Who are we at war with?
Ga’more, the god of dominion and slavery who seized control of the Isle of Melinda in the year 2257 with his army of Brood.
What are the Brood?
Giant insects. Think Starship Troopers. They obey a hivemind Queen and use psionic powers against their enemies, though they are also susceptible to the same psionics. They burrow under your feet and pop up out of the ground to surprise attack. Killing a Brood will often result in an explosion of acid, so stay far back if you can.
Who is the Empire of Berphaunt?
The Empire of Berphaunt is a large territory encompassing the east and southeast of the continent of Maud’madir. Ruled by the monarchy of Emperor Louis Berphaunt and his wife Empress Annadonna Cordelle. The Emperor’s two sons who would have been heir to his throne are now dead, his last remaining children are the Princesses Louisa, Amelia, and Bernadette, and an infant son, Prince Damarian, by his current wife Annadonna.
The Empire is allied with the kingdoms of Suvant (deminis’thalan ruled by House Shalanost), Gerdain (dwarves), Antioch (drael’thalan), and the eastern clans of Mjoll supporting Orin the Betrayer.
Who are the Whiteraven Alliance?
All those who refused to bend the knee to Emperor Louis Berphaunt. Including the kingdom of Tiefanue, the Republic of Duvain, the deminis’thalan house of Sumendar who were ousted from power in Suvant, Felnir (savar’aving), Aslak (wolven), Teris (hoblings), Mizra Atarah, Clan Hunhil and their Einish allies, the city of Whiteraven, and the Havenhallow Isles.
Who are the Sons of Sprawn?
They are the allied orc and goblinoid clans across Arthos. These include the Ebon Khan, Clan Blackthorn, Clan Scorchmaw, The Red Shred, The Stormborn, and many others.
Tl;dr
These three main factions; Berphaunt, Whiteraven, and the Sons of Sprawn have been waging war against the god Ga’more and his Brood for the past 4 years. Their cooperation is delicate, and without the outside threat, these factions would certainly be at war with each other, as many are even in the midst of civil wars within their kingdoms. This volatile alliance of disparate factions is all that stands between Ga’more and his total conquest of all free peoples on Arthos.
Timeline of the War
2257 – A peace summit is held between the mortal kingdoms to discuss how to deal with Ga’more. Emperor Louis Berphaunt demands that all present bend the knee to the Empire, and Prince Leopold refuses. Leopold leads the creation of the Whiteraven Alliance, named for the city of Whiteraven in which the summit takes place.
2258 – The Celestial War. Ga’more reveals his enslavement of the purple dragon Essyllt and uses her to sever the divinity of the old Einish pantheon of gods, wiping them and a few others out. The birth of the new Savage pantheon is recorded.
The mortals of Maud’madir receive an ominous message through the Skein Gates leading many to believe that the Wood Fae who were left behind on Melinda are still alive. Both the Empire and Whiteraven Alliance declared war on Ga’more. When they arrive at Melinda, an attack by Brood forces the enemy armies to cooperate or risk total annihilation. The combined forces liberate Melinda and save Essyllt by cleansing her of the corruption by Ga’more and transferring her essence to an egg with the help of the Summer fae court. However, the Empire secretly allies with the Winter court and in an act of betrayal, slay the Lord of Summer and abscond with the egg. The egg is left in the care of the Winter fae court.
In the confusion, Princess Louisa Berphaunt arrives in the Whiteraven camp seeking aid. She claims her stepmother, Empress Annadonna is the shadow dragon Shiloth, and she needs help to retake the Empire for her brother Marcel.
2259 – Prince Leopold and Princess Louisa never make it to the Citadel for their protection. The Empire threatens the Alliance with war if they do not return the Princess. The Whiteraven Alliance considers the Brood a larger threat than Berphaunt, and ignores the Empire’s threats. A report about a moving island off the coast of Duvain reaches the mainland with mixed response.
Prince Leopold and Princess Louisa issue an official statement that they left Tiefanue together and disagree with the passive stance both the Empire and Alliance are taking against the Brood. They intend to muster forces for a direct assault on the moving island of Amaranthia, which is infested with Brood. They reach out to not only independent towns and cities outside the Empire and Alliance, but also the scattered tribes of greenskins and goblinoids to help broker a peace with the Sons of Sprawn.
The Sons of Sprawn declare an alliance with Prince Leopold. Shuc’noc of Clan Bar’Ghul disagrees with the decision.
