know how to expand, insert and delete rows in Excel, ask. I can’t stress how difficult it is to read and how wasteful of paper and toner. I’ve even gone so far as to put up an easy tutorial HERE

2.THIS TOO.For the last time:  If you give troops to an allied or feudal allied leader, even for a moment, they BECOME HIS TROOPS.  He will not give them back. No more freebies. You will be creating nations that may well conquer yours. Pay attention to the differences between allies and lieutenants.

2. Please entitle your orders (the file, not just the e-mail) according to the nomenclature found in rule 1.4.2 of the House Rules.  I get forty-plus sets of orders every month and calling them “Turn 8” or worse “L54 – Lords of Theeurth Orders Template.xls” doesn’t help me organize them at all. 

3.  I delete all e-mails.  Information sent to me in an e-mail, such as additions to your orders or the above sort of flavor information will be deleted and ignored.  If you want me to use it, put it in your orders or at the very least put it in a text file I can store with your orders. 

MEDARHOS

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North-Western Medarhos

The Skane Jarldoms– 
Ruler – King Bjarnalf
Capital – Vanaheim
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – The Skane March [F]
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Søren Overgaard at Lycia

While young king Bjarnalf practiced the arts of statecraft in Vanaheim, his silver-tongued uncle Svenn Hvidunkat charmed the former Tirgonian marcher lords of the Skane March into swearing full fealty.  This series of oaths was sealed by the marriage of Bjarnalf to Elsrenda, daughter of Duke Stephen of the Skane March.

Meanwhile, Bjarnalf’s dashing cousin, Søren Overgaard took to sea with a newly-commissioned fleet of longships.  These thirty ships he sailed down the Tirgonian and Daeron coasts to the Narglaurith river, which he entered in the summer of 2821.  From the security of the river islands, Søren launched deadly raids into Lycia, the Hills of Terror and Landegol, keeping his raiders scrupulously away from the southern shore.  Lycia, it turned out, was still burning from a confrontation and series of raids by the Black Banner Rebels, but Landegol proved rich and bountiful for the greedy raiders.

Not finished, Søren put to sea in his longships in the Spring of 2822 and terrorized the coasts of Hastaalm and Nivaan.  At Nivaan, he was again met with empty and unprofitable lands in the wake of the Black Banner occupation, but Hastaalm proved both rich and undefended.  So swift and thorough were Søren’s raids that nearly everything of value was taken wherever he set foot.  He returned in great triumph to Vanaheim at the end of 2822.  The resulting drunken bouts of boasting and casual violence by all concerned were fondly remembered in the capital for many years.

(See The Daeron Wars, below)

The Kingdom of Tirgonia –
Ruler – King Quinn Michelmas
Capital – Tirgon
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Bekanor [F]

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King Quinn continued to rule from Tirgon and after many nocturnal labors fathered twin sons in the winter of 2823.  He ordered changes in the Tirgonian merchant fleets, but no such changes were affected by the merchants involved. During these years, Quinn’s project of converting the wild plains of Bekanor into well-ordered farms held by formerly landless knights and smallholders came to fruition.

Duke Farionh of the Greenwood and the Archmage Graalman traveled to Bekanor and convinced the newly-landed class that their loyalties belonged to King Quinn.  They readily agreed and swore oaths of fealty to their king.

Meanwhile, Duke Hanri of Sothwall took command of three thousand Tirgonian infantry and two thousand Tirgonian cavalry.  Over the course of 2821 and the early months of 2822, he re-equipped these with heavier armor and weapons and trained them in their use.  In the Summer of 2822, he returned these troops to King Quinn, took command of four thousand lightly-armed infantry and cavalry and moved south into his homeland of Sothwall.  In the Spring of 2823, he began to raid Daerond.  (See The Daeron Wars, below)


 

The Iron Empire of Daerond –   
Ruler –
Emperor Vantos I Elerek
Capital – Aicherai
Dominant Race – Human
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Emperor Vantos and his two thousand troops remained holed up in Aicherai, bottled there by Null’s troops.  Meanwhile, in Lycia, tough-minded lady Melisandre and Duke Mordek Danaur took an even tinier army of one thousand into battle.  (See The Daeron Wars, below)

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Lady Melisandre von Landegol

The Black Banner Rebels of Daerond –   

ELIMINATED

Ruler –Black Duke Null
Capital – Vanuma
Dominant Race – Orc

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The terrifying entity known as Null.

Null maintained his vigil at Aicherai and sent his lieutenants off raiding.    (See The Daeron Wars, below)

The Harkorian League –
Ruler –
First Councillor Azazel
Capital – Cadares
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Maxis [FA]

First Councillor Azazel presided over the expansion of Morthales, creating not only the largest city in Harkoria but a true rival of Aicherai for the largest city in the Successor States.  A small wall of mud brick was erected around the restored capital.  Azazel also added many hulls to the once-vaunted Harkorian merchant fleet.

He then marched his army (accompanied by the sorcerer Ranos III of Odomenoros and Bishop Tritus of Morthales)  to Himerium and across the Narglaurith river into Daerond.    (See The Daeron Wars, below).

Councillor Eloros traveled to Maxis and convinced the lord of that region to become the vassal of Azazel.

In 2823 and 2824, heavy rains pounded coastal Harkoria, and a huge storm system over the Golden Sea caused widespread flooding in Trolium, inundating many of the low-lying villages and farms.

Harkoria hired the Brave Companions adventuring group, though as usual the group did not reveal the purpose of their commission. Unfortunately, they never returned from their mysterious mission.

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Inundation of Trolium

The Edgemoor Orcs –
Ruler –
Malik the Timid
Capital – Zaramaka
Dominant Race – Orcs

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Malik the Timid kept a paranoid watch on his throne.  He also fathered a son and three daughters on his harem while ordering the raising of a thousand goblin slave warriors.

Prince Graun ordered his slaves to hew new living spaces from the caves and caverns of Zaramaka and thereafter oversaw their labors for all of 2824 and 2825.  He proved quite adept at motivating extra efforts out of the slave force.

Malik’s new favorite, Corash the Brave, assembled an army of six thousand warriors and marched off to seize the wealth of Ghedrosia   (See The Daeron Wars, below).

THE DAERON WARS
(2821-2823)

2821

Erdhonis, 2821 A sizeable Skane fleet commanded by Søren Overgaard leaves Vanaheim heading south.

Agaleon, 2821 Fifteen hundred Daeron rebels led by Black Duke Mealon of the Hills of terror raid Lycia, striking before the loyalists under Melisandre have shaken off the winter rains.  The raid is stunningly successful. Elsewhere, Gauros the Arisen leads six thousand troops, including a thousand shambling dead, west into Lorricar.

Strynod, 2821 Melisandre and Black Duke Mordek Danaur lead a thousand Daerond loyalists east towards the Hills of Terror. Charthon Blackcloak leads two thousand rebel cavalry west from the Great Rift into Nivaan. Corash the Brave, orcish general of the Edgemoors, leads his army south, gathering strength as he goes.

Maravis, 2821 Melisandre’s force catches up with that of Black Duke Mealon as the latter is attempting to ford the Narglaurith river into Harkoria.  The two small armies engage in the bloody battle known as Mealon’s Ford.  Melisandre soundly routs her opponent and her cavalry hounds him into Hinnom.  The loyalists suffer only a few hundred casualties but the rebels lose half their force.

Charthon Blackcloak begins the pacification of Nivaan.

Cleon, 2821 Søren Overgaard and his ships enter the unprotected Narglaurith river.

Daarlem, 2821 With Nivaan prostrate before him, Charthon Blackcloak begins to loot the province. Søren Overgaard and his Skane raid Lycia, only to find it already stripped bare.

Northhale, 2821 Søren Overgaard and his Skane raid Landegol, reaping great treasure from the rich and unprotected province.

