Silver Hills

Silver Hills

History

Much like the larger town of Riverside , Silver Hills close - or Silver Hills for short - owes much of it current position to the occupation of The Marches by Kroll's army at the end of the last war. But that is where the similarities between the two settlements end.
It should be noted that due to the events which transpired here, the Silver Hills village itself is, colloquially speaking, almost inseparable from the Silver Hills Mountains, usually only differentiated by an additional "the"... i.e "visiting Silver Hills" as opposed to "Visting THE Silver Hills". The reason for this blurred separation between two distinct geographical points will be explained shortly
The army that attacked and occupied Riverside after the defeat of the last royal army had given a very clear demonstration of their power and brutality to the residents of that town, the people of Silver Hills had received no such lesson. The invading army, after conquering and occupying Riverside, initially chased the remnants of the Royal army south, only stopping when they were blocked by the Traveler's Rest defenses. Only then did they head north to occupy Silver Hills.
Much has been said of the cruelty and barbarism of Kroll's occupation, and rightfully so, but the geographical location and size of Silver Hills meant that it was not occupied in anywhere near the same manner as Riverside. Whereas the larger town was used as Kroll's main base of operation and administration, Silver Hills, being located in a strategically useless backwater and containing only a negligible population, was barely occupied at all. Often only a single patrol every few days.
With a lack of occupational supervision, the anti-Kroll sentiment was not only rampant in Silver Hills, but it was spreading. Within a relatively short space of time, the more barbaric characteristics of Kroll's treatment of civilians became clear; although it is not inaccurate to state that Riverside bore the brunt of the army's cruelty, it cannot be overlooked that every other village and hamlet in the region also witnessed some truly appalling acts of savagery against innocents. Even Traveler's Rest, which had resisted and held out against the onslaught of Kroll's attack still witnessed atrocities visited on captured soldiers. Silver Hills was no exception.
The difference, however, between Silver Hills and seemingly everywhere else, is that everywhere else was geographically located somewhere between Kroll's base in Riverside, and Kroll's target at Traveler's Rest. Silver Hills was in the opposite direction. So acts of violence on a civilian population somewhere else was reinforced over and over again as Kroll's army passed through, the residents living in constant fear that the act would be repeated... In Silver Hills, there were sometimes as long as a few months before the next major arrival of the army... in which time, the memory of the atrocity had had time to add to the growing resentment and hostility toward Kroll's occupation.
These facts all added up, and by the end of the second generation of the occupation, the anti-Kroll sentiment had exploded into a full-blown resistance movement.
Direct, armed confrontation with Kroll's army was suicide, and the leaders of the resistance knew it, instead, they concentrated on rescuing as many people as possible and slowly building up an army capable of matching the invaders. There was, however, no way to hide these people, nor the materials to support an armed uprising, in such a small village. Even a handful more residents would be noticed by the patrolling enemy. It was decided that a purpose-built camp would be built deep in the Silver Hills mountains.
Like most mountain ranges, The Silver Hills were known best, and perhaps solely, to the people who lived closest to them. Unlike most ranges, though, these were a labyrinth of jagged peaks, rocky valleys, and sheer cliffs with very few navigable paths to get men through them, and none of them apparent or visible to the unfamiliar eye. It made for the perfect location for a secret settlement and, slowly, over the years, it grew proportionately to the number of refugees escaping Riverside.
The first meeting between Caer Wen and the resistance came with an almost scripted timing.
A week before their first encounter, a patrol was making its way through the town. It is unclear exactly what happened, some say a former Riverside resident was recognized, others say that one of the soldiers was spat on by a particularly zealous rebel fighter, either way, an altercation broke out. The soldiers, not realizing that the town had slowly been arming itself, tried to round the entire population to the central square, only to find themselves being forced out of town and into full retreat by an armed citizenry more than 30 times their number. Again, the accounts vary, but anywhere between 3 and 12 of Kroll's soldiers were killed in the skirmish, along with at least 20 civilians.
By this time, a single leader had risen to command not only the town, but the entire resistance, Julliet Littleton. Understanding exactly what was coming, she ordered the entire population of the village to evacuate to the camp in the mountains. In a staggering display of organization and logistics, she managed to get all 592 residents, and enough supplies to feed all of them, into the hills in just 2 days and without losing a single person along the way.
A Day later, Kroll's army arrived. Unable to find the rebellious villagers, they razed the village to the ground. The smoke from the fires, visible on the horizon even as far away as Caer Wen, along with rumors of a resistance coming from captured Riverside conscripts, is what first drew the Dragon, Lady Kiwi and Lady Sam to the area in search of them.

