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New Dwarf Campaign Now Released :)

[Flak]

Welcome to my 2nd Project,
The Dwarf Campaign

The story and idea is based on a fantasy game i was GM on over 10 years ago and the world in which it is set is also a creation of mine, which i brought back to life for this campaign. I hope you will all enjoy it as much as i have enjoyed creating it. It is inspired by many different games, from AD&D to WH and from history.

Prelude

The Dwarven kingom of Gohnhamm lies to the north in the westpart of the continent. To the south of Gohnhamm lies the large human kingdom of Khar, an ally of Gohnhamms. To the east lies 2 kingdoms, the barbarian Kram which is a much divided kingdom made up of Jarls and Warlords. Further to the east bordering in the mountianess regions is Novtik, a human kingdom it is also allied with Gohnhamm and Khar but is somewhat less organised. To the north lies high mountains and graciers but is also a hideout for the undead and the dark dwarves. To the west lies the open plains and steps of several nomadic tribes and past them lies the real danger.
The Green Horde who roams the steps and the unknown land beyond. The orcs use to be a big mess of tribes fighting amongst themselves and attempting occasional raids. However in recent years rumors say that a Greatwar Chief has taken command of all the tribes of the Step and wispheres of an actual orcish invasion could be imminent. The general belief in the amongst the Gohnhamm kings court is that the orcs are a band of dangerous but ultimately disorganized primitives that stand no real chance, if the army is called to face them. This is also the most popular belief amongst most of the population not living in the border region. 100 years ago The great invasion of the Green Horde silenced the orcs and in truth there has not been any major raid for 100 years. After the Invasion 17 fortresses were built in the border region to the step. 12 Forts in Khar 5 in Gohnhamm, the populations of both Khar and Gohnhamm have lived in safety ever since, beliveing that the Forts will keep out the orcs.
   Knud and his friend the Kharian Knight Lizerazu is a famous traveling hero, from many adventures and missions into both the stepps and the dark elven kingdom of Astrom in the east. After their last and most daring mission to infiltrate the Green Horde's capital city their terror was realized, as they discovered that the internal fighting amongst the orcsish tribes had ended. A Greatwar Chief called Kakarim Kan had united the tribes and was building an army. Speaking both orc and goblin they gathered much intel during their stay. However when they returned nobody would believe their report and no measures were made to prepare for war. Angry, bitter and feeling too old for more Sir Lizerazu went into retirement and returned to his mansion to train his sons so they too could join the Knighthood. Determined to hold back the orcs if he had to do it himself, Knud returned home to Gohnhamm and raised  a militia army that patrols the steps. Knud is a busy man, the raids have tenfolded in the 5 years since he made his militia army. The militia has gone from raw recruits to experienced warriors in the past 5 years.
Knuds militia is made up of 4 units, Knuds Slayers, Captain McDougans Gnome Crossbowmen, Sargeant Duncans Steam Tank and Master McClanough Ice mage.

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[Flak]

Unit Descriptions

Lord Knuds Army

Lord Knuds Slayer Infantry. Originally a militia unit, these troops have been recruited in the border region, all of them have lost family members or whole families in orc raids. They have in intense hatred for greenskins. They have been trained by one of the best and most expirienced warriors alive, the slayer and hero of Gohnhamm, Lord Knud. Experts with their spears and battleaxes, armored with chainmails and halfplate armor, they are determined fighters and with complete faith in Lord Knuds leadership they have no fear of any foe and will follow and fight for Lord Knud until the bitter end.

Gnome Crossbowmen. Gnomes serve the Gohnhamm army just like the dwarves do but being too small to make efficient warriors they serve with the crossbow and artillery units. Gnomes are small innovative and scientific, about 90cm tall and with a thin build. They invented the crossbow and consider it a superior weapon to the obsolete bow. The dwarves like the crossbow but had to adapt it for efficient military use as the gnomes had a tendency to make them be too advanced for their own good.
They are excellent marksmen and their armor piercing bolts can penetrate any armor, in close combat however they suffer badly, they are armed with shortswords and a buckner for close combat but they are too small to fight efficiently and if engaged in combat they need immediate assistance.
Captain McDougan commands such a regiment, McDougan served for many years with the Gohnhamm army he was disgusted with the treatment Lord Knud was given by the king and he joined Lord Knud just after the militia was formed.

Gnome Steam Tank. Duncan McBolt invented this steam tank, due to his previous failures, he  was unable to sell his steam tank to the Gohnhamm army. He joined Lord Knud to show that his steam tank is a marvel of technology. Lord Knud was at first not too crazy about having this unstable steam tank with his men. However with the increased pressure from the orcs and the many villages needing help and protection, he felt he needed all the help he could get. The steam tank is armed with a light cannon, the range is short but on the other hand the steam tank is armored and can only be damaged by arrows and artillery.

Master McClanough Ice Mage. He used to have a magic shop in the border region, but mostly used his abilities to make moonshine. Until his town was pillaged and he saw all the men being impaled alive, all the women raped and burnt and the children booted to death by the orcs. He joined Knud after that and although very unsure on magic, Knud also knows the value of a mage, as long as he doesn't use it when you're too close. He is a skilled Ice mage and herbalist,he is armed with a wizards staff. Being unable to use armor because of the magic running through his body, he only wears a heavy leather cloak.


Gohnhamm Regiments

Dwarven Militia. These troops are the typical Gohn clansmen warriors, they mostly perform duties such as escort and patrol missions. They are also the most common troops found in clan fueds. Dwarves are on average 120 cm tall with broad powerful bodies, well suited for hard labor. They hate greenskins and will fight them very hard. They are normally armed with battleaxes or claymores, they wear chainmails or studded leather. They are skilled warriors but lack the discipline of the regular army.
Director Soopham is in command of such a regiment.

Dwarf Runners. These troops are the scouts of the Gohnhamm army.
Dwarf Artillery. These powerful cannons and mortars have been invented by gnomes but taken over by the dwarves for military use.
Dwarf Infantry. The heavy infantry is the main force in the Gohnhamm army, mostly made up of Gohns, who with their experience in clan wars and their hard grafting lifestyle they are perfectly suited for the heavy infantry.
Other Regiments

Sir Rare Jr's Knights. These 3 Knights lead by Knight captain Sir Rare Jr. are elite warriors trained since childhood in the arts of war and in the teachings of the Knights of the Temple.
Half-Orc Warriors. Half-orcs are a truly cursed race, they are hated by both greenskins and humanoids. These warriors belong to a barbarian tribe that lived in the Step.
Cellian Legionnaires. The Cellian military works in a very different way to any other army. These troops are recruited when they are young and serve for 20 years, training for the first several years to become a legionary, they are elite troops, very disciplined and confident, they will fight long and hard as are very unlikely to flee.

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Templars. These warriors are like Sir Rare Jr's knights, members of the Brotherhood of the Temple.

Frenrecs Zombies. Apprentice Frenrec is a necromancer turned to serve against the dark masters, he has animated a regiment of zombies for his protection.
Light Horsemen. These warriors are part of Novtiks army. They are well trained in the use of both their sabers and composite bows.
Knights of Khar. The Kharian knights are unlike the Templars not holy warrior but Kharian heavy cavalry.
Gazian Kajsers Guard. These troops belong to the Gazian Kajsers personal bodyguards. As most humans they are around 170 cm tall and well build.
Wild Elf Spearmen. These troops are typical wood elf (as they prefer to be called) tribal warriors of Hacrisia.

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The Green Horde

Orc Boyz (Light Infantry). These troops make up most of the orc armies and most of their raiders. They are on average 200cm tall, very muscular, strong and cruel, but lack intelligence.
Orc Arrer Boyz. Like the orc boyz these troops are found in most raids.
Goblin Infantry. Goblins are racially related to the orcs and live in the same lands. They are around 120 cm tall, very thin, vicious, cruel and cunning creatures.
Goblin Archers. The goblin archers are basically the same as goblin infantry but armed with bows. They often serve has hunters and are in some cased skilled bowmen.
Orc Bolt Thrower (Balista). This older weapon design is till in extensive use with the orcs.
Orc Rock Lobber (Catapult). Many who have seen this rare orcish weapon claim that it is their best weapon.
Orc Shaman. it was for decades considered a myth by the high tower of magic, that the poorly intelligent orc could poses magic.
Goblin Shaman. If very little is know about orc shaman then nothing is know about goblin shaman, except that the theory is that they have the same powers as the orc shamans.