Prince Leopold and Princess Louisa’s forces arrive in Melinda and with the help of the reborn Essyllt, enter a rift to the Far Realm in an attempt to reach Amaranthia. When they reach the final portal to their destination, they are stopped by the Greater Demons sent by the Demon Prince Nilestromus who demand a bargain. They demand 13 true names to allow passage, and Prince Leopold makes the ultimate sacrifice to give the single true name of royalty instead. The bargain is struck and a pregnant Louisa is left alone to lead the army.
In another summit, a disagreement between Kjulbjorn Lightstrike and Shuc’noc results in the death of Kjulbjorn at Shuc’noc’s hands. The angered Shuc’noc attacks the camps with undead to warn them against defying him.
Three minotaurs, later revealed to be under some kind of influence, deceive the gathered armies and manage to attack Princess Louisa, killing her unborn baby who would have united the Empire and Alliance. The camps are attacked by more undead under the orders of the Bar’Ghul, and Louisa becomes a Darkweaver of Raze, swearing vengeance upon all who had torn her family from her.
In a final battle, Ga’more makes himself known and arrives on a tide of Brood. The armies of Maud’madir are forced to retreat. Meanwhile, Princess Louisa, on a path of vengeance through Raze discovers a means to summon Leopold back from the Far Realm. However, when he returns battered and dazed from the portal she creates, she declares their relationship over, and has succumbed to the vengeance in her heart.
The remaining forces retreat back to the mainland by ship. The Empire, Alliance, and Sons of Sprawn leave a naval armada behind in an attempt to create a blockade to delay the Brood from making landfall on Duvain and the mainland.
Princess Louisa claims her stepmother is Shiloth, who is controlling her father and was the real culprit behind the murder of her child. She says the Empress’s First Champion, Imrik, is in fact her Dragonknight who murdered the brother who was supposed to protect Louisa on her escape from the Empire.
The Emperor responds with his belief that Leopold brainwashed his daughter and is manipulating her against the Empire and her father. The Church of Light takes the Empire’s side. Meanwhile prince Leopauld goes into Exile, rumors abound of what he could have done to drive himself to this course of action.
Prince Marcel Berphaunt goes missing. He’s reportedly found sacrificed by the Dark Church, which Imrik Adalite claims has accepted the worship of Ga’more. In response, the Dark Church and worship of Dark gods is banned in Berphaunt. Remaining leaders are marked traitors to the Empire and hunted down. Samaria The Ungraved, cleric of Malagant, accused of leading the sacrifice of Prince Marcel is at large.
Empress Annadonna announces she is with child.
On Highwinter Eve, the joint naval armada is nearly destroyed by Brood, but saved at the last moment by first a heroic suicidal charge by Captain Drysdale of the Duvainian fleet, and then the Firstborn Physignathus.
2260 – In June 2260, rumors from the front lines began to reach the interior heartland of Berphaunt. Princess Louisa has calls out to those who would support her as Empress and true heir to the throne of Berphaunt. More and more stories of Dark clerics accepting Ga’more as the head of the Dark Church pantheon spread throughout the Empire.
The Ebon Khan join with Louisa issue a call to all warriors to gather in the face of the brood threat.
Duvain loses ground to the Brood, their navy severely crippled, and many companies within the Alliance lose faith in the Church of Light’s leadership and wonder where their former leader Prince Leopold is. Suvantian rebels of House Sumendar gather on the southern coast just north of the Duvainian Channel.
J’jikda Shalanost declares an armistice with House Sumendar in the interest of focusing all attention on the Brood threat. He declares Day’ten the next field of planned battle with Ga’more, for if Duvain is lost, so is the war.
Ulya of House Sumendar releases a statement honoring the lives lost so far, but does not directly mention the armistice with Shalanost.
A second world summit is held. Representatives from the following are in attendance:
- House Shalanost
- House Sumendar
- The Sons of Sprawn
- The Citadel
- Blood Red Rose
- Tiefanese Church of Light
- Suvantian Church of L’lyandra
- Antiochian Church of Raze
- Representatives of The United Dark Church of Berphaunt
- Duvainian Church of Erasmus
- The Church of Vesimir
- Host of Rathenoc
- Host of Styphon
- Host of Physignathus
A 2-week armistice is agreed, and the seals of those present are appended to the agreement, except for that of the Citadel. At some point, several markings in Einish runes representing most of the Einish clans of Mjoll are affixed.
