Campaign History:

Campaign History:

ß …the war with Soublighter[1]:

*Critical Turning Point* Alric executes a sneak attack on Muirthemne[2] with Dwarf and Trow allies, successfully breaches the walls and recaptures the ancient city.
Alric crowns himself emperor of the Cath Bruig empire after retrieving the Ibis Crown[3] from the Mausoleum of Clovis[4] within the walls of Muirthemne, which he soon renames to its original title, Llancarfan. The Heron Guard is reborn.
Muirthemne (Llancarfan) is besieged by Myrkridia[5] and successfully defended by the new scores of Heron Guard.
The Deceiver[6] obtains the Tain[7] at Forest Heart[8], enters the relic and slays The Summoner[9], permanently ending the threat of newly conjured Myrkridia. The Deceiver and his element are captured by Soulblighter[10] after leaving the Tain.
The Deceiver is freed by the shade Phelot[11], steals one of Soulblighter’s crows thus crippling his ability of airborne travel before escaping his camp.
The Deceiver destroys Shiver[12] and her army south of Silvermines[13]. In the dream battle he is assumed dead.
Alric pins an outflanked Soulblighter against the Cloudspine and attacks his army, wielding Balmung[14] with reinforcements from the West. Soulblighter is routed then eventually defeated; he escapes into Mount Tharsis[15].
Soulblighter attempts to destroy the world by collapsing Mount Tharsis but is slain by Alric and a band of warriors from the legion. Alric barely escapes as the volcano erupts and he returns to Llancarfan.

…end of the war with Soulblighter.

Present times…

May 1^st, 2541 A.E. - The Deceiver (who is now calling himself Mydred again) and the Warlocks of the Scholomance[16] return to Llancarfan and pledge their allegiance to Alric.
May 9^th, 2541 A.E. - Alric declares Myrdred his consul and Fadhbhaim and Seven Jaguar White Flower his high advisors.
May 11^th, 2541 A.E. - Alric takes command of the (Cath Bruig) throne and issues several mandates: the ancient city of Llancarfan will be rebuilt and once again be the capital of the empire, The Games will be held to induct new Heron Guard to imperial service, old alliances with the Trow[17], Dwarves[18], fir’Bolg[19], barbarians of Gower[20] and the Twelve Duns[21], will be reforged, the avatara school will be refunded with Myrdred as the academy’s master, and what remains of the West will be officially reabsorbed into the empire.
Alric consolidates his army and lands; the entire standing army of the empire is less then five hundred men, completely devastated from the war with Soulblighter.
Rumors abound that the remnant undead forces of Soulblighter’s army are running rampant through the countryside and many small armies are being formed by renegade shade sorcerers which now operate free willed. Fir’Bolg rangers from the Ermine report that most of the West is being slowly destroyed with no standing army to repel attackers and that many lords have broken off from the protection of the empire, declaring themselves independent. Alric meets with Mydred and emerges with a plan to reinstate the empire’s borders.
May 12^th, 2541 A.E. - Alric[22] secretly calls for a single herald and his personal bodyguard to be summoned to Llancarfan from adjacent territories for a meeting. Those summoned include the Trow, Dwarves, fir’Bolg, barbarians[23] of Gower and the Twelve Duns. Runners are sent to ensure a speedy arrival.
May 14^th, 2541 A.E. - Within two days the company of heralds[24] arrives, oblivious to Alric’s intent. Within several days, they are summoned to the recently rebuilt Heron Citadel for a secret meeting which will decide the empire’s allies and enemies and what will be done about the undead menace.
Rhi’Anon[25], Myrgard[26], the Twelve Duns, Gower and the fir’Bolg of the Ermine pledge allegiance to the Cath Bruig Empire as allies. Athalaric, ki’Angsi[27] and Prince Acerus Malum Magnus are hesitant to join the alliance as full allies but are convinced by Erskine of Gower and Seven Jaguar White Flower to commit their nations to the cause.
Llancarfan is subject to a sneak attack by the same shade who freed Mydred from Soulblighter’s camp several months before, Phelot. The attack comes just as the new alliances are forged. Phelot arrives with an army of thrall, mauls[28], ghols, war elephants and bewitched men from Gower. From the Mausoleum of Clovis an endless army of undead comes, mostly men who had once been buried there honorably, including Heron Guard, barbarian chiefs and king Leitrim[29] himself! Llancarfan is leveled and the tiny garrison of less then five hundred men, mostly comprised of old veterans from the legion and volunteers from the West is basically eradicated. The defense of the city fell on the shoulders of the free men who had come to claim the title of Heron Guard through The Games, the council with their bodyguards and the Heron Guard itself. In a climatic dream battle, Alric destroys Phelot and routes his remaining forces with the help of Fadhbhaim and Seven Jaguar White Flower.
King Athalaric is slain in battle by King Leitrim, his remaining huskarls pledge their allegiance to the Erskine clan.
Twelve Motion Jeweled Skull[30], veteran of the Great War and the war with Soublighter is mortally wounded during the siege and passes temporary leadership of the Heron Guard to Seven Jaguar White Flower.
May 15^th, 2541 A.E. - Alric calls for a band of volunteers to enter the Mausoleum with him and purge whatever evil is causing the dead to become animated again. Members of the Heron Guard who were lucky enough not to be wounded during the siege volunteer, as well as Dvalin Albrecht[31], Thorgeisl Erskine, ki’Angsi, Seven Jaguar White Flower, Fadhbhaim and their men.
Several of King Athalaric’s men leave for the Twelve Duns to request reinforcements and to return their king’s body to its proper resting place.
Prince Prince Acerus Malum Magnus leaves for Rhi’Anon to request reinforcements.
Ki’Angsi sends one of his ranger brothers to request reinforcements from the Ermine.
Ghol[32] necromancers raise the dead and defile the various shrines of the Mausoleum of Clovis. The resting place is purged besides one foe, Clovis himself, who has been reanimated by some dark ritual. In a epic final battle Clovis is destroyed but destroys most of the mausoleum with him, collapsing the ceiling on the band of warriors including Alric and Dvalin Albrecht, Thorgeisl Erskine, ki’Angsi, Seven Jaguar White Flower, Fadhbhaim.
( June 16^th, 2541 A.E. - ) Time passes in Llancarfan; it is assumed Alric and the council are dead, the Western world plunges into chaotic strife and civil war. Increasingly large undead armies move from village to village, destroying all human life. An independent kingdom in the West forms which includes the Province[33] with intent of surviving the undead onslaught. Llancarfan is deserted, only a few Heron Guard and the Warlocks of the Scholomance stay behind to curate it- the Guard contemplates becoming journeymen again. Twelve Motion Jeweled Skull (Who has recovered from his wounds) and Myrdred share joint control over the crumbling empire in Alric’s stead. The Trow mass an army to the north.

May 16^th, 2541 A.E. - Alric escapes from the Death Plane with most of the men who had accompanied him into the Mausoleum of Clovis, winding up in the fabled East. While trying to return to the west, Alric’s small force is surrounded by the local provincial army and obliterated- Alric is seriously wounded and captured by the magistrate.
May 31^st, 2541 A.E. - Ki’Angsi escapes the Death Plane by himself a couple of weeks later and locates Danpeng village. He rallies a dozen or so villagers and several fighting monks to form a ragtag militia in hopes of rescuing Alric after learning of his fate from the local abbot, Shi Yan Bin.
June 13^th, 2541 A.E. - The party of Dvalin Albrecht, Seven Jaguar White Flower and Fadhbhaim also manage to escape the Death Plane, several weeks later. Thorgeisl Erskine and most of his men were nowhere to be found and are assumed to be lost in the twisting energies of the Plane.

Dvalin Albrecht, Seven Jaguar White Flower and Fadhbhaim are immediately captured as they enter the East[34]. Ki’Angsi and the villagers rescue the prisoners in a daring raid, bringing them back to Danpeng village after narrowly escaping the enemy.
June 14^th, 2541 A.E. - After speaking with the abbot it is concluded that a rescue attempt should at least be attempted on Alric before fleeing west but Shi Yan Bin warns the provincial magistrate operates from a massive fortress, an army of loyal samurai always protecting his position, ready to die by his mere utterance of a command. The abbot only knew of one man who could offer the proper advice or aid for such a daring rescue attempt, a man who had passed through the village years before and taught him the common tongue, a powerful sorcerer (and fallen lord) who had called himself “The Faceless Man.” The last the abbot last saw the man heading into the infamous Danwai mountain pass alone, a canyon comprised of twisted black rock face leading up to the mountain itself- rumored to be inhabited by monsters by the locals. The band of westerners agreed and headed off into the mountains, the abbot would come along to act as an advisor and guide.

To the horror of everyone involved, the band ran across a cave with a Myrkridian standard outside. As this region of the pass had been rumored to contain mandrake root, a necessity for the healing powers of the Heron Guard Seven Jaguar White Flower – the band decided to check the cave anyway. The standard was not from an earlier age and apparently was recently erected for they found living Myrkridia inside and many of the expedition fell to their vicious claws. Clearing the cave of the devils, not only was an abundance of mandrake root located but also a fabled Myrkridian Pack Mage, a being of myth that was not thought to actually exist. After a fierce battle, the pack mage was defeated and several relics of old times were found in its treasure cache including a tome which theoretically could bring back the Myrkridia to the world of Myth.
After journeying through a salt marsh filled with giant sea monsters the band were attacked by the ancient god Mara, obviously placed within the pass to guard entrance to the mountain. As the colossal sea serpent, as large as the looming mountain itself attacked, Fadbhaim summoned forth a Dream of Subjugation and pacified the deity to let them pass.
Washing up on shore after the battle only several warriors from the original party remained: Dvalin Albrecht, Seven Jaguar White Flower, Fadhbhaim, the abbot Shi Yan Bin, ki’Angsi, and a Heron Guard by the name of Red Paw Thirteen Moon. Before them lay a massive entrance in the rock face of the looming mountain, leading into darkness.

