Sekai (Fantasy NES): The Third Age Begins

Frustration

King Thorgrimm III Goldshield groaned as the young dwarven messenger, barely grown into his beard, exited his throne room. Shifting around the great bear's pelt that rested atop his Granite Throne, he fumed silently.

What was Du Farthen az Kurlan thinking? Being so pompous as to assume that Dorovel, which had, in half a millennium's history, still never fallen to enemy invasion, needed protection against a tribe of barbaric orcs? But this slight was nothing. What in the name of stone, gold and silver were they doing consorting with the Goblins!?! Xogiz was merely the most effective backstabber in all of Glotrith. This, Thorgrimm knew, would not end well for his northern bretheren.

It was ultimately no matter, it would be too late for their troops to march back without drawing further suspicion and ire from the Goblins. Misguided though the northerners' mission southwards was, they were coming nonetheless, and Dorovel would make the best of it.

There was no 'orcish siege' against Dorovel, though there was the rising force of Draak which needed to be crushed quickly. Forces consisting of over half of the city's military had already been deployed, and were now two days out. Du Farthen az Kurlan's military in the south could certainly help out if it wanted to, but Thorgrimm was not going to wait, lest the orcs continue their destructive raids.

What is done is done.

King Yatihad was disturbed. The whole army is sent out on a crusade, and he, the Regent. Is obliged to raise the historical 100 Infantry 50 Archer army again. Worse, he discovered that the whole trip was a fisco, and Du Farthen az Kurlan is doomed...

But Wait! What if MORE walls are built on the walls of the volcano? It will be almost imprengable! With the walls already 2 miles high it is certain to block out the undead... *This is my contribution!* he thought *we will survive the tide and attack once it recedes!*


Far far away


King Hatvid fumed, he was back stabbed! Not only was the goblins safe, but Dorovel, the ancient dwarven city, as well! He heard about the seige that defiled upper Dorovel years ago. He heard of the attacks they commited... no matter, his friend's enemy is also his enemy's enemy which might be a fickle friend, which might make his brethern even go against him...

He sent a small amulet from the Mountain Halls to Thorgrimm III Goldshield. And he vowed to be more careful after the undead are gone!

Troop Movement:

Kodo the Great Red and 15 infantry: M6
20 Amaliad Cavalry: M5

Orders for troops on the frontline: do not be afraid if a giant, fire breathing monstrosity comes flying by destroying all in its path. It's on our side. Just stay out of its way.

From: Fein II, King of Malthen
To: Aurel, King of Venetia

Greetings and good wishes, brother in spirit.

It is as written in the Scroll of Saira the Diviner: "portents never come alone". I have been a witness to that recently. Not many weeks after our previous correspondence, am ominous shade sneaked into the palace in the form of an elf-man and delivered a letter from a secretive source that was nonetheless trusted both by my father during his reign and by my current advisers. Their veracity is therefore not to be doubted, and they themselves do not seem to have been deceived; and unless they were, the two perils I have listed in my previous letter are in truth one.

For as it turns out, to the south of us is an Orcish kingdom, and in that Orcish kingdom there is a port city called Aiock, and beyond that city is the great Anokan Sea, and in that sea there dwell the Merfolk that you have mentioned. They are, I am told - both by the letter and by the Book of Beasts - brutish, yet mostly harmless to civilised peoples, as many such large beasts tend to be. Yet the same was said of the Giant Spiders, and by now there can be little doubt that this has somehow changed; and now the Merfolk too became enslaved by a greater power of evil, in this case not of their own kind, but of the Orcish. All are at loss as to how this might have happened, yet the Orcs have captured many of the those beasts and put them to work building large ships.

In the Book of Beasts it is written: "the Orcs have a small soul for things peaceful and a large soul for things warlike; they possess a weak mind for creation and a strong mind for destruction; and all in their being is such that they can hardly restrain themselves from attacking those more perfect than them, and their creations". Brother in spirit, it is clear that their new fleet is a fleet of war, and that it shall waste no time in attacking the civilised lands of the ecumene! I implore you to take precautions, or better yet, to heed the advice of our exalted ancient leader and prophet Mithmaethor, and "strike first at the unrighteous wielding even unsheathed weapons, lest they commit greater evil and injustice against you".

