Gameworld News

September 12, 1011:

Duvarna, Bilgosh:

On May 20, Queen Catherine of Chardreau and Prince Edmund, Regent of Allondell, led their armies across the border into Bilgosh. They were joined by knights and soldiers from Veneza and Castagna, who despite being small countries had boosted the crusaders' morale by their arrival. The crusaders employed a strategy drawn up by the Chardrois, where they engaged the forces in late afternoon, drew out the unholy creatures laying in wait as dusk approached, then withdrew to a defensible position to wait for dawn, when many of Emilian's forces would be weakest, especially the vampires, who would be forced to withdraw entirely.

The crusaders took heavy losses throughout the night, but rallied as the sky turned blue again. They repeated this tactic twice, each time moving closer to the stronghold of Stoyanka the Red, a Dark Lady necromancer. As the crusaders' front grew closer to the fort, the morale of the Bilgosh peasant armies deteriorated, and many fled, leaving mostly Stoyanka's skeletal armies to guard the fort itself. However, the skeletons did poorly against the mace-wielding chaplains of the crusaders. While the crusaders expected to have to mount a siege around the front, Stoyanka, apparently outraged at being put on the defensive, led a rally against the crusaders. She was felled by a lightning bolt in mid-air, and fell to the ground halfway incinerated.

Queen Catherine and Prince Edmund declared Duvarna liberated, and raised the old ducal Bilgosh banner above the fort on May 23.

Alsoria, Steinlands:

Rumors spread from the crusade's back lines that a stealth team of crusaders was able to somehow sneak into the Bilgosh heartland and shore the defenses of a monastery that had been holding out against Emilian's forces. The rumors are not clear on which of the monarchs allegedly sent this secret team. Many in the crusader armies believe that if this monastery does stand that it might be used as a waypoint for crusader strikes further into Bilgosh.

Gyuvos, Bilgosh:

Confronted by a Chardrois crusader force under Countess Emilie de Debergne, Dark Lord Tibor, a vampire, fled his lands after the scattering of his minions and armies.

Lady Emilie waited until Tibor's human armies had engaged her front-line soldiers, then sent in her knights to break the line and advance further into Tibor's ranks. When Tibor sent his unholy minions after the knights, the knights quickly retreated, allowing the Chardrois chaplains (many of them new to their vows) to step up and radiate holy auras outward, stopping the unholy creatures dead in their tracks. The chaplains pushed their line outward, scattering the unholy creatures and stretching their lines thin even as the chaplains took heavy losses. The knights then advanced once more, attacking the thinning lines and slaying the vampiric creatures one by one.

After more and more of the vampiric minions fell beneath the knight's weapons, the human peasantry broke, and Lady Emilie led her remaining knights and chaplains in a charge on Tibor and his inner circle. Tibor transformed into mist and fled the battle, abandoning his cohort to the crusaders' wrath.

Mourange, Roudoigne:

Stating that “the cause of the gods is a just and worthy one”, Duchess Nicolette of Roudoigne stated that she will contribute money and supplies to the crusaders. She has ordered several ships filled and sent northward to Tolbury, Allondell so that the materials can be brought with crusaders departing Allondell for Bilgosh.

Duchess Nicolette's coffers have swelled over the past few years as an unusually good period for wool and cloth have meant more trade for Roudoigne, and thus more tariffs and taxes for the Duchess.

Zrenevo, Bilgosh:

A band of adventurers hired by Radmilo, the Rannashite bishop of Dezdevo, unknowingly exposed a Chardrois sabotage team when both groups attempted to capture the fort at Zrenevo.

The bishop's group planned to take the fort from the south by creating a diversion to the fort's north that would draw Emilian's troops out northward. What that group did not know was that Queen Catherine was already assembling a team in hiding to the fort's north. Emilian's troops followed the distraction and explored the area to the north, saw the numbers of the gathering Chardrois, and withdraw to the fort to dig in, thus spoiling both group's plans.

The Chardrois leadership angrily confronted Bishop Radmilo, questioning his authority to conduct such a mission without involving the monarchs who lead the crusader armies. The bishop, who has been in exile from Bilgosh since Emilian's rise, asserted that since the Collegium had called for the Crusade, the churches are the true leaders of the Crusade. The Chardrois and Allondines countered that the Collegium has always called for others to act but has not lead Crusades itself, since the Collegium has no army and no command structure.

