Prysm and His Lust for Power

 In the twenty-seventh century since Prysm, the God/King and Necromancer, first cast his shadow across the world of Lophator, he at last conceived a design that could not fail. A single, terrible ambition took shape within him: a Dark Crusade.

 Despite his extraordinary command over the undead, a power that made liches, mummy lords, and all the crowned horrors of necromancy but apprentices beside him, Prysm has not been able to achieve his goal of opening a portal to hell and the abyss to conquer those realms, also. Prysm had tried many times. Before any of his many attempts at opening a portal to hell or the abyss were complete, Solar, celestial beings of ethical power and virtuous might, descended and foiled any attempt to establish a planar gateway to any destination. Prysm's mightiest minions, his dreaded bodyguard, melted away when the Solar unveiled themselves. The Death Knight with his undead legions, the Mummy Lord with his 4 mummies, the Vampire with his nightbringers, spawns, and familiars were all rendered insignificant before the overwhelming display of divine power. Even the spirit troll was like chaff in the wind.

 After years of long study, chasing portents, following spirits for clues, Prsym learned a fundamental truth: The Whirlpool of Danube was the solution. It contained such immense power that it would hide his Gate from the ever vigilant Solar. Everyone knew the Whirlpool of Danube was far to the northeast, and was guarded by the elves, dwarves, and fey. Everyone knew it contained the power of the Universe. Prysm gathered his undead legions and marched northeast and was soundly defeated.

 For nearly three millennia, Prysm hungered for the power sealed within the Whirlpool of Danube. Time and again that power slipped from his grasp. The fey, the elves, and the dwarves denied him first; their armies broke his legions and cast him into exile. Later, at the very height of his triumph, the Paladin King himself rose against him and barred the way. When the priests of the Paladin King unveiled the Diamond of the Desert, it was as if the Solar had returned, and Prysm's servants fell and fled. The Paladin King hid the Whirlpool, and, has since, thwarted every stratagem, every deception, every monstrous device Prysm unleashed. Yet Prysm's hatred endured, and his desire for vengeance burned undiminished.

 In the long centuries that followed his defeat, Prysm's power did not wane, it deepened. The orcs and the goblinoid tribes came to revere him not merely as a conqueror but as a God/King. Under his cold and cruel hand their shattered nations were reforged, not through patience or mercy, but through the instant, unquestioning violence of the undead that surrounded him. Prysm commanded legions of undead without limit, all undead were bound to his will by a mastery no other creature had ever matched.

 In the southern hemisphere, in the central area, goblinoids inhabited fortress after fortress and lair after lair. It was here that Prysm settled as thier God/King, and it was here that he perfected his necromancy.

 Prysm aligned himself with an ancient green dragon, Orobrix the cruel. In the southern hemisphere, far to the east, tribe after tribe, and clan after clan of orcs stretched farther than the eye could see, and Prysm gave lordship over the orcs to Orobrix, so long as his will was enforced. Orobrix agreed and became God/King to the orcs.

 In the southern hemisphere, far to the west was Defiant, the land of the Fire Giants. There, the giants whispered Prysm's name with equal parts dread and reverence, for they knew of his strength and had tasted his cruelty. It was in that harsh and volcanic realm that Prysm's design for the Dark Crusades took its first true form.

 Prysm's undead legions had failed to thwart the power of the Diamond of the Desert. His goblinoid legions and his orc forces had failed to defeat the soldiers of the Kingdom of Goldenshield. But his new design involved taking advantage of the skills of the fire giant:

1. Disciplined Soldiers & Tacticians

   Fire giants fought not with wild fury, but with calculated, relentless discipline.

2. Ability to Strategize War

   Structured Training

   From childhood, they learned battle songs, participated in war games, and engaged in relentless martial training.

   Commanders in Battle

   They exceled at leading battles, often acting as officers and planners.

   Disciplined Retreat

   Unlike some giants, fire giants knew when to retreat, often using defensive maneuvers such as Disengage and Dodge to live to fight another day.

3. Biological and Engineered Based Warfare

   Siege Weapons

   They protected and defended, much like pets, huge tribes of ogres, ettins, and hill giants. They trained and used these creatures in war as battering rams, trebuchets, and mangonels.

