"After we failed to conquer the Bandit Kingdom, having come so close, we suffered a crisis of confidence in the Empire. Ruthlessly exploited by our enemies, this reached the height of its folly when we put on trial our greatest leaders whilst our people rebelled and our ancient foes swept into our homelands. Men prattled foolishly of ‘Change’. All that stops right now. I am back. SARAN is back. Together we will defeat the Bandits, pacify the rebels, conquer the famine. Together we are strong. With the power of SARAN, defeatism, hunger, madness, Change shall we overcome!"
(Arril I, Emperor of Valdrea; from a speech to the people of Valdran, 4 IX 2501)
"I represent Change back to what went before."
(Blue, Apostle of Restorative Change)
"Those who follow Me, they shall be favoured. Those who oppose Me, they shall be Destroyed."
(From the Creed of LOFIR)
"Change takes three basic forms: Creation, Transmutation, and Destruction."
(Green, Apostle of Change; to students in Bjarmigen)
"Our people too must eat! We are strong! We deserve to survive! We shall take the food we need from those who are weak! The dead do not need to eat!"
(Krell McAndar, Warlord of the Badlander Clans; from a speech to the Clanmeet at Horning Crags, 15 IX 2501)
"In a crisis, one must adapt to survive."
(Indigo, Apostle of Consequential Change)
The Rainbow Court announced its verdict on the morning of the 3rd Lastra. The Judges found as follows: on the charge of friendly relations with Binders: Not Guilty, 6:2: on the charge of complicity in the Summoning of Angels: Not Guilty, 5:3. All the accused were therefore acquitted on both counts.
Before they had left the courtroom, the Emperor Arril challenged Stirros III for the Directorship of the I.D.S. The Duel would take place in a week’s time; on the 9th. If Arril won he would have to forfeit the Emperorship to his heir, as the Emperor may not hold another high office.
Arril’s first act upon resuming the Lion Throne was to take back personal command of the Imperial Army. Deputy Marshal Fastin, 3rd Champion of Gytrasan and Lord Warden of the Western Military District Lamius, 5th Champion of Gytrasan were summoned back to Valdran, to attend before the Privy Council and explain the disastrous misconduct of the war during the period of the trial. Lord Marshal Tindral, Champion of Gytrasan was charged with organising all available forces of Central / Eastern Provinces origin into 3 armies: the Army of Valdran; mustering outside the capital, the Army of the North; mustering at Kelno, and the Army of the South; mustering at Melidor. Arril expressly forbade any further major conscription. In addition, a large number of troops were to be kept on Border Patrol and Internal Security duties.
Arril’s second act was to appoint Valimus, 4th Champion of Tarm, as Director of the Imperial Food Supply, the new designation of Imperial status upon the office signifying the importance in which it was now held. Valimus’ first act in his new office was to impose food rationing, with immediate effect. The Empire would take direct control of all food, requisitioning all granaries and stores, and would supervise the autumn harvest. The rations were to be the same for all Citizens, irrespective of Social Class, the only exception being soldiers on active duty against the Bandits. In practice, given the present military situation, the rationing policy could only be enforced in the Central and Eastern Provinces. A further large number of troops were assigned to Valimus, and Tindral was charged with mustering them.
But at the same time as Arril was retaking control in Valdran, the citizens were rebelling in the Western Provincial towns of Torel and Sendor. The riots in Sendor were quelled, but parts of Torel stayed under rebel control.
On the 4th Lastra Arril announced with pleasure the full recovery of SARAN from the weakening She had suffered in the Battle of the Temple of Peace on Earth in Rockholme last Jerem. At the same time Her Clerics announced a further increase in Her Clerical Power.
Also on the 4th rebellion broke out in Shoderon, second town of Gamart Province, and considered by strategists to be the gateway to the Central Provinces. The rising succeeded, and the town was declared free by rebels and mutinous troops. Meanwhile, rebellion was spreading like wildfire across High Yarmen Province, following King Zergal’s arrival in the rebel-held town of Geyorl, to recruit further cavalry for his raiding army.
On the 5th General Salax headed South out of Tessar, down the Torel road, leaving a garrison in Tessar, and taking a sizeable Kavaleri and Western rebel force with him. His destination was Torel, principal city of the South Western Empire.
On the 6th Lastra the full recovery of SHELDA from the weakening She had taken at Rockholme was announced by Her Clerics, together with Her return to full Clerical power.
Rioting continued in Torel Province, but in Basren, second town of High Yarmen Province, an uprising was quelled.
