Chapter One

First topic message reminder :

The beautiful land of Iridia has a wealth of races and incredible beauty about it - and, of course, war beginning amongst the various factions that have now appeared - some time ago, several people appeared amongst this land, with heavensent powers and a natural ability to lead, that brought about several empires of their own. The goblin tribes formed under one banner to produce the nation of Gha^zhakh, the slaves of the Golden Horde threw off their shackles and formed the advanced kingdom of dragon-fall, and the Gal'gai of Alsland have allied with the Giants of Jotunsøy. these empires appear to be gathering forces, and what this will result in, no one can tell...

Arve: I will keep that in mind. *Arve bowed* Bid you found farewell and wish you and yours good health *and with that Arve and his men left riding back to Dragon-Fell*

King Viljelm Ragnarsson sits upon his throne, and bellows down from it, "Vað sagstu frau Iridia rikdig?" (What news is there from Iridia Proper?)
"Jeg hafar Nyheter frau Fastlandinn. Goblinannu hafan i forenen untir deram Leðer, Fas Fatum." says the messenger at his feet. (I have news from the mainland. The goblins have united under their leader, Fas Futam)
"Fær Armijjungerannu. Vi krøven mer Førsvørn rundet Øyenn." (Mobilize the troops. We require more defenses around the island)

Several detachments of troops are moved into the mountains that form a ring around the island, making it hard to gain access to the center. Troops are also moved into Suðurhamn, which lies outside these mountains, and to Jotunsøy to help the Jotuns should they be attacked.

Arve returns to Dragon's Reach and meets with the king he gives a full report.

Arve: From what I've seen if their whole empire was like their king they would be fine allies. The goblins are innovative they have a large army they have fortifications that while crude and haphazard are very strong. It was an odd experience my liege.

William: So they agreed to all of my requests that bodes well the return of king Dain's body will greatly improve public feeling towards them even if it was mutilated there is magic to restore his body to a pristine state for his funeral ceremony. And in a year time when the Dwarven slave are released perhaps we will know our neighbors well enough to make an alliance with them. Or perhaps know them well enough to consider them deadly foes but that is a matter for another time. Thank you for your excellent service Arve also speak to my gunsmith he will make you a new pistol to replace the one you gave the goblin border guard.

Arve tuned and left the throne room. As he passed through the doors another younger man passed him and walked into the room it was Jack Hammershot the kings only son.

Jack: Good evening father.

William rose from his throne and grabbed his son in a warm embrace. Jack was tall for a 18 year old he stood at about 6 foot 9 and would likely grow another few inches before he stopped maturing.

William: How are you jack?

Jack: I'm well father glad to be home and done with my studies.

William: Excellent I'm glad to have you home you left me here with all the crazy ministers I thought i was going to go mad.

Their conversation was interrupted as the doors to the throne room burst open a frantic messenger came in gasping for air.

Messenger: Mi'lord bandits have attacked a nearby village they slaughtered the people and burnt it to the ground there about thirty of them and they are heading East towards the Steppes.

William: If they reach the steppe the could kill hundreds. Guards! Rally my personal guard I will ride out immediately.

Jack: father I want to come with you.

Very well but you will stay within my sight at all times and your shield brother will accompany you meet me at the stable as soon as you are suited up.

Jack ran back to his chambers and his man servant helped him into his armor as soon as he was suited his Shield brother appeared at the door fully dressed and ready to ride.

Eric: Are you ready sire?

Jack fastened his sword to his back. And followed Eric down to the stables.

Meanwhile King Hammershot's servants had him dressed as well he slid his side sword into it sheath and placed in at his side along with his dagger he slid his side sword into it sheath and grabbed his match lock carbine and headed to the stable.

Once he reached the stable he mounted his horse and slid his carbine into the holster on the saddle. Jack and Eric were both already waiting fro him as was to his surprise Baron Jasper von Crowhaven.

William: Jasper? What are you doing here?

Jasper: Came to the capital to purchase a gift for my lover and heard all the hubbub about these bandits and figured I'd join you.

William: very well lets go.

As the Rode down the main street the rest of the Kings Men gathered around they looks intimidating on their armored war horses with their lances held high their heavy mithril armor glinting in the moonlight. The road out the main gate and down the highway until the reached the fork in the road that led to the village what they saw was terrible. All the villagers men, women and children had been impaled on pikes and stood before the burned down village.

Jack felt his stomach turn at the sight.

Eric: Advert your eyes laddie there is no shame in it.

Jack looked away keeping his eyes fixed on his father as he road around the village.

Knight: How did something like this happen so close to the capital?

Jasper: I do not know but it should have not been possible watch towers and patrols are placed all along the highway some one should have been able to raise an alarm soon enough for this to be prevented.