Orc Boar Boyz (Orc Cavalry) These orcs ride into battle on the legendary giant wild boar.
Orc Big'uns (Orc Lancers). These troops have long been a myth, they where first reported when the orcs had a great tribal war some 20 years ago.

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The Dark Dwarves

Dark Dwarf Warriors. Much like dwarfs they are a round 120 cm tall with broad shoulders and long beards.
Balista golems. The dark dwarves use golems for many purposes.
Mountain Troll. These creatures have been enslaved by the dark dwarves.

War Golems. These golems are the strongest of the dark dwarven golems, made of stone and 5 meters tall, they can smash whole ranks to enemy troops in one bash of their huge clubbed hands.
The Dark Elves (Drow)

Dark Elven Warriors. These warriors originate from deserts and plains of Astrom. Well experienced from firghting the crusaders and trained hard by their masters with either swords or spears, armored with studded leather, they make an tough enemy.

Dark Elven Bowmen. These warriors are expert bowmen and use their elven composite bow with lethal efficiency.

Dark Elven Champions. These warriors are humans that serve the dark elves as slave warriors. They are taken all over Astrom by the warrior tax on human male sons that is enforced in Astrom.

[Flak]

Knuds Struggle

Chapter One

 
Battle 1 The Raid on Calwin Forrest
A band of orcs are poised to pillage a dwarven fishing village. Knud moves his militia into position to halt the raid. Orc raids have increased and the orc raiders have been more and more organized and better trained. These lot look the same, they look like army units.

Aftermath
These orcs were organised into genuine ranks and each regiment even seem to have a leader keeping the discipline and they fight alot harder than the regular raiders. Altho they where lightly armed and armoured not what we saw in Zhox Piq. Maybe they are scouts for a larger force.

The owner of a mine in the north wants to hire Knud as an escort to his mine. Orcs have been ambushing alot of convoys moving in the mountains.
His name is Soopham and he will place his own bodyguards under Knuds command for the duration of the mission. They are lightly armed and will not stand much chance alone aganst orcs.
Knud sends a report to King James VI and ask's for reinforcements and recommends that the Forts be strenghened. King James does not take this report serious either and nothing is done.


 
Battle 2 Stop the robbers
The sound of battle is heard up ahead, a convoy has been attacked, by the time Knud makes it there, the orcs have finished slaughtering the civilians and are trying to escape with the loot. Knud decides to fight them and take revenge on them. Again they are far more organised than regular orc raiders.
This time they are mounted, someting that is extremely rare, escpeially this far north.

Aftermath
With the raiders defeated knud returns the loot to the few survivors of the convoy and they decide to follow Knud north for protection.
The next day 3 Knights appear at Knuds door, to his room in a small Inn.
The leader of the 3 Knights explains that he is the son of Rare, an old friend of Knuds who died saving his life in a battle against the orcs over 30 years ago. Rare Jr. was just an infant then, Sir Lizerazu used his influence to get young Rare Jr. into the knighthood as his mother was claimed by the Kharian plague that same year. Sir Rare Jr. is now a very esteemed Knight. He says that the Knighthood are starting to get weary of the orcs and wants to get a feel on how the orcs are and nobody knows better than Knud. Rare Jr. was selected for the mission because of his relation to Knud as Knud is known to be of a suspicius mind. Rare Jr. and his 2 knight are the best that knigthood can field.
Knud is pleased to finally have somebody's attention and allows the knights to join his ranks.




Battle 3 The Mining Town
Upon reaching Soophams town they find that orc raiders are camped nearby making ready to attack the town and no doubt steal all the valuable iron ore. Soopham has explained that orc raiders have been targeting iron ore mines and towns and steal iron ore more than anything else, normally they never bother about iron but only gold and other valuables. This information Knuds finds rather chilling, he saw the orc craftmanship and goblin mined iron which is of much poorer quality but with dwarf iron they would be able to make stronger weapons. Not the work of meer raiders, thats the work of an organised enemy trying to gain an advantage.
The orc raider scouts, newly arrived in town and launch the assult fast, luckily they are rushing the attack.

Aftermath
This time the orcs even had dead orcs raised as zombies, fearless but weakend in skill by death. The most disturbing experience was the sight of new orc warriors, thiese new warriors armed with long spears, swords, armoured in platemail and marching in closed square ranks. They resemble the style used by the Matierian army called the phalanx. Extremely hard to breach as their pure strenght makes it into a iron wall. It would seem that they were in command and used the regular forces to weaken us before their main assault.



Battle 4 Aiding the Army
Knud Starts to head back into the low lands again after having escorted Soopham savely to his town. Knud decides to make his way southwest into the orc part of the lowlands to see if he can find more evidence of raiders stealing iron. When he is just down from the last mountain pass, he encounters a Gohnhamm scout unit of gnome crossbowmen and a dwarf scout regiment. The scouts are lead by a young dwarf, Leutenant Davis. He knows who Knud is and has huge respect for him and his achievements. Their mission has been to scout the hills for orc raiders and report back on activity, they are to report back to their Keep just south of the hills about 25 miles beyond the border and offer to travel with Knud to the Keep as the country side here is very dangerous even for soldiers.
Knud joins up with them they also offer a healthy meal and a keg of dwarf spirits if they travel along to the Keep.

Aftermath
5 miles from the Keep traveling through a small forrest orc warrios suddenly apear infront and to the west! AMBUSH!
Knud takes charge of the battle immidiately.
Again these new orc warriors showed up and made a mess of Knuds men, so far they have always fought to the death, if these units would come in force then the neglected Gohnhamm border force would be in big trouble. Maybe now that the regular army has witnessed them, the leadership will start to realise the danger they are in. A small cotton village is up ahead maybe theres a merchant there who will take a message back.
(NOTE: Stay and fight in Bogenhafen)



Battle 5 Infiltrated
The village has no merchants, infact they haven't seen a merchant for weeks, they barely survive on what they have and are talking of leaving. According to them no army supplies have came either in weeks and the troops from the Keep have been buying what little extra provisions they have. As darkness falls Knud decides to spend the night and rest his men in proper houses instead of the hard ground, since its only half a days travel from the fort, so they are in good time. In the middle of the night the watch blows the horn, orcs are streaming into town from all sides, Knud rushes his men into formation and prepare to stand their ground.
"A Chilling Scream runns through the cold night" just as Knud catches a sight of an attacker, they are not orcs!!!

Aftermath
Dark elves, why would Dark eleves be here when their lands are on the other side of the continent? Why do they seem to be in league with the orcs, of course many people have alway spectulated of an orc/dark elf alliance but its never been actualy proven. The only other explanation is that the dark elves have an agreement with the necromancers and dark dwarfs in the Cold Snowy North region. More questions have been raised here than any answer can provide.

The scouts have been sent ahead to the Keep to make contacts and report our arrival but they have not returned yet, maybe they have been amushed.



Battle 6 The Siege
The scouts were killed by the orcs, who also have taken the keep and impaled its defenders outside the keep.
Knud lays seige to the keep, the gnomes build a ramp for the steam tank so that it can shoot high enough to crumble the walls. A goblin wagon train, heading to the keep is ambushed and crushed with ease, now the orcs will have to starve or attempt a breakout. The orcs seem to be lead by a shaman or sorcerer, a very rare sight, normally they dont take active part in raids and only a few have ever been reported, indeed some elves refuse to believe that the primitive orcs would be capable of magic use.
The orcs ride out and attempt to break off the siege.

Aftermath
Again a heavy fight against an opponent that seem to only grow stronger day by day. If these kinds of attack occur along the entire border, then the orcs must have a massive army somewhere in the stepps. Goblin wagon trains with supplies is also a new one. An orc army that has its own resuply system is not the works of a primitive and disorganised, enemy sending in a few raiders. More like the work of an army softening the enemy before an invasion
Knud sends another report to King James VI, he reports on his discoveries and advises, that the King must take measures to at least scout the stepps, incase a major raiding party is out there. King James VI sends out his scouts from the forts but it takes weeks before his order is fully carried out.



Battle 7 Sir Markovs request
Sir Markov is one of King James VI most wise advisors, in his day a great warrior against both the orcs in the Great Invasion 100 years ago and in the Frost wars against the dark dwarfs and the necromancers, now ageing nearly 165 an old old age for a dwarf he is still active. The Kings son Craig III has sent him out to find out if the dark dwarves are on the move, according to Sir Markov crown-prince Craig III is of a more openmided nature than his father the King and believes that the  reports of an orc Great Warchief might be true.
Sir Markov is heading north to find the pass to the Cold Snow North and asks Knud to help him along to find it, once beyond the pass he knows where he is going, its just finding it thats the problem, especially because the mountains are filled with dark dwarves and their golems.
Sir Markov and Lord Knud finds the pass rather fast, but it is blocked by a dark dwarf mining camp, no choice they must be attacked.

