Turn 41 to 48

Rough engagements in Mountains of Evernight, turn 41 and 42

Breach

So in this late summer, what had been both hoped and feared happened. As expected, the whole of Agartha’s army fell mercyless on the fortress of the Mountains of Evernight … but if that wasn’t that much of a surprise, an unexpected event came as a shock and broke off all the plans. Indeed, the Pale ones were very efficient for sieges and as such they breached the stronghold much faster than expected.

This unforeseen situation was unsettling, the plan was to first Earthquake them, and then only bring battle to them. That couldn’t be done at the same time given throwing a massive Earthquake in the middle of a battle meant death for both sides … Furthermore, most of the troops planned for an attack were not ready yet, particularly the Jotun wolves, and a battle made right now in these conditions was a sure path to defeat.

So choices were to me made. The Serfs and the Archers were trapped into the fortress, with no hopes to escape. However, the many Vanjarls waiting there could sneak out without much risk thanks to their mastery of illusions. Also, the Earquake commando team could make their expected sortie and deal their blow to the enemy, and right after that retreat safely in the neighbouring provinces.

As it was expected that the enemy would assault the fortress, it meant that there was still a month ahead to finally regroup the army designed to defeat them. However, they were scattered all around and could not regroup immediatly into one place. As such, it was decided to press a psychological advantage by completly surrounding their troops, from every single side. The point was to make sure that after taking the place they would want to retreat to their main territory, which would mean retreating to the north-eastern province of Jelenia Gora.

So, again, raiding parties were sent on their backs, especially Skaljv and her rebuilt army of 110 Valkyries. In Jelenia Gora itself, all 30 Jotun Wolves were sent to cut off the enemy retreat whereas the Barbarians and some additional undead troops closed the trap on the remaining sides.

While these orders where given and the fortress evacuated, a lone Vanjarl named Jatmund agreed to stay and sacrifice himself to lead the remaining serfs and Archers in defense of the stronghold. The troops were lied to, to keep their morale high, but they were doomed …

Earthquake !

A total of 4 Svartalf had been trained for this mission : Harek, Ragnar, Andvare and Sessrumner. Each one of them was fully equiped to be able to resist both heavy thunderstrikes and mind blasts. With them, 6 Vanjarls had the mission to draw enemy fire while the deadly spell was cast.

As expected, the enemy army was a scary sight. But everyone was ready to fulfill his role and if things went as planned, no one should be harmed appart from the enemy.

And so the dark dwarves started to summon the deepest powers of the earth. Together they drew from the Core of the world huge forces and slowly built an immense shockwave that began to quickly move to the surface. And without warning, the whole battlefield started to shake ! Every being was thrown out onto the ground, falling on the rocks, hitting the trees, sometimes even stumbling on their own weapons. And if that wasn’t enough, the earth completly collapsed in some places, engulfing the poor beings standing there. After 60 endless seconds, it stopped as suddenly as it had started … and that was it. When the Agarthians recovered, they could only count the bodies as about one third of their army was laying dead on the ground.

However, they could also thank their cleverness. The Crystal sorceresses had been protecting themselves with their astral powers, projecting their body partly into the Ether dimensions. Thanks to this trick, only 6 out of 15 had indeed died, a number that would have been much higher otherwise. Anyway, as planned, the Magma children had taken a heavy toll: the fire surrounding them did not protect their fragile bodies and 38 out 61 had perished. A few Great Olms too had been destroyed along with 2 pale one mages, and overall the mission could be considered a great success.

So as the survivors of the enemy army recovered and continued its assault, both the Vanjarls and the dwarves started to retreat. However, the surviving Great Olms, furious against their enemies, put all their power into their mind attacks and successfully paralyzed 3 out of the 6 vanjarls. Those, sitting like ducks were quickly burnt to death by the Magma Children, eager to avenge their brothers.

And though the 3 other vanjarls successfully made a retreat, the Svartalf found themselves in an unexpected position : their Lead Shields were so heavy that it slowed their retreat terribly ! And they didn’t want to let them down, they were precious, and they were still protecting them against the relentless mind assaults from the Great Olms.

