Post by Gamemaster on Aug 2, 2007 8:06:27 GMT -5
Intro:
Somewhere in the mists of time, on a half civilized world ruled by the sword, on the eastern edge of the mighty Zekresh Empire, stands the tiny settlement of Yostan.
It is a time of civil war and rebellion in the empire. Two provinces in the far north have already split away. In the Imperial capital city of Zekran, the elderly Emperor has fallen ill and rival armies now battle for the throne.
While the Imperial Army is split into factions and under attack by rebels in the main part of the empire, barbarians have attacked one of the overseas provinces.
The overseas provinces are four small colonies located across the Eastern Sea from the rest of the empire. These colonies are on the eastern shore of the Eastern Sea, much further to the east than any other part of the empire.
The overseas provinces are perched on the edge of vast unexplored and unknown lands. These lands are inhabited by barbarians. The fiercest barbarians in the known world live in these eastern lands, south of the Biting Fish River. One group of these tribes are called the Tresh. After several wars, the Tresh were forced to make peace with the Zekresh Empire and allow settlers to come live in their lands south of the Biting Fish River.
("Biting Fish River" is a translation of the Zekresh name "Shasa Uvaligadna.")
The Empire built a huge fortress on the south shore of the Biting Fish River to defend against barbarians and made a fourth overseas colony south of the Biting Fish River in the lands that had belonged to the Tresh. This colony is named after the fortress and is called "Imperial Fortress Province." In the Zekresh language this is "Salan Kast Vyloresh" or "Kast Vyloresh" province.
The Tresh tried to capture this fortress once, but they failed. The colony of Kast Vyloresh is now about fifty years old. In the early days, there was constant warfare between settlers and barbarians. For the past twenty years, there has been peace and thousands of settlers have built up farms and towns in the province of Kast Vyloresh under the protection of the fortress and the Imperial Army garrison there.
Those twenty years of peace ended in the 9th month of the 40th year of the reign of Emperor Cledman VI, when barbarians from the south began raiding farms and settlements in the southern portion of the province. These barbarians were not Tresh tribesmen, but were from the fiercest barbarian tribes in the known world, the Ralban tribes.
When the first Ralban raids were not met with a strong response, a horde of ten thousand or more barbarian warriors swept through the province destroying everything in their path. Seven regiments of Imperial Army troops from the fortress and nearby outposts marched out to meet the enemy in battle. The barbarians won the battle and the force of over 3,000 Imperial Army troops was virtually annihilated by the barbarian horde. The two remaining regiments and some survivors of the other regiments ensconced themselves in the fortress and prepared to defend it. When the barbarians reached the provincial capital and the fortress, they burned down the town and attacked the fortress. The fortress withstood the attack, but the barbarians continue to try to kill anyone who goes outside it. The Imperial Army garrison is now unable to protect anyone outside the walls of the fortress and the barbarians have split up into smaller groups roaming around the province destroying the remaining farms and settlements.
Thousands of refugees have fled north of the Biting Fish River into neighboring Falanalish province. Thousands more have been killed or enslaved by the barbarians. Many have found that there is no longer any escape. The Biting Fish River is impassable except by boat. It has a swift current, large predatory "river monsters" and the biting fish it is named after. They are small fish with sharp teeth that sometimes attack in large groups and can tear all the flesh off the bones of any man or animal who goes in the water.
At the time of the barbarian invasion of Kast Vyloresh province, the easternmost settlement in the province, deep in the lands of the Tresh barbarians, is a tiny settlement consisting of only three farmhouses. The settlement is usually called "Yostan" meaning "Eastland" in Zekresh. Because of its small size and its location deep in Tresh territory, the settlement of Yostan has not yet been attacked by the Ralban warriors. Other settlements and outlying farms in the eastern part of the province were also not attacked in the initial invasion. Refugees from other parts of the province have sheltered in the eastern settlements for two months during which Ralban attacks subsided.
Now, the Ralban have begun raiding the eastern settlements and even attacking Tresh tribesmen.
As the Ralban warriors continue their genocidal massacres of the colonists and no help has arrived from the rest of the Empire, refugees from the other eastern settlements are finding their way to the tiny settlement of Yostan which may soon be the last Zekresh settlement south of the Biting Fish River.
