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Here continues the Chronicle of the Cycle of the Phoenix, from the beginning of the sixth year.

As we resume our tale, Albion stands as the greatest empire in the world, stretching from the edge of the Great Desert in the west to the Iron Mountains in the east, secure and invincible with Djerbil, Voy and the Red Orcs subdued and under its control.

But who can say what the future might hold.

YEAR 6 - THE GLORY OF ALBION
Seizing the opportunity, Albion ended its long-standing alliance with the Iron Dwarves, and in collusion with Kregmire launched an invasion intended to march on the Dwarves’ capitol and force their capitulation. But the Dwarves defend the pass at Duran-Duran and just managed to hold the Humans back. They also had to face another attempt by the Saurians to invade from the sea, and a victory by the Saurians allowed them to again establish a foothold on the mainland.

The Necromancer teleported his army back to the south. Despite a stalwart resistance by the Red Orcs, who attempted to drive him into the desert, he captured the former Djerbil city of Yasir. But in his absence Acheron retook the territory it had lost to him in the north-west.

Djerbil invaded the Centaurs. Although initially successful, they were defeated by an alliance of Nordheim & the Centaurs, who then counter-attacked deep into Djerbil territory.

Hibernica was forced to become a vassal of Kregmire, and the Grey Dwarves finally achieve victory over the Dark Elves with a victory at Gormenghast. They then directed their new vassals south to invade the Dragon Orcs. The High Elves defeated Voy, forcing it to become a vassal, and drove Acheron’s army in the south eastwards.

YEAR 7 - THE FALL OF DJERBIL
Albion and the High Elves allied with each other to attempt to eliminate Acheron’s enclave in the south. But Acheron managed to win a decisive victory and expand its influence, ending the year in control of two former Voy cities.

To the east, Albion succeeded at last in subduing the Iron Dwarves, who surrendered to Albion in order to turn their attention to once again expelling the Saurians from the mainland.

Thus Albion achieved the height of its power at the very moment when it all went horribly wrong.

The Nordheim / Centaur alliance defeated Djerbil before the gates of the city of Djerbil itself, and over-ran all its northern provinces. The Emirate collapsed and ceased to exist as a political entity, and the Centaurs took over all its remaining territories. The Necromancer cut a swathe through its former southern provinces, before taking to the sea to bypass the orcish army holding Dry Gulch and invade Kregmire.

Emboldened by the Kingdom’s successive defeats by Acheron, Albion’s remaining two vassals, the Iron Dwarves and the Red Orcs, rose in rebellion (indeed many believe that evil emissaries from Acheron had conspired with the orcs to bring about just such a thing). At any rate the orcs wasted no time in attacking their former masters, marching to the sea at Royston Vasey to effectively cut the Kingdom in two.

With Djerbil eliminated, Nordheim turned its attention westward against the White Dwarves, a former ally whom it suspected of conspiring with Acheron against it. By the end of the year it had forced the Dwarves to capitulate and was advancing through the White Mountains into Acheron itself.

Quorm invaded the High Elves, but after an initial victory neither side’s army could achieve a decisive victory and the war bogged down into the Humans defending against repeated harassing attacks from the Elves.

The Grey Dwarves and their Dark Elf vassals made slow inroads against the Dragon Orcs, driving down the coast. The Orcs became sufficiently desperate that they invited a Saurian army into their territory to repulse the invaders.

YEAR 8 - IT’S GRIM UP NORTH
For a while it looked as if the new superpower following the collapse of Albion might by Nordheim. But early in Year 8 they suffered a catastrophic defeat at Urias at the hands of Acheron, in part brought about by the perfidiousness of their White Dwarf vassals, whose forces appeared on the battlefield but refused to fight. Nordheim’s army was now in trouble, as the White Dwarves rose in rebellion and they became cut off in hostile territory.

Nordheim began a long and bloody retreat to the east through the frozen wastes of the White Mountains, harassed at every stage by the Dwarves, and the army that finally made it back to Drakkenfjord was a shadow of the one that marched west in Year 7. To add to Nordheim’s woes, the Centaurs also betrayed them and attacked from the south, wiping out their southern army.

