987 NA - Pandal - Woodspike Elves vs. Kragmarr Dwarves

The moon of Pandal rises full. An elven party from the Woodspike Forest was transporting a casket of gems to their king, Feanor Starbrow, when then were waylaid by orcs from Kargir who slew them and took the jewels. Later, a dwarven patrol from Kragmarr slew the orcs and also confiscated the jewels. An elven ranger who had seen all of this ordered the dwarves to return the jewels, but they wouldn't, saying they had risked their lives for them. The ranger returned to King Feanor, who was furious. He stationed a group of elf warriors in the woods near Kragmarr, and they ambushed the first dwarves to come out. Because most of Feanors troops were busy fighting the Kargir orcs, he made a temporary alliance with Lordyth Mar, an elven vampire lord who agreed to place some of his vampire soldiers under Feanors command.

After a bloody battle, the few remaining dwarves surrendered and were held for ransom. The elven wizardess took command and the wounded elves made it home.

King Harbromm Axehelm was furious at what he viewed as an unprovoked attack and swore vengeance.

987 - Lenore - Woodspike Elves vs. Kragmarr Dwarves

Harbromm Axehelm brooded long about the elves treachery. He decided to send an elite force deep into the Woodspike forest to capture an elf and find out what excuse they could offer about their ambush. He sent his newly crowned champion, Balan Ironbreaker with the force.

The party crept into the Woodspike with all the caution it could muster when they blundered into a full elven patrol. Balan confidently strode into the battle intent on taking a prisoner.

After a hard battle, the few dwarf survivors struggled back to Kragmarr, lead by a badly wounded Balan Ironbreaker. The king was wroth and dressed down his champion in front of all present. Balan cursed himself silently and promised revenge on the elves who had humiliated him.

987 Solwaxe - Woodspike Elves vs. Kragmarr Dwarves

It is a new spring and many plants and buds are blooming in the Woodspike, making it much more beautiful after winters breath.

Balan Ironbreaker has come up with a plot to revenge himself on the Woodspike elves. He convinced a loyal soldier, Dumon Lartor, to let himself be captured by the elves and held for ransom, and to let it slip, seeminingly accidentally, that the jewels at the center of the dispute were being sent by a small party to Farkeep to trade for goods needed to fight the elves and the orcs.

The elves, eager to regain what they regarded as their treasure, sent a force to the ruined dwarven outpost on the day the prisoner had said the jewels would be there on there route to Farkeep. Balan Ironbreaker was ready, lying in wait.

Balan overconfidently charged into the foe, ignoring the safety of the ruined fort. Many of his force were cut down by the elven longbows, so he ordered a hasty retreat into the fort. The elves attempted to storm the fort, many were quickly killed and the elven party surrendered soon after. Balan took many prisoners and regained his honour in the court of King Axehelm.

987 - Erste - Woodspike Elves vs. Kragmarr Dwarves

King Harbromm Axehelm rewarded Balan Ironbreakers success by giving him one of the disputed jewels, a large ruby to wear around his neck.

A dwarven traitor named Lorgun sold this information to Feanor Starbrow, who bided his time.

Later Lorgun informed the elves that Balan, with the jewel, was heading a patrol that would pass close to the edge of the Woodspike. King Feanor immediately sent a force to ambush them. Within the first few minutes the elven forward force of knights, forest animals and a Bakarathi slashed their way through the forward ranks of the dwarves. Balan led a countercharge, slaying many elves. Then the hardy dwarves charged the remaining elves through a hail of clothyard shafts, taking causalties, but eventually they reached and destroyed the elven lines and took prisoners. The ruby at Balan Ironbreakers throat glowed blood red.

987 - Vita - Woodspike Elves vs. Okura

500 years ago when the ancestors of the Okurans were still living in Nagoma, a great Nagoman hero named Musashi went to the plane of death and tore the Black Pearl of Insanity from the forehead of a Demon Lord. It drove him insane so that when he returned to Nagoma he slew hundreds of warriors before he was finally slain by an arrow.The emperor of the time realized the Pearl was the source of Musashis murderous insanity, so he had it secured in a small chest lined with lead and covered with magical protective runes and jewels. They still valued it highly because the pearl could be held hostage against attacks by the demons.

