Wars and Rumor of Wars
This text by Albinius the Scrivener details many of the conflicts surrounding the legendary War of Ash.
Introduction The War of Ash that ravaged our land saw conflict nearly everywhere. In this tome you will find various records and histories of those battles that took place, and the villains and heroes that waged them. You may also find some of my retellings are told with slight embellishments, but on my honor as scribe and historian, these are events that did come to pass. And while there are many battles that took place all over the world, these are merely the ones that I found to be the greatest among them, ones that birthed heroes and legends.
The Cowardice of Elves It is not uncommon knowledge that in the beginning many; elves, humans, halfling, dwarf, and varl, all attempted to avoid conflict. However, it was the High Elves and their pompous attitude to what they would consider the "lesser races," that failed themselves during the war. Unlike most of the accounts in this tome, this does not detail a battle, but in truth, details a lesson on selfishness and cowardice. When the realm was in peril from a demon menace that threatened to destroy everything, did the mighty elves with their long lives, golem armies, and mastery of the arcane come to the aid of their weaker allies? No, they hid away behind the walls of Dalendra'thira and watched as the world burned around them. However, fate is fickle, and in their selfishness manifested great evil, and the demons found their way into the hearts of its citizens eventually. For some time they became servants to the demons, and who knows what horrors transpired those high walls that became their jail cell. It wasn't until the Battle of Fate's Dawn, when the demon-god's champion was laid low by the mighty Rexos of Kings were the rest of the armies sent into disarray and the high elves were able to liberate their city, a task they had to accomplish themselves when none would come to their aid for their trespasses. It is for this great shame that the High Elves continue their "tradition" of hiding behind their walls, refusing the light of the goddess and the offerings of the world beyond their pride.
Fury's Fire, Cold Calm The conflict in the small village of Highpass is one that should have been lost to legend. A large force of demon worshipers were attempting to pass through the southern Stonehorn Mountain pass, which lead through a small village of no more than a hundred people. The folk of Highpass thought themselves safe there, an obscure route through the mountains with no great resources or strategic position, they had hoped to wait out the war in hope of a miracle. However it was not to be, for the central mountain passes had been safeguarded by the Ferethrane dwarves at this time, and the lesser demon Fury thought to come to the aid of Pride as he marched on the Imperial City. He sought to evade conflict with the dwarves and sneak through the mountains into the demon controlled lands around Oldbuck. The villagers had little notice, but from a small group of Celestine scouts who were hoping to beat the army through the pass and warn the remains of the mortal forces gathering by the Celestine sea of this army. However when they arrived in Highpass they were distraught to see that the village had not been evacuated. They informed the townsfolk and they moved swiftly to retreat, however there were few steeds among them, and many of them were too old or young to ride even if there were. The leader of the scouts switched their force, sending half ahead to bear forth the news, and the rest would remain to help the villagers. No sooner had the villagers and remaining scouts depart the cold mountain village than the drums of hell were heard in the distance. As they fled the drums grew ever nearer and fear filled the hearts of the refugees, knowing that death was but mere hours away and they would die tired and cold. The caravan came to a narrow valley where they could cross a frozen lake, and the leader of the scouts stopped on the other side. He conferred with his remaining scouts and those villagers healthy enough to fire a bow. They would make a stand here, and hopefully the few could cause enough delay for the many to escape. They took woodsman axe and masons hammer to the ice to weaken it, and readied bows on the far side of the lake. The leader of the scouts left his horse and walked to the center of the lake, taking a seat. The children of the children of the remaining scouts tell of how their grandparents watch the scout leader still in total tranquility, snow seemingly swirling around him as he waited for the demon Fury and his worshipers to arrive. And arrive they did. A thousand cultists and their demonic master arrived with some confusion. Fury stepped forth and began to taunt the lone human in the center of the lake. The scout leader stood and addressed Fury, challenging him to a duel, but Fury declined. Why should Fury, a demon lord at the head of a column of warriors, rise to the challenge of a deranged human, he asked. Then the scout threw aside his sword and claimed that it was because the demon was so weak of spirit, that the scout did not even need a weapon to defeat him. This enraged the beast and he charged forth, aflame with hatred and rage. The tip of the demons spear could not seem to find it's mark however, as the scout deftly dodged blow after blow and delivering earth shattering punches and strikes to its unholy body each time. Each miss of the spear and strike of the fist enraged the demon further causing the flames