By Scott Fayers
1. Pogrom Island is located in Dunhead Bay, Onnwal. It is a circular island, 30 miles in diameter, and dominated by 2 large mountains. It is located in the lower middle of Dunhead Bay, approximately 90 miles north of The Headlands.
2. The island has a chequered past, being used at various stages by farmers, pirates and smugglers. Both Scant and the South Province have vied for it’s control as it straddles the lucrative trade route to Northanchor, and thus Irongate. It was successfully claimed by Onnwal in CY550 with the intention of using it as a penal colony. Sky Castle, the castle housing the local garrison and servicing the prison, was completed in CY571. Onnwal named it Pogrom Island after a bloody rebellion in CY562.
3. Hewan Darkthorn, cousin of the Czeck of Onnwal, was given the title of Baron of Pogrom Island, with authority over the penal colony. While there, Hewan instigated investigations into the mineral resources of the island and discovered rich deposits of copper. He set up copper mining operations to exploit this resource.
4. Wizards had discovered and advised the Czech that the sister mountains on the island possessed some magical field, that although harmless and dormant, was still unusual. Sages employed to investigate theorized it was some type of arcane amplification field, though how it was activated and what it’s purpose was, was unknown.
5. The South Province attacked and captured the island in the early months of CY573. This was totally unexpected, for despite the rich copper deposits, their value did not seem to justify the cost of the major military undertaking that had been prepared by the South Province. Rumours about the Herzog’s reasons for invading abounded, though know one really knew. Furthermore, rumours of a secret weapon being developed on the island by the invading forces worried Onnwal. The Czech was very keen to find out why the South Province had invaded, whether the rumours of a secret weapon were true, if so what the secret weapon was, and whether his cousin Hewn was alive and a prisoner of the Herzog.
6. The Czech hired Ballard and his companions to penetrate enemy lines and scout out the island. The objectives of the mission were as follows:
7. The infiltration and recon mission was generally hailed a success. The disposition and strength of military forces was ascertained, and weapons made from a strange but incredibly strong metal were discovered.
8. While the armaments made from the strange metal were the “secret weapon”, the metal they were made from was the key to their value. The metal was called Athorite and was being extracted from a small mine behind the castle.
9. After scouting the island and determining the nature of the threat to Onnwal, the Czech ordered Ballard and his companions to organise and lead an invasion to re-take the Onnwal territory. An army was assembled from the Szeck’s forces and put at Ballard’s disposal. The army consisted of human bowmen and pikemen, dwarven axemen, plus a small group of gnomish forces, and some artillery (9 heavy catapults, 7 light catapults, 2 trebuchets, 10 ballista). (What happened to the remaining forces and artillery – did they all leave the island, or were some or all retained?)
10. The battle was fought on the plains in front of the castle, and was extremely fierce. It was a close thing, but the forces of Onnwal defeated the armies on the island. The humans were involved in the fiercest fighting and took the brunt of the casualties. However Sky Castle still remained in enemy hands.
11. Some of the surviving South Province forces escaped by capturing a ship in the harbour.
12. Ballard, his lieutenants (Crayon, Kidzje & Niahm), and a group of highly trained and motivated troops (later known as Ballard’s Mercenaries) formed a strike team to infiltrate Sky Castle, then Sky Keep. Information received from the surviving inhabitants of Sky Castle indicated that Hewan was not a prisoner, but rather seemed to be helping the invading forces.
13. Once into Sky Keep, Ballard’s strike team defeated the leaders of the occupying South Province forces, Grimlon (anti-paladin), Redeve (priest), Darklight ( thief?) and QZ (wizard) and broke the hold of the South Province over the island. QZ was killed by Ballard’s team, and Redeve was found torn to pieces by the evil he sought to control. Unfortunately, Grimlon escaped justice, and was last seen flying a Nightmare off the top of the tallest tower of Sky Keep.
14. After the heroic conquest of Pogrom Island, the remaining 75 human pikemen and their officers swore that they would follow Ballard if he would only acknowledge them as his men. This Ballard did after consulting the Szeck, and named them Ballard’s Mercenaries. The officers ( Sir Reginald, Sir Walter, and who else?) were previously very minor nobles of Scant, and became the lieutenants of the Barons of Pogrom Island.
15. The Szeck of Onnwal, Ewerd Destron, rewarded the victorious leaders by making Ballard a Knight Captain of Onnwal, and making Kidzje, Crayon, Niamh Knight Lieutenants of Onnwal. Amos Trask had also aided Ballard throughout the adventure, but wanted to avoid the Szeck. Apparently Amos had been involved in a misunderstanding about one of the Szeck’s cargo ships.
16. The Szeck also bestowed the title of Baron of Pogrom Island to Ballard, Kidzje, Crayon and Niamh. All four were to rule the island in the Czech’s name, with all the associated benefits and responsibilities, including:
Last updated: 2 February 2006 |