Echoes of War

"War, wine and women! What more can a man need?"

-King Alarxis of Stygia to Karen the Exulted, the day before the Great Plague of Mastizetai

"Father, I think I heard something outside."
-The last known words of Prince Tael Hilman, before his disappearance

 

"When I stare into the stars, all I can see are the cities that have burned down. 

 And it is Marvelous."

-Yulisteg Heltir, Warlock

"The worlds greatest weapon? Ha! I scoff at your accusation. Faith and faith alone triumph in battle!"

-Prince Gail Sumsed at the Battle of  Gublin Valley

"Tis a miracules life this is. If only I had some more o' that rum there."

-Captain  Ulsted Imerman, before drinking himself to death

 

"I see that in your faith, you forgot about your men's."

-Field Marshal Granger LeeMen to Prince Gail Sunsed at the Battle of Gublin Valley

"Dear Father and Mother,

Today, I saw a man staked naked to the ground, with his organs being ripped out by some crazed Zealot for one of those "gods" people seem to care so much about. I managed to kill the Zealot, but not before he managed to bring that man back to life. It was very difficult to kill that man, despite him pleading with me for his own end. Eventually, I did kill the man, but I felt sick to my stomach. I don't know if it is some sort of magik that that man did but, by the time you read this letter, I will have died.

Your son,

Jem"

-a letter found on the body of Jem Litzer after committing suicide

Echoes of War

"Just as you thought us to be nothing more than savage beasts, we believe you to be nothing more than living waste. Allow what has transpired here to be proof of this."
-Words carved into the corpses of all the citizens of the Dominion colony of Gulestein

"Beware I tell you. In this land, all you will find are those...things. They look like men, but they're not. They are made of bones, but...they have no flesh. They only seem to exist for killing those who think themselves strong enough to defeat them. Do not go to their lands. All you will find is death."
-Lindel Maet, advising Dominion troops against moving into Scarecrow territory

"Many ages ago, there was a kingdom which stretched across the world, inhabited by creatures known as One. Their realm encompassed all the creatures of the world, and not a single valley or island was out of their grasp. The One had cities which were wider than the widest ocean, and were taller than the tallest mountain. They managed to bind their kingdom together through the use of magics and sciences. All of the elements of the world bent to their will, as they could force entire continents to rise and fall as they saw fit.

However, their power made them arrogant as they never prayed; and this was lead to their own destruction.

From the skies came the beast known only as the Ruler; the servant of some long forgotten god of vengeance. He punished the One in many long battles, where entire cities were gouged out of the ground or burned up in his fearsome breath, leaving behind only scorched deserts and giant claw marks. Eventually, the One and the Ruler fought a single last battle in the in which both sides fought to the death. The only mark of this battle would be the Cursed Sea, the outer-borders of which are marked by the Grand Line. However, the Ruler was only injured in the fighting, and is know biding his time to destroy the world."
-The Elven legend of the One and the Ruler

"If Iz didun no betta', witc is ta say dat I dont, but dat dere sonds alot lik un o' dem shado panzies"
-Turbit Feyla', upon hearing of the "Night Ones"

Legends of War: The Battle of Raterillan Flats

In the opening days of 1784 a.d.c., the Ratkins of Ratilvaria found themselves the unexpected hosts to a large army of Garmarians. The army in question was known as the Nineteenth Army, and its leader, Field Marshal Granger LeeMen, had been tasked by The Parliament with destroying the Ratkins. Shocked by this revelation, the Rat-Chief Liret Raterillan clawed together all the Ratkins that he could find and marched out to defeat this threat. Between then, there was about four months of maneuvering and skirmishing between both of the armies, before the Ratkins were finally forced to give battle near on the Raterillan flats. The first day of battle resulted in large numbers of Ratkin casualties as they assaulted Garmarian field works, which forced the Ratkins to erect their own.

For five days after the first encounter, both sides fought a series of fierce skirmishes while waiting for the other side to launch an attack. Concerned by the lack of progress, Liret Raterillan personally consulted with his lower rat-chiefs and rat-priests and made plans for a breakthrough of the Garmarian lines. In the Garmarian camp, Field Marshal Granger LeeMen was also planning an attack of the Ratkin lines. Somehow, both sides decided on the same time to launch their attack as well as attacking at the same place. As the final battle plans were drawn up, Rattail Bend was marked as the perfect place to attack.

