Famous Wars of the Third Age

This is the name of the era of wars and battles between the Otkorioni advancing from Lankst and the trolls that occupied Otkorion at the time. The battles were long, drawn out, bloody and only individual families list individal battles as there were so many of them.

The second of the wars against the Uz as the remaining families that were to eventually migrate to Otkorion flooded south when the plague struck. With more barbarian immigrants there was more bloodshed, and more battles.

On the orders of one of the Daka (a troll aide to the Dark Council of Guhan) a huge horde of trollkin gathered and were herded into mid-Otkorion with the purpose being to force the new residents back into Lankst.

The enlo poured from the Poldark forest and into the new settlements inflicting heavy damages to the villages and steads there. They were "defeated" at Ainsbury when a Ralian Priestess managed to use food stock pillaged from the Safelstrans to lead the horde towards the Felster - it was easier to battle the Safelstrans than it was the enlo.

The families Deokirk and Phraman both sent people to live at Firheath, when trollish Khalbethi mounted an attack on western Otkorion to win favour with the Uz. Firheath was the first place they came to. Out of the 180 residents at Firheath, only four survived, and they were the victors for the trolls lay dead. The survivors formed the Stormhearth, a military unit that exists even in modern times.

This minor war took place on the borders of Lalia and the Poldark forest. The Otkorioni there were massacred over seven years and no amount of reinforcements helped. The Poldark has never since been reclaimed by humans in it's entirety.

A problem with the Uz and humans in the north-west over the water supply they shared escalated into a wholesale war. While many died on both sides, there was no water supply left and no fertile land in the area for fifty years. Both sides consider it their own victory.

Uz lightning strikes plagued Otkorion over these years. This first saw the appearance of the Dark Hound sect of the Poldark forest.

With Jorstlandi aid building behind the Otkorioni, a few families called a Quest to drive the Uz back to Wonderhome and make sure they stayed there! A HeroQuest was made upon Subere to wound her, and Death Lords and Karrgs Sons were kidnapped or slain. The battles and raids were quite successful, but due to economic pressure the war was ended in 1188.

Here, at Gylehem, began the first battle between the Uz and the Josrtlandi. Eastern Ralian warriors and Otkorioni fought together against the Uz on the Lalian border. The attacks were unprovoked on the the trolls part, the Otkorioni were just wishing to demonstrate their new found strength.

The battle was a success, a full contingent of trols stationed in Lalia were slain, Karrg's Son defeated and the Uz were routed. The place of defeat was named Gylehem, or "Victory Spot".

Raids by Uz upon north eastern settlements in Lalia were met by heavy resistance by the Humathi living in the area. Battle broke out when forty or so Humathi were met by the Uz. The long and hard battle was won by the Uz when one of their Death Lords incarnated his god.

In retaliation for the Battle at Harad Falls, the Jorstlandi made raids into the Poldark, attempting to shatter the Zorak Zorani power base there. The battle was a sham, led by an inefficient leader and the trolls devastated the attacking force.

Zebra Hsunchen mercenaries hired by Naskori agents on the behalf of the Uz invaded eastern Otkorion for many weeks, splitting Otkorioni/Jorstlandi troops into fighting a war on two fronts. In late 1197 ST the Otkorioni tracked down their base in Vustria, lay siege and then invaded it - taking no prisoners.

Here began the three year crusade by the trolls against the Otkorioni. Their leader was a worshipper of the Hurler and stood a few times as tall as any normal troll. He defeated forty of the best warriors of Otkorion, and his name was Mythgor.

There were 24 battles against the troll Hero Mythgor in this period, mostly near the Poldark. Bands of up to seventy warriors were destroyed by Mythgor and his band of twenty assorted rune lords. He was slain by a Jorstlandi assassin in 1200 ST much to the distaste of the Otkorioni - a few Orlanthi warriors were said to even attend his funeral for he was fought to be such an honourable opponent.

