Warhammer

Although apart from Hera, Hera, Hera, and now Alia, these two cubs whose talents are obviously more inclined towards military direction have never had such a situation, the other four (five) of the six (seven) cubs have experience in assisting Ai'er in governing the country. This cannot be regarded as a political tendency, such as a hint of establishing an heir.

But no matter what, returning from the front line to exercise authority on behalf of the king is by no means a disciplinary measure.

The Tyrell elites are well aware of this, but since His Majesty has given them face, it is their problem if they still don't want it.

El then stayed in Remas for another three months, finalizing the candidates for the dukes of the remaining four principalities, accepting their loyalty on behalf of their respective principalities, and establishing the "Southern Lord Alliance", which can be abbreviated as the "Southern Alliance"... Doesn't it seem auspicious?

The framework of the "Alliance" is basically stable. After the oath of allegiance and the investiture ceremony, Aiel officially became the King of Estalia and the Horde, that is, the King of the United Kingdom, and at the same time the King of Tyrell. After the seven dukes each pledged their allegiance, his crown of "King of Tyrell" forged with steel, blood and fire was declared in place.

So Ai'er is now the co-leader of the Alliance... It seems that the jump from the King of the Tribe to the Leader of the Alliance is a bit strange, but this is the legal basis for Ai'er to unify the Southern Kingdom.

The Horde - Estalia (United Kingdom) - Tyrell (Seven Duchies) united.

Confederacy.

Southern Kingdom.

Chapter 99: The Dwarfs of Port Margarita

The waves blow against the dock like a breeze. The sound of the water and the cries of seagulls in the sky, coupled with the dawn light shining through the clouds, make the port of Margarita look so vibrant.

There are no slovenly sailors as can be seen in other ports, no gaudy prostitutes standing in the streets and outside the gatehouses, no thieves, beggars, or children running around with permanently dirty faces.

Everything here is in order, whether it is the standardized and clean streets and buildings, or the enthusiastic and energetic passers-by.

Those soldiers with big red armbands tied on their arms, wearing a strange style of hat that is rarely seen outside the South but has a unique temperament, as if you can feel some kind of authority just by looking at it. The spirit and energy they display when walking in the streets, standing guard, or patrolling, and the harmonious relationship they get between them and the people without blurring the boundaries of power and responsibility, are completely different from those in other places.

"It's really..."

Norn Bronzebeard got off the boat and stood on a round platform with a large umbrella and a pair of small tables and chairs, so that he could see the end of the entire port street at a glance.

"The last time I came to Margarita, the port here was no different from all the ones I've seen in the New World, except that it was bigger and more prosperous." The dwarf sighed, "In just ten years, this place feels better than Marienburg."

"It's just unimaginable."

His companion couldn't help but complain: "Norn, ten years may be short for you dwarves, but it is not short for humans, okay?"

"Besides, everything here..." The black-haired human youth of medium height looked at the port that overturned his past impression with a nostalgic look.

“It should be the change in the past three years.”

Apart from that war and the series of events that happened after that war, he really couldn't think of anything else that could have caused such a big change in Estalia, which had been "sailing smoothly" for dozens or hundreds of years and had not changed much except for the growing population and increasingly crowded cities.

"Gronni's beard!" Norn suddenly shouted. The dwarf's voice like gongs and drums immediately attracted the attention of passers-by at the dock, but most people just glanced at them, gave a friendly greeting to the group of people whose eyes met, and then continued to busy themselves with their own business.

Margarita is a big city and a big port, with ships coming and going, people coming and going. The people here have long been accustomed to business travelers and foreigners from all over the world.

Not to mention the dwarves, they had also seen the arrogant Cathay merchants, the elves of Osuun, and the messengers of Nehekhara who wore robes and golden masks and left traces of yellow sand and fallen beetles on the ground when they walked.

A dwarf shouting and yelling, nothing special.

The dwarf companion who was accompanying him pulled Norn Bronzebeard under the platform.

"What did you see?" he asked.

Norn did not answer, but stroked his well-groomed and signature beard.

“I think we might be onto something this time.”

He said mysteriously.

