The Hayte War

Harold Godwinson was beset on all sides by enemies once he took the crown that had previously been Edward the Confessors. In Normandy William the Bastard claimed that Edward had offered him the crown, and that Harold had offered his allegiance, in defiance of the normal method of the crown being given by the decision of the Witengamot. While the bastard threatened the south of the country, the Viking Harold Hardrada and Harold Godwinson's own brother Tostig invaded the north intending to retake the lands that Harthacnut used to hold and which Magnus the Good had allowed to pass to the Anglo Saxon King.

Not able to face both together he travelled north to fight against the forces of his brother and the King of Norway. The battle however did not go well for the Anglo-Saxon king, for his enemy had brought with them Wyrds and Berserks. The wyrds had always been part of the viking forces casting their runes and reading the skein of the strands of fate, but now they seemed far more powerful. The screaming Wyrds called down strange powers and strange faerie fires burned around the vikings. Harolds forces were well armed and well armoured, but the magic of the Wyrds struck many of his troops down, and changed still others into hideous creatures. Never before had such magic been wielded by men and it took Harold off guard. The berserks were stronger than any man had a right to be, the blows of their axes shattered shields and smashed the hafts of the Saxon warriors weapons. However at the very moment Hardrada began to push through the lines of Harold's Huscarls the Viking magic failed without warning. Harold took a wound from the King of Norway's axe before his dagger found his enemies eye.

The Saxon army had won the day but only just and as the Vikings fled back to their boats Harold was taken to the camp badly wounded. There he lay for most of the night, hanging at the edge of life. The priests prayed over him, and the apothecaries tried their best but by midnight they were certain that he would not live to see another dawn. At that point however a crone entered the camp; passed the guards and walked into the Kings tent. She looked like an old wizened woman, but where she stepped the grass was singed and the air felt like the inside of an oven. She fixed the assembled priests and apothecaries in her gaze and ordered them out of the tent leaving Harold alone with her. Through the night sounds of voices were heard from within the tent as the King and the Crone spoke.

In the morning Harold stepped from the tent healed and with the promise of troops to help him fight off the forces of William the Bastard. The apothecaries declared it a miracle but the men of the Church were less certain and mutterings of dark magic rushed through the camp. The Crone was no where to be seen, but Harold had only an old healed over scar to show for the wound that they believed would kill him only the night before. Harold declared that they would march south to face the forces of William the Bastard, and when they reached the battle field the Crone who he called Selaxatus would bring forth her forces to help them. Harold told them that it was Selaxatus who had broken the magic of the Vikings who she claimed had trafficked with a dark power she named Vallayrean, who was her enemy of sorts, or so Harold said. Some of the Lords asked Harold why he trusted this woman, and Harold's only response was that she had saved his life. Although good enough for the Lords and Soldiers, the members of the Clergy left the camp that day, warning that the king was tampering with forces that were best left alone. The march to the south cost was long and difficult, but with the promise of reinforcements and magic of their own when they faced the Norman forces the morale of the troops was high.

Across the channel, William the Bastard had gathered his forces and set out to cross the channel and land at Pevensea. He landed unopposed and immediately began to prepare for the battle that he expected to have to fight against Harold and the Anglo-Saxons. When he heard that Harold had formed his army on the Hill at Senlac, he immediately gathered his army and marched to oppose them. Harold meanwhile, had pitched his camp, and surrounded by his Huscarls and the Fyrd, called on Selaxatus to uphold her part of the bargain they had struck. As the moon rose to the highest point above them, she made her appearance, walking out of the darkness where the guards were sure no woman had been before. Standing before the King, the ground smouldering at her feet, she began to call upon her powers. Behind her, and before the terrified eyes of the Saxon formed a tear in reality, and on the other side of it a hellish blasted plain of fire and ash. There standing in serried ranks were a horde of what looked to all present to be hideous demons, armoured in black iron armour and carrying wicked and jagged looking weapons. The red skinned horned warriors began to march through the portal and reformed on the other side. Many of the Saxons were shaken by the appearance of their allies, and many of the more God fearing fled. Harold was incensed and almost ordered his Fyrdmen to capture them as traitors, but Selaxatus told him to let them flee. Such people were unneeded as her troops, the Hayte, would be more than able to deal with the Normans.