   Environmental Engineering

   They fortified their strongholds to be impregnable, utilizing lava flows for both power and as natural defensive hazards.

   Battlefield Control

   They used the War Spheres, magical forges portable enough to use in battle, allowing them to create specialized armor (like banded mail) and also create weapons designed to handle multiple threats simultaneously.

 Prysm promised 10,000 goblinoid soldiers for each fire giant that joined his cause. He only needed to convince the fire giants to join his cause themselves. In the depths of winter, on New Year's Day itself, he entered Defiant, the land of the fire giants, and called all of them to himself.

The Flame Wills It

 On the heights of the cliff, upon the burning lip of the volcano, in the heart of the Fire Giants' city, Prysm raised his voice and spoke these words:

                        Children of the Furnace, hear me.
                        You were born of fire, yet you live in shadows.
                        You were shaped for greatness, yet you kneel to the cold kingdoms of men.
                        In the north, men rule and deny you your birthright.
                        Look upon the Whirlpool of Danube, the eternal power from which all flame was born.
                        Look, and see how its fire spirals away from you.
                        See how its radiance bends toward the north.
                        See how the Paladin King drinks from a flame that was never his.
                        He has stolen your inheritance.
                        He has chained the world to a false dawn.
                        He blinds the weak with borrowed light and calls it virtue.
                        But you, you are the rightful heirs of the Furnace.
                        You are the flame that cannot be stolen.
                        You are the heat that cannot be denied.
                        I call for three of you.
                        Three among you will rise.
                        Three will bear the banners of the Burning Path.
                        Three will reclaim the fire that was taken.
                        
                        The Flame wills it.
                        Those who march will reclaim their birthright.
                        They will rise beside their ancestors.
                        They will stand in the First Fire.
                        Go forth.
                        Burn away the false light.
                        Restore the world to its rightful heat.
                        Let the long night end.
                        Let the true dawn rise.
                        Let the fire return.
                        The Flame wills it!
                    

 The fire giants erupted in thunderous cries, a storm of religious fervor, frenzied zeal, and sudden, violent resolve.

 Prysm ordered the Dark Crusade to begin on Hot 18, in the 2654th year of his life. His sermon at the Sindermaw Passage was given at the beginning of the year. It called for the fire giants to aid the orc and goblin Empires and reclaim the Holy Land (specifically the Whirlpool of Danube) from Goldenshield control, promising return to the First Fire for participants.

Defiant

The Creation of the Games

 Lanohr Vassalheister, king of the Fire Giants in the land of Defiant, obeyed Prysm's orders and his call to begin a Dark Crusade. Lanohr established the Games. A set of trials designed to select the very best of his warriors.

The Games

The Slave Hunt

The contender must capture living prisoners. Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, humans, whatever the region provides. The contender will allow the prisoners to live if they agree to serve him as his soldiers. There is no limit to the number of slaves the contender can gather. The contender only has 36 days.

The Training

The contender must turn their captives into a functioning military unit, able to use advanced weapons, especially those weapons with long range and fire. The contender must train his army to use stealth, to infiltrate heavily guarded places without being detected. The contender only has 36 days.

The Incursion

The contender must lead the army they forged into frost giant territory and return with a frost giant artifact. The first three fire giants to return with a frost giant trophy become the three Warlords of the Dark Crusade. The contender only has 36 days.

The Gifts

 Since Prysm wanted three fire giants, and would provide 10,000 highly trained goblinoids to each fire giant, as part of their agreement, Lanohr decided to honor and gift each of his subjects that were selected. Each fire giant selected would be accompanied by two hill giants. Each fire giant selected, would be given a War Sphere, a magical, portable forge used to repair weapons and armor on or near the battlefield. Each fire giant selected, would be given a war chariot, pulled by four fire gorgons (giant bulls born in fire), and accompanied by eight hell hounds. Each fire giant selected would be given a bodyguard of four fire elementals.

