Battle of the Eastern Marches

Gromrik stared at the assembled dwarfs, his eyes almost disappearing underneath his brows as his frown intensified, his hands on his hips as he scowled at his duardin brothers.

"How could this happen?!" He grunted.

The dwarfs looked at each other or at the floor, none of the Kharadrons wanting to face the wrath of their admiral. Behind the duardin fleet commander, several dwarf miners were picking through the remains of their precious equipment, now entangled and crushed between tree roots, moss and other plant life. The Chief miner was in tears, being consoled by his assistant. Gromrik continued.

"We won the battle, so what is this?" Gromrik gestured to the destruction.

One duardin sheepishly looked up at his commander as the others prodded him forward.

"Well admiral, it was that big tree we think, the one that charged our lines early on. We think... we think it might have planted something".

Gromrik looked aghast.

"Of course it was the damned tree you idiot. I meant how could you lot let it get so close. Why weren't you protecting the miners!".

The arkanauts looked at one another. There was a long pause before someone at the back quietly muttered, "...don't like trees".

Gromrik rolled his eyes and trudged off to the ironclad "Dreadnought". It was almost complete, but still needed a fresh lick of paint. the fleet looked majestic moored to the hills above the valley of the river Silverrush, at the edge of the Eastern Marches. The river bed was once more covered in a carpet of green, and the water flowed briskly through the valley. Trees dotted the banks in a scene many would consider idyllic. gromrik shook his head. All this had happened in two days. Less than a week previously, the scene had been very different.

Gromrik's Sky-Host had recieved reports from the locals of the Eastern Marches that the Silverrush valley was rich in natural resources, especially precious gems, stones and metals washed down from the cliffs nearer to the coast. Eager to investigate this potential profit, Gromrik had secured a contract with a group of duardin miners. The Kharadrons would provide the capital for the venture, with the dwarfs allowed to mine the area at a more industrial scale than the peasant human farmers with their pans. The Lords of Quemara granted Gromrik a warrant to prospect, but concerns were raised regarding the proximity of the venture so close to the Aelvish lands.

It was in year 10 of the Permenia Calendar that Gromrik received the first warning. Spirits would visit the camps in the night warning the duardin to abandon their efforts, but these were ignored. By the summer of that year, the entire river had been damned and diverted, laying bear the sandy riverbed glistening with occasional jewels, hinting at the riches below. The expedition then decided to fully exploit this new found wealth, delving into the soil and carving away at the rocks. Trees and all life around the riverbed for miles were cut down or removed, leaving a scar on the landscape of the eastern marches. By autumn the mining expedition was into profit, and looked sure to make Gromrik a handsome return. That was when the Sylvaneth, aghast at the ruin of so much of nature, interved.

Trees started to grow at a supernatural rate across the other side of the river, and Gromrik drew together his powerful defensive fleet and arkanaut companies. He was well aware the Aelves and spirits of the wood may attempt to take back the riverlands, and he had taken steps to ensure the safety of the minors. With a shriek a Frostheart Phoenix made its presence known, and the giant bird attacked the arkanauts. Heavy casualties followed, but the bird was cut down. The duardin were forced back by onrushing tree-beasts, as they gave ground in order to better shoot their enemies with their aetheric weapons.

That had been the mistake, though Gromrik. The Kharadrons had fought the battle like any other engagement, giving ground in order to concentrate their firepower and using the mobility of their ships to outmanoeuvre the enemy. But the Kharadrons had forgotten one thing, to protect the mining gear. The onrushing sylvaneth attacked almost recklessly, and although trees began sprouting on the near side of the bank, trees could be cut down. For the Aelvish host, casualties were high as the duardin firepower wrought terrible damage on the spirits of the forests. Great Tree spirits were felled, and the Kurnoth Kunters were savaged by Endrinriggers. The Sylvaneth retreated as the dwarfs cheered, but even then something felt wrong to Admiral Aetherstrider.

In their reckless attack, the Sylvaneth host had wrecked the mining equipment vital to the enterprise, and spread the seed of regrowth across the valley of the Silverrush. Despite losing more casualties, the Aelvish Lands had effectively removed Gromrik's mining expedition, and no trace of it remained on the riverbed, which had returned to its peaceful natural state. The battle had been a warning from the Blood Coast Alliance, the faction in control of the Aelvish lands. Stay on your side of the river.

Gromrik sighed. "OK lads, back to the ships. There is nothing more for us here".

The Harrowcrag expands its borders

Long had the lords of the Marrowcraw Courts sought to “reclaim” the Splintervale, the expansive hinterland that stretches north beyond the Tatterspine Hills as far as the River Mournrush. Numerous raids had been suffered across the Splintervale, its gently rolling hills and open countryside proving easy terrain for marauding forces. Deeming these lands their “ancestral right” the descendants of the Drázkhary dynasty were set upon securing their dominion over the Splintervale.  

