The Narlington War

The Narlington Territories
The powers that existed on the Lobran continent waged near continuous war, with very little being spared. In c1029 the mysterious baron of Narlington Hold held a festival and invited the rulers of nearby town over. At this festival the rulers of the neighbouring towns were treated to food and activities. At some point in the night, the baron came out wearing a suit of armour with a helmet obscuring his face and professed of his loyalty to Bane the god of conquest. He displayed a mighty army to the guests that he had named “The Swarm Legions”. He asked that they would bow before him and join his cause to unite the Lobran continent under his rule as “The Warmaster”. The rulers at the party were heavily swayed and most swore their allegiance. One ruler disagreed, the warmaster asked the ruler’s personal guard to slay him in front of the rest. This guard did so and by the end of the night he was appointed the Supreme Commander of the legions. In the next few years the warmaster trained his army up, put in place excellent administrative laws and the state of Narlington became prosperous.

Preparing for War
In c.1035 the warmaster’s power had grown very strong. The warmaster started to expand, in Bane’s name, out of his borders. With every place that was taken becoming absorbed into the “Narlington Territories”. In c.1035 the warmaster had begun construction of a massive citadel that he wished to use after the end of the war for a purpose only the supreme commander knew of.Within ten years of his reign and three years of war, the warmaster ruled most of Echye and was invading Gusemye as well as other islands surrounding Lobran. Most cities surrendered before battle, knowing of the might of the war master’s armies. Elvish and Dwarvish cities were occupied with dwarves and elves from human settlements sent these cities. It wasn’t until c.1038 that a historic battle took place where the acquisition of Harthvale Castle in a frozen winter proved to be a particularly bloody, and hard won victory for the warmaster.

Battle for Harthvale Castle
After claiming the castle, the warmaster was unable to hold it and lost it within a week to a tribe known as The Cold Fist Tribe. This tribe was able to stand against the Swarm Legions, relying on pure rage and ferocity to win their battles. After the tribe claimed the castle many vassals began to speak out against the warmaster. Because of this, the warmaster appointed the supreme commander of the legions to manage the war and took a force away, putting down any naysayers. The supreme commander fought on to conquer Echye and to remove the Cold First Tribes territories to the north, it was here when the warmaster used a powerful ancient device to lay waste to towns and cities that had raised their flags in rebellion. These cities were burnt to a crisp by the powerful magic from the warmaster’s amulet. Those escaping ran into the Swarm Legions and were either killed or resettled elsewhere. The warmaster grew angrier with his people and while the supreme commander of the legions was able to manage the war by himself, the warmaster began to single handedly siege dwarven and elvish cities, killing as many as he could.

Opposition to The Warmaster
Distracted, in c.1039 the Cold First Tribe was able to move south with a sizable force of tribesmen and soldiers of the last remaining kingdoms. They were able to push far into the Narlington Territories and were able to sow the seeds of treachery in the south. In Aprum of c.1039 the all southern territories of Narlington declared independence and allegiance with The Cold Fist Tribe, naming themselves The Bublar States. The Bublar States’ armies were under the command of an Elf named Paxidor, a survivor of an attack the warmaster made on his city. By c.1040, the Narlington Territories had withdrawn from Echye and had lost most of their territories in Gusemye.

The supreme commander began losing each battle he fought. In Juna of c.1040, the warmaster and the supreme commander met up in a city named Musas. Here, the supreme commander was ordered to withdraw to the citadel with the amulet as the warmaster was going to confront Paxidor and end the war in the south. The warmaster did not want the amulet falling into the enemies hands. The supreme commander withdrew and the warmaster head off to the south.

The End of the Conflict
In Juling, a mountain range, the warmaster and Paxidor met in the field of battle. Both sides had sizable armies, but the warmaster had strategically funnelled Paxidor’s army between two cliffs. When the battle begun, Narlington forces dominated. As the battle drew on and on, it was clear the winner was going to be the warmaster. The warmaster withdrew some of his forces and stood in the middle of the battlefield, wanting a rise out of Paxidor.

Paxidor knew this, but couldn’t resist getting revenge. He met the warmaster in combat. As blows were being struck, it was obvious that the warmaster without his amulet was locked in a stalemate with Paxidor. Paxidor found a space between the warmaster’s armour and was able to break of his chest plate. The warmaster beckoned for his troops to reengage and tried to withdraw away. Paxidor advanced after him, and they two locked horns on the battlefield. As the two exchanged blows, tribal horns sounded from above the cliffs and Cold Fist archers unleashed a barrage of arrows on Narlington troops. The battle had been lost, Narlington forces withdrew in poor moral. The warmaster and Paxidor fought on. Nearly defeated, the warmaster unleashed a beam of physic energy into Paxidor. Paxidor for a moment was about to fall but regained his step. He was unaffected by the blast. His stood over the warmaster, looking down at his red eyes through the cracked helm. As Paxidor raised his sword, Vortrin flew overhead. Paxidor and the Warmaster were said to exchange a laugh before the warmaster drew his blade, handed it to Paxidor and removed his helmet. Paxidor brought down his sword and cut the warmaster’s head off. The retreating army was further devastated after their loss when they were melted from “fire rain”, Vortin’s fire breath.

From here, the Bublar States, the Cold Fists, other rebels, and the armies of every elvish and dwarven city travelled south. When traveling, Paxidor seemed to be unhappy with his revenge against the warmaster and ordered the army to commit acts of barbarity on soldiers of Narlington. Rape, torture, and murder was very common. Paxidor working with Vortrin had entire armies of Narlington in retreat melted alive. Paxidor finally met with the last remnant of Narlington at the citadel. Paxidor lead the siege with his army and was frustrated to learn that the scraps of Narlington were so heavily fortified in the citadel that it seemed he would be unable to end them. In frustration, he led a charge to the gates to open it. During this, he was blown to shreds in an extremely potent blast. Vortrin seeing this, flew in and raised the citadel into nothingness.

The New Nation
The five leaders of the army decided to lay the political foundations for the Dominion of Peace and declared a new nation in c1041. They each created a new political system overseen by the Supreme Council and began to govern the new nation. After setting the political system up, in c.1048 all but one member of the Supreme Council resigned and allowed for a vote to decide the makeup of the council.

Having been previously decimated, the citizens of the Dominion of Peace vowed to never fall back into the old ways of war and join the other nations to work together. The Dominion is strong, and while many of the old problems still exist day by day are getting better.