May bonds of brotherhood grow stronger rather than weaker in difficult times.

War of Undead Aggression Continues (Ninja Dude)

The war was going as usual. Skeletons versus Goblins. Large amounts of violence and looting on both sides. The situation was growing grim for Glotrith. From the desert there came another wave of troops, and before the Goblin defenders knew it, even Amaliad's Cavalry was overwhelmed. Then, in the sky, it could be seen: Kodo the Red. The great beast flicked his wings, with Goblins on his back shooting arrows to the Undead beneath. Kodo swung down and in one swoop was able to take out at least a hundred skeleton warriors, who were now in shambles on the ground.

These attacks came and came. The Undead archers attempted to shoot the dragon down, but the arrows just bounced off his scales and fell right back onto the archers below. Kodo was rather careless, sometimes accidently (or on purpose) killing some Goblins as well. But it was no matter. The Goblins on his back were laughing and screaming as they sieged the battlefield with their new weapon. As Kodo attacked, the Goblin troops advanced forward, and the Undead continued to fight. As long as a Necromancer stays strong, his forces will not retreat. As the fight grew more and more in favor of Glotrith, in the middle of the battlefield there were several Orcs on horseback, heavily armored but shadowed by cloaks over their armor. Two days later, Talod was assassinated, and the skeletons were all but broken down. Some skeletons still fought on even without Talod's magic, but they were soon dispatched of. Now it was Glotrith in pursuit of Xal'Amul's Undead.

Effects

• All Undead armies at the Glotrith front have been annihilated. Talod is presumed dead.
• 200 Glotrith infantry have been killed.

Orcish Raids Against Dorovel End (Lord_Iggy)

The Orcish raids against Dorovel have ended. Dorovel has begun to send troops south to the Orcish encampment to retaliate against these raids. The city-state is furious at the breach of their defenses, and they are determined to rid Sekai of this brutish encampment. This is an attack of revenge, showing the wrath of Dorovel's Dwarves, and it is likely to be highly successful.

Effects

• Dorovel's growth rate is back to 5%.

OOC: Keep track of when they arrive to the encampment. You can post another story update then, and then I will tell you what happened.

Movement: Advance party of 100 infantry and 50 Archers arrive in Tutanbar in 3 days.
4 days spent Moving: West into infested terriotry, West into infested territory, North west toward Desert of Xas, North East into the Desert of Xas.

200 gold for upkeep.
350 gold for 100 infantry and 50 archers.
150 gold for walls.
5 gold for Amulet of Comradeship against Xalas (To Dorovel and Goltrith.)

20 Infantry and 20 Archers Northwest 1 day (month) to protect the colonists of Hortav. 20 Infantry and 15 Archers Northwest to search the 'ruin/eye' and discover what is inside before returning to Hortav.

OOC: Phew. A lot of stuff happening today. I'm glad. Charles, since both your enemy and your friend took care of things, here is something interesting for you to occupy yourself with.


Mysterious Disturbance North of Du Farthen az Kurlan (Charles Li)

Lately the mountains that host the city-state of Du Farthen az Kurlan and to some extent the Kingdom of Glotrith have been experiencing earthquakes. These disasters have occurred for years, and only recently have they grown more frequent. Now that the short War of Undead Aggression in this area of Sekai is all but finished, the earthquakes are still happening daily, there is suspicion that perhaps the strange energy emanating from the caverns north of Du Farthen az Kurlan have something to do with these earthquakes. No one has been too hurt by the earthquakes. There have been some deaths here and there of older citizens of the city-state whose withering bodies cannot withstand the avalanches. For these Dwarves, though, earthquakes are common to their lifestyle.

The rumors of what lies in the northern caverns are rather terrifying. There have been reports of Dwarves walking into the caverns only to find a young man in normal peasant clothes smiling. The rumors say that it is not a man, but something possessing a man's body. The Dwarves outside of the cavern hear screams and moans. There are many varying reports, so it is uncertain what actually lies within those caverns. Sightings of a large beast that can shapeshift and mold its body to whatever form, whether it be long arms, weapons, or anything else, have been circulating for decades. No doubt that earthquakes are natural for this mountain range, but some within Du Farthen az Kurlan grow curious about what lies in those caverns, and if, possibly, the earthquakes could be caused by it.

