Warchief

The War of the Elves dragged on and evolved for centuries, and when Queen Eva came to power, she swore to end it. To do that she knew she would need to stop the trickle of High Elven bodies feathered with Dark Elven arrows – so long as her people lost their loved ones to the war, there would never be peace in the hearts of High Elves. Even so, someone needed to fight, and if it could not be High Elves then it would have to be others: the ‘auxiliaries’, Aravia’s non-Elven soldiers, mostly clans of Ogryn and Skinwalkers. They had come to Aravia during the Red Crusade as refugees, and Aravia had welcomed them – so long as they served, and so long as they kept to their place. Queen Eva envisioned a great wall to defend all of Aravia, and, to keep Dark Elven blades away from High Elven throats, that wall would be defended by the auxiliaries. In exchange for fighting and dying to protect their distant lords, the auxiliaries were offered that which they always wanted: autonomy. With no High Elves present bar a few administrators, there would be few officers to oversee the clans. If the auxiliaries stepped above their station, few would know. The auxiliary clans, made up of individuals from multiple races quickly shifted from their remote villages directly to the wall's construction sites. They helped build the strongholds that would guard Aravia, but these castles and gates were not fortifications alone – each became a town, housing entire populations. The officers who led each stronghold were not just commanders of armies, but leaders of their people. They were Warchiefs. At first, each Warchief tended only to their own garrisons, but after the wall – now called Felwin’s Wall, named after its architect – was finished, the Dark Elven attacks continued unabated. To handle the pressure, the Warchiefs united their efforts and formed the Warchief Council, centered on the greatest stronghold on Felwin’s Wall: Felwin’s Gate. Felwin’s Gate was the fortress closest to Durham Forest, so it was the easiest target for Dark Elven raiding parties. Over the years, the Gate became the largest and most populous of the settlements along the wall – it was the only way to hold it. The Warchief of Felwin’s Gate hosted the Warchief Council, and was trusted to defend this most-important of fortifications. It was a heavy burden to bear, and never was that burden heavier than during King Tayba’s War. The Warchief of Felwin’s Gate at the time was a Skinwalker named Auronan. He had risen to prominence after years of offering sage counsel and careful strategy – caution that was valued all the more highly after strange rumors drifted from Aravia’s capital. The Queen had grown erratic, her once-peaceful policies turning warlike, and her nobles were sharpening their blades. There was word of dark rituals, evil magic, and even a corrupted chapter of Sacred Order knights moving through the kingdom. The Warchief Council discussed these tidings with grim resolution and, at Auronan’s urging, they prepared themselves for enemies that might come from either side of their wall. It was then that King Tayba’s War began. The first act of the war came when Kaerok struck out at its neighbor, the Free City of Arnoc, an ally of both Kaerok and Aravia. Queen Eva’s answer was immediate: she called the armies of Aravia to war, and marched on Kaerok with all speed. The auxiliaries were left to hold the homeland. It was a perfect opportunity to investigate the spreading darkness in the capital – but that would take time, and time proved to be something Warchief Auronan did not have. Within a week of the war’s beginning, hordes of refugees began arriving at Felwin’s Gate, begging for passage into Aravia. They had supposedly been promised land and shelter by Queen Eva’s armies, and even allowed passage through Durham Forest by the Dark Elves. Were the Dark Elves working alongside Aravia? Warchief Auronan suspected a ploy. He shut the gate on the refugees – until he understood the part these people were meant to play, he dared not let them through. That said, Auronan was not heartless. he sent his people to give out food and medicine, but they were killed – the refugees called them Gaellens, claimed they were sent to kill them, and demanded once more to be allowed to pass. But Auronan’s heart had hardened with the deaths of his clanspeople, and he ordered the gates remain shut. Auronan was not afraid of a siege. Felwin’s Gate could hold out forever, if it had to. Unfortunately for him and his people, however, the refugees would soon receive support that was far more dangerous than anything his garrison could manage…