The Fall of Dewan

Chapter 3 Fair Growth

Love did not blind Gerold and Cecila to the reason they formed their alliance in the first place. It had been ten years since the wedding. In that time, their children had grown- Cassius was 8, Leif was 7 and Genevieve was 6. Artemis had spent those ten years building his army and it was not to be trifled with. The Almorian Army was approximately three thousand soldiers large. The actual nation of Almoria had few left not serving, all had been drafted into the army- every able bodied man and women and child over the age of sixteen. The children who were under the age of sixteen were sent to what many called 'military school' where teachers (Almorian citizens who were deemed unable to fight) taught them to be disciplined killers. Children were stripped of their childhoods and families, left impressionable and easily manipulated. It was said that Artemis himself spent a significant amount of time at the school, personally doing some of the training- a terrifying thought to many.

Gerold and Cecila had been preparing for war too though. They had formed a war council quickly after the wedding- made up of trusted military commanders, advisors, and select scholars. One of the most important figures in this council was Conrad Billson, a long time friend and distant cousin of Gerold's and his most trusted confidante. Conrad and his daughter Adelaide (Addy as her friends and family called her) had moved to the Etherian Castle where the king and queen resided in late 336 A.S.. Gerold and Ceclia had just had Genevieve and the fear of war was growing by the day. Gerold insisted that Conrad move closer so that he may have his advisement not just during the monthly meetings, but on daily matters as well. Conrad, always a loyal friend and servant to the crown, agreed immediately- moving himself and his eight year old daughter to the castle. Conrad's appearance was very similar to that of all giants: large in stature with gruff features. Addy appeared the opposite- she was of human size and, even at the age of 8, a breathtaking beauty. One would not have believed Addy to be Conrad's daughter had it not been for her eyes. Her eyes were a bewitching shade of gold, incredibly uncommon- except for Conrad himself. Little was known about Addy's mother. Conrad claimed she was a giant that had died in child birth, but no one knew anything of her- never met her, never seen a portrait, never even heard Conrad tell a story about her. Due to Conrad's close friendship with Gerold, people simply accepted it for what it was- a lie that would never be disproven or officially questioned. It did not help Addy's questionable parentage that she had shown early sign of magic as a child and was far from giant sized. Conrad, knowing this would only add to the questions of her mother, had Addy begin to eat herbs at every meal that would surpress her powers. Addy was not given much of a choice in the matter but still did as she was told. Addy's first eight years of life had not been particularly enjoyable because of this, often called a halfling or half breed by other children when adults were out of earshot. So she wasn't entirely displeased by the move from Obsidian Reach to Etherian.

Conrad made two suggestions that changed the course of our story forever. The first being he proposed that Gerold and Cecila look within for fighters. By this he meant look within their dungeons. He suggested that they find some of the most fearsome and nastiest fighters they could, despite their moral compass, and promise them that if they served in the army for the duration of the war and swore a blood oath of loyalty to the crown, they would be granted freedom at the conclusion of the war. A blood oath, for those who don't know, is a magical oath in which a party swears to do something and is bonded to that promise; if that promise is broken they will die a painful, immediate death. Gerold and Cecila were hesitant about this plan at the start, but eventually desperation won. While they had nearly one hundred swear these blood oaths to serve in the army, there was a particular ten that are very important to our story. These ten (a number that would decrease as the war went on) formed a team of 'reformed' bandits that would discreetly scout and execute the most dangerous of missions, reporting directly to Gerold, Cecila and Conrad. The team was made of ten criminals who had all preformed particularly atrocious crimes- many including murder and all including some form of treason. Prior to the blood oaths, these ten served no one except for themselves. They were fueled by greed, not loyalty. This greed is what led them to agree to these blood oath- they did not care to serve the king but were eager to be released from their cells. The greed is what led them to be so successful in battle- they were not hindered by morals and knew they would not feel the full extent of their freedom until after the war had concluded. We will get more into this team of bandits later in the story but I felt they were important to mention now as they were Conrad's creation.

