Revolution!

[obcidian_bandit]

Approximately eight years ago, the Dalkani merchant house managed to break through the Astorian mists and discovered the land of Tanaryn. For a brief time, there was trade and exploration, but then the mists closed off Astoria from the outside world, and those who had traveled to Tanaryn were left to their own devices. In those eight years, the head of the Dalkani merchant house declared himself king, raised an army, exploited the native peoples, and allied himself with the greatest force of evil in this land. This great evil is the Chaos dragon Asteroth, who rules openly over the depraved city Teun'ver, and over the entire Dalkani kingdom through his Dragon Mage, Grand Chancellor Duverik, who is the right hand of the throne. The native people of Tanaryn were too few and too scattered from an ancient war to provide any resistance to this force as it spread across their land.

The shadow of this great evil creeps still across this land, stifling this information and quelling any rebellion. By the effort and sacrifice of many these last few years, this knowledge has been spread, and long dormant alliances to this land's true rulers, the royal family Varik, have been rekindled by the re-emergence of the sole surviving heir of the Varik throne. The people of Tanaryn now stand in defiance of the Dalkani merchant house, united under their true Queen. In but a fortnight what forces the people of Tanaryn have mustered are expected to engage the army of the Dalkani. The Chancellor seeks to end the life of the legitimate ruler of Tanaryn to ensure his and his master's hold over this land. We have used this to lure him out and taken strong enough action that he will make a personal attempt to end what has begun.

The battle will come to Stillrun. This is where we will fight, where our banners will fly, and our Queen will end this conflict. Come now and defend this place, that we may be victorious over the forces of evil and Chaos that are about to pour into it! Come now and defend this place, not so that we may triumph over a single foe, only to have it replaced by another, but to end the greatest enemy of the Earth and to peace in this land, and destroy the source from which all evil in this place is born! Come now and defend this place, for our Queen and for Glory!

Honor, Justice, Glory, and the Earth,
~Iftkihaar Vorgik

 

[obcidian_bandit]

More history, details, and other information are available for any who ask. Of most immediate concern is the upcoming battle itself, and so I share with you now some important information pertaining to it.

Dalkani Troops are usually dressed in black and green. They are almost always human, usually warriors, though there are occasionally spellcasters, and infrequently alchemists, in their groups. Poisons are effective against them, as are straight forward spells such as Disarm, Bind, and the like. Expect most of them to have spell protectives, but very few have ritual protections. The more seasoned troops tend to be better dressed, often with hats and well made vests and jewelry. Most Dalkani troops are soldiers with little more information than the orders they are given, and are likely unaware of the true identity of the Chancellor. Historically, they have been very disinterested in the information we possess and assume that we're lying.

The Black Dawn are specialized troops directly from Teun'ver, dressed in red and black. There are considerably fewer in number than the Dalkani and are loyal to the Chancellor directly. They are very skilled humans with gifts from their dragon and the evil Satyr prince of Teun'ver. They will each be wielding a Chaos enchanted weapon, bound to their spirit. They are known to be twice as quick as a hobling, and have the power to phase out of existence briefly approximately twice each day as well. The forward warriors swings are a little more damaging than a stone bolt, and their archer's arrows are nearly as effective as a lightning bolt, though some may be more skilled that either of these. I have seen their flanking warriors deliver blows with the heft of a flame bolt. To the best of our knowledge, there are no casters in their numbers.

The Chancellor is a human male, but it is possible that he has stored himself into a Golem or transformed himself into a greater undead. He is a Dragon Mage, which means that he will likely throw rituals offensively. Expect rituals such as Destroy Magic, Banish, Transformation to Undead, and the like to be thrown, and rituals such as Summon Elemental, Summon Undead, and Summon Pantherghast to be used on the battlefield. Through a great deal of effort, we have managed to keep an Obliterate ritual scroll out of his hands, so we do not anticipate that he has the ability to cast that ritual. Expect the Chancellor to have many, many ritual defenses, activatable magics, Rebirth, and possibly other powers gifted to him by the Satyr Prince of Teun'ver. It is of extreme importance that he not be allowed to dissipate once killed. Keep him unconscious, waylaid, or slept if necessary, but we need him alive.

There is a possibility that there will be Driders. Though the Dark Elven Prince has been restored to life and the Dark Elves have done much to quell the Driders, some may make it to the surface and stage an attack. Driders frequently travel with spiders, and are known to be of similar combat competency of a Dark Elf that has been adventuring for several seasons. Expect most of them to be casters with the ability to fight. Though rare, there exist Phase Driders, which appear to be white Driders. They are quite powerful, capable of engaging an entire group at once. Their blows pass through armor and they can become insubstantial. Most Phase Driders encountered so far have been warriors whose blows are more powerful than an ice bolt. One very powerful Drider is called Magus, and we have made quite an enemy of him. He was slain some months ago, and will likely be seeking vengeance. He is a ritual caster in both schools and is known to have magical items bound to his spirit and will likely have a Rebirth as well as a Regenerate.

Blights are tainted Dryads, they will appear as confused, angry, or simple dryads with white skin. They are tainted by necromancy, either before being put to sleep, or during the process of their awakening by a fey of Chaos. Given the opportunity, they will cast chaos magic. It is possible that they can be stopped before casting necromancy by Purifying them and placing them in the Evergrowth, the large forest that borders Stillrun, but this is a short-term solution. Unfortunately, the only way that the taint can be completely removed is by permanently killing a Blight. From the corpse of a permanently dead Blight a red flower may sprout. This flower must be given to Perrin, the fey of Earth, who can then use her magics to remove the taint from all of the Blights. One must die so that the rest can live, and any who cast necromancy must be killed. This is unrelated to Dryads being hunted in Tanaryn by the Dalkani. (Native Dryads were put to sleep when the Variks were in power and know a great deal of history that the Chancellor would like to keep secret.)

Expect elementals and pantherghasts, especially biata pantherghasts, possibly even a panthergaunt. There may be others, but it is too soon to know.

Finally, I ask for a show of unity in all those that would come to aid us. We will know our enemies easily by color; the Dalkani in black and green, the Black Dawn in red and black. Bring with you garb of Purple and Gold (or, failing that, Blue) so that when the battle in Stillrun begins, our strength will show in our ranks, and our banners will fly high, and we will carry with us the hearts of the people of this land.

Honor, Justice, Glory, and the Earth,
~Iftikhaar Vorgik