But soon, it became clear that this had been a mistake. Rapidly, the Earth elementals were on them and trampled all the 4 of them to an horrible death. There was not much left of their bodies afterward, just a few scattered puddles of flesh embedded into the ground …

Desperate defense

Despite the heavy toll, the pale ones kept their assault on the fortress. It was their time for revenge, for all these humiliations suffered during the last months. Helheim would suffer, that was plain and clear.

80 archers, 110 serf warriors including 20 serf archers on the walls, all commanded by Jatmund the Vanjarl, faced the enemy army. Ho, yes that was quite a lot of troops but against the Agarthian’s might, that wasn’t that much …

Even though outnumbered 2 to 1, the Agarthian army went forth without hesitation. The numerous arrows raining on them were mostly little stings whereas the puny serf warrior spears were mostly a joke. Nonetheless, volley after volley, thrust after thrust, the vulnerable magma children – the main targets according to the plan – were falling one after the other. And while the serf army was routed, either burnt to death or crushed under tons of living rocks, the Agarthian mages started to throw tens of flying blades on the battlefield, striking indiscriminatly anyone on their paths. Even though this killed a lot of the still fighting human archers, some of the surviving Magma children were too taken down by this friendly fire.

And so, even though this was a really unfair fight, the whole human force being annihilated, the main objective of their last stand had been met : almost no Magma children were left alive.

Close the trap

Surrounded on every side, weakened and vulnerable, the Agarthian’s army was is in a difficult position. Their only way out : the mountain lands of Jelenia Gora.

The war council of Helheim was really afraid that the enemy would choose to push further into friendly territory toward the capital itself but … this would have been foolish on their part and what the previous fightings had shown was that the enemy was not reckless and would act in the only reasonable way : retreat and try to save what could be saved.

As such, every possible unit was ordered to move on the planned battlefield. Skaljv, mustering the largest ever force of Valkyries for a total of 119 of them. 35 newly summoned Jotun wolves, trained to tear apart the enemy earth elementals. And several other units, particularly barbarians who had been trained too to destroy the rocky beings with their large hammers. And with them, 3 enchanters dedicated to summon all the living wolves in the vicinity to come and help harrass the enemy troops during the battle.

The plan was set up, the orders given, and an unbearable tension began to rise in the hearts of the members of the war council. This time, there could be no failure, this time, they HAD to win.

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The battle of Jelenia Gora and the demise of Agartha, turn 43 to 46

The Battle of Jelenia Gora

As expected, the Agarthian army, surrounded on all sides, made the most rational choice. Indeed, their victorious troops from Mountains of Evernight were ordered to join forces in Jelenia Gora with the most recently recruited troops from Agartha … which was exactly where the whole army of Helheim was waiting for them.

Helheim’s battle tactics had changed since the disaster of Momephe. Initially, the Valkyries were ordered to wait a little before falling on the enemy rears. But in Momephe, that had given the enemy sorceresses the time to prepare themselves to unleash their powers. So this time the orders were much more simple : strike the enemy as soon as possible, show no mercy, leave no survivor.

Also, the newly recruited Jotun wolves were to be the spearhead of the army. Their raw power would be devastating and they would stop the earth elemental tide from inflicting any significant damage. Behind them, the mounted hirdmen were ordered to flank the enemy and support the valkyries when they could, whereas the babarians and the skeletons were to fall on whatever enemy would be in their path.

And so went the battle, and it went fast. Firstly the Valkyries took the enemy surviving crystal sorceresses unaware and slaughtered all of them without mercy. Indeed, the enemy had not used the trick of Momephe to put them ahead of a screen of troops, and as such were the perfect preys for the flying ladies. Meanwhile, the Jotun wolves led a fierce charge on the enemy troops, quickly destroying most magma children and regular troops as well as engaging the earth elementals.

Then, after these first actions, some of the giant wolves flanked the enemy troops and started to eat alive the Agarthian mages, helped in this task by the Valkyries. However, the frontline opposed to the magma children had suffered heavy losses and the skeletons and barbarians were now engaging the surviving enemies. From the rear, the numerous Vanjarls were raining lightning bolts of the enemy troops, causing deaths and panic. These were not as powerful as the thunderstrikes from the crystal sorceresses at momephe, but that was still something to be accounted for.