The next of Conrad's major contributions was "The Gauldian Treaty of 337". Artermis's forces were only growing larger and had been slowly inching closer. Almoria had recently made numerous attacks on Gaulde, the lands of dwarves - ransacking small villages, ambushing convoys transporting goods, setting farmlands ablaze. While many were hesitant to officially say that the kingdoms were at 'war' it seemed as if it would be only a matter of time. In September of 337 A.S., after a harsh summer, Almorians were at battle with two Gauldian villages in the north- Almorian solider had attempted to spoil the coming harvest and Gauldian farmers struck back. Word of this had reached Gerold and Cecila and they decided to capitalize. With all Gauldian eyes facing north to what they feared could be the start of a war, King Gerold and Queen Cecila marched an army of one thousand from the south and attacked the castle. They faced little trouble; fear of war with Almoria had left Gaulde blind to the threat of anyone else. What came next has had many songs and poems written about it but only three know the truth. The stories say Gerold and Cecila entered the throne room of Gaulde with one hundred men, after all Gauldian guards were killed or subdued they ordered all their soldiers to leave the room- leaving only Gerold, Cecila and Gregory (the king of the dwarfs). The three stayed in the room for nearly three hours, and when they exited they had with them a black eye (on Gerold), a blood nose (on Gregory), a smirk (on Cecila) and in their hands they held a treaty. This treaty stated that Gaulde was surrendering to Etherian and Obsidian. Gregory was relinquishing his throne and would no longer serve as king- instead joining Gerold and Cecila's War Council. All dwarves would be able to keep their lands, but they now served a new king and queen. The terms of the treaty were generous. Little would change in the daily lives of the dwarves other than a few taxes. The most generous part of the treaty, however, was that the Etherian and Obsidian army of one thousand that had marched from the south would continue to march towards the Gaudian villages at war with Almoria. Collectively they were able to drive the Almorian forces out of the kingdom within a month.

Not only had Cecila and Gerold created the first alliance between two kingdoms, they had now taken over a third. In 338 A.S. they chose to rename the entirety of all their lands and kingdoms, calling it Dewan (da-wahn). They hoped that having one name would unify them as one kingdom. And they weren't entirely wrong. Etherian and Obsidian Reach had already found peace with one another and the seizure of Gaulde had been as conflict free as a seizure of its kind can be. The terms of the treaty had been more than fair so the dwarves had little strife with their new rulers. They had struck some fear into Artemis's cold heart, or so they hoped, with their strike of strength. With his forces pulled back into Almoria the construction of their newest project, The Great Wall, began.

The plan had been simple. A lot of work. But simple. Build a wall around the entire border of Dewan that was nearest to Almoria. It insured they have a first line of defense against Artemis if he ever got any more ideas of invasion. It took nearly a year of construction -from the spring of 338 A.S. to the winter of 339 A.S.. The giants came from the south to help build, the dwarves put their big brains and bigger hammers to work, even the elves pitched in by sending some mages to enchant the wall to improve durability. The construction was quick and efficient but the amount of border they needed to cover was significant. The bulk of the border was on Gauldian land, and the bulk of construction took place in the summer- which meant brutally hot conditions. The sun was bright, the temperature was high and the shade was limited. It was the giants that struggled the most. Dwarves had grown used to the high temperatures, but the giants were used to cold breeze on the mountain tops of the Obsidian Reach. The giants gained a new sense of respect for the dwarves with every passing day, as they watched the dwarves hammer on as they took much needed breaks.

When the wall was completed the only word for it was impressive. It was one hundred feet tall and nearly ten feet thick. The elven mages enchantments didn't make it indestructible but made those ten feet have the strength of twenty. When Gerold and Cecila came north to see it, they stared in astonishment. They had left Greggory (the surrendered Gauldian king) in charge of the bulk of its construction and he did not disappoint.

Dewan had shown their strength in number and intelligence between their conquering of Gaulde and their construction of the wall, they could only hope that was enough to quell any ambitions Artemis had of attacking.