Great War - Birth of a Vendetta

> *"The Faceless Emperor sent his armies into these lands. It cost us an ocean of blood to extract them. What he took from us will never be rebuilt. What he gave us is something he will never be able to build against, which can never be destroyed. He gave us a cause, he gave us a rallying cry. Perhaps it will not be within this century; the world is not ready for another war between the great nations. I vow though, by the immortality of my blood with the surety of the headsmen's axe already falling on the condemned I will see the Tallet Empire taken apart, dismantled, and freed. The Emperor will sink upon bended knee and beg for mercy and forgiveness and, for the first time in the history of my rule, there will be none. The deaths of eight million of my people lie at his feet: two in three! And he will pay for each of those lives, each day for the rest of his eternity."* -The Truest King speaking to the Council of Undying following the Great War
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## **The Knights of Red and Silver**

The Red and Silver Knights of the Broken Kingdom are thought to be immortal compatriots of the Truest King, choosing to engage in a more active lifestyle when in the Broken Kingdom though at the same time prone to absences ranging from years to centuries. The Red and Silver resurfaced in the Broken Kingdom around the same time that the fighting began in the Syndicate. As per usual in their appearances they spent a number of years in the tournament and blademaster circuits, honing their scores anew.

### **A Plea For Aid**

As the battle between the Syndicate and Tallet waxed in the Tallet's favor, the Immortals of the Bronze Syndicate attended an Undying Council at the Cathedral to seek aid from the great nations. Denied aid by all but the Circle the Immortal, Imerys, took invitation to stay at the Cathedral to attempt to raise a volunteer army in the Kingdom. In her pursuit of said army she was joined by the Red and Silver Knights. Their presence bolstered her plea with an assurance of experienced leadership and within short order a force of twenty-four thousand cavalry and infantry formed. Dubbed the Syndicate Crusade, the force rode south and immediately began terrorizing what Tallet forces they encountered on their way to join the united Circle-Syndicate forces.

### **A Losing Battle**

> *"We've got them boxed in, remember lads, an animal is most dangerous when backed against a wall, these Kingdom warriors are fools, but they are strong fools. Lets do this right and by the book"* (Tallet Centurion )
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As the Syndicate Crusade arrived in the ruined northwestern lands of the Syndicate, they found themselves in dire straights. During the weeks of their travels, the Circle-Syndicate forces had abandoned their battle and retreated to the Circle's lands to fight against a wave of Goran invasions. The Tallet, informed of the proceeding Crusade had wrapped their armies around the force and surrounded it on all sides. Upon realizing their situation, the Crusaders formed ranks in a defensive circle, dismounted their riders and braced for the Tallet. In a battle that raged for nearly a full day, the twenty four thousand strong army bled the Tallet until a wall of the dead formed around the remnant of their number. Mounting what horses remained during a pulse in the battle, the Crusaders made a break for a weakened point in the Tallet lines. While the Knights and Imerys were captured in the ill-fated charge, and their warriors slain, a number of youthful women on pacing horses escaped and carried word of the fiasco to the Cathedral.

## **The Black Knight**

When the messengers arrived at the Cathedral, they were paid a stiff bounty in coin and each gifted a mating pair of pacing horses in gratitude for their daring ride. The Truest King stood up from his throne and for the first time in memory removed his mask before the audience in the chamber. His exact words are not agreed upon, but word spread throughout the kingdom for Armored Riders to don their armor, take up their arms, and gather at the Cathedral in all possible haste. The mask was left on his throne as he donned full battle armor and helm.

### **The March West**

> *"The ground trembled beneath the march, the million strong host of Riders in formation with their fanciful armors and banners. The Riders rode twenty abreast, and the column still stretched for miles, the doom of the Tallet on the breath of every man."* -King Haegis Langcaster of the Kingdom Langcaster
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The Myriad Legion of Armored Riders formed behind the Truest King's personal banners with him at the lead. The Twelve Royals were left to guard the Kingdom, given authority to raise what forces they needed from the populous. The host marched west and south, heading for the Tallet homeland. An ultimatum was sent ahead of the monstrous force to the Tallet, "Surrender the Knights of Red and Silver, turn over your weapons, and go back to your homes or perish in battle." The first series of battles were terrifyingly one sided. The Riders simply formed ranks equal in width to the forces ahead of them and hundreds deep, charging like a metal tide of death over the defending Tallet. After the first three massacres, the Tallet armies began falling back before the Black Knight without a fight, melting away before they could be pinned down.