Berlas, 2821 Søren Overgaard and his Skane return to sea.  Gauros the Arisen and his Ascarlon army arrive in Ghedrosia.  They evade local patrols.

2822

Agaleon, 2822 – Søren Overgaard and his Skane raid Hastaalm.  Melisandre and her army move east towards Hinnom. Charthon Blackcloak raids Sothwall. He is much hampered by the late season rains and many castles and border forts.  Gauros arrives in Hinnom and sweeps Black Duke Mealon easily from the field.

Strynod, 2822 Lady Melisandre arrives in Hinnom and is stunned by the large Ascar army already there.  Contact is made and battle avoided since Gauros has arrived to support Emperor Vantos.  Gauros formally turns over Hinnom to her.  Charthon Blackcloak returns to the Great Rift.  Søren Overgaard and his Skane raid Nivaan, but find it denuded.

Meanwhile, Tirgonian Duke Hanri of Sothwall moves south into Aré with two thousand infantry and cavalry.  Corash the Brave and an army of six thousand orcs emerge from the Towers of the Sun and raid Ghedrosia. For the next three months, they steal everything worth having.

Maravis, 2822 The combined forces of Lady Melisandre and Gauros the Arisen move into Dhaur, where they encounter and wipe out a tiny force under rebel Black Duke Morthaur of Hinnom.  Melisandre keeps Morthaur chained in a traveling cage as a present for the Emperor.

Daarlem, 2822 Søren Overgaard and the Skane fleet return in triumph to Vanaheim. 

Northhale, 2822 – Leaving Melisandre behind in Dhaur, Gauros the Arisen and his Ascar army move into Uruk, which they seize in the name of the Emperor Vantos, putting to death all of Null’s administrators and collaborators in the region. Corash the Brave begins a series of raids on Hinnom, but ceases when he realizes that the region is held by Daeron loyalists.

Berlas, 2822 Gauros and his Ascarlon troops enter the Great Rift and square off with Null’s army on a plain near to the Grey Wastes.  Null casts a powerful spell designed to turn the Ascar weapons to rust, but the spell fails.  In a two-day struggle, Gauros destroys Null’s army, suffering a thousand casualties.  The rebel leader escapes into the Wastes…  Gauros meets with Emperor Vantos, who acknowledges his debt to the vampiric lord of Ascarlon.

 

2823

Agaleon, 2823 – Tirgonian Duke Hanri of Sothwall moves south into Sothwall.  Harkorian First Councillor Azazel begins to bridge the Narglaurith at Erzerus for the crossing into Landegol.  He is at the head of eight thousand Harkorian troops, including twenty-five hundred armored Harkorian knights.

Strynod, 2823 Duke Hanri raids Nivaan and finds it stripped bare.  First Councillor Azazel completes his crossing of the Narglaurith into the undefended richness of Landegol. Gauros the Arisen marches south towards Hastaalm.  Corash the Brave raids Dhaur, but again aborts the process upon discovering that Dhaur is held by Daeron loyalists.

Maravis, 2823 Duke Hanri moves east into the Ormswood.  First Councillor Azazel begins the pacification of Landegol.  Gauros the Arisen arrives in Hastaalm.  Corash the Brave marches home towards the Edgemoors.

Daarlem, 2823 Duke Hanri raids Gaudhon, stripping the hilly region of its few adornments.  Gauros the Arisen marches south into Landegol.

Northhale, 2823 The armies of Ascarlon and Harkoria meet on a ripening field of corn forty miles north of Angaurek. Roughly similar in number, the Harkorians were by far the more heavily-armed and well-trained force.  But the Ascars were led by the greatest combination of military genius and magical power anywhere in Theeurth. Both sides had an excellent corps of scouts and both had magically-enhanced weaponry.

The two sides tore each other apart.  Azazel’s forces struggled to pin down and demolish the Ascars while Gauros kept his troops moving in fluid, shifting patterns while he burned the Harkorians with fire and froze them with hoarfrost.  The shambling dead horrified the Harkorians, and had to be hacked to pieces before they would stop trying to kill their enemies. In the end, the two sides reeled backwards from the sheer slaughter, each fleeing the battlefield convinced the other had destroyed them.  Gauros and the Ascars lost nearly four thousand troops.  Azazel, though he did not know it, could claim a victory of sorts, for he had lost less than half that number. His army, however, would not return to Landegol for some time.

2823

Strynod, 2823 – Tirgonian Duke Hanri of Sothwall moves secretly into the Iron Hills.

Daarlem, 2823 Hanri raids Uruk and Dhaur.  He recovers little from Dhaur because of the presence of Melisandre’s troops and because of the need to screen the fortress of the Iron Hills.

Berlas, 2823 Having retreated to the Ormswood, Hanri raids the Iron Hills.  Because of the mighty fortress there, he is able to accomplish little.  Gauros and his forces leave Daerond.

By the end of 2823, the rebellion is over.  Daerond, such as it is, is back in the hands of the Emperor.

 

 

imagePIRATES!

Yarr!  Pirates lurk on the Archelos Sea, taking all and sundry what sails on the Main!

Trade and traffic is hampered through much of the western coast of Medarhos.

(What, are you kidding me?  WAY better than ninjas!)

 

 

South-Western Medarhos

The Brythnian Confederation– 
Ruler – King Esriadan
Capital – Carrenthium
Dominant Race – Taurid
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image Once again, Brythnia called up all its available resources and put eight thousand new centaur cavalry into the field.  This considerable force joined the already standing army in the Brythnian Hills and was in part paid for by considerable grants from the Great Church. 

Taurid scouts sent secretly to spy on the Worldspine Orcs gave King Esriadan advance warning of the coming of an orcish army, and so Esriadan marched into Itherias with thirteen thousand cavalry to support the halfling forces of Aelissia, the Knights of the Crusader States and the Great Church.  The actual orcish incursion turned out to a small raiding party of only a thousand orcs and the combined Aelissian/Brythnian/Crusader army outnumbered the orcs more than thirty to one.  The orcs were slain with great ease.

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Meanwhile, the Order of the Dawn returned, this time with permission.  Wary taurids watched as ten thousand Order soldiers crossed the Great Meadow and Cerintum and on into the Dacian Hills, where they remained through 2825.

The same weather system that dumped several feet of water on Harkoria kept Brythnia unnaturally dry for many years.  In 2824, a fire of unparalleled scope and ferocity broke out in Carrenthium and burned for nearly two weeks.  In its awesome ravenousness, it consumed one of the great cities of the world, leaving only a few hundred buildings untouched and great swathes of ash, cinder and bone.

A few farms were burned in the Brythnian hills, but the local minotaurs caught the perpetrators rapidly.  They were, unfortunately, all killed during the overzealous apprehending, so none could be questioned.  They wore the badges of the Order of the Dawn and carried with them a note signed by Grand Master Tiberius ordering them to create terror in the Brythnian hinterlands so that the savage taurids would need the aid of the mighty Order.

Aelissia –
Ruler –
King Brandon Longhandle
Capital – The Great Delve
Dominant Race – Halfling
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Artence

King Brandon ruled wisely from the Moot Chamber at the Great Delve.  His beloved wife died in 2825, leaving him childless.

General Pip Oxback took his eight thousand halfling soldiers further from home by marching them across the Lyodan river and into Itherias.  In late 2821, the combined forces of Aelissia, Brythnia, The Crusader States and the Great Church intercepted and destroyed a tiny orcish raiding force.

The Moot nominated the most successful merchant in the Great Delve, Marvin Fatfish, to head up the Aelissian colonization of Artence, Aelissia’s spoils from the H’rethek War.  Many observers wondered whether this was an honor given to Fatfish to recognize his accomplishments or simply a means to remove him from competition amongst the Great Delve merchants.  In any case, Fatfish led a contingent of halfling colonists on a brief sea voyage on the Corish Strait, then landed at Artence, claiming the region in the name of the Moot.

