UPDATE SEVEN
Turmoil in the west
Turmoil in the west
Spoiler :
In the village they renamed Thrymr, the frost giants kill some of the inhabitants who were obviously worhsipping Myrde. These were accused of holding strange ceremonies in fields where they sent small leather balls at each other with wooden implements. The unholy rituals were forbidden.
In the surrounding countryside, several trees turn into crystal. When the fruits are picked up, they turn out to be duck eggs. Except for those which contain a dead squid of course.
Speaking of squids... In the city of Myrde proper, a clone of the squid-headed Maerfarth is seen in the city. People hunt him in search for food, but the creature doesn't let itself be caught. It defends itself, flaying its tentacles and trying to repel the attackers, but ultimately it gets swarmed, cut to pieces and eaten.
The city also comes under attack by some cultists who appear out of nowhere and preach the coming of Samael, the deity of Ermor. They try to convert the madmen to the faith of Death at the point of their dagger. They manage to turn some madmen into ghouls by feeding them corpses, but the cultists are few, unorganised and apparently working on their own and with no backup of the Church of Eldergate. Soon, they start falling to the mind blasts of raving lunatics and they all die without achieving much.
C'tis priests build a temple in their new city of Lagash, strengthening the dominion of Skenaton and bringing some order to the surrounding Myrde madness. They setup a trade fleet in their southeastern city of Unug, to trade with the other coastal cities.
Alifat soldiers try to take the chaos city they reached by force. They planned to take down the opponent by shock, and to break their morale, but when they face mechanical men backed by archers, they soon realise that they are facing unbreakable constructs which they can't beat, and it's the Alifat army that has to run away.
In southern Boeuf, a group of dwarves arrived from chaos. They are looking for a woman of their race that might have found refuge in Boeuf. After some investigation, they reached Myrvo, where the sturdy female crafter went in a tantrum upon seeing them. Lots of probably harsh words were exchanged in an unknown tongue, and the dwarves left the place looking furious.
Boeuf also saw the construction of a smaller Horned temple in Deerholm, while at the same time many minotaur wise men ran around the land preaching the feats and might of Taurus. Some human preachers have also been trying to spread their faith in southern Heldenthal. This went quite well at first, but the minotaur worshippers soon ran into some kind of passive resistance to the new ideas. Even those who don't actively worship Walaruna seem to disregard the faith of Taurus. The lord of Oberklingenbach has sent very explicit messages to Taurus, warning him that the acts of his worrshippers are seen as destabilisation attempts and should cease immediately.
King Alrich paid a visit to Shopenwerg and, using the mesmerising powers of Walaruna, he convinced the kind of the city to formally become a vassal of Heldenthal.
Falaxan raises archers in Valewood while Ezio is seen performing various miracles across the country.
Erynini rebuilds Marignon. Those faithful to the Eternal Pyre who hid in the fields come back to the city and build back their houses. The walls are rebuilt, a city guard is reestablished, and the old monastery is replaced by the House of Cinders, a brand-new temple. The city is linked to the heartland by a new road. The Burned Man works in the city, and in every site he visits, he finds miraculously spared stones and beams that can be used to rebuild with little problem. All across the country, faith in the power of the Eternal Pyre increases.
Firland move their army against the city of Drakalor. At the same time, they send mephits flying to the east to learn about the layout of chaos lands. They find more mountains, and a small city called Darayush inhabited by men.
The Phoenix marches on Drakalor, and his large armies easily take out the city. Thus far, the temple of the Holy Pyre of Erynini hasn't been touched by Firland soldiers, but many believe that the Phoenix will demand that the people worship him instead.
Taernsvwyn settlers move north into the hills where they build the small town of Winterheim. Built near the border of chaos, it's a mining colony that is connected to Fenberg. Winterheim is a cold place bringing metals to the south in exchange for grain and food.
In the young town of Moralfar in the north of Ulm, a clan chief started sprouting horns. At first people mocked or pitied him, but soon they realised that ttalking to him about these golden horns would anger the man. They kept talking behind his back, however, and did so more and more as the man starting growing huge. He grew to seven, eight, now nine feet tall. The town is also beset by strange disappearings. Every new moon, one person is found missing. However, the population in Moralfar keeps growing, as Ulmites of unknown origin keep appearing in the region. Scouts are also sent to the north and east, where they find the city of Alhemia in the hills north of the mountain range.