around its body to burn even hotter. The flames blistered the skin of the scout, but did not slow him, until finally he dealt a fatal blow to the demons head, shatter both the scouts arm and the demons skull. As Fury fell and his fire went out, the demon worshipers across the lake howled in anger and charged forth. The remaining scouts and villagers began to fire arrows at their flanks, driving them into a narrow column in the center. In the middle of the lake next to the corpse of the hell-spawn stood the scout leader. Placing his broken arm behind his back and extending his other arm forward, palm outward, as if warning the enemies closing in to stop. The faster cultists moved to strike down the scout, but through his wounds and burns he was still swift, dodging and striking down each one in a single blow while arrows rained overhead. As the cultists fell the others began to slow to gather in greater numbers, then rushed forward again, ensuring that the scout would not be able to survive. However it was not the scouts goal to survive and as the clustered villains neared him and the ice that was so thinned by Fury's raging fire, he balled his open palm and slammed it down into the ice, shattering it. It was said there was a single moment of utter silence as the ice cracked, spreading to the edges of the lake where the villagers had cut and beat it, and then a cacophony of screams and the sounds of breaking bones, as the ice shattered and upending it, crushing some cultists and sending the rest to a frigid death at the bottom of the lake. However, as was the fate of the demon worshippers, so was it the fate of the scout, as the ice and frigid water swallowed him whole. In the end there were only a handful of demon worshipper survivors, and they fled back from whence they came. The demon Fury and his forces were defeated, and the people of Highpass were saved. You can no longer visit Highpass, as it is no more. The villagers returned there after the Battle of Fate's Dawn and tore it down and in its place built a temple to the man who gave everything to save them. It was acknowledged by the new church and made a holy site, what we now called Venatos Monastery, named for the scout who is now a saint. It became a place of holy reflection and somewhere where the faithful could come to learn and find peace, to honor the memory of Saint Venatos.
The Princess and the Sea Unlike their deeply flawed cousins, the Tenari brought to war their skill and stalwart sense of duty. While the Runidiri focused on routing out bastions of corruption in the forests and wilds of the world, the Tenari took to the field of battle early, alongside the humans. Given their superior naval capabilities the were able to protect their lands for quite some time, however when the demons began to travel by sky upon their leathery wings, their capital of Triton fell. A great massacre occurred there, which many believe was enabled by a faction of demon worshippers working to arm the forces of hell. Nonetheless many of the leaders were slain, and the last of a noble line, the elven princess Valde Tydar, were ferried away aboard the last of the elven fleet, hoping to hide her away in the Cutwater Isles. They evaded the winged patrols with every tactic the captains had, and many a decoy were lost at sea to the hellfire the hell-spawn reigned down upon their ships. The final few ships were nearing the safety of the island chain, when like a great black stormcloud an army of winged demons appeared on the horizon. When the captain of their flagship informed the elvish princess that they would be overrun before reaching safety, she ordered the fleet to turn and face the coming hellish typhoon. She stood in the deck of the ship and facing the sea she invoked an ancient power of the elves of the sea. I was never able to truly determine what sort of eldritch deal she made, but she stepped off the ship and fell into the sea. The water where she landed bubbled and roiled for some time as strange colors could be seen dancing beneath the tide. And then suddenly, a water spout burst from the bubbling sea, shooting up towards the demonic horde, knockin many of them from the sky. And once the mist from the water spout cleared, a titanic being stood. The creature bore some of the features of the elven princess, but her slender elvish figure was replaced by a massive stocky body of a sea giant, and her pale white skin now a hue of blue and green. Her white hair remained the same, looking now like a whitecap on a great wave. The princess stood against the onslaught of winged beasts, standing now nearly a hundred feet in height. She swatted at the demons, killing them in droves, knocking even more to the sea where they plummeted, drowning in the water or pierced by the arrows and harpoons of the elven fleet. The commander of the demons attempted to end her and turn the battle, diving at her. However just as the creature was yards from her neck she moved with the true speed and accuracy of the elf she was at heart, snatching the commander from the sky and crushing it in her titan grasp. After the battle she shrunk, but not by much, and left her form the same. She spoke with the remaining captains and requested that they return to the battle at home if they were able. She told them that if they came across any who were unable to fend for themselves, to ferry them to the nearby island on a ship bearing a crescent moon flag, and she would ensure they arrive and stay safe. Legend tells that Valde still patrols the waters around cutwater, looking out for those in need of aid.