Corland –
Ruler –
King Armand
Capital – Khairais
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Rhavais [-]
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Corland continued its stretch of peaceful prosperity and expansion. King Armand ruled from Khairais while Lord Bohemond led thousands of colonists across the Saronne River into Couronnais. There they tilled the land and built up small hamlets and thorps on land their fathers had coveted for generations.

Armand’s sister Vivian died of pneumonia in 2822 and her twin sister Valerie died in 2824.  This would have upset the delicate negotiations of Lord Folgar in Mauredoc had not Folgar himself also died of a bloody cough in 2824. 

 

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Lorraine –
Ruler –
King Artorius
Capital – Armorica
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Deleos [-]
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Amidst well-digging in Andred and Cassivelaunus and much shifting of ships, Prince Mordred led a force including Myrddin the wizard and Sir Ulrick as well as twenty ships and three thousand men.  They sailed into the Golden Sea and landed at the Harkorian city of Cadares, where much to the consternation of the locals, they took up the defense of the Harkorian capital while First Councillor Azazel led his own armies into Daerond.  Tension ran high for the two years (2822 and 2823) that the Lorraine forces were in place.

From there, they traveled to Deleos, staying only two months.  During their brief stopover, they attempted to cajole the pirate captains into an alliance, but were treated with suspicion and scorn.

Sir Morgan continued his effective reign as governor of Cassivelaunus, overseeing the expansion of the city’s university.  Sir Boedwen was tapped to continue as governor of Armorica, but he died of a bowel infection in 2821.

Sir Ulrick, lord of Bruenor, died in 2823 during a hunting accident.  His son, no close friend of Artorius, did not come to court or pay fealty, but did continue to send in taxes.


 

The Whisper Wood –
Ruler –
Queen Elevuil
Capital – Menelcandara
Dominant Race – Elf

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The elves rested in their forest fastnesses. 

This did not protect them.  A large marauding band of giants moved out of the Central Stormcrowns, through Valdori and Unstern and into the heavily-populated Sunglades.  They have taken over and terrorized the land, demanding tribute and the sacrifice of elvish maidens.

The Neldorean Wood –

Ruler –Queen Nereil
Capital – Elenuil
Dominant Race – Elf
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image Queen Nereil announced a great project for the Leossë Glades, the planting of many precious Heartwood trees and the growth of new elven villages.  Unfortunately, this came to the jealous attention of Urugall, who in 2824 swept down on the region and raided it for gold, livestock and slaves.  In the process he burned many of the newly planted trees as well as many of the older ones.  Thousands of elves fled to Belfirth and the Tarwood.

A pact to sell vast sums of grain and fruit to the Airnim barbarians fell through when the elves failed to preserve the food in any way.  It fell to rot and corruption before it could be delivered to the human horde.

Far to the east, Lord Taralom traveled in the troubled lands of Celendor, while Lady Senelra set out on the Valesian sea in a small ship which was later seen passing the city of Pontezium on the Lyodan river.

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Queen Nereil

The Airnim Horde – 
Ruler – Tarl Wolf’s Paw
Capital – Haelopolis
Dominant Race – Human
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Queen Ceria

Little information came out of the lands of Ianthe and the Airnim Horde.  Early in 2821 it was announced that Queen Ceria, an elven noblewoman of Manariyë was pregnant with Tarl’s child.

Then, in the latter part of that year, the city of Jarlhaven was looted and sacked by Airnim soldiers.  Foreign merchants made for the open water as soon as possible and watched the city burn from a distance. 

The Exarchate of the Great Crusade –
Ruler –
Queen Ava
Capital – Pontezium
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Salt Shore [A], Black Fields [-]
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Queen Ava

Queen Ava commissioned a large riverine fleet to be based on the Lyodan at Pontezium and placed it under the command of Lord Sheldon. She also gave command of the greater part of the Crusader States army to her brother Gauter (whom she had once placed in a tower to prevent his becoming king.)  She also ordered the lord of Rantes in Mocarre to build a large wall around the city to discourage pirates and Airnim hordes from waltzing in.

Prince Gauter, Prince Candos and Lord Sheldon sailed up the Lyodan with their flotilla and unloaded an army of thirty-five hundred crusaders at Itherias to join with the Aelissian halflings and the Great Church.  Later joined by the taurids of Brythnia, the entire force amounted to nearly thirty-three thousand soldiers and easily overcame the luckless orcish raiding force that blundered into the province in 2822.

Princess Tertia, daughter of the Conorrian Emperor Constantikos III arrived in Pontezium to wed Prince Candos, but Candos was not present, having remained in Itherias.  Queen Ava prevailed on the impatient and insulted princess to await her brother’s return, and a lavish wedding was held in Pontezium in the summer of 2825 when the Prince did at last come home. The Emperor had sent a substantial dowry and the couple’s wedding was the social event of the decade in Pontezium.

Sir Yaral spent a few years negotiating the marriage of the queen’s sister Rose to Sir Charles, Lord of the Salt Shore.  He also made a brief stop at the Black Fields, but his overtures angered the hill-lords, and he was barely able to escape their wrath, riding pell-mell  for the Akasian Hills.

Lord Raulph of the Pomarche died on the journey to Itherias.  His troops returned to Pomarche and swore fealty to their new lord.

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The Holy Order of the Dawn –
Ruler –
Grand Master Tiberius
Capital – The Akasian Hills
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Conorr [OH], Mynos [OH]

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Grand Master Tiberius gave his remaining troops to Sir Claudius and traveled east through the Conorrian Empire accompanied only by a small honor guard.  He disappeared from the knowledge of men when he crossed the Esharias river at Ganthus Longa and entered the woods of Durobrivae.

Claudius, meanwhile, journeyed through Brythnia, wary of another attack, and took up station in the Dacian Hills with five thousand Order soldiers.  He was shortly joined by Sir Aneias with another five thousand, including twenty-five hundred Knights of the Golden Dawn.  Aneias took up command of the whole ten thousand and watched for any orcish or Ascar incursions.

Rhanalor

The Shadowed Realm of Ascarlon –
Ruler –
Baron Gauros the Arisen
Capital – Denavine
Dominant Race – Human

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The Baron spread the resurging power of Ascarlon far and wide.  After sending colonists into Lorricar, he marched west with six thousand Ascar troops, including a thousand newly-risen shambling dead.  He headed for Daerond to support the faltering emperor.  (See The Daeron Wars, above)

Lord Uliagas of Ios led a contingent of Ascar allies and vassals south into the Worldspines with five thousand troops and there awaited any attacks by the hated Grail worshipers. (See The Battle of the Blue Peaks, below.)

The Worldspine Orcs –
Ruler –
Vaurog Breakspear
Capital – Mount Kauroth
Dominant Race – Orc
Diplomacy – Torokon [NT]

As five thousand Ascar troops poured into the mountains of the Northern Worldspine and a further two thousand Carhallas hobgoblins took up station in Brolok, Vaurog and his son Vraag prepared for war in the south.
 
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In the torch lit caverns of Mt. Kauroth two orcs sat across from each other sharing a flask of Dwarfblood Ale.

“Good Stuff though I prefer Conorrian” Vaurog grunted. “I have a favor to ask my son”. Vragg remained silent only nodding.

