Great Dwarf War Campaign: Prologue
Shao snuck into a dark theatre as the curtains opened on a premier ballet. From the start, the performance seemed enchanted by more than the Romantic themes. Shao snuck backstage to investigate and found a puppeteer pulling invisible strings to keep the dancers performing. This was the music devil- a spawn of Plague who specialized in forcing his victims to dance and sing until they died from exhaustion.
The ballet troupe performed a story where a young woman was to be sacrificed to the gods. As Shao battled the musical devil backstage, the audience rioted over the provocative scene unfolding before them. The theatre erupted in violence- showing Shao that Plague himself could only be to blame for this amount of chaos.
After slaying the devil with his Ancient Blade, Shao left the theatre and found himself in the Jabalina capital surrounded by rioting mobs. He escaped the country and traveled back to Turtle Island to consult with Four- the eldest of the four demons. He found himself in the midst of another civil conflict in Arananoma where a renegade rogue was gaining a large following among the peasants there. Shao found the temple in which he first contacted the demon was now demolished by the conflict and Four could not be found.
Before Shao could leave, levy troops in Arananoma clashed with Larrunana sailors sparking an international conflict. Shao- weary of the Larrunanan military who had only twenty years prior forced the last band of free Drow onto a territorial prison- decided to leave before the conflict turned into open war.
Content with investigating more in Zezen, Shao left for the Southeast Peninsula which witnessed numerous wars and violent conflicts over the last hundred years forming two strong empires and a dozen new kingdoms. While Shao was visiting one of these new kingdoms looking for clues on Plague, the Ekialdean Prince was parading through the kingdom's capital to celebrate a new truce between the nations. An assassin dropped down from the roof of a building, drew his hand crossbow, and fired a bolt into the prince's chest.
Shao escaped the kingdom before the violence mobs reacted, but a larger conflict was now in motion. For the last hundred years, Zezen Dwarves were creating alliances with rider clauses stating they would side with their allies should a two-nation war erupt. The Ekialdean Empire tore up their new truce and returned to war. Less than a month later, the entire continent was at war.
On the other side of the continent, Jabalina was establishing a new military unit in reaction to their disastrous defeat half a decade prior. The Jabalina Empire was forming a desegregated military unit composed of any willing person around the world- regardless of race- ready to serve the empire. The Jabalina Foreign Legion received an unprecedented number of volunteers from around the globe. Unbeknownst to the volunteers, the war they were about to take part in would be the bloodiest, grittiest, and darkest war that would engulf the dwarves.