Jorstlandi fortifications started to become very successful in defending against the Uz and when they tried to build a fourth fort the trolls attempted to sabotage it. Their attack was repelled with only minor losses to the Otkorioni/Jorstlandi.

In Western Otkorion is a place called Augurn Weth, a great stretch of highland. The Uz mounted a military invasion, coinciding with the domestic Turral Wars of Fiesive. A handful of families rallied together in defence of their homelands. Aghal Mac Erc called upon Hedkoranth and the Storm Host who arrived to defend them. The battle was long and bloody, although the trolls were repelled. No-one who died that day returned from the dead.

In retaliation for the death of the all the troll Dhugkhats at the hands of Agar Rawson, the trolls summoned a horde of ancient spirits and wraiths and sent them to smite their foes. The MacAba family, nearly decimated in the Turral Wars, were ordered by the insane king Ethlinn Brankist to defeat the force. Even though it was almost an execution order, the family went to battle. Unable to properly defend themselves from the ethereal spirits they were defeated, but not before they had banished enough of the wraiths and ghosts so that Jorstlandi magi were able to deal with the remainder.

With a new ruler of the Jorstlandi kingdom, it was decided that mediating peace was a better solution than war, During this period only die hard Uz and Otkorioni, dedicated to their religious beliefs, dared to break the treaty for it was very lucrative for both the Uz and the Jorstlandi (and, by their connection, the Orlanthi as well).

The era of peace ended with the Fall of the Jorstlandi Kingdom. The Otkorioni have forever after called this period "We Sold Our Hearts" for they believe it was by far the worst thing they could do, dealing with the trolls mean that many were condemned to Hell.

With the collapse of the treaty, the two sides were very uneasy with one another. The first to act was Baravar Caerbhaill, who raised an army and alked with the spirits.

Within three seasons he occupied much of northern Lalia with his encampments, subjugating the primitive native tribes and started shipping gold and iron back to his family. This rose his family to power.

A true war. Both sides raised enormous armies to claim and reclaim Lalian territory. There was lots of bloodshed, with thirteen pitched battles in all, notably the Battle of the Pegasauri, the Third River Bank, the Battle of Sorien and Rionethdag.

The end result was a lessened military force for both sides. Otkorion still laid claim to a large portion of the northern territories, and parts of the south. Lalian tribes managed to unite and gain one of their brief periods of freedom until they were eventually defeated by trolls.

A famous "grudge match" battle between the followers of a Death Lord and the followers of a Wind Lord. The Death Lord had slain the Orlanthi's family in the War of Blood at Sorien, so that is where they fought once more - for fourteen hours straight. Both rune lords were slain, but the Otkorioni were routed.

The trolls attempted to reclaim the Lalian lands. With a still recovering army, the Otkorioni were not able to win and pulled out of the territories before the attrition took its toll.

Flushed with success, the trolls attempted to advance into northern Otkorion and, by the year 1353 ST, were occupying a sizeable portion of land. They gathered their army for yet another push, and fought at the Salantia Forest. In the midst of the battle, six vampires appeared and slaughtered the Uz with powerful magics and used the power of the Forest itself. Then they vanished.

It has lonlg been postulated that an Otkorioni was dealing with the vampires for aid, and of course all of the families blame each other.

The Otkorioni surged back into their homelands. The trolls, suffering heavy losses from a war with Ballid, retreated over the course of two seasons.

Datha Deokirk was a Wind Lord and Sun Carl, and an associate priest of Mastakos. On a Visionquest with some Kolati Wind Eyes, he was empowered to start a war against the Uz in order to reclaim a powerful artifiact known as the Englestardt. The army of Datha penetrated as far as Arkamal in Guhan and a small group of Lightbringers entered the troll city, recovering the item. Datha, however, did not return.

A corrupot Otkorioni sorceror summoned a famine on his enemies in a family blood feud. The enemy family, a small blood line, had allies with the Uz and summoned them to battle. This blemish upon Otkorioni history is remembered as a warning for when the war began the Uz devoured both sides.