The Price of Vice In the northern city of Balashova the king there gathered together all of the great wealth and supplies in the area at the outset of war. It's cold climate meant that there was a surplus of space in the various warehouses like root cellars. In those royal root cellars the king was able to store plenty of food for his people, so whenever a demon army drew close they were able to retreat behind their walls and fend it off. And for years the king was able to continue this, living a prosperous life as far as wartime goes. However as he grew older so did his wife, and he yearned for the warm embrace of a younger more beautiful woman. And he found it, however it was at great costs, for as it turned out the young beautiful woman he fell in love with, was in truth the demon Lust, a heinous beast whose name bore a much more appropriate name for the king's feelings. Lust convinced the king to rid himself of his wife and wed her instead, however by the law of Balashova back then, this meant that his wife had to die. So Lust invented a crime and the king tried his wife, finding her guilty as both judge and jury, and had her executed. He feigned sorrow to his people, telling them that she had conspired with demons, and it worked on many. Those who it did not work on had a tendency to mysteriously disappear in the night. Not a month had passed when Lust convinced the king to have a grand wedding for the two, and the king mandated that the whole city should celebrate, wine was distributed throughout the city and merriment, for one brief night, was found in an era of pain, loss and war. Lust ensured that the wine was widely distributed, but especially to the guard posts around the city's walls. The people of Balashova awoke suddenly and abruptly, as a force of demons streamed through the city, cutting them down like sheep to slaughter, burning the city as they went. A very few of the lucky were able to flee to Argenthrane, but thousands perished. Lust had only the king and several young men spared, whom she took as concubines to make unholy cambian spawn with, forcing the king to bear witness. It is uncertain if the righteous fist of justice ever found the demon Lust, but that night a city learned the true cost of vice.
Foolish Hearts, Cold Hands The war spread far and even to Hraun. Before the War of Ash the varl controlled much of Hraun, with their ogre foes only managing to survive in their jumble of islands south of the main continent. However when the War of Ash began, the ogre learned of the power that could be gained by aligning themselves with demons. A new force of ogre emerged, fortified with the blood and power of demons and they smashed the varl on their southern shores. A bloody war ensued for years, where the varl and their staunch human allies fought against this newly empowered foe. The varl, a proud and stubborn people of the same size as the ogre had enjoyed centuries of dominance over the ogres, but they knew not how to combat the magic and power of hell and their demon-god patron. Each battle was a stalemate at best, and as the years wore on they gave more and more ground, dying off in droves. It was when the ogres had gained control over the Claw, the easternmost peninsula of Hraun, that the archangel Veritas of Truth arrived with a score of aasimar warships, filled with Elysium warriors. They offered aid to the varl-human alliance of Hraun, with which their combined forces surely would have triumphed over the ogre-demon consortium. But the varl were too proud of their history and tradition to bend the knee to Celestine, and the Hraunese humans were loyal to a fault. They eschewed the help of Veritas, cursing her. Veritas was forced to take her armies back to where they could do some good, but left her lieutenant, Oculista, angel of Sight, behind to keep her informed of what was to become of the varl. Learning of Veritas' presence in Hraun, the demon-god granted a wealth of power to his ogre servants, and they quickly overran the Hraun, killing the varl king at Hronhall. Many varl and humans were slain or taken as slaves and the Varl and human forces were pushed back beyond the mountains where they were forced to wage guerilla war on the ogres attempting to cross the mountain passes for decades. Eventually when the demon-god's forces were defeated the ogre lost much of their new power, and the varl forces along with the humans were able to retake some of their lands beyond the mountains, but where much of Hraun was controlled by the Varl before the war, now over half of it was controlled by the ogre, and thousands of varl and humans were now enslaved to them as well.
