Amon War 3: No Matter The Cost!

Lost in enemy territory, assailed from every side, still the adventurers fought on. The resistance forces beneath Thalimani were purged, the mountain paths travelled by Kullasi's forces collapsed and barred. Even the armies of Enos, led by Theodulous himself, were crushed and their champion slain.

The Thulian army pushed on to Enos, only to find the city in chaos. The Troll fleet had arrived just a few hours earlier, but already their forces were razing the city. Prince Yorgos, having returned from the Savannah, had raised the ancestors of the empire to defend their children. The adventurers cut a bloody path through the dead, but could do little to stop the rampaging Trolls. With the Kullasi army gaining on their position, the Thulian forces prepared themselves to fight a final battle against the background of destruction.

The adventurers, meanwhile, joined with Troglodyte rebels to move to Amon Tor's capital and strike their enemy one last, killing blow.

So it was that the servants of Voras fell. The planting of an experimental explosive device destroyed the Great Pyramid, sending a rain of bricks and stones smashing through the neighbouring cities of Polykarpos and Nekropolis. Prince Yorgos gathered the faithful for one final act of defiance, while Amon Tor turned to his dark magics to win the day. Still the adventurers thwarted their efforts, sending them reeling to the Maw of the Wyrm.

Here, amid the grand temple of Voras, the adventurers of the Golden Grain fought to end the war once and for all. No quarter was asked and none was given, the dead prophets bodies ripped to shreds and scattered to the winds. As the remaining armies of Amon Tor descended on their position, the adventurers escaped through the Maw, returning to the Great Savannah, and the safety of their own lines.

With the enemy leaders dead and their empire devastated, it would seem the worst of the war is over. Yet Amonian troops still lie scattered across the plains, lives uprooted by the war have yet to find peace, and the consequences of this conflict looks set to be carried down through the ages.

Now the adventurers have time to relax and celebrate, for Fort Petronia is safe again...

But for how long? 

Amon War 2: Retaliation!

The lands around Fort Petronia have been secured, but the adventurers have not come through the battles unscathed. Many have fallen before the relentless armies of Amon Tor; and so it was with heavy hearts that the adventurers set out to take the fight to the enemy.

Heading east across the Troll Isles, the adventurers called to the Jarls, Thanes, and Forge-Twisters of the Thyngsburg to join them in their crusade. While minions of Amon Tor sought to prevent this union, the adventurers quickly exposed these snakes in the grass. The Trolls rallied to the invocation of ancient oaths and swore to fight by the adventurers' sides. 

Beyond the Isles, further plans were put in place. Some thousand Thulian legionaries and comparable numbers of Vulcasauri warriors assembled to strike at the very heart of the empire. Their mission; to draw the attention of Amon Tor back to his own lands, forcing him to pull his elite troops away from the Savannah and its strained defenders. 

The initial assaults have proven successful. Amon Tor's western defences have been overcome. Contact has been established with insurgents ready to rise against the empire from within. Key personnel have been imprisoned and executed. The strike-force has even moved to take the city of Thalimani, western gate-way to the imperium.

Yet war rarely runs smoothly. The military forces of Thalimani have gone to ground, preparing to fight a guerilla war against the invading army. The cities of Enos and Kullasi have both sent forces to liberate their neighbour. Biological warfare threatens to weaken the Vulcasauri forces, and the legionaries are disappearing for reasons unknown. 

Until these matters are resolved, Amon Tor has little reason to slow his assault of the Great Savannah. Thulian victory is anything but certain, but if anyone can prevail against such odds, it is the adventurers of the Golden Grain!

Amon WAR!

Wells have been poisoned. The Palaces of Praesidium and Magistrates have come under attack. Enemy agents have been whittling down a hit-list of key individuals. Fires have spread panic through the city. All lines of communication with Magna Thule have been cut. A naval blockade prevents both reinforcement and escape.

Amon Tor has declared war on Fort Petronia.

Amon Tor's forces were quick to take advantage of the chaos. A swarm of tar-beasts flooded through Arvum, while a circle of arcane stones allowed for the materialisation of troops right outside Fort Petronia. 

The adventurers of the Golden Grain were quick to respond. Travelling to Arvum, they found and destroyed the monolith animating the tar. Outside of Petronia, they met the champion Theodulous in battle and halted the advance of his troops; albeit at great cost.