A parallel to Nordheim’s military disaster was occuring in the west. Now supported by the Saurians, the Dragon Orcs counter-attacked against the Grey Dwarves. The Dwarves had also to contend with treachery from their Dark Elf vassals, who conspired to bring about a Grey Dwarf defeat and then rose in rebellion. This left the bulk of the Grey Dwarf army cut off and making a desperate last stand against superior odds deep in enemy territory.

In the west, the Pteor launched an invasion of Hibernica. The barbarians melted into the woods & hills and declined to face the winged folk in battle, and the Pteor were unable to secure a decisive victory.

Albion and Kregmire attempted to stop the relentless advance of the Necromancer, and although they failed to expel him from Kregmire’s territory they managed to prevent him advancing any further. The Red Orcs continued to harass Albion in the south though. The Iron Dwarves launched an attack on the Wood Elves that left them with no provinces, but the elves won a decisive victory to defend their capitol.

Kregmire lost its overlordship of Hibernica, and the High Elves their overlordship of Voy.

YEAR 9 - “NEVER TRUST AN ORC“
The Saurians had now obtained the mainland enclave that had long been their desire, and to capitalise on it they pressed home their attack on the encircled Grey Dwarven army. The Dwarves, however, managed to cut their way out of the trap and fight back to their own territory, though with heavy losses, but they once more brought the Dark Elves under their control.

Meanwhile Hibernica expelled the Pteor from its territory.

Also counter-attacking were the Wood Elves, who despite being outnumbered, won an impressive series of victories over the Iron Dwarves and drove them back into the mountains.

The long war by Albion & Kregmire to contain the Necromancer continued. Although they managed to protect Kregmire’s capitol, they suffered heavy casualties in doing so. The Necromancer took casualties too, of course, but what are casualties to the Lord of the Undead? Albion also had to contend with the Red Orcs, whose continuing attacks were taking their toll, and who at the end of the year launched an attack on Ravensgate itself. Albion was left with no choice but to surrender to its former vassal; a bitter day indeed for Humankind.

The High Elf - Quorm war dragged into its second year without any decisive battle. In the north the two-pronged invasion of Nordheim continued to advance. Nordheim resisted at every step, but its weakened forces were overwhelmed.

YEAR 10 - AN ENDING WORTHY OF A SAGA
Leaving the defences of their capital Nordburg to check the advance of Acheron & its White Dwarf allies, the Nordheimr launch a last ditch offensive against the Centaurs, in the hope of cutting off supplies to the Centaur army in the north. But it is their army that is cut off, and in a last desperate last stand worthy of the sagas, their army is defeated and annihilated at Mor-Lurpak by the Centaurs.

At Nordburg the Nordheimr King sues for peace from Acheron, but following a breakdown in talks he is overthrown by popular unrest, and the end of the year sees the disappearance of the Kingdom of Nordheim. Nordburg becomes an independent city under the control of no nation.

The war between Quorm and the High Elves ends with the Elves subjugated to the People of the Desert after a long siege of their capital Caras Galvorn. The Dark Elves change overlord twice in the year, from the Grey Dwarves to the Saurians and back again, as they find themselves in the unfortunate position of being a battleground between these two nations and their allies (the Grey Dwarves having forged an alliance with their fellow Dwarves from the south and with Hibernica).

Fearing that the Pteor are massing to attack them, the Grey Dwarves get their retaliation in first with an attack deep into Pteor territory. The birdmen, in response make inroads into Grey Dwarf territory.

The Wood Elves beat off first an Iron Dwarf attack, then a Hibernican attack.

Albion launches an attack on Voy, reducing them to a city-state and forcing them to become vassals.
However continuing pressure from the Necromancer on Albion’s other vassal, Kregmire, forces them back to their last city. Albion’s overlord, the Red Orcs, refuses permission for Albion’s army to go to the aid of Kregmire’s attempt to retake its capital.