The House of the Dunmara, a Humakti House, began melees with the trolls in the Poldark as part of their training. The trolls eventually tired of this and summoned the top members of the House to combat at the Dunmara itself, a holy location to both Zorak Zoran and Humakt. There, they ambushed them. Casualties on both sides were high, but eventually the Humakti were routed.

This battle between Uz and Otkorioni broke out over the death of twelve trolls trying to get to Naskorion. Two armies were massed, casualties were low as neither side wanted to risk themselves and their slowly dwindling populations. Portions of southern Otkorion were lost, while a few of the tribes of Lalia and a small section of Helby (later sold back to Helby) were gained by the royal family of Fiesive.

This battle began when the Heads of the Family Deokirk and Cearbhaill elected to try to force the Guhani Uz away. The war lasted two years, and the Banami tribe of Lalia were nearly wiped out. At the climax of the war the two sides met in Abknath, in west Lankst, and the light of the Creator miraclously appeared abd wiped out the Uz. It was a sign of piety on behalf of the Otkorioni. The war ended after this, the Otkorioni being stunned by sauch divine intervention (incidentally, the war was harsh on many Fmaily Heads, and most were nearly voted out of power).

A stranger arrived from the east and this famous battle was led by him against another eastern foriegner who was heading a band of trolls, having allied with a 300 year old mistress race.

The battle was a battle of heroes. While the Otkorion forces died, they claim it as a victory as one of the troll deaths was the mistress race troll.

At this point the Uz were using strange, bizarre magics and a great barrier arose between Lalia and the lands of Lankst, Otkorion, Ballied and Helby. Any who tried to cross the barrier quickly got lost and appeared at a point in mid-Otkorion known as Lamwarker.

After ten years to the day, the barrier collapsed. The Uz, however, had grown in number.

A sect of trolls formed who utilized storm powers, some learnt, others stolen from the Storm Gods. They called themselves the Grunik-Takatak, the Coldstorm. They were brilliantly effective against Otkorioni forces in numerous skirmishes and raids - but never strayed far from Lalia. After just over two years, they stopped.

When the Coldstorm attacks stopped, a Sword named Jamie Longsword surmised, correctly, that the War of Coldstorm hasd been merely an attempt on the Uz's part to test the Coldstorm's effectiveness. He, and forty five heavily armoured soldiers of the Houses of Cearnlinthor and Wapensal, decided to make pre-emptive strike on Lalia where the Coldstorm were based. It was quick, and bloody, as Longsword chose to engage them in the Poldark forest where they were supposedly acting from. All they found was their own slaughter. However, their deaths did signal how dangerous the Coldstorm sect was.

The first Coldstorm army was 156 Uz travelling towards Valantia. They met in battle with the Royal Guard and a large force of Humakti from the Southern City. The Uz, however, summoned Anamaka who came and ruined the Orlanthi storm magics. The battle cost many lives, and when reduced to about half numbers the Uz decided they would not be able to penetrate Valantian borders and retreated, leaving a decimated Orlanthi army.

The Second Strike was the entire Coldstorm army making an attack on Fiesive. When the army of Otkorion met with them, they again incarnated Anamaka. However, this time the Otkorioni had prepared and had Galini allies and mercenaries to help force them back with the powers of Ehilm. The Coldstormers, whose magic was orientated against Storm Worshippers, were surprised by these unsuspecting allies and took heavy losses.

Anaples Creek is in Lalia. Here a band of twenty or so adventurers, led by a Goldentongue worshippers called Anaples stopped at the creek. One of the Dark Council's Hags was travelling to meet the Dark King of Lalia, and encountered them. A battle broke out, followed by a retreat by the adventurers when the hag summoned a River Spear Serpent, eamsuring 13 metres long and clad in black carpace. The adventurers, however, kept hunting the Hags forces in a series of well laid ambushes, and after fours days even slew the hag herself.