Harold's army was disorganised by the appearance of their new allies, but they were forced to begin preparations for the battle as the day dawned showing the Norman army in position on the opposite slope of the valley. Selaxatus had placed her Hayte in a small copse to the East of the Saxon lines, and the vicious looking creatures had hidden there before the sun rose. Of Selaxatus herself there was no sign as the sun rose above the copse. Unlike the Saxon force, which was made of the Fyrd and the solid core of the Huscarls, the Bastards force consisted of a mix of infantry, archers and cavalry. Once they had formed up the Norman's wasted no time in launching their attack, their archers firing arrow after arrow at the Saxon lines. Against the heavy armour and large shields of the Saxons however they were ineffective falling amongst the warriors but felling none of them. Seeing this William ordered his infantry into the attack and the lines of the Norman Soldiers marched into the valley and assaulted Senlac hill.

The battle was hard, and after half an hour the Normans were still engaged with the Saxons and so William ordered his cavalry into the attack, smashing into the Saxon forces, but the Saxons held their line and his cavalry didn't smash home with the force he had expected. He had expected to break through their line and shatter them but was surprised to find the Saxon lines holding strong. Then as Harold led his own Huscarls on the attack, a horn was sounded. Until this point the Normans could have won the day, but the appearance of the Hayte on their flank was the deathknell for William's dreams of conquest. The demons exploded from the copse and launched themselves upon the Norman forces, throwing them into utter disarray. William lost his horse, and for a time his army believed he had been killed, but he cast off his helm and was snatched to safety by on of his men. The Norman force began to rout from the battle field, the Hayte stood and watched as Harold's Saxons pursued them, driving them from the field and killing hundreds of them. William retreated to Hastings, and boarded his ships to return to Normandy as quickly as he was able.

The English celebrated their victory, and at the great feast Selaxatus and the Hayte General Gliovan were the guests of honour. Harold openly granted that without the help of Selaxatus he would not have defeated his brother Tostig and his Norse allies, let alone the forces of William. The feast was a joyous affair but there were many empty seats, not casualties, but lords who had left the army unwilling to fight for a king who had traffic with deamons and sorcerors. Also missing were the representatives of the church, indeed Harold's requests that the Archbishop hold a service of thanks was greeted by stony silence. Even amongst Harold's loyal lords there were some who did not trust the Sorceress or he red skinned servant. The feast passed amid an atmosphere of secretive discussions, while on the high table the King and his brothers feasted with the laughing crone and her utterly silent and gloomy looking general.

Months passed. In Normandy William brooded on his defeat at the hands of the Saxons deamonic allies. He had not yet given up his claim to the throne of England, but at this time even if he had wanted to recommence his invasion the morale of his army facing supernatural foes would not allow him to. He retreated from the company of his lords to consider his next move, spending many hours each day in the church.

In the lands of the Norse Tostig returned with the remains of Harold Hardrada's forces to the forests where he had first contacted the Vallayrean. It had been him who had first made contact with the otherworldy force using a artefact the Wyrds had found in the northern wastes, a silver bowl with strange markings around the rim. They had feared to use it, however Tostig had no such fear, and it was the only chance the Norse had to win back the lands they had lost. When filled with water it reflected not the person gazing into it, but a patrician face of a man with rams horns and golden eyes. It was staring into these golden eyes that Tostig first struck his deal with the Vallayrean, gaining magic for the Norse warriors of his ally Harold Hadrada, now they returned defeated, and he went to the hall of the bowl and demanded that the Vallayrean keep his end of the bargain they had struck. The Vallayrean had not anticipated the interference of his old enemy Selaxatus, and although he knew that they could not stand against her at the present time he urged Tostig to wait. Tostig was not satisfied and raged at his ally, but the Vallayrean explained that he was not Selaxatus’ only enemy.

Back in England this was already being shown to be true. At the urging of the Church many of the Lords of England had either sent Harold demands to end his connection with the Sorceress, and drive his new allies from the land. Harold refused, rightly claiming that if he did so William the Bastard or his brother Tostig would certainly cease on the chance to attack. He was also very aware of the fact that the church was the main source of the outcry against him, which did not surprise him as his relationship with the church had always been a somewhat stormy affair, exacerbated by his long handfasted marriage to Edith Swannesha, which the church held was no marriage at all. His refusal however was widely held as evidence of his having fallen under the spell of Selaxatus and soon the pulpits boomed with oratory denouncing their “Hag-ridden King”. When Harold called one of the Bishops to explain this attack on his good name, the Bishop instead took the chance to berate the King in the presence of Selaxatus and Gloivan. When he claimed that the Archbishop had sent word to Rome to have Harold excommunicated for his traffic with devils the assembled lords were shocked, but they were so much more shocked when Gloivan stepped forward and with one blow removed the Cleric’s head. As the blood pooled under the dead priest, Selaxatus began to speak, urging the assembled lords to turn their back on the Church which by its actions obviously favoured William the Bastards claim to the throne in defiance of all established English law.