Aftermath
Too many of these victories will ruin us was Sir Markov's comment. This was no mere mining camp, fully armed dark dwarf warriors, stone, iron golems and a new kind of golem, a crossbow golem. Hopefully Sir Markov can find out what the dark dwarfs are planning and if they have more such creations learking about in the Cold Snow North. Knud heads back to Gohnhamm, just before Knud reaches Taskbar, a royal messenger arrives with a message from The Knighthood headquater in Köningstat, Gazia. Apparently the Knighthood takes all the warnings of an orc threat seriously. They have sent out knights to scout the border region but they are only few in numbers, most of the order are fighting in the Holy Crusade in Astrom to remove the dark elf masters in Astrom.
King Alfred IX the Wise has promised the Knighthood men from is eastern army to aid them in their recon mission. Kaiser Lothar III of Gazia has already given the Knigthood 2.000 of his own imperial knights. The Knigthood request Lord Knud to investigate, a report that the orcs are mining in the ancient ruins of Manulish, what they are mining for is unknown but a half-orc prisoners says its too do with magic.

[Flak]

Chapter Two

Battle 1 The Fight Heats Up
Lord Knud marhces southwest into the orcish steps. The sun burns the skin at daytime and the frost bites at night. A hard place to bring an army through, Khar and Gohnhamm did it tho 100 years ago, so if we could, then so can the orcs. Knud gets in a report, an orc camp is ahead, they spotted the the scout and are heading up this way thru a little gavehill site. The scout reports that the orcs are well organised and even had sentries out and that there is more of those lancer orcs.

Aftermath
Another hard earned victory, the orc resistance is hardening, these are quality troops not the rabble that has been defeated in the past. Hopefully the Steps are not full of troops of this caliber or it will be a long way to Manulish.
Luck is on Lord Knuds side, though it appears, that same afternoon a squad of warriors approach without drawing their weapons. They are half-orcs their tribe has been slaughtered, "Warchief Kakarim no trust bastard half-pure" as their leader explains. They are on the run but have little desire to enter Khar as they know that would be just as dangerous as staying in the step. Their leader Chief Flaalan is more orc than human looking, he is thinner and more agile than normal orcs, they're all looking that way, more human in bodily shape.
Knud decides that since, the enemy of your enemy is your friend and because he does not share the normal conservative views on the world, as most dwarves, he allows Chief Flaalan and his men to join up, also Cheif Flaalan knows the step like his own back yard, this will save time and maybe get them around possible ambush sites.



Battle 2 RAID!!!
Lord Knud arrives at a light wooded area on the broder of the step, still many days march from Manulish. Chief Flaalan has proven to be useful as a guide, they are ahead of schedule by 4 days already. Chief Flaalan is leading them to a lightly wooded area to set up camp and resuply the stock of firewood, for the cold nights before they head into the step. Before they reach the woods a regiment of undead approach, led by a shady looking human man. They dont seem to be hostile as one regiment would not stand a chance. The leader introduce himself, he is from the north, Necromancers Apprentice Frenrec. He claims to have turned on the necromancers in the glacier region and have been looking to join the great dwarven warriors, defeating all the cruelty in the world. He also says that the necromancers are planning their own invasion of Gohnhamm because they know of the orc invasion. He says that he has intimate knowledge of where they intent to attack from and will tell knud if he will let him and his zombie minnions join rank. Knud not relishing undead, anywhere near him. He admits that having half-orcs, wizards and gnome machinery in his army, already places himself in more danger from within that he likes. So maybe these zombies will even out the madness. Besides if the necromancer is truthful then the invasion must be stopped before it can stab Gohnhamm in the back, if he is decietful, then he will have them slayed when they get up north. For now they will provide good cheap frontline units as Frenrec will simply make more when they fall.
Lord Knud enters the wood and heads for a suitable camp site, just as the entire army is inside the forrest, he notices the silence, something is wrong, dark shadows move in the shadows. He sounds the battle horn and the men ready for battle!!!

Aftermath
Dark elven ambush in this area is unheard off. This must mean that the drow and the orcs are in alliance with eachother. This also must mean that the dark elves have sailed around the weastern coast and landed at goblin coast. There is no way they could have travelled unseen through Cenau, Matier, Celli and Khar, not with this many, a few maybe but not whole armies. It would take more than just an alliance with the orcs for the dark eleves to undertake such an enterprise as sailing an army through months of hostile waters. The Kramish pirates sail up and down the entire costline and would have attacked them. This must be reported and investigated.



Battle 3 Take the Highground
Lord Knud continues his march to Manulish by marching down the Kharian border to avoid more unpleasantness and allow his troops to rest a little. However "When you enter the the smithy you gotta be able to handle the heat" as the old dwarf saying goes, and it will get hot.
Lord Knud stumble into more trouble as fast as they got out of it. A wagon and 4 Kharian troops are sighted ahead. They report that the nearby Border Fort has been captured by the orc army, a Kharian army has been heading up from the south to re-capture the Fort, they were sent out from the southern fort to aid in the siege and an artillery unit from the northern fort was also sent out to aid in the siege. Unfortunately the orcs attacked and routed the army before it could get to its artillery. Sergant Henning asks on behalf of the Kharian king, if Lord Knud would help his troops in kicking out the orcs. Lord Knud can ill afford to lose the time but also cannot afford to lose a potentional alliance with Khar, especially if Gohnhamm still fails to mount its army in time.
At a hilly area a short distance from the fort they collum is suddenly ambushed again. Archers on the hill!!!!!!!!

Aftermath
Dark elves again, they must have a reason for being here, maybe they are helping the orcs finding what ever they are looking for at Manulish.
Cursed elven archers took their toll, but again they lost and we live to fight them again. Alot more blood has to be shed to make the world safe from the green threat. This time we killed a dark elf of some standing, he was carrying a magic fireball sword, very useful.
(Dwarfs are distrustful of magic and wizards, but often like magic items ecpecially weapons, they feel the magic is captured and harmless unlike unstable "human" wizards and dont even get them started on elves and elven wizards. Lord Knud a visionary dwarf in many ways still feel this way although he is forced to ignore it for the greater good, does not mean that he relishes being anywhere near the wizard or the steam tank. One never knows when a wizard might just make a mistake and blow up.)



Battle 4 Flush them out
Lord Knud decides to block the orcs in the fort and force them to breakout, it worked so well before it might just work again. He is counting on the orcs not having been resupplied yet and will run low on beer and provisions fast. The main fear that Lord Knud faces is that this will be units from the main orcish army and of a higher quality than the troops fought in the past. These troops will be the troops that Kakarim Kan has been training since he took power many years ago. They will be properly trained, properly armed and properly led. The advantage of so much artillary hopefully will keep them abit at bay.

Aftermath
Lord Knud was successful in his plan to draw the orc out, however the orcs had turned the artillary to their own use and the attack to clear out the fort was an expensive one. The orcs stationed there were all well armed and armoured, most orcs even have a half or full platemail. It's disturbing to Lord Knud if they can take one fort then the whole line of forts could fall in a matter of days. Lord Knud sends the Kharian troops back to report to Khar, but they insist that he accept their help and keep one of the artillary units.



Battle 5 Night Strike
The march to Manulish can continue, Chief Flaalan again proves his value to the mission, he is able to bypass serval orc camps and patrols. Lord Knud is increasingly worried at how many orcs there are in the region, several thousands, maybe 25.000. This area normally would only hold a few orc raiders and a goblin warband or 2. At a small stream Lord Knud is faced with a fight he can't aviod, dark elves troops hold the crossing and have the highground. Surely this must mean that it is the dark elves that are at Manulish and not the orcs. These dark elves seem to be lead by a dark elven mage and the regiments seem to have a dark elven officer leading them into battle.