Aided by Rokari refugees from Seshnela, the Otkorioni merchant house "Storm Tavellers" decided to raid the Dark Kings gold stores in deepest Lalia where allt he gold that the trolls don't need is kept. To reach the gold stores they passed across Coppers Field, where the Dark King sent troops to battle against them. The Otkorioni took the day, but were repelled at the actual gold stores themselves.

After Ulianus took most of the Safelster, including Valantia, he plotted to take Guhan (something even the God Learners had not succeeded in doing). With a plan in mind, he invaded on 1463 - a Rokari army was supposed to march through Arolanit and take Guhan from the south, an army from Col was to march through Southern Lalia and an army from Valantia to march through central Lalia.

The Seshnelan force were waylaid in Arolanit - the Brithini hampered their passge. The arny was not willing to get into military conflict with the hordes of deadly Horali, and it took three seasons before they eventually arrived at the Ivory City in southern Guhan. They fought for less than a week, and without support from the other armies they were forced to retreat back through Holut. The second army, from Col, spent two seasons making slow, laborious progress through the Uzgor Hills trying to reach Uzgot, a city in Guhan. None returned.

The Valantia force was meant to travel straight through Lalia, but met with fierce resistance as they were nearing Guhan, including the Shadowbowl - a magical effect summoned by the Dark King of Lalia. They managed to barely break through, but were trapped between troll forces in Lalia and troll forces between them and their destination of the troll city of Arkamal. Slowly, as they made their way through the Uzgor hills, they were pushed north towards Ballid whilst being attacked by trolls in a continual war of attrition. Eventually they were forced into Ballid, where the Aldryami took great offense to their presence and alid waste to the army. The survivors fled west, escaping along the border of the Erontree with trolls on one side and Aldryami on the other. The scant few to live apparently escaped into Fronela, never to return.

It was a great defeat.

Abbot Fairhair was a very racially prejudiced Seshnelan from Tanisor, who despised all non-humans with an overpowering passion, denouncing them all as servants of the Devil. When he was moved from Tortun to southern Otkorion to aid in religious purity as Abbot of Valantia, he also pushed for the Seshnelan invaders to try and take Lalia, drive out the Krjalki trolls and save the Lalian tribes.

After two years of campaigning, Fairhair even had support from occupied Valantia. The invasion began in 1483, and the Rokari, led by Valast Tristan of the House of Pauillion, aided by three Houses of St. Humakt, managed to force back asnd release many of the southern tribes of Lalia from troll control. Once saved, they were promptly enslaved by the Rokari in the name of Seshnela.

The Banami tribe retreated to the Dark Kings stronghold, bolstering defenses to make it impossible for the Rokari to mount an effective military campaign against them.

For five years Abbot Fairhair kept control of southern Lalia, even converting one tribe to the worship of the Invisible God (albeit in a somewhat bastardised form). However, when Fairhair died in 1487, support waned and the Dark King readied for war. The occupying Valantians decided to retreat, rather than face a prolonged war in Lalia for something they didn't feel they needed.

The trolls returned, and promptly enslaved the Lalians again.

This period of time was, until the time that the Seshnelans left, publically thought of as a period of uneasy raids between Lalia and Otkorion. In reality the Dark King of Lalia secretly dealt with the Seshnelam rulers, paying them to stay away from Lalia for he was having trouble with the Dark Council of Guhan and didn't wish to be at war at the same time. The two sides kept sending raiding parties into the others lands, inflicting no real damage, but helping keep the populaces happy.

In 1506 ST, the Dark King made no agreements with the Dark Council, and decided to stop paying for peace. These secret deals were not made public until 1512 ST after the Seshnelans had left.

After many years of a quite, uneasy lack of war the paranoia of the Thanatari Heresy resulted in the Inquisition "locating" twenty three temples to the Severed God in Lalia and Guhan, citing that either the trolls were actually behind the Thanatari or the Thanatari were manipulating the trolls.

The Purge was carried out by the fanatics of Urox, and because they were raids into Lalia, as oppossed to battles and a war for domination of land they were uniformly successful.

