Other monstrous geographies
The End of Winter
The Rivers of Life flow through the Sarangrave. Spring magic in the clouds, in the streams, the ponds, in the water-bottles of the soldiers. In the Feverwater, in unplumbed depths of the lake of Kroll. They bring with them the promise of life, of wounds that will swiftly heal. They bring a threat as well - the blood-sucking, stinging insects of the Druj-corrupted wetlands swarm and bite in unprecedented numbers. There is a balance of a kind, though, to this indiscriminate magic. Wounds are less likely to fester in the filthy marshes, at least. Sickness less likely to spread. The rains of life fall on the just and the corrupt, equally.
The Druj have kept their stronghold in the south. The massive Tower of the Skink looms over the Thornfen. The Marshlizard Clan remains the final sept of the Druj still holding out against Imperial armies. To the south of the titanic castle, the Axou of Ipotavo continue their own assault. They batter the massive fortified gate from which the orcs of the Mallum sent out their raiders to attack Kabanja. The portal is firmly closed, at least for the moment.
Of the forces engaged with the Druj last season, only the Boyar's Hasta, the Summer Storm, and the Lions of Adelmar have remained. The Granite Pillar and the Golden Axe have pulled back to Dawn, to recover perhaps from the horror of the Sarangrave. The Druj miasma still hangs heavily over the entire territory, of course, stronger and thicker than anywhere the Empire has encountered it before. It is no surprise that those who fight under such conditions need to fall back, to recover from wounds not just physical but spiritual as well.
In their place come the Eastern Sky, Gryphon's Pride, and Citadel Guard out of Semmerholm, and the Navarr of the Quiet Step from Astolat. They pass swiftly through the Bleaks; the Karass mark their passage silently, their faces unreadable. From there, across the Turan Flats to the wreck of Thornfen.
Last season, the Druj broke Jarangir’s Levy, unleashing a flood that scattered attackers and defenders alike. The waters have subsided now, for the moment at least, but they have washed away the few roads, as well as wrecking farms and smaller settlements across the northern region. It is in the wake of that flood that the Empire renews its assault against the Tower of the Skink.
Wall Like A Dam
The Tower has weathered the joint Imperial and Axou attack so far. Even with their martial "necromantia", the ability of the allies to work together is limited thanks to the massive castle that lies between them. Spectral messengers still flit back and forth through the impassable hills, bearing messages and allowing the separate forces to coordinate, but it is no substitute for actually fighting together. The Empire, likewise, makes use of magic to help the disparate forces adapt their strategies to the ever-shifting battlefield, and the wicked cunning of the Druj. The garrison of the Tower itself is massive, well-equipped with potions and blade venoms, supported by the desperate residents of the fortress and those who fled the town of Sephals to that uncertain sanctuary. Five armies of the Empire move to lay siege to the place.
Soldiers of the Eastern Sky, we stand now before the tower of the Skink. Our path is clear: A Glorious charge to bring an end to the taint of the Mallum. We will pay a heavy price but I will be there at your side and I will be the first over the walls and the last out. Fight with courage, gird yourself in pride and look to your loyalty. Glory to Dawn and Glory to the Empire.
Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern SkyOur Lions of Adelmar, for nine months we have pushed into the Mallum, stood proud against the venoms of the Druj and had the Courage to not only take on their most vicious cruelties, but to keep pushing and to keep winning. Resolve yourselves, our work amidst the Druj is still at hand. May your Swords turn to claws as you rip and rend the tower's stone. Even in their cruel desperation, let us show them what a lioness can do. May the knights of the Summer realm who join us repeat our tales. Now, hold your Virtues at heart and hand, and let them guide you back into war again.
Dame Katelyn Quinnell De Cordraco, General of the Lions of AdelmarLegionnaires, last season we did well repelling the Druj from Sanath and the Tower of the Skink. This season we keep pushing to take that tower. Be vigilant, we do not know where we will find Druj In the Swamp. Eyes up and open. We are after the slave masters and true Druj, leave the slaves be. Be careful, keep pushing and use pit fights to keep spirits up. We can do this.
Stormsteel Skorr, General of the Summer StormMy earliest memory is of the lightstone in my bedroom failing. I thought the Druj were coming for me. My cousin, a few years older than me, had told us stories she'd heard about the Druj. I'd asked my mother about them, and she told me as she thought I could bear. I had to get out of bed, feeling through the dark, and down two flights of stairs to find the light. I thought monsters with poison knives were chasing me the whole way. For years, people - Young and old, human and orc, Urizen and Dawnish and Highborn and sept - have woken up in the night and thought the Druj were coming for them - and been right. The fear they spread is anathema to virtue. There is no place for them in Utopia. We stand halfway up the mountain of their destruction and must only finish the climb. Sentinels. If you would bring light to their darkness. If you would save every child terrified of the night. If you will climb this mountain with me. Consider the Drowned Man.
Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was, General of the Citadel GuardQuiet Step, we advance into the Sarangrave and engage Druj forces. Support allied lines, protect the forest and drive the enemy out. Use the terrain to strike fast and act with ambition. Do whatever it takes to secure victory. Sarangrave must be clear of Druj forces. For us, for Urizen, for the Empire to grow and flourish. Listen for the Whispers of the forest and the trods will guide those who move with purpose. If the wind shifts, heed its warning. If the silence deepens, Prepare. You are Navarr. You are the storm in the leaves, the shadows between the branches and the voice that answers intrusion with fury. Go to the Sarangrave and ensure that when this war is over, the forest still stands and our enemies do not.
