The Lord's Accord

### Era of Man / Second Age / ~1450 SA

As starvation ran rampant through the major coastal cities of the Storm Coast it was clear the eastern human kingdoms had fallen. Their holdings that remained were only these major cities, one of the two kings had been killed, they were unable to reinforce one another, and had effectively been reduced to individual city states. The orcs seemed content to siege the cities from land, and the only reason they did not collapse was their sea ports. Orcs have never been great at sailing or naval combat and so a few supplies were able to come in by water. It was this fact that eventually saw one of the young commanders of the remaining Ironbay army begin coordinating with the navy of Black Landing.

The fleet of Black Landing was by far the largest with support from various pirate factions loyal to the city. From this alliance this hero of Ironbay began coordinating hit and run guerilla like tactics against the armies of orcs. This coordination spread to the northern cities and soon the remaining human forces were sowing confusion and chaos among the various orc tribes, and then retreating to their coastal fortifications. Having no real central foe for the hordes of the Waaagh! to fight on the field of battle any longer, the various orc tribes began splintering and competing against one another as is there way. One minor warlord would seize on a weakness another tribe suffered due to the guerilla attacks of the humans, and this process repeated and spread.

The mighty warlord of the Waaagh! found it increasingly difficult to command the widespread directionless hordes as they fought among themselves, and more lesser orc leaders challenged the warlord’s rule. After a few decades of this, around 1500 SA, the orcish forces were splintered enough that the citizens of the cities were able to establish and protect the farmland outside their walls and deaths from starvation had leveled off. The allied forces of humans began linking their land armies once again and reclaiming territory further and further inland. A few years later and reinforcements from the eastern kingdom of Heart Vale helped drive the orcs back to their mountains and hills en masse. The province was in ruins, countless lives had been lost, but the hero of Ironbay, now late in life, declared victory over the Waaagh!

Nobles from the various cities wanted this hero to become the new king of the entire Storm Coast. An able minded leader who saved them all through cunny strategy should surely lead them; however, the hero rejected this idea immediately. He said it was not any single individual that saved the day, but the alliance and coordination of the city states. In the past, corrupt kings could not be trusted to defend everyone they ruled equally, but when the cities looked towards their own protection and worked together they were victorious, and so the hero said that is how it should be. The alliance, or accord, they had formed in war time would continue and provide lasting security and prosperity for all in the province. The lords of each of the major city states joined in Ironbay and signed the official treaty of independence and alliance, which was dubbed The Lord’s Accord.

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