The 1st Dark Crusade

Attack from the Southwest

Attack from The Central Abyssal Plain

Attack from the Southeast

The First Interim

The Spear of Conquest

 After the 1st Dark Crusade, Prysm knew Orobrix had been ensnared by the fey and lost to the Maze. The orcs fractured, collapsed, and slipped into a type of feudalism, where land and rights were granted only by the strongest among them. Prysm would not allow his designs to fail for want of a commander.

 Nearly 500,000 orcs occupied over 17.2 million square miles. Five large areas were divided into 10 zones, each zone housed over 10,000 orcs. And within these zones, orc chieftains and warlords vied for scrapped dwarf mines and ruined elf spires. Within a single orc city, three clans might lay siege against each other in a vain attempt to outdo one another.

 Gathering his undead servants, Prysm demanded a new instrument of dominion: the Spear of Conquest. Forged by a Wraith-smith, Prysm, himself, imprisoned the soul of a Great Orc Chieftain in its head. Within the steel shaft, the spirits of a disgraced Death Knight and a Mummy Lord were bound in eternal torment, forced to lend their dread and command to the wielder of the weapon. Finally, for three months, the Spear was drowned in the blood of a Vampire Lord. The Spear of Conquest was not a gift, but a command made metal, a weapon shaped to bind the will of the orcish tribes and bend them toward a single purpose.

 Prysm sent forth his minions, ghosts, specters, shadows, wraiths, and wights, into the southeast, to the land of the orcs. The appearance of so many undead sparked fear and trepidation among the orcs. The orcs had no way to kill or defend themselves against the creatures that haunted them. Rumors began to circulate among the orcs that the gods were angry that no leader had appeared among them. That the undead would wipe out the nation of the orcs unless a leader stepped up. Rumors spread among the orcs of an apocalypse. The end of the orc nation was at hand.

 Prysm's undead minions brought the Spear of Conquest to the land of the orcs. They hid it in the "Bone Orchard", the graveyard of the orcs, an open field full of orc remains and skeletal bodies set in unnatural poses, and burned circles that were the remains of cremations and other orc death rituals. The Bone Orchard was marked by stone pillars and altars, and no orc dared venture there in fear of offending the clans and the gods. But now, rumor spread to the bravest of orcs that the weapon hidden there would grant the user power to rule all other orcs. The strategy worked. Soon, orc warriors braved the undead paths to seek The Spear of Conquest. But it was a perilous journey, for the Spear radiated hatred and was surrounded by wraiths and wights.

 Only one orc, Urgok the cruel, succeeded in penetrating the terrors of The Bone Orchard. Urgok siezed the Spear of Conquest and used its power to subdue all the other orc cheiftains. The nation of the orcs began to take shape, not as seperate entities struggling one against another, but as a cohesive unit able to make war with other nations. But Prysm's designs went astray when Urgok, filled with an isastiable lust for dominion and authority, used the Spear to open a portal to hell. Immediately, 4 solar descended from the heavens, destoryed the portal, killed all the surrounding orcs, and pinned Urgok onto the Iron Pillar with his own Spear.

 Months later, after Urgoks remains had turned skeletal, orcs began to approach the site with the intention of removing the Spear and claiming it for their own. But no matter the size or strenghth of the orc, none could pull the Spear from the Iron Pillar. Not until, Chechin son of Urgok, grew to full orchood. After years of manipulation, Prysm's servants guided the young orphan Chechin, until his life culminated in him pulling out and claiming the Spear of Conquest for his own. Chechin would become king, and the nation of the orcs would once again unite.

Prysm's designs were complete. It had almost been 32 years, but the orcs were ready. The second Dark Crusade could begin.

The 2nd Dark Crusade

Attack from the Southwest

Attack from The Central Abyssal Plain

Attack from the Southeast

The Second Interim

Prysm

 Thirty-two years. Prsym would wait and recover. His forces had been defeated, but the results were promising. The orcs had pushed against an ungiving stone wall, but walls could be torn down. He would let the orcs recover and rebuild. On the next Dark Crusade, the orcs would succeed. They would bypass the stone towers and march to find the hiding place of the Whirlpool of Danube.