Neve Agra, General of the Quiet StepThe Eastern Sky are in the fore, leading the way for a great host of warbands under the command of Imperial captains, champions, and heroes. They are inspired by the favour of Eleonaris, the Summer enchantment flowing through and around them guided by a half dozen courtiers from the demesne of the Queen of the Pennants. Utterly committed to victory, no matter what it might cost, they pay a heavy price for their zeal even with the healing power of the waters this season.
Fortunately these knights of Dawn do not fight alone. The Lions of Adelmar are at their side, their shield raised, ready to guard their fellows from the barbed arrows and envenomed spears of the Druj. The favour of Eleonaris is with the Lions, as well. Under the command of the stag-headed Ser Helvennan fight a cohort of warriors from the Fields of Glory. Resplendent in gold-and-scarlet chain, the warriors of the Fields of Glory, they inspire all who battle the Druj this season, their wroth waxing greater and greater each time they encounter another sign of the corruption of the Mallum. Love and Glory together, at the heart of the fray, the bright banners of Dawn undimmed by the mud and blood that surround them.
Dawn at the heart then, against a grand stronghold of the Druj (and if there is an echo of that terrible battle two years past when the Hounds of Glory paid their ultimate price, it is spoken of with Pride). The Unshackled and the Urizen move more steadily, refusing to risk the lives of their soldiers more than necessary. Trapped like this, desperate, the tyrants of the Mallum are at their most cruel. They remain alert to the wiles of the Druj ensuring the stealthy guerrillas of the Sarangrave do not have leave to ravage the baggage trains or the flanks of the Imperial force.
The General of the Citadel Guard has invoked the stars, reminded the sentinels and war-magicians of the lesson of the Drowned Shepherd; that things end. That the Druj, ultimately will end - and if there are astronomancers who worry about the invocation of a constellation in such time they speak only in whispers with their heads close together. The constellation that many still remember was once called the Drowned Man is an omen of ending, and it is dangerous to assume one knows what exactly is going to end when it is invoked.
Finally, the Navarr of the Quiet Step. They are the storm in the leaves, fighting to ensure that the forest stands but the enemy does not. Where the Lions of Adelmar protect, the Navarr bring death. The cruel barbarity of the Druj is met with merciless cunning, blow for blow. One cannot betray one’s enemies, after all. They exploit the forest and the marshes, not only in the Thornfen but in those other parts of Sarangrave where pockets of Druj assassins gather. A second war, quieter than the grand battle at the Tower of the Skink, is waged in the marshes this season.
The Tower alone would represent a significant threat to all the forces in the Sarangrave this season. Its garrison however is also supplemented by three Druj armies - the corrupt witches of the Tainted Basilisk, the desperate guerrillas of the Hidden Snake, and the relentless malice of the Poison Crane. These armies, their septs scattered, have nowhere to go; they must resist the Empire or risk dissolution.
And resist they do.
The Battle of Sephals
Sephals is a ramshackle, spreading town. The floodwaters released by the broken levies have not been kind to it. The Path of the Tail, the road that runs down toward town and tower, has been partially washed away. Regardless, that is the route the Empire follows. The Druj, again, launch a desperate defence of Sephals; they have not entirely finished moving the supplies of rice and grain and smoked meat out of the warehouses into the cellars of the Tower. In the past, the Druj have shown themselves more comfortable striking and withdrawing to attack from a different angle, from stealth, while their enemies are distracted. Here they have no such luxury, they must stand, and fight. The Poison Crane at least is prepared for the reality of being utterly outnumbered and outclassed; the Hidden Snake are experts at using the terrain to their advantage; the garrison of the Tower of the Skink know these streets, these defences, like nobody else. But there is only so much they can do. Perhaps if the Tainted Basilisk had been here to bring their magic to bear? But they are conspicuous by their absence.
The fighting rages across Sephals for two days before the Druj break. Their withdrawal is disorganised, closer to a rout than a retreat. As a final spit in the face, the Poison Crane try to start a fire in one of the abandoned grain stores, packed with flour, knowing it will spread quickly.
But even here the Druj are stymied. It begins to rain, just as the fire begins to spread. A thunderous downpour that not only extinguishes the flames, but restores attackers and defenders alike as the Empire attempts to mop up. The rain, after all, is full of cursed healing magic.
“Even the weather hates the Druj!” The joke spreads quickly, even as tired soldiers deal with their wounds and gather their fallen. It is grim humour, almost Varushkan, and not everyone laughs. The astronomancers of Urizen, the witches of Dawn, the vates of the Quiet Step, the spiritweavers and the oathwrights are less certain. They look to the skies, and the muttering becomes a murmur. Does anyone remember when people started calling the Drowned Man by a different name? Can anyone else feel the magic in the rain, stronger than it has any right to be? Where is this going to end?
This concerns are not dismissed, but what can be done with them? There is a town - a small city really - that must be administered. Several thousand orcs, a few hundred humans. The majority certainly slaves of the Druj but all of them? Even among the Druj, “slave” has different meanings as the Ketsov or the Menrothat or the Karass could tell you. There are surely Druj among these wretched folk, and they introduce all the risk that come with allowing assassins and saboteurs to move around behind ones lines. If the Iron Helms were here some of them might make an unhelpfully pragmatic suggestion as to how to deal with that problem.
