The Concord looks out upon its foes and sees monoliths, each standing strong; true powers of Southern Esterra and beyond, great without the conflicts that struggling Realms together must solve. While The Concord look inward and see their unity as perhaps their greatest strength, looking outwards at any of their enemies earns a struggle to evoke the same response. The nuance of politics and the consequence of power does not always easily reveal itself to those not directly intertwined.
Stranger still remain those of unknowable purpose. Some foes can be spoken to, their lives and internal conflicts revealed on the chessboards that are embassies and spy networks, yet others feel unreachable by those that wish to know. The Illsevir have always stood as one such unfathomable threat, their presence felt all across Southern Esterra in their mindless pursuit.
What is not known may never be known, for as the winds of the world continue to shift and reveal the consequence of action, The Illsevir break apart at their very seams.
The single-minded movement of their bodies becomes twisted and out of time. Screams and words come forth from mouths that were thought to be forced into eternal silence. Beasts and barges fall out of carefully woven rhythm, crashing against each other and the world around them like an instrument out of tune. The Illsevir have fallen, broken and failed.
But it is not into true nothingness that they fall. An empty space, filled easily by power derived from what once was, yet proving to grow and evolve in their own unique ways. From the corpse that is the Illsevir emerges two new powers, and a third is left so heartlessly behind.
When All But One Remain
The threat of The Illsevir has been one of undivided strength. A single, united mind that marches ever forward in its unknowable conquest, consuming lives and nations in equal measure. A living machine that grows in number from its assumed home in the South with each passing year, bolstering itself with the forms of what were once people. Grotesque in a way that even the hated undead of The Onyx Aristocracy cannot dream of matching, yet ever silent.
This has been The Illsevir of the past, yet something has changed in the present.
What was once an undivided strength now seems distracted. What was once a united force appears shattered and confused, unable to bring to bear its full might until it finds itself once again. Something has happened to these ever strange enemies of The Concord, and frustratingly little seems to be known about how or why.
All that is known is what has been left behind, the results of an unknown and unseen battle. In the far East many minds rise to the challenge presented to them, while in the West the past is revered as never before. Yet still a third, more primal, result scatters itself across the Icereach Sea and Southern Esterra. There are Illsevir that remain as they once were, now crazed and wild, unable to speak and lacking the control that once held and guided them.
Feral Illsevir roam the seas and the lands, small in number and unable to even muster a force recognisable as an Army. Ragged but still donning the garb that once made them what they were, the symbols that The Concord are so used to seeing still adorning their painfully contorted faces. Weapons grasped tightly in unfamiliar hands and armour worn with no recollection of why. No words escape their lips, only screams of rage and cries of agony.
These are not a foe to be met on the field of battle and slain, but a roaming creature to be put out of its horrific misery. Even still, they are dangerous, bringing to bear all that they once were against the people of Esterra.
In Lerona Mere, they are found in much the same places they once roamed. Vineyard workers hire guards to repel those that wander the Madre Campo, while fishermen along the Fiorenza River watch their backs with nervous glances. While not nearly as direct in their action, these wild Illsevir still fight towards the walls of Legend City.
In The Iron Valley, woodsfolk and hunters keep an eye out for more than just animals in the forests. Farmers carry extra blades and mines hire additional warriors, neither hoping to come across their hated foe that now seems to act with abandon. More dangerous than anything is a family seeking to protect their own.
The Corsairs of Mukarrem look more carefully for safe shores to rest upon, while travelling Janissaries ensure to spend extra time at the Shrine of Maloza. The grasslands of the Priado Expanse feel the untimely steps of an enemy that does not know where they wander.
Even in the Southernmost reaches of the Greenweald are scarce bodies found that do not belong.
These Illsevir are appearing wherever their feet take them, driven by whatever instinct they have left. They fight with a dangerous recklessness that proves them no empty threat, but simply move on from one place to another with no clear goal or reason. They seem to wander the lands of Southern Esterra with no mind to guide them, and there is no telling where they may next appear.