The lords present agreed with Selaxatus, and soon turned their back on the church. However the Lords who had not been present at court heard only of the murder of a Bishop by the Kings demonic allies. Many of the Lords rose up in rebellion at the prompting of the church, and soon Harold was beset on all sides. The soldiers of his loyal Lords were not numerous to put down the rebellions and also defend against the other threats to England, and so he was forced to ask Selaxatus if she could provide more regiments of the Hayte to bolster his forces, a request she was more than happy to accede to. Soon armies of the Hayte descended on the rebellious Lords and put them all to death giving no quarter to enemies that they considered traitors to their King. Soon many of the Lords who had rebelled were either dead or cowed into surrender, those that surrendered were asked by Harold in the presence of Selaxatus, who had prompted them to their treachery. To a man they denounced the Church, claiming that it was only at the prompting of the Clerics, although many could see that the Lords did so out of fear.

Harold was unsure what to do, his summons to the Archbishop went unheard, and the sermons against him had intensified with his use of the Hayte to bring the rebellious Lords to heel. He convened his council, a body to which Selaxatus had attached herself and together they discussed what to do about the Church. When finally the Council ended its meeting the decree that followed was not one that anyone had expected. The Church of Rome was declared banned in England, all of its holdings seized by the crown, all of the priests subject to arrest and exile from the kingdom.

The Church was swift to react calling upon it's supporters and trying to rally the support of the congregations, and another wave of rebellions erupted across the land. This time however Harold and Selaxatus were not reticent in using the Hayte to put down these rebellions. The church put up a spirited defence but when the Cathedral at Canterbury was sacked they realised that they could not stand against the combined forces of the Saxons and the Hayte. The Archbishop, who had fled Canterbury before the arrival of Harold's forces, called for every priest to save whatever relics they could and flee. The Exile of the Church as it became known saw many of the church flee from England to their erstwhile enemies Normandy.

The disappearance of the church in England was followed by a resurgence of the Saxons original beliefs in the south of the country, and in the north, the parts that had been settled by the Vikings, the worship of the Norse pantheons spread. Many it seemed had been secretly keeping to the old ways in spite of the supposed conversion of the country. The Exile of the Church however caused the Roman hierarchy to declare England Terra Excommunicatus, a whole country put out of the Sight of God.

In Normandy, the remains of the English church was joined by emissaries from Rome, they all called on William to return to England and strike down the blasphemous Harold. William however would not countenance it, against the Hayte he knew his army could not stand, even his superior tactics which would almost certainly have carried the day at Hastings was no match for the unfeeling ferocity of the demons. He spent long hours in thought, and others in prayer although before he had not been particularly pious. It was there in his own chapel that he began to hear a voice calling to him. Quietly at first, but slowly becoming louder, a voice that sounded like the purest sound he had ever heard called to him. At first he was alarmed, and spoke to several of the Priests, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, most of them told him that the voice was the voice of the Devil tempting him, the Archbishop however told him that perhaps it was a higher voice calling to him and urged him to spend more of his time in contemplation.

William found that despite the many dissenting calls he could not turn away from the voice, and as he spent more and more time in his chapel the voice became clearer and clearer. It spoke to him, promising him aid in his "holy" quest and all he had to do was to accept it's spirit into him. He searched long and hard within himself, and finally realised that there was nothing more he wanted than what the voice was offering him. He accepted it's bargain, and in so doing became the vessel of Telluran.