“This throne will soon be yours”, continued Vaurog, “my bones tell me such. I have defended and built an Empire for you to inherit. Yet Connorrian Soldiers abide just over the Mountains and it vexes me. I wish us to jointly lead one last grand and glorious fight against them. I wish to hear one more the screams of warriors, to feel the clash of steel, and smell fresh blood. I know I have given you command of our troops. Give me the honor on leading one last battle. When we begin that battle I will gift you this Spear called Harrowheart Harrowheart. Allow me to lead this first charge while you wait for that crucial moment and exploit it with the Second Wave. If my death occurs with you and I leading an Army together than I can go to the Dark court a warrior still hale and strong. If I live then I know that I have fought my last great fight and it will become yours, but if I have any years left I would prefer knowing I have reclaimed in the end with you together our Land. I will not feel unfulfilled and with my dreams unseen. I with you have rebuilt all that was and can rest my remaining years to see them with you leading brandishing the Spear I once carried.”

The room remained silent while the younger orc contemplated. Harrowheart now, the opportunity to be a hero by being the leader at a critical spot at the critical moment, and the sheer glory of it all were temptations Vragg could not pass by. ‘Father”, Vragg began, “It will be a good fight”. With that said the Ale was passed around some more until two drunken orc warriors stumbled off to bed where one old orc dreamt of battle and one younger orc dreamt of a Spear and the Empire he would create with it.

Within the month the Host was raised. Orc cavalry rode vast distances to raid and pillage. Ambassadors went with sweet words and darker more subtle threats to ensure old alliances kept and new ones made. And then one morning the horns and drums began the call. The die was cast! The army marched South.

Vaurog and Vraag marched south with fifteen thousand orcs.  But there was to be no final, glorious charge.  The Conorrians had abandoned the Worldspines and drawn south.  Worse, mighty Vraag Irontooth died of an infected wound in 2822, leaving his aged father Vaurog (very old for an orc at sixty) still alive.  Gorend, Vaurog’s wife died in 2821 at the old age of fifty-six and Ildress, his daughter was to die at the more orcish age of thirty-eight in 2825.  The king was now childless and without an heir.

Chiefs Mazgand and Gandaur traveled to Torokon, where they convinced the local hobgoblins to recognize the suzereinty of the Worldspine Orcs and to allow traffic across their lands.

Prince Gorstagg took a thousand heavy infantry into the Blue Peaks and set up defenses. (See The Battle of the Blue Peaks, below.)

Chief Mandak Half-Goblin led a thousand goblin cavalry on what was to have been a raid for slaves against Brythnia.  However, in the hills of Itherias, he encountered twenty-five thousand enemy soldiers of Brythnia, Aelissia (what were they doing so far from home?) and the Crusader States.  Mandak’s small raiding force was ambushed and slaughtered within hours and he himself only escaped by hiding amidst the torn and broken bodies.

The Empire of Carhallas –
Ruler –
Emperor Maugrath
Capital – Carcaroth
Dominant Race – Hobgoblin

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The Imperial Flag

image Maugrath sent thousands of slaves to continue the cultivation of Daul.  He raised twenty-five hundred warriors and sent them to Brolok under the command of U’Karth with orders to reinforce the orcs, should they require assistance. Along with them, he sent all his vassals, commanding a further four thousand troops.  The lords of Adhrak and Pukel both died of camp fever while in Borokoth. They were soon called into battle. (See The Battle of the Blue Peaks, below.)

Lord Scarkug traveled across the Manndaran on yet another slavery expedition.  He crushed the once-rebellious region of Borokoth, looted its goods and enslaved its hobgoblins, leaving the region a howling wilderness.

Prince Khazal had been tasked to cast a mighty spell, but the strain burst his heart and he died in 2822. A year later, Reor, son of Reor and brother of the Emperor, died during a training exercise in Carcaroth.

 

The Great Kingdom of Annvar –
Ruler –
Councillor Denerthaw
Capital – Varthane
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Balga [-A], Kala [-NT]
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 The Standard of Annvar

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Annvar continued its peaceful and isolated existence.  First Councillor Marvaith gave the region of Balga into the hands of a close confidante and released the inhabitants of Kala from even so much as paying taxes, solely to reduce the burden on the kingdom’s bureaucracy.

In 2823 a wide number of people in Asep and Varthane were killed by an epidemic. No one knew precisely what it was, nor desired to call it a plague, but among the hundreds who succumbed were First Councillor Marvaith and Councillor Tellenor, governor of the city. 

With the leading members of the Council dead, many in Annvar prepared for possible violence. And indeed there was some, though not of the sort to rise to a civil war.  While the Council argued over who would replace Marvaith, the region of Dumnava revolted, declaring itself independent.  Too, a great many public servants saw the opportunity to line their own pockets in the absence of any control, and corruption became widespread throughout the government.

In the end, there really was only a single choice for First Councillor, the much admired Councillor Denerthaw took the Speaker’s seat.

The Conorrian Heartland –

The Conorrian Empire –

Ruler –Emperor Constantikos III
Capital – Echoriath
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Kylades [-], Lidhinos [A]
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Emperor Constantikos ruled from the Phoenix Throne and all was well within the empire.  The Empress Octaviana gave birth to a fourth baby girl in 2822.  The empire rejoiced when, in the winter of 2824, she gave birth to her first son and Constantikos’s heir.

Throngs of people continued to arrive at the major cities. Adamos and Eleucria both outgrew their old walls and these were duly expanded by the empire.  Thousands of colonists were sent north with the armies to inhabit the dangerous hills of Lenicum.  Adoria was once again the center of vast expenditures of men and treasure as its fertile fields attracted more farmers and the empire was obliged to build nearly a dozen new towns, each with a castle or fort to fend off bandits.

Princess Anna Comnena traveled from Echoriath to Kylades and Lidhinos to cajole the lords of those provinces into closer relations with her father.  Zerius, comes per Kylades, was unimpressed with the princess’s whirlwind diplomacy and paid her no more courtesy than was her absolute due.  On the other hand, Anna did manage to convince the brilliant general Domus, comes per Lidhinos to ally with the Emperor.  Helos Verinus, the priest of Erdhon who had been rumored to be romantically linked with the princess, chose the moment of her absence from the capital to drown in his bath, a bottle of wine by his side.

Prince Varantius and General Palos Eatredes marched reinforcements north from the emperor’s army in praesentalis to join the large garrison at Hell’s Gate in Lenicum.  Varantius then attempted to train the light infantry in advanced tactics, but proved unequal to the task.  He did, however, design a fabulous battle standard for them.

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Prince Arcalas traveled to the halfling region of Lauriacum, west of the empire along the via brythnia and convinced the halfling woodsmen to pay tribute to the empire.  He then went on to govern the port city of Flavium for the year 2825.

General Herculeades Agrippa defended the region of Lenicum with his sixteen thousand troops until reinforcements arrived, swelling his numbers to nearly thirty thousand.  He then left the majority of his troops in garrison and marched north into the Blue Peaks with six thousand…

THE BATTLE OF THE BLUE PEAKS
(Berlas 2821-Strynod 2822)

In the spring of 2821, orcish Prince Gorstagg moved into the Blue Peaks with a thousand heavy orcish infantry and set up defensive positions.  Then, in Berlas (early autumn) of that year, Conorrian general Herculeades Agrippa marched into the region with six thousand lightly armed peltasts, intent on raiding the orcish homeland.  Gorstagg’s employed excellent tactics and had the support of the local orcs as scouts.  But Herculeades’s light troops were far more maneuverable in the mountains, had vastly superior numbers and ensorcelled weapons.  The battle was a rout, and Gorstagg flew back to the homeland with a few hundred orcs.

General Herculeades then set about exterminating all the native orcs of the Blue Peaks, which caused a native army of twenty-five hundred orcs to rise up against him.  The Conorrians were still fighting these forces in the Spring of 2822 when a combined Ascarlon/Carhallas army of ten thousand mixed light infantry and light cavalry marched in from the northwest, catching them off-guard.  Once again, however, the sorcery-sharpened weapons and advance scouts of the Conorrians played a large role in the coming battle.  The coalition forces suffered from a disunited command as well as difficult lines of supply, but had clearly superior numbers and that carried the day.  When the day ended, the Conorrians army had been utterly destroyed and General Herculeades, a brilliant battle commander, had been twice defeated in the Worldspines.  He struggled back to Lenicum to take over the vast Conorrian forces there at Fortress Hell’s Gate. The coalition, for their part, suffered approximately fifty percent losses and limped home to lick their wounds. 