But 2 months ago, Murkillor the Warith King who was currently serving the Reaper War, stole the pearl at his masters bidding and while on his way to deliver it to War, he was attacked by elves from the Woodspike. He managed to get away but lost the pearl. The elves delivered the pearl to their king, Feanor Starbrow. He fell in love with the pearl and had it put in his crown, where without its protective case it slowly began to drive him mad. He has since had many of his most trusted advisors slain.

The Okurans found out about the loss of the pearl and the ruler of Okura, Oda Hamamoto has sent a small force that could be spared from the defense of the island to get it back. His champion Yataro Kurasawa will lead the force.

King Feanors spies gave him ample warning about the force and he has sent troops to ambush the Okurans.

After a particularly brutal battle, the entire elven force lay slaughtered and only Yataro Kurasama was left standing. He tended to the wounded and sent a message for reinforcements. He would not falter until he had won back the Pearl.

Meanwhile, in the Woodspike, King Feanor (now called 'the Mad') waited and waited to hear from his ambush force. When no word came, he assumed all those elves had betrayed him and he had their families imprisoned. King Feanor seemingly never sleeps and is always on the look out for imagined assassins.

987 - Dritt - Okura + Kragmarr vs. Woodspike

The Okuran reinforcements arrived and Yataro readied himself to strike for the pearl once more. The Mad King Feanor sent troops from all corners of the Woodspike to slay the Okurans.

Yataro realized he would need more troops and he sent for them, but the isle of Okura was being attacked by orcs from the Monglash Steepes and no aid was forthcoming.

A small scouting party of Okurans found a curious sight: A dwarf whispering with a group of elves. The Okurans learned that the dwarf was the traitor Lorgun, so they slew the elves and captured Lorgun who begged for his life in return for secrets about Kragmarr.

Instead, Yataro gave Lorgun to King Axehelm who had him executed, and thus was an alliance formed between Kragmarr and Okura. Axehelm sent several dwarves with Yataro to slay the elves, including the dwarf hero Brock Battlebow. So the battle was joined. The two forces stumbled into each other in a flat open space. The ranged attackers on each side tore into each other and also slew the enemies cavalry which galopped into the fray. The battle ended as a slaughter of the elves. Only a halfing mercenary artillerist survived to flee. When Mad King Feanor found out about this he had the halfing hunted down and hanged.

The Mad King was so distraught by the loss that he slew several of his soldiers in order to increase discipline and he promoted Morthint Blackhand to be his new army commander. All Feanors old court, Dorian Starbrow (his son), Mellonir Windrunner and Elisha Lightsedge fled in the night one step ahead of assassins. They travelled to Vestonia to find refuge.

Duke Renner Blackshield of Vestonia gave them refuge reluctantly because he did not want a new foe in Feanor. He admitted them only at the request of his mage Toxanimer who sensed something of what was afoot in the Woodspike.

987 - Unicor - Okura + Kragmarr vs. Woodspike

An elven rogue named Drinthar was robbing an old elf woman (law had disappeared since King Feanor went mad) when he discovered the Samurai of Okura and several dwarf crossbow troops were advancing towards the Woodspike capital of Oakhearth. He brought news of this to Mad King Feanor who made him a trusted advisor. Feanor then ordered his army commander Morthint Blackhand to slay the invaders. Morthint went forth to meet them with the few remaining loyal soldiers who hadn't yet fled the mad king, as well as a gang of thugs and murderers hired at great cost from the kings much depleted treasuries. They surprised the samurai and slew most of them, except for several who ran away and one dwarf who was taken alive.

King Feanor had the dwarfs head placed atop a spike before the cities gates, an act of barbarism never seen before in the civilized city of Oakhearth.