The companions have become accustomed to traveling around the world, dealing with various races and many forces, becoming somewhat "smooth" and learning some "cunning" - in the former dwarf society, such dwarves were regarded as heretics.

But after the Great War, the traditional and conservative clan society of the dwarves had suffered a huge impact due to the losses suffered in the war. After the establishment of the High Court, the Assembly of Mountains realized that the dwarves must innovate and change.

This was an almost unimaginable change for the stubborn nature of the children of the mountains who were said to be made of stone, but they did it.

At least some of the old rules that were no longer suitable for the current situation were ordered to be "sealed up" - this was essentially an innovative replacement. However, given that each clan might have some proud traditions, directly canceling them would cause strong dissatisfaction. Therefore, the Supreme Royal Court was very careful with their words. It was even said that they privately had the most cunning and manipulative alien consultants in this regard to help them formulate strategies.

This approach of "not applicable now, temporarily sealed in documents, and kept for later use" has indeed alleviated the resistance of some conservative dwarves to breaking with tradition to a great extent.

In the past, apart from normal business, the dwarves had never reached a formal "alliance agreement" with any order forces outside the human empire. At most, they had considered the overall situation, such as the High King supporting Tyrion or the leader's personal considerations, and carried out reinforcement operations. They had no formal offensive and defensive alliances. The dwarves' pride, which was no less than that of the elves, meant that even when they were out of ammunition and food, seeking reinforcements from outside their own race might be a slimmer hope than turning defeat into victory.

But now, the High Court has opened the door to the Dwarves named:

"Recover lost ground"!

After the prologue of the great era, the Supreme Court, which had been regarded by many conservative and traditional dwarves as "betraying their ancestors", became very active in thinking about how to find allies for the dwarves - how to reduce the dwarves' bloodshed and exchange their bloodshed for greater results.

Every year, envoys from the Mountain Kingdom would travel around the world with large amounts of gold and silver to make friends with other forces and recruit mercenaries. In order to recapture the mountains and retake those long-lost castles, they would open their treasury and extend an olive branch to anyone who could help them in the war (and who had no deep hatred against the dwarves).

The Supreme Court spoke to the conservative elders and patriarchs at the conference with certainty:

One hundred gold crowns (the dwarven currency has the same value as the Empire's major categories, gold, silver, and bronze) cannot exchange for a fully armed dwarven warrior;

But in the Empire, you can recruit at least seven or eight civilian children to form mercenaries. As long as these people are equipped with weapons and given more training, they can at least fight against fifty or sixty rats or an equal number of big guys.

If we exchange money for blood, aren't the preserved lives of the dwarves more important wealth?

The Empire strongly encouraged this situation, because it could not only ease the pressure of the ever-expanding population at home, but also earn a large amount of gold and silver. After the Fourth Battle of Blackfire Pass, the routes from Solland and Averland to the borderland had become very safe and mature, and the power of the greenskins had greatly declined, so that this land, where crises once far outweighed opportunities, was now blooming with great vitality.

Every year, tens of thousands of young and strong men from the empire take the commissions distributed by the Empire-Mountain Affairs Office, board the purchasing government’s convoys, and travel to the distant mountains.

They may include woodland folk from Talabek, fishermen from Stirland, idle rakes from Reikland, Nords, Ost... It is even said that the Elector Count and Elector Countess of Sylvania made some dark deals with the dwarves. In order to regain lost territory and restore glory, the High Court, under tremendous pressure, did not hesitate to resort to the power of the undead.

But this cannot be made public. Although after the Holy War the Empire recognized the "Elector" qualification of the king of Sylvania, a territory that had been shaded on the map of the Empire until now, the Empire has never stopped being wary of the undead creatures. There is a clause in the state edict signed after the Holy War that formally recognized the qualifications of His Excellency Vlad the Elector, which prohibits Sylvania from bypassing the court of Altdorf and other diplomatic relations with other forces. This is to limit the growth of the power of the Vampire Archduke. However, the most infatuated man in the Middle Ages seemed to understand this. After all, vampires are immortal, and he sometimes waits in the shadows until the Watchers decline and until the time is ripe.

......