The Great Church of the Lords of the Grail –

Ruler –Patriarch Calidonus
Holy City – Conorr
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Eleucria [-CH], Vales [CH], Mons Llyrae [MN]
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The Patriarch’s Standard

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Thandor, god of the air

The Church continued its tradition of aiding allies by sending a very large chest of gold to the Brythnians.  It also took up the improvement of many of the regions where it owned lands, including the Akasian Hills, Quesante, Akir, Lederata and Greensward.

As usual, more troops were raised at Conorr, this time to be marched north to reinforce the imperial army at Lenicum without about six thousand holy crusaders. Another eight thousand moved to take up defensive positions at Itherias and participated in the extremely one-sided extermination of the small Worldspine Orc raiding party that entered that region.

Elsewhere, Bishop Jaymes moved urgently to Celendor to try to discover the nature of the crisis in the Golden Wood, and why Meledrian had suddenly turned to the worship of the Dark Court.

Bishop Tantalus tried but failed to establish churches among the men of Hypylus and the halflings of Ninos., both on the Valesian coast.

Bishop Alecius died in 2824 while canonizing a monastery in Mons Llyrae, but the local prelate and his priests were impressed enough with the good bishop’s words and works to complete the edifice themselves after his death.

The dwarven mercenary Khedem-Var was retained as the Church’s general in the south.  No longer commanding mercenary forces, he transported the holy army from Hypylus to Conorr and then set about cruising the Llyran Sea on the lookout for enemies.

In 2823, Tonali, brother of Sultan Socacia of Har’akir, traveled to Conorr and took holy orders.  He was named a bishop and prince of the Church the day after he was ordained a priest.

The Dwarven Realm of Dhûnazhar– 
Ruler – King Valand Dragonsbane
Capital – Khelem Vala
Dominant Race – Dwarf
Diplomacy – The Ring of Karduk [A]

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King Valand slowly rebuilt the might of his shattered kingdom.  He ordered new mines dug in Dhûnazhar, and with breathless excitement, his ministers reported hitting a rich new vein of gold!  Thousands of dwarven miners flocked to Khelem Vala seeking employment and riches, swelling the size of the city.

Lord Roin made a whirlwind tour of Dianoxis, Oeres and the Ring of Kharduk.  Dwarves have never cared for overhaste in matters of statecraft and the leaders of Dianoxis turned a deaf ear to Roin’s tales of glory.  The leaders of Oeres were downright insulted, but managed to avoid open hostilities…barely. Roin had far better luck with the more cosmopolitan dwarves of the Ring of Kharduk, who yearned for a strong Kingdom Under the Mountain and agreed to ally with Khelem Vala.

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VALES –

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North-Western Vales –

The Llyran Republic –
Ruler –
Constans Harko Marova
Capital – Tarrentica
Dominant Race – Human

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Constans Harko traveled to the fortress of Vorogrod by airship.  There, he enchanted the weapons and defenses of the city against any attack, while their commander Emratur Z’accatto Marova eyed the forests beyond his fortress with suspicion.  On returning to Tarrentica, Harko ordered the establishment of a new port fortress in Mons Llyrae on the Bardol Sea.

There was much going to and from Vastium in the hopes of moving about forces that, unfortunately, were at Nasilia in Lorraine, not at Vastium. 

Bishop Gylfie traveled to Vorogrod and returned to Tarrentica with the bulk of the Llyran sea-fleet.

Lord Cazio D’Chilvattio, admiral in Geshtai, died of a mist-borne chill in the autumn of 2824.  His sons felt that their forces should remain in Geshtai, close as it was to the spider-haunted shores of Accolon, and dissolved the alliance, though they did continue to fly the Llyran flag over their island.

There was quite a stir in 2822 when Deitr Laroved, a mage and Llyran senator went missing from his estate in Tarrentica. Authorities have made no statements but the Senate is pressing the Constans to discover the fate of their missing brother senator.

 

The Holy Matriarchy of Ahuran– 
Ruler –Queen Luriaal Moonshadow
Capital – Sedeskan
Dominant Race – Human
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Queen Luriaal called up the warrior women of Ahuran, demanding their service, creating several armies across the land.  She also put the men to work building fortifications and castles in Rarram, Veij and Laan. The queen married a prince-consort named Variis in 2821, but when the couple produced no children by 2825, tongues were wagging across the nation.

The nation did not have long to wait for an attack.  The dragon Sirrush erupted out of Sendorin, raiding first Ilmultorn and then Rarram.  The forces in those two provinces seemed to deter the beast only a little, for it was not seeking a confrontation, but instead wealth and food.

Trianna Copperblade was governess of Sedeskan and Deirdre Lynxpaw of Ilduskan.  Neither woman (both warriors, not administrators) was particularly effective or well-liked in their roles. Lady Ariel of the Woods spent her time ensconced in the libraries of Sedeskan studying…something

Prince-Consort Codriis, Luriaal’s father died in 2824 at the age of 61. 

Har’akir –
Ruler –
Sultan Socacia Alouda
Capital – Mar Awas
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Khars [EA], Dikhil [A], Socphares [C], Gon Bahar [-]

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Socacia continued to send all available (and unwanted) persons from throughout his realm to colonize the rich lands of Awas Fahan.  He even went so far as to cashier two thousand spearmen in Har Mekelle and send them south (experienced soldiers make excellent frontier settlers).  He also began the clear-cutting of the forest of Entelle, making way for farms and villages.  The sultan himself remained in his opulent palace at Mar Awas, far from the bustling ports and noisy foreigners of Agazier and Muzir.  There, he sired two children, a boy and a girl.

A severe drought gripped the land for five years. Crops withered in the fields and animals starved.  Prayers to Roldein were ordered throughout every temple.

Emir Nuldor traveled to Khars, where with serious words and many small cups of thick coffee, he convinced the lord of that region to enter into a mutually beneficial economic pact with Har’akir and to assume the title of Emir.

Emir Bajid collected the navy of Har’akir and operated out of the northern city of Muzir.  His ships all flew the red battle ensign of the Red Pact of Vales, just below their national ensign. In 2825, he received word of pirates in the Ahur Straits. On behalf of Har’akir and the Red Pact of Vales, Bajid took his fleet to those waters and, in a series of battles, chased the pirates from those waters.  Four pirate ships were sunk.

Prince Laith, Emir of Har Jadme, traveled to Dikhil and through a shared love of hawking and whoring, convinced the Emir of Dikhil to become a close ally to Har’akir.

Prince Munsif traveled to Socphares and reclaimed the region for his nation.  The locals were unenthusiastic about the claim, even though their chieftain’s daughter was the sultana. Munsif then journeyed to the elven forests of Gon Bahar, but the elves, though they paid tribute to the sultan, felt no desire for any closer bonds with the humans that surrounded them.  Indeed, the elves felt more trapped than allied.

The Valesian Empire –
Ruler –
Primarch Centorius II, Euristis
Capital – Centauris
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Euristi [-], Thuces [A]
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Logging and road-building has begun in forested Thymene, clearing the way for farms and colonists.

Centorius’s younger brother Tempus is already the Valesian heir.  Now Centorius names his two other brothers (triplets with Tempus) Seleucus and Achmaenus as princes of the realm.  Unfortunately, Seleucus died in 2825 of a blood fever.

Centorius fathered two sons, Cassius and Benevento, thus muddying the imperial succession.  Tempus, Centorius’s proclaimed heir, also fathered a son, Diomedes.

