The War of the Dog Lord

The War of the Dog Lord, the most terrible cataclysm to rock the Wolf Lands began many years ago, in the autumn of the year 1463 (by Tar-Koldor reckoning) when the King of the eastern realm of Dar-Koldor was mysteriously killed and in his place there rose a dreadful being known only as the Wolf King.  Accounts do not agree on whether or not he was, in fact, wolfish in origin, however all accounts state that he was a terrible creature in wolf form, a cunning sorcerer and a ruthless warlord.  No accounts can trace where he came from, nor where he found his army, which marched behind his black banners ere winter fell, and before spring, the crimson dragon upon sable field was flown among all the four corners of the once peaceful Dar-Koldor.

This tyrannical oppression was countered with the first rebellion in the autumn of 1464, where a band of freedom fighters led by a young wolf named Ragnar and a young vixen named Kelda seized the Last Bridge crossing the River Karlen in North Dar-Koldor and broke it asunder.  The Wolf King, enraged at the destruction of the only safe crossing over the treacherous river ordered armies of slaves to construct more bridges and in the winter of 1464 launched a terrible assault upon the North.  Ragnar and Kelda’s fighters retreated to the Great Wall of Dar-Koldor, held by the westward Wolf Empire of Tar-Koldor.  The Wolf King’s army lay siege to the Wall as his navy in the south set sail to the Coyote Islands.  The rebel chieftains Ragnar and Kelda fled west and rode swiftly to Tar-Koldor’s capital to sue for aide.

After much debate and deliberation, the Wolf Lord Lupin II of Tar-Koldor agreed that they would go to war with the oppressive power that now rose in the East like a pall of cloud.  Many battles were fought, but by the winter of 1466, Tar-Koldor could not hold back the tide and the Wolf King’s armies broke the Great Wall and invaded North Apupa.  Tar-Koldor’s armies retreated back to the Doggior in the many great fortresses there.  Lupin decided that the black power and magic of the Wolf King must be met with magic of their own and sent for fifteen of the finest mages and fifteen of the finest weapon smiths in the land.  Together, they would create swords of fifteen chieftains fighting against Dar-Koldor’s malice: fifteen blades imbued with arcane power to combat the Wolf King’s foul sorceries.

To the wolf Ragnar and the fox chieftainess Kelda would go the blades of storm, and where they marched lightning flashed and thunder rolled.  To the dog Sirius went the blade of nature, and where he fought it seemed the trees themselves rebelled against the blackness of Dar-Koldor.  Lupin carried with him the blade of light, said to have been blessed by the Wolf Goddess Tellria herself, and his captains Romulus and Remus held the blades of air.  Most of the remaining blades are not recalled, and are either lost or broken.

Treachery surrounded the forging of these weapons when a good hearted young wolf named Fenrir, keeper of the Tar-Koldorian outpost in Apupa arrived at the forging to find his blade promised to another wolf.  Confronting this newcomer at night, Fenrir was horrified to discover that the wolf was in fact the disguised form of the Wolf King who, during the forging of his sword, combined his own dark magic with the mage’s and had created a weapon far more powerful than the rest.  Blinded by greed and a lust for power, Fenrir, in exchange for one of the great weapons, swore allegiance to the Wolf King and slew the bearer of the sword of fire and claimed it for his own, and rode like a gale back to Apupa with his new title: the Dog Lord, for he believed that with his power he would rule over what he thought were “lesser races.”

Already in Apupa, machinations were placed and soldiers from Dar-Koldor were stationed there to supplement the army he was breeding, and the land was blighted and choked by smoke and ash: the long dormant Mount Wolfarhaz bursting into flames.  Fenrir returned to be confronted by his mate, Lupine, pleading to him to return to the path of light.  In blind retribution, Fenrir drew his sword and plunged it into the stomach of his mate, slaying both her and her unborn pup.  As he sat upon his tall throne, he wore the very shadows like a vast mantle about him.  Alliances he forged with the jackal kingdoms of Pupiokoli, and on midsummer’s day in 1467, he launched an attack upon the Doggior fortress of Kolband.  Bitter was the siege, and for two days and two nights the dog Sirius held the fortress.  Despite their efforts however, the armies of Pupiokoli were too great, and the siege broke ere the third night fell and Sirius retreated into the mountains.

With this victory, the shadow of the Dog Lord grew vast and menacing.  Before his ever growing hordes, entire armies were laid to waste and the once world spanning empire of Tar-Koldor quailed against this terror, powerless to stop the onslaught.  The port of Koldhron was sacked and burned and the great lighthouses were thrown down in ruin.  The Coyote Islands held the siege against Apupa and Dar-Koldor’s navies, but they were faltering and their strength waned.  

And thus the leaders of the Free Canids convened and forged a great alliance against the blackness of Fenrir.  For the Wolf King in Dar-Koldor had taught Fenrir too well in the art of sorcery, and as student surpassed the master, Dar-Koldor’s power waned as Apupa’s grew.

And thus wolf, dog, coyote, and fox were all gathered and the splendour of the banners amassed has not been yet matched.  From their island refuge, the coyotes broke Apupa’s siege and sunk its fleet and sailed to Pupiokoli and threw down the walls of its great fortress and laid bare its pits.  From the north attacked the Doggior, and its rangers seized Kolband from the shadow of Apupa.  From the west marched the full army of Tar-Koldor with Lupin II at the head, and before them none could withstand.  From the East rode Ragnar and Kelda and their band of foxes and wolves, and they reclaimed the Great Wall and swept into North Apupa.  And finally, in the spring of 1469, they all invaded Apupa and laid a great and terrible siege to Castle Wolfarhaz, a siege that lasted seven years.  When the siege at last broke, the following battle was terrible, and in this bleakest hour, the Dog Lord Fenrir himself took to the field and many canids fell before his blade or else cast down their weapons and cowered before his terrible visage.

It was Sirius the dog who alone stood before him, and as blades clashed, it seemed as if lightning seared from their steel.  Fenrir was vast and terrifying to behold, while Sirius was as a beacon against the impenetrable cloud.  But while Sirius the dog was bold and impetuous, Fenrir was arrogant beyond count, and in his arrogance he regarded the non-wolfish races to be inferior to him.  Never did he dream of being bested by a mere dog!  But under a careless slash Sirius ducked and drove his pale sword deep into Fenrir’s chest, and the Dog Lord fell to the ground and his lofty crown broke beneath him…