Chapter 1: Introduction
The woods whispered coldly, the frost-covered trees standing tall like silent sentinels against the desolate winter landscape. The chill of the air seeped into the very core of Private Crasse, numbing him from the bone, stripping the warmth from within. Above him, the sky stretched infinitely dark, dotted with stars that were nothing more than winking pinpricks of light in the unfathomably vast expanse.
He had no fire, no shelter. All he had was the ragged uniform that clung to him like a shroud, a musket that was obsolete generations ago, and his soldier's pride.
For a moment, as he stared up into the uncaring heavens, he questioned the importance of that third possession. The war against the Union-an alliance of democratic nations-had been brutal and unforgiving, and he'd seen too many good men fall. As a conscript in the Triumvirate army, he had been forced into this brutal, endless campaign against an enemy he's forced to hate. The war was taking its toll on him, and the meager rations and inadequate equipment given to conscripts only added insult to injury.
But he shook off the creeping dread, for it served no purpose now. He had a mission, and it was all he had left to focus on.
Fight.
Kill.
Fight for the Triumvirate, for its corrupt system that gloriously fed on, and swallowed, those it deemed weak. Fight for LTC Erriq, so that his glory may shine upon these frozen wastes. Fight to erase the memories of his cruelty, as the only thing colder than the snow around him was the cold reminders in the back of Crasse's mind. Do his part for his brothers-in-arms, his fellow conscripts who barely had rations to sustain their malnourished bodies.
They were in the same miserable position-thrown into a war that was not theirs, against an enemy they barely knew, and facing imminent death under the wings of ruthless and incompetent commanders. But there was one man whose cruelty eclipsed all others. Lieutenant Colonel Zorian Erriq, an older avian with a cold and calculating gaze, had led this battalion to the frigid forests of the north. It was speculated that he had volunteered for the campaign as a means to gain prestige and power.
Not content with the meager status granted to him by the Officer's College, Erriq sought to rise in the ranks, and to do so, he needed a war to fight. He did not care for the soldiers beneath him, nor the innocent lives he was risking. He only saw himself advancing and being adored. And what better way to secure status for himself than to march to the north. What better way to prove his worth than to conquer the Borealis, to slay the demons that populate these woods, and to succeed where many commanders have failed before.
But it was not to be.
In the snow-capped forests of Borealis, Erriq's campaign has been far from glorious. Though it was a rolling success in the beginning, as the villages they encountered stood no chance against their battalions, the problems began almost as soon as they entered Borealis proper. Thanks to improper planning, Erriq's conquest began as winter began its decent upon the region. As such, his forces were currently contenting with the forest's frosty, unwelcoming atmosphere, as it chilled them to the bone. Fierce winter winds made the sturdy plumage of the seasoned warriors quiver like that of young chicks, as snowstorms pummeled the battalion mercilessly, hiding paths and traps laid out by the cunning beings who dwelled in the forest.
As the months drug on, and Erriq's campaign carved further and further into this pristine abode, the men would soon find the cold to be only part of their worries. The men knew of the Forest Demons, one of the many derogatory names the Triumvirate coined for the inhabitants of Borealis, spawned from the myriad of campaigns the Triumvirate (and its predecessors) had launched into the region in the past. These names hail from tales spoken of those who managed to survived those many offensives - panicked accounts of hulking fur-clad beings who stalked from the depths of the arboreal labyrinths, who would spend days picking off troops one-by-one, feasting on their flesh, until finally launching a brutal assault, an onslaught of fur, leather, and iron, from which few survived. But while the men knew of the inhabitants, and of the stories surrounding them, they were in no way prepared for what awaited them.
At first, their numbers gave them the advantage. Erriq's forces numbered over 5,000 strong, and the defenses of every village and town they encountered did little to halt their advance. Excluding the supplies raided during the first skirmishes of their campaign, his forces had enough provisions to last a year. Even the dense foliage of the Borealis, itself a veritable fortress of hardy birches, spruces, and willows, only served little more than a slight inconvenience. It wasn't until their first encounter with the 'Forest Demons' that the campaign began its deadly decline.
Just like in the stories, it began with reports of shapes in the woods - conscripts, volunteers, and officers alike all traded whispers about sightings of massive figures skulking throughout the surrounding forests - before provisions started going missing. Despite some of the concerns voiced by the officers, as their provisions were crucial to the battalion's chances at success, they continued on. Even when troops began disappearing, Erriq dismissed their concerns, fully confident that the absence of a handful of soldiers would have little effect on the battalion's operating capacity. This changed when they had their first proper fight against Borealis' inhabitants, these Forest Demons, when they had unexpectedly marched upon an outpost they knew nothing about.
The first issue came from the outpost itself: it wasn't present on any of the maps that either LTC Erriq or his officers had in their possession, meaning they were caught entirely off guard. Though Erriq never once verbally acknowledged it, his officers certainly understood the ramifications of this development - their maps, some of which were centuries old, would not be able to reliably guide their campaign. The second issue arose when they attacked the outpost: despite its intimidating appearance - walls of large wooden spikes nestled between even larger stone structures - it appeared to be only lightly defended, as there couldn't have been more than 30 warriors preset. As such, with over 5,000 men under his command, Erriq was convinced that the ensuing battle would be a swift victory.