Qwa Vaam - Homeland of the Orc Empire, dominated and populated by their war clans. Within recent years humans from a far off land, driven from their homes by a great cataclysm, have landed on the shores. They survived the first years by placating the Orcs with tribute. In return, the Orcs allowed the Humans small strips of coastal land to hack out an existence from. Peace was maintained. Now that uneasy peace is threatened. Elves from a neighboring isle, long time enemies of the Orcs, have built relations with the human settlers, empowering them with their knowledge and support. Emboldened, Humans encroached further into Orc-held territories. Their annual tributes to the Empire lessened. Human arrogance waxed while Orc patience waned. Soon, the peace was broken. The Orcs launched a war of annihilation against the Humans and their Elven allies.

The Orc plan called for reducing the Human population back down to a "more easily controllable size". The initial assaults were launched from their strongholds in West Avalon. The humans there didn't know what hit them. They were subdued in a series of blitzkrieg attacks over the course of a few months. Orcs settled into the human settlements, rounding up the humans and placing them in work camps - or worse. The Orc martial law was in effect - the only penalty for violations.... Death. Those humans that would not submit were killed or ran off into the Cape Peaks and the Bugbear Mountains to hide out; hopefully one day to regroup, return, and free their imprisoned breatheren. That is for another time. For now, the people of West Avalon are slave labor or outlaws on the run.

The Orcs next step was to unleash the power of their navy against the people of North Avalon. They rocked the port cities, crushed local resistance and moved quickly to land multitudes of marines to flood the Northlands. The main difference here was that the Humans of the North knew about the crushing surprise attacks by the Orcs in the South and therefore, had prepared. Still, the Orc war machine was unstoppable. Despite their best efforts, the North Avalon defenders were routed time and time again. Their main cities, villages and farmlands were razed. Their heroes and leadership fell under the arcane arts of the Judicators (Orc priests). Only prince Thomas and his closest supporters were able to hold the human forces together. It was often a game of cat and mouse with the Human forces running much more than fighting. But there was hope. Prince Thomas had strong ties to Elven friends from across the sea (he was educated there for a time). If he could convince them to ally, they might have a chance.

Running out of options and places to hide, Prince Thomas made a daring escape from North Avalon. He head across the sea with corsairs to the land of the Elves - Salatia. There, he quickly set to work on his political and family allies. At first the Elves were apprehensive to engage in a war outside of their own lands but they hated the Orcs and what's more - they sensed an opportunity. Through diplomacy and honor-bonds, Prince Thomas managed to secure an arranged marriage to Ecco, the daughter of Balinthas - Leader of the Salatian Council. The marriage required that Ecco go back with Thomas to his homeland along with an honor guard. The return placed them both in peril. Balinthas received regular reports of his daughter's danger and his son-in-law's bravery. He used his position and influence to eventually convince the Council to send aid to the Humans in the form of supplies, food and weapons.

With help from Elven suppliers, the Humans managed to regroup. With help from Avatar Isle pirates, renegade Corsairs and Elven Griffon Riders, the Human forces were able to locate a small island a couple of days sail from their Northern shores. There they gathered the remainder of the fighting men and heroes who had gone into hiding. There they trained and fed and strengthened until at last, they were readt to return to their homeland and bring the fight to the enemy. Finally, after months of preparation, a unified force of Humans and Elves landed back on the shores of North Avalon and laid into the Orcs with all they had.

The Orc forces had to that time, dominated the war. They were over-confident and arrogant. More importantly, the Orc Commanders had allowed their troops to be spread out to thinly throughout the territory. They had sent a large portion of their invading army, back to the Western lands, to put down an insurrection there. This combination of forces led to an opportunity for King Thomas and his Elven advisors. They cracked the shell of Orc defenders on the beaches at the Battle of Blackport. They then marched south to retake the capital away from the Orcs at the Siege of Cardonna. They pushed the routed Orc forces out of the interior and back to the borders during the field battles and skirmishes of the Summer Sweep Offensive. Finally, they trapped the remaining Orc forces in their stronghold of Parth'Na, along the Parthenon River. There the humans laid seige to the castle. Both sides dug in for a hard battle. As the weeks went by, the Human forces gained ground and power. Their ranks swelled with the release of imprisoned bretheren and their strength soared with the finding of a great horde rich with Arcane knowledge. Unfortunately, there was more than met the eye.