The group entered the Danwai Mountain which turned out to be a sprawling dungeon complex, filled with undead dogs and iron constructs to guard it. They also uncover barred doors, protective charms, sandstone blocks, and sigils to ward whatever was further within the dungeon crypt. They eventually came across a warded, magically sealed sarcophagus which upon opening revealed the Faceless Man, fallen lord and sorcerer king. Alive and well the sage avatara explained that he had once controlled a vast empire there in the East and taken on Connacht and his lieutenants as students to learn the ways of dark magic and dreams. In return for his teaching of forbidden rituals and powerful conjuration, the Faceless Man would be given some land in the west to expand his shrinking empire in the East once they had invaded it together. Greed filling their hearts, the fallen lords decided they would rather take their master out of the picture and enjoy the spoils of war for themselves. Ambushing him, they found him indestructible and thus barred him within a prison, left to rot for all of eternity.
For freeing him from his bondage the fallen lord gave each adventurer a powerful relic of old, including a odd “cryptex”[35] device, a stone vessel designed to guard a document within, only accessible by means of deriving the correct sequence or code on the conical disks which comprise the apparatus. He also vowed to aid them in rescuing Alric (he had intended to obliterate the magistrate for allowing him to be imprisoned here for so long anyway) to settle his debt.
June 15^th, 2541 A.E. - Attacking the magistrate’s personal fortress after calling forth the spirits of the oppressed villagers who had died at the imperial army’s blades – the Faceless Man helped obliterate the four thousand man provincial army and get to Alric. Alric, who was badly beaten but alive within the top of the fortress (the magistrate’s personal throne room) had much to explain before the flight west.
As soon as the Faceless Man had come, he had disappeared in a flash of magic leaving the party in the Magistrate’s throne room. Soon the army of the Divine Emperor marched toward their position and Alric suggested a flight west to Myrgard after awkwardly claiming the cryptex for himself. They went cross country with haste and stealth across winding foothills, swamp and badlands to the eastern outskirts of the Dwarvish Empire, the Myrgard mountain range.
Dvalin Albrecht made note that an ancient, hidden entrance lie along the eastern fringe of the mountain pass and scaling the treacherous expanse would not be necessary. He also detailed that the tunnel entrance led all the way into the massive underground city itself and that their wellbeing would be assured once they had entered friendly hands. After blowing the horn of Myrgard, Dvalin and his company were escorted through Snormeir Gate by a troop of elite dwarf honor guards, through the massive underground metropolis to the throne room of Faragir Albrecht, king of Myrgard and of the Dwarf Empire.
After greeting his son, Faragir prepared a hardy feast and updated his visitors of the happenings to the North and abroad since they had disappeared while they eat. To the north increasingly cunning undead armies had been harassing border forts and garrisons; surprisingly heron guard patrols from Llancarfan also skirmished with dwarf border troops. Without explaining himself, Alric left the table and retired to the royal suite he had been given by the king, leaving a note for Seven Jaguar White Flower to meet him after dinner in his chambers. Quickly finishing his dinner, Seven Jaguar moved quickly to Alric’s room.
Before leaving the king’s banquet hall and throne room, the visitors presented exotic and unique items from the East to the king himself who accepted the various weapons, silks and armor pieces with a warm embrace. Donning the bracers of a samurai, a ninjato at his side and shortened naginata on his back, the king to this day still utilizes the unusual goods.
While the rest of the party went through the lavish halls of Myrgard in search of dwarvish smiths and goods, even dwarf mead (in Thorgeisl's case), Dvalin Albrecht revealed a precious treasure to the king of Myrgard. Dvalin presented The Maul of the Dwarven Kings[36] to his father, a legendary and mythic ancient weapon said to have been captured by the ghols during the fall of Myrgard during the Great War had somehow been lost in the East and was promptly recovered by the stalwart prince. With the return of such a mythic weapon and symbol, tales had begun to spring up around the humble prince as more and more dwarf commoners would come to sing his praises in a drunken stupor deep into the night at their favorite taverns. The legend of Dvalin Albrecht was born.
Thorgeisl Erskine of Yursgrad hired a runner to deliver a message to Gower that he was still alive; the runner left immediately and has not been seen since.
Meeting in Alric’s quarters Seven Jaguar White Flower was detailed of a secret mission. The scroll from the cryptex read that the 49 markers of Wyrd[37] had all been collected by a single entity within the center of Forest Heart and that the One Dream would soon be a possibility, that the world was in grave danger and the stones had to be recovered before an ancient enemy was fully reborn. Alric commanded Seven Jaguar to take several of his most trusted companions and penetrate the depths of the forest and retrieve the markers from evil hands. While within Alric’s chamber, Seven Jaguar noted that the cryptex has been unlocked with the six character combination: BAHLAL[38]. There was to be one condition during the mission: Fadhbhaim, high advisor to Alric and powerful avatara was not to accompany him into the forest at all costs, under pain of death. Confused but loyal, Seven Jaguar vowed to complete the task and after informing Red Paw Thirteen Moon of the task, retired to his bed. Red Paw would be Seven Jaguar’s personal confidant and second in command during the operation.
Ki’Angsi met with Fadhbhaim before he retired for the night and voiced his concern for Alric’s odd behavior ever since he was recovered from the East. Both agreed that if any sort of conspiracy was running its course, they would inform each other.
June 16^th, 2541 A.E. – Awaking first, Fadhbhaim returned to King Albrecht’s throne to wish him a final goodbye and await his other compatriots for a journey by foot back to Llancarfan. Oddly, they did not arrive.
The others awaking shortly after were quietly rushed inside Seven Jaguar’s room and informed of the quest to retrieve the 49 markers. After some arguing Dvalin Albrecht, ki’Angsi and Thorgeisl Erskine reluctantly agreed to accompany the two heron guards to Forest Heart. Dvalin only agreed to come after convincing Seven Jaguar that it would be safer to journey to the deep forest with four warriors from his personal bodyguard.
Confronting the group as they were about to slip out of the city, Fadhbhaim demanded to know what was going on but was denied any information other then Seven Jaguar had been sent on a mission by Alric himself and he was ordered to report to Llancarfan. Nearly erupting into a physical conflict, Fadhbhaim was restrained by several dwarfish royal guards until the group had left. Ki’Angsi lagged behind and informed the avatara of the suspicious mission and that he would intentionally leave a trail easily followed.
Tracking the group invisibly, Fadhbhaim was forced to take a risk when a horde of ghols came out of nowhere and attacked the band on the foot hills west of Myrgard along an ancient dried up river bed. After a dramatic battle in which the four bodyguards of Dvalin sacrificed themselves to ensure the retreat of the rest of the band, the two heron guards and ki’Angsi stood with their backs to a forty foot drop-off which led into the ravine basin attempting to defend the mutilated corpse of Thorgeisl Erskine, a warrior who barely survived the encounter. Suddenly the royal entourage of King Albrecht arrived riding on armor covered war rams and relieved their position, slaying all the ghols. Doubts began to rise about the sincerity of the mission as Red Paw and ki’Angsi patched up Thorgeisl, who had come within an inch of his life. Fadhbhaim immediately set off for the forest while the others were regrouping.
Marching hours overland west toward Forest Heart the party of Seven Jaguar finally reached the eastern tip of the forest. Entering, the forest seemed barren and dead, no animals were to be found and neither were the legendary Forest Giants[39] rumored to inhabit the magical wood.
Heading deeper into the woods with Fadhbhaim in pursuit out of sight, shadows began to seep out from around the corners of the massive trees which rooted deep into the forest floor. Soon these shadows gave way to the hideous image of The Watcher,[40] who taunted the band as they went deeper and deeper into the depths of Forest Heart. Fadhbhaim made himself visible and taunted the Fallen Lord, who only said “Fadhbhaim the Decayed” and laughed hideously, disappearing from sight. Soon the newly reunited party ran across a solid wall of trees in single file with a single space in the center leading to a moonlight clearing. Laying in the middle of the clearing was a dead heron crane[41], sprawled outward, fiendishly mocking the Cath Bruig servants. As they entered the clearing to inspect the bird The Watcher once more made himself visible then disappeared as two war patrols of Heron Guards entered the clearing with two Trow warriors and a handful of avatara at their backs. The captain of the patrol, a Guard (who also claimed that he was put in temporary control of the Heron Guard due to the mysterious and sudden death of Twelve Motion Jeweled Skull) unbeknownst to both Seven Jaguar White Flower and Red Paw Thirteen Moon demanded their immediate surrender for they were thereby under arrest by official mandate of Emperor Alric himself. Red Paw immediately surrendered and was bound, while the others attempted to resist arrest and were clubbed unconscious and hauled off. Fadhbhaim, disappearing once more into invisibility unleashed a powerful lightning spell which obliterated one of the avatara who had come to capture him but was soon overcome by a barrage of dreams by the other ones still standing and compromised.
For weeks the gagged, restrained and beaten party slipped in and out of consciousness. Glimpses of what would happen filled their eyes: a dangerous trek across the badlands to Llancarfan fighting undead along the way escorted by their captors, a mock trial had at Llancarfan in which Alric commended them to banishment, a rocky ride through a frozen ocean on a Longboat bought by their captors from the seafaring people of the Twelve Duns. When they eventually came to it was to the sounds of battle as their captors fended off a tribe of madmen and cannibals as the vessel pulled to a frozen shore, icebergs and giant sea creatures off the boat’s bow. Defeating the aboriginal inhabitants of the frozen tundra isle, the party (which was now only clothed in rags and barely conscious) were thrown off the side of the boat and onto the hard, snow covered rock.
July 20^th, 2541 A.E. – The party, which now consists of Thorgeisl Erskine, Dvalin Albrecht, Fadhbhaim, Seven Jaguar White Flower, Red Paw Thirteen Moon and ki’Angsi becomes acquainted to their new home they have been banished to. Salvaging what they could off the bodies of the savages who had attacked the longboat they headed inland and ran across the deserted village which had emptied for the assault. Completely deserted the village was rich with natural resources but it was clear that the people living on the frozen island were uncivilized at best and of course lacked a seafaring vessel capable of bringing them back to the mainland.
Inspecting the clan chieftain’s hut they found the armor, swords and helmet of Twelve Motion Jeweled Skull[42], obviously he met a fate similar to that of which now befell them. Exhausted and badly starved, they eat a large meal (from the village’s supply of deep sea fish) and then passed out for the night.
July 21^st, 2541 A.E. – Convinced they would find the method in which the wildmen hooked deep sea fish the band inspected the surrounding area of the village. On the eastern shore they found a basic square raft tied to a log with a few hundred feet of fish intestine twine. The raft, only able to support a few men was brought back onto shore and back to the village by Fadhbhaim who soon planned to extend their supply of fish food. While looking for signs of civilization the group spotted several dangerous threats while on the shore, a giant 40 foot wide jelly fish which peacefully glided past the shore with tentacles hundreds of feet long and a beluga whale which playfully blasted artic water all over the elder Fadhbhaim. They now knew that if they intended to make it back to the mainland it would take time and dedication as well as bravery.
July 22^nd, 2541 A.E. – Scavenging some more supplies, the party once again eat a large meal and slept throughout the day, too exhausted to try anything yet. As they awoke ki’Angsi reported he had found something they should see.
Ki’Angsi led the party to a worship circle within a frozen glade. Within the center of the circle was Crom Crauch, the fabled massive ghol idol and runestone which Fadhbhaim would later research to have washed up from the western sunken empire of Yer-Ks[43]. The massive obelisk also held the power of the tidal wave dream, which Fadhbhaim would research over the months spent on the island and eventually adapt so that he could use it. Ambushed by local totemic polar bear shamans and an actual polar bear, the party subdued and enslaved the weak minded wildmen after a display of magic by Fadhbhaim, they believing him to be their sun god.
Red Paw Thirteen Moon was mortally wounded during the ambush after being mauled by a polar bear and was placed in the village chieftain hall.
Over the next few days Fadhbhaim would begin to research the runestone while the others scavenged supplies: ki’Angsi searching the local woods for any herbs which would relieve the infection Red Paw Thirteen Moon had received from the attack, the locals (perhaps half a dozen in number) instructed to chop down wood for later construction of a ship to escape the island while Thorgeisl managed the work around town and Dvalin searched for rare deep sea rocks.
While researching the obelisk Fadhbhaim was intercepted by the shaman and spiritual leader of the people he had enslaved who had returned from a sojourn deep into the tundra in search of healing ointments and tree roots. Sharing a common tongue with him, the language of the old barbarian peoples, Fadhbhaim was able to communicate and also demanded his allegiance. The shaman described ancient evil forces on the island (remains of an old advanced culture of Nordic raiders) and also the oral history of the frozen land while becoming Fadhbhaim’s personal advisor and translator for the cryptic runes of Crom Crauch.
