A bit of trouble with them gold obsessed chaps
And thuswar... the historian Yevin Tathos favorite phrase regarding Martell
In any case, the Emperor of Auria, the Golden Empire, whatever you particularly want to call them, called his banners into action. All told, the Empire should have about 20,000 from Meccelan, 10,000 from Nippon, 10,000 from Avernum, 30,000 from Goldenfield, and 50,000 from the Province of Auria itself; 120,000 men. Against this, Martell had perhaps 15,000 of Deneheirns own now to call on, 10,000 men of the passes, and 30,000 men from various parts of the Sanaen Empire, or 55,000 total.
In case you didnt catch on, he was just a tad bit outnumbered.
But this, of course, was Jacob Martell, the famed conqueror of a kingdom and an Empire, and thus the Emperor of Auria, Aduran Tyros, a weak puppet, was not too eager to face Martell, and advanced rather slowly up the highway to Elleones Fork, but then thought better of even
that, and doubled back to the Golden Gate, a large fortress square in Martells path, to await the reinforcements from Avernum, Nippon, and Meccelan.
However, Martell had problems of his own, and was nowhere to be seen at this critical moment. Unbeknownst to all but a few of even his own men, he was riding his fastest horse with all possible haste southward to Meccelan...
What transpired there is unknown, but apparently he befriended a rather highly placed cavalry captain, Aleksyndrus, who persuaded the king to turn on the Aurian Emperor. This was, after all, Jacob Martell (ironically, hearing this, Martell is said to have sighed internally, being quite tired of hearing after all, he is Jacob Martell).
Thus, the army of Meccelan, 20,000 strong, departed for the Golden Gate, but for a very different purpose than the Aurian Emperor thought.
On the way back, Martell managed to forge an alliance with the nation of Jaindelle, an independent elvish kingdom that had managed to gain independence a while back, who was rather eager to get back at the newest, racist incarnation of the Aurian Empire.
And thus he raced back north to his own army with about 40,000 troops turned to his side.
After a month of forced marches, the battle seemed set. His 55,000 issued from their holdfast in the north to face the Aurian host, which had 100,000 on its side. With a bit of contempt, the emperor, influenced by the order of the green, sent forth the forces of Avernum and Nippon to deal with this host, supported by the orders elite knights, who numbered perhaps 5,000 among them.
They marched north and gave battle, a furious fight ensuing between these two armies, and while Martells forces were more battle hardened and numerous, there was no question that the southrons had much better equipment.
Suddenly, though, to the west, appeared a huge army, just barely visible from the tops of the towers of the Golden Gate. The gleaming host advanced, in full battle armor, a huge army of nearly half mounted warriors and half foot. They trotted dutifully up towards the fortress, and the Emperor was overjoyed to see this addition, which seemed twice as strong as he had called for. With this, surely, he could deliver a massive blow that would crush Martell.
But then, as his own men went out to link up with this army, the Meccelan and Jaindelle soldiers lowered their lances and pikes, drew their swords, and began to trot forward. Something was wrong. In a considerable bit of confusion, the Aurian soldiers were ordered to halt and wait for these men to link up.
But then, they burst into a gallop, coming at them in full, a massive gleaming horde of steel, straight towards the unprotected flank of the Aurian Army.
In a huge clash, they suddenly caught the Aurians in a huge pincer, and even while still outnumbered, they managed to crush the larger army in between them.
It was victory, glorious victory, on a scale of that which had never been seen, and the forces of Martell stormed the seemingly impenetrable Golden Gate. The forces of Avernum surrendered, their lord seeing no point in fighting on, the Nipponese fought to the bitter death. But for all their struggle, it was a huge victory, which had utterly smashed the enemy, taking almost all of their army down. Only 35,000 Aurian troops remained to challenge the newfound dominance of the Martellian host, which now numbered 90,000.