Prince Dragos, the de facto military commander of the Marrowcraw Court, had previously ventured across the Splintervale to scour the land of invaders in the wake of the raids by the Vermin clans, but he was forced to take his armies eastward to deal with the ever-more frequent skirmishes with the Sylváney tribes. The titular Duke of the Splintervale, Yvan the Gaunt, had fallen in Battle of the Charnel Fords during the crusades against the Quermarans. So it fell to his nephew, Lord Ygor of Shivermere, to lead the latest Drázkhary crusades in the quest to claim the Splintervale. Though relatively inexperienced to campaigning when compared to the court elders, what Ygor lacked in experience he more than compensated for in chivalric spirit, leading from the front and inspiring his men with conspicuous bravery on the field of battle.

The knights and militia levies of Shivermere clashed first with the savage tribes of the Barrowgorge Fray who had taken to frequent plundering of the settlements in the eastern marches. These nomadic beasts proved a wily foe, accustomed as they are to guerrilla tactics and roving ambushes. Slowly, over the course of many weeks and at the cost of heavy casualties, Ygor succeeded in driving the Fray from the Splintervale. By garrisoning and fortifying each farmstead and village as it was cleared the crusaders were able to prevent the Fray from maintaining a foothold, and soon the beasts were increasingly dependent upon falling back to their own borders for supply and reinforcement. Though doubtless the Barrowgorge Fray would return to raid the Splintervale they would find its estates and villages better prepared and defended against future attack.

The crusade did not end with the defeat of the Barrowgorge Fray. Having secured a border along the River Mournrush, Ygor needed to lead his crusaders south against an altogether different foe. The duardin of Karak Findar had taken to prospecting far and wide across Permenia. Having sailed their skyvessels the many leagues north to descend upon the Splintervale the enterprising duardin had recently established a mining outpost in the foothills of the Tatterspine peaks. 

Upon receiving fresh levies from Harrowcrag, along with a pair of ferocious dragons sent from the castle’s stables, Ygor was able to launch a sudden and savage attack upon the mining outpost. Though lesser in number than the tribes of the Barrowgorge Fray, the duardin were no less formidable in battle, bringing to bear sophisticated technology - and with it, deadly firepower. Ygor’s army found the outpost to be well defended, taking punishing fusillades from the defending duardin. The nimble skyvessels proved too agile for Ygor’s forces, strafing the Marrowcraw soldiers as they advanced. Even the mighty Harrowcrag dragons could not withstand the fury of the Arkanauts’ guns. Yet the beleaguered duardin simply could not match the sheer numbers of Ygor’s army. The skyvessels proved too few in number to be able to contain the massed infantry and knights of Ygor’s army as they attacked across a broad front. The Arkanaut ground forces were overwhelmed by the assault and the outpost was sacked.

The expulsion of the Karak Findar presence from the Splintervale saw the lands secured at last. With the Drázkhary’s alliance to the Aster-Lonvren in the west, a Dominion of Death now stretched from the banks of the Mournrush in the north to the floodplains of the Sallowwash in the south, controlling all the lands of Athein and Fermia.

Forces of Death clash with Alliance in Aglia

Having defeated the beastmen herds, the armies of the aelves continued to expand werstward, inevitably coming into conflict with the dominion of death on the plains of Aglia. The host of Lonvren could not allow this expansion to go unchecked, but were unable to gain enough support from the lords of the Harrowcrag to overwhelm the victorious Sylvaneth armies with superior numbers. Without the help of the Flesh eater courts, the Nighthaunt army was forced to face the aelves on somewhat equal terms, and using their skill with the magic of nature, the undead army was overcome by the very trees themselves. After a pitched battle lasting many hours, the host of Lonvren was forced into retreat, ensuring aelvish domination of the lands east of the Tatterspine hills. 

Seraphon defeat Barrowgorge Fray

The battle lines were drawn. The summoned host of lizards stood in geometrically perfect lines whilst on the other side of the small hamlet was the swirling mass of agitated beasts. 

The lizards sent forth their skirmishers to slow the hordes advance and to give the howdah mounted alien weaponry on the backs of their larger monsters a chance to take a toll on the tide of chaos facing them.

With a mighty roar the Bray herd smashed through the lines of skirmishers and made for the main lines of the host of order. Beams of light scythed down scores of warriors whilst summoned comets rained down, causing fiery destruction deep within the chaos lines.

Despite this the beasts of chaos managed to meet their enemy in melee. The force of the charge alone smashed down the first 3 ranks of lizards, even before the frenzied hosts set to work with their rusted blades. The right left flank of the lizard army, centred around the villages graveyard, took the worst of the fighting and only the timely intervention of giant armoured monsters managed to turn the tide back in the favour of order. With their main lines held at bay and their best warriors still dealing with scattered skirmishers the beasts of chaos looked to their leaders only to find that the shamans and warlords had been systemically engaged and destroyed by concentrated fire and summoned flyers.

With no command left the horse of beasts started to loose what little organisation they had. The lizards took advantage of this turning of the tide and pushed the beasts back, hacking swathes of them down even as they turned to run.

The battle had been won and the victorious forces of order had kept the darkness at bay for the time being.