Role in the War

The role played by the resistance in the war after meeting the Dragon may, on the face of things, seem to be quite small, but in reality, this role was invaluable. From having messages delivered to the friendly civilian population of Riverside, to keeping the northern coast clear of Kroll's men for the two Caer Wen Legions to land and opening a second front, relieving pressure on the Windmill pass battlelines... to providing aid workers and nurses to help the wounded men of the Dragan's army during, and after, the assault to liberate Riverside, even institutions that have become part of the Caer Wen landscape, such as the children's home and the women's refuge, were founded to help the evacuation of non-combatants from the rebellion camp. it is safe to say that this small group of dedicated and heroic fighters did more for the liberation of the Marches than almost any other. But those achievements came at a truly horrific cost.
It was the interrogation of Gerald Somerset that provided the Dragon with the first tangible information about the Resistance. A conscript from Riverside, captured after the Battle of Traveler's Rest, Gerald surprised the Dragon and Ladies Kiwi and Sam with the level of his hostility not only to Kroll but to the Resistance as well. Gerald had been part of the Vanguard of the army, forced into that initial suicidal charge on the Walls of Traveler's Rest as punishment for his actions in Riverside.

Gerald Littleton - Interogation at Traveler's Rest Prison - October 20th 2021
"Fuck the resistance, Fuck Kroll and Fuck you! I worked for years in the Riverside sewers, I learned every inch of them. I left my family alone... at NIGHT... so I could clear out collapsed and blocked tunnels, keeping the routes clear for people to be smuggled out of the city. Then you get into your little pissing contest outside your little fort and you killed some of my friends, men who had been made to choose between joining the army or being executed on the spot... and yes, I know you would prefer death, we all fucking would! But there is nothing noble about leaving your wives and daughters to whore themselves to those... animals to survive, all so you could be noble. So they went... and you killed them!
I swore to those men that, if anything happened to them, I would get their families out, get them to Silver Hills, keep them safe. I risked my own family to contact the resistence and arrange for the wives and children of my fallen friends to get out of town. The resistence told me where to be, what time to be there... and they never showed up! We were still waiting there when Kroll's men found us!
There were eight of us - two women... sisters, five children and me - when they caught us. They violated those women if front of their children... every single man in the twelve man patrol taking each of them... over and over. Beating them if they resisted, or just to hear them scream. One of them was dead before the last soldier was finished, the other wasnt so lucky. They used a sword to make sure she would never take another man again, they cut away her ability to ever feed another child... and then hung her from a tree along with her dead sister. Their children were held there and made to watch until she stopped kicking...
The children were "taken into Kroll's care"... we dont even know what that means, only that they are taken out of town and never seen again. They dragged me back into Riverside and put me with the army, if I refused they would do to my wife and daughter what they did to those women. But now I am here and there is no doubt that my family has been killed, so I have nothing else to lose. All because of your need for vengence and the cowardice of the people who call themselve the resistance, yet only resist when it is safe, or easy... five CHILDREN watched things that no child should ever be made to see because the resistance didnt show up. So go to those fucking mountains, meet your allies... do what you fucking want with me. But any man loyal to either Kroll, or the resistance, who ends up in here with me, is not making it out alive!"