With the first wave repelled, Fort Petronia has begun preparing for the coming months. The laisaurs of the Vulcasauri lands and Tetlco have declared their allegiance with Thule, as have the troglodytes of Drak'hod Sruth. The adventurers are attempting to bring others into the conflict, while at the same time continuing the fight against tyranny. 

Will the adventurers prevail? Or will Amon Tor extend his rule across the whole continent? Only time will tell...

Photos!

The last Sunday of the 'Spring' term saw the usual array of missions. As the Troglodyte army descended upon the forces of Amon Tor, the adventurers moved against the Kharn to take control of the army for themselves. Meanwhile, others set out to destroy Amon Tor's new war machines, rescue some resistance spies holed up in the path of enemy forces, assassinate the Amonian general, and mop up the rest of the besiegers as their leaderless army fell apart. 

All in a days work for the adventurers of the Golden Grain!

Here are some photos of all the excitement, adventure, and deeply erratic weather!

The Story So Far...

Chapter 1: Signs and Solutions

A routine patrol of Fort Petronia's defenses found one of the adventurers dead in a ditch. Search parties revealed more bodies, dead but walking. Hasty investigations led to an unavoidable conclusion; the Adventurers of the Golden Grain had fallen to the Abyss. Petronia had lost its finest protection against the rot in the world.

A state of emergency was declared. A call went out for new recruits to take the adventurers' place.

Heroes from across Kairos rallied to the city's aid. They rose to the challenge of replacing their fallen predecessors, protecting Petronia from the Abyss as the lengthening shadows closed in around it. The fate of the old adventurers was soon revealed, the secret golden city in which they met their fate exposed to the world. The state of peace built over the past decade was upheld as the new adventurers came to the aid of neighboring laisaur and troglodyte alike. This diplomacy gave swift rewards, for at the darkest hour of the winter, allies from across Nova Thule came to save Fort Petronia from the demons of the void.

Chapter 2: Tour of Duty

As the start of spring saw the grain sown, the adventurers planned how to take best advantage of this season of respite. They set off to the south, to aid the people of Arvum in founding a new Colony. The people of Arvum, descendants of Thulian colonists themselves, held little faith in these uninvited imperialists; but the adventurers eventually won their favor by lifting the curse that had for so long dogged their land.

With the colony established, the adventurers turned their eyes still further south. Beyond the mountains, at the heart of the continent, lies the Axial Frontier; a wall of ice patrolled by hostile reptiles. The Narga had brought much death to the troglodytes of the highlands, and the adventurers sought to protect the hill-folk in the most final way possible, by wiping the frost-laisaur from the face of Kairos. 

To this end they conspired with the leader of a growing Ogre war-band. Thorgrahl Khan was gathering all the troglodytes he could find to wage war on the southern Narga. He and the adventurers found themselves with common purpose, and marched across the Great Savannah to swell their ranks. They headed towards the Pillar of Infinity, an ancient tower containing the souls of generations of troglodyte dead. The armies of Amon Tor laid siege to the Pillar, so the ever increasing army marched hard across the plains, to save their kin before they fell.

As the army approached the Pillar, the alliance between the Kharn and the adventurers broke down. Opinions and personalities clashed, with the eventual outcome of the adventurers killing the Kharn and taking control of the army for themselves. They marched upon the Pillar, sent the forces of Amon Tor fleeing back to their empire, and liberated the Pillar of Infinity.

Now, after basking in the adulation of those they had rescued, the adventurers are heading home...

And everyone Else...

We finish this series of posts exploring the setting by taking a brief glance at some of the more peripheral powers of Kairos.

Luxantium

Known as the Jewel of the World, Luxantium was a nation of splendor and riches. Numerous city states thrived amid a beautiful, brooding landscape. Rolling lowlands were covered in tangled forests, and though the dangers of the Abyss were ever-present, they were held in place by heroic units of men-at-arms that allowed the people to prosper from this fertile countryside.

This flat and gentle terrain proved to be Luxantium's downfall. A vast, burning wave swept in from the sea, and there was nothing to break the tsunami as it raged across the empire. Now Luxantium exists only in the nostalgic memories of those fortunate enough to escape the cataclysm.

The Gedrosi Territories 

The highlands to the west of Luxantium escaped the disaster. As the hills rise into mountains, life becomes ever more harsh. Serfs scratch a living from barren soil, while the aristocracy of the land steal the fruits of their labour.

Anyone with the power and ambition to do so can claim noble birth. This self-proclaimed elite vie against each other for dominance, but few can compare to the Gedrosi family themselves. The Gedrosi have held control for centuries, inspiring fear in peasants and nobles alike, and crushing all who oppose them.