What walked from the chapel was not William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy, but being of almost untold radiance that only barely resembled him. Where he walked his footprints became springs, running with pure sweet water, and he seemed to glow from within with a golden light. Many of the churchmen were concerned believing that the corruption that had affected England had spread it's poison to him. The Archbishop however saw differently, and he and the rest of the English church immediately swore themselves to his service. He told them that he would call up his hosts to help them in their holy war against the demons. He instructed them in the requirements for a ritual he would perform to bring his own troops the Dened to him. The Church of Rome watched with some trepidation, as Telluran slaughtered a large number of cows and cast their bodies onto a pyre, before drawing a complex series of symbols and circles upon the ground in their blood. The Pyre split into two flames with a crack of lightening, and between them a hole appeared, beyond which could be seen a huge grass plain, with vast rivers and lakes scattered across it. In the foreground however stood hundreds of pale skinned perfectly looking creatures, armed with viciously hooked
swords and wearing armour with sharpened edges and adorned with barbs and hooks. As they began to march through the portal, the priests of the Church of Rome could see the hungry predatory looks in their faces, and the blasphemous magic that had been used to call them into the world, fearing for their very souls they left quietly but swiftly. His army bolstered by the Dened Telluran began to gather his supplies to invade England.

In England however Selaxatus felt the arrival of Telluran, a foe she had fought against before. She told Harold and together they began to make plans to defend England from the attack. In Norway the Vallayrean also felt his arrival, and told Tostig to take the Norse to their ships. Once again the Saxons found themselves under attack from two sources. This time however they had the forces to meet their foes, but their foes had also been bolstered.

The Norse landed first and with them came not only the wyrds and berserks who had partaken of the power of the Vallayrean, but also some of his own troops the Waldyr, raging beasts who knew nothing but battle and were loaded into the ships in spiked harnesses designed to hold them immobile until they were unleashed in the heat of battle, the huge bestial creatures raged incoherently during the voyage. Quickly the Norse moved up the Humber, and struck at the settlements at the head of the river. It was an obvious provocation, and the Saxons were swift to rise to it. At the settlement of Olsby the two forces clashed, and for the first time the Norse faced fury of the Hayte. The Norse were more than able to face the Saxons this time, but before the demons even their berserks were cut down, the magic of the wyrds was also less effective, their previous armour and weapon shattering spells failing when they were cast against the Saxons. Indeed it looked as if they would be defeated, until Tostig ordered the release of the Waldyr. Three men were sent to each Waldyr to strike off their shackles, and with hammer and axe they did so.

Their reward however was death at the hands of their supposed allies, as the enraged beast tore the men apart and then rushed onto the battlefield. Tostig was afraid that they would tear their way through his army, but spotting the Hayte the beasts directed themselves against them, charging across the battlefield and falling upon the Hayte and rending them apart. The Hayte in turn seemed to recognise the creatures and fell into what were obviously well practiced formations, surrounding the creatures and bringing them down although at terrible cost. The battle continued all day and deep into the evening but as night began to fall both armies were exhausted, and began to fall back from each other. The Saxons pulled towards the south, and the Norse pulled back to Olsby. Both forces were bloodied but neither had the heart to press the attack further.

In the south the Normans once again landed near Hastings, Telluran wanting to expunge the defeat that his body remembered from before the merging. This time however they found that Hastings had considerable defences in place. Harold had wasted no time in defending the town, which boasted stone walls placed along the ridges of hills, and large stores. Although not a true castle as the Norman's would build, the defended settlement was the most formidable Saxon defence ever built. With the defenders being bolstered by the Hayte Harold had assumed it would be impregnable, but he had not banked on the Dened, and the Telluran's direct influence. As the ship grounded on the beach the Telluran and his Dened leapt from the boat and stormed the first line of defences.

The Hayte had also faced the Dened before and knew how to fight them, but Telluran was unstoppable, and his sword, as tall as a man, swept the defences clear. The Hayte and the Saxons stood against them as long as they could but soon they were in full retreat from the fortifications. The Telluran had however instructed the Norman troops and the churchmen to remain on the boats. Most obeyed but not all, the Archbishop of Canterbury was eager to once again set foot on his own land. He persuaded the captain of his ship to put them aground further down the coast so he could hold a thanksgiving service. When they landed however they were assailed by terrible screams and sounds of torture. He and his priests crept closer to the fortifications they found a truly hellish sight. The Telluran was feasting in the middle of a scene of carnage as the Dened, now no longer the angelic seeming warriors but terrifying blood soaked maniacs, were torturing the prisoners to death. The sight of what he had believed to be the saviours of England cutting apart the prisoners and presenting the choicest cuts to the Telluran as part of his victory feast, broke the Archbishop's mind. He fled into the night, and was not seen for many months.