July 27^th, 2541 A.E. – While researching the runestone late at night while the rest of the village was asleep, Fadhbhaim heard a blood curdling scream followed by a shuffling and dog-like growls coming from the forest. He saw a shadowed figure pulling one of the locals deep into the woods, but it was too late to chase after him. The shaman explained that it was an ancient evil race of gods that demanded a sacrifice every couple of years, a force not to be disputed or challenged. The party decided they would investigate the ancient castle they come from in hopes of finding some means of getting off the island.
July 28^th, 2541 A.E. – It is assumed that yet another villager is pulled off into the tundra by a mysterious evil force during the night as he is missing from his hut come morning. The party concludes that they must take action soon.
July 29^th, 2541 A.E. – During the night an army of undead zombie, skeleton and ghoul Nordic warriors in ancient bronze armors wielding rusted blades come to take a sacrifice for their stronghold deep into the tundra of the island. As the sacrifice is pulled away Fadhbhaim intervenes. Unfortunately he is no match for one of the shade chieftains and is struck by a blade of shadow. He instantly goes gaunt and appears to be dead, his mouth cocked open, his eyes glazed over and his skin turning a deep purple. Still, he has a faint pulse. As the undead army takes their catch back toward their lair, Fadhbhaim is brought back to the camp and inspected. As ki’Angsi searches the grounds with the shaman for a cure, Dvalin attempts to heal the avatara with spells granted to him by Wyrd.
Successfully removing the curse from Fadhbhaim it becomes apparent that an ancient evil spirit, a Mahir[44] had possessed his body. Battling the Mahir in the village a fire destroys a good deal of provisions collected over the weeks but the spirit is finally obliterated. With only a single cultist remaining and much of the village in ruin, the party hastily sets off to attack the castle.
Running across a family of locals during their trek off into the tundra, the man of the family readily offers to guide the band to the castle his father had spoke of in legend deep into the tundra after a display of power by Fadhbhaim. The rest of the family returning to the village, the band continued deeper into the tundra with the Wildman in the lead.
Eventually running across a isle of solid granite with an ancient Nordic castle crumbling atop it surrounded by the churning waters of the arctic sea, the party ventured forth into the ruin.
Confronting the undead army it seemed inanimate, suspended in darkness waiting for the night to come. Obviously the shadow chieftains had control over the horde and were unable to materialize until night or complete darkness. Silently tip toeing past the undead the band found ancient Nordic treasures within the castle and resupplied itself with a Viking arsenal. As night grew closer odd behavior began to resonate within the deep keep: scratching on the walls, whispers and growling noises. Eventually it became dark enough for the chieftains to form and they commanded their undead clans to attack the cornered adventurers. After a bloody battle, Thorgeisl managed to dispel the undead in a climatic blowing of the ancestral Carnyx battle horn. After leaving the now desolate castle, they found schematics for a longboat as well as a larger Nordic battle vessel that had been badly corroded away by the howling arctic winds.
Returning to the village, the band now worked for weeks to create the longboat, its construction efforts handled by Thorgeisl and Dvalin while Fadhbhaim concluded his research of the runestone.
August 28^th, 2541 A.E. – Successfully creating the makeshift longboat the band prepared to set sail for the west coast of Myth, vengeance in their hearts. They would land at Tandem[45], but first they had unfinished business to attend to.
Heading back to the castle to haul back ceremonial chests filled with treasure they had spotted on their first trip they ran across a burial ground of cairns. Obviously a very old burial site used to honor long forgotten barbarian chiefs and kings the party cunningly disturbed one of the resting burrows of an ancient Nordic lord. King Wrothgar, now a barrow Wight, thanked the adventurers for freeing his damned kinsmen and in return granted each one of them a powerful treasure to behold before he returned to his eternal slumber.
Loading up the ship for the return journey home with extra supplies of chest loads of treasure looted from the castle in burial chambers and vaults the band set sail for the western coast of Myth, the cornerstone city of the free cities of the north, Tandem.
September 6^th, 2541 A.E. – For a couple of weeks the ship sailed through dangerous arctic waters, past giant icebergs and sea monsters west. During the middle of the night a great storm swept them off course and into the sunken kingdom of Yer-Ks where they ran aground atop a giant temple complex, the baseline of their longboat cracked, needing repairs.
September 7^th, 2541 A.E. – Escaping the sunken city after a day of repairs and exploring the city’s grand library, the band made sail once more for the city of Tandem.
Landing along the Meander River south of Tandem, the band soon made their way to the city after some suspicion by the town guard who reluctantly allowed entrance to the capital after Fadhbhaim surrendered a golden cross recovered from the frozen isles to the north.
Arriving within the bustling city, exhausted from their journey, the band retired to the Imperial Inn for the night. The band entered the oddly silent tavern and learned from Surt with One Eye and Bramtyr atop the Piled Dead, warriors from Gower, that Alric had demanded the allegiance of the rugged region by force and that many of Gower’s peoples fought to the death rather then submit as slaves. He had chased Surt, Bramtyr and other rebels across the deserts west – many of their number being slain in the panicked retreat. Furthermore Fadhbhaim and the others who had come from the frozen isle soon learned that the southern cities of Scales and Covenant had fallen to the shade Nym and his undead army, the free cities unable to repel such a force. Rumors also have suggested that the Dwarvish stronghold of Myrgard had fallen to the Cath Bruig forces in the east and that Stoneheim lie surrounded and sieged, the dwarves escaping deep into the mountainface.
September 8^th, 2541 A.E. – Outraged by the news of Alric’s tyranny and still jaded due to their illegitimate banishment the outcasts from the north planned to take Tandem by any means possible as a base for a future campaign with the Cath Bruig emperor using their recently acquired northern fortune.
Enlisting the help of some local mercenaries from the Black Raven Tavern the group hatched a plan to get the treasure within the city. They would slip outside the city walls after dark, when the town was on lockdown and the gates were sealed shut and load the bullion heavy sarcophaguses onto a curragh, sending it down stream and out onto the open sea. The ship would land several miles north along the bluff face in a slim cavern entrance leading into the city sewer system, where the goods would be unloaded. Unfortunately the plan went sour and several guards were slain, putting the city on high alert. Fadhbhaim, Thorgeisl and Dvalin barely escaped with their lives and were forced to take refuge in Seanchaidh’s guild within the city walls after gaining access to the lavish building via the sewers.
Before they could get access to the sewers or head back toward the mainland they would have to hide out in the mudflats west of Willow where they ran into the most unlikely allies: pirates. Detailing their plan to take over the city to a plump, jovial man who called himself “Captain Bloodstump” (Because he supposedly cut off the arm of every man who ever resisted his marauding gang of desperados) Fadhbhaim gained the allegiance of the pirate for a price and perhaps up to four other captains, who Bloodstump could only vouch for but ensured their cooperation. Bloodstump would send his first mate to meet up with Fadhbhaim in the Black Raven Tavern to finalize the treasonous plans in a week’s time. Staying with the pirates until things cooled down on the mainland, Dvalin, Thorgeisl, Fadhbhaim and the hired mercenaries resumed their plan.
September 11^th, 2541 A.E. – Seanchaidh, a Warlock hero, who helped The Deceiver defeat Shiver during the great war and his guild members of Scholomance warlocks were nowhere to be found, the entire building was being administered by an elderly diabolist by the name of Caithim the Old. Caithim explained that his master, the first apprentice of myrdred and his most trusted follower had raced east toward Llancarfan in hope of finding his master with the others of the guild because he had not received correspondence in some time.
Moving at night or discretely during the day the party avoided detection or capture by the guard which now nailed wanted posters with their faces to every nearby wall and flag post. They would recruit a army of eager mercenaries from the Black Raven, a fleet of pirates from the south west and win the support of the nobles within the city. Visiting the noble Conley and Merrick families as a ambassador from Myrgard, Dvalin Albrecht spoke with Jonus de Merrick, head of the Merrick family and royal father. Already seeking to overthrow the king of Tandem due to discontent and animosity toward the throne, “John” eagerly pledged he and the other royal house’s allegiance in the form of fighting knights in return for crownship of the throne once the battle was won.
As the week came to an end the plans to usurp the throne were sealed and besides heavy rioting which would get a good deal of the hired mercenaries arrested or executed – the plan was solidified, the city would be captured at 12 AM midnight. Bloodstump and his fleet of five pirate galleys with fourty men each would not only knock out the two galleons at the mouth of the Meander by sabotaging them but also raid the southern shore of the river and head inward, eventually reaching the city gates. Normally, the pirates would now face an invincible wall of stone to contest against. As the pirates were rowing up river Thorgeisl and his lieutenant Fetusmuncher, a half-orc brute and murderer would hook up with the royal knights of the Conley and Merrick houses for an assault on the barracks. Here the mercenaries who were captured in the riot raids would be liberated while the knights continued their assault on the barracks, their target the captain of the guard. The mercenary forces would now be divided under the order of Thorgeisl and Fetusmucher, each force securing each siege tower of the eastern gate, Thorgeisl taking the southern tower containing the winch to open the steel gates. Racing across town through the chaos they would quickly seize the gates and have 150 bloodthirsty pirate reinforcements flushed into the city immediately.
Reinforcing the unity of the noble houses was the sudden supposedly natural death of Conley house detractor Aethelweard Conley, a man who had firmly supported the throne and risked to undermine the rebellion. His son, Merrick house supporter Alisander Conley took over the noble house and soon publicly paid homage to the Merrick house.
September 5^th, 2541 A.E. – The plan went off without a hitch and the city was captured, although with heavy losses. An unexpected ally arose during the battle, the city’s people who had become fed up with the police actions of the city garrison, raiding their houses in response of the murdered guards. The militia did not even form to repel the invaders and many of the town’s people actually panicked and attacked town guards during the chaos after the explosion of the two galleons blockading the river entrance.
*Critical Turning Point* Tandem Sacked and White Falls Destroyed (Cath Bruig Northern Army eliminated): Down the Meander River, a massive field army of perhaps two thousand mobilized under the command of Sigmund Moore, Earl of White Falls. Moore ordered the fort’s canons be loaded onto rafts alongside his army for retaking of the city. The army would be sailed down the river and quickly retake the captured city before it could be fortified and conscripts recruited. Such an army would have immediately crushed any futile resistance the new despots would have offered but it never was able to see the field. A massive tidal wave soared down the Meander and flooded out the riverbed, taking the stone fortress with it. The majority of the army was drowned, including Moore, those who survived fled for Llancarfan or Madrigal. Fadhbhaim had released Crom Crauch.
September 6^th, 2541 A.E. – Jonus de Merrick (John Merrick) ascends the Tandem throne from the boy king, 14 year old Tyrgeis Aethelwulf III – puppet king of the Conley family and declares Fadhbhaim, Thorgeisl Erskine and Dvalin Albrecht his high advisors, Thorgeisl and his son Gregori Merrick his generals.
September 7^th, 2541 A.E. – Merrick assigns a board of commissioners: ministry of war, ministry of economics and ministry of the faith and assigns Thorgeisl Erskine, Fadhbhaim and Dvalin Albrecht respectively. While Thorgeisl is restoring the barracks with some hired help and taking stock of available munitions and supplies while preparing recruitment posters, Fadhbhaim begins to work on a massive rebuilding plan (the “Economic Savior Plan”) to restore the city’s economic security. He rebuilds the destroyed and burnt out shells of houses within the city, ruined from the battle, beautifies the city with gardens, royal banners[46] and beautiful masonry, and clears the burnt farmlands outside the city gates. He also jumpstarts the collapsing coal and iron quarries to the north near the Deep Mire and hires publicly funded lumberjacks to collect lumber for the crown. Fadhbhaim then, with Dvalin and Merrick create a parliamentary government comprised of rich noble lords whom declare their allegiance to the king. Each noble house contributed a single representative, regardless of size or creed which would vote on their behalf in relation to domestic issues. With the economic situation stabilized and a governing body to pass domestic laws in place, Fadhbhaim now planned to replant and man the destroyed farmlands ruined by the rampaging pirates during the battle. The Farm Act, passed in parliament with a 5/6^thmajority vote did just this- it took the unemployed, poor and beggars from the streets who had been relocated from their destroyed property and placed them on newly carved up farm plots. Unlike the agrarian society before which relied primarily on rich land owners with huge plantations the new agrarian politic was government regulated and manned plots.