Then there is also the issue that the other day, a band of Dwarven troops scouting the northern caverns disappeared. The king of Du Farthen az Kurlan is finally wanting to know what is in those caverns and why, so often, some of his people or his troops go missing when they enter that area.

Effects

• 5 Du Farthen az Kurlan infantry have died.

Options

• 1. Send some troops to hex I-5.
• 2. Wait until the war against Xal'Amul has ended.
• 3. Ignore.

Well: Since I would have 200 infantry and 100 archers... But 150 of them are chasing the retreating armies and 20 infantry and 20 archers of those protecting the close settlements are the victims...

Send 80 Infantry and 35 Archers into the carvan. have them pair up to protect each other. And if we can capture it. If it is totally too powerful to capture kill it or retreat. I chose 1!!!

(150 power! Save me!)

Okay, i just wanted to post this so I have a place to go to so I can see where my troops are. I did some math and distributed casualities somewhat evenly throughout the frontline tiles and came up with this:

Tile M5: 100 archers and 200 infantry
Tile M6: 200 Archers, 75 Infantry, and 20 Calvalry. Also Kodo the Great Red.
Tile N6: 175 infantry

Orders:

Glotrith/Ninja Dude
Capital: Tutanbar (N6)
Race: Goblin
Economy: 3275
Reinvestment: 1900 (I'm going to wast the extra 20 points)
Growth Rate: 6%
Hexes: O4 5 6 and 7. N5 6 and 7. M 5 and 6.
Improvements: Roads: N6 O3 O4 O5 Marketplace: N6
Troops: 300 Archers 275 infantry 20 Calvalry
Technology: Trading, Transportation
Spells/Skills: NONE
Build: nothing
Train: none
Research: Magick
Advantage: +1 movement for infantry

The message was born at night, in the upper civilian district of Ost-Letha, in a small, yet well-decorated house.

A gaunt old elfman in plain gray robes finished writing his short, concise letter, sprinkled it with a moderate amount of sand and, leaving it on his desk, turned to open a cupboard. Amongst other things, it contained numerous envelopes of different sizes and colours. He took out a small yellow envelope and placed it near the letter. After that, the man took his candle and lit a lamp near the only window with it.

A minute or two later, a young elfman rushed in, finding the Magister sitting at his desk without any sign of movement. As he walked closer, the Magister suddenly took the letter, ascertained that the ink was dry and carefully placed it in the envelope, then stood up, turned around and gave the envelope to the young elfman. It was all done silently. The elfman took the envelope, bowed and ran out of the house. Soon, he rode out, with a torch in his right hand, a scroll signifying his right of passage in the left and the envelope in his backpack along with some food. The young messenger rode out of the city in the middle of the night, after a short delay at the gates; in the meantime, the Magister was sitting at his desk and laughing eerily at the map of the kingdom and its surroundings that was barely illuminated by the candle.

The message then travelled quite quickly, out of the villa-filled immediate surroundings of Ost-Letha, through more sparsely-populated areas, and at last, after a ride of a few days and fewer stops, reached the new frontier. This new frontier was occupied by Malthen soldiers; the only settlements so far were their outposts and their main campsite, although, as with all the newly-reclaimed territories, it was supposed to be settled with volunteers lured in by tax exemptions over the next few weeks. This worked quite well for the Magister's plan, but the messenger did not know anything about it, and knew better than to ask.

He stopped again, for a brief moment, before the camp itself in the early evening of the new days. It was a classical perfect-tetragon-shaped armoured wooden encampent, as prescribed in the Law of War, with four symmetrically-placed watch towers guarding every side at a minor distance. The messenger took out his scroll again and rode up to one of the towers; but this time he was recognised without any problems, as the guards in the tower remembered him from one of his earlier visits. They said that General Celebfaer Lugiand was probably "occupied", but, ofcourse, they had no way of knowing for sure. Then again, they did have an inkling of who the messenger was working for, so one of them added that it most probably did not matter, especially inasmuch as the general, for all his other irregularities, was never inattentive or wrathful towards messangers from certain people in the capital.