The dwarves spent money lavishly, recruited soldiers all over the Old World, and then brought them back to the mountains to participate in the "Reconquista". The centaur Alina almost chose to take a boat to the mountains to find a strong enemy there, but the Blood Mother's will made her terminate this plan and return to Pina Forest to wait for the birth of the "Son of God's Grace", that is, El.

From this point we can see that the dwarves really accept everyone.

As long as female beastmen like Alina show enough fighting power, they will not reject signing a contract with them.

Whether it is human spears, elf bows, ogres, or even greenskin warbands willing to be hired, as long as they can help the dwarves pave the way to the glory of their ancestors in this ordeal full of blood and fire, they are willing to cooperate with each other.

This group of dwarves mixed with a few humans who boarded the ship and docked in Margarita came for this very purpose.

Chapter 100: Reconquista

Their purpose of coming to the South this time was the same as before.

Recruit troops and buy horses.

Norn Bronzebeard is the deputy of this team. Almost two-thirds of the dwarves in the entire team have the surname "Bronzebeard". Even after the great war, when all the dwarf clans obeyed the authority of the High Court and formed the Mountain Assembly to discuss major issues, the dwarves still had deep-rooted clan-family traditions.

This is one of the important pillars that maintain the dwarves. Even the High Court, which is considered by many dwarves to be "taking too big a step" and "heretical", has never thought of dismembering this structure, because this would undoubtedly be tantamount to completely transforming the dwarves.

The team that Norn Bronzebeard was in was heavily invested by the Bronzebeard family. In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of the large and small groups of the Mountain Kingdom that were linked by surnames and blood to participate in the movement to recover lost territory, the High Court made a simple rule on how to divide the benefits after recovering the lost fortresses and retaking the treasure house:

The greater the contribution, the greater the profit.

This made many people who believed that their family and bloodline had the natural right to rule over a certain fallen fortress, such as the dwarf clan of the Eight Peaks Mountain, very dissatisfied. They might have the strength to invest in the cause of regaining lost territory, but they could not accept the situation where they had to discuss contributions with "outsiders" to compete for ownership of the legacy of their ancestors. They would rather go it alone and would rather die than give up this "sovereignty".

The High Court's solution is also very simple:

(A hammer hits the iron felt, shocking the whole audience)

Who among the dwarves today cannot trace their bloodline back to the ancestral gods?

Whose bloodline or surname is more noble than whose! ?

Past failures have ruined the glory of the dwarves! We are in the second great era of the Children of the Mountains! All glory and achievements will not be judged by the past—all by achievements!

Whoever is obsessed with the past should first find a way to settle the consequences of his ancestors' failures!

Since Grimbrindel, the descendant of Granni and Valaya, a legendary white dwarf, had appeared in the Great War and participated in all the major battles of the Dwarves, and his identity was none other than the first High King of the Dwarves, Snorri Whitebeard's ancestor, who showed up to maintain order, this rule, which was somewhat "destructive of Dwarven traditions", was passed.

Therefore, all the dwarf clans that have even a little desire for glory and wealth will try their best to recruit mercenaries all over the world or become professional engineers to invent various war machines, for the sake of merit, for the glory of regaining lost territory, and for the roar of the White Dwarf that is both a question and encouragement:

"Young men with mustaches! I don't want young men with mustaches in the future to think of me, an old, lingering ancestor whose ghost cannot leave, when they are on the battlefield or beside the fire."

"The ancestors have left you endless wealth and glory. Now, it is time for you to take them back and rebuild them. It is time for you to become ancestors!"

Then the mountains began to move.

The Kingdom of Mountains burst into tremendous vitality. Forges and steam engines were spewing and hammering non-stop. Weapons and armor, from raw materials to embryos and shapes, were sent to various regions to arm their warriors through the tunnel network that the dwarves had worked hard to restart. Perhaps the most valuable wealth that many farmers from the Empire had ever "owned" in their lives was the equipment distributed to them by the dwarves after they came to the mountains.

The dwarves were wealthy and promised that as long as the mercenaries completed the contract, they would be allowed to take the equipment they were given back as an extra gift. This way, even if they simply resold it, it would be another fortune; it could also be passed down to future generations. If they were called up by the country in the future, they could at least become a team leader with this excellent dwarf-forged equipment.

