Game Thread; Flames of Ketyn Myr

Elyona was raised in the forest settlement of Shaho Thalor near the human village of Ti Foirge. The settlements in the area cooperated with each other and enjoyed a strong trade relationship. When the legions of the Grondurian Empire landed on the coast of Ketyn Myr, the trumpet calls were so loud it shook the earth itself. The Legio XXIV Dobania struck quickly, Ti Foirge lacked the warriors to resist leaving the highlanders laying in pools of crimson mud. Suspiciously, the legion was aware of the Elven settlement and dispatched three Centurian ranks to force them to heel. The battle was great and both sides took heavy losses, but the Elves were vastly outnumbered.

The warriors fought to hold the advancing Centuries while the noncombatants attempted to flee. One Centurian Orok Mountain Tusk, maneuvered his auxiliary units to cut off the fleeing elves, killing them with no regard to their conditions.

TUNNELS of Cruach Dhil (pronounced Kru-ak Dill)

Belar woke up in the morning as usual, nothing out of place. The tunes of metalwork singing a melody of different tones as the village's craftsmen working with the copper, tin, and iron from their ore veins. After breakfast, the noble lord conducted his routine patrol through the mines when IT happened. A low rumbling followed by the shaking of the fortification beams. The source appeared similar to a stampede in sound alone, but the volume and quake were considerably greater. Belar evacuated the areas with the greatest risk, he began patrolling the tunnels closer to the surface to investigate the strange occurrence.

Heading towards the surface gates, Belar notices a sticky liquid pouring from the tunnels ceiling, he hears the horrific cries of unknown victims facing unimaginable horror. The strong odors of copper and sulfur soaking into the soil of holding the great boulders in place.

The guards to the great door had barred the heavy Okoro Pine obstacle. The guards initially protested Belar's order to open the gate; eventually backing down and complying with the noble's order. The doors swung open and a blast of thick smoke rushed into the tunnel system. A gaseous wave of heat, much like the smothering heat of the smelting furnaces below now waved a grim illusion of the surface lands. At Belar's feet lay a female elf, barely old enough to leave her settlement. She was of thin build, covered in ash and soot from battle. Her tunic and breeches cut and ragged, and her unkempt blond hair covered in the thistles and stalks of hay. Standing above her was an orc soldier wearing banded armor, a large rectangular shield, and a long sword. With a deep war cry bellowed by the soldier, he swings the blade at the unconscious girl.

The Orc's attack finished the swing on the fallen Elf, creating a deep wound along her side. Belar's protest caught the large warrior's attention "I am Centurian Orok Mountain Tusk, with the Miqronus Astakara auxiliary. The Twenty Fourth Legion has claim authority of this land and you are hereby ordered to submit to our authority and surrender your city."

The Orc growled with satisfaction, pulling his axe in a defensive posture.

The Orc spins away from Belar, though taking a serious wound to the ribs. The orc responds with a swing from his axe, but the blade swiped too high missing the noble.

The Orc officer shows an expression of shock as the battle axe bit deep within his banded armor. The Centurian's massive arms fell beneath the weight of his large great axe. The shaft of the weapon landed hard onto the ground and the soldier dropped to his knees before slumping prone to the ground.

Belar took a moment to view the images of the surface, Grondurian soldiers thrusting spears into the frail bodies of fleeing humans and elves. In the far distance trails of smoke covered the sky as flames stretched to touch the clouds. The human village of Ti Foirge had fallen to the large force. The the forest groves in the east, trees had fallen over piled into a dragon's size pyre of dancing flames. The Dwarf knew that he could fight, allow his anger to avenge his hold's allies, but not even his people would be enough to deter the well trained formations now building defenses and fortifying the area.

Dwarven guards rush out of the hillside retrieving the Elf as Belar sprints away from the hold to engage the invasion forces. Cresting a small hill he comes face to face with two soldiers stabbing their short swords into a pile of bodies, "Make certain they are all dead" said the older soldier.

and

Belar scans the hills, watching small groups of Grondurian soldiers slaughtering innocent civilians. The bodies of fallen warriors litter the landscape like blades of grass. The Dwarf noble can choose to cross the hills and risk encountering so many soldiers or use the tunnel network that his people use to move their wares to the northern provinces

Belar travels through the tunnels swiftly, familiar with ever nook and cranny within the tunnel system. The Dwarf finally reached the edge of the hold's territory when he heard noises. The first set of noises sounded like leaking drips of water splashing into a puddle, followed by a large clump of clay splashing. The darkness hiding the thorough fare lightened up as light from the late evening lit up an area along the path.


