CHAPTER 3
15. Connacht treats with the Emperor of the Cath Bruig and enters a mutual aid pact between them and the kingdom of Gower, as part of a larger plan to rebuild the Cath Bruig empire beyond even its old heights, with the outlying kingdoms of the light as protected provinces of the new confederate Empire. Connacht spends months training not only the armies but the citizenry what must be done to fight back the Myrkridia - namely, that everyone, armies and civillians alike must take a stand against the Myridian raiding parties. Humans run when cattle stampede, so too will the Myrkridia run when the flocks of humans that they cull begin to fight back. Several Krid raids are turned away without retreating into the walls, held at bay by peasants with pitchforks backing the standing armies. Plenty of people die in each battle, but no more than ever died while trying to get into the walls in time - and now, the Myrkridia were taking losses as well.
16. After several more such battles, the Myrkridia begin to up their attacks, coming in larger groups and employing divide and conquer strategies, adapting to the fact that their prey is now fighting back. The narrator and Old Heron Guy are both vaguely uneasy about this. Connacht isn't worried though: he starts introducing the use of into battle strategies (after the Warlocks were much chastised by Connacht for hiding in their ivory towers - comments which did not much please Mjarin), and putting emphasis on training more people in ranged tactics. It's worth it to divert a few farmers from the fields, and to burn some of those same fields, in order to save more people and retain more control of the lands.
17. The Bruig grow stronger and even more bold. The Myrkridia continue to up the force of their attacks, and it is clear that they now mean war with us, not merely dinner. This greatly worries a number of people, Old Heron Guy and the Narrator among them. Worst still, the old necromancer Bahl'al has been seen stalking the fields at night again, scavenging the bodies from all the recent battles and then vanishing again into the swamps... no wonder they call him the Watcher. But an Avatara named Myrdred has a crazy notion: to venture to the edge of the Dire Marsh, and destroy the nearest Myrkridian den, puttng an end to Krid activities in this area and sending a message that the tables have turned here, just as they did in Gower. Connacht agrees with the plan, but first, we're going to need more help - and the time has come to start building the empire beyond Gower and Muirthemne anyway. Next stop: the northmen of the Twelve Duns, among them the elite warrior order of the Myrmidons, far across the Trow-crossed plains of the northern Downs...
18. After making allies with the Northmen, the Myrmidons dispatch a unit of their warriors, lead by the beautiful Ravanna, to accompany Connacht, Damas and their company (which now includes our narrator, and Old Heron Guy) into the Dire Marsh. Therein, they find a Myrkridian nest, fight their way in, kill the Pack-Mage inside, and burn the place to the ground on their way out! Score one for the good guys! Huzzah! An ancient Myrkridian spellbook is found inside the den, and brought out for Myrdred to pour over.
19. But on their way further south back to Llancarfan, they encounter an army of the undead, springing by surprise out of the swamps - this must be what Bahl'al has been doing, but why? Either way, that's some freaky shit and we run back north, only to run into a Trow patrol who's not happy with all the ruckus being caused down here. The heroes make a desperate attempt to flee from between the encroaching armies of the Undead and the Trow, racing into the west out onto the Downs, doing whatever they can to delay the two armies behind them (ala Flight from the Dark). There's some hubbub between the four Heroes that our narrator is not privy to, but it seems that something discovered in that Myrkridian spellbook is really worrying them.
20. With the victory over the Myrkridia, our heroes return triumphantly to Muirthemne. Next item on the agenda: the Myrkridian den just within Forest Heart. Spread the fear of the Cath Bruig, take back the world from the devils! Though now, something seems a bit more urgent... Connacht feels the need to press the attack and take as much ground as possible. Our narrator wonders why the sudden need for major local offensives. Anyway, this time, the fight is in a dense forest instead of the thick swamps, so fire could be put to greater use. So the devil-slayers depart into Forest Heart, find another Myrkridian den, and burn it to the ground! (I'm making this sound too easy, I know - elaborate on the difficulties of this, whoever writes these bits). But all this fire attracts the attention of the other denizens of the forest, however - the Forest Giants. Very not happy about the whole setting their forest on fire bit. Oh crap, run!
21. While fleeing through the forest from the Ents, Myrdred leading the way via some arcane knowledge, the heros finally lose their pursuers when they enter a creepy haunted wood, filled with liches, the undead ghosts of many evil sorcerers who have died here. They have found the Crypt of Mazzarin, greatest archmage in living memory, rumored to still dream in a state beyond life and death, entombed in the crypt with many ancient artifacts of great power. Though many wicked mages have died trying to rob this place and steal the powers kept within, our heroes think they have a noble enough cause that they may enter the crypt and leave alive. The rest of the company is left to stand guard outside, while the four heroes enter alone. No one knows what exactly transpired within the Crypt, but when they emerged, Connacht ordered the company to march immediately eastward toward the Dwarven lands - Muirthemne desperately needs our help, for the Myrkridia are besieging it even as they speak. Myrdred asks how he could possibly know this (so obviously even the other heroes didn't witness everything that went on inside the Crypt), in response to which Connacht reveals a large, dusty tome he is carrying and replies, "I have read the Total Codex."
That's it for now. Next chapter... 1. fighting into Myrgard, 2. defending it against Gholish attacks (collapsing the barbican maybe?), 3. delving into its depths to find the Tain in the old lairs of the ancient Smiths (unknown even to the modern Dwarves), 4. traversing the deep underground passageways it connects to past the Great Devoid and into the foothills of Gower, 5. reuniting with Gower and cleansing those lands of Myrkridia, 6. assaulting the heart of the Dire Marsh, killing Thalor the Black, and 7. the triumphant return to Muirthemne. After that, only one more chapter and we're done with Part 1.
Wow, heh, I just realized... five chapters of seven stories each, times two parts like that, is gonna be seventy stories total :-) Assuming Part 2 has as much to do as Part 1 does, which I somehow doubt it will, but maybe...