In response to the news that his forces were routing, the leader of the Orcs, their mighty Warlord General known as the Tavo Sa rallied up his personal guard and, in a fit of rage and arrogance, he personally led a relief force against the humans (and against the advice of his Judicator Priests). Despite an ill omen, the Tavo Sa and his legions used arcane powers to fold space and arrive at the battlefield by surprise. The fell in behind the human lines and formed a circle around them of troops numbering 3 to 1. There was no escape. It appeared that the humans would be crushed between the forces of the Tavo Sa and the walls of the Parth'Na stronghold. But there was hope. Seasoned commanders within the Human forces remembered what they had learned in the battles against the Orcs. They knew that Orcs are inherently bad tempered and that they are easily unbalanced by rage. They also knew that Orc troops are overly reliant on the command structure and unable to think independently. This made for an excellent unified fighting machine but bode poorly for independent units. They urged King Thomas to chare headlong into the Orc forces, an all-or-nothing gamble. The commanders advised that if they could draw the Tavo Sa into a personal combat and then kill him, their leadership would falter and their morale would crumble. That was their only chance.

King Thomas gathered the best of his men. The allied forces of Humans and Elves formed a wedge around King Thomas' elite lance. They charged with all they had and collided with the Orc war machine. They drove the attack home, pressing through a meat-grinder of Orc defense. The effort nearly bogged down but drawing upon all the grit and determination every man could muster, they finally broke through the lines and engaged the honor guard of the Tavo Sa. Heroes battled Giants, Elven Griffon Riders wheeled in air-to-air combat with Orc knights on Wyverns, Human clerics vollyed their spells against Orc Judicator counter-magics, throngs of men threw themselves against hordes of Orcs. As the bloody exchange reached it's crescendo, King Thomas drew out the enraged Tavo Sa and the two men fell upon each other, flanked by honor guards on both sides.

Sword against axe, shield bashing against plate armor, a man down, an orc bloodied and then finally - a mortal blow struck by the Tavo Sa against the King! It would have been a disaster if not for the aid of bold clerics and the hand of the Christ reaching down to stir life within King Thomas once again. It was the will of the Holy Trinity that King Thomas rise (much to the surprise of the wounded Tavo Sa) and with divine speed and presence, thrust his sword into the heart of the Tavo Sa. What had nearly been a disaster for the Humans truly became an upset for the Orcs. For you see, the Judicators had warned the Tavo Sa that ill omen followed him. He chose to disregard their warning and this was Larthan's punishment. Seeing the will of their God enacted, the Judicators opened their portals home and with the remaining forces, retreated back to their homelands. The humans had won the day or at least, they had been blessed by the divine or by luck or what-have-you. The point being, they had freed themselves (at least for now) from their Orc oppressors. With the immediate threat out of the way, the time had come to rebuild. But first, they had to survive the coming winter.

Not long after the Orcs vacated, freed humans - hungry, broke and scattered - started making their way into the ruins of Blackport and Cardonna (the two largest cities in the region). Soon there were problems - no food, no water, sickness and poverty. Clerics were working around the clock. Food was a main concern. Again, King Thomas has worked his Elven connections for aid and the Elves have continued to support them. But the Elven people at home have been calling for compensation for their losses, for their dead, for their continued support. The Elves want territory in Parthenia (what King Thomas renamed the kingdom in memory of the Battle of Parth'Na). They want bases and trade with great terms and all that. King Thomas has promised them much but is in no position yet to make good on those promises. The Elves, being a relatively patient people, understand that and have kept feeding their "little brothers" enven without reward. Still, that is not enough. There are criminals afoot, opportunists, bandits, monsters, organized crime, and all sorts of corruption. Some believe that the corruption runs all the way up to the court of King Thomas himself. Many have said he is not doing enough. They say that since the end of the war, he has done little to help the people in peace. His reputation thus far is that of a great war leader but not much in administation. Some groups have surfaced that are calling for change, others are calling for a crusade to free their bretheren still held in the West. Others still warn that the Orcs will come back and that this is but a brief repreive from the war. There are many talking but little acting. Soon, the winter will be over. Spring may bring a new chance for prosperity or it may just bring a second blow that could finish an already struggling nation, desperately trying to gain its legs and stand on its own.

Boss Davitz - Kingpin of the Black Guard (Mob in Parthenia/organized crime) - currently assigned - email: BlackGuard@QuestClubGames.org
Commodore Rabin Montoya - Leader of the Blackport Corsairs (pirate/traders/Parthenian freeman navy) - currently open
Father Locke (speaker of the free Parthenian Peoples) - currently assigned - email: FatherLocke@QuestClubGames.org
Duke Jeremy McLaughlin (Leader of Blackport) - currently assigned - email: DukeJeremy@QuestClubGames.org