Still in Ulm, a group of druids convinces several villages near Urgad to defect and celebrate nature. They want to create a new religion, revoking the cult of the Anvil to worship Nature instead.
In Eldgergate, a master smith invents new ways of forging weapons and armors. The new allos he uses makes for more durable weapons and lighter armor, increasing Ermor army quality.
Samael leads a large army into Marverni. Following the river, they bypass the eastern city of Condate and strike directly at the capital of Carnutes. The city is weakly defended, and the population hides behind their walls.
Ermor mounted auxiliariesa patrol far and wide around the city, sometimes meeting wiht Condate horsemen. Ermor army builds scorpions and catapults, with which it bashes down some of the earth and wood palissades. Samael rushes through the opening, her firy sword dealing deadly blows to the militiamen who feebly try to repel Ermor legionaires. With barely a fight, the legions take control of the city and order the druids and nobles in the presence of Samael. The armies in Condate haven't moved during the siege. Their leader, Vercingetorix, made king of all the ribes of Marverni in times of trouble, seems to believe that they can't defeat the Ermor legions with the troops he currently has.
Overall, the operation has been a success, and Ermor has suffered only slight attrition. The unexplained deaths of some legionaries at night in their own camp, sometimes found dead in quite gruesome scenes, doesn't help much with troops morale however.
The Carnute city leaders are taken hostage, and Samael sends messengers to Vercingetorix, starting peace bargains. The heralds of the angel of Death tell him that if he refuses, even if Ermor was to fall, Samael will carve a path of destruction through Maverni so wide that the forests of Carnutes will hereafter be known as the Desert. Vercingetorix answers that he can agree to peace with the empire, provided Carnute is given back its freedom and the hostages are freed. He also offers to renounce Helven but asks that Redonum be granted its independence, thereby restoring the situation prior to the war. He welcomes further negotiations with Ermor should these terms not be acceptable.
Meanwhile, the Ermor legions are wary of Arcoscephale troops. These have invaded southern Ermor again, and word has them marching upon Truscanior. Actually, they don't go that far north, but they do invade the southern region, avoiding Eldergate itself but they take control of the river shores and a lot of agricultural lands that are used to feed Eldergate.
Arcoscephale cities build a series of watchtowers that can send warning across the country over vast distances. Their fires are easily spotted even from far-away, producing lots of dark smoke in the day and a bright light in the night.
The Bhumi army, led by Madhavali, marches on the city of Lingaram, north of Naoot. The soldiers call to the inhabitants and demand the join the nation. As Lingaram refuses, the prophet and his general realise they need to be brought into the fold forcibly. Madhavali sends his nagas and the huge black spiders that were recently summoned from chaos to attack the defenders, and Lingaram falls to the Bhumi army with little losses to the winners.
In the heartland, Bhumi jungles are spreading out of chaos lands in the plains west of Fornalis. Bhumi scouts have been sent into chaos lands. They pushed back the limits of known lands somewhat in every direction, but mostly they discovered a small mountain range in the southwest beyond which lies the Darkswamp city of Pythia.
Pythians have been spending all their resources to establish farms around the city. More than half of the inhabitants had to leave their home and establish themselves in the fields in order to avoid starvation. The Bog Serpent heals those he can, but he spends most of his energy to raise Sakarlaisk from the dead and bring him back to the world of the living. The prophet is a bit changed however : One of his eyes is definitely lost, and a muddy ooze continually seeps from the dark orbit.
In northern Darkswamp, rains of gold fall upon the southern city called Bogarus. The gold hail kills a few unfortunate people who were outside at the time, damages some buildings and crops, but the gold is collected by the inhabitants who mostly rejoice about the unexpected event.
In Lasanak, an orgy has been organised by some wealthy and influent citizens. Some of them got really drunk and went on a rampage, devastating the host's house. This led to bitter feelings and those wealthy men are now busy sabotaging each other commercial operations and fields. This petty bickering causes food shortage as the distribution of food to the markets is hindered.
