Chapter Four: The Tides of War

[Flames of Hyperion]

The Tides of War

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Red indicates the forces of Xem’zund, cyan indicates the defenders of Raiaera, and yellow indicates neutral parties.
Circles are cities and settlements, proportionate to size; squares show the location of large armies.
Double circles represent sieges, with the attacking army depicted as the outer ring.
Settlements that are blacked out on the map have been destroyed and are in ruin.

***

Chapter Four of the Featured Quest starts with High Elven and undead forces in uneasy stalemate. The majority of the former realm of Raiaera lies under the control of the forces of Xem’zund, including Narenhad, Trenyce, the southern (Lindequalme) and northeastern (Timbrethinil) forests, and the vast majority of the central plains. Many are the settlements that have been sacked and destroyed by the rampant armies of undead.

The Raiaeran defenders cling to the settlements that remain to them by the skin of their teeth – New Aurient, Galonan, and Anebrilith are all under siege and are near capitulation from starvation and attrition, whilst Eluriand is a ruined shadow of its former self in which a mere handful of survivors shelter under the last of the protective wards of Istien University. The Great Forest to the northwest has been sanctified against undead advance, but even so the Forgotten One’s magicks seek to pervade it like a corrupting cloud.

The centre of the Elven resistance is the hidden fortress of Eluceliniel, where Nalith Celiniel, Lady General and High Bladesinger, carefully musters her forces right under the nose of Xem’zund in Narenhad. Should the location of Eluceliniel be revealed to the undead, it will only be a matter of time until all resistance in western Raiaera is crushed… but the Lady General herself has other ideas.

In the meantime, the island colony of Tor Elythis forms the bastion of resistance in the east, facing off against the undead forces corrupting Timbrethinil Forest and surrounding the cities of Anebrilith and Galonan. A splinter force from the colony, combined with the volunteer levies of the Legion of Light, has just managed to wrest control of Nenaebreth from the forces of Xem’zund… the first true sign of hope for the beleaguered defenders since the war began.

The defenders of Raiaera remain vastly outnumbered and overpowered. Numbers, however, do not tell the whole story… for Xem’zund’s hordes are beginning to suffer from a distinct lack of capable lieutenants, putting more and more strain upon the Forgotten One himself. And though losses are almost equally grievous on the side of the High Elves, it is perhaps here in which their greatest opportunity lies…

[Flames of Hyperion]

Red indicates the forces of Xem’zund, cyan indicates the defenders of Raiaera, and yellow indicates neutral parties.
Circles are cities and settlements, proportionate to size; squares show the location of large armies.
Double circles represent sieges, with the attacking army depicted as the outer ring.
Settlements that are blacked out on the map have been destroyed and are in ruin.

***

A week has passed of the Spring of Retribution Dawning, and already both high commanders have made their move. Xem’zund, determined to draw forth the Raiaeran defenders from their hidden fastness of Eluceliniel, has led his army from Narenhad towards the Great Forest; Nalith, equally determined to deal a lasting blow to the main undead army, has met them in ambush just north of the River Escaldor. But the Death Lord is cunning, and he has kept a second force in reserve, skirting Nalith’s troops and striking close to where the High Elves hold dear. Only a motley party of defenders stand between them and the refugees that take shelter in the Raiaeran stronghold.

Elsewhere, the iron gauntlet of undeath remains strong about Aurient, Galonan, and Anebrilith. Nenaebreth and Trenyce stir faintly as if in preparation for a major operation, but winter’s grip has not quite fully receded, and both sides have yet to make a move in the eastern theatre.

The new season is a week old. Already figures begin to stir once again in the depths of the forests… and beyond the mountains to the west, the shadows loom closer, ever closer…

[Flames of Hyperion]

Red indicates the forces of Xem’zund, cyan indicates the defenders of Raiaera, violet indicates the invaders of Alerar, and yellow indicates neutral parties.
Circles are cities and settlements, proportionate to size; squares show the location of large armies.
Double circles represent sieges, with the attacking army depicted as the outer ring.
Settlements that are blacked out on the map have been destroyed and are in ruin.

***

Another week has passed of the Spring of Retribution Dawning, and this has been as bloody as any during this long war. The main forces of Xem’zund and Nalith are engaged in combat upon the River Escaldor, while a smaller undead force attempts to defeat those who stand between them and the vulnerable Raiaeran stronghold of Eluceliniel.

But both commanders have been amiss. Even the shadowy sages in the depths of the woods and the outsiders who have responded in Raiaera’s time of need have not seen this coming.

Trumpets sound from the Twilight Peaks, along with the roar of a thousand engines and the stamp of marching boots. Shadowed by mighty skyships and flanked by numerous warbeasts, the combined Dark Elven and Dwarven armies of Alerar have launched a surprise assault upon the Raiaeran homeland. Their intent is simple: while High Elf and undead engage in mortal combat, the rest of Raiaera is ripe for the picking… and it is no place but theirs to opportunistically pick up the pieces.

And yet, still the intrigue swirls. Have Xem’zund and Nalith both been so careless? Have the figures in the shadows really failed to pay attention to their power hungry neighbours?

Or is there something even darker at work?

The true meaning of the Spring of Retribution Dawning has only just come to light... or has it?

[Flames of Hyperion]

Red indicates the forces of Xem’zund, cyan indicates the defenders of Raiaera, violet indicates the invaders of Alerar, and yellow indicates neutral parties.
Circles are cities and settlements, proportionate to size; squares show the location of large armies.
Double circles represent sieges, with the attacking army depicted as the outer ring.
Settlements that are blacked out on the map have been destroyed and are in ruin.