In London Harold was not pleased by the reverses his forces had experienced, although in truth his position was not as dire as might have been expected. In the north the Norse were stopped at the river Humber, unable to move south but holding all the lands above it. Harold's forces were forced to fight a number of swift actions, shadowing the norse ships as they tried to find a place to make a beachhead. In the south the Telluran and the Dened were reinforced by the Norman troops, but made no effort to push out of Hastings and it's environs. When the Normans had landed they had found the Telluran leading the Dened in a ceremony of victory, all of the carnage of their victory fest cleared away. Ringed around him were many regiments of the Saxons and Hayte, but if the Telluran once again took the field Selaxatus told Harold that they would be hard pressed to stop him.

Eventually the Norse managed to force a landing by sending a boat filled with their Waldyr, which they ran aground in the midst of the Saxon force. With a full fifty of the Waldyr on board the Saxon force was unable to stand against the force and the follow up attack of Norsemen. The Norse began to push further and further south, and Harold was forced to send reinforcements, weakening the guarding regiments around the Norman troops. The Norse spread out as they pushed into the Saxon held lands, massively increasing the front that Harold had to fight them on, and soon he was forced to march from London himself to try and pin down his brother Tostig and bring him to an open battle. The magic of the Wyrds however made it difficult to pin the enemy force down, they seemed to move through the forests without leaving any signs.

While Harold and Selaxatus were hunting for his brother, the Telluran finally made his move, smashing through the cordon of troops and marching on London. He was very careful to only use his Dened against targets where no survivors were wanted, and none of his Norman troops would be present. With this method he was able to allow the Dened to act as they wished to act while retaining the support of the Church of Rome who still preached that William's was a noble cause. They quickly crushed the resistance of the few Lords Harold had left to defend London and seized the city. He demanded that they crown him King but the remaining Lords refused, telling him that the crown was rightfully Harold's as that had been the decision of the Witengamot. This did not satisfy the Telluran however so instead he sent them to Harold with their eyes put out to tell him that if he did not give up the crown to him then the people of England would suffer.

England was now a warzone, everywhere there were forces of Saxons and Hayte fighting Norse and Waldyr, or Dened and Normans. Whole villages, even towns were wiped from the map, and Harold became more and more desperate. He demanded more help from Selaxatus, but he found that she was far more interested in attacking the forces of the Waldyr and Dened than protecting the people of England from their otherworldly foes. Time and time again, he asked her to send the Hayte against a force heading towards a Saxon Village, only to find that the forces he was expecting were diverted to stage an attack on a force of troops that posed no threat but contained more of the enemies unnatural troops. When he complained to Selaxatus she told him that if he disagreed with her methods then she would be more than happy to remove her help and leave him to try and save his people on his own. Harold was forced to accept it, but it did not sit well with him, and he also noticed that it did not seem to sit well with Gloivan who seemed most displeased with his mistresses change of heart.

The night after Harold confronted Selaxatus, Gloivan came to him in secret and revealed the truth about the Hayte, the Dened, and the Waldyr, and also the truth about Selaxatus and the others. Selaxatus had come to his world when they also faced an internal threat. Civil war had threatened the world of the Hayte and Gloivan's people were threatened with extinction at the hands of their enemies, their way of life wiped out, and he turned to an ancient artefact that had been found many centuries before. He used the artefact to call for help, and Selaxatus answered, she came to his world with strange warriors who could do things that the Hayte could not, and her forces helped Gloivan and his people to win their war. There was however a terrible price. Once the war was over Selaxatus set herself up as a god to the Hayte, Slowly worship of her spread and her followers were utterly devoted to her. As it did so Gloivan noticed that the troops began to age and die where once before they seemed immortal. Eventually they were all dead, and the worship of Selaxatus amongst the Hayte was universal, and she seemed to exert some kind of control over them, such that they did anything that she wished, and what she wished was for the remaining Hayte that did not worship her to be destroyed. Eventually, only Gloivan remained and Selaxatus demanded that he act as her general or the Hayte would suffer the fate of her previous slaves. She would not control him, but he would serve willingly or his people would suffer.

The Hayte had fought on several other worlds since then, sometimes against the natives of those places, but more often against the forces of other beings like Selaxatus, who he knew as the Enslavers. However never before had more than two of the Enslavers been present on a world, and here three of the most powerful had gathered. Gloivan knew that in the presence of other Enslavers their powers were weakened, and now perhaps was a chance to free his people from Selaxatus' control. Harold and Gloivan spent the entire night talking and trying to plan their next move. They however couldn't come up with a way to break Selaxatus' control.