And, before the situation could be assessed, it was over. The enemy units, surrounded on all sides were torn apart. Wolves, valkyries, barbarians, undeads, as well as some wild wolves called by the enchanters, hunted whichever one-eyed giant they found. Of the enemy army, only one single mage escaped.

The news from this huge victory came as a relief. Everyone had been working so hard toward this result ! Sure, there were some significant losses, 34 valkyries and as much as 15 jotun wolves had perished, but this was a reasonable sacrifice for now the enemy had no army left ! There could be full conquest of their lands, at last, and this would be done in no time.

The one eyed will fall to the jaws of the giant wolf

Securing Agarthan territory

Indeed, during the raids to force the enemy to fall back on Jelenia Gora, the valkyries had been laying a short siege on the enemy fortress of Birman Highs, along with a force of 30 mounted hirdmen that had been sneaking in the vicinity. And with the news of the decisive victory came also news that this particular fortress had been breached. So the orders were given to assault it without delay with that small force of elite riders.

Also, the victorious troops in Jelenia Gora were divided into 2 groups. One small group would fall back on Mountains of Evernight to take it back from enemy hands, while a large group, including Skaljv and her valkyries, would lay siege on the capital of Agartha itself.

So by the end of Fall, Agartha was breached and Birman Highs had fallen. However, the assault of Agartha would be delayed for several months as the enemy still had a strong force of mage defending it. Also, it was feared that the enemy pretender would defend it and such a powerful being had to be reckoned with. Furthermore, Mictlan in the north still had some armies close to Agartha’s fortresses and Momephe was still a strategic objective : its Crystal sorceresses and Pegasus riders had to be secured.

So it was decided to leave Agartha alone and deal first with the most pressing issues . As a result, by the beginning of winter, a large force reached Momephe and breached the fortress. This time, the weakened defenses were no match for the Valkyries that took the place without losses. And that move was important as indeed Mictlan had sent a large force to capture the last Agarthan fortress. Thankfully for them they had targeted White Peaks instead of Momephe, for if they had sent that same force to Momephe they would have paid a heavy price … Also this fortress had absolutely no strategic value for Helheim, so if they wanted it, let them take it !

The last and final step to finish off Agartha was to capture the capital itself. The scouts sent there had given enough informations to assess the threat : about 20 earth mages, 30 magma children and 10 earth elementals. Not a huge force, but strong enough to require a real army and devise specific tactics.

Also, the scouts had been clear : no trace of the enemy pretender. And indeed some prisoners had finally revealed the reasons for that. Their god, the Wyrm called Snekking Aboot had been banished a year earlier by the troops of Atlantis. In a fierce battle under the oceans it was struck to death and never to be seen again. Indeed due to the war with Helheim, the Agarthian priests never had the time to recall their god …

Despite these rather good news, the enemy force defending Agartha was still something and a few more months were taken to gather a force adapted to finish them off.

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Skirmishes with Niefelheim and the collapse of Caelum, turn 41 to 47

Skirmishes with Niefelheim

While were occuring the decisive actions of the war against Agartha, some news came up from the south. The kingdom of Niefelheim was being invaded by both the flying men of Caelum  and the barbarians of Ulm . These news were unsettling as the reports suggested an imminent collapse of the giants.

As usual in such a situation, the war council decided to send forces to secure the border with Niefelheim. However, given the fact that the informations about that war were still quite unrealiable, this would not be a full scale intervention as occured with Machaka or Ur. Only a small raiding party would be sent to probe the enemy defenses, take a few provinces and if, indeed, the giant nation was to collapse, take some more decisive action.

In the meantime, an embassy was sent to Caelum to know more of their whereabouts, and may be seek an alliance. But as the months passed, it became obvious that the birdmen attacks had been repelled and that the giant were getting the upper-edge. Some reports suggested even that the barbarians of Ulm had had fights against Caelum and that this war was a real mess where wisdom suggested not to be involved.

