The fall of Solandir, and massacre at Thorndeep

The Iron Circle scoffs at Valin's diplomat. The Iron Citadel draws and quarters the elven messenger accusing him of insulting the court. Horseman drag the remains to the four corners of the City-States' Empire bringing word to the peoples there of Valin's words of affront. The court of the Citadel of Iron's Grasp declares, "If Valin wishes to speak to us of aggressions, then we will bring them to their doorstep."

Worg Oswe the Half-Ogre champion of the citadel strikes at Valin's strongest ally in the Western peninsula, The Duchy of Solandir. The soldiers and war engines there hold out for a short time as the Iron Circle's forces strike from land sea and air. Surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered, their castle falls to Worg's army, who quickly replenishes the Duke's barracks with his own men, and sets them to work rebuilding the damaged walls and towers of the Iron Circle's newest member state.

In Thorndeep, further West of Solandir, the Iron Circle sends a strike force to level a small outpost there. Upon arrival, they find the outpost lightly guarded and Cresom Coldmane the bugbear cheiftain leads his troops in to conquer the base and rest while they wait for a siege weapon to be ferried up the river from the southern coast. That night, Thorndeep's elite strike lead by the gnome ranger Xanlomin Goblinsfoe. The outpost is set ablaze, and those able to escape from the burning fort are cut down by arrows from the forest. The barge traveling up river with the war engine tries to find targets, but the cover of the woodlands is too thick and vast. A few patches are set ablaze but those burn out in time to no great effect. At last a great river monster rolls the barge over in the river, and the last of the Iron Cicle's forces are dispatched. The woods become silent again.

Vailin declares war on Karkoth

A message is sent to the rules of all lands from Valindor. "The honorable warriors of Vailin do not start wars. Let those who attack us be warned. We will seek quick retribution against only those who attack us!" In the west, Vailin's allies reinforce their lands defensively, wary of the recent predations of the neighboring city states.

In the Sea of Ghosts, Admiral Swordhand enforces the blockade against intrusion from the north. His landing parties depleted in the earlier assault on the Crimson Ramparts, he awaits reinforcement from the rear of the fleet, as the brave marines of Zembar die fighting the undead hordes. As the blockade wears on, the Sea of Ghosts takes it toll, as some men grow despondent and throw themselves into the fog that swirls around them assuming shapes both lovely and terrifying. Still, the brave sailors of Zembar hold the line patiently as the bulk of their force arrives.

The storm elemental moves to the front of the fleet and heading ashore where it pins down the skeleton legion from Zannad, deflecting their arrows away from the advancing Vailin forces rallied from the Great Wildwood and beyond. Two metallic dragons swoop down onto the towers crushing all the undead there beneath their mighty talons and blackening their bones with fire till they crack and break. A squad of treants advances from the woods, battering down the now nearly useless ragged red gates. The treant and dragons laboriously destroy all of the undead without casualties, but there is little celebration as they learn that their dead are not among the bodies in the fortress. They turn their gaze to the north, where the Karkothi breath new life into the bodies, sending them forth again to reclaim their old homelands for their dark masters.

When war arrived the Summer tournament at Vailindor was at it's peak. With heroes from across the lands demonstrating feats of might and magic. The wise rulers of Valindor selected the two strongest from the games, one sorcerer and one swordsman to root out the silent lumbering evil that had settled into the lands of Cernal. The brave heroes set out with their retinue, squires and apprentices as well as several other braves volunteers who wished to see them in action again after the games. As they entered the beautiful lands of Cernal, they were immediately struck by the silence of the place. Birds and other beings had fled. Folk were missing from homes, some with a trace of struggle or bloodshed, but no remains to be found.

After a few days many of the merry makers left to head back to Valindor as the rest of the party moved further inward. Those who left early made it home safely, but those who accompanied them further inward told tales of their comrades snatched in the night by a silent, shadowless enemy that left no trace save the screams of their victims. At last all that remained in the party were the two champions, all others fled or missing, and since entering a golden vale shoulder to shoulder they were never seen or heard from again. None speak their names now, for fear they may return as Karkothi wraiths in the black of night.