The Blade's Mercy St. Massimilian Ponterex was a renowned general in the army of Celestine during the War of Ashes. His contingent of troops was often placed at the center of the fray, where the fighting would be most fierce, as his well-seasoned soldiers would always hold the line. As the War drew on, and massive battles turned to smaller skirmishes, his army was sent into the mountains to bring subjugation to tribes of demon worshippers who doggedly held on to their cause. His army weathered the lightning fast raids of the hill-men, but found no glory as they had on the field of battle, and he could feel the waning morale of his troops. Even so their loyalty to Celestine and Massimilian held firm. He disappeared into his tent, and told his closest aides that he was not to be disturbed, not even for food or water. He was absent for three days, and his men faced withering attacks, and in the power vacuum, there were rumblings of deserting this cursed mission. Finally on the evening of the third day Massimilian exited his tent, holding a curved and beautiful sword- one that no one had seen before, and when held aloft in the setting sunlight, it burst into blue flame. Vigor returned to his troops, buoyed with the knowledge that their leader had not only returned, but with a sure sign from Celestine of their victory. Word must have reached the hill people of this flaming blue weapon, for on the next day they marched out of the woods in force, and Massimilian took up his new blade, and strode to the head of his column, matching the chieftain on the other side as they prowled up and down their lines. Wordlessly the two champions drew weapons, and met in single combat. Flaming sword clashed against a fearsome axe, but as the dust settled, the chieftain lay disarmed at Massimilian’s feet, and as he raised his sword for the final blow, he buried the flaming blue sword to the hilt in the ground next to the Chieftain. He bellowed that not all fights need be fought to the death, and Celestine’s mercy has room for all. Cowed by the mercy shown to them, the hill folk came forward, and nearly all accepted benedictions: many performed by St Massimilian himself.
Introduction The War of Ash that ravaged our land saw conflict nearly everywhere. In this tome you will find various records and histories of those battles that took place, and the villains and heroes that waged them. You may also find some of my retellings are told with slight embellishments, but on my honor as scribe and historian, these are events that did come to pass. And while there are many battles that took place all over the world, these are merely the ones that I found to be the greatest among them, ones that birthed heroes and legends.
The Cowardice of Elves It is not uncommon knowledge that in the beginning many; elves, humans, halfling, dwarf, and varl, all attempted to avoid conflict. However, it was the High Elves and their pompous attitude to what they would consider the "lesser races," that failed themselves during the war. Unlike most of the accounts in this tome, this does not detail a battle, but in truth, details a lesson on selfishness and cowardice. When the realm was in peril from a demon menace that threatened to destroy everything, did the mighty elves with their long lives, golem armies, and mastery of the arcane come to the aid of their weaker allies? No, they hid away behind the walls of Dalendra'thira and watched as the world burned around them. However, fate is fickle, and in their selfishness manifested great evil, and the demons found their way into the hearts of its citizens eventually. For some time they became servants to the demons, and who knows what horrors transpired those high walls that became their jail cell. It wasn't until the Battle of Fate's Dawn, when the demon-god's champion was laid low by the mighty Rexos of Kings were the rest of the armies sent into disarray and the high elves were able to liberate their city, a task they had to accomplish themselves when none would come to their aid for their trespasses. It is for this great shame that the High Elves continue their "tradition" of hiding behind their walls, refusing the light of the goddess and the offerings of the world beyond their pride.
