Turning The Tide

The early days of 904 TA began with a great maelstrom from the Wolfshaunt - a magical storm designed to provide cover for the Wolfshaunt armies to create a foothold in the Eastern Reaches. However, the Hermit - a strange old man selling lightning rods - was apprehended by King Goodfellow and his cohorts. And the storms came to an end.

Back in Dwarrowdelf, General Dugald Axeworthy knew the storms foreshadowed a Wolfshaunt attack and a battle front in the Eastern Reaches.

To the south, an uneasy alliance between the Tomb Kingdom and the Wolfshaunt was forming. A summoning of great sandwurms - drawn to the souls of those taken by the Hermit - brought forth creatures capable of transporting armies across the vast bleakness of the Sands of Time. Only by the cleverness of Hylax was it discovered that the Wolfshaunt would use the wurms to focus a coordinated assault against the Forbidden Library deep in Sandal.

Dugald Axeworthy now knew the army's target. Even though four of the great sandwurms survived, his plan was formed to foil their rendezvous between the wolves and the skeletons.

As the campaign season began in March 904, the armies of Sandal marched north to siege Crossgate Castle in the Southern Reaches. The wolves of the Wolfhaunt moved east and south towards their predestined meeting - sacking Tattershall and Brandon River along the way.

Dugald Axeworthy was ready. With overwhelming aggression, the forces of the Reaches bore down on the Wolfshaunt army with a one-two punch of knights and dwarves. In the bloodiest fighting seen in the Eastern Reaches, two major victories were claimed by Axeworthy's armies. The Wolfshaunt army was decimated.

Meanwhile, the Elven navy surprised the Tang navy at the Spindrift Isles inflicting significant causalities. Finally, the Orcish Army under orders from Dugald Axeworthy defeated the Sandalese in the fields outside of Crossgate Castle.

March was a bloody good month for the Reaches. The season was won, and the armies withdrew to reformulate their plans. Other than the orcs sacking Whitehall Castle in April, the fields of battle were quiet until June.

Focused on the western shores of the Reaches, the Tang empire managed both a naval victory in sacking the port at Timberway and a army victory against the knights south of Teufeldorf. Pressure was on that a focused Tang invasion might sack Teufeldorf. Reinforcements were rushed to the west. Meanwhile, the orcs continued to plunder the southern reaches, this time with a major open field victory over the Tomb Kingdom.

In August, the Tang armada surprised the Elven navy scoring a lopsided victory which saw the bulk of the Elven fleet sunk. However, reinforcements to the west had arrived. The Tang dream of destroying Teufeldorf was over. To the south, unchallenged, the dwarves sacked the Castle of Mirrors while other sieges began in earnest.

September and October saw a half dozen sieges - Tang to the north and Reaches forces to the south. A minor victory for the Tang at Azgarde was the only conclusive battle of the year. It was unambiguously, a victorious year for Dugald Axeworthy and the Reaches Army - foiling all the plans of the Tang, Sandal, Tomb Kingdom and Wolfshaunt.

Battle Plan

The first D&D adventure is aimed at providing a noticeable result in Witenagemot this year (i.e., extra stone transport ships for the dwarves).

1. Monday – going down into the bowels of Dwarrowdelf castle to rescue Dugal Axeworthy and get the ships.
2. Wednesday - full-scale invasion of the Eastern Reaches! Tang and Sandal start in the Inner Sea. Tang Island added.

Matcon 34 Puzzle

The Three Kings are too clever for one riddle so we have to give them a GREA TERC HALL ENGE.

tt pi mv ew es at ei on hr lf no mi et rd ih ft ed nf ht rl cd oe ea as dc of lt wr tt is cn di lt dp ae pw na ne oh ro fe ut

ttpimvewesatei
onhrlfnomietrdihftednfhtrlcd
oeeaasdcofltwrttiscndiltdpae
pwnaneohrofeut

To open the war plans find a common five letter word with the first second and fifth letter duplicated

Simple rail fence cipher with a 4

T.....T.....P .O...N.H...R ..O.E...E.A ...P.....W

Eerie.

My Emperor The Lotus Navy - our Eastern Reaches strike armada - has weathered the winter storms of the Inner Sea along with our compatriots from Sandal. News of the revolt in Sandal has reached their ears of the Sandalese captains and crew. While a few grumbled to go home, most are more determined to exact revenge on the Three Kings. All here are ready to assist the Tomb Kingdom coming from the south and Wolfshaunt coming from the east. Our strike from the north of Dragonsford will undoubtedly surprise the Three Kings who have not seen this gambit before. By the end of 905, the Eastern Reaches and Dragonsford will be ours. I am compelled to inform my liege, however, that the Royal Navy has been delayed in returning to the Empire for its usual duty of protecting the homeland. A great storm - unbidden - could not be controlled and requires a delay of almost three months in the journey back from the Old Kingdom. No ships have been lost - only time. Until such a time as the 30 ships of the Royal Navy returns, our ground forces include only the 20 units of the Imperial Guard infantry and 2 ships. I humbly submit that your eminence spend the spring among the meadows of the Holy Mountains in retreat. The Three Kings have never dared set foot on the island, but care is needed at such a precarious time. Humbly Koto, First Admiral of the Fleet

Goals

There are 10 major population centers in the Tang Empire (5 castles, 3 small cities, 2 large cities). You can force the Tang Empire into an unfavorable treaty with the Reaches by sacking the following:

• 4 of the castles and/or small cities
• 1 of the large cities