The long siege of Crimson Ramparts and the march of the Cloven Skull orc horde

The Karkothi countered the daring assault by the marines of Zembar, who managed to seize the siege weapons at the Crimson Ramparts, but were now hopelessly undermanned to guard their new position. From the dark jungles of Zannad crept an undead legion, skeletal and covered in creeping vines. Joining them at the gates of the Crimson Ramparts were great lumbering skeletal warriors, composed of the bones of many great beasts, fused together unnaturally.

The marines managed to seal the walled fortification, but this proved to only slow the inevitable. The skeletons threw their dark vines up over the walls and each time one was cut, two would quickly replace them. The great skeletal abominations pummeled the reinforced doors which had been broken down just days before. The marines held to the last man for three days, but in the end they all we slain to the last man, and their remains were carried back to the Throneholds to be granted the honor of resurrection as undead beings serving their new masters.

The brave men of Cernal, who had advanced on the Crimson Ramparts in Vailin's first assault, where no longer there to protect their families. The bulk of Vailin's thrust had been on the redemption of the villages of the Great Wildwood. The great skeletal hulks silently crept through the lands of Cernal at night, extinguishing the lights of every home they found along their path of terror. A few managed to flee to the hills to escape the slaughter, but even then they lived only to hear the howling cries of those they left behind in the valleys, as their hiding places were eventually discovered by the Karkothi's soulless hunters. A great wave of terror gripped the peoples of the Barony of Brandil, then on to Vailindor and the lands further south.

In the north, the Iron Wolfhold had sent their siege engines to their neighbor the Barony of Skalgard. Their worst fears confirmed, the Cloven Skull Orc horde descended from the steppes further east and laid siege to Skalgard's keep. The men of the Wolfhold and Skalgard struggled to repel the advance, but they were unfamiliar with each others forces and strategy, and so had trouble coordinating their defenses. The orcs brought in a great battering ram the length of a great sailing ship on six massive stone wheels. The head of the battering ram was shaped in the visage of a great skull and the engine's shaft was fashioned to be the axe buried in the skull. Skalgard's gates opened after a single blow and a great cheer chilled the hearts of the defenders. The farmers in the surrounding villages fled to the White Raven Chiefdom to the south, but many were captured by the orcs and sent east in chains to work in their mines building more fearsome weapons for their armies.

The Karkothi nobility declared a day of victory, sacrificing slaves, and holding great blood feasts throughout their dark crumbling cities.

Heroes of the League

Threatened by envoys from Karkoth who vow to crush them in the West, and the predatory advances of the city states to the South, the League of Nerath slowly moves to reinforce their borderlands. The Barony of Therund sends it's best mage and siege equipment to guard Nera, the old capitol of the long crumbled Nerathi Empire. The dwarves of Mithralfast sent more siege engines and footsoldiers to the ruins of Vol Rukoth and the naval fleet that awaits to transport them wherever they may be needed next. The Iron Wolfhold also sends siege equipment to it's neighbor, the Barony Skalgard, who fear advances by the Cloven Skull Orchold.

Mixed news comes when two heroes from Nentir Vale, Otimorn Dewshining the elven Bard and Laralove Dewshining his half elf spellcasting sister, lead a party to the Sunless Citadel beyond the Winterbole Forest. Battling their way through undead hordes they at last arrive at the fortress which had long sunk beneath the surface of the earth. At the ruins of the fortress they delved within and were ambushed by trolls who had taken up residence there. In the battle, the beloved songsmith of Nentir was slain, but his sister saved the rest of the party with her spellcraft.

After the trolls' defeat, the party discovered an ancient armory of holy swords, which they returned to the Lord of Fallcrest. The best blades were transported to the champions of Nerath to aid them in their valiant defense of the League. A large horde of gold was found as well, which was transported to the League's warchest in Mithralfast.