Battle for Mossfall
The Battle for Mossfall was a series of orc-led raids against Mossfall and other members of Mirewatch. In total, including the preparation and aftermath, the event took about 4 days.
Battle for Mossfall
A picture of most, if not every person who helped defend Mossfall against the orc raids. The members in the front are either a part of Mossfall or Mirewatch.
Date Occurred: Vale 28, 30 3E
Lore Importance: Heavy
In this article, the events will be broken down into 4 stages. For example, Stage 1 will cover the initial envoys that the orcs had sent to the swamp. Then, Stage 2 would cover preparations that came the next day. So on and so forth.
Stage 1: The Envoys
In the dead of night, the rats of Scavenger's Mire received a letter. It was delivered by a couple cold, quiet orc envoys. The letter set an ultimatum.
Give us our land. Or give us blood.
The letter then went on to threaten that if the bog lands weren't deserted and empty before they returned in three days, the orcish horde would rise again in war.
Of course, the rats wouldn't listen to the orcs. The swamp was their territory.
The Rats of The Mire respond to the Orcs
Big, green not-rats threaten the swamps.
Rats nest on homes of long dead green not-rats. Rats have been here before brick and stone, and will be after. Rats gnaw on bones of Not-rat ancestors, build with them in rat structures and wear skulls as party hats.
Not-rat send mailmen to swamp, and by law mailmen are FORBIDDEN and to be killed on sight. But Rats are merciful, and imprisoned Not-rat mailmen in timeout cage where 'food' will be supplied. Rat mercy is rarely given.
Rat god watches over the swamp, and brings judgement to the land. Rats know the swamp better than all Not-Rats. Plus, only 80 green not-rats died, not too bad.
And to all towns of the swamp, Rats are willing to give aid to them all, for the Swamp Not-rats will need our help.
The Rats are the true horde of the swamp
Towns and nations are temporary, rats are eternal
- Prophet Kaarot of The Mire
Kaarot, the leader of the rats, also spread the word to other leaders in Mirewatch. It wasn't long before Old Man, the founder of the Adventurer's Guild, had an announcement of his own.
The Adventurers Guild offering merc work against Orcs
The Orcs have delivered an ultimatum to the swamp folk. Unluckily, the Guild is in that area as well as rats, druids, bridgemakers, and other folk. While everyone panicked, the Old Man was thrilled since all he could hear was "more adventure".
The Guild has posted mercenary work against Orcs! There will be other Orc-related quests soon, after we learn more about their whereabouts and intentions. A spying quest is on its way.
The guild hall is full of troubled people discussing the orcish invasion and the future of the swamp. 'These are troubled times. The best times for adventure!'
At this point in time, there still was nearly no information about the orcs, besides their letter. Mirewatch didn't know exactly where they'd swarm, or when they'd arrive (besides sometime on the 3rd day), really everything was unknown. But this didn't stop the leaders from making a plan.
Stage 2: Preparations
As soon as they were able, Bendigo, Old Man, and Kaarot set up a council meeting at the Adventurer's Guild. Unfortunately, however, plans fell through for Bendigo and he had Willow fill in for the meeting.
As for the plan itself, it was "simple". First, it is important to understand that Orcs are especially susceptible to chronomacy, or in layman's terms, time magic. Old Man theorized that if a mage were to, with the proper catalyst, age the opposing orcs via chronomacy, they would eventually be too weak to pose any real risk to the swamp. But, chronomacy ages areas, not specific things.
The second idea was to lure the orcs into one area, as to contain the magic within one zone. This was better, albeit harder to accomplish. The swamp wouldn't be as affected, and more orcs could be aged in one go. But this wasn't enough for the leaders. The swamp needed to be unharmed, not just fine. Then came the third revelation. If casting this dangerous magic while in the swamp is a bad idea, what if we just did it outside of the swamp? Not inland, or in the sea, but above it.
Old Man had, in his younger days, witnessed whole mountains seemingly floating in mid-air. If he wanted to separate the chronomacy from the swamp, he had to find somebody willing to make them levitate. And thus, two movements were began. Old man began constructing a clock tower, atop an especially unstable chunk of land. The edges of the land were chained down, as to not float away once levitating. He also requested help from any mages nearby willing to help.
Bendigo, after being relayed the contents of Mirewatch's first meeting, went on an expedition looking for any mages.
Without a mage, the plan was doomed to fail. If neither Old Man nor Bendigo were able to find a mage, their last resort would be Hawthorne, a schemey, selfish rat who would only help if it benefited himself.
In the next couple of days, tension rose as the search continued. Willow wrote in her journal, fearful for the future.
The Newcomer
-- Excerpt from Willow's journal --
Under the cold moonlight did a new face arrive in Mossfall. Despite the threat of orcs invading the bog lands of Almuren, or ever-increasing prejudice against the swamp folk, he showed up. He treats this world in a way I haven't seen before. In a way that reminds me of myself, in a way. I don't know why now of all times he shows up, or where he came from, but I hope this is a good omen for the invasion. For the first time in over a century, I feel truly, utterly scared.