September 13^th, 2541 A.E. – Scouts report that Alric’s army marches on the Ermine and the eastern sky becomes filled with smoke and darkness. How his army could have responded so quickly is anyone’s question, he would have had to send it before the overthrow of Tyrgeis III. Seven Jaguar White Flower, who refused to aid in the rebellion took the young, naïve, arrogant King Tyrgeis under his wing and began to teach him the way of the Heron Guard, an ideal now collapsing as the Heron Order becomes corrupt with Alric’s maddening warmongery. As the party prepares for the inevitable: open field combat with Alric’s army and the Legion, the treasure retrieved from the northland runs thin and the meager Tandem coffers are empty from the extensive rebuilding program.
September 15^th, 2541 A.E. - Seven Jaguar White Flower, after convincing Thorgeisl’s lieutenants to betray him, assassinates Fadhbhaim and captures Tandem barracks with a small insurgent force of less then one hundred men. Eventually the nobles rally and put down the rebellion but Thorgeisl and Seven Jaguar are lost in the conflict. The deposed Tyrgeis manages to escape off into the Ermine and meets up with fir’Bolg resistance fighters on the fringes of the eastern forests fighting against Alric’s expeditionary forces.
By means of a dark ritual Fadhbhaim and Thorgeisl are reanimated magically by a band of Scholomance warlocks returning west from the Stair of Grief led by the powerful avatara Seanchaidh. They report that the deep forests of the ermine have become a killing ground and Alric roves from one village to another with his Heron Guard, massacring all in his wake. They also report that the Deceiver has been once more imprisoned in the ice of the Stair and that an immediate rescue party should be formed to retrieve him. The warlocks[47], many of them still wounded and wary from their flight west eagerly vow to retrieve their master from the frozen steppes. Resting for the night at an old druidic circle, Fadhbhaim once more is tormented by the visage of black crows in the night sky. Dvalin Albrecht is left behind in Tandem.
September 19^th, 2541 A.E. - The band set off east toward the ermine and find master Seanchiadh’s words to be true- the deep forest is a killing field, mutilated fir’Bolg and bre’Unor corpses lie scattered in every which direction. Children, women and old men all lay amongst the dead and burning villages. Heading east through the roving tundra foothills of the Ermine the band was attacked by several tribes of bre’Unor working cooperatively with one another. The party was all but decimated and a final wave of the vicious cannibals would have sealed their fate but unexpected allies showed up to save the day. A war band of Trow, part of Alric’s forward expeditionary force[48] had been stalking the warlocks since their first entry into the thick wood and immediately came upon their position, feigning an attack. The Trow[49] instead decimated the final wave of bre’Unor barbarians and then held consul with the survivors[50] of the attack. The Trow met with the party and rested for the night in a nearby bre’Unor cave, emptied out from the battle. In the vile cave the war chief of the Trow spoke of happenings in the East[51] while they had been away and it soon become apparent that Alric truly had gone insane. After detailing Alric’s grisly campaigns in the near-east, the Trow informed the band that Alric’s army lie at the mouth of the Stair, an obstacle in their path and that it would be impossible to circumvent it. To make matters worse Alric had on his body the Deceiver’s scepter, necessary to raise him from his icy prison. Seanchaidh hatched a plan to assault Alric’s camp directly, steal the scepter then retreat into the swirling ice pit which is the Stair before he knew what hit him- it was a risky plan, but the only viable one.
The party of warlocks and Trow assaulted Alric’s camp after a maelstrom of dream magic decimated the front section of the camp and set it into a panic. Avatar perched atop a nearby mountain rose the dead with a Dream of Unlife and the camp exploded into chaos, scrambling to their feet while being murdered by ravenous undead. Alric was immediately surprised and knocked off to his feet by the massive barbarian Thorgeisl as the rest of the party attempted to free the scepter from Alric’s belt. The powerful avatara was too much for the group and he rose to destroy them with a dream when he was suddenly stunned by the old Caithim who had appeared from thin air. Covering their escape, Caithim fell in a storm of magic and destructive energies at Alric’s hand. Quickly making flight further east into the Stair before Alric could rally his troops and counterattack with the full might of his army the band headed off in search of the frozen Myrdred.
September 29^th, 2541 A.E. – For over a week the band trudged through the ice plain which is the Stair of Grief, a thin half mile wide frozen steppe in search of their master. Eventually on the seventh day of their trek, amongst a grotto of ancient tombs they found a massive suspended barren plateau with a crystalline ice tower atop it which stretched toward the heavens. This was the fabled Crystalline Prison of the Callieach[52]. Entering the mega structure, Fadhbhaim awoke Myrdred from his slumber and was granted an invaluable ally and advisor: The Deceiver. During the awakening the crystalline prison toppled onto itself and was reduced to ruins, only the southern minaret tower containing the Anvil of Culwyeh survived.
The Deceiver consorted with his warlock brethren and proposed a plan to head to Rhi’Anon for help from the massive Trow, stopping at the Twelve Duns on the way to recruit the strongmen and myrmidons of that fiefdom. Before they could depart, it was decided that a small party should return to the Ermine and at least attempt to link up with ki’Angsi’s party before heading even deeper east. During this time The Deceiver would call into the mists of the Stair and summon to him an army of mauls still loyal to him from the Soulblighter campaign. Heading off back toward the Ermine, Fadhbhaim, Igne (And his lieutenant Saxum), Seanchaidh, Tympanum, Malairt the Black and Thorgeisl Erskine would find ki’Angsi and bring him back west.
October 1^st, 2541 A.E. – The party entered the Ermine and found what remained of ki’Angsi and his party. They had all been murdered then mutilated, their corpses naked and sliced up by blades and pounded by hammers. Ki’Angsi lie crucified onto an oak tree, vivisected and carved up with surgical efficiency. A wooden board ripped from the tree had been hammered into his purple feet, the message was clear: Among the dead was Red Paw Thirteen Moon, trusted confidant and friend of Seven Jaguar White Flower, Gower barbarians Surt With One Eye, Bramtyr atop the Piled Dead and dozens of dead fir’Bolg and bre’Unor fighters who had banded together to repel Alric’s onslaught. They only found one survivor amongst the slaughtered war party and an unlikely one at that[53]. Ton-Hajak explained that ki’Angsi had set an ambush for the approaching Cath Bruig armies but Alric supposedly knew it was coming and was able to overcome and eventually capture most of the fighters. He then proceeded to summarily execute them, allowing his troops to mutilate and loot their corpses. Ton-Hajak, a master of disguise and pain tolerance was cut up but made not a nuance of sound and imagined to evade his own death by a thread. A special torture was granted to the crucified ki’Angsi, he was vivisected by an “old, twisted crone wrapped in a rotten velum cloak, with hair that seemed to melt into the winds, her dead eyes flickered with a vile hatred” It was on everyone’s mind but no one said the words: shiver was back and in the service of the corrupt emperor Alric. They immediately set back toward the Stair with their new bre’Unor companion.
October 4^th, 2541 A.E.- The Deceiver had completed his ritual to summon the mauls[54] to his side and by morning a mob of the humanoid pig-like beasts rumbled down the steppes toward the remains of the collapsed crystalline tower. Mydred immediately assumed magical control over the monsters and began the long march toward the Twelve Duns, nearly five days away. On the way the chief Koomalboogurra explained that when Alric first entered the Stair he had encountered friendly native populations of mauls who had set up small villages along the steppe. He summarily proceeded to destroy village by village, just as he had done to the fir’Bolg, people of Gower, and bre’Unor – until all that remained of the maul race was fifty or so maul warriors and a lame, old chieftain, now standing before Myrdred.
October 9^th, 2541 A.E.- Finally arriving at the Twelve Duns at the capitol city of Savonlinna, now under the rule of King Lothar the fledgling army was met with suspicion and hostility. Not only had the mauls wreaked havoc through the peaceful Nordic countryside, looting several towns and murdering numerous innocent bystanders but the band also included a Fallen Lord and Scholomance grand master. Poised to attack the party before they could even make their plea for aid, the grand Teutonic knight Sigurd reluctantly allowed entry of Fadhbhaim, Mydred and Seanchaidh into the holy city. While the envoy was within the city, Igne and his lieutenant Saxum made flight east toward Rhi’Anon. The sprawling metropolis fiefdom of Savonlinna lay in the shadow of the colossal northern peaks, almost completely in twilight during the day and pitch black in the eve. Directly against the mountain lie the massive hall of Harald Bluetooth, a silver and gold rimmed earthen fortress that dwarfed any structure the party had ever seen in size, glory and proportion. There the veteran, middle-aged and able warrior King Lothar pledged his aid after being told of Alric’s sadistic exploits, the oath being sealed with the Sword of Wrothgar[55] being returned to the great hall of Savonlinna from the North. He explained it would take about a week to rally the thanes and myrmidons from the highlands of the rugged country and that his army would be ready to march at such time. The envoy departed the northlands and headed east for the iron city of Rhi’Anon.
October 14^th, 2541 A.E.- Arriving within the outskirts of the massive iron city of Rhi’Anon the Trow in the border temples seemed oddly docile, opting not to assault the army of mauls entering their holy lands. The band was confronted by a war party of more then two dozen Trow upon approaching the iron city led by their uneasy friend Igne Ferroque. The war party of Trow surrounded the force while Igne spoke with the high priest of the city (who had by now replaced the long missing Acerus Malum Magnus), revered oracle of Nyx, Mons Latus (“the voice of iron”). After an awkward, dreadful silence Igne returned and demanded that Mydred come with him and speak with the “the voice of iron.” The Deceiver returned to explain that to the win the Trow to their side for one year they would have to beat them in a game (Blood sport) of their own devising! The party managed to defeat the Trow at their own game (accounting in the death of Saxum) of 6-flag capture the flag along the muddy eastern coast of The Deep and The Voice of Iron immediately granted Mydred ten Trow warriors and a high priest of Nyx[56] but promised up to three score in coming conflicts.
October 15^th, 2541 A.E. - The newly reinforced maul/Trow army returned west to the northlands of the Twelve Duns and found Lothar’s field army deployed before it. Twenty six clans[57] of about twenty warriors each had arrived to serve under Lothar[58] but the promised elite core of his forces had not arrived: the myrmidon fighters. Perching their forces over a hill overlooking the Stair, the generals saw that in the distance Tandem was burning.
In a spectacular show of bravado[59] Fadhbhaim managed to marshal and organize his fledgling army[60] into order. King Lothar would lead the forces of the Twelve Duns into battle while the Trow high priest Igne Ferroque would have command over the Maul warriors of Koomalboogurra and his own war party, Fadhbhaim elected chief.
As the army headed west toward the Stair they started to come across mutilated and ripped apart remains of animals and beasts. Soon the army’s forward scouts were turning up dead and during the midst of the night the army was surrounded and ambushed by an undead army of thrall, soulless, fetch and ghols. Tympanum and Death Hound were surrounded and clubbed unconscious south of the army by a thicket of vicious ghols, brought to the camp of Rabican, once a member of the Nine turned shade by the Watcher’s dark necromancy. The army of Northmen, with help from the Trow and Mauls managed to beat back the undead but with terrible losses. Bodies were counted, littering the ground for miles as the remaining undead retreated into the western hills. Among the dead was the King Lothar and Eric the Victorious, who had transformed into an avatar of Wyrd during the battle, sacrificing himself to save his brethren. Halfdan, a strongman from the eastern limits of the Twelve Duns and son of Bjorngar the Bear, who commanded twenty six men and was renowned for his skill with the throwing axe, would carry the sword Faldane until a new king was to be elected.
With revenge in their hearts, the Northmen quickly buried their dead and chased after the retreating undead. They came upon a mudflat with an old abandoned carnival at its center, surrounded by muddy hills on all sides- a clearing. Wandering outside the rotten, mud-soaked tents were the undead; they had found the camp of their enemy. Encircling it they all flipped the tents simultaneously, with intent of slaughtering their foes but alas they were no where to be found and they had walked right into a trap. From all around them, as before, the undead came upon them from over the tops of the foothills but this time had both the shades Rabican and Sciron leading the attack. The battle was long and bloody and at its end Rabican lie dead (battered in half by the Trow Igne Ferroque), Sciron was nowhere to be found and the army of the Northmen was decimated to less then one hundred men. For a week the battered army rested, licking their wounds and burying the dead, Rabican’s interrogation tent transformed into a makeshift hospice. During this time Ton-Hajak returned to the camp during the midst of the night but was too delirious to explain where Tympanum had gone, he was badly beaten and starved and thus fell into a deep slumber for two days, exhausted from the torture he endured under the hands of his captors.
