The Nomads

Very little is known about the so-called Nomads who are invading the Known World today. The information we know here comes from the writings of Terq Foroyar, a captain from Slagovich, who was held captive in Hule for nearly three years and was able to learn from the 'barbarians of the Red Lands'.

Despite their cruelties and reputation, the Huleans have treated us well, as far as a prisoners of war go. Unlike my expectations, we haven't been executed nor sent to labour camps; instead, we have been well-fed and our accomodations are just about reasonable. An officer of the local garrison takes me to speak with him at his office at least twice a week. His name is Kudrash and he is a veteran of many battles. We usually talk about warfare, history, politics and hunting, which seems to be a hobby we both share.

Today, while walking through the facade of the local fortress - which still looks greater than the greatest royal palace within the city-states - I asked Kudrash about his origins and he told me of this little village that was originally a border outpost. He lived in a very remote part of the Hulean empire and he told me of the hardships and difficulties to live in such a barren land, far from everything. His family was poor and the whole region was plagued by 'Barbarians', who often launched raiding campaigns into the Empire. He told me of massive invasions and massacres, of hordes leaving a trail of destruction wherever they go.

I was astonished by his comments, for I never heard of anyone who would seem to be capable - or insane - enough to attack Hule and not be utterly crushed in return. And now he was telling me of fearsome barbarians who pillaged his lands. So I asked about these people and this so-called 'Red Lands', which I absolutely never heard of.

According to Kudrash: The Red Lands is an 'endless' amount of wastelands that has never been conquered or colonized by any of the civilized nations. Many a danger lie in every single corner of those lands, behind every single hill. Huleans call it 'Red Lands' because there has been too much blood shed on those lands. Hule has attempted to conquer them in the past, but failed miserably. There are no cities, there are no great nations. Only bloodthirsty killers lurking in the shadows, out for a prey.

The people who live in the Red Lands are nomads, but make no mistake: they are fierce warriors and their terrible sorcery is without equal in the civilised lands. It is not entirely clear how their society functions, but they have no cities, they do not know the meaning of gold or even honor. It is known that they organize themselves in clans and the clans often make alliances amongst themselves, forming confederacies that war against each other for brief periods. When there is no war to be fought inside their own lands, they seek war outside it. So it has come that they invaded Hule so many times in the past. The Master has covered everything up carefully, so other nations would not think Hule had been weakened by barbarians. This is how nobody ever knew of these nomad people from the North.

I asked Kudrash if he ever fought them before. After a long pause, he pronounced a feeble 'yes', from which I could easily deduct it should have been a rather traumatic encounter. He told me he had been recently promoted to the rank of commander, when news arrived of a Nomad invasion. His unit was quickly rushed to a city called Addar in order to defend it from the marauding invaders. They came with great ladders that were used to climb up the city walls. He ommitted many details of the battle, but told me that they took the walls and rampaged the city. While making a last stand in the palace, his entire unit was surrounded and slain, while he was knocked unconscious and probably taken for dead by the nomads, who spared no one.

When Kudrash woke up, the city of Addar was a pool of blood, rumble and ashes. Nothing was standing, no one was left alive, so brutal were the barbarians. Years later, Kudrash led another campaign against the nomads and this time he had his revenge. Not only he managed to defeat the Nomad army, he also managed to bring some of them prisoners for interrogation. And that's how he came to know so much about these people...

According to the Nomad prisoners, they are organized in several tribes and grouped into five distinct confederacies: Bao, Kro, Hurag, Jarst and Dovgarst. The confederacies Bao and Kro are allied and form the nation of Vyuan. Jarst and Dovgarst used to be one single confederacy, the Hadarst, but they split and now are sworn enemies. The Jarst have become friends with their old enemies, the Hurag, while the Dovgarst went northwards to fight the so-called 'grey men', which could be some humanoid nation.

Both the Vyuan nation and the Hurag-Jarst alliance made sporadic raids onto Hulean and Sindhi territory, often causing great damage to the nation. The Sindhis think they are demons that come through a portal in the desert.

I asked what about them made them such good fighters and how could such barbarians have mastered the arcane ways. Kudrash told me that these Nomads draw their power from some deity they worship and that the only way to have such powers is by making great sacrifices to the honor of this deity. And this is why they have no second thoughts on genocide. The more souls they send to the afterlife, the more powerful they become. Their sorcery ranges from a rain of acid arrows, passing through raising walls of fire, earthquakes and beyond. It is very unusual and difficult to predict.

Another card the Nomads have is their intimidating way of warfare. Among their most infamous tactics are: Spiked carts that are set ablaze and thrown into formations, making massive clouds of smoke and dust so they can approach and make hit-and-run attacks without being intercepted, charge with great wild horned beasts that resemble mammooths, throw several wasp nests into formations, filling the battlefield with dead corpses so the stench is unbearable and finally, throwing giant grey oozes at their enemies.

These unusual tactics are combined with traditional esteppe-like horsemanship and heavy assault infantry. Usually, horse archers pour a rain of arrows into their enemies, followed by pagan destructive magic or some other dirty trick (see above). By then, the enemy lines are so weakened that one single assault from their infantry is enough to win the battle. If not, cavalry will perform well-placed charges and destroy their enemies. During sieges, they use magic to make a breach in the walls, so cavalry can charge through, while infantry usually go for the traditional head-on assault with ladders, hooks and battering rams. It is very straight-forward and remarkably efficient.

Kudrash told me that the Nomads had recently been unified under one single Great Leader, whose sole name made the holiest man in the Forbidden City shiver: Telim-Tor the Unbreakable. Fear of a wholesale invasion and mass slaughter spread through the temples and garrisons, but no one was allowed to mention it, under punishment by death. Nevertheless, the Master of Hule got rid of this problem in a very sleazy way. After several centuries failing to win on the battlefield, the Master simply turned them against another nation. He did this by supporting the tribes to attack the target-rich Republic of Darokin and neighbouring nations. And so it came to pass that the unified Nomads of Telim-Tor did not invade Hule, but headed eastwards towards Darokin. And this is how the Great Nomad Wars began.

After the initial success of the invasion, Telim-Tor was killed and the Nomad tribes split again into confederacies, each acting on his own behalf. And so it came to pass that the Jarst conquered Corunglain and nearby lands, while the Vyuan nation took the whole of the Akesoli region, while the Hurag ravaged through Sind and made an alliance with the tribes of Atruaghin, with whom they seem to have a common cultural element. Hurag and Atruaghin have attacked southern Darokin and the Five Shires, with some success.

This time, however, instead of just killing and pillaging, the Nomads decided to settle in the areas they conquered. I came to know that much of it had to do with the Hulean Master's influence on the Nomad leaders. The Jarst formed a kingdom in Corunglain and nearby lands, the Hurag split themselves into two and formed one kingdom in southern Sind and another one in southern Darokin. The Vyuans formed the most powerful Nomad kingdom of all, having the entire Akesoli lake for themselves. Sure, the Nomad forces being split up has weakened them, but the fact that, after four years of bloody wars, almost none of their lands have been re-conquered by the Darokinians and their allies, testifies of the might these Nomads represent.

And while Darokin and many other nations of the Known World fight against the Nomad Invasion, Hule strenghtens itself. For it shall be theirs the last card to be drawn...