Beastmen raids 112-120PC

The period 112-120PC in the lowlands of Canabrin was dominated by successive beastmen raiding campaigns which reached progressively further south and touched all the elven kingdoms of Palurin.

The first raiding campaign poured out of the Domain of Ug and travelled west to the colonies of Mellvellon on the shores of Canabrin and Arnar. The elven colonies suffered badly at the hands of the beastmen and many outlying settlements were razed to the ground. Eventually the beastmen were brought to battle, but even then the High Elf army was defeated and the terror only ended when winter came.

The next major raid came in 114PC when Ug's followers reached the Arnar woodlands having crossed the Cenebrae between Novgorod and the Fortress of Eternal Dawn. This time the beastmen travelled south, into the forests and there more beastmen flocked to the banner of Ug. The Wood Elves of the Quiet Glade tried to stop them, but were overrun and forced to conceal their settlements by magic from the beastmen horde. Much damage was done to the woodlands which grew wild and untamed where the hordes had been and it took the wood elves years to tame the land.

In 116PC a beastman army reached as far south as New Naggarond, but did little real damage. None-the-less the lords of the Dominion sent a host north to counter the threat. In late 117PC the Dark Elves caught up with a large roaming force of beastmen in the foothills east of the mountains dividing Canabrin and Canaur, and destroyed them utterly. The beastman incursions came to an end.

A contemporary account:

"117 was a year both the Beastmen of Ug and the Dark Elves of Lamentation learnt many things about their foes.

The Dark Elves hadn’t expected the way the Beastmen could roam so far from their core territory, and were almost unprepared when Ug’s raiding parties reached their northern borders. An army was hastily diverted from plans to expand into the north of Canaur and set to hunting beastmen. As is typical for the arrogant corsair lords of the seafaring Dark Elf Dominion, they set about the engagement like a hunt for sport, and spectacularly underestimated the cunning and mobility of their more flexible foe.

Advancing onto the battlefield in wide order, with a casual disregard for their flanks, the Dark Elf forces rapidly discovered their mistake when two large regiments of angry Gor and an even angrier Ghorgon appeared behind their lines and began to wreak havoc. Surrounded and on the back foot, the Dark Elf army – led by a wizard not renowned for tactical thought – seemed set to suffer a crushing defeat.

It would seem, however, that while the Dark Elves underestimated the cunning of their brutal enemies, the Beastmen underestimated the wild fury of the barely-restrained War Hydra. Engaged by a heavily-armoured Beastman warlord, the beast suffered terrible injuries and fell for a moment, but in moments its flesh knitted back together and it rose once more. Granted phantasmal weaponry by the wind of shadows, the beast tore the Beastlord into ribbons and proceeded to rampage through the Beastman warhost. Supported by hails of crossbow fire and cavalry and chariot charges, a battle that had looked to be lost by overconfidence turned into a crushing victory for the Druchii.

Naturally, all responsibility for the victory was claimed by the cunning sorcerer, and the beastmasters were quietly put to death to keep the official story intact."

Ug's domain had been weakened by the loss to the Dominion, but now he set his eyes on the real prize, building up mighty beastman warhosts to attack his neighbour, the Kaalroen Empire. By 120PC the preparations were almost complete. This would be no mere raiding force. The army assembled by Ug had been brought together for one purpose, crushing the armies of the Kaalroen Empire and taking the land for his own.