02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

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34 Iron Kingdoms
The massive scale of the project required skilled
labor from all over western Immoren, but the
architects of the Colossals kept the secret of their
creation to themselves—though not for long. Soon
after construction began the Khards, bitter about
being left out of the development process and afraid
of losing the support of the Alliance, had stolen plans
to create their own Colossals and secretly began
building their own factories. In 188 AR the Orgoth
discovered the Khardic facilities and assembled a
powerful army to destroy the metalworks. Captured
alchemists and wizards responsible for the project
suffered indescribable torments at the hands of their
Orgoth interrogators.
The rhulic alliance and The beTrayal
of khard
The rhulfolk aided The iron alliance wiTh several
condiTions. firsT, rhul was Paid a handsome reward for The
required sTeel and machinery for building The colossals. The
rhulfolk had builT mining machines on a massive scale for
cenTuries and Their know-how Proved invaluable. second, The
fraTernal order shared The secreTs of The cerebral maTrix
wiTh The rhulfolk. Third, The dwarves were allowed free
Passage along The black river for no less Than 300 years.
finally, The rhulfolk demanded ThaT The creaTion Process of
The colossals be kePT ouT of The hands of The khards. rhul
feared ThaT The khards, once re-esTablished, would aTTemPT
To use The colossals againsT rhul, so The rhulfolk wanTed
To ensure ThaT The khards could never field colossals of
Their own.
some scholars offer an alTernaTe Theory: ThaT The iron
alliance beTrayed The khards To The orgoTh To buy
Themselves Time To comPleTe Their own colossals. The
desTrucTion of The khardic facTories aPParenTly boughT
The iron alliance roughly Two years worTh of ProducTion
Time as They began To ramP uP creaTion of Their colossals.
iT should be noTed ThaT amassing such a large force caused
a massive laPse in The orgoTh suPPly chain aT The Time, and
The khardic casualTies were in facT quiTe low in comParison
To oTher baTTles wiTh The orgoTh, noT To menTion ThaT
no real knowledge of colossal creaTion was ever gained by
The orgoTh inquisiTors. wheTher or noT This was rhulic
Prejudice as The khadorans claim or a clever gambiT by The
iron alliance, no one Truly knows.
Learning of this and fearing reprisal the Iron
Alliance tripled its production efforts, and the first
Colossal strode out from the gates of Caspia in 191
AR. With five other Colossals completed in rapid
succession, the Iron Alliance was ready to strike.
Controlled by Fraternal wizards, the Colossals
destroyed an Orgoth fortress near Fharin, and when
the dust settled 5,000 of the enemy lay dead. By 198 AR
the Iron Alliance mounted its first major offensive of
the war—a complex series of tactical strikes intended
to cripple the Orgoth. Controlled by wizards from
the Fraternal Order of Wizardry, a small army of
Colossals crushed all opposition underfoot, and the
Iron Alliance began leveling Orgoth holds, keeps, and
religious sites.
Within weeks the eastern borders had collapsed,
and the empire had diminished by a third. Victory
seemed imminent, but as the Colossals proceeded
further into Orgoth domain, the enemy adapted.
They found it easier to take out the handlers than the
actual constructs, and several wizards fell in a short
time until those remaining gathered companies of
men-at-arms about their persons and scouts to keep
them all informed of the dangers on the periphery.
The tactic was effective, and in due course, entire
command groups followed a few dozen yards behind
each construct. Small armies gathered in the wake of
each Colossal with the wizard-general at the center
acting as troop commander by giving orders and
assimilating information from his group, all while
driving his towering behemoth onward.
Appropriately enough warcasters of the Modern
Era liken themselves to these wizard-generals,
embracing them as the forefathers of their martial
profession, for they had developed skills and
training beyond the arcane studies to which wizards
were accustomed. They were effective officers and
combatants in their own right and learned to place the
same energy into their own combat skills and weapons
as they did into the Colossals. Several legendary names
from this age are known to modern warcasters: Willem
the Ward, “Sharp” Jen, Skarblack, and Fennmark the
Blind to name a few.
As the Orgoth were beaten back to the sea they
initiated the Scourge. The fleeing invaders did
their best to destroy every record of their passing by
burning every city, temple, or fortress in their path.
Their own great black keeps were no exception as all
their holdings were laid to ruin. The Scourge reduced
dozens of cities and towns to waste. The Orgoth salted
fields, poisoned wells, scorched the earth, and slew
untold numbers of slaves as they fled to their ships in