Myaasia World Information

None will argue that the armies of the thirteen liches were the most dangerous threat to us all during the Period of Destruction. Those vast armies, reportedly sealed by the power of Jaysek during the Magewars beneath the small town of Zerim in central Myaasia were led by powerful entities said to rival the gods themselves in power.

Many of those knowledgeable in the arcane feared that with the advent of the Period of Destruction the wards holding them would weaken or even break, but none were prepared when the first army broke free only a few days into the first year of the Period of Destruction.

The wards containing the lich Prul-Gar had long been considered the weakest. Even before the Period of Destruction there had been times when portions of that army had managed to get out, once getting as far as the city of Baldemar before being pushed back.

The army of Prul-Gar swept over the surrounding area, obliterating the town of Zerim. Thousands of thousands of unlife assembled for the march to the west. An army of mercenaries, hired by the rulers of Baldemar, was wiped out without even slowing their march. Many of the people of Baldemar fled before the Dark Tide and those remaining did not expect to live out the day.

So the remaining defenders of Baldemar manned the walls, some grim paladins, come to battle the foul unlife, some fearful slaves pressed into arms, some peasants with family to weak to flee along with the others.

When Prul-Gar’s army came into sight the defenders lost all hope, for there seemed to be no limit to the number of unlife arrayed against them. When they came on, they climbed over one another to gain the walls and within minutes the first sections were breached and the defenders turned to flee. And this would have been the end of Baldemar right then.

But as all hope seemed lost, the miracle happened: All over the city portals flickered into existence and through them stepped creatures that might have been born in nightmares, demonic knights heavily armoured and armed with dark greatswords. At the same time arcane wards came to life all over the city and the weaker skeletons and zombies burst into flame and fell to ashes in seconds.

The Demon Knights ignored all humans in their path and immediately turned on any unlife left standing. With mechanical precision they cut down the remaining unlife in the city before the commanders of the unlife army could restore any semblance of order to their ranks.

Before the end of the day the walls were once again manned by defenders, this time their numbers bolstered by thousands of Demon Knights, though any attempts of communication with the knights were simply ignored, in fact they seemed incapable of speech.

When the next day came, the defenders saw, that Prul-Gar’s army had completely encircled the city and seemed to be preparing for a siege. Before the significance of this had settled, another portal opened, but this time no demons appeared but a score of human warriors.

Their leader addressed the assembled leaders of the city: “My name is Galen Greatwood of Baldemar. Thirty years ago I and many others were rescued from the unlife threatening Baldemar. We were being trained in preparation for this very day and given command over those knights you see manning the walls. I will now assume command over this city and make sure Baldemar will not fall to the forces of unlife!”

The leaders of Baldemar had no means of denying the commander of the Demon Knights anything, so no one raised an objection to his claims. Galen Greatwood refused to reveal by whom he had been rescued and trained, but there were some among the older folk of Baldemar who remembered a family of Greatwoods presumed dead in the unlife attack thirty years past and their son Galen, then a lad of less then ten years. Some others among his group were also recognized as former citizens of Baldemar, so his story is generally believed to be true.

The siege of Baldemar had begun, and it was to last longer than anyone could anticipate.