And, indeed, after taking 5 provinces from small raiding parties, came a counter attack. A huge Niefel jarl attacked a recently conquered land and easily overcame the small defense laid out there. The informations about him were all but reassuring. Not only did he came with a strong magical equipment, but he also benefited strongly from the cold temperature, which was a permanent feature both in Helheim’s and Niefelheim’s lands. Indeed his armor was covered by a strong layer of ice, and the magical nature of the giant fed from the cold and spread it strongly around him. So strongly that a mere man couldn’t stay there more than a minute before falling unconscious from the cold.

And this came to a shock at is was plain evidence that the elite warriors of Helheim were no match for that creature. Not a Dis, not a Vanjarl, not even a Hangadrott could be engaged without a high risk of death. Even the Valkyries were almost useless, their weapons being too small to get through its heavy armor, and their lack of protection from the cold made them very vulnerable to the icy winds around the beast.

So, both to the news of Caelum defeats and the danger represented by that single giant made a shift in Helheim’s policy. A shift even more pronounced as they knew very well that Niefelheim could muster an army of tens of likewise giants. An embassy was sent to their pretender, Daurgothoth the Dracolich, pretending these raiding parties were just assisting Helheim’s “ally”, Caelum and that this intervention was over. So they slowly took back what Helheim had taken from them and a relative peace took place on these borders. For some reason, they didn’t reclaim two out of five of their former provinces so, in the end, these raids were rather well rewarded.

Securing the Banefire Forge to Oceania

The throne of Thorns and the precious Banefire Forge had been close to Oceania’s lands for some time now. The strange underwater satyrs had indeed tried to have an inland beachead and these small conquests had led them close to Helheim’s lands.

When news came that they were losing their wars against their numerous enemies, the War council of Helheim understood that it was time to end this threat on the Banefire Forge. A vanjarl, Hrimmner, was appointed to do the job. The enemy was rather weak, and unwilling to defend these lands … in 2 months it was done and the places secured.

These small conquests pleased Lord Kall. It was a small move, but a move that made the kingdom whole from the capital to the sea.

The collapse of Caelum

The pretender god of Caelum was Lady Cozin. A Devi of Good fortunes that had been roaming this world for a long, long time. According to legends, she had been a wife of a previous Pantokrator that had finally lost interest in her and banished her in another world. But, in such a long time period, these were mostly legends and nobody really knew where she came from. However, there was no doubt she was a very ancient and powerful creature, and that since the beginning of the war she had been claiming her rights as the new Pantokrator.

But with the news of the defeats of her armies against Niefelheim, she lost the will to go on. She had been there for such a long time … what was the point of being the Pantokrator ? She was already a god of her own, there was no real point in using so much energy in a pointless fight. As such, to the dismay of her people she started to give away her empire. However, Lord Kall had had talks with her and some sort of friendship had been going on. So she gave Helheim a number of magical gems and items that were not anymore of use to her.

Viewing this as an opportunity to gather even more power, there was a negociation to have Caelum’s finest smiths create some crucial magical items that Helheim smiths were incapable of making. Indeed, with both a Winged Helmet and Bag of winds , both empowering the essence of Air magic , the Vanjarls of Helheim would finally be able to reproduce the performance of the Crystal sorceresses in Momephe : throwing in a battle the full power of thunder and thus destroying entire armies.

But … may be Lord Kall was too greedy … in the middle of this transaction, Lady Cozin disappeared mysteriously, leaving Caelum in disarray. And the worse part was that not only the dreamt items were never received, but also more than half of the resources previously gifted by Caelum were lost in the process …

In the end, nobody really knew what happened to Lady Cozin. She had vanished, just like that. It is said that after the war the new pantokrator had been looking for her but found no trace. May she had finally joined the previous Pantokrator wherever he had also disappeared … or may be she had found a way to create her own universe for herself … no one will never know.

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Nothing escapes our eyes ! turn 46

Lust for Power

Lord Kall : “If I want to become the One True God, I need Omniscience. Only then will I be able to reach the skies for me and only me”.

The mages of Helheim had been tasked some months ago to study the Eyes Of God enchantment. It was a powerful spell that allowed the mage who cast it to See the whole world. When the secrets of this magic were finally uncovered and mastered, Lord Kall did not think twice before deciding to use it for his own purpose : He had to see Everything.

