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

108.1.141.197
38 Iron Kingdoms
mutual skills in artifice and evocation magic as well.
The mages stole away to Khador with a most prized
possession: the secrets of the cortex. King Tzepesci
rewarded them with private estates and noble titles and
soon enough, the Greylords Covenant had become the
most powerful order of wizards in Khador.
King Tzepesci quickly put his Greylords to work
producing cortexes for the Colossals of the Khadoran
army. By the time the wizards had retrofitted and
modernized the constructs, they were equal to anything
Cygnar could field. Warcasters were trained, and within
seven years they were put to the test. In 247 AR, the
Trollkin War had ended. Cygnar had erected Deepwood
Tower and placed their Colossals to watch the
Thornwood. Three years into the watch, the Greylord
influence in the Motherland became quite apparent.
Khadoran forces with their Colossals marched to the
cities of Midfast and Corbhen in Ord and Laedry in
Llael. The desperate Ordic throne beseeched Cygnar
for aid, and their call was answered. As the Khadorans
threatened to topple the walls of Midfast a dozen
Colossals and 20,000 Cygnaran soldiers entered the
conflict, and thus the Colossal War had begun.
It lasted for seven years. Massive iron giants tore
each other apart amidst fields of rifle fire, bloodied
pikes, and explosive displays of arcane magic.
Ultimately the Khadorans could not afford the cost of
upkeep and repair on their constructs, nor could they
match the combined strength of the Ordic, Llaelese,
and Cygnaran forces. The aid of the Fraternal Order
and the Golden Crucible had proven crucial as well,
for the Greylords were simply outnumbered and
overmatched.
In the spring of 257 AR, after a decisive battle
at Volningrad, the Khadorans became unwilling
to risk further loss and surrendered. Ordic forces
disarmed Khadoran troops at Midfast as King Tzepesci
issued a cessation of hostilities. At the Disarmament
Conferences held in Corvis, Tzepesci consented to
dismantling all of his Colossals and the foundries
where they were built. In return Cygnar returned all
Khadoran territory seized during the war but went
on to found the Colossal Guard to ensure Khadoran
expansion remained in check. The Fraternal Order
oversaw the destruction of the Khadoran facilities and
their titanic war engines.
During the Colossal War, the trollkin had
regained their strength, and in 260 AR they rose
again. What began as trollkin incursions into Ordic
and Cygnaran territory escalated into a full-scale war
by 267. Cygnar’s Colossal Guard proved ineffectual
against the unpredictable trollkin guerilla tactics. In
response, King Woldred the Diligent commissioned
the Fraternal Order to build the first warjacks based on
existing steamjack designs, for they were “better able
to fight in the woods and thickets.” Though used in
small numbers, the warjacks proved effective. After the
first warjacks took the field, King Woldred personally
attended peace talks to end hostilities at Hadriel
Fens once and for all. The Crown granted trollkin
expansion rights for their fens and bestowed upon the
kriels of the region a yearly sum for the use of waters
bordering trollkin lands.
Changing of the Guard
Though the Colossal Guard created a lasting
peace that allowed the Cygnaran King Woldred time
to orchestrate a new era of growth, progress proved
to be the downfall of the age of iron giants. Military
strategists were quick to see the tactical applications
of the new warjacks. The new constructs were smarter,
faster, and quicker instruments of war. Warjacks also
proved less taxing to warcasters in the field. Where a
warcaster could only control a single colossal, he could
control three or more warjacks. Where Colossals were
tools of siege warfare, warjacks could be for surgical
attacks. In 286 AR King Woldred decommissioned
the Colossals. Over the next few years, the massive
machines fell apart due to much disrepair.
That same year, King Woldred drafted the Accord-
By-Hand Covenant that allowed Cygnaran kings to
choose their own successors. Menite leaders supported
the Accord, provided the successor be of noble birth
and they could hold exclusive right to bear witness
to each king’s passing terms. When King Woldred
suddenly died in 289 AR, the Temple quieted calls
of treason and prepared to gain absolute access to
the throne. However, when the traditional time of
mourning ended, the Menites discovered Woldred’s
terms of succession had disappeared. Within a
fortnight Woldred’s nephew Malagant—soon to be
called The Grim—entered Caspia with a small army
and claimed the crown. As the Menites were unable to
produce Woldred’s terms, Malagant became king.