October 21^st, 2541 A.E.- Come morning the promised myrmidon warriors had come from the highlands of the Twelve Duns, perching themselves atop the eastern hill surrounding the carnival encampment, silent and motionless, staring down upon their brethren, they had obviously followed the trail of corpses left behind from their previous battle.. Emund the Old (an elderly thane in his sixties from the central lowlands) explained that the Myrmidons can only be commanded by the king of the Twelve Duns- and none was to be had. Immediately Halfdan, bearer of Faldane began to chant incantations to the gods and thrust the blade to Sigurd who did not have the time to react to consider the proposal. The blade was smacked to the ground by the berserker Hakon the Red’s great axe, a clear gesture of challenge and discontent. Sigurd ran the massive man through, slaying him in a single blow and immediately grasped Faldane from the moist muddy soil and thrust it into the air, waiting for a challenge to his claim. When he found none he said solemnly that he would lead the warriors of the Twelve Duns until their return to Savonlinna where a proper king could be elected in the old fashion, but until then he was their chief. The myrmidons descended from the hill and kneeled before him as the Northmen paid homage to their chief by consuming large quantities of mead.
October 25^th, 2541 A.E. - Reinforced by a unit of myrmidon warriors the army headed west and found the Stair of Grief to be snowed in, the winter had come unusually early. Fadhbhaim ordered his men to scavenge the local countryside for furs and winter coats, loot as much extra food and water from nearby village populations as they could carry and to fashion wicker snow shoes. The army pushed onward into the snowed in pass.
Emerging from the western mouth of the Stair the army had lost half a dozen men to the freezing cold and was low on supplies. They ran across the remains of Alric’s first camp and headed into the Ermine, hoping to relieve the siege of Tandem from the east. Fadhbhaim possessed the spirit of a hawk and scouted the area, revealing that all but one[61] of the ancient fir’Bolg war colleges lie smoldering in the wake of an undead attack. The remainder of the army made haste for ai'Kijin-Tak in hopes of reaching it before the undead would overrun the war college. Arriving on the scene they found the snow covered college temple in ruin: its front doors had already been obstructed and the undead were slaughtering the fir’Bolg inside. Rushing to their aid the army of Fadbhaim and Sigurd managed to relieve the attack on the sacred fir’Bolg training grounds but were disturbed to find the shade Sciron leading the attack, who once again disappeared before he could be slain. Meeting with the high priest of the sacred fortress, an elder fir’Bolg by the name of iu’Shee[62] it was explained that Sciron most likely retreated to the forgotten swamps of the north (“The Swamp of b’Y’laggo”), a forbidden place where the changelings[63] and mahir dwell. Fadbhaim and a small band of trusted friends set off to the north to finish the job.
November 6^th, 2541 A.E.- The band set off for the north and soon found themselves in a arid canyon pass devoid of life, the echoing sounds of the mahir demons shrieking from all around them, shadows following in their step. From here they entered a moss infested wetland and soon found it to be haunted. The trees were not normal trees but instead beheld twisted, vile faces and howled in the wind the names of those brave enough to test the depths of the mire. As they went deeper and deeper the darker it became and soon the trees began to spring to life and attack with bone cut daggers and clubs. Fighting through these changelings the band eventually came upon a magically shifting maze of oak and darkness which led even further into the north, Fadhbhaim now speculated that they lie in between the northern limits of the Cloud Spine and the eastern outskirts of the Deep Mire. Entering the hedgerow like maze they encountered the Mahir demons devouring fir’Bolg bodies but managed to fight through them to the center of the maze where they came upon a shifting portal. On the other side of the magical rift was the shade Sciron, hiding in the poisonous plane, home of b’Y’laggo. The shade was slain and his essence ebbed, the band escaped back into the portal and returned to the war college.
November 8^th, 2541 A.E.- Arriving at the war college the band met with the army and pleaded with iu’Shee for aid in attacking Alric’s forces to the west but he could lend none of his warriors to the cause for most were injured or slain in the siege. iu’Shee did however call for volunteers to join Fadhbhaim’s force and so two dozen did, many young fir’Bolg students with revenge fresh in their hearts. They would later operate as scouts and commandos in Fadhbhaim’s expeditionary forces. The army would rest for a day and then head west and attack the Alric’s positions from the north east. Before the army departed Fadhbhaim traded iu’Shee the helmet of Rabican for a half dozen of the Watcher bone tipped long arrows left over from the Great War after the warlock speculated that the Watcher had been following them up until the Ermine, the first signs of clear madness had begun to spring forth from his deteriorating mind.
*Critical Turning Point* Alric defeated on the field at Tandem: The army found the city of Tandem besieged as they parted the protective depths of the Ermine. Several of the fir’Bolg scouts had gone missing and rumors were spreading throughout the camp that the Heron Guard had not followed Alric’s army outward but instead never left the Ermine. The expert fir’Bolg trackers confirmed so and thus panic set in. Luckily the army was able to assemble in the grassy tree covered foothills east of Tandem during the midst of the night. The plan was a simple one: quickly overcome the numerically superior Cath Bruig allied army and create a morale failure, routing them from the field, using the Trow and Oghre as key elements of attack. The army attacked the northern encampment, berserkers from Gower led by Chief Angvard who Feeds the Worms of the MacDonalds, come midnight, quickly overcoming them with sheer brute force and blasts of magic from the warlocks among the expedition. As Alric mobilized his forces to the south the forces of Fadhbhaim immediately charged ahead and were met on the field by King Conlan Trahern of Madrigal and his field army. Now the battle was met and the Trow blasted their way through the ranks of heavily armored royal knights to Trahern himself who was felled by the Twelve Duns warrior Thorvald Thiele. Madrigal’s force demoralized and broken by heavy scores of casualties began to flee off the field but was cut down by fir’Bolg cane arrow and Twelve Dun axe. The army confidently rushed south, their hearts pounding and blades dripping now outnumbering their foe which lie ahead cloaked in darkness. They now met the Legion, the Cath Bruig’s most elite fighting force, supported by archers in the rear, Alric standing firm in the rear, the sword Balmung seated firmly in his palm. The battle was long and hard and just as the lines of the Legion was broke by the fires of the Warlocks and Alric seemed to be in direct striking distance the Heron Guard attacked from the rear, arriving out of thin air. They struck hard, obliterating the army of the Twelve Duns and most of the reserves as well as the Oghre Chieftain Koomalboogurra. In the midst of the fighting Jonus De Merrick and his Noble Cavalry came from the west out of Tandem and clashed with the Heron Guard, keeping them at bay long enough for Alric to be slain. The Deceiver and Alric locked glances and began to become engaged in a deadly dream duel as the sky was illuminated with a fluorescent maelstrom of colorful energy. The Ibis Crown was hastily knocked off Alric’s skull and the blood haze upon the Heron Guard faded, they immediately stopped fighting those who they once called allies and stripped themselves of their armors, reverting back to journeymen. The ground shook so much that the trees were splintered and the ground was split open and Mydred ordered Fadhbhaim and the remainder of his broken army off the field, to take refuge in Tandem, from what, he did not specify. In the confusion of the retreat Thorgeisl was lost on the battlefield along with dozens of other warriors who could not be found amongst the chaos of the dream magics and were abandoned to the vultures and creeping things of the night. The powerful nexus of opposing magics lifted many barns and livestock into the air as a torrent of powerful wind smashed the mighty walls of Tandem, Fadhbhaim led the remnant of his force into the sanctity of the Scholomance Guild House, a magically defended fortress of sorts. All that could be heard was the wheezing of the air from the outside and the impact of heavy objects upon the tower’s invincible walls, the surging of magical energies and the moans of wounded men. Suddenly all torches were extinguished and the very air one breathed seemed to be tapped from the room and withdrawn to the outside, as a massive rumbling noise shook the Guild House and destroyed most of Tandem outside in a thundering crack of wooden splintering. As the winds returned and men began to breathe again in gasping gulps, those who could stand walked outside the Guild House and surveyed the ruins of Tandem. The city had been leveled by the massive energies, most of the buildings reduced to fragments of mortar and piles of wooden splinters. The dead littered the area, many impaled upon shards of buildings which had come to stand erect during the spectacle. Leaving the city gates the true scope of the destruction was made apparent. For as far as the eye could see bodies were piled upon the ground, crushed in between shifting slabs of soil and stone, the very ground overturned. Many warriors who had survived their wounds began crawling back towards the gates of Tandem, one here or there being helped to his feet by the Tandem citizenry. Where Alric and Mydred had been standing now was a massive chasm in the earth nearly twice the size of the Great Devoid, an incredible wind sucking inward toward its center. As Fadhbhaim gazed into the black void he realized that the remains of both Mydred and Alric were no where to be found and he would have to go in after them. Heading back towards the walls he was intercepted by a fellowship of journeymen confronted Fadhbhaim and demanded the crown to be returned to Llancarfan where it would stay once and for all. Reluctantly Fadhbhaim buckled and gave up the crown to the weary party of journeymen[64], who would spend the rest of the day burying their brethren who had fought and died in the battle before heading back to their ruined holy city. Fadhbhaim would soon meet with his most trusted advisors to decide what would be the next plan of action.
November 12^th, 2541 A.E. - After several says of extensive research in the moldy library basement of the Scholomance Guild House, Tympanum, Seanchaidh and Fadhbhaim have unlocked the arcane secrets of the great devoid and speculate where it might lead. The ancient texts reveal that the great chasm may very well lead to the underworld, Helheim, land of the giants and the mistress of darkness at the bottom of the great tree of Yggdrasil. It was concluded that a party would be formed to delve into the depths of the chasm, where it is said no man can return and retrieve the scepter of Myrdred. The three warlocks now research a method of descending the deep.
Seanchaidh rose from the dark desolation of the library with a tattered scroll in his hand, an ancient rite found stowed away amongst the archives of the Scholomance sanctum. Seanchaidh explained that the scroll contained a spell which would teleport a small band of humanoids to the freezing netherworld of Helheim for a one way trip. For the ritual to work, a powerful artifact would have to be destroyed in the chaotic energies of the spell. Fadhbhaim offered up the blade of Sciron for the deed (a blade rumored to turn men to stone) and so the painting of the circle began on the blood soaked soil outside the gates of Tandem and the incantations were whispered for seven days.
November 20^th, 2541 A.E. - When the rune circle was complete the final party was selected for the descent into the abyss: Seanchaidh (head of the Order of the Scholomance), Fadhbhaim (High Warlock of the Sholomance and sorcerer general), Thorgeisl whose Laugh Stinks of Killing of the Erskine Clan (Fadhbhaim’s bodyguard and berserk of Gower), Tympanum of the Winds (Sholomance Archivist and Scholar) and the Trow High Priests Igne Ferroque and Terramotus Calcitrare. As the incantations were spoke aloud the band slowly disintegrated into energy, piece by piece and suddenly were compacted into small glowing balls of plasma, hovering above the ground. A blue column of powerful energy pulled itself down from the heavens and began to shift unpredictably inside of the void. Suddenly the balls of energy were sucked down into the earth at incredible speeds through the darkness of the abyss, spiraling deeper and deeper into the depths of the earth. Soon the darkness and heat of the earth turned to a freezing glade as the incorporeal energies fell from a gaping hole in the sky of Helheim[65] and were rapidly reconstructed to their physical selves. The party found themselves in the frozen tundra, mists swirling around them and inhibiting their view to only a few feet in either direction, mists which would carry great evil and trickery with it. They found the unnaturally freezing tundra to be filled with the nefarious Mahir spirits, many of which were too involved in their torture of the dead to be of any trouble. They found the damned souls of Helheim to be frozen onto ice covered cold steel cages hanging from the wicked elm trees which seemed to horde about the plane or shackled to one another. After speaking with an old hermit who seemed to have gone mad with the frost, the band was informed that ever since “an old one” arrived the giants had been warring amongst themselves, the entire realm absorbed by the chaos of their discontent. The echoing sound of guttural war cries and thundering footsteps confirmed such and Seanchaidh hastily suggested the band locate the legendary village of Jomsborg[66] where perhaps they could learn more about the mysterious shades spoken of by the old man.