Tempus’s brief stay in Euristi failed to produce any real change in that province’s relations with the Empire.  Malishas, however, managed to convince the halflings of Thuces to enter into a strong alliance with the Valesians.

Admiral Dracon put to sea in the Gulf of Thariyya with fifty ships.  Each ship flew the ensign of the Red Pact of Vales.

 

Luxur –
Ruler –
General Lyanys
Capital – Thedelos
Dominant Race – Sathla
Diplomacy – Aysira [-], Keferis [-]

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General Eshamok marched his nine-thousand highly religious sathla soldiers into the region of Mekhet and  enslaved the native pagan sathla.  Though the victory was not without cost, it was seen as a fiery vindication of the strength of Autumna and a wave of religious fervor swept through the nation.  Then, a young child reported having been visited by a serpent angel telling her to found a church on the spot.  With this, the religious fervor became a frenzy of pilgrims visiting the holy site.  Within three years, the Church of the Air Dragon was complete.

In 2821, Captain Drissdal put out to sea on the Luxur Coast to establish Luxurite sovereignty over the waters.  Unfortunately, at this same time pirate fleets began operating in the Ahur Straits and Luxur Coast.  Drissdal and his fleet of a dozen warships engaged the smaller but faster and more experienced pirate fleet off the coast of Cassar in Northhale of that year.  The sea battle lasted all day, but resulted in all of Drissdal’s ships being sunk or captured.  Drissdal himself was forced to swim to shore.

In 2823, Eshamok established the Traders of the Golden Scales guild to regulate and promote trade within the realm.  These powerful merchants and farmers became a powerful but small middle class, lending money to the nobility and profiting from both war and peace.

A terrible plague of scale rot spread through the ranks of the nobility.  In 2822, Captain Vystil died of the dreaded disease while trying to convince the lord of Aysira to join the Luxurite council.  In 2823, Speaker Kyuss died of the same affliction while working to cajole the settlers of Keferis into a closer alliance.  Finally, in 2824, General Eshamok died of a prolonged and pitiful case of the insidious disease.  However, the combination of religious fervor and few living candidates ensured that there would be no struggle for leadership of the Council.  Captain Lyanys was recalled from his secretive adventures in Merwal and promoted to General.

The Holy See of Udjo
Ruler –
Arch Priest Pysus
Great Cathedral – Thedelos
Dominant Race – Sathla
Diplomacy – Merwal [-]
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Arch-Priest Slaasthess attempted to consecrate a great cathdral in Habu, but in an ironic turn of events the enormous religious fervor sweeping Luxur focused largely on the holy girl and the Church of the Air Dragon in Badar.  Funds and material were peremptorily taken from Habu and sent downriver by zealous sathla, and the cathedral remained unfinished.

Despite these acts, the populace of Luxur cried out in loud demands for the Arch-priest to cease work on anything but establishing his new seat in the Holy City of Merwal, for many street prophets had promised that the great age of sathla rebirth would not begin until the Holy City had been re-consecrated.  At present, the Primacy only controls the priory of a monastic order in Merwal, having neither cathedrals nor the seat for a religion in the city.

Arch-Priest Slaasthess died in 2823 (some say of frustration) and was replaced by Arch-Priest Zhous.  Udjo apparently found Zhous lacking, for the young priest was found slumped over his private altar one morning, dead.  The election at last alighted upon the primacy’s most ardent and hard-line high priest, Pysus.

The Serpentine of Mykele –
Ruler –
RegentVlaasthess
Capital – Oroyon
Dominant Race – Sathla

The religious fervor of their northern cousins did not overtake the sathla of Mykele.  Instead, the serpent-men engaged in a huge series of projects in Sia and Girudar, putting free sathla and slaves alike to work in erecting rat farms, villages and drainage canals throughout the well-tended jungles and fields.

Since the future king Sistreth II was still an infant, there was great consternation among the nobility when, in 2821, Regent Kouresh died of sudden heart failure in the great audience hall.  A brief behind-the-scenes power struggle soon revealed Lord Vlaasthess as the choice of the armies and so he became regent pending Sistreth’s majority.  Vlaasthess was widely believed to be loyal to the old dictator and his infant son. Vlaasthess gave up the governorship of Oroyon to instead rule all of Mykele.

The pirates cut off Mykelean trade with Har’akir and Luxur, causing a general demand for the development of a navy.

Lord Tailheresh, master of Vaaltoth, led his small army into Kuzsu and from there raided the primitive sathla of Galzus and Ibkuru.  He and his troops descended on the simple hunter-gatherer villages and took everything of value, then marched back to Vaaltoth with their booty.

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North-Eastern Vales –

The Kingdom of Thariyya –
Ruler –
King Mogrihan Vahdin
Capital – Uls Fakhar
Dominant Race – Halfling
Diplomacy – Hassar [+7YfC]
 
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King Mogrihan ordered the expansion of port facilities in Vahdin, as well as the repair of the cliff walks and underground cisterns.  He also named his little brother Zarahan (the former Junior Assistant Aide de Camp de Flag and law student) as a prince of the realm.

He then traveled to Hassar, along with lords Sezir and Relequa and continued to work on integrating the conquered peoples of Hassar into the kingdom with words, gold and magic.

Kaedir Vahdin took his twenty ships to sea and patrolled the Gulf of Thariyya on behalf of the Red Pact of Vales.  He had not yet taken to the western custom of flying the Pact’s flag below his national ensign, however.

Alaha Bezyron, last scion of the Al-Bezyron royal house, died in her bed at the age of thirty-five in 2821, a look of excruciating terror imprinted on her face. Al-Fezhir Bari (the lord of Bari) died in 2823 when he drank too much ale and fell into a drainage ditch. Sharuza Vahdin, Mogrihan’s sister and the wife of an Hassar chieftain, died at the shockingly early age of twenty eight in 2824. There were many that opined she merely died of homesickness.

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Accolon –
Ruler –
Warlock Belshazu the Evoker
Capital – Dammarask
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Nuradeem [+1 YfC]
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Belshazu decreed new castles be built in Ham and Akin to defend the Accolon interior, and so they were.  Dark, brooding edifices with spider-like minarets and powerful bulwarks, the Mulgaunt fairly bristled with defensive power.  A thousand new elite warriors joined the armies under The Anointed One in Agharra.

Kurotsuki was governor in Nuradeem.  The resistance of the local chieftains made her job difficult, however, and only a few warehouses for foreign goods were built.  Scylla Darkheart died while governing Dammarask in 2823.  She was slain in a sorcerous duel over an insult by another warlock, who then took her place in the twisted hierarchy. Bishop Caine governed the city of Agharra.  Far from the southern strife, he proved quite effective at the task, clearing a whole hillside in the city to make way for an impressive forum dominated by the likeness of Evaless, Mother of Monsters.

The Shadowed Primacy of the Dark Court –  
Ruler –
High Priest Gezz Half-Shadow
Holy City – Dammarask
Dominant Race – Human

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The Dark Court did super-sneaky secret stuff.  Really.

The Shadowguard of Marador –  
Ruler –
Queen Madariel Shadowfoot
Capital – Lantar
Dominant Race – Elf
Diplomacy – Dimbe [FA], Balan [NT], Nastaldo [NT]

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Queen Madariel

 

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Memorial Ceremony for Prince Balan

Grieving for the loss of Glorfindel and the lord of Balan, Queen Madariel moved among the hurt and sick of Dimbe, healing them and speaking words of wisdom and power.  The nobility had all been slain, so the queen found the elf who seemed to her of noblest heart and named him the Prince of Dimbe. His name was Gaireon and he swore true allegiance to the queen on the meadows outside of Oromardi.