The 12th day of Tailu opened up to be an exceptionally cold and wet day, as both sides attempted to use the storms to cover their movement. Exactly an hour before the sun was set to rise, the Garmarians opened up the battle with a fierce artillery barrage followed by a charge from ten thousand soldiers. Stunned, the Ratkins reeled under the surprise attack, before the sheer number of Ratkins in the area allowed them to recover. For the rest of the day, both sides fought in the pelting rain as no less than a dozen attacks and counter attacks were launched by both sides and the dead were trampled underfoot. When the fighting was done, all either of the sides had to show for it was a thick carpet of bodies slowly sinking into the mud.

While the Ratkins managed to absorb the losses that they accumulated during the battle, the Garmarians had lost almost a quarter of all their troops. While the battle continued for eight more days, it was obvious to the Garmarians that they risked loosing their whole army if they remained. Under the cover of a fierce thunderstorm, the Garmarians quietly struck camp and began to leave Raterillan Flats. However, just when the army thought it had escaped the Ratkins, an army of Storm-Rats ambushed the Garmarians and scattered the army. The Storm-Rats managed to capture LeeMen, and brought him to The Court of Siçovul taun, where his fate has been relegated to myths.

Legends of War: Blood on the Guels

Welet Morrik was thoroughly impressed and angered. Since the beginning, the maneuvers against the Gnomes Dedlid had proven to be horribly disastrous, as the Gnomes seemed to have had Scouts placed just ahead of the Dwarven unit. This lead to many of the bridges and roads they planned on using being either collapsed, on fire, flooded, or a combination of the three, which kept them trapped on this half on the island. Worse still, he had to send out his Ram Riders on constant sororities just to keep the Scouts from raiding the actual army. During one of these sororities, they had come back with reporting that, despite the previous efficiency of the Gnomes, the stone bridge over the river Guels was still intact. Immediately, Morrik lead his army to cross the bridge.

And apparently the Gnomes had the same idea.

Morrik hid behind the makeshift trench as another round of crossbow bolts rained on his position. Range made the Dragoons reply less than advantageous, and also had the added effect of forcing the Gnome's heads down. The battle had bogged down into a stalemate as both sides waited for the other to falter before sending their troops across the 200 yard gap. Both sides had also tried to set up warmachines, but neither sides machines were capable of finding their target before being knocked out. Once a Flying Nest buzzed the Dwarf's position, but it was quickly taken out by the Dragoons and crashed into the Gnomes position. Unfortunately, the same had happened to his Aero-Clad, save the Dwarf position.

"Kukcers!" Morrik screamed as the Aero-Clad crashed into the ground.

The cheer of victory from the Gnomes was cut short as a Bombard Quill landed just shy of their position.

"Take that ya Feol Kukcers!" Morrik yelled.

"Goblen Decs!" One of the gnome replied.

"Elph Ytser!"

"Tol Hues!"

"What did you say?" Morrik rose.

He was quickly knocked onto his back as a steel ball took him full in the chest. While on the ground, Morrik heard the distinct sound of a steam engine being pushed to its limits, and realized what had happened: The Steam Cannon from the Flying Nest still worked. Cautiously,  Morrik rose and peaked his head over the trench, which confirmed his earlier suspicion and created a whole new reality.

The Harvesters were here.

"Take out those Kuckers!" Morrik bellowed.

"Ay Lord!" An Engineer responded.

Moments later, the unmistakable fire of a long rifle was followed by the equally unmistakable sound of a Gnome in horrendous pain.

"He's not dead," The Engineer smiled. "But 'is family line is."

Another burst from the Steam Cannon forced the Engineer's head down, but another sound forced it up. In fact, the entire Dwarf army picked up their head after the unmistakable sound of Gnomeish War Pipes echoes across the battlefield. The Gnomeish army was doing the same, as at least two hundred Gnomes rose from their trenches and took position behind the Harvesters. The entire scene was very threatening, as a forest of spears was proceeded by two dozen towering monstrosities. A change in tune elicited the Harvesters to step forward, and in no time they were barreling across the open area.