***

The Alerian advance continues to gain momentum, laying siege to the undead fortress of Narenhad and manoeuvring with great speed across the central plains towards Eluriand and the ruins of Carnelost. Slightly to the north, the battle for Eluceliniel continues, while Nalith and Xem’zund batter away at each other in a confrontation that may yet determine the fate of all Raiaera.

It is in the scarred remains of Timbrethinil Forest to the east, however, that the mists of intrigue truly swirl. Rumours of a survivor of the High Bard Council, of the destruction of an entire army of undead and of the purification of nearly half the forest, coincide with whispers of a dreadful plan – a dark ritual to unleash destruction and devastation on the handful of beleaguered defenders that hold out in northern Raiaera. Some even speak of the return of Findelfin ap Fingolfin, General of Raiaera… but that he had lost his mind from the horrors he had experienced at the hands of Xem’zund. And in the midst of this all, the Legion of Light has departed Nenaebreth in a desperate attempt to relieve Eluriand before all is lost…

As the Spring of Retribution Dawning swells to a bloody climax, nobody can say for sure who will be left standing…

[Flames of Hyperion]

Red indicates the forces of Xem’zund, cyan indicates the defenders of Raiaera, violet indicates the invaders of Alerar, and yellow indicates neutral parties.
Circles are cities and settlements, proportionate to size; squares show the location of large armies.
Double circles represent sieges, with the attacking army depicted as the outer ring.
Settlements that are blacked out on the map have been destroyed and are in ruin.

***

The Alerian siege of Narenhad continues, a seamless ring of steel and gunpowder that draws tighter and tighter around the undead fortress. Similarly, Dark Elven advance forces continue to make rapid ground across the central plains, unopposed save for a few scattered units, and have begun to take control of such ruined Raiaeran towns as Carnelost and Tilgonar.

This in turn has relieved pressure on Nalith and her citadel of Eluceliniel. In conjunction with the Legion of Light, she has brought victory to the High Elven defenders in the Battle of the Escaldor, and has begun a move to secure the symbolic liberation of Eluriand from its undead captors. During the fighting, the great Godhand Striker challenged Xem’zund himself, only to see his opponent slip away.

In the east as well, the winds have begun to change, as the arrival of the Wizard Blueraven in the city of Anebrilith brings help and hope to its beleaguered defenders… albeit in somewhat uniquely chaotic fashion.

And in one final showdown, a small band of brave adventurers prepare to take on evil incarnate – the Forgotten One himself – in the deepest and most secret of his lairs...

[Flames of Hyperion]

Red indicates the forces of Xem’zund, cyan indicates the defenders of Raiaera, violet indicates the invaders of Alerar, and yellow indicates neutral parties.
Circles are cities and settlements, proportionate to size; squares show the location of large armies.
Double circles represent sieges, with the attacking army depicted as the outer ring.
Settlements that are blacked out on the map have been destroyed and are in ruin.

***

The war has come to a close…

Alerar’s invasion was an unqualified success. The wastelands of Narenhad, after a long and bitter siege, changed hands once again; this time, it was the Dark Elves and their Dwarven allies who emerged victorious, razing the second of Xem’zund’s dark towers to the ground and cleansing the war-ravaged lowland plains of their necromantic taint. Legions of zeppelins conquered the skies as the Alerians consolidated their hold as far east as Tilgonar and as far south as Carnelost, in one masterstroke taking over the vast majority of Raiaera’s fertile farmlands and horse-rearing territory.

For the High Elves, the season was less worthy of celebration, although in many locales survival in itself was enough. Military victories in Timbrethinil and at the River Escaldor over Xem’zund and his minions were tempered by the loss of the townships of Mirdan Timbreth and Galonan to great magics wrought by the Forgotten One’s necromancers, and Winyaurient only narrowly escaped a similar fate partially through the aid of the free Dwarves of Gunnbad.

The spring also saw the conclusion of the two major sieges that had dominated the war, although in nigh opposite manners. With the timely aid of the Legion of Light, the Lady General Nalith Celiniel rode against the undead forces encamped around the former capital Eluriand; together the two armies succeeded in defeating their foes, only to find the city devastated and its central palaces lost altogether to the physical plane. Such was born the legend of the City of Astral Light, the legendary home of heroes. Their success, however, was not without loss… without Nalith’s military might to hold the line, the High Elves were forced to abandon their winter camp of Eluceliniel to the undead, and the Lady General’s fortress was devastated overnight into little more than an abandoned ruin.

Further to the east, the Wizard Blueraven reappeared in Raiaera, and after many encounters, defeated the Death Lord Rosven Kaverre. The dilapidated and war-weary port of Anebrilith was reborn as Beinost, the Beautiful City; the remnants of the undead armies, on the other hand, fled north to their final stronghold at Trenyce, where the last of Xem’zund’s inner circle, Maeril Thyrrian, watches and waits.

So concluded the Spring of Retribution Dawning.

… or did it?

One last battle is yet to end, a desperate conflict fought deep below the surface of Raiaeran soil against the mightiest of foes. The outcome of this struggle may well determine the fate of the land for eons to come, as it pits the mightiest champions of dawn against the darkest of all nights.

And unbeknownst to all but a handful within the realm, one last faction has risen in the name of retribution. Neither Raiaeran, nor Alerian, nor even undead, only the blackened sands of time had paid heed to their cries over the long millennia…

But soon, at the cost of many great and powerful sacrifices, the truth will be unveiled for all to see…