Mentally Terraforming: a little bit of fluff and a prologue if you're very good!

As you may be able to tell from the title this post has quite a few parts to it and in my 'capable' hands is likely to be a right old mess!. However as readers of these 'mucky' pages you are probably used to that so i will promise to persist if you do!. This Mentally Terraforming stuff is starting to take over Wronghammer at the mo, hope you find it of some use or even bordering on interesting?. Its nice to be able to write and make my ideas some what solid. The rest of the posts from this subject can be found by clicking about hereish but in the classic Wronghammer style you need to read the posts from the bottom up to get any sense out of them (and then it might not help!).
This post will contain a little info on the last of the guild (kinda') nations and an overview of it, a short (i hope) prologue leading to a battle report next post......Right, deep breath and lets dive right bloomin well in!.

ARRADAN, THE DISPUTED REALM.

Arradan lies between the southern border of Verland and the northern borders of the Guild controlled nations. It forms a natural buffer between these hostile counties. It was one of the small kingdoms rebuild after the age of strife that like its neighbours became a target for the Guild revolution. The Arradan royal family called for aid from the crown of Verland for protection against the rising tide threatening them. The crown sent a large force to support Arradans troops and to warn off the Guilds. It made sense for Verland to do this as they were the only nation in the area strong enough to stand up to the young Guilds and Arradan was ideally placed to form a 'no go' area between the Guilds and Verland. This worked for years as Arradan remained a Kingdom untouched by the ambitions of the Guilds. However it was not too long before the Verland troops became a drain on the nations economy as Verlands King refused to pay to feed and house the troops he sent, seeing this as the king of Arradans duty. This cost was shouldered as ever by a raft of new taxes that made the poorest poorer. This in turn breed resentment among the common folk. looking on the Guilds saw the change in opinion  and sent agents in to Arradan to drum up support from the masses. It was not long before the first riot in the capital begun, half the city burned as the unwashed masses rose up, supported by guild troops in peasants garb. The Arradan army moved to quell the rioters and the scene became a blood bath, a fact the Guild used to further the discontent in the nation. The commoners were soon in open rebellion and Verland forces marched to bring order to the streets and fields of the land at the order of the King. The situation became a powder keg and drew the troops into unseen levels of blood shed. The perfect storm was created and made the ideal situation for Guild forces to invade to 'support' the rebels. The Guild grabbed the south of the nation within a few days driving off anyone who opposed them  and digging in around the capital. The king of Verland responded by sending his forces to attack the invaders and their supporters. For the first time the titans of the west were in open war. After several bloody seasons a stalemate was reached. Verland grew weaker economically and could not give their troops the support needed to retake the south of Arradan and the Guilds were so tied up around the world spreading their influence and claiming any patch of dirt that held a profit they were not willing to advance further so consolidated the ground they held. To this day the nation is at a cross roads, Controlled by two outside nations after a war that left most of it in ruin and decline. Neither the Guilds or Verland are willing to invest further in the land so those native folk are in poverty and fight just feed their children. The royal family hide in their castles, all authority undermined, poor relics of a once proud nation.
As the nation is split it is not uncommon for small acts of aggression between the occupying nations to break out, most of the Officers have seen a lot of action against the opposing forces and see it as a matter of pride to not give ground to the enemy. Along side this the commoners often perform acts of civil unrest against whichever of the occupiers they oppose. Life in Arradan is cheep and very tough but goes on due to the strategic importance of the area to the occupying forces and the whims of their leaders.

At the time of writing there is no standing army of Arradan, its troops consist of a a small palace guard to protect the royal family. Order is kept by the invading forces in their respective areas. Often a force of rebel common folk will rise against whoever holds their lands at the time. This often occurs when one force takes land from the other. The area is no place for raw recruits so the Verland and Guild forces are often made up of Veteran troops.

TANKS BUT NO TANKS (PROLOGUE)

  Scout sargent Fitzerran ran panting through the Verland camp, he was sweating, his face reddened by the effort. He ran through the guards on the generals tent and came barreling into the massive canvas structure and directly into captain Sallridge, sending himself  the old man and the pile of scrolls he was holding flying. Fitzerran  sprung to is feet as he heard 'WHAT IN THE NAME OF TOTAL BLOODY FUCKINGTON ARE YOU DOING SARGENT, THIS IS A COMMAND TENT NOT A RUGBY PITCH YOU DOLT!'. Fitzerran rubbed the dust from his eyes as he turned to face the source of the outburst. 'Yes sir, sorry sir', he blurted as he regained his composure and his breath. 'Its happened sir, its broken down they are trying to fix it but its taking ages and i think we have a chance sir i really do!, 'What in the blazes are you talking about Sargent?' Blurted the General who had far too much to think about since he was transferred from Silvermarc to the wastes of Arradan and did not need to put up with whatever more the bloody scouts could add to his workload. 'The new contraption the Guild have been testing General, we followed it like you ordered and its stuck by the old ruins'. The old general sat up and rubbed his beard, lost in thought, after an age he said almost to himself '.....so if we get hold of it we will can get the engineers on it, work out how they are making it go....i'll be a hero, the king will reinstate me after...well you know...' He jumped off his chair and grabbed Fitzerran by the shoulders. 'SARGENT READY QUENTIN, TELL THE TROOPS WE RIDE IN HALF AN HOUR....LETS BAG OUR SELVES A STEAM TANK'. He spun the scout sargent smartly around and put a brotherly arm around his shoulders while marching him into the bright sunshine outside.

......From within the tend a muted voice came from underneath a pile of scrolls.'Hello...' it said weakly ...'i think i may have done myself an injury.....hello?.....hello?......


Any way the game this prologue is for has been played already (i know, organized or what?) so it wont be long (famous last words n' all that!) so i know who wins!.

Anywho.......till next time.........