EVENT:
The armies of the nations above the stone fought back, to limited success. We see the folly of the sun-dwellers however. In the north, the attack on Terminus let us run over the remnants of that shattered nation, and Malgeri's retreat into their city let us have the run of their outer lands as well. Now though, we shall launch our attack on the refugees of those battles. They have fled to a place of unknowing import, and there is where our final battle will be.
The duergar have achieved something that they wanted, although what it is is not yet clear. They're not withdrawing yet, but they're not raiding anymore, so it will take less posts to clear them away.
- It will take two posts to clear them from the Marches' southern land, and one for the northern. However, they have launched the stone colossus against you. It stands two-hundred feet tall, and it walks over the land, crushing everything underfoot. The colossus takes two posts to defeat.
- The duergar are scouting out the land around Shady Sands, and some fear it will be their next target.
[ +- ] Post 1
Post 1: The spark
Event: The duergar are scouting out the land around Shady Sands, and some fear it will be their next target.
(Coya, the raider)
He had very little time to meet this Avencia girl as more and more scouting parties were coming out of the endless tunnels. It seems like those cursed dwarves were looking for something in the desert. The crazy old elf kept saying it was his granddaughter they were looking for and how I should keep her protected because he felt some call. He never trusted the gods to keep in safe, and this religious old elf just proved him right. Religious people do all sorts of crazy stuff just to feel their gods. More often than not, they turn up dead... or completely nuts like this one! As far as anyone could tell, the call had something to do with a mistletoe and wolves and then something or another that cut a tree recently. A tree? Someone cut down a tree? He felt sorry for the old elf as he was clearly suffering from some sort of dementia, most likely magically induced. That’s why he never did magics. They tend to backfire, emphasis on the fire! Anyway, clearly that girl didn’t need any help. Hadn’t she just routed an entire scouting party of dwarves? And not just any dwarves, these were some big dwarves, heavily armoured tough guys with shiny weapons that could be thrown with stunning precision. She was a little girl. Could be older than early teens. Witchcraft!
Now, the smart thing to do would be to run. And he was pretty good at that by the way! However, the old elf kept going on and on about how the cursed ones would bring the statue to them, because they needed Avencia’s spark. The girl was cold as ice, definitely no spark there! For some strange reason, he resisted his instinct to run away and find a safer place. Was it because the old man could create food? Did he get attached to these people? Poor little girl, he couldn’t leave her just with this crazy elf, right? So he did the second best thing he knew how to do: band some scoundrels, raiders and low lives together and organize trapping raids to teach those dwarves a lesson!
[ +- ] Post 2
Post 2: War for the Old Lands
Event: The duergar have achieved something that they wanted, although what it is is not yet clear. They're not withdrawing yet, but they're not raiding anymore, so it will take less posts to clear them away.
(Ilphas-el, Archdruid of the Land and The Overseer of the Roads)
The northern army was demoralized, after being caught in the sea of ashes. Those duergar were cannier than expected. The Terminus campaign when smoothly, but it was a maneuver for the dwarven armies to sink invade northern port and block their way back. He looks into the lands he had left, but there was only one way to go now: south into the Old Lands. That’s where the Confederation armies were massing for a final assault to liberate their lands from this surprise invader. Elven Gate and Foundation were already under their control. Once all the companies met, Southport would stand no chance. He briefly wondered why the duergar were entrenching at that place, the same place Zet’arin, the Guardian of the library, had built when he though the Lady was killed by his hired assassin. Ashmen in Elven’s Gate, Ash armies in Terminus, ashes in the sea and ashes from the sky… Ashport. The mane came to his mind. What was the meaning of all of this? He briefly met Ab Tajir, The Soul Trader, but he couldn’t bring himself to trust that double crossing selfish low-live. Maybe he could decipher the notes, maybe he was just leading them in circles. He would be sure to come back for him once his armies had time to rest.