-- Excerpt from the day prior --
Our Ríhluadh is out looking for mages. I saw the message from the Adventurer's Guild calling for any mages to help, as was discussed in our meeting, but I don't know if the message was spread far enough to be seen. I mean, if I was a mage, I wouldn't ignore a call-to-action like that! I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell more people and make more signs about it. After all, we still have some time before the Orcs arrive. I think I'm prepared enough for battle, as is our Ríhluadh and a few of the Gnáth.
-- Excerpt from an hour ago --
I have to go tend to the crops now. If I had to collect all of my thoughts into one phrase, I'd say that the orcs are going to have a lot coming for them!
From Mossfall
Shortly after this was posted to the town-nation-posts channel on the Alathra discord, Old Man had an exciting announcement. The clock tower had finished construction, and a mage had been found! This meant great things for everybody, as the last step was simply waiting for the orcs. Until then, the (apprentice) mage, by the name of Kurika, had time to figure out how to properly levitate the clock tower into the air.
Adventurers Guild Prepares for ORK Invasion 1/?
It was a bright and colorful day when the Ork envoy came to inform the Guild of their intentions. The days that followed, however, would be less and less so, as rain, mud, and grime would be mixed with anxiety and anger.
Upon learning about the Bog Orks wanting the swamp back, the Guild immediately mobilized, putting up quests regarding the orks. However, there were still many things unknown, and the quests were shots in the dark.
The Swamp Alliance, now known as the Mirewatch called for an emergency meeting to discuss the plans. Guildmaster Old Man was joined by Ceathair Willow and Rat Prophet Kaarot. They discussed what they could do to defend the swamp against the orks.
Kaarot said how the Elder Rat Hawthorne mentioned that the orks are weak against chronomancy, aka. time magic. The talks went on for a while, but in the end, Mirewatch decided to build a magic infused, weaponized Clock Tower to age the orks with chronomancy, so that they are easier to fight against. There was one small issue, however. Such a spell would take its toll on the swamp, age the terrain and possibly destroy it along with the orks.
So Mirewatch sent word all across Alathra, to seek powerful mages. One finally answered after endless search. Kurika, an apprentice mage who did not know what they were being summoned for. It would turn out, they were summoned to the Guild Hall to see if they can,... levitate the ground beneath the clock tower up in the sky, so that the spell was far enough above to not affect the swamp. Kurika, knowing this is a dire situation, gave it everything they've got, despite being tired after traveling across Alathra to get there. But they did it! They managed to lift a small hill of land up in the sky, along with the clock tower. All that was left to do, was to lure the orks there somehow.
to be continued
The sun rose on July 26th, 2025 to a tense gathering of Mossfalli, rats, and guild members. Each one of them knew that today would decide whether or not they would make it home alive.
Stage 3: The Raids
This section needs expanding upon, particularly on the raids in-between the first and last.
Members of Mirewatch patrolled the nearby towns as per the orcs' letter. Most of them figured that the orcs will show up on a coast somewhere, or that their first stop was the Adventurer's Guild. Several people claimed sightings of fire giants, huge zombies that - upon contact - will light you on fire. Others claimed they saw orcs. However, most of them couldn't provide proof of what they saw.
For a while the members of Mirewatch waited, wondering whether the orcs were showing up or not. That is, until about 9:50 PM (UTC-05:00) when the orcs sent out a 10-minute warning. People rounded up their dogs, ready to set them loose. Archers counted their arrows, knowing most of them would be soon in the skin of an orc or laid vulnerable to trampling on the grass. Some particularly thoughtful folk constructed a wall around the Adventurer's Guild.
Then the orcs came.
It was a long battle, eventually the orcs retreated in exchange for other towns and places.
Eventually, the orcs had one last battle left in them. They had previously raided Mossfall, unsuccessfully, yet they had come again with all they had. Hundreds of zombies, orcs, and other mobs marched into the quaint and quiet little town. Tens of fire giants stood imposing over the crowd of defenders, fighting for their life and Mossfall's honor.
This was the largest raid yet. Even though the odds were stacked against the Mossfalli, they kept fighting. Whole quivers of arrows were loaded and fired. Until there were no orcs left to be slaughtered. Mossfall was safe.
Stage 4: The Aftermath
There was a silence after the battle. Not the same silence of before, but of peace. War was over. Or rather, battle was over. Commemorating the victory, Mossfall's Riluadh (Bendigo) was given the "Blade of Mossfall," a special sword with a long sweep and unlimited water breathing. The main residents of Mossfall put together a temporary monument
Although Mossfall had a good ending, not all towns did. Some fell to the orc raids, others were deserted in fear of capture. Towns from far away were left to be pillaged, as their residents were too busy protecting Mossfall. Now, in an age past the orcs' terrorism, Mossfalli have one thing left to do.
They must look toward the future.