William: It must have been a surprise attack from the woods the tracks lead off in that direction they are on foot. If we swing north around the forest we can head them off.

The King spurred his horse and rode off at a gallop the rest of the company following him. they rode hard and rounded the tip of the forest to the other side and sure enough in the distance the culprits were marching out the other side of the forest. But they were not men or Dwarves they were troll men of the Urat mountains a race thought wiped out by King Adrian IV.

William halted the company he grabbed his carbine and loaded it and he aimed down range at the troll men at nearly a mile away no one assumed the king could hit any thing and thought it was a shot to grab their attention. But the king light the cord of his matchlock and with a loud crack and plume of fire and smoke it reported the bullet sailed down range and one of the troll men fell dead.

William: ATTACK!

The company of forty knights charged forward the troll men charged toward their attackers. A few more of them fell to the kings Carbine and Jasper, Jack's and Eric's pistols. Then the knights hit the trolls some flew through the air others were impaled upon the lances others manged to doge out of the way but the knights road through and turned about to make another charge. Jasper, William, Jack and Eric broke off from the knights and peppered their foes with gun fire as they rode past. Then the knights charged again the troll men were in an utter state of disarray some managed to knock the riders off their horses with their clubs but the would find them selves victim to the knights Zweihanders the battle lasted only a few minuets the king and his royal guard took no casualties and the troll men were wiped out.

William: call the war council we have a problem.

A detachment of Knights is sent out to Suðurøy, the southernmost island of Alsland, to keep watch in case any unfamiliar boats come from mainland Iridia.

They would indeed see a strange ship in the distance when they arrived a Dragon-Fall Caravel sitting anchored off shore with a set of long boats rowing toward the shore.




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A band of troll men and Orcs would also cross into Gha^zhakh intent of taking what ever loot they could get their hands on.

The Knights immediately scramble from their camp and rush to the shore. There are about 20 of them, and they sit there on their horses, almost motionless, waiting for the longboats to reach the shore. They do not draw their weapons, nor do they do anything implying hostility; they just sit there on their steeds. From afar, one would think that they were statues.

Fas Fatum sat uneasily on his throne, before sending for Skarsnik. "I assume you heard all that during your eavesdropping?" Fas asked him. It was not an accusation - Fas had no problem with Skarsnik spying on meetings, as it saved time later and had saved him from an assassination attempt once before. He had no illusions when it came to what Skarsnik thought of him, and the feeling was mutual. "Dwarves do not let go of grudges - I know that well." Skarsnik said to Fas. "This might perhaps be a human-ruled kingdom, but rest assured the dwarves will be prepared to rebel quite easily if this continues." Skarsnik told Fas. "and then they might become our enemies."
"Perhaps that's not a bad thing, however." Fas replies. "Fighting the dwarves by themselves is a much easier thing than fighting an army that is part-dwarf and part-human, and possessed of such advanced technology besides." Fas thinks back to the pistol Gitilla had recovered as he said this, remembering it's fine make. "I am confident we could win such a confrontation quite easily, but not without heavy losses on our own part, and we can't have that at the moment, not when the nation's still so new and uncertain. Gha^Zhakh still needs time, after the dwarf wars."
"There is truth in this... still, I'd like some night goblins reporting to me as an additional border guard." Skarsnik continued. "just in case any funny business happens. I can deal with trouble quicker than you can, from Karaz-A-Karak."
"Very well then." Fas agreed. "now, let's turn our attention to other matters..."

-----

"Well, well, what do we have here. More visitors." Gitilla said with a grin, before noting the race of some of said visitors. "Orcish visitors." Gitilla realized, his face changing from a grin to a snarl. The orcs had enslaved and abused goblins for many years, before Fas's reign began, and they'd attempted to reeastablish rule over the goblins several times. When it came to the troll-men, he wasn't so sure, but he knew, at the least, that orcs would never be allowed in his country. "Saddle up, boys, and nock an arrow on th' string - We're gettin' orcflesh tonight!" He told his wolf riders, as they moved out, towards the orcs and troll-men.

The boats reach the shore a tall man clad in half plate armor walks up to the knights he is tall as is common to the men of Dragon-Fall he stands at almost seven feet.


Merchant: greetings noble people I am Antonio Burgas from the kingdom of Dragon-Fall we come to trade out steel and silk. And perhaps lean about your people.

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One of the Troll men stops and sniffs the air.

Orc: What is it what do you smell?

Troll man: Goblin flesh. And the stink of wolves.

Orc: Defensive stance!

The troll men and Orcs form a circle of spears and shields.

