Falx Invasion

The Falx Invasion was the first instance of the Falx invading the continent of Northeros. The Falx Republic is a massive empire that subjugated many worlds before due to their portal technology. They have been a threat to the continent of Westeron for quite a while, however they had trouble reaching Northeros previously. The invading forces were led by a team of four Falx warlords:

• Lord Torquemada, Grand Wizard of the Falx
• Lord Barthelomeo, Grand Champion of the Republic
• Lord Pizzaro D'Oros, Master Tactician and descendant of a lengthy bloodline of Conquerors
• Lady Isabella, Sorceress under the tutelage of Torquemada

Part 1: Landfall

Battle Report: Landfall

The Falx arrived on the South of Northeros (near the ruins of Dawnport) via a dimensional rift that was rather unstable for prolonged use. In order to establish foothold, Torquemada scoured the land and found a mysterious magical ore, which he later named 'ebonite'. Securing a deposit of said ore from an orkish warband allowed the initial wave of Falx to construct their first base of operation, a Portal-Fortress. The Falx have successfully arrived; but they deemed to lay low and slowly build up their numbers before revealing themselves to the natives.

Act 1: Orks Must Die! Prelude: Lord of the Clan

The Empire was slowly recovering from their recent conflict, and begun to take back contested territories from the forces of evil. The surviving orks had a different plan though: led by their new clanlord, Gurak, a cunning ork with a moral code of his own, they seeked to launch an attack against Defiance Keep. The Empire was aware of this and ready to fend off from this rather desperate attack, however their plans were ruined when crown prince Albrecht took off with a small group of troops and launched a surprise attack on the rallying ork warband.

It was a gruesome battle, especially for the prince, who was a passionate but inexperienced fighter. During the battle, a Falx scouting party, led by Lady Isabella intervened to wreak havoc on both sides. Isabella herself took down Gurak, who met a gruesome demise by fire. Eventually rune paladin Apollyon had to intervene to save Albrecht from danger; with his aid, the Empire won the battle. The orkish warband was scared off, and the Falx retreated as well, although they didn't leave unnoticed.

Act 2: Subjugation Prelude: Escalation

The rest of the invasion command disagreed with Isabella's intervention, but they also learned about the orks and their potential as a fighting force. The plan of enslaving and using them to bolster their own troops was quickly hatched.

King Mondaine, after reminiscing over their recent victory and his son's behavior, immediately dispatched Jean-Francois and Majisto to scour the lands in hopes of finding the base of these mysterious invaders. Jean-Francois reached the Portal-Fortress first, but he failed to report his findings as he was taken hostage by Captain Doxie, daughter of the late Captain Illustrious. Unaware of his father's demise, she captured Jean-Francois as a potential bargaining chip for the future.

Torquemada brought over a mind control device with which he planned to take over the orks. After successfully testing it on other creatures, he and Barthelomeo set out to subjugate the remaining orks. The outcome of the battle didn't go as they originally planned - although the troll warlord of the orks was slain, Torquemada's mind control device was also destroyed during the fight. The wizard had to improvise: with an illusionary spell he masked himself as a fellow ork, which was convincing enough to lure the surviving orks near the Portal-Fortress. Here, the misled orkish troops were taken control over via a secondary, much stronger device. Afterwards, the Falx ransacked and enslaved other ork camps as well, eventually gaining control over all orks within the Empire.

Part 2: Trouble in Direwood

In order to keep his son occupied and away from the front lines, king Mondaine decided to send Albrecht to Direwood, where lady Liana, Gillaume and Flint Quickstride were busy slowly recovering the war-torn province. Little did the king know what treacherous adventures would await for the prince...

Interlude:In Dire Woods

Albrecht found Flint alone - they were supposed to tackle a rogue Norse warlord, going by the name of 'The Iron Jarl'. Instead, they only found an unforeseen undead warband! In addition to being outnumbered, some of their men revealed themselves as agents of the cult of the corrupted. Overwhelmed, Liana instructed Flint to flee and call for reinforcements. Albrecht arrived just in time.

Act 3:When Death Calls

Angered by corruption within his ranks and the thought of two of the Empire's best assets to be lost like that, Albrecht and Flint set out to save Liana and Gil. They found Liana first; she was almost overwhelmed by her pursuers. To make matters worse, the Iron Jarl's norse also joined battle, more than ready to slaughter imperials. The battle was rather fierce, but the imperials managed to defeat both the norse and the undead. After a short rest, they continued their pursuit to find Gil.

Act 4:Souls of the Dying

Gillaume was taken prisoner by the Iron Jarl, who was revealed to be working with the Cult, in order to have an army with which he could march onward to victory, regardless of his men being live or dead. To prove his resolve, he had the last of his warriors sacrificed in order to create an abomination. The Jarl was reckless and dangerous.

The battle went in the favor Albrecht and company; alas, the Jarl was robbed of his ambition to attain battlefield glory. The Norse menace was dealt with; however Albrech, after seeing the master behind the undead menace, refused to put an end to the case just yet. Along with Liana, they chased the cultists to their hideout.

Prelude:Initiation

Interlude:Road to Damnation

The cult master was a devious foe, who had eyes and ears within imperial ranks since Albrecht's arrival. Albrecht, after dispatching treacherous cultists, was forced to face his ally, lady Liana, being possessed by the cult master. After defeating her, the prince was ready to end this madness... however he was caught by surprise as the cult master splashed an unholy elixir into Albrecht's face. Even a small sip of said liquid was enough to stop a living being's heart; the cult master gloated as he watched the prince drop on all fours, slowly submitting to the decay...

... what he did not expect though, was the passion and fury still beating in the young prince's heart! With one clean swing, Albrecht slew the devious mastermind, putting an end to what could have become a second undead uprising in Direwood. The events following are somewhat shrouded in mystery - Liana found herself outside of the cultist's cave, all by herself. The cave collapsed, and the only thing soldiers could recover were the broken staff of the cult leader and Albrecht's shield. Even though the Empire won that day, their victory was rather pyrrhic - the loss of Albrecht had shaken and haunted king Mondaine and lady Liana for quite a while.

Part 3: The Truth Behind Ebonite

• the rest to be added shortly!*