The Invasion

The Eternal Empire of Ternum was weak, its government was rotten to its core, people had abandoned the faith that supported it, its army had all but ceased to exist and they had even abandoned their police force. Any Empire in the same circumstance is a target for invaders, people who smell blood in the water.

Men, Dwarves and Halflings, in a state of near constant war in Aasimars  decide to take a risk that would change everything. They followed in many bands, but the most important being the Dwarven Vanguard, led by the Brahan Seer they decide to brave the suicidally difficult journey from Aasimars to try and make it to Ternum, they did and they landed in the Cuillin Mountains, their warlike nature meant that the peaceful overtures from the elves was misinterpreted and led to war. The emperor formally declared war on the “Foristunt”, the foreigners and began the beginning of the end for his Empire.

 

Upon the initial success of the Dwarves many human counts and petty lords gather their retinues to join in war to take some land in this new world for themselves.Ferried by halfling ships they land in the Dwarven lands and begin their great invasion. The halflings sail south, seeking a home for themselves. The human onslaught is savage and every Elven army raised crumbles before the disciplined cavalry of the human armies. The war pushed on and on until the humans faced their first true battle, the battle of the Dracian plain. Here the human army, led by the lord Godfrey of Bouillon decisively defeats the army of Publius Quinctilius Varus, who led 3 of the Empires Legions to their deaths against the decisive charge of Godfrey, although Varus did inflict very heavy casualties on the human infantry. This defeat, despite its totality in nature, gave the Elves heart that they could fight human infantry and merely needed to defeat the cavalry. The Elves were not quick enough though, losing their capital at the siege of Elba. The humans began to use modern siege machines against the ancient walls of the capital. The walls fell after a full month of siege, the Emperor allegedly took his final round of eritas before donning his armour to face the attackers, he was killed unceremoniously and the city fell, the Elven army was so shocked and humiliated by the defeat that the Pontifex Maximus declared that no elf should mourn until the empire fell or retook the city. The Elves fought their second battle against the humans at the battle of Ulm, a recently began human settlement, where the Elves, led by Spurius Postumius Albinus fought back against the Duke Stru of Gaul using a new unit which the Elves had invented specifically to defeat the Human cavalry charge, the Lansquenet, a man armed with a long spear who fought in a packed formation, although it blunted the initial charge it was not enough as the veteran humans were able to fight their way around the pike wall and routed the Elves. During this battle the most important Elf of their era, a male called Quintus Fabius Maximus made his name as a brace Lansquenet who killed several human knights on his own.

The human steamroller pushed on until they hit the Thantos mountains. Here the human cavalry ceased to be of use in the tight passes and the Lansquenet, coupled with hit and run tactics of the Elves finally ground the humans to a halt. The elven leader, Quintus Fabius Maximus, managed to get a peace deal with the human leadership, using the mountains as the border. The men, now without any enemy to unify their forces against, began to settle in their own kingdoms and organisations. The peace defined the end of the Era.