The Axou have been very clear about their plans - once they claim Thornfen they will simply evict every orc living there without exception. For now, the Empire cannot safely simply let them go. A part of the town is set aside for the surviving folk of the Mallum, with Summer Storm soldiers doing their best to maintain order and ensure the Druj that are surely among them do no harm. They can do little to prevent scores being settled, and it is a rare morning that passes without a dead body found floating face down in a pond or an open sewer, arms spread as they drift lazily in the currents.
The Defence of Nesustak
There are folk in Sarangrave who might be able to offer some aid to the Imperial forces in Sephals, but their attention is unfortunately elsewhere. While the bulk of the Druj forces are corralled in Thornfen, the tyrants of the Mallum are always unpredictable. Not long after the Winter Solstice, a significant force made up of Banded Snake sept survivors and members of the Thornwasp clan isolated from Thornfen by Bendol and Imperial armies, attack the rebels of the Nesustak Forest. Reinforced by supplies smuggled south from the Salt Flats, these counter-insurgents are hell bent of slaughtering as many of the rebels as they can. This is not an unfamiliar strategy by the Druj; they hate those who escape their clutches even more than they hate the Empire. So many times they have sought to make an example of those who throw off their yoke, in the Barrens, in Ossium, even in Holberg. This assault is no exception. It seems likely that they assume the Empire’s attention will be focused entirely in the south-east, at Thornfen. Their attack is double-pronged like an assassin’s blade. On hastily constructed rafts, surviving members of the Thornwasp paddle across the wide expanse of the Feverwater. The Banded Snake gather in secret in western Turan Flats and cross the river under cover of a moonless night.
Soldiers of the Pride! Three years ago, I stood with you as we marched forth through the mud and blood of the Steel Causeway and fell in behind the Hounds of Glory to break a dark and terrible bastion. The Hounds' story ended there, but the tale they began there on the Plains of Teeth finishes its next chapter this Winter. Now, the Tower of the Skink will fall in turn. Another monument to wickedness will be laid low. In seasons to come, the pillars will fall as well. The pall of dread and despair that hangs over this land will fade. But that is not our foremost duty. Not this time. If the Druj strike out we will answer them. But there is only one thing the free peoples of Sarangrave have asked for, of our Empire, and they have asked it of us. Make for Nesustak. We will reach out to the Bloodwater Spears and aid them in raising watchtowers to defend themselves. We will show them that the Empire are not the monsters that they think we are. Only we can do this. We are called and so we come. A new dawn is breaking over the Sarangrave. We will make flowers grow here, too.
Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose, General of the Gryphon’s PrideThe rebels are not caught sleeping; they are vigilant for counterattack from the Druj. Indeed, they are in the midst of preparing their own defences. Barricades and palisades to protect their rickety settlements; watch towers against the threat to their borders; armed patrols to root out the remaining threats of the land they have claimed. They are supported in this by a few dozen heralds of the Shacklebreaker, whose swift feet and keen senses prove invaluable at keeping the loose alliance of survivors united. Their boons of health, healing, and war are equally welcome. Unfortunately, with the Druj attackers comes a small host of heralds of the Centipede General, the King of All Spiders. This stealthy assault, set on murder and mayhem, clearly suits the temperament of the Scorpion Queen - and it can barely resist an opportunity to strike against those Ward of the Young seeks to aid. Unfortunately, as they have so many times before in this war for the Sarangrave, the Druj have miscalculated.
The Gryphon’s Pride came down through the Barrens with the other armies, but it did not accompany them to Thornfen. Instead, they struck camp in the western Turan Flats, and sent heralds of their own - mortal heralds - into Nesustak Forest. Under the quiet gaze of Irra Harrah’s childer, a cautious negotiation took place on the banks of the river. By all accounts, the Bloodwater Spears, one of the renegade septs of former Druj subjects, have reached out to the Dawnish army for support and the general has answered. Unfortunately, there are also many among the rebels who see the arrival of a Dawnish army on their borders as a thing of terror rather than reassurance.
They have heard the stories of the Druj, of events in the Barrens, of the destruction of the Vendarri, the slaughter of the Montainians, the brutal murders of the Black Wind and the attack by this very army against the rebel heroes under the old banner of Rahvin. They have been told over and over that everyone who ever trusted the Empire has paid the ultimate price for it. So they do not welcome five thousand armoured warriors, no matter if they come beneath a banner of parley or not. Some few yeofolk are allowed to cross into Nesustak, to offer their expertise in constructing defences, but no knight is invited to join them. It is arguably more than might be expected; the Empire is used to the hammer-blow of the Druj miasma but its presence and its constant subtle creeping fingers of suspicion and fear make it very difficult for people to trust one another. That these septs have been able to come together at all is little short of a miracle.
It would be easy for the Pride to crash across the river and force their will on the rebels of Nesustak, but their orders are clear. They are here to protect, not to conquer, and their presence in Turan will at least mean they are in position to intercept any attackers from the north.
Then the Druj attack, and the Gryphon’s Pride acts. The Druj clearly expected the Dawnish to leave the rebels to their fate; the Banded Snake are taken by surprise when the knights and war-witches erupt into the forest to their rear. They are caught between the anvil of the defenders and the hammer of Glory, smashed and broken and left with little recourse but to flee.
The Thornwasp from the south are more of a problem. As the knights march through Nesustak Forest, some of the rebels sadly scatter or seek to intercept them as an invading force. Wherever possible, the Dawnish seek to minimize losses to the confused warriors, their fellow defenders, but these people are frightened. Even with the words of the Bloodwater Spears, there are accidents to be grieved. Yet these accidents cannot risk slowing the Dawnish response.
