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€     ‰A History of Vanshiran.€
             In the past 5 centuries Vanshiran has undergone
         tremendous geographical and meteorological changes. Once the
         Vanshiran peninsula was a vast primal forest, lush,
         mysterious and rich in wild life. Much the peninsula was
         locked in ice or snow year round. Little was known of the
         natives, known collectively as the Vanshirae, save that they
         were fierce, clannish and very secretive. Some of the bolder
         clans occasionally traded skins for metals with the few
         merchants foolhardy enough to brave the winters and ice floes
         of the Vanshiran coast.
         To the south of what is now Massillion and Tureth lie the
         Carrion Peaks. In the time of Vanshirae domination of the
         peninsula, the lands south of the Peaks were populous and
         prosperous. These lands were known in the tongue of that age
         as Althath. Two of the greatest of Althath nations were
         Veresov and Bellin. Various elven and dwarven houses held
         sway in some regions of  the Althath lands, but the names of
         them have been lost in the passage of time. Occasional raids
         by the Vanshirae were not unheard of, but these only took
         place in the fiercest of winters, when food was scarce. It
         was easier to plunder the northern edges of Althath lands
         than to hunt in those times. Over the course of a century of
         so, the Althath nations found that the Vanshirae raids had
         slowly become bolder and more destructive. The raids were no
         longer predictable. Entire villages and hamlets found
         themselves under attack in the summer, spring and fall. The
         Vanshirae began the gruesome custom of taking the scalps and
         heads of their victims back home with them as trophies.
         Bellin was the northernmost Althath land and most frequent
         target of the raids. The king of Bellin levied large
         militia, hired large numbers of mercenaries from the dark
         southern lands, and fortified much of the northern lands. All
         of this was to no avail. The Vanshirae raiders increased
         steadily in strength and began appearing with strange allies,
         Oxen-headed men and strange small humanoids upon fell,
         wolfish beasts.
         King Refraidies of Bellin could not contain his rage at news
         of the latest of the raids. He gathered his royal guard
         around, mounted his own destrier and  rode with great haste
         for three straight days to reach the capital of his northern
         province. There the King gathered his militia, his army and
         numerous mercenaries. The host held most all of Bellinese men
         of fighting age and was so large that as is began is
         northward march of retribution that it took an entire day to
         pass a single town. Two hundred thousand men marched
         northward. Six days it took to reach the southward side of
         the Carrion Peaks. There King Refraidies encamped with his
         host for a fortnight as he dispatched scouts northwards
         through the passes. The king consulted his oracles and magi,
         seeking sight to divine what would come to pass when his host
         passed through to the Vanshirae lands. The omens were dark
         and unclear. The seers advised against venturing further
         north. The king , still enraged at the bestial acts of the
         Vanshirae raiders, could not be persuaded. At dawn on the
         first day of the Vanshiran thaws the king broke camp and led
         his host through the passes into Vanshiran.
             The expeditionary force was harried and harassed from the
         moment it cleared the northward side of the Peaks. King
         Refraidies vainly sought Vanshirae settlements to vent his
         fury upon. Instead, his host was steadily decimated from
         nighttime raids of Vanshirae. Morale sank quickly. After only
         five days the host had a quarter of its strength dead and the
         same number wounded. Many times soldiers would awaken to find
         their bunkmates dead,  throats cut and scalps taken. The
         kings forces were rendered impotent, demoralized and
         decimated. Without a pitched battle the main advantages of
         the large host were useless. Raiders hid in forests and
         mountainsides, striking out and fading away before the
         Bellinese forces could react.
         At last the army had reached the southern edge of another
         mountain range. Finding a defensible position in the
         foothills, King Refraidies again made camp. Consulting his
         seers and magi again, the divinations now yielded clear
         messages. Vanshirae villages lie northward on either side of
         the range, and more ominously, a large host was gathering to
         the south of the kings forces.
         Scouts confirmed both rumours. After consulting his
         strategists, it was decided to meet the enemy host in the
         downs to the south, rather than raiding northwards with a
         unchallenged enemy behind them.
         Two days after breaking camp the two hosts met. The battle
         raged from sunup to sundown. The first days melee was
         inconclusive. Large numbers of dead of both sides lay upon
         the downs. At first light of the second day, as each host
         formed up and faced each other, An incredibly loud horn
         sounded out from the rear of the Vanshirae host. the enemy
         host parted aside and a small band emerged from the rear. The
         kings host stood transfixed as the small band slowly came
         into view.
             Pulling a small gilt covered cart were a score of the
         strange ox-headed men. Around them were the same number of
         warriors clad in mail and brandishing large axes. Upon the
         cart stood another of the ox-headed men. All eyes settled
         upon this rider. It stood a full seven foot high, with horns
         tipped in silver and carved with various runes. In its left
         hand was a horn of sparkling crystal, and in its right hand
         it held aloft a sword, shimmering with a green flame and also
         engraved with various runes. Silence covered the battlefield.
         The beast-man began to chant. Winds started to gust over the
         hosts and stranges voices filled the air. Then, lifting the
         horn to its lips, it blew a single long note. At the sounding
         of the horn, a horrible wail raised up from the kings host.
         The dead soldiers that littered the field between the hosts
         began to stir. Slowly, the dead stood and formed up ranks.
         The Bellinese forces stood transfixed, horrified to see their
         dead comrades in arms against them. The undead host advanced
         relentlessly. The ensuing battle was a bloodbath. The
         terrified and demoralized Bellinese army was slaughtered
         almost to a man. King Refraidies himself was captured and
         months later found wandering in the snows, disfigured, mad
         and half dead from exposure.