Out of the 23 sites of supposed Thanatari Heresy dominance, only one actually contained any Thanatari, and at a quarter of the estimated size.

Supposedly outraged at the idea that trolls could be influenced by chaos, a small troupe of highly skilled trolls marched into southern Otkorion, plundering as they headed towards Valantia.

At Valantia a group of Arkati (later executed for treason) were secretly aiding the Uz and teleported them into the city. Here they found the High Priest of Lhankor Mhy, revealed him to be a Thanatari,and slew him. The trolls, however, did not manage to escape after that.

This battle took place when a group of Humakti returned from the Six Stones Rite HeroQuest to find their temple devastatd. With dvination magics they discovered it to have been vanquished by the trolls. Summoning one of the Temporal Incarnations of Humakt to their side they engaged the returning Uz at Synhelm, beheading each of them with a single stroke.

This was a noted war, the second to last before the modern era. The Dulkenwaeld was a war between the Red Circle and the Uz of Black Arkat. Stationed in Lalia, they set up an enormous dweomer that cast Lalia into perpetual night and summoned up two demons from beneath the Firestorm Plains in northern Lalia. Armies massed either side of the Lalian border and remained so for two seasons.

The very uneasy peace was shattered when Arkati troll HeroQuesters stole the Ring of the Red Circle and escaped into Lalia. Here they used its powers to open portals to Hell. Outraged, the Red Circle convinced Fiesive to begin a war which, through the mutual defence treaties with Valantia, pulled the whole of Otkorion into war.

It last five years, parties from Otkorion would make forays into Lalia, while the Black Arkati consolidated their powers - calling upon demons and all sorts of Otherworldly powers. Eeventually, nearing the end of 1531, after the palle of Poldarksal, the Dark King had some form of disagreement with the Black Arkati and a full one third of them were exiled from Lalia or slain by the Dark King. Apparently they were summoning demons that were the Dark King's own and using them to attack his power base. Otkorioni troops flooded into eastern Lalia as their power faltered.

A Priestess of Nakala, that most awesome and fearsome of mystical gods, came to meet with the Dark King and order him to allow the Arkati to continue their work. The Dark King struck the priestess down and sent his soul back to the Dark Council of Guhan telling them to remove all of the Arkati. If they wanted Otkorion, he said, the Council would wiat for him to conqueor it!

With the prospect of a troll civil war, the Orlanthi pushed harder, routhing trolls and reclaiming lost land. At the height of troubles between the Dark Council and the Dark King, the Red Circle sent a HeroQuesting party who recovered the Ring. Notably, Noron Halifar was amongst them - he still stands on the Inner Circle of the Red Circle today. With the Arkati losing their major tool for defeating the Otkorioni, the Dark Council decided that it was not worth having a civil war so that they could fight a war with Otkorion, when the outcome of that war would be far from certain. The Black Arkati were withdrawn. Ever since, Guhan has felt it unwise to try and take Otkorion, leaving it instead to the Dark King to claim it for them.

Renegade Arkati from Guhan tried to escape east, fleeing as fast as possible through Otkorion. However, as they closed near Dearan in northern Otkorion, they were met by the Liotcolm soldiers of Fiesive. Here they were slaughtered with minimal losses to the humans.

A group of powerful Orlanthi from Vanifral Fort in mid-Otkorion decided that, as the Dark King was still recovering from the Dulkenwaeld they would find Lalian defenses at their lowest. They raided Lalia for plunder and livestock, as well as the odd slave, for two years.

The Dark King retaliated against Vanifral, never forgetting the raids. The fall of the fort took but one night, the trolls poisoned the warer supply with darkness, and froze the walls with frost, then called upon an ice demon who slew the ruler. They then left it, each body with the head removed, as a sign of the Dark Kings power.