The septs do their best to fight off the Thornwasp but they are not well armed, not as used to fighting as the tyrants of the Mallum even in their scattered state. Conversely, these ambushers are in no position to face the fury of an entire Dawnish army. At first they press inland, with some minor victories, but even so their actual aim - to slaughter the rebels - proves difficult to achieve. The heralds of Irra Harrah are no match for those of Arhallogen, but they do not attempt to fight. Instead, they serve as guides, getting people to safety - or helping defenders into positions where they can fight back.
When the Gryphon’s Pride reaches the shores of the Feverwater, the Druj who once claimed Bloodwater Marshes have nowhere to go. Those who take to their rafts are easy marks for archers - orc and human alike. Those who stand and fight are quickly slain. When the first heavy rains of Spring begin to fall, the shores of the Feverwater are choked with dead Druj, their blood staining the drowning waters muddy red.
After this, the rebels of Nesustak are more inclined to trust those who suggest the Pride is here to help not harm. Grudgingly, carefully, a detente is built. As the rains continue to beat down, the majority of the Dawnish forces withdraw back across the river to remain on watch but those who remain are, if not welcomed, at least tolerated. Few can deny that their aid has saved countless lives from the venom of the Druj, this time at least.
Yet there are also difficult questions asked. What does this mean in the long run? The Empire has conquered Sarangrave and given these lands to strangers from the south to be their domain. What does this mean for the people left in the marshes? How is this better than being the slaves of the Buruk-Tepel? These are orc lands, the homelands of the Bloodwater Spears and the rest. What happens if they do not accept this Imperial domination? Where will the Gryphon’s Pride be when it is the Empire’s warriors looking to kill the free orcs of the Sarangrave - of the Mallum? There are impassioned exchanges, arguments on both sides, but no resolution is reached. The forest is safe for now but what of the future?
When Ipotavo was besieged, when Kaban was lost, the Druj took many of our beloved away as slaves and prisoners. Many assume them lost to the wicked wills of the Mallum. Yet the Sorcerer-Queen Ipotavo used to say: those who truly oppose the False Divinity with all their heart and all their soul and all their might are loyal even through hardship and misfortune. Though we know not whether our loved ones still dwell on this side of the abyssal dark of the Labyrinth, we fight as if they do. We will take the Tower, and every moment we fight to do so we will fight as if we will hold them, warm and living, in our arms once more: but between us and them are many Druj: they die, unmourned.
Vasiliki Terricos, General of the Shield of IpotavoWhat of the future indeed…
At the Gate of Despair
Through curtains of rain the Imperial force marches south to the Tower. Few are prepared for the sheer size of the fortification; it spreads across the horizon occupying the space between the foothills connecting the Mallum and the lands of Axos to the south. Its towers are immense, dwarfing those of the Spires of the Dusk in their immensity. This is a chaotic structure of stone and weirwood, and mithril spikes, and ironbound ramparts. This is the last true stronghold of the Druj in Sarangrave, shouting defiance of the forces of virtue to the heavens.
Not that it is easy to feel for its size through the sheets of rain falling all around. Its towers scrape the clouds, but to be fair the clouds are very low at the moment weighed down with water. The banners of the lizard and the snake hang limp and bedraggled, soaked through, cheap dyes running down the wall in streams of sickly green and bloody red.
The walls are defended three ranks deep with Druj archers, but the rain makes it difficult for them to darken the sky any more than it already is. The Eastern Sky has great covered rams to manoeuvre into position, to assault the gates, but even they are a little taken aback at the sheer size of the things. Not of wood, not even weirwood, but of white granite these doors must need a team of slaves straining on a net of ropes to open and close. The rams of the Empire will struggle to do more than dent them.
A long siege suits the Druj better than the Empire, of course. The longer the Imperial forces are held here in Thornfen, the more time there is for the armies of the Mallum to rally their strength and return to squeeze them against the walls of the Tower, as the Banded Snake in Nesustak are being squeezed against the Feverwater by the Gryphon’s Pride.
A triumphant charge can only take an army so far; to simply rush the Tower of the Skink would be to throw lives away pointlessly. A council is convened to discuss how best to assault the castle, to defeat the enemy sheltered within. A single ranking Axou, a Toxatai war-necromantia, cousin of the Grand Ilarch of Ipotavo, has come at great risk through the foothills to attend in person.
As the rain pounds the canvas above their heads, captains and commanders argue back and forth, seeking some solution to the walls and the gate. The opportunity to starve the defenders out is there, but there is no telling how well provisioned they are to withstand such a siege. The presence of two extra armies inside must be putting their supplies under pressure, but how much is difficult to say. There were many storehouses in Sephals and most were empty by the time the Druj were forced to abandon their position there. Worse, the healing power of the waters of life will help maintain the strength of the Druj just as it maintains the strength of the Empire.
The heavy rains help, but also hinder. While it protects from long-range attacks, if it continues for much longer the Imperial armies risk becoming bogged down. And it shows little sign of letting up. Indeed, runners from the forces left behind in Sephals warn that the streets of the town are already starting to flood as the waters released from Jarangir’s Levy are deepened by a week of unrelenting rain.