Aftermath
A regular Astrom army in the step, something big is going on in Manulish, these troops are the prime of the Astrom army. How on earth the dark elves, dark dwarves and orcs all seem to be on the move at the same time must be a co-ordinated effort to make one great push into the western lands. If Khar and Celli falls, then none of the smaller kingdoms have a chance and the elven kingdom of Cenau would be alone against Astrom and have no chance to keep the dark elves at bay. Maybe the crusades launched from Gazia and Khar have forced them into this move, a risky move. If Cenau was to invade with some of their best troops here Astrom would face great danger. Its even more inportant to get to Manulish and stop the dark elves because this is of great importance to them.
A report from the Knighthood arrives with an Imperial Gazian messenger, a huge orc army is on the move, far in the west. Khar, Gohnhamm, Gazia, Celli and Kram have formed an alliance and are gathering their forces but it will take time. In 2 weeks the orcs will reach Khar and Khar will stand alone until the other armies can arrive. Initial reports claim that as many as 200.000 orcs are invading. (Khar has a peacetime army of 75.000 with 50.000 stationary in the border forts, the largest previous orc attack was 45.000, 105 years ago, what sparked The Great Invasion).



Battle 6 Manulish
Manulish lies empty, but the tower does not, the tower use to belong to a legendary orc-drow mage, some say he was the first orc mage. Manulish was in ancient times a half-orc fiefdom, legend has it that both orcs and humans lived here, ruled by a council of half-orcs. The orcs and the human on either side hated Manulish for their blasfamous way of life and Manulish was destroyed by an orc attack and has been a city of ruins ever since. Underneth Manulish, orc legend has it that the mage (shaman to the orcs) Tjanitatinanio had a horrible artefact hidden below the tower. This legend is unknown by the humans but Chief Flaalan knows of it. The dark elves must have learned of it and are now trying to find it. Below the tower, Lord Knud finds the dark elves digging in the Manulish mines. The steam tank and mortar cannot be lowered into the mine.

Aftermath
It appears that the dark elves where looking for and found a deadly ancient weapon. Master McClanough says that this sword is an ancient sword used by a deamon lord, it glooms of death and evil. When swung in battle by a servant of the dark lord, it will send out a ray of evil and decay, eating the flesh clean of the bones of the target. Only Apprentice Frenrec dares to use the evil weapon, as he used to serve (maybe still does in Knuds mind) the dark lord. Also recovered is another relic carried by one of the dark elven champions, a Dragonslayer helmet, once used by a great slayer, Knud is amazed by this dwarven designed helmet and is even more pleased to have liberated it from a bunch of cowardice dark elves disgracing such a noble helmet.
Surely this must end the dark elven interest in Manulish, now its just a matter of getting out alive and back with these relics without drawing too much attention.

[Flak]

Chapter Three

Manulish secured Lord Knuds feels that things finally are going his way, the orc invasion have now lost their dark elven allies and hopefully Khar and her alllies are ready to repel the invaders. Lord Knud heads back up north, his job is not done Apprentice Frenrec's claim that the necromancers are on the move as well, it will have to be investigated and he needs to know if King James VI has prepared his army yet. King James has promissed to send reinforcements to Lord Knud at Pine City.
Unknown to Lord Knud, the orc invasion of Khar is well under way, King Alfred IX has raised an army of 120.000 troops to meet Kakarim Kan in the vicinity of the city of Verner in north Khar. The orc army is said to be as many as 200.000 troops but King Alfreds General John of Swansom has taken the highground and fortified his army. 10.000 Knights of the brotherhood and 20.000 of their crusaders ment to be shipped to Astrom have arrived to bolster the defence of Khar. Celli has promised 14 legions (70.000) in 2 weeks, Gazia has promissed 25.000 in a week. Kram has already sent 20.000 troops and 30.000 will follow. King Alfred exspect to use these troops to hunt the orcs back into the step.

Lord Knud marches north in the hope that King Alfred is able to defend his realm, he needs to find out what is going on in Gohnhamm and only by a chance of luck he gets trough the orc lines and north to Taskbar. Gohnhamm is under attack in the mountainous regions, near Pine City. Dark dwarf troops have been infiltrating the border in the whole region. An orc army is approching Taskbar at the same time. King James has called up the land militia and as much of the army he can spare to face the orcs alone. King James has requested that Lord Knud go deal with the dark dwarves as they at the moment pose the lesser threat to the kingdom and finish off the dark dwarves before they make a larger attack against Pine City. Undead has also been seen in the area, maybe the necromancers are involved somehow.


 
Battle 1 Defence of the Homeland
Upon reaching Pineland Wood, a regiment of the Pineshire Axes are ready to join Lord Knud. They are seasoned warriors led by a capable dwarf, Leuitenant Henry. They have extensive experience with the dark dwarves and have seen most of their tactics and creations, they have no fear of dark dwarves and have absolute faith in Leutenant Henry. Lt. Henry knows of an Ogre who has told him of a dark dwarf camp in the forest northeast of Pine City, closer to the Novtik border. He recomends that they go there, so far they haven't had the strength to hunt the dark dwarves but now with Lord Knuds army the balance has shifted. Lord Knud agrees that if they can capture their camp then maybe some questions can be answered. Lt. Henry warns Lord Knud that the dark dwarves have been using mountain trolls, golems and steam tanks is great numbers so it is costly to attack them.

Aftermath
The ambush was well planned and their arrival is no secret, hopefully they will reach the camp before the dark dwarves can move. Its obvious that the dark dwarves have prepared this attack for years, cannons, crossbows, golems, mountain golems and steam tanks would take years to build and many resources. Lord Knud will have to chase them back into the mountains, no quick victory here either. All these events are too well planned.
The horror of the reality even makes the wood elves of Hacrisia join the alliance and send troops to fight in Khar against the Green Horde. The high elves of Cenau and the humans and minotaurs of Matier, make ready to start their own attack on Astrom hoping that the operations in the west have weakened them in the east.



Battle 2 Beastmaster Throgrims land
The ogre calling himself Beastmaster Thorgrim meets Lord Knud in the Novtik border lands. The dark dwarven camp is nearby. They forced him out of his land and killed his minions. He has spend decades training the giant scorpions in woodcutting and transport of timber, now only 2 remain and he has retrained them for combat, as he intents to join in the battle and take his revenge on the dark ones.
Scout reports say that the camp has both a cannon and a steam tank, so a careful plan is needed in order not to get mowed down.

Aftermath
The dark dwarves were caught off guard and many were killed, the artillary though, took its toll on both sides. Beastmaster Thorgrim is pleased and has returned to his former home to start his saw mill again. Leuitenant Henry informes Lord Knud that some documents were found and the camp commander was under orders to return north and aid in the "Process of re-animation". It sounds to Lord Knud like they are making a golem. The mightiest golem known is the steel golem, normally up to 20 feet tall and strong as 20 bulls. It could be them because they require several rune masters to make.



Battle 3 The Mountain Top
Now in the high mountain ranges of the Novtik arctic region Lord Knud is marching into the unknown, at least unknown to Lord Knud and his troops. Not knowing exactly where the dark dwarves might have their homebase, they move north in an attempt to find a pass leading them deeper into the dark dwarven lands. At a mountain range in north Novtik they hear the sound of a steam tank further up the mountain, at the mountain top they find the small corridor blocked by a steam tank and no doubt more troops nearby. The dark dwarves have the advantage of highground and it will be tough to get past them on this small ledge covered in snow and with the army freezing already. Only Frenrecs zombies are unaffected, the orcs are demoralized and the many dwarves have problems getting through the 5 feet snow. Many troops have been forced to remove their armour and have to put their swords on the fire to be able to unsheed them. These dark dwarves will hopefully have supplies and a scout has reported a log cabin in near the mountain top.

Aftermath
Steam tank head on battles are more common that Lord Knud likes, one lucky shot and they could lose their best weapon, pack horse and heat source. Without the steam tank all the troops would have to carry all the supplies and that would slow them down immensly. At night they all camp right around the steam tank as the driver keeps the keddel running so it wont freeze up. The dark dwarves seem uneffected by the snow and cold their abilities to fight back have risen while Lord Knuds army has lost ability in the extreme cold.



Battle 4 Timpan Hordes
While in the border lands Lord Knud has a run in with a Novtikan Cavalry regiment. Chavalier Captain Andrey Polomkov of Czar Oleksandr 2.s Imperial army, he request Lord Knuds help in an urgent matter, Timpan raiders have been making havoc in this part of Novtik, in return for Lord Knud's help he would join his crusade against the dark dwarves that also threaten Novtik. Timpans are nomadic tribesmen from the Timpan plains and steps. They are expert horsemen both as warriors and archers, some say that they are born on horseback. Timpan horsemen are know to travel as far as 150-200km a day across the plains, no other army can match that and that may be the reason that the Timpan tribes have never been successfully colonised or occupied. Novtik are constantly fighting of Timpan raiders. Polomkov commands a detachment of Novtik horseback archers, well trained troops and almost as good as their Timpan adversaries. In close combat however, they are less skilled as their tactics, like that of Timpans, are hit and run. The Timpan raiders are spotted in attack formation to the north of Lord Knuds army, who have moved unto the highground.