The next morning Harold awoke to screams. In the middle of his camp Selaxatus had nailed Gloivan to a tree, and was busy torturing him to death. In the night he had attempted to kill her, but his blade had slid from her skin. Harold watched terrified that Gloivan would reveal their plotting, but the Hayte general did not, refusing to speak of his co-conspirators until finally he died. A new member of the Hayte was put in command of Selaxatus' forces, and the war continued.

Harold now knew that striking directly at Selaxatus would not work, but he also saw what the true spirit of the Hayte in Gloivan's actions. The Telluran he knew would eventually seek to strike against the Saxon main force which would bring him and Selaxatus into close proximity, but he knew nothing of the Enslaver who was aiding the Norse. However he knew who would know, his Brother Tostig, but he could see no chance of persuading his brother to aid him. Instead he led his forces to attack the Norse to try and lure his brother into a confrontation, and hoping that Selaxatus and also the Telluran would follow.For months he tried to provoke an attack by Tostig, but was unable to, there were many attacks by the Norse, and still more by the Waldyr, but he did not see his brother.

From the south the Norman forces and the Dened pushed north and began to strike both against the Norse and the Saxons. The Telluran was still demanding the crown of England, but so long as the other claimants to the crown were still alive he knew the Witengamot would never accept him. Only by organising it such that he was the only proper choice could he hope to receive the crown that the body he was now inhabiting so dearly coveted. He began to hunt to bring Harold to battle, intending to kill him and clear his line to the crown.

With the Telluran now hunting him, Harold was forced to change his tactics. Luring Telluran to him was no longer a problem, but he found that his foe did not approach however when Selaxatus was with him. The Enslavers seemed to wish to avoid the presence of another of their type, and they were more than willing to retreat from a battle rather than face each other. In some cases they even allowed their human catspaws to perish rather than continue the fight, however Harold noticed that Selaxatus was always careful to ensure that he also retreated at that time, as if she needed him alive for her plans. He realised what he had to do, and set about locating his Brother Tostig. Hundreds of Saxon scouts were sent into the Norse held lands with only one mission, to find Tostig and tell him that Harold wished to treat with him at the Dead Oak of Gyrsfield to ally with him to defeat the Tellurian.

Harold positioned himself at Gyrsfield and awaited his brother. He knew that Tostig would not come to treat with him, but would instead attempt to kill him, and Harold made this task even easier by sending all but his loyal Fyrdmen away. He set up a great number of fortifications however, such that the Dead Oak was ringed about with such defences that even the few hundred men that he had could hold the place against a far larger force. Harold also sent Selaxatus and the Hayte away, claiming that he wanted the Saxons to deal with a Saxon problem. Selaxatus argued against it as she could see that Harold's position would be weak but Harold was adamant, telling her that he had more than the forces she could see to defend him, but that if she was truly worried with him she could leave him some way of calling for her. She left him the great horn of the Hayte, which she told him she would be able to hear no matter what. However she did not actually retreat very far, staying within a short march of Gyrsfield, obviously fuming at Harold's new found determination.

Harold's preparations continued, the troops he had sent away went to directly to the strongest force of Norman's and smashed them, then repeated the feat again against another of the Norman forces, before retreating in the direction of Gyrsfield, as they did so they left the bodies of their prisoners crucified to trees. The Telluran was incensed, as were the few members of the English Church who had been present when the Archbishop made his fateful landing. In a rage he gathered the Dened to him and began to pursue the Saxons. As he went he despoiled the country, burning the crops and slaughtering any Saxons he found no matter if they were members of Harold's forces or not, perpetrating even greater crimes than those of the Saxon's. The Norman troops began to have doubts of their leaders sanity as he ranted and raged at captives, or corpses, but any that spoke out were killed.

Tostig meanwhile had received Harold's summons, and unsurprisingly expected a trap. He spoke repeatedly to the Vallayrean, who urged him to accept a boon from him, but refused to tell Tostig what form the boon would take, instead telling him only that the boon would make him the equal of Telluran in all ways. Tostig was not yet ready to accept however and instead he began to move his Norse closer to Gyrsfield, keeping to the woods and using the gifts of the Vallayrean to keep then hidden from prying eyes. Eventually he had managed to move his Norse close enough, and even brought more of his chained Waldyr to act as his shock troops if he chose to attack the stronghold that Harold had built.