In the end, the decision is made to try and take the Tower while the opportunity still remains. A second heavy battering ram is constructed. Rather than being made of wood, it is formed from a white granite column ripped from a Druj palace in Sephals, carried south through the downpour by orcs of the Summer Storm, and shaped by Urizeni engineers. At the last moment, a contingent of Navarr arrive from elsewhere in Sarangrave with a quartet of Great Forest Orcs freed from the weirwood grove in Whisperwood. They set to work shaping a weirwood frame to carry the ram, with the aid of their Navarr friends. The Boyar's Hasta contributes an amount of looted mithril armour and weapons which, when swiftly melted down by Dawnish smiths, serve to bind and reinforce it with the snarling face of a great maned lion.
The morning of the attack, the waters are already lapping at the walls of the Tower in places. The Tail of the Skink holds the marshwaters at bay - where it approaches the walls it is raised up in a manner that puts some in mind of Otterway back in Bregasland. The Druj know that this is the key moment, that they will have to face this attack and stand against it. The defenders continue to loose arrows, but the main source of danger are the catapults positioned atop the ramparts. Massive rocks hail down, interspersed with filth, dead bodies, and effluent. Some are bound in iron, but its clear the Druj supplies of catapult stones are also waning slightly. A few barrels of pitch are launched, but the rain quickly extinguishes their threat.
With the Eastern Sky at the forefront, the massive battering ram is slowly maneuvered into position. The armoured covering protects those within from missiles thrown from the walls, but the pounding of rocks and arrows almost drowns out that of the rain - almost. Again and again the great fist smashes against the northern gates of the Tower of the Skink. The defenders are not content to simply sit and trust to the sturdiness of their door however.
The Druj are monstrous, but they are cunning. It becomes clear that they have created their own ways to get troops into and out of the Tower. Without warning, two thousand warriors erupt out of the marshes to the east and west of the Tail of the Skink. They fall on the Imperial forces on the flanks, fighting with bloodthirsty ruthlessness. It quickly becomes apparent that there are hidden tunnels under the walls that emerge nearly a quarter mile from the fortification itself and that for days now, the defenders have been carefully moving their troops into position.
With the garrison come another thousand or so guerrillas of the Hidden Snake, and five hundred Poison Crane. All are equipped for killing, with venoms and poison, many dosed up on the battle-drugs the Druj call warspice and corpse skin that grant near supernatural vitality but overwhelm the common sense and survival instinct of those who use them. This is a suicide attack, one aimed at breaking through the Empire's line to destroy the great ram.
As the assault begins, the skies truly open. The wind rises, howling around the ramparts, driving the rain almost horizontal. Fighters struggle in the mud, their footing suddenly treacherous on the rainslick ground. Visibility plummets, a massive battle between Empire and Druj, between virtue and hate, reduced to a hundred scattered skirmishes by the walls of water. Thunder rumbles, barely audible over the pounding of the rain. Yet the deafening beat of the ram is louder still, ringing out across the battlefield like the heartbeat of some terrible beast of war. Orc and human, Druj and Imperial, alike fall in the sucking mud and the rising tides, eyes and lungs choking with earth and drowning with filthy water.
And then, with the storm at its height, the lion-faced battering ram of stone and mithril hits something within the solid stone of the gate. A point of weakness that had endured for hundreds of years, since the doors were first raised. A fracture line buried in the rock where only a mighty blow would uncover it. Perhaps the terrible rhythm of the blows has weakened the gate. Perhaps it is something else. But whatever the reason, the hammering blow causes the stone first to crack and splinter, and then with a terrible roaring noise, to break.
Another blow, another, battering against that point of weakness, opening the hole, pounding through the feet-thick stone. The flaw exposed, the gate begins to fragment apart. A terrible cry of despair goes up from inside the Tower of the Skink. The door is falling! After centuries of defiance, one of the two great doors of the Tower of the Skink is falling!
The Lions of Adelmar are first through the breach, shields at the ready. Behind them, the soldiers of the Eastern Sky, and after them the rest of the Imperial forces pouring into the gatehouse of the Tower, as the waters of the flood poured over Jarangir’s Levy.
Outside and inside, bloody slaughter leaves waves of blood on the stone, that mix with the mud to create a grim quagmire. Another cry goes up, another cry of despair. The Quiet Step erupt from the forests of the east, Navarr spears tearing into the Druj attackers assailing the flanks of the army. With spell, and spear, and sword, and axe, and unbreakable shield, the Empire fights the Druj at the Tower of the Skink under the roaring heavens, amid the thundering rain.
The battle is not over simply because the gate has been breached. There are still two armies, and a garrison to match them, inside the castle who must be dealt with. There are screaming, fleeing orcs and humans in rags who will not fight. Sometimes the Druj use them to bait traps, or as shields of meat that cry and wail when forced toward the Empire’s soldiers. Even here there are traps, old and cunning, built into the stonework. Blades that snap from floor or ceiling if one moves the wrong way down a hall; walls that fall to allow defenders to attack from the side; chemicals that in a confined space blind or choke or assail the mind with terrible visions. All these and more the Druj have built into their home, driven by the fear that grips their own hearts. Fear of their enemies, of each other, making even their sanctuary a place where no-one is ever truly safe.
Then the Axou are there, fighting their own way through the defenders. A small, fast moving group has slipped through the halls and courtyards of the castle to take the southern gate. The guards slain, they have managed to throw it wide and let the blades of Ipotavo go to work on the tyrants of the Mallum.
Even here, the clarity granted by Day magic helps ensure that the attackers are able to mount the most efficient assault they can, preventing allies harming each other. For the better part of a day the fighting rages on and on, turning the Tower of the Skink into a charnel house. Whoever wins here, it will be Death that holds dominion when the day is done.