Fury's Fire, Cold Calm The conflict in the small village of Highpass is one that should have been lost to legend. A large force of demon worshipers were attempting to pass through the southern Stonehorn Mountain pass, which lead through a small village of no more than a hundred people. The folk of Highpass thought themselves safe there, an obscure route through the mountains with no great resources or strategic position, they had hoped to wait out the war in hope of a miracle. However it was not to be, for the central mountain passes had been safeguarded by the Ferethrane dwarves at this time, and the lesser demon Fury thought to come to the aid of Pride as he marched on the Imperial City. He sought to evade conflict with the dwarves and sneak through the mountains into the demon controlled lands around Oldbuck. The villagers had little notice, but from a small group of Celestine scouts who were hoping to beat the army through the pass and warn the remains of the mortal forces gathering by the Celestine sea of this army. However when they arrived in Highpass they were distraught to see that the village had not been evacuated. They informed the townsfolk and they moved swiftly to retreat, however there were few steeds among them, and many of them were too old or young to ride even if there were. The leader of the scouts switched their force, sending half ahead to bear forth the news, and the rest would remain to help the villagers. No sooner had the villagers and remaining scouts depart the cold mountain village than the drums of hell were heard in the distance. As they fled the drums grew ever nearer and fear filled the hearts of the refugees, knowing that death was but mere hours away and they would die tired and cold. The caravan came to a narrow valley where they could cross a frozen lake, and the leader of the scouts stopped on the other side. He conferred with his remaining scouts and those villagers healthy enough to fire a bow. They would make a stand here, and hopefully the few could cause enough delay for the many to escape. They took woodsman axe and masons hammer to the ice to weaken it, and readied bows on the far side of the lake. The leader of the scouts left his horse and walked to the center of the lake, taking a seat. The children of the children of the remaining scouts tell of how their grandparents watch the scout leader still in total tranquility, snow seemingly swirling around him as he waited for the demon Fury and his worshipers to arrive. And arrive they did. A thousand cultists and their demonic master arrived with some confusion. Fury stepped forth and began to taunt the lone human in the center of the lake. The scout leader stood and addressed Fury, challenging him to a duel, but Fury declined. Why should Fury, a demon lord at the head of a column of warriors, rise to the challenge of a deranged human, he asked. Then the scout threw aside his sword and claimed that it was because the demon was so weak of spirit, that the scout did not even need a weapon to defeat him. This enraged the beast and he charged forth, aflame with hatred and rage. The tip of the demons spear could not seem to find it's mark however, as the scout deftly dodged blow after blow and delivering earth shattering punches and strikes to its unholy body each time. Each miss of the spear and strike of the fist enraged the demon further causing the flames around its body to burn even hotter. The flames blistered the skin of the scout, but did not slow him, until finally he dealt a fatal blow to the demons head, shatter both the scouts arm and the demons skull. As Fury fell and his fire went out, the demon worshipers across the lake howled in anger and charged forth. The remaining scouts and villagers began to fire arrows at their flanks, driving them into a narrow column in the center. In the middle of the lake next to the corpse of the hell-spawn stood the scout leader. Placing his broken arm behind his back and extending his other arm forward, palm outward, as if warning the enemies closing in to stop. The faster cultists moved to strike down the scout, but through his wounds and burns he was still swift, dodging and striking down each one in a single blow while arrows rained overhead. As the cultists fell the others began to slow to gather in greater numbers, then rushed forward again, ensuring that the scout would not be able to survive. However it was not the scouts goal to survive and as the clustered villains neared him and the ice that was so thinned by Fury's raging fire, he balled his open palm and slammed it down into the ice, shattering it. It was said there was a single moment of utter silence as the ice cracked, spreading to the edges of the lake where the villagers had cut and beat it, and then a cacophony of screams and the sounds of breaking bones, as the ice shattered and upending it, crushing some cultists and sending the rest to a frigid death at the bottom of the lake. However, as was the fate of the demon worshippers, so was it the fate of the scout, as the ice and frigid water swallowed him whole. In the end there were only a handful of demon worshipper survivors, and they fled back from whence they came. The demon Fury and his forces were defeated, and the people of Highpass were saved. You can no longer visit Highpass, as it is no more. The villagers returned there after the Battle of Fate's Dawn and tore it down and in its place built a temple to the man who gave everything to save them. It was acknowledged by the new church and made a holy site, what we now called Venatos Monastery, named for the scout who is now a saint. It became a place of holy reflection and somewhere where the faithful could come to learn and find peace, to honor the memory of Saint Venatos.
