"War.. War never changes..
Since the dawn of Erebus, when our ancestors first discovered the killing path with rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything, from Junil, to justice, to simple psychotic rage of the Veil.
In the year 535, after centuries of armed conflict, destructive nature of man, could substain itself, no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of holy fire, and purgatory.
But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was just the prolouge to another bloody chapter of human history. For man, had succeded destroying the world.."
'twas the year 525, Sphener eyed over to the Malakim desert with its riches.
Junil has spoken to me, that land belongs to Bannor. By our god and honor, our destiny must be fulfilled.
Sphener, however, saw no way to reach his goal. The desert people were tucked deep in the burning sands and their garrisons were too numerous for the zealous crusaders to tackle. For now, Sphener waited.
In the north, Bannor armies were thinned by constant raiding of the tundra peoples and the city of Kabhalg faced imminent siege.
The garrison of Kabhalg was to hold by the skin of their teeth. During this dire time, several missions were launched to gain strategic advantage over the lesser nations on Erebus. Vice-Regent Fleme launched a mission to dislodge the old man Einion Logos whose borders closed the strategically important sea passage to an unclaimed source of Mithril. Commander Lugh, as cited by the historian Mallus described this a mission of plagued by attrition. As Bannor armies were stretched as is, he was tasked to march to the heart of the Elohim land with what he had. Mere 2 units of catapults, his loyal retinue and the bulk of his army consisting of fanatics the odds were against him.
However, in a show of heroism, progress was made:
The fortress city of Inishbofin was the first to fall. The Elohim mission was showing promise although empire-wide rioting against the war was rising its ugly head.
Some said that Vice-Regent Fleme had lost his mind setting a mission on the uncharted island to the north and committing valuable Paladins to the cause but he envisioned a highway for transferring Mithril in case the mission through the Elohim lands failed. He planned a forwards base immediately north of existing Bannor lands and a savage city would serve that purpose. From thereon he planned a highway through the wastes to the source of Mithril
Back south, Sphener, guarding the money chest of the Empire faced siege from the desert dwellers. Armed to the teeth the dervishes laid siege on Evermore:
Sphener stood unrelenting.
Having found a way to meddle with the issues of other nations thinking of themselves as "Good", Vice-Regent Fleme voted to outlaw the usage of Death Mana. Resolution passed without objection all the while the Paladins had fought an established a beachhead on the northern island.
In his folly, the Vice-Regent dispatched an army of zealots to face the last remaining elven stronghold. Reality here struck like the hammer at the forges of the Khazad.
Due to poor scouting and ill preparation, this army seemed to face it's demise and it was forthcoming sooner rather than later. The army was ordered to withdraw as the tacticians calculated that the odds were heavily against the zealot army.
In the former Elven lands, yet another story came to be. The scene was the Mage Guild of Yonna. While this small event seemed very minor at the time, historians would later come to consider this as one of the pivotal moments in the development of magic and understanding the "darker" schools for warfare.
The immediate benefit of course being, a heightened understanding of Magic as a sphere rather than a coin with good and bad sides, black and white.
Sphener and his army in Evermore stood stalwart and held the waves of desert dwellers crushing against the trellises. While many lesser warriors were slain defending the heathen Song of Autumn, the city stood. Valin Phanuel inspected the field after the onslaught and a boon was discovered - the Axe of the former Barbarian Lord Orthus. Sphener would claim the Axe as his own... Holy Fire would descend upon the non-believers.
Here the Vice-Regents folly started the show. Armies spread thin, reinforcements sparse and the Vanguards of the garrison in Kabhalg, the Paladins, dispatched on the Mithril Mission, the city fell. The savages from the northern wasted laid a prolonged siege on the city which could not be reinforced. It fell.
The Elven mission had failed. The formerly captured city of Bruti had been reclaimed by the elves and the army of zealots was without support. In a desperate attempt to save themselves, the army moved on the city and burned it. This was done to remove remaining elven claims on Bannor lands and to open a way for the army to return to Evermore.
Returning to the topic of heightened understanding of magic, the events that transpired in Yonna had spread to neighboring cities and more and more adepts were starting to ask questions that were formerly forbidden. In Hyll, things took a turn to the darker side of things and in an attempt to keep things on a need to know basis, the guild master Gaelan was hired to the ranks of the Bannor. He knew the secrets of Chaos magic which enabled him to be able to mutate lesser men into... as some say abominations but what in reality are often the pinnacles of human evolution. The Vice-Regent, being an avid student of the magics himself granted Gaelan the grim task to evolve select Bannor soldiers beyond their natural limitations.
The desert army faced peril after peril during their voyage back home:
And little did the soldiers know that whoever would survive, would be subject to Gaelans tests.
Meanwhile, in the very core of the empire, the northern barbarians were sending raiders to strike the heart of Bannor.
Sphener, having been dispatched to alleviate the northern threat, was just in time to defend the ever so important city of Astrum and it stood.
While missions were failing, the Mithril Highway was well underway. Having dodged raiding ships of the Illians, a group of Workers, a Settler and the aforementioned Paladins had landed on the island and were hard at work to secure the precious metal for the cause.
Sliktor, being the new stronghold against the evil civilizations, stood to face raiding from both the Illians and the Calabim. Sphener had taken over the garrison and was holding the line.
Donal Lugh, suspected lost in the Elohim lands and slain, surprisingly re-established contact with the Bannor command in the year 538, after having been out of reach for over 10 years. His army had miraculously survived off the land and not just that, but also dislodged a good portion of the Elohim armies in the process. Heroic victories had made his troopers into hardened veterans and his clergy and mage retinue into something the Bannor had not seen before.
And yes, Donal had good news:
A garrison was set to guard the Tower of Eyes and reports were heard from across the empire that the citizenry were not complaining about the war anymore.
With the coast opening up for trade, the newly found city of Mithril Haven was shipping enough Mithril to upgrade all the Bannor armies with weapons of unparalleled quality. The edge was finally turning in the favor of the Bannor.
The year 538 also saw the resignation of Vice-Regent Fleme. He had developed the magical schools and focused the efforts of Bannor researchers on Blasting Powder not to mention claim Mithril, he felt confident to hand the scepter of command to the next vice-regent in line.
"But war.. War never changes.."