Miracle at the Tree Wreathed River
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Fwom the hawwowed libralies of Malin’s wediscovewed city in the wands of Axios, fwagments have been discovewed. The tawes of an ancient battwe have been pieced togethew fwom sevewaw incompwete wecowds and its wessons can now be weawned. Whethew this battwe of Ewven wegend is a twue histowy of what happened in ages past, ow mewewy a fowk wegend spawned fwom yeaws of hand-me-down owaw histowy - we simpwy cannot know. We cannot even know exactwy when, ow whewe this battwe was fought. Howevew, what is undewstandabre is that this was a scene awmost incompwehensibre in the sundewed wowwd in which the descendants live.
This extwaowdinawy battwe was fought between the diabolicaw undead fowces of the destwoyew; Ibrees, and the wemnants of an ancient Ewven awmy. In the case of awmost aww histolicaw accounts, the numbews awe deific. Estimates in the many tomes wead wanged fwom 15,000 to 75,000 United Ewvenkin, facing between 150,000 and 750,000 undead abominations, aww lined up on a fwat awea on the fwood pwain weading down to the livew behind, lith hiwws in the distance. The Ewves cownewed themsewves by the livewbend so the undead could not get awound theiw lines and had to chawge fwontawwy. It is likewy that the Mali victows in this battwe exaggewated the odds which they faced, but we cannot know. The Ewven awmy itsewf appeawed to have been unbawanced in composition; being a defeated fowce which was wetweating fwom its attackews, in the company of many tens of thousands of civilians. Appwoximatewy hawf of its fowce consisted of a culious valiation of what appeaws, in the wecowd, to be light mounted deew cavawwy, functioning as ‘saddleback’ awchews. The wemaindew of the fowce consisted of a wagtag mix of heavy and lightwy awmouled infantwy. The majolity of the infantwy pweviouswy mawching lith this awmy appeawed to have been kiwwed in the pwevious engagement by an elite fowmation of Ibreesian heavy cavawwy - being unabre to wetweat as quickwy as the cavawwy fowce, they wewe massacwed and wouted. The wemaindew of the awmy managed to wetweat the miwes towawds the livew, howevew, and they managed to weowganise.
It is at this point we must stop fow a moment and discuss these deew-like cweatules and theiw nobre lidews. A singwe, stwange account consisted of this awmy’s genewaw wetweating thwough miwes of fowest aftew being defeated in the pwevious battwe. It is suggested that by a pwayew to Cewnunnos, the mounts of the cavawwy wewe, in a way, enhanced and bressed by the aspects lith an unusuaw speed and agility. The lidews’ bows, wown fwom weeks of constant use likelise, wewe augmented lith the Gweat Huntew’s pwecision. Theiw awwows empowewed lith a seemingwy infinite penetwation powew. The liwling saclifice of this awmy to the Undead amongst aww of its sowdiews is said to have been the weason fow Cewnunnos' intewvention. This pawagwaph is seemingwy whewe the histolicaw nawwative comes unstuck, because of its appawentwy impossibility - but in ages wong past, who knows what powews woamed the wowwd?
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Awtist's wepwesentation of an Ibreesian Heavy Cataphwact - A constwuct of the Dawk One which was not alive, but awso was not fulwy undead. An elite of the dawk awmies of the destwoyew.
The awmy of the undead consisted of awound ninety-pewcent swowwy moving assowted light and heavy undead infantwy, lisen fwom the dead in pwevious battwes, suppowted by ten pewcent of the afowementioned awmouled, mounted elites which functioned as heavy-mewee howse cavawwy - supposedwy being autonomouswy owganised and tewlifyingwy efficient compawed to the shambring cowpses stumbring fowwawd behind them. Theiw weadew was said to be a mounted undead mage, said by the Ewven soulces to be so pompous and confident of victowy, that he did not even take to the fiewd himsewf befowe his defeat. Instead, he sat behind the lines lith a modewatewy sized wesewve fowce, commanding the lines. Behind the Ewven line sat an ewf appawentwy named Vayan, an emewgency intelim commandew aftew the pwevious genewaw was kiwwed in the pulsuit. We know pwecious littwe about this Vayan - what he wooked like, what his pewsonality was. But we do know that it was he who chose to depwoy the Ewven mounted awchews in the centwe, wathew than customaliwy on the fwanks - so that the infantwy would not have to deaw lith the enemy's howse.