Somewhere in the mists of time, on a half civilized world ruled by the sword, on the eastern edge of the mighty Zekresh Empire, stands the tiny settlement of Yostan.
It is a time of civil war and rebellion in the empire. Two provinces in the far north have already split away. In the Imperial capital city of Zekran, the elderly Emperor has fallen ill and rival armies now battle for the throne.
While the Imperial Army is split into factions and under attack by rebels in the main part of the empire, barbarians have attacked one of the overseas provinces.
The overseas provinces are four small colonies located across the Eastern Sea from the rest of the empire. These colonies are on the eastern shore of the Eastern Sea, much further to the east than any other part of the empire.
The overseas provinces are perched on the edge of vast unexplored and unknown lands. These lands are inhabited by barbarians. The fiercest barbarians in the known world live in these eastern lands, south of the Biting Fish River. One group of these tribes are called the Tresh. After several wars, the Tresh were forced to make peace with the Zekresh Empire and allow settlers to come live in their lands south of the Biting Fish River.
("Biting Fish River" is a translation of the Zekresh name "Shasa Uvaligadna.")
The Empire built a huge fortress on the south shore of the Biting Fish River to defend against barbarians and made a fourth overseas colony south of the Biting Fish River in the lands that had belonged to the Tresh. This colony is named after the fortress and is called "Imperial Fortress Province." In the Zekresh language this is "Salan Kast Vyloresh" or "Kast Vyloresh" province.
The Tresh tried to capture this fortress once, but they failed. The colony of Kast Vyloresh is now about fifty years old. In the early days, there was constant warfare between settlers and barbarians. For the past twenty years, there has been peace and thousands of settlers have built up farms and towns in the province of Kast Vyloresh under the protection of the fortress and the Imperial Army garrison there.
Those twenty years of peace ended in the 9th month of the 40th year of the reign of Emperor Cledman VI, when barbarians from the south began raiding farms and settlements in the southern portion of the province. These barbarians were not Tresh tribesmen, but were from the fiercest barbarian tribes in the known world, the Ralban tribes.
When the first Ralban raids were not met with a strong response, a horde of ten thousand or more barbarian warriors swept through the province destroying everything in their path. Seven regiments of Imperial Army troops from the fortress and nearby outposts marched out to meet the enemy in battle. The barbarians won the battle and the force of over 3,000 Imperial Army troops was virtually annihilated by the barbarian horde. The two remaining regiments and some survivors of the other regiments ensconced themselves in the fortress and prepared to defend it. When the barbarians reached the provincial capital and the fortress, they burned down the town and attacked the fortress. The fortress withstood the attack, but the barbarians continue to try to kill anyone who goes outside it. The Imperial Army garrison is now unable to protect anyone outside the walls of the fortress and the barbarians have split up into smaller groups roaming around the province destroying the remaining farms and settlements.
Thousands of refugees have fled north of the Biting Fish River into neighboring Falanalish province. Thousands more have been killed or enslaved by the barbarians. Many have found that there is no longer any escape. The Biting Fish River is impassable except by boat. It has a swift current, large predatory "river monsters" and the biting fish it is named after. They are small fish with sharp teeth that sometimes attack in large groups and can tear all the flesh off the bones of any man or animal who goes in the water.
At the time of the barbarian invasion of Kast Vyloresh province, the easternmost settlement in the province, deep in the lands of the Tresh barbarians, is a tiny settlement consisting of only three farmhouses. The settlement is usually called "Yostan" meaning "Eastland" in Zekresh. Because of its small size and its location deep in Tresh territory, the settlement of Yostan has not yet been attacked by the Ralban warriors. Other settlements and outlying farms in the eastern part of the province were also not attacked in the initial invasion. Refugees from other parts of the province have sheltered in the eastern settlements for two months during which Ralban attacks subsided.
Now, the Ralban have begun raiding the eastern settlements and even attacking Tresh tribesmen.
As the Ralban warriors continue their genocidal massacres of the colonists and no help has arrived from the rest of the Empire, refugees from the other eastern settlements are finding their way to the tiny settlement of Yostan which may soon be the last Zekresh settlement south of the Biting Fish River.