Chapter Three: By Sword and Sorcery

Synopsis

During the first and second chapters of the Featured Quest, Raiaera underwent a number of huge (usually destructive) changes. They're outlined below as a guide for incoming players who are unfamiliar with the region or the conflict and its major players.

The cause for virtually everything to date has been the return of, and the genocidal war sparked by, a necromancer named Xem'zund. As one of the Forgotten Ones, Xem'zund is a powerful mage whose story dates all the way back to the Wars of the Tap, where he and those like him waged war on each other and the gods – and almost won. In more recent times, Xem'zund has launched at least one other campaign on Raiaera, which was thwarted due to the efforts of a man named Devon Starslayer. Thought dead at Devon's blade, Xem'zund has returned once more with legions of undead and cadres of traitorous Death Lords at his command. In the first chapter of the Featured Quest, he managed to take Carnelost, much of the Red Forest, Valinatal and even laid siege to Eluriand – the mystical capital city of the High Elves.

In chapter two, Raiaera struck back and brought the scourge of undead to a bloody standstill. Eluriand's held, if only barely, while its citizenry slowly but inevitably began to starve and the magicks protecting the city began to collapse. The battles waged were devastating, and the campaigns fought were as epic as they were personal: Vast swaths of Tembrethnil Forest were utterly destroyed and rendered lifeless, while Xem'zund's own tower was brought crashing to the ground in a daring attack; a Legion of Light rose in tandem with the return of the Elves to the oldest ways they could ever know, and some of the Necromancer's greatest generals were brought down one by one at the blade of Godhand Striker.

In the aftermath of the first two chapters, Raiaera has been fundamentally changed. The Bladesingers have been decimated, leaving behind only a few dozen to a hundred genuine veterans of old – and more than a few of that number are still trapped in the halls of Istien University in the remnants of Eluriand, dying by inches from hunger and war. Most of the other Bladesingers are little better than hedgemages with bardic magic and sword skills, and for the first time in recorded history, humans and other nonelven races have taken up the Songblade for Raiaera's sake. The Rangers still thrive, performing hit-and-run operations all over the continent even as they try to spirit away as many refugees as they can. A third sub-faction, the Wanderers in Starlight, have also emerged. Fanatical hard-liners pledged to the Endless Path, the Wanderers follow a warrior-cult philosophy steeped in the arcane and the unfathomable. Initially little more than a militant social movement, they've gained huge grounds since the fall of Eluriand, helped in no small part by their willingness to go on the counterattack.

What remains of Raiaera's old government and military command is divided between these three groups, with a dwindling conscript army below and a single voice above: Nalith Celiniel, the Lady General, High Bladesinger and sole survivor of Raiaera's original High Bard Council. Under Nalith's leadership, most of Raiaera has begun to solidify into a united front against Xem'zund – if only barely.

Chapter 3
By Sword and Sorcery

"I am alone, hiding.
I am scared, I can hear someone's heartbeat.
It's coming closer.
Is somebody out there?
Hello?"

My friends of slaughter
Noble brothers
Sisters of violence
And fathers of destruction

I enslave you all
You shall not deny me
You must obey
Marching into death with me
Die with me!

This is my gift for you
This is my therapy of hate
This is the poison room
This is your home my friend

Slaves of this kingdom
Entitled to suffer
Victims by chance
Deception routine

He who commands
Finds justice in rage
A gamble of moods
Obliged to obey

Prince of darkness
Give life to the lost
King of the dead
Give names to the nameless

This is my gift
This is my therapy
This is the poison
This is your home

Diary of Dreams
Reign of Chaos

Chapter three of the Featured Quest will last longer than the first two: About two months, IC time, and probably a little longer in real world time. IC-wise, chapter three kicks off about seven months after the Raiaeran War was initiated. If you absolutely have to have an RP set in the interim, that's fine. If you're carrying over an incomplete thread from Chapter Two, it just needs a guarantee of player activity: Anything that's been left dead for more than a two months as of this posting will not be allowed to carry over. If you want them completed, they'll just have to count as regular RPs and the threads in question will be moved to the proper forums. Contact me via PM or my AIM handle, A Warped Mind, if you have any questions on old threads.

The city of Eluriand has fallen almost completely by this point. The only holdout is Istien University, where a small group of refugees, soldiers and Bladesingers are still clinging to survival by the skin of their teeth. In the aftermath of the Day of Untold Agony, where the outer city and its surrounding area fell, Xem'zund discharged the task of taking and breaking the inner city and Istien to several Death Lords and a sizable contingent of undead under their command. While Istien is holding out, the rest of the city has been ransacked and severely damaged, and the Death Lords have even gone so far as to begin construction of a new City of the Dead in its place.

Most of the cities of Raiaera have been destroyed or captured by Xem'zund. The only holdout from the old map is Anebrilith, which has fallen on hard times in the midst of siege and a constant stream of refugees into and out of the city. Pirates and slavers have begun to set up shop in the docks, and most of the Raiaeran navy has long since deserted to try and find homes for as many refugees as they could carry. The city's militia have held out for the time being, but with losses mounting and no end in sight, it's anyone's guess as to whether or not the city can last more than a month or two.

About the only spot of hope for Raiaera is the creation of a new city around Fortress Tirinost, dubbed Eluceliniel after the Lady General herself. Heavily militarized and choked to the brim with refugees of all kinds, Eluceliniel's location has somehow managed to remain a military secret even now. People find it only if the Rangers bring them there, but it's only a matter of time before Xem'zund learns of its location and attempts to repeat the awful work done at Eluriand.

Patches of resistance run rampant, from small raiding parties to full-fledged armies just trying to fight their way out of the country. Nalith is trying to bring as many of them under her banner as she can, but it's slow going and you can never tell whether or not a resistance cell has been compromised until it's too late.

What remains of Raiaera's people are elves and half-elves, along with scattered pockets of dwarves and a slowly increasing population of drow. Humanity in the region has been almost completely wiped out by the plagues of undeath, reduced to just a few hold-outs and some of the only heroes the country has been able to produce in these dark times. The people's hope and song have been tempered by war and hatred, and the steel of Raiaera has never been sharper or more enduring than it is today. Rumors of the old gods – of the Starlight Pantheon – fill the streets, accompanied by hushed stories of awful things.

Xem'zund prepares to renew his genocidal efforts, and his armies grow stronger by the day. The Raiaerans prepare to strike back with the fury of the old gods behind them. And ever on the horizon is Alerar, opportunistic Alerar, seeking to capitalize on her sister-land's misfortunes.

Strange aeons lie ahead. Only by sword and sorcery will the land of Raiaera survive. The only question left is what happens next...