In Collegium Hall, Allondine and Chardrois emissaries met with the Rannashite Collegiates, but no details of these meetings are known.

May 3, 1011:

Alsoria, Steinlands:

Recognizing that the manifest power of the divine is perhaps the most potent weapon against an unholy foe, Queen Catherine of Chardreau convened her clergy in February and encouraged them to begin initiating novitiates into their faiths wherever they can find those of a clerical bent. "We cannot expect these acolytes to be able to act with full ability," commented one bishop, "but perhaps if they were able simply to channel the heavens to repel and avert the unholy, we might gain an advantage."

Inspired by this tactic, the regent Prince Edmund and the Allondine clergy began a similar recruitment program among their ranks. The newly-minted clergy are earnest in their new mission, but without any regular study in a seminary, most remain poorly trained.

Veneza:

Citing "the need to defend the righteous and holy," Prince Alonzo of Veneza declared for the Crusade on March 14. He called his vassals to arms, and ordered supplies from the merchants in the island's ports. The Venezans departed their Delonan island for the Allondine port of Renham, then traveled up the Felsen river and into Kislevia, where they were granted the right of travel through to the Steinlands.

Castagna:

Not to be outdone by her Delonan rival, Princess Francesca declared for the crusade on April 4, also departing first for Allondell.

Alsoria, Steinlands:

With the last of the snows fading from the mountain passes in mid-April, anticipation spread among the crusader armies. Messengers began moving between the Allondine and Chardrois tents, as well as to the camps of the religious orders and the newly-arrived Delonans. Rumors say that Queen Catherine has developed a plan to engage Emilian's forces, then pull back to a defensible position where the crusaders can hold out until dawn, when the unholy will be weak or forced to take cover from the sun.

February 16, 1011:

Alsoria, Steinlands:

Queen Margaret of Allondell defended her ill-fated foray back into Duvarna, Bilgosh, stating that it was necessary "to keep the Dark Lords of Bilgosh on the defensive."

Against the advice of the other crusaders, Queen Margaret had led her armies back into the Duvarna valley in September, shortly after the crusaders' initial defeat. Though hoping to take advantage of any of the unholy armies' post-battle disarray, the Allondines were routed by a necromancer's zombies and retreated hastily back into the Steinlands.

Alsoria, Steinlands:

On October 21, when the moon turned full, the crusaders learned of the reason for Queen Margaret of Allondell's rashness. Hearing a clatter in Her Majesty's quarters, one of her attendants went to check up on the queen, and found instead the lupine form of a werewolf.

Cornered by a very confused but very concerned royal guard, Queen Margaret fled out a window into the night.

Alsoria, Steinlands:

On October 22, the nobles of Allondell present at the war front gathered and, with the consent of the Allondine clergy present, declared Queen Margaret of Allondell deposed. After an examination by the chaplains to verify that he bore no taint of the unholy, Margaret's eldest son, Prince Harold, was declared King Harold VI of Allondell.

As the new king is not yet of age, his uncle, Prince Edmund, will act as regent until the new king turns eighteen in 1012.

Tolbury, Allondell:

On November 14, one of the laboratory buildings at the Department of Magic at the University of Aurelius mysteriously exploded.

Rescuers hoping to save any wounded found that the scholars inside the the building had been turned into small piles of ash. The scholars in question has been studying a book of magic recovered from the estate of the archmage Gilliam Stenn, prior to the estate's destruction at the hands of orcs. University chancellors say the book warrants further study, this time using more safeguards.

Alsoria, Steinlands:

In December, the crusader armies acknowledged the end of the campaign for the year, and fortified their camps for the winter.

Cold weather and rising snowfall never made for an opportune time for extensive warfare, but the crusaders have been further hampered by the disarray within their ranks. After several distastrous battles the Allondines are formulating new battle strategies, and coping with the shock to morale that was the deposition of their former Queen. The Chardrois are seeking to improve coordination with Prince Edmund, now the commander of the Allondine forces. Both armies are still understaffed.