A shadow figure poked its face below the hole to scout the opening, it had long narrow snout with its front teeth protruding from its mouth. Tiny ears twitched in the back of its head and tiny claws widened the hole until the 3' creature slipped through landing on the floor. The creature crouched onto its hind legs, pulling a bright green gem from a pouch "Easy trappings, tell them where the humans are and take my stone. Who cares about the humies, not me" its high pitched chirps proclaimed in common.

The rat squeals in protest "I dig the hole, it is my nest until I leave human!!" it tucks the gem into a pouch which is attached to a bandolier before an imaginary scratch towards the warrior "My business is my own, you want to win the riches? You work like Scruuuba work and tell the big people about the kin people. They pay"

Scruuuba describes the big people with wide tails of peacocks, Belar gets the impression that the 'big people' are associated with the Grondurians, this explains how they knew certain strategic conditions to avoid and know where to strike. He gathers the 'Kin people' are the human clans, as they identify as Kinsmen with other settlements.

The bipedal rat makes another imaginary scratch towards the Dwarf "What a Dorf? Where Dorf live? You friend with big people?"

The ratkin pauses for a moment and stares at Belar, after a moment he shakes his head fervently "No more Scruuuba, just Scruuuba and Scruuuba don't want stop the big humans. Scruuuba want kin humans go away not come back and now dorf in Scruuuba's nest. Scruuuba gonna tell big people take dorf with them" He jumps to the hole in the ceiling, trying to climb out of the tunnel.

The Dwarf continued traveling through the northern tunnels, the second day, he finally cleared the Clan's iron mines into the wilderness. It was a hard pace, but Belar pushed himself until he reached the Gnome grove opening in the village of Dwarfkinn. The noble walks up an ascending walkway lined with split logs before reaching an opening on the eastern side of a large sycamore tree. The trees were thick enough to block the morning sun, with only traces of light peeking through. The breeze carried the scent of pine gently touching against his skin. Soft skirting voices of Gnome children chasing each other in the distance. The sounds of the morning waking increased with the bleating of goats being milked, the grinding teeth of hand saws cutting fallen trees, the bickering of hens protesting the theft of eggs.

Belar reached the crest of the first hill when a female voice called out "Now isn't this a dandy treat? What brings our cousin up from so deep in the mountain? Do ya need a torch?" The nearby blackberry thistle bush shivered before a female gnome stepped through. Half of her face was tattooed with runes, she had long wavy blond hair and wore leather jerkin like armor.

The female gnome leans against a stump "An invasion you say? Well, you've come to the right place, Gnomes are the best miners" she taps against her nose "An we can smell profits from miles away." after a moment she stands upright and approaches Belar "Name is Neezie.. Neezie Berrygun", she points further towards the crest of the hill "You'll find O'Banter up there, he's the closest thing we got to being in charge. When your done with your war, give me a visit and I'll treat you to a keg of Bloomball Berry Ale"

Belar reaches the top overseeing several small hills with doors on the eastern side, several old females are tending their chickens and sheep within the woven fences. A male with wavy red hair has a pile of wood from fallen trees and is using a wood choppers axe to cut them into kindling. Two young Gnomes far too young to acknowledge as adults pile the kindling onto carts and lead the large dog transports down to the village. The man stands upright to wipe sweat from his brow when he sees Belar "Well met Kinsman, are you lost? Do you need shelter? I'm Norton Lumberman, Matriarch of this small village"

The Gnome scratched his beard, contemplating what the Dwarf noble said. Norton slid his hand axe back into the safety loop "So, War you say and where is this war now? Centurians? that doesn't sound good. We don't have the resources available to fight professional armies. You can try Domhan Orga two days west or your best bet would be heading north, it will take a week, but you can get word to Corsorie, Falmorine, and Kirklanall. They got warlords with bans of warriors."

Norton waved the Dwarf to follow, walking on a gravel path along rows of flowers, "There is an old fort about half a days journey going north, haven't been there so I don't know if anybody is home. We're usually self-sustaining here and get merchants once a month to trade." He leads the Dwarf to a hill covered in flowers. Wooden posts next to the door have been prepared to maintain vineyard plants. The diverse breeds of flowers produce a sweet and spicy scent and invites birds to perch on nearby hedge trees. Norton knocks and the door before entering "Maggie", he called out "We have an important visitor."