1. Events

Battle of Viterbo

Battle
15 Saxtil 1210

Akkad, the mad wizard who styled himself as the "Necromancer of the Last Age," was on the warpath to the capital city of Sentra.  As he marched his undead army through the empire, his forces grew in size as every village and town was slaughtered and their dead added to his numbers.  Five days earlier, the Imperial Fifth Battalion fought against Akkad and was routed, unable to match their bravery against Akkad's dark magic, especially the undead dragon he controlled.  As the imperials gathered their battlemages and other nearby forces to hold off the ever-growing undead of Akkad, a small group of heroes offered to help. Clarence the ranger, the elven paladins of Sritch Keo and Lit'ta, Vigilant Surt, Unknown the illusionist, the orc warrior Ragor and his giant pet frog, and of course as everyone knows, noble Solarian.

It was at the small town of Viterbo where the heroes gathered. There was little of note in the town except fields and farms, but it was the home of a small temple of Keepers and the battlefield cemetery they preserved.  Should Akkad reach it, his army would greatly grow in size.  Imperial forces had begun to arrive, but not many; the Fifth Battalion had been the closest in the area.  The Empire needed time, and Solarian and his friends planned to give it to them.  We can only speculate on the inspiring speech that Solarian must have given.

There were three great issues facing them: Akkad himself, his undead dragon T'voak'l, and the overwhelming numbers.  Taking on just one challenge would be dangerous, but all three of them at once seemed impossible.  A ruin that Solarian and his companions had delved earlier gave them some clues on weaknesses of the dragon when it was alive, and they hoped that the same might be true even in its undeath.  The Keepers of the town all find the undead to be anathema, and were more than eager to help with their divine powers.  They blessed the weapons of the elves, and the arrows of Clarence.

The undead dragon arrived first, flying ahead of Akkad's army. The first challenge for the heroes, it was said that it could not feel pain. The dragon landed with a thunderous roar and breathed its dark fire on the amassing army, but it was only a deception: a combination of Valrykin's illusion magic and scarecrow-like dummies lined up convincingly on the battlefield. The paladins charged in first while Clarence fired from a distance.