Gerald's tale illustrates the difficulties that Julliet faced in the decision-making process. The agent in question, who hadn't made the rendezvous, was under strict orders to avoid patrols to ensure they weren't led back to the resistance base in the mountains. As horrific as Gerald's experience was, it was by no means an isolated incident; the security and secrecy of the rebellion operation in the mountains were too important to be risked over a few lives. That is a sentiment that is easy to balk at during times of peace, but fighting against an occupation as brutal as Kroll's, these were the only choices available to Juliet.
(Note: Gerald's family somehow managed to survive the occupation of Riverside until its liberation, the family being reunited a short time later. For his part, Gerald could neither bring himself to step foot in Riverside again, nor forgive the resistance, or Juliet, for the choices they made that night. He retired to the Dragott Farms, under the care of Lady Kiwi where it is hoped he will be able to live out the rest of his life in peace.)
It may have been inadvertent, but Gerald's outburst gave just enough information to the Dragon for him to find, and make contact with the resistance. The camp may have been close to impossible to stumble onto by soldiers on the ground, but with an educated guess of its location and the benefit of Dragonsight, it was reasonably easy for three Dragons to find from the air. It is, perhaps, a testament to Juliet's information-gathering network that the initial meeting between the forces of Caer Wen and the resistance went as well as it did. With the Dragon providing airborne overwatch, Ladies Kiwi and Sam approached the camp and made contact. Juliet had already heard of the Dragon of Caer Wen, and the victory to relieve Traveler's Rest so knew us to be friendly. Along with some work by the ladies to heal some of the injured resistance fighters in camp, this went a long way to establishing trust between the two potential allies.
By the end of the first meeting, it had been agreed that the new pressure placed on Kroll's forces also increased the threat against the resistance; the enemy would know that Juliet and her forces were a potential ally in their rear and would increase their efforts to find and destroy them before they could be of any strategic value to the Dragon. The increase in patrols had already been noted by the rebellion leader. It was decided that the children in the camp, along with any of the non-combatant adults (although there were very few of them) would be evacuated to Caer Wen until Riverside had been liberated.
The vast majority of the children were orphans, and almost all of the women who had escaped Riverside had been the victims of abuse at the hands of Kroll's army. It was quickly decided that specist facilities would need to be set up to provide long-term care for both of these groups. Over time, these facilities would be expanded and taken under the patronage of both The Dragon and House Aides, growing into what would become the Caer Wen Children's home and the Women's refuge.
Within a fortnight, the two new legions of Caer Wen were ready and a plan was in place. The fears of Kroll's army that the resistance would provide much-needed assistance to the armies of Care Wen were slowly becoming a reality. Despite having heard the tales of the battle of Traveler's Rest, Juliet still had her reservations that the comparatively small number of men that the Dragon hoped to land on the northern shores of the Marches, only 3,000 men to open the second front, could withstand the tens of thousands of Kroll's men based in and around Riverside.
A Demonstration was needed.
Information was fed to Kroll's army through the careful use of double agents, leading them to believe that the resistance was planning to raid the outskirts of the town, stealing supplies and destroying provisions that Kroll's men would need for the battle that both sides knew was now inevitable. The "raid" was planned for after dark a few days later.
Approximately 2,500 of Kroll's army advanced from Riverside that night and towards The Silver Hills, looking to intercept and destroy the rebel force that was not there, instead, they were set upon by three Dragons. From her position on a rocky overlook, Juliet and her commanders watched as the Lord Dragon, Lady Sam and Lady Kiwi utterly destroyed the force sent out to kill them. Raking up and down the line, Kroll's men were obliterated by fireballs, bathed in sheets of flame, and ripped apart by bolts of lightning.