Aftermath
The Timpan horsemen are warriors that Lord Knud has never fought before and hopes not to fight again, they simply kept on coming and coming, no wonder Novtik always spend their time keeping their raiding parties away. Polomkov has agreed to replay the favour and join Lord Knud in his battle to end the dark dwarf mennace. Polomkov's cavalry also serve as excelent scouts and pathfinders, the horses are small, strong, agile and used to the harsh cold, not like Sir Rare Jr. and his horses, mighty stallion war horses, who suffer badly in the cold and are covered in blankets just like the men. 



Battle 5 Unknown Foe's
Captain Polomkov and his men ride ahead into the dark dwarven lands, Polomkovs troops have been following a unit of dwarf warriors heading north, getting drunk at night and speaking of the High Kings gathering. What this is exactly is unknown but the High King of the dark dwarves has never been seen and is undoubtly behind the attacks. If he could be ambushed at this gathering, then Lord Knud could end it all here. The ambush plan is foiled however as the enemy has moved into attack formation in the cover of night and Lord Knud has to fight his way to the high king. This is a dangerous place to fight, the dark dwarves have taken the highground and are in possesion of alot of artillery. Also regiments of unknown troops have joined them and they seem to prepare an attack with these new troops in front. Caution is needed here, nobody has ever seen these troops before and they seem fearless.

Aftermath
The unknown troops seem to be dark dwarven bazergers, in their crazed frenzy state they sling huge mace's and seem to be unafected by pain or fear, they fight on regarless of being shot by arrows and crippled by axe blows. These troops present a great danger, to the entire mission, the war golems also seem to be tougher and stronger than before, to this horror Lord Knud realised that the mountain trolls are considered the least terrorfing enemy that they face. Both golems and bazergers fight to the death no withdraw no fear, if the mission to end the dark dwarven plans fails the Gohnhamm will be in danger of being eliminated, the clan armies could in to way resist this kind of enemy. Strong as they may be, the clans are not used to fighting to the last man.


 
Battle 6 The High Kings Gathering
The ice road north from the last battle has been in heavy use, there's no mistake as to where the dark dwarves where marching from. It obvious that nobody ever thourght it possible that Lord Knud would make it this far. Following the road, Lord Knud gets to a small ridge overlooking a huge castle in dwarven design, craften right into the ice mountain. Outside the castle a huge army is making ready for battle, more bazergers that seen before and more Golems than ever before, the high king is not taking any chances, Lord Knud will have to fight for his life to escape here alive.
Lord Knud to his men: My brave men, we have marched for weeks, we have endured every element this world has to offer, we have slain every army sent against us, even now on this ridge in this cold hell, frozen and hungry, we stand tall and even in this state, we have cornered our enemy and now our cold grasp will strangle him, MEN LETS FIGHT THE ENEMY WITH OUR WARM BLOOD AND SLAY THEM ALL...............NNNOOO MEEEERRRRRCYYYY

Aftermath
The High king was slain by Lord Knud and his men carried the day. After defeating the High king, Lord Knuds men piled the dead dark dwarves and burnt the bodies to melt the ice castle. Returning victorious to Gohnhamm they where recived as heroes in Pine City. However while Pine City is saved, the orcs still threaten Khar and Gohnhamm, the brotherhood has asked Lord Knud to investigate why the orcs are sending houndres of patrols into the Great Black Forrest when their army is marching south. While Lord Knud was fighting in the north, the orcs attcked the Kharian army at Verner before the reinforcements arrived, General John of Swansom had 120.000 troops, 25.000 regular soldiers, 75.000 reservist's and 20.000 dwarven militia. Scouts reported as many as 200.000 orcs, Swansom consideres 200.000 to be vastly exagerated and prepared his men to take the charge down the hill when the orcs arrive, he does not reinforce his flanks but reinforces his center. The orcs arrive 3 days after Swansom took position on the hill. The orcs are lead by their warchief Kakarim Kan himself. Much too late Swansom realise that the 200.000 orcs was a vast unestimation its more like 400.000 orcs facing him. In the ensuing battle Kakarim Kan quicly encircles the Kharian troops and they are butchered almost down to the last man, less than 100 men escape the battle.
Now 400.000 orcs are heading directly for the city of Khar. Khar itself has less than 50.000 soldiers left, start to desperately recruit every able body man in the country. Celli, Gazia and the brotherhood all increase their reinforcements being sent to Khar.

[Flak]

Chapter Four

While Lord Knud marches south towards the Great Black Forrest the world's fate hangs on a fine thread as a titanic battles is unavoidable and will decide who will be the dominating race on the continent. Around the city of Khar masses of troops are being assembled to repel the orcish invasion, Khar has called up every man, fit for battle, in a desperate attempt to hold back the Green Horde. Celli, Kram, Hacrisia, Gazia and Novtik have all sent troops to aid in the battle of Khar. The whole of northern Khar is left defenceless, orc and goblin raiding parties roam unchallenged and pillage any village or town they desire. King Alfred has no troops left to defend his people with. The wind carries the message of Fear, as masses of refugees flee south as the dwarves are not allwoing anyone to enter Gohnhamm. Other villagers take up arms and try to defend themselves, the best they can but mostly invain, the orcs simply come back and attack again. Famine is also a great danger to the population, as the huge orc army supplies itself on captured supplies means that in most of the Great Black Forrest region the farmers have been robbed of their harvest and livestock. 45.000 orcs have lay siege to Browgold, with its small garrison of 5.000 militia its only a matter of time before the largest city in northern Khar falls and then the road into the middle of Gohnhamm is wide open, Old Castle has already been attacked and taken by the main orcish army on its way to Khar. New Stepp and Morgan are also about to come under siege as new orcish armies have moved south from the main force. A goblin of as much as 85.000 army has crossed the Vran river and is heading for celli or Novtik. Even if the Green Horde is defeated at Khar then there still remains many satelite armies operating independently within most of Khar and soon Celli aswell. Many of their "smaller" armies still count over 30.000 orcs. King Alfred is hoping to raise 110.000 militia troops and to get 20.000 regulars back from the forts. The exact amout of supporting troops from the allies is as yet unknown.
The Kings Brotherhood has asked Knud to investigate why the orcs have taken a particular interest in the Great Black Forrest, a captured half-orc scout has revieled that they are searching for something they call "Big Boss Shaman Flag" which supposedly was lost here when an orc raiding party lead by a shaman was killed by Kharian troops decades ago.  


 
Battle 1 Sir Markovs Return
Upon Lord Knuds return to Khar an old friend returns, Sir Markov has also heard of what the orcs are up to and belive that he has found the orcsish warband that has found the Flag. They have been riding hard to get back and are now just north of our posistion. Sir Markov belive that they have to pass this mountain pass only a few miles away. This Flag Sir Markov explains is a great relic blessed by a very powerful Shaman, the peasants in this region say that the Shamans spirit still haunts the nights as he refused to die. Sir Markov belives that the orcs mean to use this Flag to awaken this shaman from his spirit state.

Aftermath
The Flag was captured, only the half-orcs are able to touch it and not get burnt by an acid that seems to sweat from the banner. McClanough says that it has a very strong magic enchantment on it, its a dispel-magic spell that even he can't breach. He also says that if any creature with magic in it, like a mage or shaman tries to harness its magic then they will be killed by a protection enchantment. However he thinks that its very unlikely that this banner could be used in the manner that the Brotherhood seems to think. Just as this is discussed, a templar enters Lord Knuds tent, he presents himself as Brother Phillipe of the order of Holy Temple, he has his Templars have been dispatched to aid in the investigation and also carries new reports. Apparently the Shaman Banner is not the key to finding the ancient shamans spirit, the orcs are looking for it across the Vran River in Celli.


Two Pathes to go, choose wisely, Help the Legioneers keep the villagers safe, or continue directly to Sir Lizerazu



Path 1 Join the Legion
A Cellian Legion has come across Lord Knud, they say that huge warband of goblins have been terrorising the local villages, its their mission to deal with the goblin invaders but they are too few to stop the goblins efficiently. If Lord Knud helps them then they will join his army while he is in Celli, Legate Agustervius also knows of a wood elf who has lived in these parts for 3 centuries and would very likely know something about this orc relic and shaman spirit.

Path 2 Meet up with Sir Lizerazu
The Brotherhood thinks they have located the relics location. Sir Lizerazu, Lord Knuds oldest friend has been sent to scout the location and is ordered to wait for Lord Knuds arrival, but if Lord Knud is late then Sir Lizerazu is order to go to the local Cellian Legion and attack the orcs with their assistance.