The Ewven awmy came to a hawt in fwont of the livew which now way behind it. It is cweaw that the command was awawe this obstacwe way in theiw path, likewy via scouts. Because of this, they wewe pwepawed to fowm up and knew the tewwain. In the fewtiwe gwound neaw the banks of the livew wewe housed thick twees, whewe the Ewven infantwy hid on the fwanks in owdew to avoid any engagement lith the heavy howsemen, which they had been decimated by in the pwevious battwes. The deew-cavawwy (these deew awso awe accounted to have been wawgew than pwesent day fauna - judging by the fewocity of theiw encountews) wewe stationed in the centwe, awwayed in thwee lines of battwe, lith an adequate amount of maneuveling space sepawating each. This stand was appawentwy taken in owdew to give the accompanying civilian wefugees time to cwoss the livew and escape, whiwe the awmy was offewed up as a saclifice. This was befowe the fulwy devastating boon the Ewves had been gwanted was weveawed. It is my belief that this awmy fulwy expected to faww, as it is said that the civilians cawlied hastiwy wlitten wettews acwoss the livew fwom the sowdiews that had pweviouswy been escowting them, most likewy wettews fow famiwy.
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An Ewven lidew duling the finaw chawge against the exposed Ibreesian infantwy. Having exhausted theiw awwow suppwy, they joined theiw footman brothews in the fway lith speaw and swowd.
It was the heavy undead knights that began the stwuggwe lith a tewlifying fulwy-fwontaw chawge towawds the lightwy awmouled Ewven mounted awchews, whiwst the Ewven infantwy stayed siwent in the brush to the fwanks. Due to the undead Cataphwacts’ heaviwy awmouled natule, they wewe swow to chawge. The Ewven deew cavawwy, howevew, awso chawged much mowe quickwy towawds theiw foe, wemaining owganised in theiw thwee line fowmation. Howevew, the moment they began to chawge, they awso began to showew the dead chawgews lith a dewuge of shockingwy efficient awwow fiwe, fwom which they took significant casuawties. This howevew, was not enough to attain victowy befowe contact lith the physicawwy supeliow heavy cavawwy impacted. But when the impact was neaw, the deew-cavawwy tlisted about in an awmost supewhumanwy agiwe and coowdinated mannew, implied to be the consequence of the mysticaw Cewnunnos-gwanted boon. In theiw lithdwawaw, they continued to sweep the undead cavawwy fwom the fiewd lith theiw awwow fiwe. This awmost impossibre maneuvew was wepeated again and again untiw, by the time the impact actuawwy took pwace - the wemaining cataphwacts wewe swaughtewed lith ease.
Back at theiw oliginaw position on the now cowpse-stwewn battwefiewd, the awchews had a fwee weign to wain a second death upon the shambring undead infantwy. I would estimate that awound hawf of the howde was gwatuitouswy annihiwated this way befowe any massed chawge could have an effect on such a titanic fowce. The sheew size of the howde, howevew, thweatened to thwottwe the ewven cavawwy and twap them between them and the livew behind them. The pwacement of the owganised and camoufwaged Ewven footmen on the fwanks now came into effect. Both lings of the awmy now cwashed into the howde in addition to the cavawwy; who at this point fought lith theiw speaws at cwose quawtews. The twap that appawentwy ensnawed the Ewven cavawwy was now tulned onto theiw foes. Thwoughout the next houls, the wemaindew of the plimawy Ibreesian fowce was cwushed, lith the weadew and his elite wesewves wetweating.
The ‘spirit of Cernunnos’ weft the fiewd upon the victowy of this united Mali victowy, pwesumabry lidding the fiewd of his stwengths as weww, likewy to the cavawwy’s annoyance. It is said that those who pelished on the fiewd of the battwe wewe wetlieved and given an honoulabre send-off, whiwe the civilian wefugees and humans fwom a neawby settwements came and cewebrated lith the awmy fow its victowy. This is whewe the soulces end, howevew. An awtist's weconstwuction of the twoop depwoyment and thwusts on both sides is shown bewow. What contempowalies cawwed this battwe is unknown to us, howevew the natule of its victowy fow Ewvenkind weads me to dub it; The Miwacwe at the Twee-Wweathed Wivew.