It was early winter, and the frost had reached its peak for the next 3 months. A period that Lord Kall loved as he was in his element, where he felt the strongest, where he was himself at the peak of his power.

These last months he had joined the other mages at the Banefire Forge, in the midst of the Black Peaks mountains, to help them craft the magical items needed for the wars of the kingdom. There was not yet a castle there and the encampment was still a bit harsh. But in this cold he felt so well that it didn’t bother him. And he thought that it would be a delight to perform such a strong magic during a snowfall … as a result, he chose the peak of the highest mountain to carry out this enchantment.

The spell required a lot of Astral Power and it took him two long weeks to prepare himself for the complex ritual, drawing signs of power, casting charms to protect him and his followers for what was to come. Furthermore, the place he chose did not help as the logistics to gather all the materials were made even more complex. But that was worth it, from there he already had a glimpse of what was to come, a view of all the surrounding lands, a foretaste of True Omniscience.

And so on a sunny morning began the ritual. The first step was also the longest, as he started to call on to the powers of the Ether from every single place in the world. And the world was huge ! During 3 days and 3 nights he pulled Ether strings one by one, weaving them into a magical enchantment that for whom could see it looked like a huge wool ball from which countless strings reached out. It was as if he had created a web of the World, connecting every place to a single point in space.

During these 3 days, the weather had been getting worse and worse, and at the time all of these energies were finally bound one to the other, the place was stuck under a heavy blizzard. And he needed it, he needed that beloved frost to sustain him to go for the final phase as he was starting to be completely exhausted. And so under that screaming wind began the ultimate and most delicate part that would open him to the Knowledge. As such, he started to bind every part of these strings into his own eyes. All of this huge power he gathered in these two small organic things that had allowed him to see the matter world during his whole life … until now. Because, now, they would allow him to See Everything.

When the magic energy started to dissipate, he Saw. Everything. Nothing could escape his Eyes now. Not a single thing. And so after a few minutes of silence, completely stunned by his new perception, he started to laugh … laugh … laugh like a madman ! “Hahahahaha ! I see everything !!! I see everything !!! Ha ha ha ha ha !” … and then fell unconscious, drained to the bone by the ritual and the huge quantity of informations now flowing through his brain.

A wind of panick started to spread amongst the mages and followers stationed in the Forge. Their God, Lord Kall had been unconscious for 7 days, 7 full days ! His sleeping body had been taken down the mountain as it was no place to stay for long … But even back in that more civilized place he had not awoken. He looked alive, for sure, but would he ever wake up again ? Wasn’t that crazy spell too powerful for him ?

But when under the full moon, right in the middle of winter he finally woke up, the look in his eyes left no doubt : not only he was back, but he was even more powerful and determined than ever. “Summon the scribes ! I need them in my tent as soon as possible ! I will suffer no delay !”

And so during days Lord kall told what he saw, and the scribes wrote and started to create a huge map where everything He saw was written up. And, when they finished, he sent this map to the High council of Helheim. He also made a small copy with minimal informations to reward his friend from Therodos. Finally, from what he felt, he created a magical beacon from which any sensitive enough mage could feel the real power of every pretender. Through that constantly emitting beacon, he planned to make himself indispensable to his opponents so that they would think twice before launching a war against him. Indeed, why attack the one that provide so precious information ?

That feeling of power, a power over the Whole World was thrilling. He sensed, somewhere, that it was only a fraction of what it would be when he would become the new Pantokrator. Because, yes, now there was no doubt, this new power was the key to victory, even though it was quite irrationnal at the time, he sensed it to the core of his soul : nothing could stop him now.

With eyes so deep and a vision so clear …

Knowledge is Power

His new Eyes did not only allow him to See everything, but also to Feel the relative power of every nation and enemy pretender. Be it their gold, their magical gem income, the faith people had in them, the size of their armies and how advanced was their knowledge in the arcana of magic. These informations he had decided to share with the other pretenders, as a tool to manipulate them, to make them accept His power rather than try to counter it.