"Oooh, they's is clever ones." Gitilla said to himself, noting the treeline around him. "I'll go in first, mates. Form in soon as I take a bit o' that shield-wall down." Gitilla told them. Ulda leapt in front of the orcs and troll-men, far away from their shields, but close enough to give Gitilla an easy shot. Firing his bow at the nearest orc, the magical enchantments wrought upon the weapon were potent enough that orc-shield would not be enough to stop it from impaling through and into the orc's chest, Gitilla aiming directly for the Orc's heart. gitilla would then swiftly bring his wolf Ulda into cover before much retaliation could be wrought.

The Orcs snarl and the troll men raise great cross bows and begin firing at Gitilla.

~Suðurøy~

The knights dismount, and are found to be around the same average height as Antonio, some standing taller. Unfortunately, the Knights do not speak the same language as Antonio, and accordingly snap their hands to the handles of their weapons in the blink of an eye. They do not, however, draw them out of their sheaths.

"Hafstu hjer i kommen in Krigs ennur Paks?. (Do you come here in peace or in war?). Barks one of the Knights. Again, they wait for a response, and remain perfectly still. They do nothing besides putting their hands on their weapons to suggest hostility.

soon after the trolls raised their crossbow, Wolf riders appeared from all around them, firing as soon as the trolls made a move. Gitilla himself managed to narrowly survive the blast of crossbow bolts, owed partially to the immense speed and agility of Ulda, and partially on his gruntalope fur cloak, entangling and stopping one bolt that would have pierced through his spine if unimpeded. Gitilla appeared shortly from his cover in far to the right of where he originally was in relation to the enemy forces, and his riders followed suit, firing, hiding, and then coming out of cover to fire again. if a goblin was hit by a bolt, it would be down for the count, but the dire wolves they rode on were far more sturdy.

Antonio backed up a pace or two and placed his sword belt and pistol on the ground his men followed suit. Then what happened next was Antonio's men acted out a short and quite obvious skit of buying and selling things,

Antonio: You see trade.

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The troll men's hard flesh absorbed many of the goblins arrow and their immense strength allowed them to fire and reload their crossbows at great speed. The Orcs hunkered down behind their shields occasionally firing off a bolt from their small hand crossbows

The soldiers sarcastically clap when the skit is done.
"Ah. I Kaufen.". Says Says the same knight. "Komm með!" (Come with [us]). He makes a gesturing motion for Antonio and his men to follow, then he and the other knights set out for their camp.

Gitilla and his soldiers kept up the pressure, their speed working in their favor even against the hail of crossbow bolts firing at them, though it seemed at least one of the wolves had been heavily injured, and a couple others had been grazed or hit in nasty places by them. It didn't look like Gitilla's men were inflicting many casualties themselves, however, and he was worried on what the orcs and troll-men would decide to do after the arrows ran out. He was certain he could pull his men out of trouble and even harass the enemy forces while doing so, but he might not be capable of stopping them from harassing the countryside whilst doing so. Gitilla wondered if he should send off a boy to seek assistance from some other divisions before the fighting got any more serious

Antonio and his men followed the knights.


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When the the situation for the goblins looked grim a horn call was hear on a ridge stood a platoon of Dragon-Fall Arquebusiers and opposite to them stood about 60 Demi lancers.

Captain: Regiment form ranks!

*the Arquebusiers formed a triple line*

Captain: First rank Make ready! *the lowered they weapons at the enemy.* FIRE!

With a plume of fire and smoke and a crackle like distant thunder they fired punching through the Orcs shields and armor and easily penetrating the troll men's flesh. The first rank dropped to a knee and began reloading.

Captain: Second Rank fire!

Anther ripple of gun fire brought even move of the roll men and Orcs down their position being steadily whittled down the troll men tuned their cross bows on the Dragon-Fall Arquebusiers several were hit some were wounded most had the bolts skid off their breast plates.

Captain: Third Rank fire.

The third rank fired and now the Orcs and troll men had been truly devastated the broke formation and attempted to flee. But the moment the lifted their spears the Dragon-Fall cavalry rode down on them stampeding right over them and cutting them down with swords.

A man broke off from the rank and rode up to Gitilla he would have been indistinguishable from his other men if it were not for his armor being far more ornate. He saluted Gitilla.

Colonel: Greetings neighbor I am Colonel Klaus Hammerstein sorry we arrived late we had been tracking these creature for hours. Came down from the Urat mountains likely intent on sacking your territory. Another Group like them sacked one of our villages slaughtered the populace and burned it to the ground. The king and his personal guard rode them down he sent out regiments to hunt down any others that may be wandering about.

When the group reaches the knight's camp, the knights dismount and take of their helmets, showing that they and the explorers are of similar appearance. After conversing in a huddled group for a short time, the soldiers lay their weapons on the ground to make it clear that they do not wish to fight, and gesture for the Dagon-Fallese to do so as well.