In the end, though, the day is done. The Tower of the Skink still stands, but the banners of the Empire, of Dawn and Navarr, Urizen and the Unshackled, are raised over its ramparts. The fighting is not over - there are still Druj here in the nooks and the crannies - but the battle is won. The Tower of the Skink has fallen to the Empire and their allies, and with it the Thornfen. And with that victory, the dominion of the Druj over the Sarangrave is brought to a conclusive end.
Flight and Shadow
The tower falls, the garrison scatters, but in the end the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow are not entirely accounted for. They have taken significant losses, for sure, but the power of Spring magic protected them just as it did the Empire. When it is clear that the Tower is lost, many of the soldiers escape through the hidden tunnels beneath the fortification into the marshes. Scattered and hunted, they are forced to flee as best they can. They make their way north to the dubious safety of the Salt Flats, and they pay a heavy price for doing so. Easily another thousand Druj warriors fall as part of the rout, but in the end the armies manage to cross the border north through Kroll. It is a temporary sanctuary for the Druj; with the Sarangrave under the dominion of the Empire, they cannot help but begin to collapse. Soldiers will desert, no matter how much they fear the Buruk Tepel. The writing is on the wall for the armies of the Thornwasp, the Banded Snake, and the Marshlizard.
As in Sephals there is the question of what to do with the orcs and humans left behind in the Tower. The Axou do not want them; the Empire cannot trust them. Arguments break out almost immediately, as outside the rain begins to fall. Yet even these arguments take second place to a more pressing question.
Where are the magicians of the Tainted Basilisk?
End of All Songs
Last season the Druj sent an ultimatum to the Empire from the city of Leen in the Salt Flats. Quit the Sarangrave, or the Tainted Basilisk will release the vallorn of Béantal Dol. It seemed inconceivable to many that even the Druj would do such a thing. Others questioned whether even the Tainted Basilisk could achieve such a thing. What would it profit them to destroy the Sarangrave, their own people, likely themselves? What would it profit them indeed.
Those who hoped the ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk might not be equal to the task of rousing Béantal Dol clung to false hope. These foul corrupted wizards have shown themselves not only capable, but willing to unleash the uncontrollable horror of the vallorn in Therunin. They have been exploring, examining, studying the matter for years - a pattern of odd encounters and inexplicable events slowly starting to come together into a skein of secrets and atrocity. They are also more than capable of moving through the Sarangrave under the shadow of Night magic, avoiding those who might seek the stop them, bypassing the defences set against them. And it seems that this is exactly what they have done.
Hasta! You have worked like the bee at summers head, watched like the Spider watches its web. Let's now use that vigilance to spy on the Druj, To see what vallorn waking tactics they may use. But before the road calls us, raise a tankard high to our cousins in Ossium slaying peelers where they lie. With Hounds Hall, new forces ride along our own, and the best heckle from me earns a throne. With Courage, there is not a line that cannot break, there is not a thing the Druj hold that we cannot take.
Serafina Semenov, General of the Boyar’s HastaWhen Sephals fell, they were already in motion. An army of Druj obfuscated beneath a shroud. The thunderous rain must have seemed a boon to them, making it even easier for them to move east from Thornfen to the edges of Bendol. To where the great ring of Terunael warding stones holds in the floodtide of this ancient terror. A vallorn with the full power of a Brocéliande or a Visokumo, packed into a single region of verdant ruins.
Unmarked, the Tainted Basilisk come to Bendol and as the gates of the Tower of the Skink begin to splinter, they begin their terrible work.
Unmarked? Oh no, not wholly unmarked. For while the Gryphon’s Pride fought in Nesustak Forest, and the armies of the Empire assailed the Tower of the Skink, the Varushkan army of the Boyar’s Hasta wove its own strategy in the Sarangrave. Where the Navarr of the Quiet Step hunted the Druj, Varushkan scouts helped them uncover their boltholes and hidden lairs. In Nesustak they helped the Dawnish root out the assassins of the Thornwasp and the Banded Snake. And as the armies moved south it was their scouts and spies who warned of the threat from the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow in time to allow the Quiet Step to reach the battlefield.
But mostly what they have been doing is watching for the Tainted Basilisk. Watching the eaves of Bendol. Watching the pathetic Grynbor as they honoured the aberration at the heart of Sarangrave. When the ghulai make their move, the Varushkans are ready to oppose them at every turn.
Observation indicates that the Tainted Basilisk have splintered as they moved, still hidden under their Night magic shroud. They spread their forces around the outskirts of Bendol, at key positions about the circumference of the warning stones. Their shroud protects them only while they are moving; the longer they stay in one place the easier it is to see where they are, to see the mists that hide them from prying eyes gather. When their agents reach the outskirts of Turan, the Boyar’s Hasta strike. A sudden ambush, a vicious fight of scouts and vikari that leaves most of the Druj dead. Most, but not all. Some of the ghulai are taken alive, interrogated, forced to reveal their intent.
They plan to breach the warding stones, to undo what the Terunael did in those last days after the disastrous ritual that brought the vallorn into being. They will unleash Béantal Dol, and it will wash across the Sarangrave, devouring armies and rebels alike. A fitting retribution, laughs one half-mad sorcerer. The folly of ancient humans, killing and consuming their distant heirs.