The tired messenger rode into the camp (this time he did have to show his scroll) and jumped off his horse, and went towards the central, gold-silked tent in the campsite. Then he turned around and went towards the smaller, unguarded gray tent nearby. The guards from the golden tent leapt out and shouted that the general was not to be disturbed; the messenger showed his scroll again, but they were adamant. They did, however, quickly relent when he showed the envelope. As far as the messenger knew, only two people in the Malthen Kingdom used that variations of that particular colour code (in which yellow was for letters sent to generals) for their envelopes, and it was almost a certainty that one of them was the kingdom's true ruler, and the other one was still too important for either the general or his guards to ignore him.

A handsome (despite or perhaps partly because of the long scar crossing the right half of his face from just below the right eye to the corner of the mouth), athletic elfman in his thirties, inexplicably sporting nearly white hair - General Celebfaer Lugiand - was sitting in the smaller tent in the pose of the lotus, with his eyes closed. The tent was filled with incense, and in front of the rising star general there lie a star chart smeared in something that was almost definitely someone's blood. The messenger bowed and placed the envelope before the general, near the star chart. The general ignored it until the messenger went away to get some food and rest, then immediately opened his eyes and tore the envelope apart. The underlined sentence in the end of the letter was all that he needed to know. He set the letter on fire and held it in his hands for a while, standing up and smiling. He then threw it out, leaving the spreading fire to the guards to stamp out, and went back to his meditation.

Two hours later Celebfaer Lugiand emerged from his real tent and went into the golden one. His adjutants rushed out like cockroaches promptly after he said the first few words. Then the soldiers all assembled in front of the tend, and the general unsheathed his long curved sword, causing all to fall silent in awe at its beauty and decorations, as always. And then he pronounced his orders. Within hours, the camp was packed up as per standard procedure, and the army was on the way to the north-east; none but the general quite aware of their objectives and all but, in secret, the general completely confident in the course of action.

By then the messenger was ofcourse on his way back to Ost-Letha. The Magister never asked for his reports after those occasional hellish rides, and the messenger did not know if that meant that he was trusted or if that meant that he was being watched.

---

Army from M-20 moving to M-21, so as to later move into the newly-acquired (?) L-22. And then... you'll see.

In the Kingdom of Xal'Amul, in the Citadel of Xalas

Xas was a desert, but within this desert the sun had not shone there for some time, ever since Xalas came from the North to occupy the sandy location and dig out a citadel in a narrow opening of a canyon separating the northern desert from the southern desert. It was often hard to tell when it was day or night there. For long, dark clouds had hung over northern Xas as if it was constantly on the verge of raining. The clouds were ominous and black as opposed to the typical gray that would define a cloud just before rainfall. The Citadel of Xalas was several hundred meters, and his throne sat atop it in a carefully constructed orb. Surrounding his citadel were layers and layers of walls and large towers, which were peppered with tents and various cathedrals to the undead spirits. These fortresses were often controlled by a variety of necromancers that Xalas himself had trained or had become friends with in his travels.

Outside of the last wall separating the desert from the citadel and its surrounding areas, was a sandy graveyard. Dead plants were scattered across this land and there were several worms underneath the ground, giant ones that would devour anyone who might step into those areas. Often the worms fed on stray animals that would wander into the desert or occasionally even zombies, cherishing the small amount of flesh they may have. The sands here appeared more gray than whitish or light yellow. This was indeed one of the darkest places in Sekai.

Xalas sat at his throne, books everywhere. His study was a mess. His head had been in ancient books and lore for some time, even amidst the war he had launched. Xalas was quite an educated man. His magic was extremely powerful and his abilities were unquestionably terrifying. He had gotten this power from his intense and relentless study of topics that most magic-users dare not attempt, as it would most certainly threaten the fabric of their existence. Xalas was always one for going over the limit, and this had over centuries given him a great deal of power. As he bent over a large book of lore, reading about the organization of centaurs in the Second Age, a window in his sanctuary flapped open and a vulture flew in carrying a message.

The message was from one of the lieutenants on the front lines of the war, a lieutenant who had mostly stood behind the lines observing and providing intelligence. His letter was brief and concise.

Xalas, my Lord,

Glotrith has won the battle here. I do not know if I will return to Xal'Amul. We are now at the mercy of what appears to be Kodo.