November 21^st, 2541 A.E – After a day of searching through the mysterious realm of the goddess Hel and coming across many battlefields containing the massive mutilated corpses of the giantkind, frost and fire giants normally in the service of the queen of snow- the band finally located the mythic hamlet of Jomsborg. The silent, mist shrouded village was home to dozens of elder, battle hardened and legendary warriors who had died naturally in their beds or from disease (instead of in battle) and thus were damned to this realm of pain and freezing wind. The ancient warrior Egil spoke in whispered tones of an ancient evil that had passed through Jomsborg seeking knowledge and power, an evil which had not stepped foot amongst the elder warriors since not nearly sixty years prior: the fallen lords. They had been heading toward Gnipa-cave, subterranean home of the dwarves and frost giants where the queen of snow’s riches were collected and smelted to appease her avarice for all things beautiful. The cave entrance was said to have been guarded by the monstrous blood soaked hound Garm, a foe far beyond the abilities of any mortal. Although the ancients had known a way of distracting the demi-god long enough to slip past it, that secret was now lost to time and a daring attack to wound and fend off the monster had to be attempted. The party headed into the northern mists toward the Gnipa with fear in their hearts, all besides the Trow who felt no fear and only yearned to please their goddess Nyx. Soon they began up a frosted mountain of red slate, walking upwards into the mists toward the echoing clang of the dwarfish craft from the depths of the cave and came upon a massive cave entrance that stretched for hundreds of feet in both width and height. In front of the mining car tracks leading from the illuminated cave was the colossus Garm, a bipedal wolf with a giant elm spear, his fur matt with blood, his eyes twinkling with hatred.
The band battled the monster god Garm, wounding him greatly by chopping off his giant leg, sending him up the mountain of slate toward its summit and into the mists. Gnipa was home to the deep dwarves, greedily delving deeper into the depths of their ancestral home in search of greater treasures to appease their creator goddess Hel. The shackled and lame dwarves were of no threat and allowed the adventurers to pass without alerting their fire giant slavemasters, and so the party ventured deeper into the mine complex, passing great halls of reinforced stoneworks which rose hundreds of feet into the deep mountain and the darkness. The depths were unlike the cold and barren tundra of the outside and were dry and warm, suitable for a giant of fire. Such giants would discover the reuse of the adventurers, springing a trap upon them in the dark bottom depths of the caves as they came upon an ancient bronze elevator headed even deeper into the earth. A great battle ensued between the adventurers and the fire giant slavemasters, the heroes barely escaping into the deep with their lives after opening the magically warded gate door to the elevator with a rune inscribed brass key retrieved from the body of one of the beasts.
The creaking elevator delivered the adventurers to a frost covered mausoleum deeper into the earth, a winding maze of plain, sealed off burial chambers, abandoned dust lined forges, blood dried sacrificial chambers, great halls (dotted with giant sized alabaster statues of Einherjar[67] warriors and frost giant berserkers) and sanctified worshipping chambers home to giant altars and hulking wells of sparkling liquid death – only suitable for much larger beings. The chambers were eerily silent, an eerily mist appearing to obscure vision to only a few feet forward (and at times revealing walls or chambers which had previously not existed), the whispers of the damned trailing their footsteps. In this unholy place the Trow High Priest Igne Ferroque deemed it necessary to disturb the dead and awoke the frost giant King Korgan who had been submerged in an ocean of gems and bullion in his Herculean sarcophagus, safely tucked away in eternal rest, his burial chamber sealed off by a massive boulder. Korgan leaped from his resting place with a massive shaking of stone and the splintering of ice crystals from his beard, his great axe tauntingly loose in his palm. Korgan’s elderly voice boomed with tremendous might, threatening to call upon all of his resting warriors to his side to crush such an intrusion upon his slumber unless the pests could explain their presence. Fadhbhaim gambled greatly by declaring that the giant’s existence was that of subservience to the unloving goddess Hel and not personal vendettas, that any sort of personal attack on visiting mortals would anger the Lady greatly. Great Korgan realizing his folly in manifesting anger out of personal matters hesitantly decided to spare the lives of the intruding menace and returned to his sleep after sealing his burial chamber back inward. As the party ventured deeper into the seemingly abandoned mausoleum manifestation of the Lady was felt all about in fell whispers and childish giggles, coming out from the thick mists which seemed to twirl and encompass all who dared enter into the realm of the dead. The band would soon come upon an ancient antechamber made from limestone in the old fashion, every inch of the frozen rock covered in cryptic runes and symbols. At each corner of the antechamber was a life size marble statue of a treacherous fire giant, all four with their weapons up as if they were bracing for an attack from the center of the massive chamber. At the center of the chamber was a beautiful but insidious mosaic of Korgan the frost giant king, a twinkle of evil in his ruby eye. At the base of each massive statue was a single cube of limestone in the form of a button.
Curiosity got the best of the party and they pushed down each of the limestone cubes at the same time. This caused the four massive fire giant statutes to come to life and to attack the party. In addition the party could hear the sounds of other fire giants rising from their sleep. The band battle their way out of the room and then sprinted for their lives. They eventually come across another antechamber constructed in the same fashion as the one they just left except for the life size marble mosaic to be depicting a fire giant lord and the four limestone statues to be of frost giants. Once again all of the buttons were pressed down and predictably the frost giant statues come to life, along with the other sleeping frost giants, and attacked the group. After once again defeating the quartet of giants the band could hear the fire giants and the newly awaked frost giants battling throughout the complex.
The party used the mayhem caused by the giant war to search for a way out of the basement. As they ran for the stairs leading out they came across an armory where Thorgeisl picked up a magical ion gem that circles around his head, Igne acquired a legendary giant-slaying axe and Fadhbhaim collected a hoplite shield. After looting the armory they quickly traveled through a fire giant forge and up a flight of stairs leading to another level of the complex.
The group found themselves in a massive temple made of pristine marble with everything of immense size. The enormous pews held dead giants holding pray books created from human flesh and printed in blood. The pews faced a massive two level stage and tow areas to the right and left on the first level covered by large curtains. As the party walked up the first section of the stage they could hear the sound of child like laughter and see movement under the second level of the stage. Ignoring this, the group climbed to the second level and was meet with a massive stained glass window of Hel and an apparition of a goat. Fadhbhaim quickly fired a spell but not before the goat disappeared from sight. The party then smashed the stained glass window allowing them to see that the temple they were in was surrounded by a swirling void of magical energy and allowing an extremely thick fog to enter the temple. Using the fog as cover a group of undead children climbed out from under the stage and ambushed the party. In the beginning of the battle Fadhbhaim is dragged under the stage by four children. Thorgeisl in pursuit smashed the stage showing that the floor under the stage was littered with baby corpses and that Fadhbhaim was being dragged through a small window into a butcher shop. Tympanum then jumped down and slid through the window after Fadhbhaim. Igne much too large to follow then caved in the wall crushing Tympanum in the rockslide. Thorgeisl, Igne and Fadhbhaim then proceeded to battle a demon like butcher as more undead children leaped off meat hooks. After heavy fighting the band dispatched the animated children and the butcher like creature. The group after patching up Tympanum then climbed back onto the stage and investigated the area to the left side of the first level and found a collapsed staircase and what appeared to be an old priest dressing room. As they traveled to the right side an apparition of Shiver appeared before them and kissed Fadhbhaim before vanishing into the fog. In the right area they found a gallery lifelike fallen lord statutes and a bared door at the end of the gallery. Igne crushed the door and the band found a staircase leading downward. At the end of the stairs they came across a classroom with a specter teacher in the front. The ghost ignored the party which allowed them to find the body of the teacher torn to pieces in the corner and a spiral staircase leading out of the room.
At the top of the stairs the party found themselves in a massive hallway with more statues of the fallen lords looking down on them. The band walked down the hallway and noticed souls moving through the walls on each side of them. They eventually came across a basin of holy water where they filled their bottles of the powerful substance. Seanchaidh then cautioned the party that perhaps they still had a chance to turn back or even ally with Alric. After some discussion it was decided they would either kill Alric or be killed by him and whatever minions he had with him. They continued down the hallway until they arrived at a massive set of stairs that lead to a massive open air temple with Greek columns all around the edges which was suspended in air. When they reached the top the party saw a large mural of Hel in the back of the temple and saw The Faceless man standing before them.
Shocked by finding that specific fallen lord here the band watched as frost giants, the shades Sciron, Rabican and Phelot appeared from behind the pillars along with the fallen lords Balor, Shiver, Soulblighter, The Watcher and Tyrgeis (or the Lurker Bheil). The Faceless man then began a loud speech to the dumb struck party. He said, “Have you yet discovered the fracture in the equation whores of the Cath Bruig? Reality is simply perception, the inner workings of your mind attempting to rationalize what you see. In this fashion, is it not flawed? How can you be so sure that you are speaking to the same foul you spoke to the day prior? The images we view is what creates our reality, easily distorted or fractured. What if I to say your brave king Alric…” at this moment Alric and Myrdred appeared behind the fallen lord impaled on pikes, their bodies mutilated, “never left the East, that he now watches as I rip, cut and mutilate his friends? The truth is, Alric never left the Emperor’s land but on the contrary choked on oceans of his own blood as I severed his throat with his own blade. It was a bloody mess I will admit, but how else would I be able to become him? I thank you for returning the Emperor’s cryptex to me, I could have never taken it out of his own land without being detected., it allowed me to bring back all the fellows who stand beside me now-even Bheil, the young prince of the damned who led the whore ki’Angsi and his friends into their ultimate doom. All the allies you have met and made friends have been reduced to a single truth: centralization of myself. I was impressed by your stupidity Fadhbhaim in delivering the crown to me without much of a fight (was it really characteristic of a Cath Bruig puppet to demand so?). it will aid me greatly in calling upon the dead Heron guard scum. Sepaking of which, the legions should have reached holy Llancarfan by now, a pity I admit. A pity you did not pick up on the nervous ticks I have not yet learned to subdue while possessing another, you might have ended this in my tomb. You never could understand why the fallen did imprison me there now could you? Now you may know. Do you even believe that you allowed one of the lords to escape your grasp when you could have ended it, those pirates were easily persuaded to play along when I became their pivot. Your whore of a friend Seven Jaguar White Flower fought off the animal Thorgeisl to save his live so he could later kill his student and best friend. Now that you know of reality and perception and all of your friends that I either murdered or possessed, id like to reveal the true nature of this encounter: we are all dead men and dare not draw a breath but the mortal coil is still within you all. When your bodies fail you, you will forever be within me and I with you.” And with that battle was joined between the two sides; the fate of the West to be decided by one last battle.
Thorgeisl quickly proved he was a master warrior by dispatching two of the fallen lords (The Watcher with a single blow from an enchanted arrow, and by cleaving Shiver in half with his great sword). Igne quickly cut through the giants with his giant slaying axe and at the same time held off attacks from both Balor and Bheil. Fadhbhaim found himself assaulted by all three shades and without reliable spells, he was soon put in a defensive position from the shades three pronged attack. Tympanum knocked an energon cube out of the Faceless man’s hand and dived over the edge of the temple to recover it. He landed on a ledge and was confronted with Shiver, trying to put herself together after being defeated by Thorgeisl. Tympanum with a stroke of luck blasted her off the ledge but lost the energon cube in the process. He then levitated back to the battle. As the battle continued eventually it came to pass that the Faceless man was destroyed by Thorgeisl and Tympanum. Fadhbhaim had killed two of the shades fighting him by this time and recklessly ran over and tore the crown and Balmung from the Faceless man’s corpse. Bheil was killed by Igne during this time leaving only the shade Phelot and Balor left. Outnumbered it wasn’t long before Phelot was finally put to rest. Balor remained invincible and none of the party possessed the weapons to get through his impenetrable armor. In a feat of amazing strength Igne hurled the last fallen lord over the side of the temple. With Balor’s death a great whirlwind covered the temple and teleported the party out of the crumbling temple. The party of the Cath Bruig had proven victorious.