The Princess and the Sea Unlike their deeply flawed cousins, the Tenari brought to war their skill and stalwart sense of duty. While the Runidiri focused on routing out bastions of corruption in the forests and wilds of the world, the Tenari took to the field of battle early, alongside the humans. Given their superior naval capabilities the were able to protect their lands for quite some time, however when the demons began to travel by sky upon their leathery wings, their capital of Triton fell. A great massacre occurred there, which many believe was enabled by a faction of demon worshippers working to arm the forces of hell. Nonetheless many of the leaders were slain, and the last of a noble line, the elven princess Valde Tydar, were ferried away aboard the last of the elven fleet, hoping to hide her away in the Cutwater Isles. They evaded the winged patrols with every tactic the captains had, and many a decoy were lost at sea to the hellfire the hell-spawn reigned down upon their ships. The final few ships were nearing the safety of the island chain, when like a great black stormcloud an army of winged demons appeared on the horizon. When the captain of their flagship informed the elvish princess that they would be overrun before reaching safety, she ordered the fleet to turn and face the coming hellish typhoon. She stood in the deck of the ship and facing the sea she invoked an ancient power of the elves of the sea. I was never able to truly determine what sort of eldritch deal she made, but she stepped off the ship and fell into the sea. The water where she landed bubbled and roiled for some time as strange colors could be seen dancing beneath the tide. And then suddenly, a water spout burst from the bubbling sea, shooting up towards the demonic horde, knockin many of them from the sky. And once the mist from the water spout cleared, a titanic being stood. The creature bore some of the features of the elven princess, but her slender elvish figure was replaced by a massive stocky body of a sea giant, and her pale white skin now a hue of blue and green. Her white hair remained the same, looking now like a whitecap on a great wave. The princess stood against the onslaught of winged beasts, standing now nearly a hundred feet in height. She swatted at the demons, killing them in droves, knocking even more to the sea where they plummeted, drowning in the water or pierced by the arrows and harpoons of the elven fleet. The commander of the demons attempted to end her and turn the battle, diving at her. However just as the creature was yards from her neck she moved with the true speed and accuracy of the elf she was at heart, snatching the commander from the sky and crushing it in her titan grasp. After the battle she shrunk, but not by much, and left her form the same. She spoke with the remaining captains and requested that they return to the battle at home if they were able. She told them that if they came across any who were unable to fend for themselves, to ferry them to the nearby island on a ship bearing a crescent moon flag, and she would ensure they arrive and stay safe. Legend tells that Valde still patrols the waters around cutwater, looking out for those in need of aid.
The Price of Vice In the northern city of Balashova the king there gathered together all of the great wealth and supplies in the area at the outset of war. It's cold climate meant that there was a surplus of space in the various warehouses like root cellars. In those royal root cellars the king was able to store plenty of food for his people, so whenever a demon army drew close they were able to retreat behind their walls and fend it off. And for years the king was able to continue this, living a prosperous life as far as wartime goes. However as he grew older so did his wife, and he yearned for the warm embrace of a younger more beautiful woman. And he found it, however it was at great costs, for as it turned out the young beautiful woman he fell in love with, was in truth the demon Lust, a heinous beast whose name bore a much more appropriate name for the king's feelings. Lust convinced the king to rid himself of his wife and wed her instead, however by the law of Balashova back then, this meant that his wife had to die. So Lust invented a crime and the king tried his wife, finding her guilty as both judge and jury, and had her executed. He feigned sorrow to his people, telling them that she had conspired with demons, and it worked on many. Those who it did not work on had a tendency to mysteriously disappear in the night. Not a month had passed when Lust convinced the king to have a grand wedding for the two, and the king mandated that the whole city should celebrate, wine was distributed throughout the city and merriment, for one brief night, was found in an era of pain, loss and war. Lust ensured that the wine was widely distributed, but especially to the guard posts around the city's walls. The people of Balashova awoke suddenly and abruptly, as a force of demons streamed through the city, cutting them down like sheep to slaughter, burning the city as they went. A very few of the lucky were able to flee to Argenthrane, but thousands perished. Lust had only the king and several young men spared, whom she took as concubines to make unholy cambian spawn with, forcing the king to bear witness. It is uncertain if the righteous fist of justice ever found the demon Lust, but that night a city learned the true cost of vice.
