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Recap / Ravenmark

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This is a summary of the storyline of Ravenmark: Scourge of Estellion separated by campaigns.

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    Prelude 

    Ravenhood 

    Suneaters 
The forces of the Kaysani Reconquista are landing their vast forces on the northern shore of the sea. They end up slightly to the east of their intended landing site, and a warband of Lyri seeks to expel the invaders. Altus Prior Alejo de Porres orders his nephew and Exarch of the Redeemer army Usun Motare to lead a small force of Cardani elves to rout the barbarians. After the army has fully landed, they head for Dorton Hall, the nearest Tellion stronghold. It's revealed that Dorton's new Rook, Grecus Salarius, is in league with a traitor amongst the Tellions and has left the Hall wide open to attack while he himself heads for Atium to inform his master of what is happening. The Kaysani easily defeat the few defenders the Hall is able to muster and proceed to raze the stronghold, although a few of them hit a snag when they attempt to grab a young servant girl. The Redeemers' next goal is to remove Tellion influence from East Isle, the Empire's most recent acquisition, whose people still chafe under the imperial boot. Usun convinces Wall Commander Damien Laurentius to join the Reconquista. While he's uncertain whether Usun's promises of freedom are true, Damien is willing to do whatever it takes to free his people from imperial oppression. At the ruin of Last Wall, the Redeemers run into a Tellion force led by two members of the Reiht, elite military commanders personally recruited by the late Emperor Sergius Corvius. The Reiht send Legate Marius Cato, the son of Rook Delvinius Cato (AKA the Longhammer), who is in charge of protecting the Twin Cities, to warn his father of the invasion. While Damien is terrified of the Reiht, Alejo and Usun press on and use the Redeemers' superior numbers to rout the vaunted Tellion commanders, with all the Faiths now under Kaysani control. Alejo then splits the forces. Usun is to take a small force and take Reston Hall to the northeast, while Alejo will march the main force of the Redeemers, along with the Islemen, across the Faiths to Augin Dam, which marks the border between the Empire and the Commonwealth of Esotre. According to Alejo, the Inquisitor faction of the Kaysani is at that moment rampaging across the Commonwealth, seeking to eliminate the Empire's closest ally before the main assault. The small force led by Usun (who fears that Damien is now Alejo's favorite) and an elderly elf named Taraka reach a bridge close to Reston Hall, only for a group of Jackdaws (halflings) to blow up the bridge with Sotran explosives. Enraged, Usun slaughters the Jackdaws and Tellion forces on that side of the river. Some manage to escape, and Usun orders that all Jackdaws be exterminated, against Taraka's advice. Meanwhile, in the Twin Cities, Rook Cato and three of the Queens are concerned over any lack of news from the imperial capital of Atium. Marius arrives and informs them of the invasion. Rook Cato tells the Queens to go north to Atium, while he holds the Twin Cities. The main Redeemer force arrives to Augin Dam, with a mixed force of Tellion and Sotrna troops fortifying it. Alejo orders all the defenders be slain despite Damien's protestations against killing Sotrans, who have done nothing to his people. Alejo tells the Islemen to swim across the river and dispatch the Sotran troops holding the barricade, while the Redeemers take care of the Tellion garrison. After crossing the river, Damien allows some young Sotran soldiers to flee. After the battle, Alejo is incensed that Damien would show mercy and tortures him using flamesoul magic, only letting him live to honor Usun's promise to free the Islemen. As the Redeemers march north towards the Twin Cities, they once again face the Reiht, this time there are four of them and a much larger force, but the vast Kaysani army still manages to rout them and press on to the Twin Cities. At the Twin Cities, the two Redeemer forces meet up, with Usun forced to abandon the plan to take Reston Hall due to the destruction of the bridge. Alejo is disappointed but gives Usun another change by letting him lead the vanguard into the Twin Cities. A detachment of armored hallow frogs has joined the army, and the massive amphibians allow the Redeemers to smash through the Tellion lines, and the defense led by Delvinius and Marius Cato crumbles. In the middle of the battle, a small group of reinforcement led by Rook Vidius Harper arrives, but they are unable to stem the tide. Militia leader Dresius Quinto tries to hold the Kaysani while Harper escapes but is quickly overwhelmed and slain. Distraught, Harper seeks to rush into battle and try to save him, only for Braccian mercenary leader Adrasta Tsepha and the Catos to pull him back and order a retreat to the Halfling Quarter, where the Reiht are mounting a defense. Usun proudly present the Twin Cities to his uncle, but Alejo is unimpressed, pointing out that Usun wanted to slaughter innocent Jackdaws because of his own failure as a commander. He even suggests that Damien may be a better choice as the Exarch.