North Riverside Skirmish - November 2nd 2021
The Dragon roared loud as he plummeted out of the skies and swooped low over the enemy formation, making sure that they knew what direction he had arrived from. Pulling back up and banking wide, making sure that Julliet and the other rebels could see as he once again dove towards the enemy. This time sucking in a deep breath and launching out 5 massive fireballs, aiming them to hit at equals distances along the line before banking away again. A few moments later, the 5 fireballs impact the enemy ranks with massive explosions, the earth shook, men being knocked off their feet, either sides of the explosions, other men being swallowed up by them, body parts being flung into the air as shattered, evicserated men are blown out of existence

Juliet gasped from her place on the overlook, and started to whoop before covering her mouth, the men with her awestruck but grinning
Lady Sam blew a direct line of fire from the north, once again aiming for and decapitating the formation's leadership. Enemy officers being roasted alive under the fury of her fire before overshooting the attacking force and hitting them from behind. Another great wall of fire cut off the avenue of escape for many of the men already wavering under the weight of this onslaught.
Flying in hard from the East, Lady Kiwi's Dragon form, Dexyth, flew just clear of the trees following the river, swooping low over Riverside before breathing out a string of lightening from one end of the blasted formation to the other, anything flammable that wasn't on fire, instantly burning to ash as she banked just above the ridge and hovered, then diving back in and throwing lightening balls at the scattered remnants of the army. The Lord Dragon flying straight at her from the other direct, the two mighty Dragons passing within a few feet of each other as he bathed the enemy ranks in sheets of flame.
The enemy force of 2500 men were being obliterated. Only a few hundred men, most of them wounded or badly burned, turned and fled back towards the town. Less than a fifth of the original number survived being caught out in the open agaisnt three Dragons... The Lord Dragon banked high again before portalling behind a ridge in the silver Hills, out of sight, shifting to human form, dropping into another portal and landing with a less than graceful thud next to kiwi, Sam and Juliet- "well, that clears the sinuses"

With the resistance suitably convinced, having just seen the utter destruction of the enemy force without the need for ground units, Juliet wholeheartedly endorsed the plan to open a second front.
The main Caer Wen army, some 12,000 men, were being held at the Windmill pass. Although a full-frontal assault on the enemy lines, followed by the rapid advance up the pass to attack Riverside would have undoubtedly been successful, it would have come with unacceptably high losses. Kroll's men had control of the forests on either side of the pass and, with those forces being almost immune to aerial attack, due to the density of the woods, they were in a perfect position to attack and decimate Caer Wen's advancing army from the flanks. The landing of two freshly formed Legions - The Crimson Spears and the Sacred Band of Ares - on the Northern shore, under the command of Lady Kiwi and supported by the resistance, would force Kroll to pull men away from the lines to reinforce the town. The newly formed 1st Rangers could then clear the forests of the men who were left while the main army advanced on the town. It was a three-pronged attack designed to completely overwhelm Riverside's defenses on all sides.
Main Article: The Battle of Riverside.
With the capture of the fortified Riverside bridge and the liberation of the Marches, the resistance's reason for existence ceased to exist. The resistance, as a movement quickly disbanded, but were left with the option of staying in the mountains over the cold winter months, or taking up the Dragon's offer of staying in Caer Wen until Silver Hills Close could be rebuilt.

Reconstruction and corruption.

The architect wasn't able to begin reconstruction of the destroyed village of Silver Hills until after the Battle of the Wall. The Lord Dragon had been forced to prioritize the construction of the fortress that would one day be called The Citadel to resecure the Riverside bridge before allowing him to move onto civilian building projects. But by the end of November, work was underway and was officially declared complete just after the new year.
Juliet resumed her position as Mayor of the village and, even though the resistance had ceased to operate as a military entity, she ensures its continued life as a political movement. The primary aim of its movement is to push for the capture and bringing to justice of Kroll for the crimes he committed against all peoples of the Marches, as such, she is still present at many of the major strategic meetings discussing the war effort.
The village itself is also proving to be more work than expected. The creeping darkness, now known as "the corruption" has inexplicably been detected in and around the village. Although its presence around Riverside or on the battlefields outside Traveler's Rest can be explained by the brutality of the fighting and atrocities there, it is less easy to explain its presence in a village that was spared the vast majority of it. Lady Willow, the patron Goddess of Caer Wen, has already made one attempt at cleansing the area, and between her, the Lord Dragon, and the demon Meru, they are investigating this concerning presence of corruption.

Type

Village