Foolish Hearts, Cold Hands The war spread far and even to Hraun. Before the War of Ash the varl controlled much of Hraun, with their ogre foes only managing to survive in their jumble of islands south of the main continent. However when the War of Ash began, the ogre learned of the power that could be gained by aligning themselves with demons. A new force of ogre emerged, fortified with the blood and power of demons and they smashed the varl on their southern shores. A bloody war ensued for years, where the varl and their staunch human allies fought against this newly empowered foe. The varl, a proud and stubborn people of the same size as the ogre had enjoyed centuries of dominance over the ogres, but they knew not how to combat the magic and power of hell and their demon-god patron. Each battle was a stalemate at best, and as the years wore on they gave more and more ground, dying off in droves. It was when the ogres had gained control over the Claw, the easternmost peninsula of Hraun, that the archangel Veritas of Truth arrived with a score of aasimar warships, filled with Elysium warriors. They offered aid to the varl-human alliance of Hraun, with which their combined forces surely would have triumphed over the ogre-demon consortium. But the varl were too proud of their history and tradition to bend the knee to Celestine, and the Hraunese humans were loyal to a fault. They eschewed the help of Veritas, cursing her. Veritas was forced to take her armies back to where they could do some good, but left her lieutenant, Oculista, angel of Sight, behind to keep her informed of what was to become of the varl. Learning of Veritas' presence in Hraun, the demon-god granted a wealth of power to his ogre servants, and they quickly overran the Hraun, killing the varl king at Hronhall. Many varl and humans were slain or taken as slaves and the Varl and human forces were pushed back beyond the mountains where they were forced to wage guerilla war on the ogres attempting to cross the mountain passes for decades. Eventually when the demon-god's forces were defeated the ogre lost much of their new power, and the varl forces along with the humans were able to retake some of their lands beyond the mountains, but where much of Hraun was controlled by the Varl before the war, now over half of it was controlled by the ogre, and thousands of varl and humans were now enslaved to them as well.
The Blade's Mercy St. Massimilian Ponterex was a renowned general in the army of Celestine during the War of Ashes. His contingent of troops was often placed at the center of the fray, where the fighting would be most fierce, as his well-seasoned soldiers would always hold the line. As the War drew on, and massive battles turned to smaller skirmishes, his army was sent into the mountains to bring subjugation to tribes of demon worshippers who doggedly held on to their cause. His army weathered the lightning fast raids of the hill-men, but found no glory as they had on the field of battle, and he could feel the waning morale of his troops. Even so their loyalty to Celestine and Massimilian held firm. He disappeared into his tent, and told his closest aides that he was not to be disturbed, not even for food or water. He was absent for three days, and his men faced withering attacks, and in the power vacuum, there were rumblings of deserting this cursed mission. Finally on the evening of the third day Massimilian exited his tent, holding a curved and beautiful sword- one that no one had seen before, and when held aloft in the setting sunlight, it burst into blue flame. Vigor returned to his troops, buoyed with the knowledge that their leader had not only returned, but with a sure sign from Celestine of their victory. Word must have reached the hill people of this flaming blue weapon, for on the next day they marched out of the woods in force, and Massimilian took up his new blade, and strode to the head of his column, matching the chieftain on the other side as they prowled up and down their lines. Wordlessly the two champions drew weapons, and met in single combat. Flaming sword clashed against a fearsome axe, but as the dust settled, the chieftain lay disarmed at Massimilian’s feet, and as he raised his sword for the final blow, he buried the flaming blue sword to the hilt in the ground next to the Chieftain. He bellowed that not all fights need be fought to the death, and Celestine’s mercy has room for all. Cowed by the mercy shown to them, the hill folk came forward, and nearly all accepted benedictions: many performed by St Massimilian himself.
Type
Manuscript, Historical
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