That night Arril led the Imperial Guard against the I.D.S. Headquarters and Stirros’ house, claiming Stirros had tried to assassinate him, but he had killed the assassin (whose body was never produced), and ordering the Director’s arrest. The I.D.S. Building was occupied without resistance, but Stirros had disappeared. Stirros was declared outlaw, and a reward of 10,000GP offered for him, alive or dead. Next morning, 7 Lastra, the Privy Council approved the Emperor’s proposals to make the I.D.S. more "accountable". The Imperial Secret Service was put in charge of the I.D.S., with the backing of the Imperial Guard, 55 prisoners were released (some of whom had been held for years without trial), and Kalar of Tarm, 2nd Champion, was appointed Director of the I.S.S., and "ex officio" Acting Director of the I.D.S.
That same morning Zergal and his cavalry army marched out of Geyorl, rested, reinforced, and ready to rejoin the fray.
Rebellion in the Province of Rilvar was quelled, as was a rising on the 9th in Kelro, second town of that Province.
On the night of the 9th the small fortified town of Cieri, in Iscar Province, on the left bank of the River Yarmen, fell to a small force of Zergal’s advance scouting cavalry, under Rhabka the Beast. The survivors of the defending troops were massacred, but the townsfolk were mostly spared.
On the 11th there were riots in Mehgrin, in Torel Province, and in Kanaya, capital of Gap Province. On the 12th a rebellion in Dynor, capital of Dynor Province, was quelled by loyalist troops.
Also on the 12th General Falgar, marching down the Military Road from West Post (now Ralania) that leads eventually to Valdran, reached the point where the road leaves the river to cut across country to Yarmena. Across the other side of the river, reached by a bridge, lay Shoderon, rebel-held since the 4th. The town extended a cautious welcome to the Kavaleri, and Falgar sent Lieutenant Horm and a bodyguard to ride into the town, where they were received hospitably.
On the 13th Lastra the Church of ESCUS announced the full recovery of ESCUS from the weakening He had suffered in Rockholme.
By the 13th Lord Marshal Tindral had mustered the three great Valdrean Armies. Arril himself and the Lord Warden of the Central Military District, Firanor Champion of Satril, now took command of the Army of Valdran. Tindral and the Lord Warden of the Northern Military District, Hugran 3rd Champion of Tarm and Imperial Weaponmaster, took command of the Army of the North, and Deputy Marshal Glaryv 4th Champion of Gytrasan and the Lord Warden of the Southern Military District, Dentras Champion of Aven, took command of the Army of the South.
But on that same day a military threat to the Empire potentially even more serious than the Bandit invasion was building up. The Badlander Clans were gathering in a great Clanmeet beneath Horning Crags, out on the edge of the Wilderness in the North-Western Gap. Conservative estimates put their numbers at 24,000 men, women and children: of whom 16,000 are reckoned to be non-combatants and 8,000 warrior men and women, composed of light infantry, light cavalry, and the elite hippogriff cavalry, the Children of AMON, who feast on the blood of their vanquished foes. More panicky estimates number the Clansmen at 100,000 plus. The Clans are in desperate need of food, which they believe the Empire has in plenty. They can see that the Empire has been half overrun by the Kavaleri, and appears weak. Previously, the Clans had been pre-occupied with their own differences, but now they agreed a season’s truce, until the first day of Winter. Together for the first time in history, they would invade the Empire to secure food for their people. Having reached this unprecedented total unanimity, the Clans’ next step was to elect a Warlord from amongst the Clan Chiefs. In this they had much greater difficulty. The traditional method is by duel, but if a Chief were to be killed his or her Clan would return home, and they could not afford to lose whole Clans.
Meanwhile in Gap Province the rioting continued, the people still being unaware of the threat mounting to the North West.
Famine was by now affecting the denizens of the Northern Wastelands too. Goblins and wargs, regular winter raiders into the Northern parts of the Kingdom of the North, were migrating Southwards in unprecedented numbers, in late Summer. The men of the North were mobilised to meet them.
On the 14th Deputy Marshal Glaryv at the head of the Army of the South rode out of Melidor, heading North West up the River Rilvar.
That same day Zergal’s vanguard cavalry arrived outside Yarmena. Yarmena is one of the major cities of the Empire, a key point in the defences of the Central Provinces, and was strongly garrisoned. Valdrean cavalry rode out to harry the Kavaleri, and several volleys of arrows were exchanged.
Also on the 14th Lord Protector of the North, Harrek, Duke of Grinen announced the birth the previous day of a son and heir, to his wife, Sabrina, and himself. The child’s name is Peter.
On the 15th Lastra the Clans finally agreed that their Warlord should be the Chief of the largest Clan; Krell McAndar of Clan Andar. The remaining opposition was silenced when Krell defeated the leader of the rival faction in a wrestling match.