"Wait for it!" Morrik yelled, as the Gnomes rushed forward.

When the Gnomes were about halfway across the bridge, Morrik screamed, "Now kill the Kuckers!"

Immediately the Dragoons, who were weary of taking pot shots, ravaged the Gnomish line with their iron quills. The Engineer teams were also having a field day, as their half crazed inventions tore jagged scars into the formation. Even the Harvesters, feared for their strong armor, were shredded under the intense fire. As suddenly as the attack began, it was dispersed, with the Gnomes fleeing back into their lines as the War Pipes bellowed out orders to stay. Among the chaos was a distinct, cold sound piercing through, which caused Morrik to smile.

Mere seconds later, the Ram Riders slammed into the Gnome's flank and began slaughtering their rangers. When added to the chaos brought by the failed crossing, it proved too much for the Gnomes, and they began to break. Welet Morrik howled in laughter at the Gnome's total collapse. Not wanting to miss out, he gave a sharp whistle and bellowed:

"Let's teach these Kukers about Dwarfs!"

A rousing cheer among the Dwarfs was quickly followed by a full blown charge. With little resistance, Morrik found himself at the Gnome's position, and he quickly launched himself into the fray.

Legends of War: Goblin Corpse Fire, Prayer to Sesom

Every creature that has ever encountered a Goblin knows them to be repulsive. Goblins do not care for such things as personal hygiene or medicine, and many Goblins will die from infected wounds or diseases that spread through their camp. Yet, the numbers of Goblins is such that they could lose a thousand of their own to diseases every day, and still not feel the effects of the large scale deaths. In fact, the deaths of the Goblins may actually be a boon, as it frees up more food and room for the other Goblins. However, the weapons and arms of the dead Goblins will go onto a greater purpose: the Corpse Fire.

Every night, at every camp without fail, the Goblins will gather together all the bones of the day's meals and the bodies of the enemy dead, stripped  of anything of value, and place them into a giant pile. Then the Goblins will cover them in some sort of flammable material, be it Tar or Rum, and light them all on fire. The Goblins will gather around the fire and dance around it while singing, yelling, drinking and playing instruments, until the fire is at least twice as tall as the tallest Goblin. At this point, the group will reach a fever pitch and will bring together all the dead warriors, with their weapons and armor nailed and tied to their bodies, and toss them into the fire. It is unknown why the Goblins, traditional scavengers of the highest value, would waste perfectly good armaments in such a way, but it would seem to be that Goblins will only take the possessions of any non Goblin, and, while never explained, there have been tied up live Goblins thrown into the fire, which suggests the treatment of Goblin thieves.

When the last of the bodies enters the fire, the entire congregation turns silent. If the Group is lucky, then their Corpse Fire is the largest in the world, and the Smoke will take an a form resembling a face. When this happens, the assembled Goblins will erupt into a rousing cheer as the highest ranking Goblin, be it a Supa' Geneus or Boss, approaches Sesom. The Goblin will be able to ask Sesom one question of any nature, be it about the weather or the distance to the nearest enemy army. Comforted with this knowledge, the Goblins will march forward into the world, ready to face any threat that comes their way, while the Goblins who failed to summon Sesom will simply go for a larger fire that night; creating a never ending cycle of questions and answers connected by fire.

Art of War: Gno and Me

A gnomish map of Me, the leaf of the world, and Gno, the Tree of life.

General Proclamations: Border War FAQ

As of the

nineteenth day of Guli

In the Dominion-Garmarian year of

Eighteen and seventy-three

A

Border War

Has been declared in the

Blasted Desert

Between the most honorable forces of the

Human settlers

And the vile despotism imposed by

Trolls, Elves, Gnomes, Ratkins, Dwarves, and Goblins

On the

Twenty-fifth day of Guli

In the Dominion-Garmarian year of

Eighteen and seventy-three

the

Garmarian Daily Codex

has received

News, letters, advice

from men who are in

The Blasted Desert

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