Immediately the Hasta start to move - sending messengers and mobilizing their forces to scour the outskirts of Bendol for more groups of ghulai. A second encampment is intercepted in Thornfen with the aid of the Navarr, but they are much better defended. As the Empire consolidates its hold on the Tower of the Skink, another battle erupts on the outskirts of the vallorn. The magicians of the Druj hold nothing back; unleashing spell and ritual alike to try and drive the Varushkans and the Navarr away. They are supported by Dawnish and Urizeni from Sephals, and together they risk everything to disrupt that final desperate ritual of destruction. Spring magic, aimed at rending the ancient standing stones apart with the power of ruin.
In the end though, despite this valiant effort, it is too late to stop the Tainted Basilisk from achieving their goal. There is simply too much ground to cover, and the Druj have laid their plans too well. Even as they retreated from the Imperial advance, they left their agents behind to prepare for this unlooked-for day. Ghulai, vikkari, warriors of every Arkad, left behind on the outskirts of the vallorn itself to facilitate one final strike against the Empire should the defence of the Sarangrave fail. And fail it has.
Three days before the Spring Equinox, the deluge that has fallen uninterrupted from the cloud-choked sky since the liberation of Sephals ends as suddenly as it began. In that instant, every head in Sarangrave, no matter where they are in the marshlands, turns to look toward the heart of the territory. Whether arguing with Mallum orcs in Sephals, scouring the Tower of the Skink for remaining Druj, discussing the matter of freedom and security in the Nesustak Forest, or fretting about the Drowned Shepherd and the wisdom of invoking constellations in times such as this, everyone feels it. Like the air changes before a storm breaks, but this comes at the end of the storm. For a moment it overpowers even the banal humdrum thrum of the Druj miasma. An awareness in a split second of a profound finality, of an ending that has been waiting for a thousand years to come to fruition.
The last great working of the Terunael has been broken. The vallorn of Béantal Dol rises, shaking off the remnant of its chains. Fattened by months of Spring-infused waters, it stretches, rousing itself in a way it has never, ever done before since it was first trapped.
And it begins to spread.
Game Information : Dominion
- The region of Thornfen, and the Tower of the Skink, have fallen
- An administrative motion related to their disposition will be raised during the Spring Equinox
- The Hidden Widow and Poison Crane have fled the territory taking serious casualties
- The remaining garrison of the Tower of the Skink has scattered across southern and eastern Sarangrave
The Empire has captured the region of Thornfen, and with it the Tower of the Skink. The entire territory save for the Nesustak Forest and Bendol are Imperial now. They achieved their goal with the aid of the Axou army of Ipotavo, and while that contribution was valuable it was relatively minor next to the impact of the Empire. There is an existing treaty with the Axou, signed when they joined the war in the Sarangrave, that indicates the intent to not contest Axou claim to Thornfen, including the Tower of the Skink, and the settlement Sephals. During the Spring Equinox, the Civil Service will raise an administrative motion during Saturday afternoon Senate session to confirm that this is still their intent. This motion, if it passes, will be available for the Urizen assembly to veto, as it effectively involves the concedence of a region under their control.
The Gryphon’s Pride spent the season defending, specifically offering aid to the rebels of the Nesustak Forest. Without their intervention, it is likely the rebels would have eventually repelled the attacking Druj but they would have suffered serious losses in the process. The Gryphon’s Pride ensured that the vicious Mallum septs were unable to enact their revenge, and while this has not lessened the rebels desire to see Sarangrave as a free land under their control it has helped to establish the Dawnish army as allies, albeit allies that many are still suspicious of.
The Boyar’s Hasta committed themselves to supporting the other armies, but specifically to watching for signs of the Tainted Basilisk. Thanks to their vigilance, the ghulai of the Druj magical army were only partially successful in their goal. Further details are discussed below.
The armies of the Hidden Widow and the Poison Crane were badly damaged during their defence of the Tower of the Skink, but not destroyed. They have managed to use the confusion to escape back to the Salt Flats of Sanath, but both armies took an additional 500 casualties each during their desperate retreat through Imperial-held Sarangrave, pursued and harried by the Empire. More troubling is the garrison of the Tower of the Skink. While the tower has fallen, and the garrison been seriously damaged, the orcs that make up the garrison have likewise managed to desert the sinking ship. As such Thornfen, Turan Flats, Kroll, and the Whisperwood have all gained the ‘’Outlaw Druj‘’ qualities. Until these outlaws are dealt with, any settlement of those regions are in danger. In addition, any commission built in the territory will have its labour costs increased by a fifth for each region under Imperial control with that quality.
Game Information : Drowning
- The Drowned Shepherd constellation has exerted unexpected influence in Sarangrave this season
- The name of the constellation has changed; nobody is sure where this change originates
This season, the influence of the Drowned Shepherd constellation in Sarangrave has been unmistakable by those who know what to look for. It's unlikely that this is due to its invocation by the general of the Citadel Guard. More likely it is simply that events in the Sarangrave have foreshadowed a profound ending. The constellation is strongly associated with curses, and for all its perception as being generally helpful, Rivers of Life is still a curse.
There are two elements to this influence that are worth noting. The first is that the constellation appears to have a new name; the Drowned Shepherd. Previously known as the Drowned Man, there has been a notable shift in awareness over the last few months. Much as with the way the understanding of the names of the stars has shifted over the last year or two, so too has awareness of its name shifted. It's up to individual characters how to respond to this. Some will continue to call it the Drowned Man, but this name will feel increasingly archaic and old fashioned. It won't impact magic to use either name, but the name on the wiki has been changed. Speculation about the difference between what a Drowned Man and a Drowned Shepherd symbolise is encouraged.