987 - Crasso - Woodspike vs. Okura

Reeling from their wounds, the samurai and dwarves retreated, giving up much of their hard earned territory. Morthint Blackhand drove his foes mercilessly before him, until they finally left the Woodspike and regrouped. As they were camping, a clamour arose in one area of the camp. A huge figure could be seen: a Bakarathi. It had several arrows and bolts sticking out of it but said it wanted to talk. It claimed to have been sent by Gabriel Darkblood, Overlord of Ritterlich. He said that the elven vampires were enemies of Darkblood so he had sent a Bakarathi to help fight them. This is true, but Darkblood secretly wants the pearl of insanity for himself.

The Okuran samurai, with their dwarf and bakarathi allies slew most of the elves and sent the rest into retreat. Yataro, leader of the samurai from Okura, thanked the Bakarathi. The bakarathi agreed to remain as allies.

987 - Chronus - Okura vs. Woodspike

At the victory celebration of the previous battle, there was great feasting and drinking. Yataro was flushed with success and very proud, and some comments he made made it sound like the samurai won the battle by themselves. The dwarves, drunk, took offense and called Yataro on his claim. Yataro had that dwarf slain and the rest chased out of the encampment. They tried to return to Kragmarr but King Axehelm was so angered that they had jeopardized the alliance that he exiled them. The dwarves had no choice but to leave and some turned traitor and joined the forces of the Woodspike. Meanwhile, the Bakarathi had made off in the night, severely injuring a dwarf sentry who tried to stop him.

Yataro and his samurai set off to press their attack and stormed the elvish village of Grosbeek. The resulting battle was very bloody, but the Okurans, taking advantage of the cover of the buildings of the small settlement won the day. The major disappointment of the day was when the Okurans trained war dragon was killed by an arrow after barely joining the battle.

The town taken, the Okurans slew the inhabitants and burned the village to the ground.

987 - Pegasor - Okura vs. Woodspike

Seizing the initiative, Okura made a forced march deeper into the Woodspike, heading for the village of Dulutine. An elvish scout barely warned the people in time to mount a defense.

The hastily prepared elven ambush was surprisingly effective. The Okurans were slaughtered by the elves clever strategy of paralyzing the Okurans with magic then mowing them down with longbows.

After the victory, the thugs under Morthint Blackhands command that made up Mad King Feanors army looted the village leaving the elvish inhabitants dismayed and bewildered.

987 - Lunis - Woodspike vs. Okura

Woodspike was slaughtered.

987 - Solwane - Woodspike vs. Okura

Woodspike eaten alive.

988 - Pandal - Kargir vs. Woodspike

Mad King Feanor Starbrow had a vision where he saw a bright star shining in the ruins of Quessallas, the ancient elven city. Then the star was eaten by the skull of an orc.

He interpreted it to mean that the orcs were about to find a mighty magical artifact in the ruins of Quessallas.

Gragg Elfslayers orc scouts have reported that there is a strange artifact under the ruins. Mad King Feanor sent a strike force into the northern reaches of the Woodspike to attempt to obtain the artifact. On their way, they were ambushed by orcs.

Rules: The elves must send more troops off the orcs side of the table than are killed to win.

Result: The orcs carried the day. In fact, only a few more elves managed to exit the orcs side of the battlefield than ran away in stark terror.

As a result, Mad King Feanor had several nobles heads chopped off.

988 - Lenore - Kargir vs. Woodspike

Filled with black joy at the ease with which he destroyed the elves incursion, Gragg Elfslayer gathered a force to carry the war to the elves, deeper into the Woodspike than ever before. While he waited impatiently for his troops to assemble, a scout arrived from Quessallas bearing an intricately worked casket. Within was a beautiful gem that glowed with magic. All that Graggs verminite shaman could tell him was that it was a powerful artifact. Gragg had it placed into his helmet and was filled with glee at the thought of what his elven enemies would feel when they saw one of their great treasures in the hands of their enemy.

