PS: I have something to do today, so I'll update earlier.
Many people had an inherent impression of the Badlands, which was that the Badlands were composed of green skin and a small number of dwarves. The knowledgeable people also knew that there were occasionally tomb kings and undead here, but little was known about the great Empire that once appeared in the Badlands.
This matter started with the Lord of the Dead, Nagash. As early as more than a thousand years before the rise of Charlemagne in the old world, Nagash led his undead army and had a final battle with the last tomb king, Arkadiza. Nagash was defeated and fled, but the Lord of the Dead quickly used the plague to finally eliminate all the living people in the Nikohara civilization (the dead were not affected by the plague) and finally captured Arkadiza alive. Nagash did not kill or transform Arkadiza, but wanted him to witness the destruction of the entire human world.
Nagash planned to carry out a huge awakening ceremony. It wanted to awaken all the dead in the entire mortal world and become the king of the dead. After learning this news, the Skaven Ratmen decided to stop Nagash in order to prevent their own destruction. The ratmen rescued Arkadiza and gave him a dimensional stone dagger. Arkadiza used the last of his strength to backstab Nagash. Nagash was cut into pieces, and then Arkadiza took off the Witchcraft Crown, fled to the Badlands, and died of exhaustion.
By the way, although the Skaven Ratmen released and helped Arkadiza for their own sake, they did save the world to a certain extent (the Skaven salvation theory was true!).
So, how did the Straga Undead Empire come about?
Almost 1,200 years before Charlemagne established the Empire, more than 3,000 years ago, an ancient human tribe's chief, a human shaman named Kandon, found Arkadiza's body and the Witchcraft Crown in his hand in the center of the Badlands, near the Blind River. The young shaman was immediately deeply fascinated by the crown and put it on his head. Then, Nagash's thoughts invaded and controlled his soul. At the location of Arkadiza's body, Kandon built a city and named it Mulcaine. Under the power of the Witchcraft Crown, almost all the shamans in the tribe became undead wizards. This primitive tribe quickly became very powerful and began to expand and conquer other tribes.
It took more than a hundred years, and the city under Kandon's rule gradually became a powerful city-state Empire after many years of development.
The head of the Straga Family, one of the Five Great Vampire Families, Wu Suoran, was attracted by the power of the Sorcerer's Crown. This powerful Blood Ancestor killed Kandon and led a group of Vampires and Necromancers to seize the ruling power of Mulcaine, establishing the famous Straga Undead Empire. These people were called the Straggni.
In all fairness, it was an extremely glorious and prosperous Empire. Wusoran's military and political achievements were outstanding. This Blood Ancestor of the Straga Family not only had outstanding personal bravery and was proficient in undead magic, but also had excellent experience in governing a country. Wusoran promoted the power of the Blood Nobles and the Blood Ritual, making the civilians worship the Midnight Nobles led by Wusoran as gods. All the Stragnites would accept the "Blood Ritual" and become Blood Nobles as their highest reward. The Empire was prosperous, and the people submitted to Wusoran's rule and were proud of their identity as Stragnites.
In its heyday, the Straga Empire was connected to the Border Prince's territory in the north, the Hell Swamp in the south, the Roof of the World in the east, and Blackwater Bay in the west. It was extremely powerful. Wusoran and his Straga Family dominated the entire Wretched Land for hundreds of years.
In addition to his military and political skills, the Blood Ancestor was also proficient in diplomacy and political tactics. After Wusoran's investigation, he chose to ally with the Dwarf Kingdom in the Roof of the World because the Dwarves kept their promises and were not affected by undead magic. At the same time, in the face of the growing Midnight Nobles, Wusoran ordered the vampires to be prohibited from attacking his own people. Instead, he chose to obtain blood and food from captives, slaves, and criminals. Therefore, the Stragnites never felt that the Midnight Nobles were terrible. On the contrary, they were always happy to accept Wusoran's rule. The Midnight Nobles and the undead wizards had always been light on corvee and low taxes (Money and food were just decorations for the vampires. They also had countless undead servants to provide free manpower).
"The entire Straga Undead Empire has thus formed a very stable ruling structure." Baylor took a big gulp of dwarven beer. "And according to the Book of Hatred, Wusoran was a man of his word."
After hearing Bellegar's story, Ryan was still fine, but Calade, Fedmond, Juan Carlos, and the rest of the knights were all speechless. Many knights and nobles couldn't help but ask themselves, "How could these undead nobles do a better job than us?"
