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- Archive Page Nine -

CASTLE ATTACKERS CONFRONT THE HORRORS

Dateline: 18-11-515

A vivid account of the war against the goblins has come from a goblin-occupied castle on an estate near the town of Stislin in Moonward. A Berenian force, consisting of contingents from the Dei Vigilare, The Assembly, the Walkers on the Edge and the Crusading Orders, has been assaulting the castle in an attempt to drive out the Goblins, but found themselves fighting for their lives when faced by a 50-strong unit of Goblin champions calling themselves ‘The Horrors’.

Gnome enchanter Reeman Tanatest of The Assembly told the Bugle how, as the Goblins fell upon them, screaming and brandishing magical swords, the Crusaders formed a line to shield the Assembly’s mages, who poured magical destruction upon the enemy from behind their protection. A distraught Reeman went on to tell how Crusader Deng Kaki, an Adamant of Merl, saved his life at the cost of his own.

“He gave his life bravely trying to protect the miserable hide of this here gnome. When the Horrors busted through our front line, I found myself standing right next to the buggers and only his sword stood between me and the snarling bunch of gobbos. He fought them off me and gave me time to deploy me old sprite. Sadly, though I did me best to fire back and help him out, it wasn't enough to save Mister Kaki and the green bastards went and got the poor lad.”

Crusader Maureen Palance, Adamant of Bethseline and Gladius Dei of the Dei Vigilare, said “He, like Crusader Berl Orrenst who also fell, came on this mission to provide protection to enchanters of The Assembly. The risks were known and were gladly and freely undertaken.”

Fortunately the bloody battle ended in victory for the Kingdom’s forces as the last of The Horrors fell to the sword of Pugash of the Walkers. But as with previous encounters with Goblin Champions, the cost was the lives of several brave heroes.

The Lord Crusader of Selador, Cerv Elan, who is leading the Crusader contingent added “I mourn the loss of such brave souls, but their sacrifice won’t go unremembered, and it may be the tide will change in our favour now.”


EVIL CENTAURS ON THE RAMPAGE IN HOMEWARD

Dateline: 21-11-515

Following on from recent allegations that the Centaur Council is ‘a Guild of Evil’ and is in league with demonic powers, attributed to a Centaur who is a former member of the Guild, further shocking claims have been made about the nature of the Centaur race.

There have recently been several confirmed sightings of monstrous centaurs roaming the the Homeward area, committing acts of evil and violence upon the citizenry. There have even been allegations that they have been stealing and devouring human children.

The best documented sightings have been of a creature who has become known as ‘Noir’. Operating from a lair near Crownheart itself, this creature has been terrorising smallholdings and villages. Eyewitnesses tell of a spectral centaur with blazing red eyes and carrying a strange shimmering blade of magical power.

The Royal Authorities dispatched a small force of militia to investigate, but not one of them returned to report on what they had found. The Centaur Council then approached the Royal authorities and promised to deal with the matter themselves.

However since then the depredations of these evil centaurs have if anything got worse. A further three powerful Centaurs of Evil, travelling together, have been reported from near Lionel. “They were incredibly fast,” reported one eyewitness, “and devastating in combat. Normal weapons just seemed to bounce off them. And they seemed able to summon bows out of nowhere. One minute their hands would be empty, the next this shimmering magical bow would just appear.”

Even more worryingly, research by one of our reporters has uncovered evidence that Centaurs, far from being a natural race and from somewhere in the Great Forest as the Centaur Council claims, are some sort of rmagically created hybrid race, and in fact originate from a city deep in the Underworld called Centauria.

Many in Homeward are now openly asking if the Centaur Council are really struggling to defeat the evil centaurs, or whether they are just trying to placate the Royal Authorities while their evil allies carry out their fell deeds.


GOBLIN KING COMES TO POLDOON

Dateline: 22-11-515

King Slime, the Goblin King whose armies have been terrorising northern Bereny in recent months, has arrived at Poldoon, apparently with the intention of personally leading a renewed attack on the City. With the Goblin King are a further contingent of Goblin behemoths.