Bretonnia, the peasants and rangers of the Empire, the freemen of the borderlands, the war dogs of the southern world, the Cossack warriors and serfs of Kislev...

People with lofty ideals from all regions of the Old World gathered together, forming a gathering of outstanding people and talented people.

With such efforts, the dwarves' efforts to regain lost territory have achieved great success. They headed north, with the secret assistance of a dark lord who was loyal to the empire and only wanted to sit on the throne with his wife, rule with the blood clan's excellence and bring physical "bone-sucking" to the common people of the empire, as well as a huge expeditionary force in exchange for helping the Tsarine of Kislev save her extremely serious debt crisis.

The Dwarves recaptured Karak Kadrin, which was breached by the legendary Skaven engineer Ikit Claw of the Skryre clan with poisonous abominations during the Great War. It was the temple of Grimnir, the god of war and all Dwarven butchers. It had become a paradise for greenskins and chaos beasts.

In the end, all the enemies of order were slain, the filth was cleared away, the dwarven buildings were repaired, and the sacred runes glowed again. That was the glory of the dwarven revival.

Afterwards, the Dwarf army did not stop to recover the lost territory. They left some people behind to begin the preliminary work of rebuilding Karak Kadrin, while the main force continued to march eastward and northward. This was a much more difficult battle than the Northern Expedition that took place in a distant southern country.

Every branch of the tunnel, every dark cave, after hundreds or thousands of years of abandonment, may hide some terrible sneaky enemies. The dwarf expedition is to completely eliminate all dwarven enemies in the Endless Mountains. They clear out the filthy creatures one by one, one cave after another.

Greenskins, beasts, monsters, and even the remnants of rats.

Hundreds of battles may break out at the same time. It is said that even in the tunnels of Karaz a Karak, the capital of the Mountain Kingdom, one can smell the burning smell of enemy corpses from the front lines of Karak Kadrin.

After retaking Karak Kadrin, the Dwarf expeditionary force accomplished another feat after five years of fierce fighting. They recaptured Karak Ungar, the first Dwarf fortress to fall since the Age of Sorrow. The Dwarves had launched countless expeditions to try to retake this place, and three High Kings died in the process of trying to retake it. It was not until after the Great War that this painful place of the Dwarves, which was once occupied by the Red-Eyed Night Goblin tribe and renamed "Red Eye Mountain", finally returned to the embrace of the Mountain Kingdom. The hearth, forge, beer and book of hatred...

In the end, this massive war to lose land in the north was a complete success. The Dwarf expeditionary force once broke through to the Norse wasteland of the Road of Bones, and had some conflicts with the Norse tribes there, which eventually turned into negotiations: the Dwarves opened trade to these tribes and provided some material assistance. Due to the decline of Chaos, the Norse people, who gradually became less hostile to the People of Order and no longer had the strength to do so, served as the Dwarves' watchers in the North, monitoring the threats from the wasteland for the latter.

At the same time, the Dwarves also learned from the Norscans information about the Dwarves of Dulong City in the distant Giant Mountains, who had been brought back by Thorgrim, the Last High King of the Grudge, and thus re-established diplomatic relations. These distant relatives who had been lost for many years did not perish in the huge wave of Chaos at the beginning of the Great War, but hid in the hollowed-out mountain fortresses to preserve some of their strength. Now, with the recovery of the world, they are beginning to plan to restore the land.

The expeditionary force therefore decided to support their distant relatives - it would be better to abandon an enclave isolated in the midst of Norsca, trolls, ice and snow, and move all the forces of the Dulongcheng dwarves back to the Endless Mountains. The High Court even promised to make the Dulongcheng dwarves lords in Karak Angkor, which symbolized the bloodbath of the revenge of the Age of Sorrow. However, the Dulongcheng dwarves, who were more conservative than their southern counterparts, had a unique pride. They rejected the proposal of their compatriots to move south, and insisted on rekindling their own fire in the ice and snow.

In desperation, the High Court decided to support their compatriots.