What is the reason?
Are the undead destined to rule the world? "
"Then why did the Undead Empire eventually perish?" Kalard asked with great interest. "According to your description, King Baylor was so powerful and popular …"
"Because of blood." Laing frowned. Knight King said lightly, "Vampires need to drink blood after all, but they can't get blood from the residents of the Undead Empire. So, they have to constantly launch wars and expand to satisfy the hunger of more and more Midnight Nobles. And there is a limit to the expansion and conquest of an Empire."
"Brother Laing is right." Baylor nodded again and again. The King of Eight Peak Mountain slowly said, "Because they needed blood and couldn't get it from the people, Wusoran and the Midnight Nobles under his leadership had to keep expanding and conquering. The territory of the Empire was getting bigger and bigger, and the border line was getting longer and longer. This caused the entire Straga Empire's army to be seriously scattered. As time passed, expansion and conquest became more and more difficult. The green tribes and some human tribes around the long border continued to fight with the Straga Empire. The entire Empire's army was exhausted, and their numbers gradually decreased."
"When Wu Suoran led his army to the current location of the prince's territory at the border and engaged in battle with many human sorcerers, disaster struck. A green-skinned warlord named Doak Red-Eye launched an enormous WAAAGH! The green tide quickly defeated the small number of border guards and attacked the core of the Straga Empire, and firmly surrounded the capital, Mulcaine. "
"When the news of this attack reached the ears of Wusoran, who was leading his army to fight in the north, he immediately turned his army to defend the capital. After continuous battles and a long journey, the Straga army was exhausted, but the green skin didn't intend to give the Stragglers any chance. The two sides fought an epic battle on the Dust Plains for several days."
"In the end, Wusoran and his army couldn't fight against the endless green skin. They lost, and the remaining army was forced to retreat to the gate of Mulcaine. The green warlord soon found that the gate was opened to receive Wusoran and his defeated army. The cunning Doak Red-Eye immediately ordered a general attack. Wusoran decided to make a final resistance. He guarded the gate alone, and fought against more than a dozen green warlords and shamans at the same time. This duel was like an epic. Wusoran persisted for a long time but still failed. Mulcaine fell, and the green skin army destroyed and slaughtered everything except the green skin. The Straga Empire was destroyed, and the ruins of the once glorious Straga Empire were filled with the mocking laughter of the green skin and the unwilling screams of the vampires."
"At this time, there were still two hundred years before Charlemagne established the Empire." After Bellegar finished a long history, the King of Eight Peaks sighed. "A few humans escaped, the Stragglers. They became nomads and wandered around with their caravans. Their myths and legends still record the golden period when their Empire was rich and powerful when the 'Undead King' ruled. They also prophesied that one day Wusoran would return and lead his people to reclaim their ancient homeland and restore its glory."
"I know, the Stragglers." Antelm said with a smile. "There was once a group of Stragglers who came to Winford. The leader of the Stragglers claimed to be a Wizard of Arcana and wanted to show his magic power to my cousin. My cousin's answer was simple and quick. He ordered the arrest of this group of Stragglers. Those who could be confirmed to have magic power were executed, and the rest were deported."
"That's normal. No one wants a group of vagrants who sing praises of the King of Vampires and spread the myths and legends of vampires to wander around their territory and spread all kinds of opinions that are not conducive to social stability and harmony." Laing nodded helplessly. "They are not willing to settle down because they hope to see their King of Vampires again one day, right?"
"I heard that a large group of Straggler vampires who have completely shapeshifted have gathered in Moore Cain." Bellegar nodded. "These shapeshifted and crazy vampires have gathered in the ruins of Moore Cain, always indulging in the glory and fantasy of the past. They still feel that they are living in that glorious history, imitating the ancient palace of Straggler. I think they call themselves the Carnivorous Court. Anyway, no one dares to go near them."
Carnivorous Court? Straggler? Moore Cain? Laing lowered his head and thought for a while.
He had actually received part of the wealth of the Straggler Empire. A large part of the wealth given to him by the Blood Dragon Patriarch, Abo Wallace, came from the former Straggler Empire. The Blood Dragon Patriarch once joined Urso's Empire to serve him. When Moore Cain was destroyed, Abo Wallace was not there. After that, the Blood Dragon Patriarch was forced to wander.