Path 1

Path 2

End of Paths

[Flak]

Battle 4 A Dark Alliance
Lord Knud and his troops are just 1 days march from the castle when the enemy is reported to block the advance, they have taken possesion of 2 hills and there is no safe way around, they intend to force Lord Knud to attack them, surely they are here to delay their arrival. The scout also reports that a dark elven company are protecting the right flank, it seems they have an alliance with the orcs and a drow druid seems to command the dark elves. The orcs have a strong force here too, only lancers this time, no light infantry. Sir Lizerazu reconize the drow druids banner, a famous druid Pasha Alzem of Damus, he has been fighting the crusades for decades, killing him would severely damage the Astrom morale as he is one of their greatest heroes.

Aftermath
The orcs are growing still stronger and now with their dark elven allies thay will be more dangerous than ever before, the dark elf cunning and the orc raw power is a dangerous mix. Whatever happenes at the castle, the orcs and dark elves cannot be allowed to leave to join their army. The dark powers that they have been trying to harness from the dark relics they have collected, must remain in the castle.
While these events take place on the Kharian-Cellian border, a titanic battle is about to erupt around the city of Khar, east of Lord Knud. Kakarim Kan and his massive orc army, called the Green Horde by the commoners in Khar, has arrived at Khar. The plains north of Khar will be the battlefield for the biggest battle in the history of the world. Cellian spies and scouts estimate that around 500.000 has invaded, they also feel the the initial report of 400.000 at Verner is unrealistic Sir John of Swamsom most likely faced 150.000 to 200.000 orcs. They also belive that 350.000 are ready for battle at Khar, with a further 150.000 orcs performing patrols, raid and supply operations. The orcs were also at first believed to supply their army with provisions from the Kharian countryside but even though they plunder as much as they seem able, they receive supplies from the stepp. It seems to the Cellian secret  warcabinet than the orcs have built an actual army capable of much the same as any human or dwarf army. The allies have mustered an army of 300.000 from 5 nations. 125.000 Kharians mostly militia and reservists, 40.000 Gazians troops, 35.000 Kramish troops, 80.000 Cellian troops and 20.000 Hacrisian troops. Most nations have been forced to reduce the number of support troops to Khar as their own countries have themselves been invaded by smaller armies and try to fight them off while they try to make sure Khar wont fall and open their own lands to invasion.


 
Battle 5 The The last castle
Lord Knud and his men have made it to hopefully the last stand. In this castle are the dark relics that will make the orcish armies too strong and would make the western world fall to the Green Horde. A victory here would end the threat and give the troops at Khar a chance in the battle that will decide history for the whole continent. From the stepp to the cold north to the hot center of the continent Lord Knud and his men have endured it all and now it all comes down to the last stand against evil.

Aftermath
The dark elves has given the orcs even more edge in their fighting skills, good, the end his alliance here and now. Unfortunately the relics have not been recovered in the castle, instead a mine into the underground has been discovered, it seems that the dark elves have been preparing for months for this to happen. A massive cave has been build under the castle, in this cave the dark magic is being performed to harnes the powers of the dark relics.
The bad news is that Brother Phillipe has been called away to an urgent mission for the church, the one good new is that Gohnhamm has sent the gun crew back to join the battle. Every single man will be taken into the cave, artillery and steam tank, Lord Knud does not want to make the mistake he made at Manulish, besides the orcs have themselves transported something big down here.
Lord Knuds victory ment that Kakarim Kan never got his relics back to aid in the battle for Khar, he has to fight without the benefits the dark elves promissed.
While Lord Knud gets his men transported into the abyss the battle for Khar starts.

The Battle of Khar

Part 1
The battlefield is a low lying plain north of the city of Khar, with a slight increase in height at both ends.That dawn Kakarim Kan has organsed his troops to the assualt. He has placed his best troops the Lancers at both flanks with his light infantry making up the middle along with a group of dark elves and dark elven champions leading the troops in the center. His cavalry are behind the left flank and the archers are placed behind the right flank,his rock lobbers and balista are behind the center along with the reserve troops, conscript orcs and goblins. King Alfred the wise has taken charge himself, he has placed his own Kharian reservists on the right flank, with support from the Hacrisian troops. The center is made up of Gazian and Kramish troops, the left flank is made up of the Cellian legioneers. His cavalry is behind the thin center and the archer are behind the right flank. His artillary is also placed behind the center. King Alfred has no reserves, only the artillary crews and a band of prisoners who have been forced to serve with the artillery.


Battle 6 The last drop of blood
The cave is a huge underground construction but it is has not been built recently.  Its an ancient construction bearing the marks and architecthture of lizard folk. The Lizard folk were forced from this part of the continent over a 1000 years ago. 7 huge pyramids hold the sealing. The pyramids however do not carry the marks of lizard folk but those of dark elves, this must no doubt be a dark elven tomb. Hopefully the dead down here are still dead and will remain that way, the dark relics could have been used in dark ritual, maybe they didnt indend to harness their power but to use the power to wake the dead dark elven grand champions, whom rest in this unholy place.
A dark elven grand champion is seated at the main pyramid, no orc commanders in sight maybe the dark elves are in charge down here. It is clear that they have been exspecting Lord Knud's arrival, they must have known he won on top. The cave is so massive that the orcs have but their big catapults into place, this battle is clearly the toughest they will ever fight, heavily out numbered, by an enemy that is fearless and fearsome.
Lord Knud walks out in front of his men with his lightning axe, 2 of the dwarves bring in a captured dark elven champion, put him on the ground face up in the sand. Lord Knud speaks " MEN we have came even further than anyone of us could have known, we have marched longer and fought more battles than any army before us, now we stand here in the abyss facing the worst evil we have seen and we have seen alot these past months. MEN now for i will show you all how we are gonna win today, *Lord Knud strikes his axe into the dark elven champion and strikes the head clean off with a blue flash as the lighting strikes the dead body, Lord Knud picks up the head and kicks it with all his strength towards the dark elven grand champion, the head just misses his head as he dodges. The men cheer and roar Lord Knud's name.

Aftermath
At the end Lord Knud in the fight of his life, plunged his axe into the soft meat of the dark elven grand champion, the lightning axe cut through the armor and he slayed the powerful enemy. All his men fought a desperate battle against the hordes of former dark elven grand champions, great kings and warlords of the ancient times, now slayed one last time. No dark elf or orc left the cave, in fact not many of Lord Knuds men left the cave alive either. Most of them fell victim to the unholy power of the foe deep in the cave. Most of the men that did return never mentioned that battle, many didnt live many years after it. Rumors are that they where cursed by their victory. The men who didnt die suffered even more than the dead, nightmares of the nightmare battle in the cave, Lord Knud a great hero of Gohnhamm, once a charismatic leader of men turned into retirement and lived in a hut in the Gohnhamm mountains.