Harold had begun to fortify still further having his Fyrds build ditches and walls of spikes. The Hill around the dead oak began to look more and more like a maze, and Tostig soon realised that if he waited any longer he would lose his chance to attack at all. He waited until the skies began to darken and a great storm gathered over head, and then launched his troops headlong at the defences, dragging with them the chained Waldyr. They struck the defences, and the Fyrdmen held them for a time and then began to fall back deeper into the maze of the defences. The Norse pursued but they were split and split again by the nature of the defences. Even worse there seemed to be no end to the Saxon Kings Fyrdmen, everywhere more and more of them seemed to be appearing from ditches and behind wattle fences. Tostig's bodyguard was whittled down one by one, until only he, one of his Wyrds, one of the Waldyr and five of his companions remained. However all around the fortifications was the sound of battle and high over head at the Dead Oak was the sound of a great horn being sounded over and over. Tostig realised that his Brother Harold was at the Dead Oak, and with his remaining bodyguards and with the battle sounds in the air he pushed towards the Oak.
Little did Tostig know however, but Telluran had also spied the defences, having been lured there by Harold's troops who had now garbed themselves in the armour of Fyrds and reinforced the troops that already guarded the stronghold. Telluran, the Normans and the Dened fell upon the defences from the south, the side opposite the Norse attack and also found themselves split and separated. However the Dened dropped their angelic facade and began to fight as the vicious monsters that they truly where. Saxons were left disembowelled or impaled on the spikes of the Defences, as the Dened pushed deeper into the fortifications. However even with their combat prowess, the defences had been set up expertly and they were also forced to split their forces to contend with assaults from all sides from the Saxon troops. Telluran knew he would find the crown of England at the centre of the defences, so with a handpicked few of his warriors and the remains of his church supporters he pressed into the defences to find Harold and the Crown that he so dearly wanted.

Selaxatus had heard the Horn of the Hayte, and realised that Harold was under attack, however the direction she was marching from had only been very weakly held by the Saxons and she found the defences now held by the Dened. The Hayte and the Dened clashed over the defence and Selaxatus began to push her way through using her magic. Soon she managed to penetrate to the lines where the Saxons held the line, and made here way up to the Dead Oak.

As Harold saw Selaxatus approaching he instructed his Fyrdmen to give the signal. All of the horns rang out over the fortification, and the Saxons ceased to fight, instead streaming away from the fortification and leaving it to their foes, with the exception of Harold's bodyguard. Suddenly finding their way clear the foes rushed forwards. Tostig reached the dead oak first having used his Waldyr to clear the last of the defenders from his way. He found Harold waiting for him at the Oak, but he also found Selaxatus, and his few Norse were no match for her and her Hayte bodyguard. He launched himself at her and they fought back and forth, as Harold attempted to prevent them from killing each other before Telluran reached them. Unfortunately for Harold, although she looked like an old woman Selaxatus was an accomplished fighter and through her prowess and magic was able to stab Tostig through the heart with her smoking brass sword. He fell fatally wounded, and Harold was forced to interpose himself between Selaxatus and his brother lest she finish him off too soon. Already he could hear the roars of Telluran and the hissing of the Dened coming closer. Selaxatus however tried to push past him to finish Tostig who was grovelling in the dirt with a silver bowl, Harold was forced to attack her to keep her from killing his brother. Unexpected he managed to wound her deeply, but she turned on him and began to force him down the hill, towards the sounds of the Dened fighting.

Behind them Tostig managed to lay hands on the Silver bowl, but having no water to fill it was forced to use his own blood. The face of the Vallayrean appeared, but where before he wore a patrician but fatherly face, now his face was cruel and sneering. He told Tostig that he should have accepted his boon earlier that the time was almost done and Tostig had lost. Tostig asked if there was anything he could do to change his fate, but the only response was that he should accept the boon. Which he did, but only with his dying breath. The Vallayrean took his body as Telluran had taken William's but was somewhat horrified to find that life had already fled before he could seize it. The corpse of Tostig flowed and changed like melting Wax as the Vallayrean forced it upright and set off in search of his brother.