"Perhaps in the eyes of the Stragglers and the undead, we are a group of evil and twisted monsters. In the eyes of these evil creatures, they are handsome knights and nobles, well-dressed, elegant and decent." Veronica said with a smile. "Their perception has been distorted."
"An Empire has a whole historical cycle from its birth, development, prosperity, to its peak, to its decline and destruction." Laing pulled the reins of his mount, Grape, and said gently, "If we don't want to go through this cycle, if we don't want to see our country perish in internal and external difficulties, then we must reform, we must reform ourselves. This is what I have always tried to do. Everyone, if we don't want Brittany to face the same fate as the Straggler Empire, we must strengthen ourselves! We must continue the reform. "
The Grail Knights around the king nodded, and many of them showed a thoughtful expression.
"We have all seen your contribution to the kingdom, my king." Kalad wanted to express his admiration for Laing seriously, but when he said this, Bellegar could not help but laugh. The king of the Eight Peaks Mountain laughed and shouted at Laing, "Brother Laing, my fellow knights, there has been a rumor in the Sea Gate recently. Have you heard it? Haha, it's so interesting. Valaya's braids, it's the first time I've heard such a funny joke! "
"…" Hearing Bellegar's words, many of the knights' faces darkened.
Most of the knights had heard the rumor.
"The Brittany knights can only win under the leadership of a dwarf (Bellegar), a woman (Morgiana), and a foreigner (Laing)."
— — Empire Court Joke
"Okay." Laing let out a long breath. The king shook his head. "Don't worry about those rumors. You know very well how many people in the old world are waiting to hear the news of our defeat. Now, winning this war is more useful than anything else."
"Yes, my king!"
… I can only speak if I win the game …
The expeditionary army continued to march along the Evil Water River toward the Steel Cliff located in the Roof of the World.
In fact, the Steel Cliff was not on the path to the Eight Peaks Mountain. On the contrary, if one looked at the map, the Steel Cliff, the military depot, and the Sea Gate were almost in a straight line, while the Eight Peaks Mountain was located in the southeast of the Steel Cliff, bypassing the Blackrock Fortress. From the looks of it, the expeditionary army had indeed taken a long detour.
As they marched deeper into the Evil Land, the environment that the army faced gradually became more difficult. There were not many green-skinned fortresses to plunder, and the supply line began to be harassed by the Goblin Wolf Riders and some scattered green-skinned tribes. The food supply began to become standardized, and the merchants and peddlers who followed the army felt the danger and left one after another. There were also some soldiers who could not stand the harsh environment of the Evil Land, fell sick, and deserted.
After the loss of more than 40,000 soldiers, there were now only about 35,000 soldiers left. Some of the knights saw that there were no benefits to be gained, so they began to say strange things. They hoped that Laing would march directly to the Eight Peaks Mountain instead of going around to attack the Steel Cliff. There were some discussions in the expeditionary army, such as "His Majesty Laing is only using his back and not his bowstring", "If this continues, the army will be worn out."
Laing sternly refuted the opinions of the expeditionary army. The king said that before attacking the Eight Peaks Mountain, they had to conquer the Steel Cliff. Otherwise, if the green-skinned tribes of the Steel Cliff attacked the expeditionary army from behind at the critical moment or took the opportunity to cut off the supply line, the expeditionary army would be unable to continue. The only outcome would be total annihilation. This was the Evil Land, not the human kingdom!
Moreover, although the environment of the Evil Land was bad, there was a broad-leaved forest at the foot of the Roof of the World mountain range. This was the best place for the humans to set up camp.
Of course, Laing also encouraged the expeditionary army, saying that there was a large amount of wealth in the Steel Cliff that could be plundered. This green-skinned fortress also had a huge magma lake that was rich in obsidian. This kind of precious stone was not cheap. Everything was waiting for the expeditionary army.
Under Laing's encouragement, as winter passed, the expeditionary army arrived at the broad-leaved forest less than 20 kilometers away from the Steel Cliff in April. After a small encounter, the army successfully expelled a small number of goblins and green-skinned creatures from the forest and set up camp in the forest.
The opponent of the expeditionary army, the owner of the Steel Cliff, was one of the greatest green-skinned warlords, the Iron Claw tribe, which was once led by Gobard Iron Claw.
Thousands of green-skinned boys, green-skinned bosses, and green-skinned war pigs were waiting for this group of bearded enemies and canned shrimps to come and die!
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