Amon Tor 

As Magna Thule has spread its influence across the sea, it has come into conflict with various other peoples. More than any other, the empire of Amon Tor stands directly opposed to Thulian life. While the faith of Acacius teaches that the land may be tamed, Amon Tor preaches that to tame the land is to leave it desolate and dead. It is said that Amon Tor worships the Abyss in the form of the Snake-God Voras, the Divine Wyrm that lurks within Kairos itself. 

The Abyss!

We would be remiss not to mention the Abyss.

Some say humans named the world Kairos after an ancient god of perfection. Perhaps this was a cruel joke, or perhaps that god cursed the planet for attempting to steal its glory; either way, the world has fallen far from the ideal.

Humanity hides in its cities as demons batter against the doors. Mud-folk offer sacrifice to the shadows in the hope that they will be spared. Reptiles breed at a tremendous rate, hoping that some will survive long enough to spawn a new generation. Only through such means can life hope to escape the rot in the world. The rot that pulls the dead from their graves to devour the living. The rot that sees mud and rock take the mocking forms of humanity. The rot that lets plants drag down their prey with ravenous thorns. The rot of the Abyss of the Void.

The Reptilianoids!

Predators stalking through uncut fields. Squamous traders of exotic jewels. The lure of lost and ruined ziggurats. The exotic appeal of unknown gods. 

The Narga bask in the forgotten places, shunned by a world that now favours mammals. 

 

Reptilian hunters float serenely on the swamps of Ketlaco, pitied by those in the tree-houses above who despair at their less sophisticated cousins. The Rexes of the Savannah and the eastern fire-lands send envoys to humans and mud-folk alike, attempting to bring peace to their time. In the mountains feathered terror-birds run rapid raids, while the glaciers beyond are patrolled by descendants of a far older hatching. Warriors slink through the waters of the Ayotol Archipelago, fearful of the drums that begin the Troll's march to war. 

The Narga are as varied in shape as they are in culture. There are some that could almost pass as human, were it not for their scales and claws. Others look more like wild beasts, sporting frills and spines and bony hides. It is said that some are bred solely for war; rumours abound of hulking monstrosities that can barely speak, yet may level buildings without breaking their stride.

The Mud-Folk!

Looming shadows in painted caves. Effigies of wood and wicker. Wild dances to demon gods. Cannibal feasts of family flesh.

These are the ways of the Mud-Folk; beasts of tangled fur and inhuman shape.

Across the Savannah of Nova Thule, migrating Sasquatch live alongside the smilodons and triceratops herds. Shamans gather in ancient burial grounds to harvest the souls of the dead. The songs of Scraelings ring through the hills, and squalid Olids wrap themselves in filth to escape the wrath of the world. On the Striol Sea, Dragon-ships prowl through unnatural mists, carrying Troll war-bands to raids and riches. Mountain Ogres perform savage rites, wearing the hides of wild beasts to steal their strength and speed.

Humans call these varied cultures troglodytes. Crafts-folk shape metals and jewels into delicate works rivaling those of any human artisans. Druids hold ancient learnings in cyclopean, drystone temples. They venerate their ancestors with cannibalistic rites, and worship gods of darkness and shadow.  They slink through the wilderness by offering bloody tribute to its demons, and embody everything that people fear about the untouched places of the world.

Magna Thule!

Age of Iron gives you a basic introduction to the game, but to find out more you'll need to take a look at our culture briefs. First of these is The Land Of The Free, guide to the humble heroes of Magna Thule.

There was a time when humanity cowered in fear before the abyss. They locked themselves into their cities and prayed that the demons would not find a way to rise within. They grew weak with fear and desperation, and their weakness bred bitter malice in their hearts.

Then the Swineherd Acacius came to the city of Calidon. He gathered those few who still had strength of spirit, and with these adventurers he waged war against the darkness. He cleansed the land of the abyss, and scattered his sanctifying grain where the demons fell. The grain grew, purging the blight in the soil, and Acacius fed the people with both food and hope. They rose up against the tyrants that had for so long exploited their fear, and followed Acacius into a new age of hope and enlightenment.

Now Calidon stands at the heart of the proud nation of Magna Thule, welcoming  all who would seek freedom and independence. Those adventurers that stood by the Swineherd have long since joined him in the heavens, taking their place as saints beside their King and God. Yet demons still crawl through the wild places in the world, and there is always a need for fresh adventurers to stand against the night.