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Background Elsewhere in Temuair, with the Goblin War having settled down, the Mundane Burgess of Mileth Cedric took a sabbatical from his duties in early Deoch 32. Hiring a ship he set sail in an easterly direction. It was said as the ship ventured further and further into the unknown the Gods attempted to stop him; first with storms and then trying to directly influence his mind. Eduardo, Mundane Burgess of Rucesion, later speculated that this was due to the Gods’ jealously, whom only wanted aislings to know of Temuair. What is known for certain, however, is that Cedric’s ship landed on the coast of a then unknown land: Medenia. No records exist of what exactly Cedric did in Medenia, except that he encountered a friendly being, one who appeared to be a fellow human mundane that called himself Law. (In actuality Law was a descendant of the Creants, a forgotten race who had invaded Temuair in the distant past long before the aisling era.) Cedric brought Law back to Temuair and showed him around. Law eventually took up a position as the mundane liaison between aislings and the Kingdom of Oren Island. Over the next few deochs he would frequently be seen at the sides of Cedric and Eduardo at various events in Temuair. ---------------------------------------- The Duel In early 34 Law began acting strangely and erratically: posting messages of an impending doomsday on numerous boards, as well as being implicated in the theft of an ancient and highly valuable pair of greaves. When Eduardo made a response to these postings, Law announced his resignation as Oren Mundane and challenged Eduardo and Cedric to a duel near the Grassy Fields, which Eduardo and Cedric accepted. A double moon later, before an audience of hundreds of aislings, Law confidently strode into the prepared dueling site. Denouncing the gathered aislings as “sheep stupid enough to come to a slaughter” Law then, before the duel had even begun, unleashed a powerful spell on Cedric, instantly killing the longtime Mundane of Burgess of Mileth to the horror of the crowd. Law then proclaimed that in one year he would return with an army of “dark aislings” to conquer Temuair and make aislings extinct. Leaving as quickly as he entered, Law exited the grassy fields leaving a devastated Eduardo and aisling community to piece together what exactly had transpired in front of them and, perhaps more importantly, how to prepare for Law’s invasion. ---------------------------------------- Invasion True to his word, exactly one year later in Deoch 35, Law and his dark aisling army numbering some 3000, landed in south-central Temuair (not far from where Loures Harbor now stands) and proceeded to advanced in the direction of Loures. Due to the need to maintain defenses against the Goblins at the grassy fields, as well as huge prior losses, Loures was only able to assemble 200 knights to meet Law’s invasion force. The knights would be supported by an aisling army numbering some 800, of whom about 300 were newly minted grand masters. The combined Temuarian army would make its stand not far from the grassy fields. If Law wanted to reach Loures, he would have no choice but to fight a pitched battle. The battlefield, being near the grassy fields, featured largely similar flat, open terrain. The Temuarian army assembled in two lines. The first line consisted of the Loures Knights on the left and aisling grandmasters on the right. The rest of the aisling army formed up in a second line at the rear. Law’s army formed up directly in front of the Temuarians, several lines across, with Law himself positioned at the rear on the right flank. The battle began as Law’s army charged head on against the Temuarians. The fighting at the front line was fierce and the Loures Knights on the left took the full brunt of the initial dark aisling charge with their line eventually collapsing. The dark aisling army then crashed into the bulk of the aislings positioned directly behind the knights. While the ‘dark aislings’ were physically strong combatants and looked the part of aisling masters, they lacked all but the most basic instincts and tactics. After their initial charge they began attacking as individuals. Their lines quickly broke up as they behaved more like creatures one would encounter on a dungeon hunt as oppose to a supposedly organized army. The Dark Aislings protecting Law were quickly overwhelmed, forcing Law to personally engage the elite Grand Masters. Assuming his true form as a hovering red-skined giant creant, Law utilized every advanced spell and skill at his disposal to dispatch the Grand Masters. As the battle continued Law ultimately found himself surrounded by dozens of Grand Masters and seemingly perished under a torrent of spells and flurry of steel and fists. With Law’s death and his army outflanked, the battle quickly turned into a rout as the Temuarians pressed home against the leaderless dark aisling army. An estimated 1,000 dark aislings were killed in the battle prior to Law’s death. Many of the remaining 2,000 were killed in the rout the followed. Those that had managed to flee the field were mercilessly hunted down and killed over the next two double moons. The Temuarian army suffered about 200 dead, the vast majority being Loures Knights in the opening dark aisling charge. Aisling casualties were light. (Though presumed killed in the battle, Law somehow had managed to survive and fled back to Medenia. He would never again, however, threaten Temuair. Law would meet his true end several decades later at aisling hands in Medenia’s Lost Ruins.) ----------------------------------------
When I first read Law’s posts about doomsday coming, my immediate thought was an aisling must be impersonating him. I would later attend the duel and witnessed Cedric’s death firsthand. At the time I was in office as a Burgess of Mileth myself. Seeing my mundane counterpart, one that I had known for decades in political life, slain just mere meters in front of me was shocking. As the time came to engage Law’s army, prayers were said and offerings made for victory in the temples across Temuair. The recently formed Order of Danaan was on hand to bless the aisling volunteers who would soon be going into battle. My guild Novus Imperia organized a large contingent consisting of about 50 of our members. About 10 or so who had achieved grand mastery took their places in the front line, while the rest of us brought up the rear. I recall we were perhaps about ten paces behind the Loures Knights when the battle began. There was an initial panic as the Loures Knights in front of us broke against the dark aisling charge. That panic did not last for long though. While the dark aislings themselves took the form of aisling masters, it was quickly clear they were nothing but poor imitations. They simply choose a target, came forward and attacked. They were no cleverer than a Gog in the Piet Sewers. Had they been able to organize themselves, the dark aislings might have stood a chance. As it was, however, we were able to hold our own and kill them fairly easily after their initial charge. Not before long we received word that the Grand Masters had engaged Law himself. Almost immediately thereafter, we received word that Law was dead. As we eliminated the remaining dark aislings one of my guild mates joked to the effect of "well that was anticlimactic!" Many an aisling volunteer that day agreed with him. |