A number of members of the Walkers on the Edge reported seeing King Slime “hiding behind a tree” in the woods north of Poldoon. However when they attempted to engage him, the goblin king left them all lying dead. It has been suggested that he is heading towards the dirigible that remains under goblin control at the edge of the woods, or will lead an attempt to retake the goblin’s Massive Weapon of Destruction.

However Elven Walker Sharra Goldoak told the Bugle “Well, I thought there might be a bit of a battle near the Experimental Cannon, at least if King Slime moves this way, but he hasn’t moved today.  But then on the plus side I hit him with my Faerie Fire. Not sure how much damage I'm doing, but its gotta be worth something. And if he doesn't move again today, I'll hit him with it again.”

Meanwhile the goblins have erected a structure described as looking like a giant wooden horse near the city. It is not known at this time what the purpose of this construct is.

There has been some surprise voiced that the Goblin King is at Poldoon when the Regent and much of his personal retinue are still hunting for him through King Slime’s Keep. It would appear that once again the Goblin leader has wrong-footed the Kingdom’s forces.


ABBEY MILITIA FACE GOBLIN ONSLAUGHT

Dateline: 25-11-515

While the main battle with the goblins may be taking place at Poldoon, there have been numerous clashes with goblin forces elsewhere in Moonward.

At the Abbaye du Fidele, in eastern moonward, the Abbey’s militia have been heavily engaged against large numbers of goblin raiders who have been infiltrating into the area from the direction of King Slime’s Keep, which lies just to the north.

The Abbaye du Fidele lies close to the entrance to Poldoon Pass, a strategically and economically vital border crossing between Bereny and the Empire of Kyr. If the goblins were to take control of Poldoon Pass, Bereny would be cut off from contact with Kyr.

Abbot Heri Sanberligne reports an ongoing, continuous battle with goblin forces apparently intent upon over-running and capturing an abandoned estate which lies between Abbaye du Fidele and Poldoon Pass.

“A growing number of goblin units has been destroyed by a contingent from Abbaye du Fidele trying to protect the estate, but they just keep coming out of the nearby woods,” Abbot Heri told the Bugle. “However, we will do our best to protect this neighboring estate as well as we are protecting our own Abbaye du Fidele."


CENTAURS ‘NOT EVIL’ SAYS CENTAUR COUNCIL

Dateline: 28-11-515

The Centaur Council, the organisation which represents Centaurs in Bereny, has hit back at accusations that Centaurs are ‘a race of evil monsters’. “On behalf of the Centaur Council and its members, I absolutely and completely refute these horrid and hurtful suggestions that have been made”, Chaldan Ironhoof, the leader of the Centaur Council, told the Bugle.

Chaldan described the accusations that the Centaur Council was a ‘Guild of Evil’ as ‘deranged rantings’, and as ‘the mouthings of a seriously unbalanced individual’, and alleged that they originated from a single individual, El Rozzo, whom he described as ‘a mad and demonstrably insane Centaur‘.

“I think your readership should remember the report from El Rozzo's physician, asking everyone to ignore his deranged rantings. The Centaur Council feel pity that this particular Centaur has suffered so much as to unhinge his mind, and hope that his physician can cure his madness.”

Defending the Centaur Council’s lack of success in stopping the depredations of the evil centaurs around Homeward, Chaldan described how their expedition has had to face dangerous foes in their attempts to penetrate their lair. “We have lost four mission members to the evil depredations of Noir's minions. I myself was almost slain in a vicious battle with one of Noir's Lieutenants, a centaur by the name of Lord Crazy Horse. Nevertheless, despite these difficulties, our mission members have been both brave and fearless in the face of waves of hostile evil Centaurs, and we are in the process of pushing deeper into Noir's Lair.”

However Chaldan was dismissive of allegations that the Council’s attack on Noir’s Lair has done little to reduce the incidence of evil centaur attacks around Homeward, saying that he had no personal knowledge of such attacks and adding that he could not possibly comment on whether the evidence from the Royal Authorities was reliable or not. He also claimed to know nothing about whether the origins of the Centaur race are linked to the city of Centauria deep in the Underworld.

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