Heroes from across Arthos arrive on Day’ten by Skein and break through the line of Brood to give respite to the coalition soldiers already fighting. The Draconians and their allies begin preparing a ritual retrieved from Physignathus’ temple. The Blood Red Rose and the Church of Light partner with the heroes to train peasants to bolster numbers in skirmishes.
The Dark Church deals with insurgents from within; cultists of Ga’more who seek to penetrate the church and subvert its will. With the help of the Church of Raze, they attempt to expunge the corruption.
The armistice between the Suvantian houses comes to an end when J’jikda Shalanost accuses Ulya Sumendar of withholding her forces from the war in order to stage an attack on Suvant while the Shalanost forces are weakened after the fight with Brood. Ulya is arrested and imprisoned by the Blood Red Rose by her consent while a trial is held to decide her guilt or innocence. The trial finds Ulya not guilty but the damage is done and the peace between the houses is broken.
In a coordinated effort, the Sons of Sprawn led by Kjulbjorn Lightstorm and Mogrin Khan are successful with every mission they undertake. In an assault against an artillery brood, one small kobold emerges a hero. Having amassed many pounds of raw materials in the months leading up to the assault on Day’ten, the kobold positioned herself in the belly of the beast and set off a massive kaboom, destroying the terrible creature in a single move.
In a final tactical move, the Sons of Sprawn launch a strike on the heart of Ga’more’s power. In support, Baaagh himself sends his recently fallen champion, Orokgrim, imbued with the divine power of the Bloodbringer to join the fray in a nighttime assault on the Brood Anchor. With the Anchor destroyed, the Brood Queens no longer have the ability to join their hiveminds and coordinate with one another.
Finally, a ritual is performed while the last of Ga’more’s cultists desperately try to stop the Draconians and allied forces. The ritual is successfully defended and upon completion, expels all of Ga’more’s cultists and Brood from the territory of Physignathus, the aqua Firstborn. A massive repelling ward is created within Aqua dragon’s entire dominion, specifically against Ga’more’s Brood. This ward will remain unless somehow destroyed for as long as Physignathus lives. More copies of the ritual are circulated to the heroes present. With hope, they may be able to perform this same ritual within their own dragon’s territories, further stemming Ga’more’s efforts to overtake Arthos.
25 August, 2260 – Empress Annadonna is sequestered in safety to deliver a baby boy, Prince Damarian Berphaunt. A new heir to the Empire is born.
A plot to assassinate the Empress and her daughters, Princess Amelia and Princess Bernadette, is discovered and the Empress and royal children are taken away under the protection of the Emperor himself until each assassin is hunted down and killed.
2261 – Rebel forces led by Princess Louisa raid outlying towns west of the capital. The Berphauntian military and Iron Company of mercenaries conduct an operation to seek out the rebels and expel them from the Empire’s lands. The Empire declares that the Ebon Khan support Louisa’s rebellion, and that High Exarch Samaria (of the Dark Church, accused of the regicide of Prince Marcel) has been seen among their ranks.
According to the minutes of the most recent assembly of the Council of Elders of the Whiteraven Alliance, Prince Leopold remains missing or in hiding. No one seems to know where he is. The King of Tiefanue arrived with fanfare to put his name forward for Grand Councillor, opposed only by Archbishop Roderick Hale of the Church of Light. The Council warned against the machinations of the Dark Church and those who worship Ga’more. The Church of Light made a motion to send Church Guards to garrison cities and root out the worshippers of darkness. Although they do not seem to like it, the kingdoms of Tiefanue, Felnir, Sumendar, and Duvain reluctantly agree.Princess Lousia releases a statement to the people of Arthos. She claims that the Emperor has fully fallen to Shyloths manipulations. That the assassins the Empire claim to have been sent to kill her brothers and sisters were in fact sent to liberate them from the Capital. She goes on to say that it was not her forces that raided Berphauntian towns. That Mercenaries hired by the Empire itself that put the towns to the sword in an attempt to uproot her forces. She confirms that Samaria the Ungraved stands with her and that the Rebellion shall stand against both Ga’more and the Empire under Shyloths rule.Grundella the Tangled Chief of the Blackthorn calls upon the Sons of Sprawn to gather in the Southern Grey Elven forest. Though she leaves out the Bar’ghul and the Spawn of Sprawn. She tells them they will make plans for the war against Ga’more and speak to them of a prophecy.