Roughly a year and a half had passed since the massive yellow beast had crossed into the Uncharted Lands, and something had changed there. Roughly a year ago the Uncharted Lands had stopped shifting, precisely coinciding with a loud metallic screech and a large earthquake that had originated from deep within the Uncharted Lands. Of course, knowing the history of the myriad failures to explore and colonize the Uncharted Lands the Kingdom of Grellek was hesitant to send another expedition.

Only after a year had passed with no changes to the Uncharted Lands being detected did the nobles and clergy begin calling for an expedition. Why the nobles wanted an expedition was obvious as they wanted more land and therefore more revenue. The reason the clergy wanted to expand was that on the opposite side of the Uncharted Lands was the Beastman, Elven and Dwarven nations. Up until this point the only way to acquire legal slaves (Beastmen, Elves and Dwarves) was to make a long and dangerous trip around the Uncharted Lands; either north through the frozen, mountainous land known as The Fangs of Frost or south through either the sea monster-filled Sea of Teeth or even further south through a desert known as the Sea of Glass.

Now that the Uncharted Lands could be navigated, it was possible that they could find a path through to the Elven, Dwarven and Beastman Nations. If they could, a Crusade could be launched to enslave the ‘Savages’ and take their resources. While in most villages treated other, non-human races as sub-human trash, Arkhan’s village had been notorious among the Kyrellian Clergy as being a place where there were no slaves, and everyone was equal. Of course, this was unknown to the Grellekian Clergy, who assumed the Gallop to be a monster that had left the Uncharted Lands for no reason, only to return.

As the urging of both groups in Grellek grew more and more intense, other Human nations began secretly sending their own expeditions to the Uncharted Lands though Grellekian lands. The Kingdom of Kyrell was still embroiled in a bloody civil war, but some members of the three factions were looking to the future after their side had won. Thus, some people who were powerful enough to hold their own in war were being sent in small parties to secretly cross the border and explore the lands beyond Grellek. It is pitiful, but the motivations of Kyrell’s power players was the exact same as those in Grellek, and soon all the other Human Nations got in on the action. To them, it was obviously only a matter of time before they discovered a way to get slaves and wealth more cheaply than before.

While the Human lands were preparing to find a way through, the Beastman, Elven and Dwarven lands were in a mild panic. They had been aware of what the Uncharted Lands really were for a very long time and had counted on it being there as a massive buffer between them and their enemies. Now, they had no buffer aside from the unknown terrain and, like the Humans, sent scouts to explore the now unchanging Uncharted Lands. When it became clear that the dungeon was now dead, they began to construct fortifications to attempt to weather the storm that was soon to come while laying the groundwork for an Alliance between the three races.

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The Dwarves had mastered technology and Runecrafting, allowing them to use a kind of pseudo-magic despite the inability for their race to use true magic. By contributing their technology, Runes, artillery and their knowledge of fortifications they indeed brought a lot to the table. The Elves were master mages who put the best Human Arch Magi to shame many times over. Even an Elven child had a Mana Pool of over 300, and an adult could easily reach 2,800. They were lean, and had amazing knowledge of medicine, alchemy and agriculture. They could even grow verdant plant life practically anywhere with nothing to naturally sustain it. They would be useful as snipers and as a source of sustenance during long sieges (Not in a cannibalistic sense you sicko!).

The Beastmen were tall, muscular and incredibly strong. They were excellent in a melee engagement as an unarmored punch from a young adult could dent, if not break through steel plate armor. Some Beastmen could even enter a berserker frenzy that let them fight even when fatally wounded, as if they could not die until either their head was removed, or the frenzy ended. They are fast and agile, though not as much as Elves, but seemed to be born into the world looking for a good fight. Of the three races, they were the most prepared to fight to the bloody end and go down with honor, not surrendering even if the cause was hopeless. By these three powers combined, a new nation is born! Thus, the United Non-Human Alliance was formed after a surprisingly short period of time.

Arkhan was unaware of any of these developments, as he was more interested in the establishment of several satellite bases to protect the Sky Citadel that was still under construction. In his eyes, several solid defensive lines would allow Arcadia’s development to progress smoothly and without interruptions. So while the construction of the Sky Citadel was a high priority, it was actually lower than the construction of numerous secondary fortifications placed on the ground and in the air. Effort was made to flatten ground to allow for airstrips and good lines of sight, while some bunkers were made to allow for greater defensive capabilities.

Arkhan even took inspiration from C&C Red Alert 2: Yuri’s Revenge by creating ‘Vehicle Bunkers’ so his Zaku Tanks and Guntanks could launch artillery and anti-air from relative safety. While they were simply large walls that boxed in the Zaku Tanks or Guntanks, they would keep it safe from melee, which was their main Achilles heel. Space/ Aerial Units patrolled the skies and would alert ground forces in the event of monsters, however after the assault on the Dungeon Core most monsters stayed far away from the expanding buffer zones and fortification lines. Now, a year after they had conquered the Dungeon, the defensive lines numbered at least 12 layers deep and comprised numerous pillboxes, vehicle bunkers, airfields, small sky forts and countless kilometers of razorwire, minefields, Punji traps and tank traps.

The stage was being set for a war unlike anything that the world had seen before.