Sylvaneth expand into East Yarpin

The herd of gors shifted uneasily. They were watching the tree line for any sign of the unseen enemy. They could hear the sounds of battle and smell the blood and sap in the air as the bestigor barrelled through the eastern edge of the forest.

The unnatural woodland had not been there when they had set up the camp the night before and all three of the scouting parties that had been sent in to find a route through had yet to return.

The bestigor had gone in, confident of having a path through the thick undergrowth. But from the sound of the screaming and clashing of blades that was not going as easily as planned. The larger ghorgons could not push through the densely packed trees to lend assistance and the accompanying cygor ineffetively launched boulders at any sign of movement.

The bullgors, always impatient, took it upon themselves to go in unaided further to the west and it wasn't long before they also met with the mysterious foe.

As soon as this new engagement was underway there was a crash as what looked like a vast beetle burst out of the tree line and headed straight for the centre of the partially collapsed camp. The ungor and remaining bestigor were sent to confront, or at least slow, this new threat. Meanwhile a graceful warrior riding a large blue bird came soaring over the tree tops heading to strike at the mighty dragon ogor shaggoth. The ogor swung wildly in self defence but could not land any blows on the enemy as it darted in and out, taking chunks of the shaggoth's flesh with each hit.

Some members of the gor herd turned to run only to discover that new growth had begun even as the battle was taking place. The camp was now completely encircled by the shifting trees. With no other options left the gors nervously pushed into the tree line to assist their fellow tribe members.

The largest of monsters that could not push into the trees paced like caged beasts or hacked ineffetively at the encroaching woodland as the sounds of battle died. It wasn't long before they too were engulfed by the woods.

Seraphon defeat Sylvaneth in East Carmin

While Gromrik’s forces were dealing with the beastherds of the north, the Blod Coast Alliance, now establishing a realm in the east, were a growing concern to the lords of New Quemara. After a heated debate in the halls of government the nobility of the southern land decided they could not threaten war with the Aelvish lands. However the Slaan, who sat quietly listening to the debate, simply left without a word. 

Unknown to the leaders of men, the ancient Slaan had already seen the danger, and decided to entreat with the spirits of the forest himself. However, the Aelves reacted scornfully to his warnings, and with just a hint of disappointment, the aeons old sage was forced to act himself. Summoning a mighty host of Seraphon, the Slaan delivered a crushing blow to the alliance in the lowlands of Carmin, defeating the woodland spirit host and sending a message to the rulers of the Aelvish land. The war against chaos and destruction was approaching and his alliance to the free peoples realm was not to be taken lightly. 

Kharadrons sweep into Carmin

In the 6th year of the Kharadron expedition to the Realm of Permenia, Admiral Gromrik Aetherstrider finally made moves to begin the expansion of the sphere of influence of his fleet. Endorsed by the Council of New Quemara, Gromrik’s sky patrols began scouting out the broad valleys of Carmin, cataloguing resources and making contact where possible with roving nomadic human tribes. Many of these were converted to the cause of the emerging nation of Quemara, and behind the duardin came caravans of men from Vinduhr, eager to settle and civilise these new lands.

It was on one of these scouting patrols that Gromrik faced his second test of arms, as one afternoon as the small fleet made camp for the night, scouting forces detected that just over the hills to the north, a herd of beasts had Also made their camp, and were preparing to attack the assembled dwarfs. 

Gromrik assembled his men around the camp, while keeping his frigate in the sky with fresh troops, the gunhauler moved forward to snipe what it could. Unfortunately the sailors on board got a little too close, and the ensuing Bullgor charge, led by a mighty doom bull, put an end to the duardin sky vessel. Worse still, a horde of Bestigors suddenly appeared from the woods, charging the Kharadron camp and wiping out the defenders. 

Now Gromrik was in trouble. He had intended to use his remaining force to eliminate the beast camp, but quickly he redeployed to defend his camp. Landing his arkanauts and endrinriggers close to the charging beasts, their combined gunfire obliterated the bestigors. The few survivors fleeing rapidly. But Gromrik still needed to deal with a very angry doom bull and his retinue. 

Gromrik’s endrinriggers stood their ground as the leader of the bray herd charged, while a second throng of bestigors, certain of victory, stopped short of the camp to cheer on their mighty leader.  However the doom bull’s attacks miraculously glanced off the metal armour worn by the riggers as they dodged and weaved, landing telling blows in response. Dumbfounded at this turn of events the rest of the beastmen were even more shocked as Gromrik’s second company of arkanauts emerged from the bushes. With a deafening noise the entire Kharadron army opened fire on them, wiping them and their accompanying spawn from the battlefield, as the endrinriggers finished off a very perplexed doom bull.

A cheer went up as the beasts were driven from the field. Gromrik had secured dominance over the plains of Carmin, and the tale of how his army had won against overwhelming odds grew with each retelling, eventually establishing itself as a victory of a mere handful of duardin over an entire army of beastmen. In reality the battle had been relatively small, and Gromrik had been incredibly fortunate. In any case, the victory secured Carmin for New Quemara, and boosted the prestige and morale of the new alliance.