### **Baited and Out-Manuvered**

> *"You've shown your might, Truest Fool. Did you think I did not plan for this eventuality? Have you thought my Empire so impotent that you would ride to the heart with such ease at no cost? Have you not seen the great fires which billow in the northern sky? That is your home, it is a ablaze with an army so great even your deranged peasants will learn to cower in fear before it. If you stop playing at being a knight and turn your army around now, you may reach your lands in time to save a remnant of a remnant. If you fight this day at the very doorstep of my home you will be bled! Even if you find victory, you will not have the might left to save your home and all that you have built will be torn down and we both know that you'll not rebuild it, even in a thousand years. Make your choice: admit you've been outplayed and scurry home or show your people and all the world your pride is more important than those who have made you mighty."* -The Faceless Emperor speaking to the Truest King before the Tallet Capital
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Arriving outside of the Tallet capital, the forces of the Broken Kingdom were met by manned walls and a city occupied by what may have been a host equal in number to their own. The gates opened slowly and out rode a small contingent from the city under the flag of parley. At the head of the procession rode the Faceless Emperor in immaculate robes of white silk, astride a white mount with barding of tooled silver. Left and right of the Emperor sauntered massive white tigers which sat obediently when he pulled reign, behind a small retinue of guards wearing steel masks to match the Emperor's silver. The Truest King rode out to meet him, his most elite guard of twelve royal blademasters behind him in case of foul play.

The escorts halted, the King and Emperor meeting in the empty space between. While the Emperor spoke loudly, triumphant in his strategical victory, the King sat stoicly, the dancing of his mount all that betrayed his boiling temper. The King's reply to the Emperor was simple, the Kingdom itself would burn and all of the Tallet Empire as well if the two women were not returned to him. The Emperor moved his cloak, revealing the scabbard-bound swords of the Knights, throwing them to the King, a key mounted to each one. As the Emperor withdrew, the gates of the city opened again and cage upon a wagon emerged. Drawn by a single swaybacked draft horse it plodded forward without a driver in a slow walk. The Knights, unable to stand in the cage knelt in rags upon the straw of their cage. The Emperor and his entourage withdrew into the city as the cage rolled slowly to the king and his guard. By the time the prisoners were freed the Emperor was safe behind his walls again.

Those on the walls and the host gathered below were silent as the Knights of Red and Silver were mounted on spare horses, and the ranks were turned, riding away from the walls of the Tallet, not a shot fired, not a weapon swung.

### **The Frantic March**

If the advancement on the Tallet capital was said to be rapid, the Broken Kingdom's return home was a race. Horses were ridden lame, remounts dropped dead as the host sped for their home, taking the Tallet Emperor's words as truth, for surely the King would have sensed a lie. The Truest King arrived to the Cathedral to find its walls blackened by fire, his home having held against a siege but the Tallet army that had attempted to take it now melted into small bands in his wilderness, a thorn in the side of the Broken Kingdom for long days to come. The King ordered the walls of the Cathedral to remain untouched, the blackened exterior a reminder to him of the Faceless Emperor's actions and words.

## **Fallout**

The Tallet Empire sustained massive losses before the orders reached their armies to allow the Truest King his advance unchallenged. Unbeknownst to the King and even most Tallet, the Emperor having, learned of the Knights' capture and having anticipated the King's next move, had sent a force a quarter million strong into the wilderness of the Broken Kingdom via the sea. That force having entered the Kingdom undetected, split into twenty five armies and wreaked havoc in the kingdom for the better part of a generation. Soon after, the Myriad Legions returned to the Kingdom and the bulk of the Tallet armies from the Syndicates lands arrived outside of the southern Kingdoms. Within a few months, the Woag, having learned to the Kingdom's dire situation, attacked from the north as well.

In the end the Kingdom survived, but the cost in lives was high. Easily half of their population was lost within the first few decades of the fighting before the Tallet armies in their interior were expelled, the Tallet armies at the borders repelled, and the Woag invaders to the north were chased back to the sea. By the end of the Great War, the Kingdom's population had dwindled to a third of its previous size. The Tallet Empire greatly crippled by their losses in their attempt to remove the Broken Kingdom from the map, collapsed slowly back in on itself, leaving the Empire only slightly larger than it had been before the start of the Illustrious Expansion.