    Deepwood Dragoons 
Lieutenant Thaddeus L'Eclin leads the Greyjackets, as well as Cloe, from Reston Hall into the Deepwoods, seeking to meet up with Sotran forces there and get his hands on some phylacteries in order to transport his unit to Silvergate. They arrive to a camp only to find it deserted. They run into Captain Lorraine D'Artim of the 19th Dragoons (AKA the Duke's Own), who initially assumes that Thad is responsible for the camp. Just then, the Primrose tribe of the Lyri arrives, led by Denmother Kayle and Skald Helram. They smell the blood of a fellow Denmother among the Sotrans and attack them in revenge. D'Artim orders the Grey Jackets to assist them in repelling the Lyri assault. After the battle, Sergeant Dwight Lawforde searches the camp and finds no phylacteries. D'Artim is suspicious of the Greyjackets but is told of the invasion by the "rat-men", which seems to explain the increased attacks by the Lyri on Sotran camps. She orders the Greyjackets to accompany her to find another cache of phylacteries. Thad objects, citing the need to keep Cloe safe, only for D'Artim to threaten to shoot her and charge him with treason if doesn't comply. She's only bluffing about treason, but it seems to work. They travel farther into the Deepwoods, where they find the Kaysani assaulting a dwarven mining camp. The lieutenant in charge of the camp, Allister Huntsworth of the 38th Chargers (AKA the Dawnspurn), and his giant boar Daisy are grateful for the assistant in repelling the attackers. Unfortunately, any phylacteries in the camp burned down when the Kaysani destroyed the armory. Thad is concerned with D'Artim's reckless desire to return to Silvergate at any cost. She dismisses his concerns and orders them to press on to the next cache location. Huntsworth and his dwarves join them. Meanwhile, Kayle is so determined to punish the Sotrans for killing a fellow Denmother that she's willing to violate the sacred Lyri taboo about entering the Deepwoods. As the Sotrans search underground tunnels for another cache, they are surprised to be attacked by the Primrose, as they know of the Lyri taboo. At the same time, a force of Kaysani attack them from another direction. The numerically weak Sotrans must hold off the two attacking forces (which also attack each other) while some of their soldiers work on the tunnels. Eventually, they manage to locate the cache and retreat into the tunnels. In the tunnels, Helram kidnaps Cloe and takes her to Kayle, who smells the blood of a Denmother on her. Thad tries to rescue her, only for Lawforde and D'Artim's soldiers to grab him. D'Artim orders the phylacteries broken, resulting in them being transported to the Eastern Grounds of Silvergate without Cloe, who remains in Lyri hands. Thad is livid with D'Artim for leaving Cloe behind, only for her to point out that the city is crawling with Kaysani, which is the only reason the Archduke has authorized the deployment of mortar batteries. With the help of the mortars, D'Artim and her men manage to clear the Eastern Grounds of the invaders. Thad lays into D'Artim again, but just then Iron Duchess Audrea V'Ortheu and her Widowmakers (9th Dragoon Regiment) arrive. While the Duchess is impressed with D'Artim's actions, she seems to dislike her for something Lorraine's father did. Despite this, she gives D'Artim a field promotion to colonel and commissions her men as the 7th Task Brigade under the Duchess's command. She sends the brigade to the Southern Grounds to clear the receiving pads from boulders and debris in order to allow troops arriving via phylacteries to survive the materialization process. That would allow the badly needed reinforcements to come. They arrive to see the area crawling with Kaysani. They begin clearing the rubble while fighting the invaders. Once a platform is cleared, strange contraptions called jabberwockys begin to arrive. They're mechanical walkers that can spew flames out of their mouths. They're led by Dr. Cyril F'Ourier, the director of the Royal Army's Research Facility known as the Madmachiner. He is flying a hovering artillery piece called the Rath Platform. With the aid of the Madmachiner's creations, the Kaysani are quickly routed from the Southern Grounds, allowing reinforcements to arrive and assist the defenders at the Great Gate. Thad learns that Lorraine's father, Iron Duke Alphonse D'Artim, was accused of attempting to assassinate the Archduke, although the Archduke had the matter stricken from official record. The Colonel insists that her father was set up. Regardless, the Duchess is incensed that D'Artim has brought F'Ourier's contraptions instead of the promised troops to reinforce the Gate's defenders. D'Artim suggests that the remains of her brigade (minus the Greyjackets, who remain to provide ranged support for the defenders) and F'Ourier use the service tunnels to sneak behind the enemy lines and strike them at the flanks. The Duchess is dubious but accepts D'Artim's plan. Meanwhile, Altus Prior Heliodore de Moreno is angry that the Sotran defenders are still putting up a fight, preventing the main forces of the Inquisitors from entering the city. One of the commanders suggests making use of the phylacteries they found to transport them to Estellion, but Heliodore will not hear of making use of heretical magic. With the aid of F'Ourier's inventions, the Widowmakers and D'Artim's brigade manage to rout the Inquisitors. Heliodore finally decides to use the phylacteries to escape, although he swears to return to Silvergate one day. After the battle, the Duchess promotes Thad to captain and assigns him to lead the rescue and recovery efforts in the city as winter sets in. The Sotrans plan to assist their Tellion allies against the Kaysani, but that will have to wait until winter has passed.

    Raven's Dusk 

    Raven's Rise 

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