One of the important reasons is that the dwarves of Dulong City, isolated in the ice and snow, mastered many rune arts that have been lost in the south. Because of their isolation, they were not affected by the waves of greenskins and ratmen that rose in the Age of Sorrow, and thus retained many rune magics that were even "incomprehensible" to the southern dwarves. Correspondingly, their level of mechanical technology is far inferior to that of their southern compatriots.

Chapter 101: A Visit from the Dwarf

Afterwards, the huge expeditionary force cleared the northern part of the Endless Mountains while trying to plan everything, both internally and externally, to turn the northern mountains into a safe and stable rear area to support their subsequent campaign to recover the more important southern part of the Endless Mountains.

On the other side, a troop was also sent to reinforce the dwarves of Dulong City.

They also established some tenuous ties with the Lahmian Court of Silver Spire, which, led by the First Vampire Neferata, fled once again after Nagash's defeat, only to return to the spider nest they had been weaving for so long after the Great War.

The Mountain Kingdom has shown great tolerance for the vampires who had taken the city from the dwarves, perhaps because the Lahmian Sisterhood at least sided with Order in the Great War.

The dwarves and vampires made a pact, whereby the Lahmians declared that they would "return" the Silver Spire and all the city's former dwarven treasures to the Mountain Kingdom, and the Mountain Kingdom in turn gave these things "as a gift of peace and friendship to the Lady of Lahmia."

Thanks to this title, at least a few entries can be deleted from the Book of Hatred.

The sisterhood promised not to harm the interests of the dwarves (as much as possible) in the future, and the two parties reluctantly formed a "watch" clause, obliging them to inform and warn if they find a threat to the other party.

Although due to the connection between the dwarves and von Carstein, the Sisterhood does not seem to be very willing to have in-depth exchanges with these dwarves who are difficult for them to control, it is still necessary to at least maintain a superficial friendship.

The Dwarves even had some exchanges with those distant relatives who abandoned their ancestors and joined Chaos. In the frenzy launched by Grimgor Ironhide, the Chaos Dwarf Empire was destroyed, but it still retained a certain vitality. It regrouped in Uzkulak, Zar Naggrond and other places and began to try to restore their war machine.

The Mountain Kingdom does not have much affection for these traitors. If recovering lost territory was not the most important task at the moment, the target of their huge expeditionary force might have been these distant relatives of Chaos.

The two sides just cautiously tested each other, and there was not much communication afterwards. The dwarves continued to move south, and after successively recaptured Grom Peak, Silverspear Mountain and other places, they returned to the Silver Road.

Prior to this, the dwarven forces had already recaptured Karak Thunderburg. Further south, the most important target was the place that countless dwarves dreamed of, the transportation hub, military and economic center of the north and south parts of the Endless Mountains, and the second largest fortress after the Eternal Peak.

The loss of this place has severely hindered the communication between the northern and southern parts of the dwarves. The Eight Peaks Mountain serves as a transportation hub, and the extensive underground tunnel network can launch attacks on various dwarf fortresses. If this place cannot be recaptured, then there will always be a time bomb buried under the dwarves' rule in the Endless Mountains, which may explode at any time, making all their brilliant achievements disappear in an instant.

Behind the treasure house of Eight Peaks Mountain, there are countless treasures collected during the Golden Age of the Dwarves. It is even said that the Phoenix King's Light

The dwarves must, must take this place back.

This is the long-cherished wish of countless dwarves.

......

And now, the Bronzebeard team came for this very purpose.

The Dwarves' war in the south was a little "unlucky" compared to their victory in the north...

"Of course, Granni's hammer will bear witness that the final victory will, definitely belong to the dwarves!" Norn Bronzebeard gestured, with a lively image that did not match Al's impression of the dwarves.

He raised his hand and interrupted the dwarf while he was speaking:

“It’s just that the process might take a bit of time.”

"There will be a lot of blood and sacrifice."

Al stepped down from his plain throne, which had nothing special about it except that it was large and soft and could accommodate several people at a time. It looked more like a bed than a chair. He stood up and walked to the left of the messengers.

He turned over the board with the map on it. The map on it was the map of the Badlands and Endless Mountains, starting from the Border Princes and part of southern Tyrell in the west, to the end of the Longfang Road in the east, and starting from the Eternal Peak in the north.