Batled Provoking War
Many of our regular readers will be aware that there have been increasing tensions with the goblinoids from the north. Conflict with goblins is nothing new to those of us here in Khezdur, but in recent decades the goblins have generally been staying out of our lands. While previous influxes of goblins have been caused by great powers preparing to come down out of the savage lands, the current conflict has a homegrown cause.
A former squed who was promoted to Batled during the fighting with the forces of the dragon Andaxius four decades ago has been sending out expeditions to actively hunt goblins in areas outside our immediate control. This has resulted in attacks from the creatures as they fear our forces are preparing for a proactive campaign against them. Although no-one here Under the Stone would disagree with the worth of killing our hereditary enemies, deliberately provoking a new conflict underlines why so few Batled are promoted from the ranks.
There is no question about this Batled’s prowess in battle or his skill in leading troops. These skills are why it was appropriate and even desirable to promote such a leader during a war, but his lack of a wider education limits his understanding of the impacts of his actions beyond the battlefield. No blame can be attached to the Batled for this, rather the fault lies with the oversight provided by his superiors who would have been better placing him in a situation where he was under more direct supervision or on a border with a land with whom we are already directly in conflict.
Sadly it appears to be too late to change matters as an increasing number of reports indicate an increase in goblinoid forces in the mountains north of Khezdur. This comes at the same time as we face an increasing threat from the human led land of Caresnas, potentially setting up a repeat of the twin invasion in which many of our kin lost their lives. In order to avoid this grim fate, the recently decorated hero Batled Greybeard is being dispatched to take command and hopefully de-escalate the situation.
Increasing threat from Caresnas
The human led land of Caresnas to the west of our lands has continued its rapid aggressive expansion. Using a combination of military might and hostile trade policies it has been gaining control of the disjointed city states to the south. Their expansion has also been drawing ever closer to our own mountains with an increase in new settlements in previously inhabited land to the west. This is viewed as a cause for concern amongst the wiser leaders of the clans as Caresnas’ rulers have repeatedly demonstrated their hostility towards us.
Who can forget the murder of a group of medical specialists who went into the ruins of Shaon to destroy a dangerous plague from the last cycle. Despite Shaon not being claimed by Caresnas at the time, the medical team were killed on site by the forces of Caresnas, without even an attempt to understand why they were there. To pile infamy on infamy the King of Caresnas then refused to hand over the sample of the plague for destruction. All this undermined the efforts by The Magrannor to develop peaceful and profitable relations with Caresnas and following our demands that the plague, which is only dangerous to dwarves, trade agreements were broken and diplomatic ties severed.
Recently the aggression of the humans has been underlined by several attempts to attack our forces and invade our lands. One of these attempts involved the use of undead against our forces and an attempt to infect our soldiers with a dangerous disease. This was followed by a group of zealots from one of their leading religious organisations trespassing in the mountains, potentially scouting for valuable locations.
We have it on good authority that several senior clan leaders are concerned that it will not be long before Caresnas begins attempts to seize our outer holdings.
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