Martell gathered his troops quickly and marched directly south for the capital city of Trae. In a brief battle, he defeated the demoralized enemy army again, and the Aurian Empire, it seemed, was his. Most of the Empire recognized his rule, as did Avernum, Meccelan, Jaindelle, and even the faraway realm of Qajar-Khitai.
It would take a considerable bit of negotiation to allow Nippon to rejoin its lost fold, but finally Martell managed to hammer out a decent agreement, which was solidified when he fell in love with and married a Nipponese Princess. Gythsheirn even soon sent men to acknowledge their sovereignty.
It was only Goldenfield that resisted now, under the glorious leadership of Baelon Kamnos, Golden Lance, who led an army to a very glorious... defeat north of the Goldenwood. The Double Emperor, Martell, pardoned the defeated warrior, and melded his force into his army.
For he knew the fighting was not yet done.
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The Ride of Saja
However, it was not the fight he expected to fight. By all accounts, he seemed to believe himself Alkysynters Giantsbane reborn, and thus was gathering a force at the Pass of Last Refuge to fight evil once and for all...
But somehow that became sidetracked. He suddenly had to march southward, to fend off an invasion from Saja.
In a forced march of forty days, he managed to arrive not a minute too late to repel the invasion. Attacking furiously, he was without his usual grace, and the horse archer army of Saja managed to draw the battle out.
It was a desperate clash of kings, the north against south, the great internal struggle... and both lost.
In the midst of the fighting, ironically, both Emperors died in nearly identical ways. Both received an arrow through the eye.
*********************
The Black Years
For a dozen years thereafter, the empires fractured, each successor proclaiming dominance over the Empire, while Aleksyndrus Daemos, great friend of Martell, tried to keep the Empires peace as his Regent; but alas, it was all in vain. The Aurian Empire fell apart to four warring factions, Daemos defeating two, uniting with another through marriage, and finally succumbing to the third north of the Goldenwood.
A few years after, a great meteor was seen in the western skies, and a brilliant light filled the sky, an irony of the gods. For following the light was darkness, darkness for a century, filled with war, famine, plague, and despair. Old Empires fell apart, and the minor houses of the various empires became kingdoms in their own rights.
Even the mythical kingdoms beyond the seas, Thiranoa and the fabled Metanna, they fell too, refugees from the former coming into the land. Elves from the area of the latter seemingly founded Aiesetra.
The old empires have almost gone, and new ones must take up the mantle of the old, as they emerge from the ashes of civilization.
Can the world rise like the phoenix?
Portents say no. Darker times loom, and the barbarian kingdoms to the northwest grow stronger, many seeming to have unspeakable creatures dwelling in them...
And over all the world hangs the prophecy.
Ah, yes, the prophecy that Martell thought he would have to deal with, but never did; the prophecy a thousand years old, made by the elvish sorceress on the eve of the New Era.
The waters ebb
Old foes retreat,
But like the tide that flows at dawn,
These waters are not gone.
Old rivals come again,
The tides will return,
At this second coming
All men will tremble as they should.
Homesteads will burn;
Families be slaughtered;
Empires fall;
Legacies shattered.
To herald this return
Will be an age of terror;
In the interim there will be found:
The Swords.
The Nine Swords of the Nine of Twilight;
Snow, Phoenix, Brimstone...
Fleet, Hearfire, Longtooth,
Brimstone, Dragonbreath...
One by one they shall be found,
These invulnerable swords of old.
And at the last, dire hour,
Shall be found Aesuna.
Fear finding them,
That you should.
But retain them when you do;
For the Midnight Riders will ride again.
OOC: OK, guys, I'll post the map and then I'm done for tonight. Stats tomorrow, you'll be finding a few modifications to your own then. As for who's who on the map, well, I assume you can find yourselves. As for the NPCs, just ask them or use common sense.
Who do you have contact with? Just about everything within reason.
I would like to see stories before I do stats from every nation, so I know enough about them to begin really creating real stats to them.
Good night!