Your faithful servant,

Mar'ae

Xalas clutched the letter in his fist and ground his teeth. His brow was furrowed and an even greater darkness came over the citadel. His eyes were glowing with green and black and his whole body was shaking. Soon, a smile emerged from his lips. "Kodo," he whispered. He opened the window the vulture had flown out of and blew a whistle. Swooping next to the top of the citadel, very close to the circular sanctuary, was a wyvern. Xalas hopped on its back and flew to one of the nearby stone towers that was attached to the outer-most kingdom walls. He looked at the sands, and from them arose hundreds of skeletons and assorted creatures. "Kodo," he whispered again.

Xogiz hopped along the scorched battlefield, isolated flames still burning in the dead of night. It appeared his plan had worked and now a dragon was on his side. Scouts had reported that Kodo had successfully driven back or destroyed the undead forces. Xogiz himself decided to go to the northern territories of his realm to survey the carnage. With him was Brana and a couple of his guard, just incase there was an unexpected surprise waiting for them.

“Boss, looks like da battle s’ over. Way ‘id we come ‘ere?” One of Brana’s warriors asked.

“Fool. Lord Xogiz wants some muscle incase some dummy tries to attack him while ‘e’s on ‘is stroll,” Brana yelled.

And so they continued marching, Xogiz’s goblin-eyes guiding them through the dark. Companies of goblins could be heard whispering and giggling as the king passed his hidden minions. An occasional grunt could be heard from the Amaliad stags that grew restless as goblins looked at them with hungry eyes.

Xogiz continued his stroll, occasionally kicking some sleeping goblin and surprising him with his company. Many times he was offered some beer or a piece of undead flesh that was left over. Xogiz declined with disgust. However, he did demand that all the skulls of the undead be put into a group of bags. He also yelled for all the skulls of supposed necromancers to be put into a bag as well. He wanted some trophies from this trip.

“Lord, dere seems to be some life left in dis one!” a goblin soldier cried out with glee.

Xogiz strode over to see a head, not just a skull, rotting flesh still cling to the bone.

“Petty goblin king! My lord Xalas will crush all of this land. You will beg for mercy as our legions stomp out all of the life in this worthless land you call a kingdom!” the skull cried.

“My, my, this one’s funny. Give me a moment to speak with this thing will ya guys?” Xogiz said to Brana and his men. Xogiz then walked into his tent.

“So my body less buddy, what’s on your mind?” Xogiz mockingly asked as he set the head on the ground.

“Nothing is on my mind except the destruction of everything you love. You throne room will burn as crows pick the flesh off of your decrepit body,” The head said, rage in every word.

“Well then, that sounds very interesting and all. But tell me, how exactly is all of this going to happen? Your first wave was held back by the bare minimum of forces I could muster and your second wave absolutely destroyed by Kodo. What more can you fools through at me?”

“Lord Xalas w-“

“The fool Xalas isn’t here to save your pathetic hides. I bet he’s afraid to take me on in person. Notice how he continues to throw wave after wave at my kingdom while sending his zombies to do the job for him? Well, that’s about to change. Next week, the fight is coming to Xalas. My armies will charge across his lands, ravaging his pitiful excuse for a kingdom.”

“No! you know nothing of The Great Xalas’s power!” the head shrieked. It then wobbled close enough to bite Xogiz’s foot, clamping on with uncontained rage.

“For the love of Blazgig, get him off!” Xogiz shrieked.

Soon, Brana marched into the tent and pried the head’s jaw’s open, freeing Xogiz.

“That’s the last straw! Brana, execute or little hot head!” Xogiz ordered.

Brana squeezed with little effort, squashing the skull in his hand with a splat.

“Go clean youself up Brana. We’ve got a war to fight.”

OOC: Very very nice. I want to warn you, in your orders when you get to Xal'Amul, make sure a lot of your troops take cautionary stances, or are able to retreat quickly. Not at first, but at the end of the fight. I am telling you this out of the kindness of my heart, to prevent your military from getting decimated by a necromancer who may or may not be the grandson of a god. But I think its clear that Glotrith won this war. Everyone gets a freebie at the start. As time goes on, my role as Supreme Deity of Sekai will become a bit more... violent.