[1] 2540 through 2541 AE. The period in which Soulblighter attempted, and failed, to destroy the world. Friday Sept 19th through Friday Oct 10th, 2540 AE. The cities of Scales, Covenant and Tyr fall to Soulblighter. January, 2541 AE. Shiver attacks White Falls and is defeated, but returns with an army of Myrkridia and crushes all resistance in the West.

[2] The ancient capital of the Cath Bruig Empire. It was sacked by Balor and his Fallen Lords during the Wolf Age, but recaptured 110 years later by Alric and the Legion in their war against Soulblighter.

[3] A magical crown with immense powers, worn by the emperors of the Cath Bruig. Ceiscoran, at fantastic expense, comissioned eleven ordinary copies of it to me made, and when Balor and his Fallen Lords sacked the capital city Muirthemne, the true crown was nowhere to be found. Over a hundred years later, in the war against Soulblighter, Alric sent a crew of volunteers into the Mausoleum of Clovis to find it, then crowned himself the new emperor.

[4] The mausoleum of Clovis, the first emperor of the Cath Bruig. Ceiscoran, a later emperor, hid the Ibis Crown in the crypt, to hide it from Balor's forces.

[5] Ancient evil creatures, originally lead by Moagim, until they were imprisoned by Connacht inside the Tain. Later ressurected by The Summoner for use by Soulblighter.

[6] One of Fallen Lords, and later an ally of Alric against Soulblighter. Once was the avatara Myrdred.

[7] A small device with a very unusual pocket-universe within it, where neither space or time correspond to their outside equivilants. It was forged for Connacht by the Smiths of Muirthemne, and used to imprison the Myrkridia. It was later stolen by raiding barbarians from the south, but was eventually found by Soulblighter and used against the Legion during the Great War, when it was destroyed by the avatara Murgen and Cu Roi. Sixty years afterward, a shard of it was again used by Soulblighter to let the Summoner ressurect the Myrkridia, and by The Deceiver and the Legion to kill the Summoner.

[8] A large forest southeast of the Cloudspine, home to the Forest Giants. Here was the site of the battle where the Tain was used for the first time since its inception, by Soulblighter against the Legion.

[9] Legends tell of "a man not yet born who would resurrect the myrkridia and visit horrors on the world without equal in history or myth."

[10] One of Balor's Fallen Lords, and later an enemy of Alric. Once was Connacht's lieutenant Damas.

[11] The shade who decimated Avon's Grove. Over sixty years later he was in Soulblighter's camp when the Deceiver attacked, and was severly wounded and cast under the Deceiver's Binding Dream. He later sabotaged Shiver's last stand, letting the Deceiver kill her for good.

[12] A Fallen Lord who was defeated by Rabican during the Great War and by The Deceiver in the Soulblighter war.

[13] A city near Tharsis, where The Watcher's arm was exumed by The Deceiver, then stolen by the Legion.

[14] A magical sword, used by Alric against Soulblighter, found in the Mausoleum of Clovis, alongside the Ibis Crown.

[15] An ancient volcano overlooking Seven Gates. It erupted during the Great War for the first time in a thousand years, then again after Soulblighter's death sixty years later.

[16] "Our scouts have brought back news of an odd group of men who have gathered nearby. From their description alone, Twelve Motion recognized them as Warlocks from the Scholomance, ancient allies of The Deceiver and collaborators of the Fallen Lords."

[17] Ancient, giant homonids, created by the god Nyx from stone and clay. While not inherantly evil, they have commited many atrocious acts. In their early days, they came into conflict with a new race every thousand years or so, and always destroyed them. The Callieach were one such race. After an aeon of peace, the younger races appeared, and one of them, the Oghres, instigated a war against the Trow. The Trow, with their iron weapons, slaughtered the entire race of Oghres. Then, in shame, they abandoned their weaponry and returned to an age of peace. Connacht then appeared, and imprisoned them in the vaults beneath Rhi'Anon. Later, when he returned as Balor, he freed the Trow, who - owing him their lives - decided to fight for him. After Balor's defeat, the Trow refused to fight for Soulblighter, but instead were won to the side of the Light by the Deceiver.

[18] A race of diminutive people native to the mountains around Stoneheim and Myrgard, with a love of explosives and all things inventive. They are ancient enemies of the Ghols.

[19] The skilled archers who live in the Ermine; former enemies and current allies of the Light, they have forever been at war with the bre'Unor.

[20] A region south of the Blind Steppes, on the southeast bank of the Gjol River. It is said that to the east of it lies the "Edge of All", a theoretical line dividing the lands of the Dark from the lands of the Light.

[21] Some duns near the lost Trow city of Rhi'Ornin it was here that the Trow were won to the side of the Light by Legionaires under The Deceiver.

[22] King of Madrigal (Currently emperor of the Cath Bruig Empire), and leader of the Nine; he defeated Balor and became the Great Hero of this Age of Light, then sixty years later defeated Soulblighter.

[23] "A berserk at the Stair of Grief, having been told that the hosts of the Soulless were so many that their spears would hide the sun, is said to have replied 'Then we shall fight them in the shade.'"

[24] Prince Acerus Malum Magnus of Rhi’Anon (Trow), King Athalaric of the Twelve Duns, Thorgeisl Erskine of Yursgrad (Gower), Dvalin Albrecht of Myrgard (Dwarves), ki’Angsi of the Ermine (fir’Bolg),

[25] The ancient Trow capital. When Balor returned as The Leveler, he chose Rhi'Anon as his fortress. It was here that he was defeated at the end of the Great War.

[26] One of the two major Dwarven cities. It was captured by the Ghols shortly before the Great War, and again liberated by the Dwarves near the end of the War.

[27] An Archer hero, who helped rescue Alric during the Great War, messenger of fir’Bolg clans within the Ermine.

[28] Horrible pig-like beasts from the Blind Steppes, following Soulblighter in search of new lands to dominate.

[29] Famous Cath Bruig emperor who was slain by Moagim during the Wolf Age and was succeeded by Connacht of Yursgrad. Many speculate it was his high advisor Mjarin who revealed his location to Moagim, a man who was later suspected of being The Head.

[30] A Journeyman who helped defeat the Deceiver at the end of the Great War and later reincarnate him, current war commander of the Heron Guard. "The King has sent word to Twelve Motion Jeweled Skull, a Journeyman who served under him during his campaigns east of the Cloudspine, in hopes that he has some knowledge of what became of The Deceiver after Balor's destruction."

[31] "Albrecht, the King of the Dwarves, having been presented with the latest invention of the famed Wehrfaktorie, is said to have replied "Such a thing would make war too terrible to wage."

[32] Knuckle-dragging, slobbering ape-dogs with an intense hatred of Dwarves.

[33] A large region in the West, encompassing such grand cities as Scales, Covenant, Tyr, and Madrigal.

[34] Also called “Untamed Lands” it refers to the lands to the southeast of the known world of Myth, where Soulblighter first studied the black arts, and where the Tain was taken when it was stolen from Muirthemne. "...failing to recover the head of Balor at the Great Devoid, Soulblighter fled to the east into the Untamed Lands... back to the hidden temple where he first studied the black arts..." - "... but he has disappeared into the 'Untamed Lands' before, often for years at a time; always returning with something more unspeakably evil or singularly malignant than the time before."

