The Great War
Jun 25, 2013 16:41:18 GMT -7
Post by wanderingmagus on Jun 25, 2013 16:41:18 GMT -7
The Tale of the Great War
It was in the third century, a hundred years after the founding of Fairfield by the halflings, when the Kingdom of Thalassana was in its infancy. King Leonard the First was a leader of great renown at the time, brave and strong but inexperienced in the ways of true war. Hordes of goblins came from the wastelands of the East, led by a particularly savage and gigantic creature who called himself Zarthag the Scarred. Under his command, the goblins united into a fierce and terrifying army, burning as they came. The dwarves of Orod Khazad were forced to shut the doors of their city, and Fairfields bristled with arrows. Thalassana, however, was laid siege as its farmlands were burned and its villages ransacked. For years the people held out valiantly within the walls of the city, but soon hunger and thirst set in, and the goblins poisoned the wells, spreading sickness and death. Seeing the desperation of the inhabitants, Zarthag rode up to the gates just beyond bowshot, offering truce and parley with the King. Seeing the cost of war and fearing for the end of the kingdom, Leonard the First thought for many days, councelling with his advisors and sons on how to deal with the situation. In the end, he decided to trust the word of the goblin, and rode out with a small guard of noble knights, trusting in peace, to compromise with the enemy. But treachery was in the black heart of Zarthag, and as the old king rode out with his loyal knights under the White Flag of Truce, he was ambushed by goblins. Mighty as he was, his small group could not hold back the waves of enemies, and at the last, surrounded by the fallen, our King fell to the blade of the Scarred Goblin. Leonard the Second, then only a lad of 20, the Crown Prince, could only look on as his father's body was defiled and consumed by the creatures, his head removed and placed high up on a platform in mockery to the West. Fierce with anger, the newly-crowned king swore vengeance upon the goblins for this crime, calling upon all the peoples of the West to aid him. Outraged by the goblins' treachery, in this time of need wild-men from the Badlands and herders from the southwest came to our aid, and the wizards of the High Council intervened in the daily lives of common men for the first time in three hundred years. With wondrous magic, they called down fire and lightning and the very powers of nature to drive back the hordes. They also gifted young King Leonard the Second with a great store of enchanted armor which lent strength and speed to the wearer, and with these new weapons the Knights of Thalassana fought valiantly and saved the kingdom from utter ruin. Riding forth from the gates of the city, they crushed the armies of the enemy with sword and javelin, and broke the siege of Orod Khazad and the harrying of Fairfields. United against a common enemy, the free peoples of the West drove back the goblins back into the wastelands of the East, and from thence they have not come again in the last two centuries.
The Accounting of Zarthag
Zarthag was no fool, goblin though he was. He saw the united strength of the West, and knew that he would gain no victory that day. Defeated, the traitor withdrew from the field of battle, seeking to return to the wasteland to rally once more and crush Thalassana on his own time. Yet fate was against him, and as he turned his great back upon the field, the young Leonard let loose a single arrow from his father's bow, and in that moment, Zarthag the Scarred, enemy of the West, was destroyed. Like ants scattering when the brooding thing within their hive is crushed, the ranks of goblins fled, some into holes, others into caves, never again to return. Yet some fled into the wilds and wastes of the East, and with them went Murgaz, son of Zarthag. Scores of years would pass like the falling of leaves as Thalassana prospered, and the fire of rage that burned within Murgaz festered like a cancer. Slowly, goblin by goblin, his father's army grew once more, united by a hatred for all those who lived in the Free Lands of the West, never forgetting their loss that day upon the fields of Thalassana.
It was in the third century, a hundred years after the founding of Fairfield by the halflings, when the Kingdom of Thalassana was in its infancy. King Leonard the First was a leader of great renown at the time, brave and strong but inexperienced in the ways of true war. Hordes of goblins came from the wastelands of the East, led by a particularly savage and gigantic creature who called himself Zarthag the Scarred. Under his command, the goblins united into a fierce and terrifying army, burning as they came. The dwarves of Orod Khazad were forced to shut the doors of their city, and Fairfields bristled with arrows. Thalassana, however, was laid siege as its farmlands were burned and its villages ransacked. For years the people held out valiantly within the walls of the city, but soon hunger and thirst set in, and the goblins poisoned the wells, spreading sickness and death. Seeing the desperation of the inhabitants, Zarthag rode up to the gates just beyond bowshot, offering truce and parley with the King. Seeing the cost of war and fearing for the end of the kingdom, Leonard the First thought for many days, councelling with his advisors and sons on how to deal with the situation. In the end, he decided to trust the word of the goblin, and rode out with a small guard of noble knights, trusting in peace, to compromise with the enemy. But treachery was in the black heart of Zarthag, and as the old king rode out with his loyal knights under the White Flag of Truce, he was ambushed by goblins. Mighty as he was, his small group could not hold back the waves of enemies, and at the last, surrounded by the fallen, our King fell to the blade of the Scarred Goblin. Leonard the Second, then only a lad of 20, the Crown Prince, could only look on as his father's body was defiled and consumed by the creatures, his head removed and placed high up on a platform in mockery to the West. Fierce with anger, the newly-crowned king swore vengeance upon the goblins for this crime, calling upon all the peoples of the West to aid him. Outraged by the goblins' treachery, in this time of need wild-men from the Badlands and herders from the southwest came to our aid, and the wizards of the High Council intervened in the daily lives of common men for the first time in three hundred years. With wondrous magic, they called down fire and lightning and the very powers of nature to drive back the hordes. They also gifted young King Leonard the Second with a great store of enchanted armor which lent strength and speed to the wearer, and with these new weapons the Knights of Thalassana fought valiantly and saved the kingdom from utter ruin. Riding forth from the gates of the city, they crushed the armies of the enemy with sword and javelin, and broke the siege of Orod Khazad and the harrying of Fairfields. United against a common enemy, the free peoples of the West drove back the goblins back into the wastelands of the East, and from thence they have not come again in the last two centuries.
The Accounting of Zarthag
Zarthag was no fool, goblin though he was. He saw the united strength of the West, and knew that he would gain no victory that day. Defeated, the traitor withdrew from the field of battle, seeking to return to the wasteland to rally once more and crush Thalassana on his own time. Yet fate was against him, and as he turned his great back upon the field, the young Leonard let loose a single arrow from his father's bow, and in that moment, Zarthag the Scarred, enemy of the West, was destroyed. Like ants scattering when the brooding thing within their hive is crushed, the ranks of goblins fled, some into holes, others into caves, never again to return. Yet some fled into the wilds and wastes of the East, and with them went Murgaz, son of Zarthag. Scores of years would pass like the falling of leaves as Thalassana prospered, and the fire of rage that burned within Murgaz festered like a cancer. Slowly, goblin by goblin, his father's army grew once more, united by a hatred for all those who lived in the Free Lands of the West, never forgetting their loss that day upon the fields of Thalassana.