The Malorian Invasion

## The Invasion Begins

In 1144 C.E. the Malorians, led by Emperor Romerich Strom I , arrived on the shores of Acios. They were driven from their home continet of Ikos by a united Goblinoid nation even more powerful than them. They were first spotted off the coast of Iptus. The Iptians had little time to prepare as the Malorians quickly attacked with no warning. Their armies were better trained and better equipped after years of battling the Goblinoids. The Malorians were also fierce spellcasters and their knowledge of magic far outweighed the Iptians. The Iptians defending their northern shores were quickly overwhelmed and thousands were killed. The Wildcrest Kingdom intervened and attempted to defend the Iptus people. The combined alliance was able to stave off the intial Malorian attack, for a time. Meanwhile the Elves, seeing the danger the Malorians posed to their secluded kingdom, withdrew and closed themselves off to the world only intervening if any human army got too close to their land. This decision by King Aimon Qintaras was incredibly controversial with the Elves and helped lead to the founding of the Eserion Kingdom.

## The Marauder Alliance

The tide of war turned in the Malorians favor when the Kingdom of Rysland, in 1146 C.E. attacked the southern border of Iptus, turning on their allies. The Iptus and Wildcrest Kingdoms held out against the Malorians and Rysland, for 5 years. In 1149 C.E. the Ryslanders and Malorians eventually broke through the defenses and entered the Iptian heartland. They burned everything in their path to the ground, including the Iptian capital of Udirma. Known as the Marauder Alliance, the Ryslanders and Malorians created an effective fighting force. With their morale broken, the Iptus people soon took off running for the Hulvern Mountains, hoping that the Dwarves would not turn their backs on them. The Wildcrest Kingdom attempted to rally the Iptians to stay in the fight, but the Iptians were broken by years of savage warfare with an enemy that showed them no quarter.

## The Conquest of Karkoth

The Kingdom of Karkoth in the frozen south put up a valiant fight against an overwhelming force. The Marauders began their invasion of the Karkothian homeland in 1145 C.E. The battle would not be easy because the Karkothian human, Goblinoids, and Orcs had honed their battle instincts for centuries as they fought creatures from the Abyss who resided in the area after the fall of the Dragonborn. They also knew how to fight in the frozen terrain much better than the Marauder Alliance. The Marauders suffered heavy casualites due to both the freezing conditions and the intelligent guerilla warfare of the Karkothians. Eventually, the Marauders realized that the conquest of Karkoth was not going to be as easy as they believed. The greatest mages of the Malorians, the Red Wizards were engaged in battling the Wildcrests and Iptians. Many of them were soon moved into the Karkothian theater and they began divining the locations of Karkothian civilians. These civilians would then be either murdered or enslaved by the brutal regime. The Malorians knew they would never be able to hunt down all of the Karkothian warriors and decided to force them to surrender or lose their familes forever. Eventually, the Karkothians capitulated in 1148 C.E. to spare the civilians that were being brutally attacked. The goblin and orc Karkothians were swiftly enslaved (the Malorians viewed them as lesser beings due to their fight with their cousins on Iktos). The humans were allowed to live freely, as freely as one is allowed to live within the brutal totaltarian Malorian regime.

## The Battle of the Hulvern Mountains

The Iptians fled from their homeland through the Wildcrest Kingdom all the way to the Hulvern Mountains. The Malorians gave chase all the way. The Ryslanders however, argued that the Iptians had already been defeated and their was no need for a genocidal campaign. The Malorians did not force the Ryslanders to help them, but they also did not listen to their opinions. They continued to give chase hoping to wipe out the Iptians to show the people of Acios what happens when a nation resists their power.

The Iptians hoped that the Dwarves would aid them in crossing the mountains. The Dwarves did help as they could not bear to watch a nation they had nurtured be slaughtered by an invading force. They used their incredible knowledge of the terrain and their well built tunnel system to beat back the Malorian army and guide the surviving Iptians to safety.

While thousands of Malorians were battling in the mountains, Romerich Strom ordered his navy to land troops on the other side of the mountains so that the Dwarves and Iptians would be surrounded. As the navy made their way towards the future site of the Free Cities, they were first ravaged by a storm as they passed through the dangerous Demonsong Straight (the Ryslanders neglected to warn them of the dangers that had befallen numerous ships through the centuries). They were then attacked by a fleet of ships sent by the River King Sylrin Eserion who had broken ties with the Almorin kingdom who was doing nothing to help the humans in the war against the invaders. His fleet was joined by ships from the Argus Isles, a collection of pirates, merchants, and sea barons who valued their independence and did not want to see a totalitarian regime take away their power. The Sea Queen, Zia Grovig, led the force into battle and an eventual victory. The Malorian navy, depleted from both the war effort and the horrific storm, was eventually forced to flee with only a handful of ships remaining from the once great fleet that had allowed the Malorians to flee their homeland.

Meanwhile in the mountains, the Dwarves knowledge of the terrain allowed them to inflict heavy casualties on the Malorian troops and they were eventually forced to withdraw. With both the land and sea invasion defeated, the Iptians were free to take over the untouched land that lay beyond the Hulvern mountains. It was a gift from the Dwarves who felt as though they had done too little too late for their allies. The Dwarves and Iptus (now known as The Free Cities), continue to trade to this day.

## The Creation of the Malorian Empire

The embarrasment at the hands of the Hulvern Dwarves led the Malorians to turn their full fury on the Wildcrest Kingdom. The Eserion Elves attempted to aid the Wildcrest Kingdom by landing troops on their northwestern border. The Malorians had already conquered so much land however, that the Wildcrest Kingdom did not last long despite the Eserion reinforcements. However, the Eserion troops were able to hold the line and save numerous Wildcrest refugees. By 1150 C.E., six years after the arrival of the Malorians, the Wildcrest Kingdom was defeated. The Malorians leader, Romarich Strom (The Conqueror to the Malorians, Cruel to the other nations), ordered that the entire Cilamur family line be wiped out for their transgressions. The people of Wildcrest were able to save the youngest son of Marcel Cilamur, Julian, and smuggled him to the Eserion Elves.

The Malorians did view the Elven Kingdoms of Eserion and Almorin as a threat. However, they feared the Almorin Elves ancient power. They realized that the Eserion Elves posed no threat to their Empire and only involved themselves in the conflict to save civllians. Therefore, much like the dwarves, they were left to their own devices. They did of course keep a large contingent of troops mustered on their border.

Meanwhile, in Rysland, the Kingdom was allowed to remain mostly independent but were considered a protectorate of the Malorian nation. The Ryslanders were very happy with this concession, as they lived to fight another day. They remained this way, fighting with the Malorians against any threats to their joint rule over the human areas of Acios.