[35]An odd stone vessel, unlocked with the proper combination to reveal an internal cavity. If the vessel is forced open in any way, a vile of vinegar is shattered within- a highly corrosive liquid which quickly dissolves paper and papyrus.

[36] This incredibly heavy weapon boasted several Air spells in addition to high Accuracy and Puissance. The Dwarves will not say whether they retain the legendary artifact after the sacking of their cities, but were not prone to bring it out into public view even when they clearly did have possession.

[37] These are the original rune stones of Myth, landmark-sized monoliths thought to be fragments of the One Dream, barrows of the Callieach, or both. Their rough surfaces become reflective if an archmage taps them. Each apparently facilitates study and casting of a single dream, but archmages are extremely tightlipped about any additional properties. Their locations are kept secret by those who know them.

[38] Bahl'al descended to the flooded, rusting halls of Si'anwon and under the sea there took no breath for nine days, searching the ruined palaces and temples of the Trow for the dream of unlife.

[39] Massive wooden dwellers of Forest Heart. Their emnity with the Trow goes back for centuries. The towering Forest Giant can swat smaller enemies out of his way, and beat larger foes into submission.

On the last day of the siege at Seven Gates a priest asked the Giants present of their faith. A young one showered the man with chips of stone as he struck the ground, 'The Earth is our Faith.'

When asked of the source of their animosity towards the Trow, all were silent. After a time the eldest among them looked down and seemed to weep, 'It was they who poisoned the soul of iron.'

[40] An ancient, evil sorcerer, and one of Balor's Fallen Lords, imprisoned by Connacht during the Wind Age, The Watcher only escaped by tearing off his left arm at the elbow, like a wolf chewing through his leg to escape a snare. Also known as Bahl’al and The Mad Goat of the Fens.

[41]A typical heron bird

[42] A Journeyman who helped defeat the Deceiver at the end of the Great War. The King has sent word to Twelve Motion Jeweled Skull, a Journeyman who served under him during his campaigns east of the Cloudspine, in hopes that he has some knowledge of what became of The Deceiver after Balor's destruction. Twelve Motion Jeweled Skull says he was last here sixty years ago, fighting alongside the likes of Durak and Turgeis with Burning Steel. They caught The Deceiver and the remnants of his army in this very defile and here destroyed them.

[43] A mysterious sunken empire, once home to the magic using Skrael, destroyed in a long forgotten war. North of the Deep Mire, an enormous swampland. Fed by the poisoned Gjol River, the Dire Marsh was the site of many battles between the Legion and the forces of The Watcher and Soulblighter during the Great War. It was here that the Watcher, crippled by arrows tipped with his own bones, finally fell.

[44] Shadow creatures who take corporeal form to drain the life of the living. "Though he couldn't have been dead more than an hour, his corpse resembled a centuries old mummy... and it crumbled like dry leaves at a touch."

[45] The cornerstone city of the Free Cities of the North, on the north bank of the mouth of the Meander River.

[46] The Banner of Tandem

[47] Seanchaidh (party leader), Ceannard, Malairt the Black (Seanchaidh’s student and advisor), Admillin, Caithim the Old (Historian and Archivist), Aibistear, Abharsair, Braman of the Fens, Breamas, Diabhol, Sgulanach, Miosguinn the Flayed, Eireallach, Tympanum Latus of the Wind (Apprentice Historian, Scholar and Cryptologist)

[48] Alric was renown for his unconventional tactics learned and adapted fighting forces many times larger then his (fighting such foes as Moagim, Balor and later Soulblighter). A common tactic was to deploy a small expeditionary force to scout ahead skirmish with his foe, ambushing and attacking weak points when exposed to him. The Trow betrayal was probably the only reason Alric was unable to decimate the party when they attacked his camp, for he was completely unaware of their approach.

[49] Igne Ferroque (war chief), Pulvis Ira, Quassare Vis, Saxum Pugnus (Lieutenant), Lapicida Venenum

[50] By the time the Scholomance entourage reached Myrdred, only Seanchaidh, Malairt and Tympanum remained of the original band.

[51] Returning to Llancarfan from Myrgard, Alric found the city in disarray and immediately declared Myrdred a traitor. In the middle of the night on the second day of his return to the ancestral city, Alric commanded the Heron Guard to capture Myrdred and return him to his icy prison in the Stair of Grief. Ambushed in darkness, Myrdred was stolen away from his chambers and brought immediately west, once more imprisoned in the ice. Alric then immediately took the Legion, order of the Heron Guard and his Trow allies on a campaign of destruction. First bringing the army to Rhi’Anon he demanded more Trow warriors for his army and was reluctantly granted them, he then proceeded south and obliterated what was left of Gower (the rugged region still in disarray from the attacks of the shade Phelot), finally settling in the dwarvish empire of Myrgard. Here he destroyed the capitol of the dwarves, killing every living being within its depths then headed for Stoneheim which he found to be collapsed in- obviously the dwarves would not so easily be destroyed again. His army exhausted, ripe with losses and running low on supplies returned to Llancarfan to regroup.

[52] An inescapable prison of magically invincible dry ice which spans so high into the sky it disappears amongst the clouds. It is hollow within besides a large chiseled sarcophagus of ice at its base which suspends its victim eternally within, in plain sight. Only an ancient ritual known to the followers of the Callieach can awake a prisoner. Below the southern minaret tower of the tower is a circular underground cavity containing the mysterious Anvil of Culwyeh- a forge once used by Shiver and later destroyed by Connacht’s purge.

[53] A freelancer professional murderer who has long forsaken his bre’Unor cult ties for more freedom to partake in his trade, Ton-Hajak is a mentally unstable, vicious assassin who is infamous for his blunt force murders with his bone maul. Well known for being called upon to take out tribal figureheads in the Ermine, the “Death Hound of the Fens” is a feared individual who has now permeated into tribal folklore.

[54]Koomalboogurra (chief), Bandoona (Captain), Arcooh (Captain). Lieutenants: Naracoorte, Tantanoola, Warbla, Wigunda, Wooltana, Yamnti, Ithapi, Wakarla

[55] King Wrothgar is recognized as the founding father of the Twelve Duns and the first man to unify the rugged region as one. Together with King Clovis, Wrothgar managed to unify not only the Twelve Duns but most of the territory east of the Cloudspine and created the Cath Bruig Empire in turn. A giant of a man who wielded the great sword Faldane, Wrothgar’s sword was recovered in the frozen isles of the north on the island kingdom dedicated in his honor at time of his death, Hope.

[56] Terramotus Calcitrare (High Priest), Pugil Stultus, Tonitrus Femuf, Auris Morsus, Dolabra Index, Fractum Atrox, Muglio Potens, Acerus Malum, Hebes Ictus, Sanguis Ebriosus, Fustis Demens

[57]

Strongmen (Hersir and Thanes):

Lothar (King of Savonlinna), Olaf the Peaceful, Sigurd, Harald Greycloak, Ivar Giaver, Sophus Lie, Niels Abel, Eric the Victorious, Emund the Old, Stenkil Ragnvaldsson, Hakon the Red, Georg Stierhielm, Johannes Magnus, Gustav Vasa, Halfdan, Olaf Hunger, Gorm the Old, Olaf Roemer, Thorvald Thiele, Ejnar Hertzsprung, Bran of the Iron Skin, Hrungnir Bereft of Fear, Bram with Screaming Iron, Hervard of the Bloody Stump, Angtyr the Sword Lover, Tyrfing Slaughter's Son, Baugi Widow's Husband

[58] King of Savonlinna and the Twelve Duns, succeeded the fallen Athalaric.

[59] In the foothills north of the Barrier the tribal leaders of the Twelve Duns argued atop a muddy hill over who would lead the army west. Fadhbhaim demanded the allegiance of the Northmen and was immediately challenged by a red bearded jomsviking (heroic warrior) by the name of Eric the Victorious who was unable to pierce the magical protections of the Tireces’ armor with his mighty great axe. Eric immediately interpreted this as a sign from Wyrd that Fadhbhaim was fated to lead the army west but Sigurd, the same knight who reluctantly allowed entrance to Savonlinna a week prior did not agree and attacked Fadhbhaim, mortally wounding him. Luckily, Eric the Victorious stopped Sigurd from delivering the finishing blow and Lothar stepped in. The veteran king said Fadhbhaim had shown enough courage to lead his forces into battle and would for the moment at least, be allowed to lead the army into battle against Alric.

[60] The army was comprised of the remaining warriors of the Maul civilization (See footnote 53), a Trow warband from Rhi’Anon (see footnote 55), and an army of over five hundred warriors from the Twelve Duns (see footnote 56). Also traveling with the army were a number of powerful advisors and friends: Mydred the Deceiver, Seanchaidh, Koomalboogurra, King Lothar, Thorgeisl Erskine, The Death Hound of the Fens, Tympanum, Igne Ferroque and of course the war chief Fadhbhaim.

[61] The three great fir’Bolg War Colleges: jo'Za-Thatal, wa'Ama-Tchal, ai'Kijin-Tak.

[62] "Yesterday I saw iu'Shee, captain of archers, with a fist full of white arrows five feet long and tipped with fragments of bone. I lost track of who was carrying The Watcher's arm when we fled Silvermines, but I suspect its turned up again."

[63] "The bre'Unor name them the Children of b'Y'laggo and humans call them Changelings. The fir'Bolg, however, refuse to speak of them."

[64] The crown was handed to Five Heron Waiting Cactus. Other members amongst the fellowship (all that was thought to remain of the Heron Guard) were: Eight Pride Stalking Rabbit, Three Vulture Drum, Ten Stone Reed, Four Serpent Seeking Shadow, Seven Lizard Tongue, Nine Eagle Red Skull, One Flint Puma, Twelve Serpent Falling Eagle, Seven Wind Lizard, Nine Serpent Rising Puma, Seven Crocodile Rain, Six Coyote Flower, Thirteen Bloody Crocodile, Five Rabbit Fleeing Jaguar, Three Moon Jeweled Fan, Five Obsidian Heron

[65] Helheim ("house of Hel") is one of the nine worlds which the ancients inhabit. It is ruled by Hel, the monstrous daughter of the trickster god Loki and his wife Angrboda.

This cold, dark and misty abode of the dead is located in the world of Niflheim, on the lowest level of the Norse universe. No one can ever leave this place, because of the impassable river Gjoll that flows from the spring Hvergelmir and encircles Helheim. Once they enter Helheim, not even the gods can leave. Those who die of old age or disease, and those not killed in battle, go to Helheim while those who die bravely on the battlefield go to Valhalla.

The entrance to Helheim is guarded by Garm, a monstrous hound, and Modgud. The giant Hraesvelg ("corpse eater") sits at the edge of the world, overlooking Helheim. In the form of an eagle with flapping wings he makes the wind blow.

[66] A mythic village of wise immortal warriors rumored to lie in the depths of the dark forests of Helheim.

[67] The Einherjar are the heroes who have died with great bravery on the battle fields. These heroes are prepared in Valhalla for the oncoming battle of Ragnarok. In the morning they are woken by the crowing of the cock Gullinkambi ("golden comb"). During the day they train and fight, until they cut each other to pieces. At night they feast at Odin's side and their wounds are miraculously healed.