War Against Chaos

The tentative alliance between Cuitlaxaochitzin and Mellvellon continued in 554 as the two nations made further assaults on the evils of Palurin. Both empires marched armies to the vast reaches of the Chaos-worshipping Kaalroen Empire, separately meeting the Domovoi tribes upon the battlefield.

From the west the Lizardmen had more success. Skink legions encircled a Domovoi village and despite the presence of knights of Chaos and a lumbering Shaggoth crushed the Chaos resistance. Meanwhile the High Elves attacked from the east. Their initial invasion took the chaos by surprise and smashed through their ranks but the Domovoi unleashed a powerful magical counterattack. Both sides took losses and withdrew.

Overall the Slann and Elven mages hoped the attack might warn the Domovoi about continuing their expansion. But many thought this short sighted, and the ire of Chaos would only grow and neither empires were powerful enough to utterly defeat the vast hordes of Kaalroen. But at least the attack had strengthened the bond between Cuitlaxaochitzin and Mellvellon.

North HSE creates enemies

Whatever ill feeling there was between Cuitlaxaochitzin and Mellvellon they were united in their belief that there was evil in this world that needed to be destroyed. In 550 both sent small armies marching through the Holy Sigmarite Empire intent on cutting out the rot at its heart - the noble houses they believed rife with vampirism and necromancy, despite the Emperor's protestations to the contrary.

The target was the largest of these nobles families, house Drazkharov who flew the banner of a flayed man. Skink raiders emerged from the pine forests to leap savagely upon a mustering army, crushing it utterly. The Drazkharovs were still reeling from the attack when on the other side of their lands an Elven army appeared, hidden from scouts and the rest of the HSE by powerful magics. At their head was Sil'cet, a sorcerer of great power. The dark sorceries were no match for his magics and another Drazkharov force was swiftly defeated. There was little defence left for the capital, Mallenstein.

By this time the Emperor had got word of the invasion, and amassed a great force in anger to deal with the invaders. By the time this army reached Mallenstein the Lizards and Elves had vanished and the city still stood. The Emperor personally apologised to the noble house, and pledged help in rebuilding any settlements sacked by the invaders, and donating part of the Imperial army to help defend from further attack. Unusually a hundred of these men never returned from their duty, the records of their loan being lost in an error of bureaucracy.

Whatever the truth, the two-prong attack did not seem to affect House Drazkharov as much as the Slann and Elves hoped. Whether it was the Emperor's assistance or something darker they were ready to fight only 3 years later when there was an unknown falling out with House Volbeck, the other noble family accused of vampirism. The Drazkharov army sent the Volbecks into retreat, but halted their attack at the Emperor's request.

Had the lizardmen army that attacked Drazkharov truly left the HSE? It was 4 years after that attack, in 554, when a similar force attacked and defeated the army of House Volbeck. Again as HSE reinforcements arrived the Lizards has slipped away and despite repeated searches by the Imperials could not be found. Persistent rumours of a colony of lizardmen hidden in the forests would plague the Drazkharovs and Volbecks for a long while.