The Kavaleri scouts outside Yarmena now numbered several hundred. The Beast proceeded to lay a contemptuous siege around the city. Under a flag of truce, his emissaries offered terms of surrender. On being refused, Rhabka’s reply was "Remember Fort Kostof!"
On the 16th Krell McAndar led the Clans around the North of Horning Crags, and East towards the junction of the Rivers Nivran and Midro. From there they could strike into either Gap or Midro Provinces, or on across Caldrick Moor towards Garf Lea. Valdrean troops in the area were already retreating to the line of the Nivran.
King Zergal and his main cavalry army reached Yarmena on the 16th. The Kavaleri now numbered some 2,000 cavalry, who laid a proper siege to the city. But Yarmena had a loyal garrison of 3,000 men, including 1,000 of Fastin’s former force, and was strongly fortified. Zergal could not hope to take it with his present force, and had therefore reluctantly to await the arrival of Falgar with the infantry. But Arril and the massive Army of Valdran were also now on their way to Yarmena, and somewhere to the North East was Tindral with the Army of the North.
About now rumours first began to circulate that LOFIR, formerly Goddess of Destruction, had returned to life, and (more incredibly) that She was allied with WAGREN, Who is generally considered to have been Her murderer. Subsequently, both SARAN and FIDAR confirmed in Communes that these rumours were true, but that LOFIR was weak, and without Clerical power.
On the 17th Zergal challenged the commander of Yarmena to a decision by single combat, but was refused.
His wide-ranging cavalry scouts had by now penetrated almost to the mouth of the River Yarmen, where it debouches into Lake Zarak, but here they encountered large numbers of screening Valdrean cavalry, and were forced to withdraw. On the 18th the scouts reached the shore of Lake Zarak, further South, but they had still not located the Army of Valdran.
Meanwhile a rebellion in Rilvar, capital of Rilvar Province, was ruthlessly crushed.
That afternoon General Salax reached Torel, and found it strongly held by 2,000 loyalist troops, although parts were still rebel held. Salax drew up his forces before the town, and (as he had expected) it rebelled again that night. But the defending troops gained the upper hand. Salax now came to the rebels’ aid. With 2,500 rebels he had a total of 6,250 men. The battle was bitterly fought from street to street, and raged on until past dawn of the 19th. Eventually the Kavaleri and rebels wore the defenders down, causing them more casualties than they were taking themselves. The remaining defenders broke and fled, leaving Salax and the rebels in occupation of a somewhat devastated Torel. The fall of this, the second fortress-city of the Western Provinces, gave the Kavaleri and Western rebels effective control of the whole of the Southern half of the Western Provinces, and Valdrean control of the Northern half was looking distinctly shaky.
Meanwhile, Horm and Falgar’s vanguard cavalry joined the siege of Yarmena on the 19th. Falgar and the infantry were two days behind him.
By the 20th the Valdrean cavalry screen was advancing up the Yarmen, Zergal’s scouts falling back before it. The cavalry were shielding Arril’s Army of Valdran, thousands strong, and now only 150 miles from Yarmena.
On the 21st Lastra Falgar at last reached Yarmena, and the two main forces of Zergal’s army were joined for the first time since they left Fort Kostof. Zergal now had 8,900 men to 3,000, but the defenders were behind a strong set of city walls, and Arril was now a week’s march from Yarmena.
On the 22nd a rebellion in Iscar Province was quelled. On the 23rd areas of Greenwoods Province seceded.
On the morning of the 23rd Zergal announced to his troops the news of Salax’s capture of Torel. The Kavaleri responded with a resounding cheer, and Zergal now ordered them into the attack, saying that they could not let Salax show them up. Although it appeared spontaneous, Zergal’s assault was in fact carefully planned, and supported by Balrogs and adventurers. But the Valdreans had adventurers too, including a few Men of Heaven. Zergal’s strategy of assaulting in several places spread the defenders thinly, and the Kavaleri breached the walls in two places. Falgar, with Balrog support, seized a sizeable enclave of the city, but, threatened now by the Valdrean reserves, and all their own reserves committed, the Kavaleri withdrew.
Zergal launched a second, all-out, assault at dawn of the 24th. This time he reinforced Falgar, and the battle moved inside the city. A final stand in the Citadel and Temple of SARAN was overwhelmed by the sheer impetus of the victorious attackers, and Yarmena fell, with Arril and 3,000 Valdrean cavalry now only 50 miles away.
Zergal retreated from Yarmena at dawn of the 25th. Arril reoccupied it that evening. He found the city looted and in flames. On the city walls, facing East, there was written in blood, "Remember Fort Kostof!"
© P.R. Wild, 11 July 1987
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