Invasion from the Sea

The First Clue

Baliol's Dream - First Clue - 920 TA

The storms over Teufeldorf were unending. During the latest deluge, a young human fortune teller, nicknamed the Golden Herald, was found dead at midnight on the Old Docks by the town guard. His manner of death was most strange - drowned headfirst in a rainbarrel. Floating next to his submerged head in the rainbarrel was a bottle with a single sheet of rolled parchment inside. The guard swore that when he pulled the man's head out of the water, the Golden Herald spoke a single sentence: "The King must know." Returning to the scene with his captain, the body and barrel were missing. All attempts by the Captain to open the bottle failed. Daunted, the bottle was brought to Ernie. Dissolving in Ernie's hand, only the strange missive remained.

Invasion from the Sea

Few had seen it coming. The Invasion of the Old Kingdom was in its final campaign season. After the upcoming battles, the Reaches would undoubtedly enjoy a period of prosperity and plenty.

It was in March 920 TA, with the fleets already departed for the fight with the Overlord. The first reports seemed harmless: masses of green tendrils washing ashore. These plants were curious, miles in size and aptly nicknamed "mounds". Where they came from was unknown. However, it was quickly determined that they were sentient and hostile - following some logic and reason that still eludes understanding.

Six large "infestations" came ashore: two in the Eastern Reaches, two in the Southern Reaches, and two in the Western Reaches - one of those on the shores just south of Teufeldorf. Reserve troops were called up to supplement those heading to the Old Kingdom. Soldiers were sent to investigate. In March, a quick victory in Freeport gave the people of the Reaches hope.

Then, in April, the mounds and vines began to move. Within the month, Harrowport, the Cave of Mirrors, Azgarde, and Portsmith were all overrun. The vines, unhampered by city and castle walls, suffocated the normal stone defenses - driving citizens into the streets and countryside. All that was left behind was rubble and death. Four key defensive points in one month was only the beginning.

While the Eastern Reaches knights were able to defend Dragonsford, eventually cutting through and destroying the creatures, Whitehall Castle (formerly the Crystal Keep) was lost in May with Freeport falling in June. With the help of the Dwarves, Teufeldorf was saved and a new infestation was eradicated near Rivershaw Castle.

July saw the Eastern and Western Reaches cleared, although two large infestations were snaking their way to the north from Harrowport and Freeport moving inland at an accelerating speed. It was in July that a new threat appeared, a sea of kelp swallowing the Highgate Freeland ships sent to aid the Reaches. It seemed the threats were not just on land.

As summer wore on, the plants seemed to lose speed. However, the Crossgate Castle, Lechlade Keep and Nevermind were all overrun. The Reaches had never lost nine cities in a single campaign year.

As the October weather turned cold, the vines died. Destruction of life and structures was devastating. As the victorious troops returned from the Old Kingdom, there was little time to celebrate. Cleanup was underway. The Reaches was in shambles, and the spring was not so many months away. 921 TA might prove to be a most difficult year.

The Free Forces

The wizard errant looks out the window from the newly-constructed spire in the city center of Nevermind. The smoke of a thousand fires drifts east, a strong salty tang mixes with the smoke making an acrid odor. The task of burning the dried vines of the strange invader is almost complete. Below, in the city, the giants help teams of gnomish craftsmen rebuild walls and buildings, clear rubble from the street, and prepare for what might lie ahead.

Behind him, a young man clears his throat, drawing the gnome's attention back to the table where several men and hobbits are gathered. Hylax is aware of an exodus of humans and large folk coming up the Greater Farthing Road from Sandal heading towards Teufeldorf in search of refuge from the sea's menace. But, these guests are not figures that he expected to request an audience.

Flynn Southwark, his eye patch cutting across his tanned, weatherworn face appears to be the spokesman of the group. He just spoke passionately about the wizened gnome becoming the patron for the southern Reaches - namely the city of Harrowport and the southern castles that had always fallen on the border with Sandal. The master of the docks at Freeport piped in his agreement along with leader of the hobbits of Welkwood, Emma Thornburrow, who reported a similar experience to that of the gnomes of the Eidolon Moors. While still loyal to the Crown and the Western Reaches, a consensus seems to have formed that the north will always prioritize themsleves with more troops and protection.

Hylax smiled. He knows that patronage would mean gold. Gold to muster troops and fight, gold to rebuild cities and castles, and gold to fight the strange plants. The arrangement was not proposed as a long-term one, just leadership and aid until the tide of war shifts and the plants are defeated. It would be helpful to have the buffer around Nevermind, and the admiration from the peoples of the Southern Reaches might come in handy some day.

Again, Hylax smiled. No better cause for the wizard errant than to take on the ragtag group, leveraging the fleeing southerners to bolster the army of the Southern Reaches. And what an army it will be: gnomes, hobbits, mountain giants and pirates. The small, the large, and the swarthy. Oh, and an entire village of the dead, if Alfric's Dagger is used.

The Orc Nation

Meanwhile, in the dwarven halls of Dwarrowdelf, King U-Gene sits across the table from the nine orcish warbosses and warlords of the Orc Nation. He muses that it has been thirty years almost to the month since he sat at this table, the severed head of Gruumsh on a silver plate at its center. Back then, the First War of the Reaches was ending, and the broken orcs pleaded fealty to the Crown. The intervening decades had been quiet, for the most part. But now the invasion of the strange sea monsters has reached even the remote backwaters of the Orc Nation.

Ronak Axethrower, a black orc of immense size, and the senior most of the warbosses stands. The sigil of the Evil Eye warband glistens on his tunic as if still wet with blood. "King U-Gene," he intones in a deep sonorous voice. "We desire to reforge the bond of our treaty with the southern men and dwarves. We have both honored its words and intent for the last thirty years. But, our lands were overrun this past season, and we must, once again, take up arms to fight for our homeland. We wish only your blessings upon us and knowledge that our armies are only in defense of our homeland in a single-purpose mission against the invaders of the Orc Nation. We accept any commander who you would approve to guide us in fighting this strange foe which has never before been seen in our lands."

Sitting, the orc stares at U-Gene awaiting an answer. There is no fear in his black eyes, only the desperation of a war that could ravage his folk.

U-Gene sits in stony silence, the crackling of the fire is the only sound in the cavernous hall. With attacks in the north at Teufeldorf, Rivershaw Castle and Dragonsford, a need for northern defenses seems logical. Without the possibility of Orcish Treachery, the additional troops would be helpful, even if they would need some gold to field all their troops. A decision rests on U-Gene's shoulders with silent eyes patiently watching.

Upon carefully considering the words of the Orc lords, U-Gene accepts their renewed fealty. While the impact to the Dwarven coffers may be great, it is easily offset by the opportunity for peace (and of course profit) with all races. U-Gene raises a glass: a toast to 30 more years of the bond between Orcs and Dwarves! A Dwarven commander for your armies will soon be appointed.