The winged men are given money to establish themselves in the northernmost town. They now comprise almost half the population of this settlement. This leads to some frictions between the newcomers and the locals, but for the moment the situation is peaceful.
In Mallitain, an astrologer of Ulanbar establishes a new calendar, which helps plant and harvest at the right times, increasing food production from this year on.
Roads are built and completed from Vanas to Jassar and from Jassar to Ulanbar, and along the river across the nation.
In Vanas, Cassiopeia finishes growing a Tree of Life similar to the one in Jassar.
Jack marches from Pythian Harbor to Vanas with his army. From there, he follows the newly completed road up to Jassar. After a couple of days studying reports, he leads his armies to the Bhumi city of Fornalis. There, the faith in the Pavitra Bacce is faltering. People talk about independence of the gods and similar heretic thoughts spread in the city.
When the Mallitain army reaches Fornalis, messengers are sent to Nagapur to warn the Pavitra Bacce. Lofar and Visvasa the One-eyed Bhuta rouse the army and march upon Fornalis in order to confront the Mallitain invaders, forgoing for a while the magic studies they were pursuing in the Librarium Arcanum.
The Pavitra Bacce also decides to stop his current endeavours to join the army. Putting around his neck a magical amulet he just completed, he leaves the old man with whom he was working on the construction of a golem. Unfortunately, this is the time the chaotic magic used kicks in. The large clay statue starts moving, and brushes old Maharal away. The man falls to the ground, his skull split by the creature he worked on for years. Surprised, the Pavitra Bacce realises the creature is not only alive, but it is also running amok. The clay construct breaks the wall of the workshop and escapes into the city. The Pavitra Bacce is caught in the crumbling house. His amazing strength and resilience save his lfe, and he manages to emerge from the debris. He barely has time to fetch his arms before the golem wrecks to the city. Lofar has already left Nagapur to lead the army against the invaders, and therefore the Pavitra Bacce has to single-handedly take down the monster he helped create. The golem is tremendously strong, and bathes in unearthly flames when the god of Bhumi eventually confronts it, but the consruct is awkward and no match for the skill of the god. But the fight is long, and the construct isn't weakened or impressed by the Pavitra Bacce's magics, contrary to the opponents the Pavitra Bacce used to fight. When Bhumi's god finally wins, he is so exhausted that he has to rest for a few days after the struggle. For this reason, he cannot help his armies when they face the might of Mallitain.
The Pavitra Bacce tracks the golem and defeats it before it can lay waste to the city.
Fornalis has been besieged for several days when the rescuing army arrives. Bhumi has a few infantry soldiers, mostly untrained men led by a few naga warriors, several archers, and plattoons of freshly trained lizard rider cavalry. King Lofar leads the army, wielding magic to help his archers shoot with more accuracy and shooting lightning at the enemy. The one-eyd Bhuta is also with the troops, a terrible wraith made of wisps of solidified smoke and shadow.
The Mallitain army is led by Jack, and made of heavy infantry, shielded spearmen in the front and swordsmen in the back, backed by composite bowmen and many horse archers.
When the armies clash, it is not long before the Bhumi levies, poorly equipped and panicked by Jack's war cries, break. Many Bhumi archers have also fallen to the Mallitain archers, both mounted and on foot, and many of them flee. The Bhumi lizard cavalry has to spread thin, but they manage to hold the line, with some archers still supporting them along with their two heroes. The Bhumi left wing even manages to rout the light cavalry they were facing, but their cente is extremely thinned at this point.
Bhumi's left wing reaches the enemy archers, but point-blank composite bow shots kill most lizard riders. The mounts keep fighting on their own, but at the same time, Visvasa the one-eyed Bhuta sees the riders to his right are all dead. Mallitain soldiers breach through the center and rush towards the archers and retreating infantry. The lizard riders realise the battle is lost, and Bhumi soldiers retreat.
At the end of the day, seeing their king defeated under their walls, the inhabitants of Fornalis surrender and open their doors to the Mallitain.