 The fire giants had borne the brunt of the invasion, and they had nearly succeeded. Another 50 miles and they would have reached the hiding place of the Whirlpool of Danube. They only failed because the Paladin King arrived from behind. But Prysm had witnessed the War Vortex. He knew that it was the key to trapping his enemy. On the next Dark Crusade, he forsaw that his enemy would be trapped inside the War Vortex. Thirty-two years. Prsym would wait thirty-two years.

Goldenshield

 The great wizard Noe Cabal also had prescience. He revealed to his friend, the Paladin King, that the War Vortex would swallow all their forces if they dared to meet Prysm in battle again. The Paladin King did not hesitate, he passed his authority, his crown, and his sword to his second born son, Ernald, and he prepared his forces for the final battle that was to come. He would be an old man before then, but still hale, able to don his armor and wield spear and mace with deadly accuracy. The Paladin King would wait thirty-two years and then lead his army into the War Vortex to meet his destiny.

The great wizard Noe Cabal took thought, using his divination spells mixed with chronurgy magic, he summoned a mixture of magic and science fiction. A thousand years in the future, he was a scientist creating machines to build matter across space-time. The result was the appearance of The King's Road.

 A 40 foot wide large slate rock road running the entire width of the planets outer hemisphere. The King's Road had two foot drain ditches on both sides, had 8 inch curbs on both sides, was raised one foot above the surrounding land. It was built with a deep sand base, stone slabs in cement above that, crushed stone in cement above that, and finally large flat slate rocks as the surface of the road. It is a multi-layered engineering marvel, built with distinct strata for stability and drainage.

 Furthermore, the King's Road spanned the Great Trench, forty miles wide and seven miles deep, a literal city of towers, houses, and spires were built on this bridge of immense proportions. This bridge became the first of the fortresses, and it was named Kazan.

 It all appeared at once. The King's Road and the inhabited bridge spanning the great trench. Only a few months after the 2nd Dark Crusade, the whole thing appeared all at once. Noe Cabal earned his title of "Great Wizard" on that day.

 The soldiers of Goldenshield hurried down the King's Road and began construction of the other two fortresses. Kahar would be built in the center of the outer hemisphere, in the midst of the Hamakhaave desert, it would take seventeen years to complete, and it would be complete only at the start of the new year at the very next Dark Crusade. That is, Kahar would only be complete for a few months before the fire giants brought the gobliniod soldiers in open war. Kabur would be built in the far east, it would be completed in thirteen years, and, thus, it would be inhabited for three years before the next Dark Crusade.

 The King's Road was complete, along with the three fortresses, Kazan, Kahar, and Kabur. The Paladin King has assigned teams of "giant killers" to each fortress. To Kazan he sent the Clergy Contingent, to Kahar he sent the Ecclesiastic Brigade, and to Kabur he sent the Chaplain Corps. Each was a team of five clerics leading twelve beserker paladin designed to counter the ferocity of the giants.

 The Paladin King was ready. He had prepared the land, he had prepared his people, and he was ready to meet his destiny and lead his army into the War Vortex during the next Dark Crusade.

The 3rd Dark Crusade

Attack from the Southwest

Attack from The Central Abyssal Plain

Attack from the Southeast

The Purge of the Orcs

The 4th Dark Crusade

The Fire Giants

The March of the Undead Hosts and the Return of the War Vortex

The 4th Interrum

 For thirty-two years, Prysm sat on his throne in his tower of darkness and contemplated new plots and devices to destroy the Paladin King and his army. More than once did the Solar descend down into his territory and stopped him from creating a Gate to an otherworldly realm. Thirty-two years, and Prysm had restored his forces and was ready to attack the north again.

The 5th Dark Crusade

The Fire Giants

The Undead

The 5th Interrum

 Another thirty-two years. But this time, on his way back from delivering the 30,000 elite goblinoid soldiers to the fire giants. Prysm notices a ruler north of Defiant, the land of the Fire Giants. Her place is named Sakala, her forces are small, her territoy meager, but she is an eater of souls. Prysm's mind begins to plot and he descends upon Sakala like a thunderstorm. For many years he stays there, training this lamia ruler, and in the end, he performs a ritual of unspeakable evil. The lamia, named Khalista, becomes just like him. Prsym commands Khalista to go north and aide the Dark Crusades.

The 6th Dark Crusade

The Fire Giants

The Undead