Not so much a war as a concurrent series of battles. The BlueBlades were a mercenary organisation from Holut, they knew many powerful magical arts, especailly water magics. They set up in Otkorion, investing a large amount of monet in ensuring they had a reasonable influence in the area. They came into conflict with another mercenary group and were forced to move west, towards Lalia. They came too close to the Uz hunting grounds, and the increasingly paranoid Dark King took offense. He sent twenty three Dacknada (Warriors of the Underworld - crack fighters in the service of Subere) to force them to flee.

There were three battles between the Uz and the Blueblades, as the two fought for dominance. A member of the Holuti BlueBlades came to talk with them. In the end he cut a deal with the Uz, he'd work for them in return for safety. A contigent of Blueblades removed in Lalia until the early 1570's.

The Dark King of Lalia attempted to get supplies from supporters in Borin. The passage through Otkorion angered the Orlanthi and Gorias Bov Rua - a noble at the time - attempted to gain power and standing by planning an attack upon Lalia to regain the supplies. He had a few allies, but managed to requisition the serives of a large group of Tnapi Sheep Hsunchen from Vustria. With their aid, Gorias attacked Lalis, plundering it heavily.

While Gorias never regained the supply train (a pipe dream in anybodys eyes) he did gain his fame and reknown. The Dark King took damage to his reputation, in retaliation he had Gorias and numerous members of his family killed by enlo assassins. The military campaign was called Anagoramith, darktongue for Assassination.

With the budding forces of the numerous Henotheistic sects of Malkionism many of these sects wished ot demonstrate their true value to the Creator and to ratify their claims to the Malkioni way.

The Church of Singing True Storm managed to gain a petition through King Maran II's Iron Council to get funding to attack northern Lalian tribes. This would have been nice if trolls actually had enslaved the northern tribes at that time, but military intelligence was not the Orlanthi's strong point.

The Church committed itself to a Crusade, calling upon Malkioni Saints to protect them in their holy war. When the priests realised that they had not been answered and there was no Crusade, they did not tell their followers and continued with the attack anyhow. The Rafali and Lanciti tribes of Lalia slaughtered them in a bloodbath of embarrassing proportions. When the nature of the Crusade was discovered it was dubbed the "Not-Crusade".

A Hero of Crolar from Guhan, attempting to rally support and reputation within the Dark Council for herself decided to try and plunder various temples in mid Otkorion. Using an ally, a priest of Kogag the Boatman, she used magical rites so that the attack force sallied forth from a boat that appeared about midway up the Upper Tanier River. Here they marched into the growing towns in that area, attacking unheeded.

Both Fiesive and Valantia tried to rally forces to help them, but it didn't look good. To their support came the Golems of Mentir, who were controlled by a group of mystics who, up until then, remained out of such conflicts. The troll Heroine was slain, and the Uz routed back towards Lalia where most of them were killed by Valantian military coming to join the conflict. Soon after the mystics of Mentir signed numerous complex and vague mutual defence treaties with Fiesive.

The temple of Arkat Chaosbane in mid Otkorion met with their namesakes in Fiesive. After a series of theological debates, the temples declared war on the cult of Black Arkat of the trolls! This stunning declaration, considered strange by most due to the rumoured connections between Chaosbane and troll cults, was not just in name.

The Arkati massed forces and split into numerous small groups that headed deep into Lalia and Guhan. In such small groups, using guerilla warfare, it was difficult for the Uz to find them. Many Black Arkati died at their hands. Then, after a few weeks, they returned and the war was ended.

Many people believe that the two groups came to a secret agreement between themselves (which would be heresy underneath Otkorioni law).

An ambitious Surantyr planned a very strategic war against the trolls of Lalia. In mid Otkorion the newly formed Church Militant massed and an invasion was made.

The Black War was thus named because of the sheer of Zorak Zorani trolls that the Dark King used in the conflict. The were numerous small battles culminating in a field battle at Garunwyth. Here Surantyr called upon a Tornado which blew the troll army to its knees, resulting in a conclusive defeat. Claiming a large expanse of land back from the Dark King.

Surantye chose not to advance any further but instead to hold the territories already gained.