The Battle of Khar

Part 2
The Green Horde lead persoanlly by Kakarim Kan, they launched the attack on the Allied force at Khar just before mid-day. His center charged through the rain of arrows and smashed into the Allied center which was forced slightly back from the fierce attack, Kakarim Kan then used his left lancers on the left flank to charge the weaker looking Allied right flank, the frontlines of the right flank being made up of wood elves and the rear lines being made up of reservists. The line looks to be holding when the left flank is engaged by the remaining lancers, the boar cavalry are sent around the Allied left flank, the Allied cavalry are disbatched to counter their move and protect the Cellian left flank, after a few skermishes between the 2 cavalry units on the left flank, they plunge into direct confrontation. All the while the artillery is fireing at eachother and the reserves left at the back. The battled raged for what seemed ages, the Allied right flank began to give way, when a miracle happened, the brotherhood and a regiment of Templar knights lead by Brother Phillipe arrived at the battle and saved the crumbling right flank. Kakarim Kan then reinforced the right flank with his orc concripts and reinforced the center with his goblins to force a breaktrhough. As the battle wore on and both sides seemed to hold their positions it became clear to King Alfred that he had succeded in locking all orcs into the fight and hold them firm. Kakarim Kan realised that his troops where bogged down and the foe seemed to hold them locking in heavy fighting. 3 hours of fierce fighting went on, as no advance was made on either side, the battle slowly began to wither away. After 4 hours of fighting with the ranks on both sides terribly depleted the Green Horde pulled back to their starting position and the Allied pulled back to just infront of the city walls, to gain support from archers on the walls, if the orc decided to try again. King Alfred and his Allies had by this point lost over half their men, worst off was the right flank with 2/3 of the men dead or wounded. Kakarim Kan and his Green Horde too had suffered badly, his center had suffered badly from the Kramish bazergers. His center was down to 1/4 in strength, the lancers was down to 2/3 their strength. At dusk Kakarim made a 2nd attack on the allied army, his archers and artillery had been moved forward to protect the advance on the city walls. The Lancers now made up both the center and left flank, the right flank was now made up to the remains of the center and the reserve troops.
The 2nd attack was a shorter but not less bloody affaire for both sides, encouraged by their perfomance earlier in the day the allied troops still held their flanks, even as the boar riders was able to aviod the allied cavalry and charge the Cellian legioneers in the side, they kept their positions.
After 2 hours of battle and night setteling over the battlefield Kakarim Kan withdrew again. A bombardment of Khar began as the Allied troops withdrew into the city. King Alfred was horrified to realise that he now only had around 50.000 men capable of fighting, half of them Cellian Legioneers, 100.000 men lay dead and 150.000 lay wounded and dying. Kakarim Kan had to face his own horror, his troops had been unable to break the Allied flanks, he came with 350.000 troops and now stood with only just under 100.000 troops, most of them Lancers, less than 10.000 light infantry and conscipts survived. 150.000 dead, 100.000 wounded and will die within a day or two. He can make no further advance on Khar, his supply and reinforcement lines are streched very far and it could take weeks to get enough troops to attack again, but the Allies could be reinforced daily.
Kakarim Kan withdrew his remaining army the next day at dawn, at a later battle against one of his other armies heading his way to reinforce Kakarim Kan it was defeated and within 3 months the main orcish army had left Khar. The Green Horde had however been successful at leaving behind massive destrcution, and around 100.000 orc raiders still roamed Northern Khar, a constant threat that could take years to remove.
It remains the bloodiest battle in the history of Tellus, widely regarded as a victory

[Flak]

Gohnhamm

The Dwarven Kingdom

Gohnhamm is the only dwarven kingdom in the world. Other kingdoms such as Novtik, Kram and Celli has ethnic dwarves in them and most dwarves regardless of where in the world they live, have more allegence to Gohnhamm than to the kingdom they might live in. Gohnhamm lies to the north in the westpart of the continent. To the south of Gohnhamm lies the large human kingdom of Khar, an ally of Gohnhamms. To the east lies 2 kingdoms, the barbarian Kram which is a much divided kingdom made up of Earls and Warlords. Further to the east bordering in the mountainess regions is Novtik, a human kingdom it is also allied with Gohnhamm and Khar but is somewhat less organised. To the north lies high mountains and glaciers but is also a hideout for the undead. To the west lies the open plains and stepps of several nomadic tribes and past them lies the real danger. The Green Horde who roams the stepps and the unknown land beyond.
Gohnhamm is not just a dwarven kingdom, several races reside within Gohnhamm. The dwarves make up 55%, gnomes 30%, Kendar 10%, Humans and other 5%. The Imperial Univercity of Celli, department of World studies,  estimates that the population is around 3 million, 2.5 million Hammish and Gnomes and 0.5 million Gohnish.
The dwarves are devided into 2 classes, the Gohnish and the Hammish, the Gohn are mostly highlanders, living and working in the hills and mountains of Gohnhamm. They are primarily miners, herdsmen, metalworkers, butchers and breweryworkers. Their society is extremely clan based and traditional. Most Gohnish villages are very isolated and most Gohns never see any other than their clansmen and their enemies when clan wars erupt. Every village belongs to a clan and the village Earl is a representative for the Clanmaster. The Clanmaster is a petty king or chief who rules a clan, he is elected for life and on his death bed is to name his heir, not nessecarily his own son altho this is most commen. The Clanmasters rule is not absolute, he rules the clan council and all villages has an Earl at the Clan council. The Clans control the area in which their villages are. Trouble however erupts when one clan tries to expand. Making a new mine or using a new pasture for the sheep or cattle outside the clan's area, even if no other clan has the land, another clan might feel that they where entitled to that land. The Clanmasters will then negotiate a settlement, if no settlement can be reached (most common) then a clan war will decide who is right and who is wrong. Normally it is a picthed battle where the first army arriving to the battlefield will choose the field and await the enemy. Every ablebody man and boy is exspected to fight for his clan, so often these conflicts can seriously damage the clans as they might loose many of their finest young men. Regardless of this clan wars are not on common. Most clans have atleast one clan war per 10 years. When the battle is over the winner gets to claim what the dispute was over, but no prisoners are taken, the defeated men are allowed to return home. The clans have their own banners, their own pattern and color  of their clothing, often no introduction is need amost the clans because all they need to know about eachother is said by the color and style.
Clans often hate their neighbours because someone has always killed someone elses father or brother. If 2 men from different clans have a disagreement maybe over an insult, then tradition calls out for a duel, not to the death but until one surrenders or until both are wounded enough to keep their honor. These duels can be both armed or unarmed, as a result of their way of life Gohns are expert warriors and make up the backbone of the Gohnhamm army and most of the soldiers in the heavy infantry are Gohns. Gohns are at best unfriendly to strangers if they are dwarves, they will not be rude and not allow strangers to rest in their inn and buy their beer and weapons but they will watch them closely, if the stranger is human they are even more distrustful and being elven can be dangerous as they think of elves as cowards and devious, to be kept out if possible, the only thing Gohn distrust more is wizards. It is rumored that wizards have been burnt at the stake in Gohnish villages before charged with indangerment of the village and heresy. Gohns accept  ghomes, although they dont like technology much more than they do magic then at least technology can help them with their mining and forging. One exception is made as regards to who the Gohns trust, half-orc merchants have started to travel more and more within the Gohnish clans, the simple answer is that the favorite meal of all Gohns is roasted giant boar, but the giant boar has been hunted to the brink of extinction in Gohnhamm and the King has outlawed all hunting of the giant wild boar, so that he won't loose his own hunting of the giant boar. Infact the only place the giant boar still lives is......in orc lands. So when the Gohns discovered that half-orc traders often had his animal in their caravans, then suddenly they were more than welcome. The amount of half-orc merchants has increased drasticly, although not all survive, if the Gohns decide that the merchant is a spy, then they still have no problem torturing a confession out of him and have the merchant, sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Many half-orcs have suffered this, but the trading continues, in some cases insolated clans sometimes pay the boars weight equal in weapons or iron.
   The lowlanders are called the Hammish, they are also clan based but not to the same extent as the Gohns. Hamms are very commercial and Industrious, not as hard working as the Gohns, they favor finer craftmanship and architechture. Living in the lowlands they are primarily smiths, jewlry makers, weapon smiths, farmers and service providers (Inns, hotels, government & shopkeepers). The Hamms have been more influenced by the outside world and are more openminded that Gohns, not that they arent very traditonal and conservative. Hamms also like to earn wealth, more than honor unlike the Gohns for whom honor is all that matters. Hamms also understand that a strangers money is as good as any, even if they are elven. Hamms also appreciate elven craftmanship, it is of course vastly inferrior to dwarven deisgns but has an interesting naive, almost childish look to it. They also live in clans and every village has an Earl, towns are often devided and owned by a few Earls whom also each have a place in the council. The Council here though is more a merchants guild than anything else, they mostly discuss how business is going and what can be done to improve it. Disputes between 2 Hammish clans also frequently occur but never ends up in a clan war, simply because it would be bad for bussniss to waste the male population in slaughter, some kind of pay off is arranged or for indecided cases a 2 man duel between the 2 best warriors of each clan will decide the outcome. The Hamms share the Gohns distrust for foriegners but not their hate, the Hamms use their clan warriors as city guards to keep an eye on all the strangers but allow anybody to enter their towns. Because there are no clan wars the Hamms have a stronger feeling of unity between them than the Gohns and most officers in the army and most of the court is Hammish because there are no blood fueds to constantly consider. Punishments for crimes in Hammish towns is different as well, there is no death penalty, in the end a dead, only costs money and can earn none, a slave labourer can earn money for the Earl, so most crimes that would result in death are transfered into 100 years of slavery, minor crimes cost maybe 1 month of slavery.
Half-orc merchants are not trusted in Hammish towns and are killed instantly, an odd contrast to how the hateful Gohns love giant boar more than they can hate half-orcs. A reason can be that Hamms have alot of farmers and alot of pork and so does not share the love for giant boar. The Hammish Clanmasters are very rich, as their merchants travel into the mountains and buy Gohn iron, furs and timber. The raw materials are made into goods in their towns and sold on to traders or traded in far away countries, a very lukrative deal for the Hammish Clanmasters. However they are not strong in negoitiating with the Gohns as the Hamms know that if they fail to reach an agreement then the Gohns will have no problem in declaring a clanwar and invade. Further more failure to appear on the battlefield gives the other clan rights to plunder all of the opposing clans land and villages. Not that duels between Hammish men are uncommon, not at all, many disagreements are settled by duels in Hammish town aswell, they just aviod mass bloodshed. Something the Hamms will avoid at any cost because they would never be able to fight a seasoned highland army and the Kings army is forbidden to interveen unless Gohnhamm is at war with another kingdom. If a state of war exists, then clanwars are illegal and any clan declaring clanwar has all memebers outlawed, until retribution is payed to the King. 