Princess Vaeril traveled to Balan, accompanying the body of their fallen lord and speaking movingly at his funeral of the great lord’s sacrifice in the defense of the Shadowguard.  Many there were moved by the power of her words and swore to remain loyal to the Shadowguard.

Lord Ebabarear traveled to shattered Nastaldo, where as in Dimbe the great lords were all dead and there was no one in whom he could trust the government of the province.  Thus, for a time, Nastaldo would be a part of the Shadowguard in name only, unable to contribute more than a token recognition of Shadowfoot’s right to rule.

Meanwhile a thousand elite elven warriors were training in Lantar to serve the queen.

South-Western Vales –

The Steaming Kingdom of Drormt –
Ruler –
KingBraa’k
Tlazolteotl
Capital – Breeka
Dominant Race – Saurus

image Aghast at the war they may have started with the powerful human empire of Mekebele, the sauruses of Drormt retreated to their swamps and watched the borders with caution.  In Patu and Ezkita, they built cleverly-hidden redoubts among the grassy hummocks in fen and bayou.

The humans never came.

 

Sendahl –
Ruler –
King Leyoleyo*ta
Capital – Nyange
Dominant Race – Human

The plains lords rested on their laurels and feasted on dates.

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Mekebele –
Ruler –
Emperor Mufun
Capital – Awayal
Dominant Race – Human
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Emperor Mufun led his army to Ola to watch for any possible attack by the sauruses of Drormt.  He added a thousand trained warriors to his army and another fifteen hundred to his forces in Menrat.

Generals received orders to subdue and enslave wilderness regions devoid of populations.  Rather than tell the Emperor he had made a mistake, they simply trained in Menrat and kept the error to themselves.

The region of Menrat was at last cleared of jungle vegetation and given over to farming and useful pursuits.

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South-Eastern Vales –

The Dwarven Realm of Aurdrukar –
Ruler –
King Norrim Forgemaster
Capital – The Brass Tower
Dominant Race – Dwarf
Diplomacy – Kamandi [EA]
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Banner of Aurdrukar

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Banner of Khor-Naland

image King Norrim poured the wealth of the dwarves into schools for tax collectors, a signal corps and couriers, all in an effort to overcome the deficits and corruption which had been impeding efficient tax collection.  Little came of the expenditures so far, but the king remains hopeful.

Lord Dhokir was appointed to govern the Brass Tower for the years 2821-2825, but proved far more efficient at boasting, bragging and consuming ale than at anything resembling efficient government.

The various vast Aurdrukar armies sat about, eyeing the frontiers with a flinty suspicion.

The Elven Empire of Sengkar –
Ruler –
Emperor Valoril Greenshield
Capital – Ezrand
Dominant Race – Elf
 

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Fresh from their great victory in Marador, the elves of Sengkar threw themselves a five-year party.

The Kingdom of Weshtayo –

Ruler –King Piccarome, Red-Feathered Lord
Capital – Khulank
Dominant Race – Human
Diplomacy – Osaru [FA]
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Piccarome, the Red-Feathered Lord of Weshtayo, traveled with twenty-five hundred warriors to the forests of Osaru, near the sources of the Artaxes river.  There, the young king impressed the lord of Osaru and convinced him to become the vassal of Weshtayo.  He also founded the city of Mindarie, a human city amidst the halflings of Tsu’u.

White Feathered Lord Rikorious spent four years studying Weshtayo statecraft, then was appointed governor of Khulank for 2825.  He made no noticeable difference during that brief time.

Black Feathered Lord Ahkeena governed Rendulha for five years and accomplished much, improving both drainage and water storage by installing a series of cisterns.

Lord Chinua, governor of Khulank from 2821-2823, proved an effective if unpopular administrator.  He hung several dozen traitors and criminals, improving the city’s harmonious obedience to the rule of Piccarome.

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The Imperial Realm of Zikuyu –
Ruler –
King Amur Dai
Capital – Ivallkyu
Dominant Race – Human

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The careful plans of the Neela, “the Lonely Empress” came to fruition.  Her nation moved from a dangerous reliance on personality to a system of laws in which the monarch ruled by the approbation of her noblemen.  This, unfortunately, was wildly unpopular with those same noblemen, and with the commons.

War threatened to erupt all along the Mogolla River.  Lord Amur Dai was vocal in his opposition to the change, and moved his troops to seize control of the palace.  The Empress appealed to her loyal troops to protect her, and a tense standoff loomed.  Before troops from either side could arrive, however, a throng of lawless citizens stormed the palace.  In their fury at Neela for violating the will of the gods, they threw the Empress from the window of a tall tower.  Thus died one whose only concern was the well-being of her people.

Amur Dai seized control of the government and declared that the Empress’s changes were anathema to the gods – he alone had been chosen to rule by their will.  In the wake of unrest, the regions of Hriteke and Chru seceded from the realm.

Amur Dai proved to be an energetic ruler.  He had the old city of Mhynar razed and then built anew at a spot fifty miles up the coast.  He also built a completely new city on the banks of the Mogalla called Mogallyu. Vast amounts of treasure were spent to improve the fields and villages of Qash.

The new Emperor did not stop there – he rode at the head of five thousand light cavalry as they crossed the Mogolla into Urrides, and then conquered Ulen, Mara and Hytu in quick succession, stopping long enough to raid into Aztar and Gashantu.  He looted and abandoned his conquests and returned to Qash.

The Valraj –
Ruler –
Sultan Khalood
Capital – Muddakir
Dominant Race – Human

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Agaleon, 2821 General Umar Ghaas and Fayed, Emir of Tanoxus, leading ten thousand troops, begin to bridge the Rhasdine River at Jadjas.

Strynod, 2821 The Valraji forces complete their crossing and march into Hajaxtas.  The invasion of Tas Dar has begun.

Maravis, 2821 Valraji forces begin to destroy or captured the several forts holding the countryside.

Cleon, 2821 Tas Dar lord Deneil returns to Tas Dar and joins his forces to those of regent Markil and the Darious garrison.  They begin to prepare a defense of the capital. Yusri returns to Vagis.

Daarlem, 2821 The Valraji complete the conquest of Hajaxtas and garrison the region.  Yusri’s Vagis forces arrive at Tas Dar. 

Northhale, 2821 As if waiting for something, the Valraji pause in their invasion. In Muddakir, young sultan Farouz dies of a sudden stroke at the age of only twenty nine. The provinces of Abtak, Durjas and Phanat immediately revolt from Valraji control. 

Agaleon, 2822 Loyal to the house of Farouz, Umar Ghaas immediately garrisons Hajaxtas and moves his army back towards Muddakir.

Daarlem, 2822 Prince Udin captured by the Tas Dari (see Tas Dar, below)

Agaleon, 2823 With all Valraji armies under loyalist control, and a sizeable force guarding Muddakir, newly-crowned sixteen-year-old Sultan Khalood orders Umar Ghaas to march against Tas Dar again, ignoring for now the rebellious Valraji provinces. Khalood swore that his father’s dream of a conquered Tas Dar would be fulfilled.

(See The Second Valraj War, below)

 

 

The Kingdom of Tas Dar –
Ruler –
King Ayden
Capital – Darious
Dominant Race – Human

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Their plans thrown into disarray by the Valraji invasion (See The Valraj, above), the Tas Dari leaders hastened to defend their capital, Darious, and had set up defensive lines around the city by the late summer of 2821.  When the news arrived that sultan Farouz had been struck dead by the obviously displeased gods, Markil knew it was a sign that he should immediately move to retake stolen Hajaxtas.

In the Spring of 2822, the regent had combined the troops on hand and the Tas Dar garrison to create an army of four thousand, and then marched against the one thousand enemy soldiers holding Hajaxtas.  In the month of Cleon, he decisively beat and scattered the ill-led Valraj garrison. Joining his army to the forces that had been bottled up in Lhoren Dar, he then commanded an army of five thousand. Markil knew the Valraji army was larger, however, and he prepared defenses.