Game Information
Feral Illsevir are still a present threat in Southern Esterra, and despite a lack of visible will they continue to be a danger to the people of The Concord. Despite their small numbers and lack of organisation, these wandering enemies have caused everyday Concordians to worry for their safety, especially in areas where the Illsevir Armies of old were most present.
These Illsevir are recognisable by the classic white markings, but they do tend to appear more ragged and exhibit particularly wild and aggressive behaviours. As they now tend to travel in smaller groups, they cannot be considered to be representative of the enemy that they once were, and do not appear to act with any of the intent or direction that they once did. Some of the more brave Concordians who have fought with these roving remnants have compared them to mindless beasts, seeking only to fulfil some primal direction rather than moving with any purpose.
Whatever has caused this titanic shift in the Illsevir remains unknown to The Concord.
Feral Illsevir are recommended by the Concord Team as a dangerous but flexible foe for sanctioned Events.
With Strange Aeons
When Antoni sees The Illsevir break on the frontlines of Mancante Terra, they do so like a calm wave against a pebbled shore - quickly, before filtering away until there is little evidence that the break happened in the first place.
He and his men watch a visible crack form in their forces - a mental whip that snaps them to attention, heads tilted towards the south, eyes wide and jaws slack.
Most of the Illsevir stay, holding their position, murmuring morbid siren songs in discordant voices. Some are adrift, wailing out in anguish at The Concordian forces, loss in their eyes and emptiness in their screams. But many sink back and back, down and down, dragged by an unseen current until only a few scouts of The Concord can follow them.
A few scouts like Antoni and his men. They had been Bravos before they had joined The People’s Gift, and they will not see these leeches slink back in to their hovels to regroup, not after the fear they had bred in Lerona Mere. They will follow.
But the Illsevir do not tire. They continue to walk step after step, hour after hour. Their footsteps are those of thousands upon thousands; never slowing down, never speeding up, as constant as the heartbeat within The Concord’s chest, or the ebbing and flowing of the tides.
The days turn into weeks. There is plenty of fish to eat along the shoreline, but the Bravos long for a full night’s rest in their own beds, not patches of sleep broken by the resonant murmurs of Illsevir seeming to grow louder with each passing hour.
Antoni thinks to go home - they lost the backs of the hoard days ago, and have no real plan when they get to wherever they are holed up. But Antoni and his men, even with the pain aching in their bones, and the doubt squirming in their minds, are not ones to give up when challenged. They are not cowards.
They wish they were, that they had been, when they see and hear it for the first time, stood on the river bank.
Before them stands a fortress held longingly in the minds of long-dead Bravos - a wraith of former glory. What used to be a place befitting lofty ambitions has been dragged much deeper in its pursuits, the scraping of nails carving fathomless shapes, as if the stone itself has been flayed, a higher being borne anew.
Resonating through Antoni’s bones is a sound almost deafening - dissonant in quality, but not in spirit. They sing. They scream. They yearn. The voices swell concordantly in thousands of perfectly-linked imperfect voices.
As the sounds grow louder in their ears, the Bravos wish that they had never been Bravos, chasing after felt-challenges. They wish they had been humble sailors, safe at port.
As the footsteps grow closer on the shore, the sailors wish they had never been sailors, travelling over unknowable depths. They wish they had been meek men, safe on land.
As the hands drag them into the water, the men wish that they had never been men, gasping for unreachable air. They wished they had been cowards, safe in unknowing.
As the dark water takes them, the cowards praise it for the gift. From the depths they came, and from the depths they shall return. Once they were Drowned, and they shall be Drowned once more.
Game Information
The Illsevir forces in Mancante Terra, Barbariano, and Calandri have come together in a force referred to by scouts of The Concord as The Drowned. While exact information is sparse, they appear not unlike Illsevir of old, with a clear affinity for the water, and a cerebral connection of unknown means. Scouts of The Concord report seeing The Drowned rising from waterways; some humanoid with known markings, some inhuman but known to The Concord, and some entirely other.