"Sack a village of Gha'zhakh? They'd have had to have 5 times the men with twice the height!" Gitilla said, a laugh erupting from his riders. "Still, it's right good that you lads came when ya did. but ye say ye've been tracking these ones... Where'd they be comin' from. We've business to pay to the orcs." Gitilla told him, a sudden, deadly look in his eye.

Antonio and his men place their weapons on the ground along with the knights.

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Colonel: They were able to sack a village due to our lax guard of our eastern border nothing has come over the Urat mountains in 100 years. As i said the came from the Urat mountains and from what our initial scouts report its an army up there the king has already convened the war council we will likely march in a few days.

*the Colonel draws a map out from his saddle bag and hands it Gitilla*

Colonel: These are the places they have encampments on your side of the border and some likely attack avenues they may use have been marked. Do what you will with this information I ride back to my own home land I have to make a report and take care of my wounded. If you require aid from our healer just ask her she will hep any creature large or small.

The soldiers of Dragon-Fall search the corpses for any documents but find nothing the pile the corpses and burn them a cleric treats their wounded with healing magic.

"nah, that won't be necessary. I'm sure the ol' man in town'd be able to help us." Gitilla replies "I've got messages to be deliverin', so I'll be off. A warnin', though, be quick to your homeland. Fas may like yer kind, but I know Skarsnik's not gonna let an unnannounced army over the border, besides. Hell, I really should be stoppin' ya myself. Guess I'm gettin' soft..." Gitilla told them, before suddenly riding off, his riders following suit.

After burning the corpses the Dragon-fall Troops march placing an Orc and Troll man head on a pike on their side of the border with one of their banners next to it. They then ride off toward Crowhaven.
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Dragon's Reach

The war council assembled in the war room their was one lord from every Provence and the top Captain-Generals and Marshalls of the army.

William: So the Orc and Troll men of the Ettenmoors have crossed the Urat mountains this means king Adrian IV purge was not a success. Though I suppose we should be grateful they did take a century to repopulate. What are the reports from our scouts?

Captain-General Clausewitz: Scouts report at least ten thousand in the mountains and the dragon riders report at least 100,000 more they are indeed marshalling for war the fortress at the Foot of Mount Gram has been rebuilt and they have taken up refuge in the old fortress of Tol Ascaren and Tirith Rhaw.

First Marshall Conrad: we can have the army fully rallied and ready to march in two days.

Second Marshall Veriax: I can have the levies ready in four days.

Third Marhsall Asan'i: I can have every mercenary in the kingdom hired in a week.

Jasper: Crowhaven's men are already prepared i have 2000 men prepared to march now.

Jarl Joseph von Fredrikson: I have 500 men at arms ready at our eastern most fort but if they attack I Cannot hold them it is my fault they slipped through my patrols in the first place.

Arkin: No we are all to blame we long thought our eastern borders safe had we had proper patrols there this would have never happened.

William: It matters not who is at fault all that truly matters is we have legion of Orcs and troll men to deal with Jasper march you men to castle Fredrikson and reinforce Jarl Joseph's position. Marshalls rally all the men you can find we will muster at Tirith Rhwir. Any other matters to discuss before I send you off?

Arkin: Yes when are we going to have a Queen? Or perhaps a Co king?

The room erupts in laughter.

William: I will marry whomever I wish when I damn well feel like it now you are all dismissed.

The war council files out of the room the king heads off to bed.

The Knights are versed in Alska and Jotska, but do not recognize the language that the Dragon-Fallese are speaking. For the time being, they revert to gestures and sign language to try and communicate.

One knight is sent to the nearby town of Suðurheim for supplies to trade with. When he returns, the Dragon-Fallese would see that the Alslanders had brought them several woolen cardigans, steel swords, some spices, and various other trinkets of value. They lay them all on the ground for display, and motion for the Dragon-Fallese to do so too.

The men of Dragon-Fall unload Fine silk garments Dwarven steel swords and axes as well as a small crate of Arquebuses. they also lay out a small box of Jewels and Several large barrels of Dwarven Ale.
Antonio also produces a book that translates Alska to Dragon-Fall's trade language.

(Er...how is that possible?)

Ver hafstu dað?! Vað er þis Magi?! Ertu ver an Demon!? (How did you get that?! What is this magic?! Are you some kind of demon?!)

Gal'Gai believe magic is Lakunijehrogte, or devilspawn. They see no way to use it for good, as they cannot wield it themselves.

(because this language barrier is a little silly)

Antonio: We found the bloody thing in one of our Libraries the ancient scholars traveled far and wide in the ancient times.