He did not have too long to wait.  In the Spring of 2823, the armies of The Valraj returned and swarmed across the Rhasdine river

THE SECOND VALRAJ WAR

2823

The two armies lined up across from each other in a field of barley.  The eight thousand-strong army of The Valraj included three thousand elite Ghandoor Foot Guards and was led by the military genius Umar Ghaas. The native Tas Dari numbered five thousand, but included no elite troops comparable to the fierce Ghandoori. They were, however, commanded by a military genius of their own, Lord Deneil.  Also present were Regent Markil, Lord Layth and Lord Yusri, all excellent battlefield commanders.

Both sides fielded skirmishers and cavalry scouts, but the heart of the battle was really a clash of spear against shield as the main Valraji body of infantry swarmed up to the heavily-trapped Tas Dar front line.  In this encounter, the Tas Dari fought brilliantly.  But the weight of numbers and the superb discipline of the Ghandoor Foot Guards assured eventual victory to the Valraji. By the end of day, the Tas Dari were thrown back from their defenses and streamed away from the battlefield in full rout, pursued by the Valraji cavalry.  Fewer than two thousand Tas Dar troops limped into Tas Dar, while some six thousand Valraji now held Hajaxtas once again.

Unbeknownst to the Valraji for some time, their most dangerous foe, Lord Deneil, died during the winter of wounds received in Hajaxtas.

2824

In the Spring of 2824, the army of The Valraj (five thousand strong after garrisoning Hajaxtas) marched into Tas Dar to confront the defenders, nearly all of whom had by now retreated within the walls of Darious. The exception was Lord Layth, who, from a castle several miles distant from Darious, contested the approaches to the city. The Valraj had finally met their match.  The defense of Lord Layth was flawless, drawing the uncharacteristically incautious Umar Ghaas into a trap.  Layth allowed Ghaas to charge into a seemingly undefended rear portal to his castle, then slammed the doors shut once much of the Valraji force was inside.  Hidden archers poured a withering volley of fire down on the Valraji, killing Fayed of Tanoxus and most of the Valraji force.  Umar Ghaas and his bodyguard managed to cut their way out of the trap, and to withdraw towards Hajaxtas. Military scholars noted with admiration the discipline with which his army made their fighting withdrawal.

The Valraji had destroyed several small fortifications, but had taken serious losses.  After recovering what lost and wounded they could, Umar Ghaas’s army numbered forty-five hundred effectives, including two thousand Ghandoor Foot Guards. A third of Ghaas’s original force had been the allied troops of Tanoxus.  These now represented nearly half of the survivors. With the death of their Emir, the Tanoxus troops now refused to fight on, and withdrew across the Rhasdine river.  Though the morale of the remaining twenty-five hundred Valraji troops was high, Umar Ghaas knew that they were not enough to seize Tas Dar amidst so many castles.  For the moment, he would have to content himself with the seizure of Hajaxtas.

2825

Denied his initial goal of seizing Darious, and aware that Markil had few effective forces capable of attacking him, Umar Ghaas laid siege to the port city of Lhoren Dar. He had no ships available to allow him the luxury of a passive siege, so he began to batter the walls of the city with siege engines, hoping to take it by force. Not three weeks later, his men stormed through a breach in the city wall and took the city virtually without losses.

In an elaborate ceremony, Ayden of Tas Dar was crowned king in Darious.  As his first act, he appointed Markil as a prince of the realm and gave him the title of Lord Protector.

 

 

The Grand Duchy of Meneen –
Ruler –
Grand Duke Salene
Capital – Yaz Meneen
Dominant Race – Elf
 

image An increased number of scribes, couriers and tax collectors allowed the Grand Duke to centralize the authority of his realm under his personal control.  Happy with the result, he ruled from Yaz Meneen.  At his command, six new warships were built in Chanos.

A great many elves moved into Dreta, founding villages and clearing land.  Meanwhile, in Imreer, the crown spent lavishly to improve the docks and shipyards of the small city.

Lord Feantë took the elven fleet to sea and went a-raiding.  More than forty ships descended on Assa, Sankail, Manata, Tar Lann and Olvia.  However, because of Feantë’s previous depredations, there was little of worth to garner in the first three locations.

The sathla of Rajahdan declared war on Meneen.

The Kingdom of Ukanve –
Ruler –
King Valoss the Just
Capital – Ukanve
Dominant Race – Human

image Aleo the Wise escorted yet more colonists to distant Ayma Vas, now fully utilizing the long-abandoned elven fields.

King Mazool died in 2824 of a terrible sleeping sickness.  His only lieutenant, Aleo the Wise, died two days later, raving about serpents eating his brother.  Queen Maryam died of the same affliction the following year.

There was surprisingly little dispute about the succession.  Nine days after Mazool was buried beneath the Hill of Kings, a distant cousin, Valoss the Just, was crowned king by the archdruid of Yezhu’u.

 

 

UKELE –

The Emerald Realm of Lekandi –
Ruler –
King Galens Eagleheart
Capital – Suwelho
Dominant Race – Elf
Diplomacy – Akufiki [F]

image The sathla wars over, King Galens retired more than two thousand of his soldiers, settling them in the newly-cleared lands of Fikosha and Arumbom, along with a leavening of merchants and administrators.

Lord Juelans, after long and fruitful discussion, convinced Lord Rikkers of Akufiki to swear fealty to the king and to retire to his country estates. 

Lady Tanathasia was appointed governess of Suwelho, but proved to have little interest in the art of governing.  Instead, her lavish parties and elaborate feasts consumed much of her time.  Similarly, Kelen Farstrider, governor of Gyanlay, proved to have neither the interest nor aptitude for administration.  He did, however, very much enjoy wearing the gorget of office, and never took it off, so far as anyone could see.

Rumors from Elsewhere –

Word has reached many ears of civil war between the elves of Celendor and their brothers of Meledrian.

A lost city of Iridian is rumored to have survived the Wrath of the Gods and to exist somewhere in the great northern ice sheet.

GM’s Tip #8 – image

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.

Incite Rebellion –
I’d like to focus on this underused gem.  I think it is often overlooked because the Player’s Guide refers to it as “a poor man’s invasion.”  True, invading your enemy is more destructive, but it is also much more costly and much less subtle.  In truth, inciting a rebellion in a foreign-held province can do a great deal to inconvenience an enemy (negating the time and resources he took to occupy it), and it comes with complete deniability, because so many other causes can also lead to rebellions. 

I. Requirements
You can only conduct the Incite Rebellion (IR) action in a Pacified or Pacified Tributary region.  You must have a leader present in that region or city to give the order (preferably with a good Charisma score).

II. Modifiers
The following things are positive modifiers your likelihood of success with the IR order:

  • The leader’s Charisma
  • Charisma of additional supporting leaders
  • The Region or City’s Resistance Value (that’s right, this is one instance where a high RV works for you.)
  • The Region or City is of a different religion than the occupier
  • The Region or City is of a different race than the occupier
  • The Region or City speaks a different language than the occupier
  • The region is hostile terrain to the occupier
  • The target nation’s populace is infiltrated by the IR’ing nation.
  • Bribes (see Hint #2)
  • Extra Time (see Hint #1)

The following things are negative modifiers your likelihood of success with the IR order:

  • The number of garrison units
  • The presence of a garrison commander
  • A successful Crush Rebellion op run by the target nation on the same turn.

III. Results
If successful, a native army will rise up and attack the local garrison (and any reacting armies).  If they win, the region or city becomes independent.  If it was previously part of another nation, it will rejoin that nation, if possible).

Next Turn: The Cause Mutiny Op

Page Completed 20 September 2006