The Bladelands Chronicles
Volume 1, Chapter 2: Hosts of History
"The battle of Anseris Pass took place when the land now called Bretton was still known as Brittony and Remonia, divided by the great River Salatine, and even those nations were young. It was a remarkable show of co-operation between them and the Papacy during an era mostly marked for the religious incursions of the Holy Land upon its neighbours.
The Middle Mountains stand between these three countries and was, at that time, a haven for the many wild creatures that have now mostly been driven from the mainland. Amongst the foulspawn emerged an Orc who styled himself King of the Middle Mountains, and under his leadership the usually disparate bands of foulspawn began to gain discipline and order. For the first time they posed a serious threat to the surrounding nations, disrupting trade and travel between them, and conducting devastating raids into the lands on both sides of the mountains.
The war against the Orcish ‘Mountain King’ lasted for many years, and was characterised by an endless stream of skirmishes in the Middle Mountains in which the Orcish forces were undeniably winning. Their superior physical toughness, knowledge of the mountains, and the fact that they held the high, naturally fortified and highly defensible mountain passes, made it difficult to attack them, and even harder to win.
After several years, and many lost lives, the situation was becoming desperate. The church of Elektra were in charge of the Papacy’s military efforts and it is said that one of their Cardinals, Isabetta Lorenzo, who was herself highly skilled in the arts of war, was granted a vision of the fates. They foretold to her that the Mountain King would fall when three women struck him simultaneously in the heart. She sought council with the church of Rhianos over her vision and they concluded that it meant that the three bordering nations, each of whom had a female war-leader at the time, must co-ordinate an attack on the central lair of the Mountain King, the heart of his power. Word was sent to Thérèse Lefort, the Princess of Brittony, eldest child of the old and ailing King, and to Estela de Seguin, the Queen of Remonia, who both confessed dreams which they were convinced told them the same thing. Thus the three nations put aside their differences temporarily and contrived a plan.
Many tales are told of the scouts who braved the harsh mountain conditions and sought out the home of the Mountain King, many of whom never returned. Finally one man, whom history remembers only as Odwulf (a name which, interestingly, hints at Essen origins), discovered the location of the seat of his power in Anseris Pass, close to the source of the Salatine, and reported that location back to the Church of Elektra. The three countries planned a three-pronged attack and the three leaders sought the advice of the church of Heiron, who advised that, in honour of the Fates who had guided them, they should wait until the third moon after the Rhianos holy day of Feriae Denicales, and so the march of the three armies through the mountains was timed to bring them to the Mountain King’s lair at that time.
All three armies suffered considerable casualties along the way, but the simultaneous advance meant that the Orcish forces were spread thin. They prayed continuously and by the grace of the Powers arrived at Anseris Pass at midday on the appointed day. The final battle was fought solidly until the evening of the following day, and it is said that the mountain passes ran with blood, and this blood flowed into the Salatine and the river ran red. At sundown of the second day of the battle Isabetta, Cardinal of Elektra, fought her way to the Mountain King and killed him. Holding his head above her she declared victory, and the remaining Orcish troops broke and fled.
Every year a festival is held to comemmorate this victory.
Celebrations traditionally last from midday on the third moon after Feriae Denicales to sundown the following day, since this is the time over which the final battle was fought. It is traditional to re-enact battles in honour of Elektra, and to light torches and fires overnight as the warriors would have had to do to enable them to continue fighting through the darkness. It was once tradition in the Papacy to capture an Orc which was then hunted through the streets by three women, the unfortunate beast eventually being killed in sacrifice to Rhianos and his daughters. In recent times the lack of foulspawn on the mainland has led to this being transformed into a mock hunt, where the part of the Mountain King is played by a man in costume.
This year marks the 998th anniversary of the battle."
The inhabitants of Woody Edge gather to celebrate the festival of Anseris Pass, but the foulspawn of the Bladelands remember the battle also, and gather their forces to attack in memory of the Mountain King, making the reenactments of the battle somewhat more realistic than anyone had bargained for.
While the celebrations continue, a corrupted Oriad, known as the GateKeeper, is realeased from a long magical confinement, and wreaks havoc on the surrounding area. A scroll is uncovered which tells the tale of this spirit, of how it once guarded a mighty city known as Amaru Tupac, against the evil ones, but was eventually driven insane such that it had to be imprisoned. The scroll also tells of the magics which were used to imprison the GateKeeper, but unfortunatley such powerful magics are beyond the abilities of the mages of Woody Edge, or the Keltoi who dwell nearby, and so it is decided to destroy the spirit, even though to do so may weaken the protection around the fabled Amaru Tupac, and whatever treasures it holds.
With great difficulty, the GateKeeper is destroyed, the foulspawn are driven off, and peace returns - at least temporarily - to Woody Edge.