But what information it brought was almost a surprise : Helheim was one of the most powerful nation of this world ! His wise policies of peace and conquest had bourne their fruits and Helheim had the largest territory and was unmatched both in gold and gem incomes. These large resources gave a margin for risk and errors, but they had to be used wisely.

However, what was the most interesting was to identify his main contestants to divinity. He already believed from the wars against Ur that Marverni and his hordes of boars were highly dangerous, and this was confirmed without doubt. He was clearly his main challenger. Or should we say It, because Marverni god was known to be a Fountain of Blood. A powerful spirit embedded into this monstrosity from which blood flowed continuously. His followers often came there to drink the red liquid in some despising rituals. Lord Kall didn’t like using living blood as a magical tool, and what represented this thing was beyond what he could bear. But, through the trades he had more or less befriended with that thing. Furthermore, it looked better to keep it that way and to focus on weaker ennemies. Fighting Marverni was already out of the question before he had the Knowledge … it was even more after.

Because, indeed, the second major information he had on his opponents was that of the pretender that called himself The Desert Lion. That creature was a huge lion with a heavy skin made of gold, and both his size and thick skin made him a fearsome creature for any to fight. But the most scary of it was not how strong it was, but what was known of him. It was said that he had been once the right hand of a previous Pantokrator, his most fearful and respected general. His skills in that regard were the ones of legends, for it was said he was the one who had cast down his Master’s opponents in the most cruel wars. And it was also said that his skills were also responsible for his own demise, as when his Master came to power as Pantokrator, he couldn’t stand to have such a powerful being by his side. So he had banished him in a desert that he had then been haunting for millenias. Hence he had become The Desert Lion.

And at last free from the Pantokrator banishment, the lion had become the God of the lizard Kingdom of C’ti. And from there he had went back to what he had done in these ancient times : build an army to help his master become the new Pantokrator. But this time, he was his own master, and it was clear in his mind no one would stop him from gaining that power that he deserved.

Lord Kall didn’t know much about him before then, but through his new Eyes, what he saw scared him. The lizards of C’ti and their god had managed to master the most complex magic rituals. They were way, way ahead of anyone else in that regard and that was a promise of a formidable opponent on the battlefield. And so, even though he was only third or fourth in terms of raw power, his potential in the long term was fearsome. The only thing that was reassuring was that his territories were still far from Helheim’s ones and that as such, if a war would happen, there was time to prepare for it.

A strategic analysis

What the Eyes showed gave Lord Kall a deeper understanding of what would be at stake in the future.

In the south-east, Therodos and its spectral legions looked rather weak, and they still had to finish off Machaka.

To the south, Ulm had a huge territory and was about to conquer the dying kingdom of Caelum.

Next to him on the south-west, Niefelheim looked tiny and was fighting both Caelum and Ulm. However, his army was known to be very large and he wasn’t to be taken lightly.

On the western marches, Marverni was destroying Ur of which he had just captured the Capital and banished his God, Nemok the Man-eater.

And so in the north-west large territories were still held by Ur, and were now free for conquest.

Finally, to the north stood Mictlan that was seemingly fighting a bloody war against the empire of Tien’Chi. From what Lord Kall saw, the conflict looked quite balanced with no clear victor. However, Lord Kall despised what he knew of Mictlan and their wide use of Blood magic. In the near future they would have to be taken down, and that was even more likely that the armies assembled to finish Agartha could then easily reach that frontline.

Last but not least, in the East, the ocean. Atlantis looked like the future ruler of the seas, but some significant opposition was still there. Despite their political chaos, Oceania was still managing to hold a decent territory and R’lyeh was still a fierce contestant to Atlantis’s might. So in that regard, an invasion from the depths was not very likely and could be ignored in the strategic assessment.

The other parts of the world were really far away. Some growing powers were there, but not as strong as Marverni or C’ti. May be in some future some alliance could be made to counter either Marverni or C’ti, but that was not anytime soon.

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Ur leaves us lots of riches, turn 47 to 49

While the second campaign for Agartha was going on, the war between Ur and Marverni had been raging. The first battles saw a clear victory from Ur and could push up to Xibalba. But then came the counter-attack where Ur lost his main army. After that battle, he couldn’t put up any defense against the unstoppable Boar tide that quickly managed to besiege Ur itself.