However, despite their similarities to The Concord’s old foes , the warfare waged by The Drowned is almost certainly different from what The Concord is used to - where once they were a silent army, now they are a tempestuous flood, with differing tactics to match.
For now, it appears that The Drowned are a horde of individuals, acting as one blasphemous mass for an unknown purpose. Although it is unclear who or what they are worshipping, their exaltation is of concern. Regardless of their purpose, The Drowned are certainly still hostile to The Concord, and intent on holding their regions out of the grasping hands of any who wish to take them.
I Will Show You The Hated Man
While in the West the Illsevir descend into blasphemous ritual and adoration of a lost past, things could not be more dissimilar in the East.
Very quickly into the Winter Season, Concordian forces witnessed widespread retreats and reorganisation by Illsevir troops in and around Baelag’s Holdfast. From within the bowels of the fortress and out on the fields, Illsevir forces did not appear in disarray, but rather in co-ordinated manoeuvre in a manner unseen since the start of the conflict. The troops of The Concord were more than happy to jump on this lapse in judgement to make gains but the sense of change was strong in the air.
By late May the reality began to make itself clear. Illsevir forces, flying new banners, new warpaint and old colours began to take the field, striking back against Concordian forces. More than ever before these troops were vocal and while individual units were more coordinated than ever before, Concordian scouts reported seeing Illsevir commanders meeting and discussing tactics as the battle flowed. War cries broke out from Illsevir forces; “Blades for Adanoskr!” “We fight for the Tortured One!” “A hundred deaths for Haveeka!”. Utter bewilderment flowed through Concordian ranks; who was this enemy that spoke in their tongue for champions unknown?
Clarity came from a source most unexpected; two envoys crossing the lines outside Baelag’s Holdfast under a flag of truce. The pair of unarmed warriors, clad in armour of chain and plate, their faces adorned with Illsevir markings in black and red spoke clearly, although not with one voice.
“We are the Severed Lords; Adanoskr, Lord of the Lowland and Haveeka, She Who Holds the Fortress.”
“Our people have inherited a grief from our past. A grief that compels us to war with you. Understand that we have also inherited a strength of mind and metal that will stand before you and see you broken.”
“But we see no need for this war to continue if all parties cannot reach peace. Why battle when we might grow together?”
“Expect our voices when the winter thaws, until then we will show our might.”
Who these ‘Severed Lords’ are and their connection to the Illsevir of old has remained unknown. But throughout the winter they fought with tenacity and anger as Concordian forces made their strikes into Baelag’s Holdfast. As the weather begins to warm, The Concord - most notably, the Iron Valley - has received an invitation to meet with representatives of Lord Adanoskr and Lord Haveeka on the field before Baelag’s Holdfast. Now, The Concord must weigh the benefits of peace in the East against its untaken prizes. Safety from the blades of the Severed Lords’ against all The Valley held behind their borders.
Game Information
The Illsevir forces in Baelag’s Holdfast, Brotherslee, Anderslee and Baile Fein have organised under the banner of the ‘Severed Lords.’ While exact information is sparse, they appear to be a coalition of powerful leaders, each commanding vast forces of Illsevir workers and warriors. More information is likely to come forward over time, but conflict makes this difficult. For now, it appears that the Severed Lords are many independent ‘minds’ operating as a nation in support of shared goals. They appear willing and able to continue the war against The Concord, but also willing to parlay. Concordian forces should expect new tactics, abilities and styles from the Severed Lords, in comparison to the Illsevir of old.
The Concord has been invited to a meeting with the Severed Lords ‘Adanoskr of the Lowlands’ and ‘Haveeka, She Who Holds the Fortress’. The Conflux will occur on the first day of the Summit at 5pm. Each realm is permitted to send a representative and a bodyguard, in addition to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. As the Concord lacks an ambassador to the Severed Lords a formal treaty is impossible. However an informal agreement is possible, and the Senate retains the power to declare peace or war with foreign nations.