The other element is that the catastrophic rainstorm has caused water to rise all over the territory. In time that water may subside, but it has resulted in breached dams and ruined farms, herb gardens drowned, and even some structures collapsing. At the same time the unnatural vitality the Rivers of Life bring has been heightened - not only by preserving the lives of soldiers and civilians alike, but also resulting in an explosion in the population of creatures of the Sarangrave including bog octopuses, mosquitos, wasps, spiders, and other small fast-breeding creatures few of which are wholesome in their interactions with humans and orcs.
Game Information : Béantal Dol
- The vallorn of Béantal Dol has been unleashed
- The Tainted Basilisk have been only partially successful and only two regions are seriously threatened
- There are opportunities to try and stem the flow of vallorn power in uptime and downtime following the event
- The warding stones that once surrounded Béantal Dol are gone
The ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk have breached the circle of warding stones that contains the vallorn of Béantal Dol. Thanks to the Boyar’s Hasta their efforts have been only partially successful. Unfortunately, where the vallorn is concerned “partially successful” is still a significant threat.
Two regions are directly threatened by the expanding vallorn - Nesustak Forest and Bloodwater Marsh. Had the wards simply collapsed, the vallorn would have burst forth towards the nearby fortification, the Tower of the Skink. Sadly, this release is no accident. The magicians of the Tainted Basilisk have seized an opportunity to deliberately weaken the wards in such a way as to direct the threat against the Empire and the rebels and away from their allies. There is a single narrow window to take action and save one region or the other from desolation.
The actions of the Boyar’s Hasta may still have saved the rest of the territory. They have managed to save most of the warding stones - not enough to hold the vallorn back, but enough to have a vital effect. The vallorn will wash over the stones, as it attempts to expand and in the process the magic that sustains them will be overwhelmed, and destroyed. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the warding stones will be no more - there is no way now to stop them being destroyed. However, they will serve to protect against the vallorn for one final time. In doing so they will absorb some of the devastating verdant power of the vallorn. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the vallorn of Béantal Dol will be to all intents and purposes a “normal” vallorn. It will still be disproportionately potent, but it will no longer present the threat of expanding to completely fill the Sarangrave that it previously did. That threat, like the warding stones, is ended.
What happens to Nesustak Forest and the Bloodwater Marshes, however, will depend on what the Empire chooses to do…
Participation : Power of the Druj
- Any character whose military unit supported an army in Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering wound
Any character whose military unit supported an army fighting in the Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering traumatic wound in their pack. These wounds represent serious injuries or lingering curses sustained during the fighting that the Rivers of Life have been unable to restore. Some of these wounds are potentially lethal if they are not treated before the end of the Spring Equinox, so those bearing them may wish to consult a Physick. In addition, however, every military unit that fought in the Sarangrave this season has been in a position to secure a small trove of herbs and potions, and potentially other things as well. If your character would not have approved of your soldiers taking things from the defeated Druj, you can simply drop these additional items back at GOD when you pick up your pack.
Participation : Lions of Adelmar
- The Lions of Adelmar continue not being able to take the cautious advance or give ground orders
- Any character whose military unit fought alongside the Lions of Adelmar may be inspired by the Knights of Glory
The Lions of Adelmar last fought alongside the Knights of Glory during the Summer. As mentioned then, the use of Knights of Glory is having an unexpected effect on the armies relying on it. The Lions of Adelmar cannot take the Cautious Advance or Give Ground orders until a year has passed - even if Dawn were to put aside their commitment to Glory.
On the other hand, stag-headed Ser Helvennan and their warriors from the Field of Glory take every opportunity to inspire the glorious soldiers of the Lions of Adelmar. A character whose military unit supported this army may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to the glorious heralds of Eleonaris.
- If you possess the hero skill, you receive a bonus hero point during the Spring Equinox. This bonus increases their maximum number of hero points for the duration of the summit.
- If you do not have the hero skill, you receive a single temporary hero point, which is lost once it is used. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Spring Equinox, regardless.
Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a roleplaying effect that lasts until the end of the Spring Equinox: You feel a strong urge to attempt great deeds that invite attention You take particular pleasure in approval and adulation; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper. If you enter battle, you feel driven to prove your worth and show everyone your strength.
Battle Opportunities
- Two major conjunctions to Sarangrave have been identified for the Spring Equinox but the Military Council can take advantage of only one of them
The prognosticators have identified two simultaneous opportunities in the Sarangrave during the Spring Equinox. The first will allow the Empire to intercede in Nesustak Forest and fight the vallorn here. The other will allow them to do the same, but in Bloodwater Marsh. If the Military Council choose this battle, they will be forced to pick one of these two conjunctions.
The vallorn of Béantal Dol can also be combatted following the Spring Equinox, but it will require a significant commitment of armies to prevent it consuming one or both of the threatened regions. Due to the long storing up of power, it will be attacking both regions separately with a strength of 30,000. To prevent it claiming the region and devouring almost everyone and everything in it, the Empire would need to ensure it did not get 10 victory points. Fewer than that and it is likely the region would still be left with a quality similar to infested.
The good news - and there is some good news - is that the brave actions of the Boyar's Hasta and the destruction of the remaining warding stones means that the vallorn will become quiescent again after this season, whatever happens. In addition, the explosive speed with which the vallorn is unfolding into the two regions means that any downtime fighting will not be taking place under the influence of the vallorn miasma.