To Malthen, From Venetia (das)

The letter we have received from you is extremely disconcerting. We all face grave difficulty at one time or another in our lives. This is the way of life. It can bring prosperity for a moment, becoming to a sense of unbridled success. The higher the stakes are, the greater the potential dangers. Our small city-state has seen much in its time. It has withstood invasions from various foes, from orcs to wild centaurs. Our mighty navies have battled pirates for decades, victorious over their attempts to plunder Sekai's wealthiest communities. We are a proud people, and we are prepared to do whatever it takes to restore a certain level of dignity and righteousness to Sekai's open seas. Our world is a dangerous one, but also a beautiful one. We respect the oceans, and the oceans respect our people.

What we have on our hands is an abomination. No civilized culture would ever go through the effort to enslave some of Sekai's most precious natural beings. Merfolk play a vital role in the survival of our seas. They are natural sea-workers and are partly responsible for the existence of coral. They are beautiful creatures, intelligent in many ways, but not capable of civilization. It is akin to orcs enslaving monkeys to construct their ships. I cannot imagine how Merfolk would be able to construct a ship of war. There must be some mysterious force or magic involved in this. Able-bodied Merfolk must be possessed by something of greater intelligence. This is pure evil you speak of.

And Venetia will not tolerate it. We have never tolerated it. A few of our ships of war have gone missing, and we have been set back a bit. Still, we have a fleet at our disposal, and so, we aim to do something with it. No more sitting idle while the orcs to the south conduct their sick and twisted experiments.

We are not going to be hasty or stupid in conducting this fight. We plan to approach this situation covertly and steadily. We will likely set up a base near Zalask, but far enough from Aiock so that we may have a convenient place to launch a war from. Our city-state might be small, but we can and will challenge the might of a large orcish kingdom. Our ships of war and many of our troops are known throughout the land to be proud and powerful. We will not give up until this fight is won. We will keep you updated on our movements.

-

If one were to look at Venetia from a distance, one would see a quaint village coupled with massive harbors and large ships of war. They have a small, but extremely capable and well-trained army as well. Today, Venetia saw activity the likes of which it has not seen in some time. Men were hopping aboard both smaller and larger vessels of the sea. Troops were loading into cargo holds, marching down the streets of their city, being waved at by loved ones and thrown loaves of bread. For this small city-state to muster this degree of morale and power was quite amazing. Venetia was a respectable city-state, and its efforts would not be mocked, despite its small size.

As the troops marched aboard ships, they were followed by the mages and the paladins, some siege weapons, and various other personnel and tools of war. The paladins being sent were some of Sekai's finest, men that have traveled all over Sekai and even, in some cases, partook in joint training with the paladins of Gondola.

Would Sekai ever be at peace? Not as long as there are opposing forces existing in this world.

"WHAAAAAAAT!" Cried King Hativ, his troops arriving in Tutanbar.

"Yes, they are driven out.", said a servant.

"I DON'T CARE", yelled the King. "I'll chase them with your forces, together we might reach the Citigal in time to punish him for even thinking of attack! Out!"

"What's the news?" cried the soldiers.

"Goblins driven them out, we will move out to fight the next horde! March!"

And so, the forces moved out, toward the distant citigal and toward a battlefield and unbesknown to them: a dragon.

(As of this moment Celebfaer's army is supposed to enter hex L-22, where it is to make camp as previously described, patrol the area and set up some forward outposts looking at the northeast. Any locals encountered are to be treated well and generally left alone; any wanderers who get in the way are to be politely interrogated about any rumours about this region and the regions to the northwest, the north and the northeast in particular.)

Awaiting Quest Reponses (I will post an update once I get story responses for these pending quests.)
Selot and the Giant Spiders.
Ichthys and his group, and what he is doing with the lizardmen.
Ragnar after his run-in with orcs and his injuries.

My army is now one week (one RL day) away from Draak. I'll try to write a story about my army, its general, etcetera, today.

Troop movement:
From: Tile M5: 100 archers and 200 infantry
Tile M6: 200 Archers, 75 Infantry, and 20 Calvalry. Also Kodo the Great Red.

To: K5. Do not engage anyone except any retreating undead.