Harold was still fighting Selaxatus as her Hayte tried to hold back the Dened. Curse after curse she spat at him, but they seemed to have no effect, the protections she had woven around him in secret to protect him from the other Enslavers also working against her although not by her intent. She contented herself with telling how his people would suffer when she struck him down, and how she would use him to enslave them as she had used Gloivan to bind the Hayte to her. Finally she broke through his defences and wounded him in the shoulder, and was bringing her weapon up once more to knock him senseless when the Huge sword of Telluran stopped her.

So close to his target and enraged by the visions flooding through his mind Telluran was not willing to quit the field despite the presence of Selaxatus. Instead he drove he back and turned to kill Harold and seize the Crown of England.

Which is when the now twisted and beastial form of Tostig/Vallayrean attacked him.

No one remembers what truly happened in those final moments of the Battle of Dead Oak. The Hayte, Dened and Waldyr were all that were left at the top of the fortification, and as the three Enslavers came together the enchantments placed on each race broke. Each of the races describes it differently but all of them liken it to waking from a nightmare where they were not in control of their actions. The storm above broke and the top of the hill was struck by lightening eight times in as many seconds. None of the troops close enough to have seen what happened survived, but those that followed afterwards found the Dead Oak broken in half the ground scorched and burned and no sign of any of the Enslavers or Harold.

In the aftermath of the battle of Dead Oak there were several effects on the country. Firstly the country had large populations of Dened, Hayte, and Waldyr who now had no way of returning to their respective homes. However without the control of the Enslavers the otherworlders no longer had any interest in fighting the humans, but instead wanted to settle the land that they had been brought to against their wishes. Their numbers and fighting prowess was such that they could not be forced out, and as the country was left without a king or a crown both having disappeared during the battle with Harold's disappearance there was no one to force the issue. Indeed most of the other claimants to the throne had also perished in the battle. x The Saxons had their preferred claimant to be King, Edgar the Aetheling, the Normans had several of their own claimant's although they were engaged in struggles against each other. The Norse meanwhile offered the crown to Magnus the Good, who much to their shock, refused. The reason for his refusal however was one of religion.

The priests who had travelled with William returned to the Pope with stories of what had happened in England, and he was shocked by tales of the angelic Dened descending into savagery, and demons settling in the lands. He did not have the strength to deal with the problem at the time, the Church having more than a few enemies at the time. As such Normandy and parts of the Scandinavian countries joined England as part of the Pope's Terra Excommunicatus. The church withdrew from those lands completely, the churches left empty, the monasteries closed. Magnus the Good managed to keep the majority of his own lands from suffering the same fate, but only by agreeing to have nothing to do with the Thanes who had claimed lands there as part of Harald Hardrada and Tostig's force. Soon all along the border of the Terra Excommunicatus fortifications began to spring up, as rulers sought to curry favour with the Pope by proving their piety and walling off the people he had turned his eyes from. They had less righteous reasons as well, as the otherworlders began to search for places to settle. The Kingdoms along the border of the Excommunicated lands wanted nothing to do with the strange creatures that had come to the world, and there were a few clashes along the borders. The Scots took the old fortification of Hadrian's wall and repaired it, and the Irish closed their ports to ships from the excommunicated lands.

With the church gone from the lands many small cults and religious movements sprang up, each vying for the souls of the people. Most were lay preachers or previously expelled monks but one of the cults was different. Called the Church of the Apocalypse, it followed the teachings of the so called Prophet of the Apocalypse, the now completely insane former Archbishop of Canterbury. It was his belief that the presence of the otherworlders showed that God himself had turned his eye from the world. In fact as he gained more and more followers his beliefs changed until he was preaching that the Apocalypse had already come, and the sins of humanity had killed God. Most of the population did not follow his beliefs but more and more fanatics began to flock to his new Church. Soon the Church of the Apocalypse was the predominant religious organisation in the lands, but it's intolerance towards the otherworlders did nothing to help the rising tensions between them and the natives.

The war ended some six years ago, and England is still divided. Harold has disappeared and has never been found and no sign of the Enslavers has been found. The Norse still hold some of the Northhumberlands, and the various Norman lords hold some of the South of the country. Normandy and some of the Scandinavian lands are also part of Terra Excommunicatus, and cut off from their rightful lords they have fallen to petty lords, bandits, and thieves. The land is divided and anarchy ridden, magic and cults have become common, the land is in upheaval, and it is in this land riven by problems that Heroes have begun to arise.