The final battle for Ur occured in the middle of Winter, at about the same time Lord Kall started to Watch upon the world. Marverni’s Army stormed the fortress in a most bloody battle where Nemok, the god of Ur, was banished from this world.

After hearing about this event from scouts, and also thanks to his knew knowledge provided by the Eyes, Lord Kall and the war council understood that it was time to make a decision. Ur was deeply weakened and had almost no hope the recover. Deprived from their capital, deprived of their god, it was only a matter of time before the boar horde swallowed their whole territory.

So, with some sadness regarding the good relationships that had tied Helheim and Ur, the decision was taken : Ur’s territories would not fall into the wrong hands. A full scale invasion was ordered. 2 battle groups of mounted hirdmen, 1 group of foot hirdmen and 2 fully equiped Dis started the operation. The objective was to secure 10 enemy provinces in 2 months.

While these decisions were taken, the ambassador of Helheim in Marverni settled the sharing of the remains of Ur’s empire. The goal was to keep good relationships with Marverni while taking a larger share of Ur’s territory than they would. That was not so difficult given they didn’t have the whole picture, and it was highly doubtful they knew Helheim was about to capture that much land. Also, the key to the pact was to give them the Throne of Winter along with the Steel ovens (a sort of Banefire forge). That would make them think they got the upper hand on the deal, even though it was not necessarily the case from Helheim’s point of view …

So the invasion occured, and Ur didn’t really like it. In fact, every single neighbours of Ur had started to eat its remains alive. C’ti besieged a remote fortress, Tien’Chi took its share from the north while Marverni kept on his invasion and Helheim took the largest share of the pie (almost 2 thirds of their former empire). Quite upset about it, Ur sent their last army against Helheim …

Seeing this, the war council decided to secure some territories that had been promised to Marverni : they would be held from Ur until the arrival of Marverni’s armies. This way, Helheim could track and destroy the last enemy forces and definitively secure the newly taken lands. And indeed, during spring of that 4th year of the Ascension war the last Ur army was met in the plains of Troea, where a combined force of Hirdmen and mounted Hirdmen routed the last remnants of that once powerful empire.

In the end, that conquest gave Helheim 11 full fledged provinces (marverni finally never took one that had been promised …) and all the gold and magical gems that went along with them.

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Bloodbath in Agartha, turn 48

While Helheim’s troops were seizing Ur’s assets, their main armies were gathering for the final assault against Agartha. Even though the Pale ones had been almost wiped out, they still held their capital and had been expecting this assault for several months. Indeed, they still had there a decent force of earth elementals, magma children, and mages.

The high command didn’t want to risk the valkyries into this fight. They already had taken their toll in Jelenia Gora, and they were to be kept for special operations. Here, there would be blood.

So after a long debate, it was decided to send only Jotun wolves. They were the perfect weapon against Earth elementals, and their sheer power would be enough to destroy the enemy. To support them and attack the mages from the sky, 2 Dis were equiped just for this fight : items to protect them from fire, as well as Giant amulets to prevent the Earth elementals to trample them.

But what wasn’t really taken into account what that the enemy had gathered as much as 30 magma children. And as the battle unfolded, they started to burn the wolves one after the other. Sure, they died in the process but the losses became increasingly high as the minutes passed, up to a point that, thinking the battle was lost, every commanders including Skaljv retreated from the battlefield.

However, this cautious move was useless : the few remaining wolves had entered in such a killing rage that nothing could stop them from finishing their task : kill every single heathen in the place ! And that’s what they did.

When news came that no enemy was left standing to defend the place, the leaders came back and secured their victory. A victory that had been paid in blood as 34 out of 39 precious Jotun wolves had been massacred in the process …

And with this final battle ended the campaign of Agartha that had gone along for 2 full years. This spring of the 4th year of the Ascension war was the end of Agartha, and a promise of a new beginning for Helheim. During the last 9 months their territory had almost doubled, growing from 35 provinces to 59. They were without doubt the most powerful nation in this World, and had no intention whatsoever to lose that status.

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