[Flak]

Khar

The Great Kingdom

The kingdom of Khar use to be the largest kingdom in the west. after Khar achived its independence from Celli 700 years ago it became the largest kingdom in the west. At the time it consisted of present day Khar, Gazia, Hacrisia and Gohnhamm. A series of revolts broke out in Khar in the following centuries. First Gohnhamm broke free after a long and bloody war lasting 25 years. Shortly after that war had ended, Gazia declared its independence and while Khar was fighting in Gazia, the wood elves, Gnomes and Kendar of Hacrisia also revolted for their small forrest and marchland kingdom to be free. It wasn't until the Great Invasion 100 years ago that these kingdoms united against the orcs and from that, started friendships and put history behind them. The Imperial University of Celli, department of World studies,  estimates that the population is around 7 million, 60% human, 15% dwarves, 15% elves, 5% gnomes and 5% other. Khar is ruled by the ancient house of Ethelred, the Ethelreds ruled Khar before the Cellian Empire conquered Khar. In fact the Ethelreds were at the time no more than a devided family of fiefdoms. They retained their local power through out the Cellian times and they orchestrated the revolt. The Cellian Legions did not give in easily, 25 years of war weakend the Ethelreds and where close to surrender when Celli erupted into civil war, the Emperor died and 2 sides in the republican senate could not elect a new Emperor and sent their armies against each other. The Ethelreds were then able to exploit the situation and made a last desperate attempt to push the Cellian Legions out and the demoralised Legioneers retreated. Khar had its freedom and the Ethelreds had a huge Kingdom of their own. The new Kingdom however had many problems, it had been devided into provinces and most of the provinces had developed a nationlistic feeling of being their own kingdom. The dwarves lead by King Cinioch (The Just) of the Gohns revolted just 2 years after and Khar was involved in a new devastating war, lasting 25 years the dwarves won their freedom, but not until they had killed of most humans north of Browgold. Gazia then saw its chance to break and won their freedom after just 5 years. The wood elves had been waging guerilla war against both Celli and Khar, when the Gazia revolt broke out the wood elves sucessfully chased the Kharian army out of Hacrisia and claimed their own wood elf realm. Kram also invaded to reunite the Kramish people living in the northeastern part of Khar and defeated the Kharian army. Khar lost half its population with in the first 60 years and a third of its territory. For another 500 years minor wars broke out constantly but when an orc invasion pillaged much of the border lands of Gohnhamm, Khar and even Gazia. King Edgar IX the Mightly united Khar, Gohnhamm and Gazia to repel the orcs and forge an alliance in case the orcs would ever come back. Edgar formed an army of a 100.000 with men from Khar, Gazia, Gohnhamm, Kram, Celli and even Hacrisia. The Great Invasion got as far as the largest orcish town and defeated a huge orcish army but was unable to siege the town as the orcs where too many remaining. The Invasion was declared a success and Edgars name lives for ever as the mightiest king in Khars history.
Khar is a relatively peaceful kingdom, the commoners put alot of faith in god and honor. Kharian cities have the best city guards seen in the west and one of the best justice systems, a man has a right to a meeting with a judge and can even get a law student to advise his case if he is poor. Rather than make people suffer like in Gohnhamm with slave labour, a good clean death by the axe with a cheering cowd is considered more mercyfull.
Khar is a feudal monachy, the local lords or barons are in charge of each their feif or shire, every man in his shire is the lords vassal or servant. They all swear loyalty to the lord and in return the lord protects them and makes sure that they see justice in matters of law. Every man knows his place and most likely will have this place for generations. While the lords own all the land and the peasants serve them on their land, the peasants are also entitled to a small plot of land to grow his own crops and to gather firewood from the local forests. Some of the larger shires called baronies can include smaller fiefs run by lords but owned by a baron and thus the lords can be servants themselves. The bishops also own land, they too act as lords of their fief, though they commonly use hired lords to take care of the fief. Knights also hold a special status in Khar, they swear fealty to their local lord but they also swear an oath to the king which if broken means their death. In past the knights only swore fealty to his lord but this leads to trouble, as the knights didn't always act in the best interest of Khar but that of their individual lords. The oath is combined with an oath to god to serve his God, His King and his people. In that order, this has meant that the knights now serve the king before their lords. Most knights own smaller fiefs within their lords shire and they have their own vassals as well, this is the new way for the lords to ensure that the knights stay loyal to them, including the king. Inside the cities of Khar the system is slightly different, although owned by a lord the city runs more independantly and the king chooses the mayors of all the cities. (City is a town big enough to have a citywall and the King's guards present) Inside the cities the mayors use guilds to control the citydwellers. To have a store, an inn or run a workshop you need to be a memeber of the appropriate guild, the guilds secure the memebers with security and justice in exchange for taxes. In the cities, are also the biggest threat to the Kharian socielty, the growing wealth of the large merchants' guilds and the merchants themselves, often the guilds have more wealth than the lords, that own the city but they have very little real power. This is a growing problem for the king and his lords. The lords are not as wealthy as they use to be, where as the merchants seem to grow more and more wealthy. At some point its clear that they will have to be let into the ranks of the nobility somehow.
The defence of Khar, is firstly suposed to be the border forts, to whom all lords pay a tax. If they fail then the local lords are expected to call up their vassals to serve as soldiers, the king will send his knights to support the militia army, the lords serve has generals and officers, the local lords are not in charge of the knights however, they have their own officer in charge. If the local lord is not capable of taking charge of the battle the knight officer is supose to take charge. Because most of the danger of attacks are close to the orc border and the most frequent fighting is in this region, then the in-land lords have to pay a protection tithe, everytime the border lords have to call up their army. The tithe doesnt have to be money but can be grain, livestock or other.
The lords shires are ancestral shires, they are inherited by the eldest son, because of this most knights are the younger sons of lords who would never earn a titile for themselves. In some cases the shires are divided up and every son gets a part although this is more rare. The Kings title is also inherited, it is possible to change the king under the law if the king is unfit or incapable, it can only be done by one of the king's brothers or cousins. This normally means civilwar as the king is unlikely to step down of his own accord. It is not totally unheard of, for brothers to contest for the father title and it has been seen before that brothers will kill or banish each other.

[Flak]

World Map

Quick Guide to the Nations
The Green Horde Orc Empire, Despotism
Khar Human Kingdom, Feudalism
Gohnhamm Dwarf Kingdom, Clan based
Gazia Human Empire, Oligarchy
Kram Human Kingdom, Monarchy
Hacrisia Wood Elf Kingdom, Tribal based
Celli Human/Elf Empire, Republic
Novtik Human Kingdom, Feudalism
Timpan Human Kingdom, Elective Monarchy(nomadic)
Matier Human/Elf Kingdom, Oligarchy
Cenau High Elf Kingdom, Monarchy
Astrom Dark Elf Sultanate, City-State Monarchy
Sactana Dark Elf/Human Kingdom, Oligarchy
Hokuy Human/Desert Elf Fiefdom, Unknown
The Chaos Realm Necromancer Kingdom

Not In Map
North of Gohnhamm and Novtik
The Dark Mountain's Dark Dwarf Kingdom, Despotism

[alavet]

wow very nice unit description sir. one question is about - havey ou changed sprites for them or not? like biguns should have lancers and so on.. did you really do that?

anyway very nice stroy and it would be great to play it after such detaield description!

[Flak]

no thats one thing i havent done "yet" i may add it later on

but for the purpose of easy gameplay and stability some units make up for "missing units"

night goblins with crossbow banner are Gnome crossbowmen

Big'uns with big'uns banner are Orc Lancers

Treemen with dread king banner are War Golems

Dwarf warriors with ogre banner are Dark Dwarf warriors

Brigands with brigand banner are Dark Elves