The vision of the Confederacy army was a sight to behold. He could only imagine the fear that sight stroke on their enemies’ hearts. Southport was standing still in front of them. The siege was expected to be long, so they were settling in for camping and raiding. He had sent some spies and scouts to check the area and find weaknesses to the duergar defenses. They would move by sea with their news warships. The dwarves were surrounded as underground engineering teams had been deployed to find and barricade all tunnels, destroying any that couldn’t be used in the siege. Then the messenger came from the Lady herself. She was going to move in as the scouts found an open and empty city. They were welcomed by the loyal subjects of the confederation, who described that the duergar left as soon as they completed a colossal statue to some dark dwarven god, who they called the Ash Guardian…
[ +- ] Post 3
Post 3: War effort
(Zari, The Master of the Guilds)
He saw the armies leave Elven’s Gate, marching south, leaving them in the hands of the Inquisitors, who still struggled to root all the ash cursed from the capital. Lutr, Lord of House Greenvale was an efficient Head Inquisitor, driven by the mysterious circumstances of his son and heir’s death, he was sure to root all ash curse from the Confederacy. Interestingly, there have been no reports of clones in the Old Lands, unlike those from the northern seamen. Lutr still though it was related, but it was difficult to tell exactly how.
However, in these were dark times, the merchants were grew restless, which impacted on the flow of coin. The Confederacy had managed to keep their interests and investments fairly safe through all the wars and catastrophes but now, the enemy snuck unseen right into the heart of the Old Lands. Elven’s Gate was untouched, but would it be that way next time? The war effort was expensive. It did bring investment opportunities for the guilds, but with more and more elves and humans joining the ranks of the mercenary companies, looking for a quick way to make a fortune, the main problem the guilds were facing was the lacking workforce to keep the industry working efficiently. The shipyards needed men to produce enough warships, the sulphur and saltpepper refineries were struggling to maintain the supply of chemicals and those new guns factories were barely able to support the required production. There was demand, but the offer was very limited. The Suhagin and Lizard-folk refugees from previous years were now trained and were easily employed as town guards, bodyguards and move the goods, but that didn’t free enough fingers for the mosre delicated works.
But they were rich, and money attracts people. With the new diplomatic ties and the recent catastrophes, they were sure to get more trade and more migrants, and with it, hands to work.
[ +- ] Post 4
Post 4: The trap!
Event: However, they have launched the stone colossus against you. It stands two-hundred feet tall, and it walks over the land, crushing everything underfoot.
(Ara, Commander of Northern Light Company)
Northport was theirs again. The Northlands were finally free form both the ash armies of Terminus and the cursed armies of duergar. For him, it was a matter of maintaining peace and restoring the land. The new company needed to grow and ensure the North was under the Convenant rule again. Of course, the new triumvirate that the Covenant became was an unstable mess with little diplomatic efforts going. With all that was going one, it was clear that the three powers of the Old Lands were retreating into themselves. This meant that the de facto ruler of Terminus and the north was now the Confederacy, despite all opposition from Cloudspire. The future of these lands was uncertain, but for now, the big players were too busy to notice them. As he expected the Riverlesk support to arrive, he was surprised by the crazy lone boat that sailed from Willowvale. He heard the man was crazy, but to see Ab Tajir, The Soul Trader getting off that boat! Why would he risk crossing the sea of ashes? "There’s some paperwork I need to check now that Terminus is ours" that is all he said, before leaving to the old Terminus capital. But before leaving, he left a note, a worrisome note. Southport was reconquered, but duergar left a massive statue there, one that was quickly research and investigated. At first, nothing was found except that it must have been a gift to the dwavrn dark god know as the Ash Guardian. But it was build in front of the temple, in a strangely location. The entire elven army stood still as night fell and the unsetting sun shone brighter. The light evolved the statue as it started to move, ashes blown from it in every direction. A colossus standing two-hundred feet tall was set free in a port of ashes crushing everything under his feet.
Last edited December 23, 2019 12:41 pm