Rules: The orcs must take the elven watch tower.

Results: The orc invaders broke their teeth on the stone walls of the outpost. The elves held steady raining a hail of death in the form of arrows and Ice Barb spells. In the end, only very few orcs survived to run away.

Morthint Blackhand recovered the gem from Graggs helmet which he had lost in the chaos of the hasty retreat, and took it in triumph back to Mad King Feanor. Morthint knew it wouldn't be long before he could slay the king and take power openly for himself. As Feanor took hold of the gem, the magical artifact from the anicent elvish city burst into a cleansing flame that destroyed the Black Pearl of Insanity. All at once, his mind cleared and he realized the awful things he had done under the pearls influence. He called his few remaining loyal soldiers and had Morthint Blackhand clapped in irons, along with all his cohorts. He sent a message to Vestonia humbly asking his court and retainers to return, which they did with joy.

Then King Feanor realized he must make amends to the people whose homes had been looted and to the families of those he had killed. The treasury was too depleted so he sent the green gem with guards to Farkeep to auction it off for a huge sum so he could make amends to those he had hurt.

988 - Solwaxe - Woodspike vs. Kargir and Okura

As spring dawned on Adon, an elite elven force led by Mellonir Windrunner heads to Farkeep to auction off the green gem from Quessallas.

As they ford the Silver Ribbon river, they are ambushed by Orcs and Samurai from Okura. When Yataro Kurasama had found out that the Black Pearl of Insanity had been destroyed, the Okurans were full of wrath for the destruction of their artifact and made a pact with the orcs of Kargir to get revenge on the elves. They waited in ambush on either side of the Silver Ribbon river and attacked as the elves made their crossing.

Despite being caught in a bad ambush, the elves fought valiantly and slew most of the orcs and Okurans. The few survivors were eaten by the giant crayfish in the Silver Ribbon river. Mellonir, wounded in the battle, continued on the journey to Farkeep.

988 - Erste - Kargir + Okura vs. Woodspike

Mellonir Windrunner made haste with his remaining forces for Farkeep.

Gragg Elfslayer was unable to catch the elves until they were within sight of the walls of Farkeep. Gragg, his orcs and Okurans interposed themselves outside Farkeeps walls and the elves were forced to make one last desperate charge to break through the orc line into the city before the orcs could receive reinforcements. Mellonir also called into wakefullness a Tree Man to aid them.

The soldiers on the walls of Farkeep refused to partake of the melee because of the cities rigid impartiality. However, they would not let anyone fight once they had entered the city.

After a long and bloody battle, only two elves survived to enter Farkeep. Mellonir barely made it with the green gem. He cursed himself for letting pride get the better of him and trying to slay all the orcs instead of just getting as many troops inside the walls as possible.

The Governor, Trellis Verden of Farkeep apologized that he was unable to interfere in the battle between two sovereign states but he hoped that Mellonir would accept his apology and stay with him in the Governors Mansion. Mellonir Windrunner immediately began to put the gem into an auction. There was a great deal of interest in the artifact, and the bidders included the Council of Wizards and the Chroniclers. Eventually a mysterious, pale skinned person who claimed to be from Ritterlich purchased the gem for an undisclosed sum but it was rumoured to be hundreds of thousands of gold marks. Mellonir received payment in the form of 3 small chests full of diamonds and several letters of credit redeemable with reputable bankers in Vestonia. Then Mellonir and his single retainer took the goods, dressed themselves in rags and tavelled incognito back to the Woodspike with no real adventures to speak of. King Feanor welcomed them as heroes and with the money they brought back he went a long way towards repairing the damage he had caused while under the influence of the Black Pearl of Insanity. He even sent several diamonds as peace offering to King Axehelm of Kragmarr and Oda Hamamoto of Okura, and so had peace, for the time being at least. The orcs still occupy the northern portion of the Woodspike and the battle rages on, but the Kingdom of the Woodspike knew more peace than it had in many long years.