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Orcs in the Hills
Issue 2 - Online Edition Return to the Contents Page
Go Back to the Previous Article - Continue on to the Next Article The original map of Valon. A Map of the Civilised Southern Lands
based upon the cartography of the noted Goblin explorer Kabbott 
The above map illustrates the so called "civilised" Southern lands of Valon, the region that sees much of the fighting described in the introduction to Flintloque. The world changed considerably even before the High Elf invasions. The first major change in geo-political terms was the settlement of the Orcs in the lands previously occupied by the Humans. Following their defeat by the Orcs at Dresda, and a small number of short bloody one sided skirmishes as the City States, disbelieving the tales brought to them by the survivors of Dresda attempted to halt the Orcs; the Humans fled their cities in the Middlelands and settled in inaccessible mountain redoubts in the Eastern Mountain range. The Orcs settled in much of the Human lands, taking the abandoned cities for their own, quickly moving their border to the realm of their Goblin cousins in Al-Garvey. The Dwarves, unwilling allies of the Orcs, quickly seized territory to the South of their mountain homes, adding the lowlands to the sea to their realm and naming it Krautia, thus ensuring any northward expansion of the Orcs was blocked unless forced by feat of arms. However it was not the expansionist Orcs that proved problematical to the Dwarves, but the Ferach Legions of Emperor Mordred. Crossing a narrow ismthus that joined the High Elf lands of America (to the north on this map) with the former Wood Elf (now Dark Elf) Kingdoms, Mordred's troops soon defeated the inept Dark Elf army, quickly occupying all of the wealthy Northern Kingdom of Catalucia. Reeling from the Ferach, many Dark Elves crossed the sea to seek refuge in the less hospitable Southern Kingdom along with the remnants of the Dark Elf army. Not content with the subjugation of the Northern Kingdom, Mordred ordered his armies to invade the Southern Kingdom and it was this action that quickly escalated the war, bringing in first the Goblins as they saw their border threatened by the Ferach and then the Orcs, who quickly realised that they could not afford to ignore the war that was quickly engulfing the lands to their West. To the north the Dwarves in Krautia soon began to realise that their main threat was not coming from their centuries old foe the Orcs, but from the Elves. Unfortunately they found it impossible to contain the High Elves in the occupied Catalucian lands, though the distractions to the North of Krautia (Ostrery and the Witch-Kingdoms) and the war in Southern Catalucia, ensured that their territory was never seriously threatened with occupation, although the Elves periodically send expeditions into Krautia, to ensure that the Dwarves remain a small threat. Of late the High Elf position in Southern Catalucia has come under some strain, with a heavy drain on High Elf resources arising from the Witch-Lands campaign and the activities of the Dark Elf Guerrillas in the occupied territories. Whether or not, this drain is decisive enough to see a first major defeat of the High Elves, only time will tell... Orcs in the Hills
Issue 2 - Online Edition Return to the Contents Page
Go Back to the Previous Article - Continue on to the Next Article Webmaster's Notes
This was originally published in the second issue Orcs in the Hills in the Spring of 1996 by Wessex Games. Flintloque Reloaded was the first publication that rebooted the geography (and some of the history) of Valon and the current map along with the revised political background to the Mordredian Wars can be found in Flintloque: War in Catalucia (5025) which is available from the Alternative Armies website. |
