His men tell the tale in the alehouse at the village of High Point pass, it’s the furthest, northernmost outpost of the Octavian Empire. From there, word spreads quickly across the lands, kingdoms and the Octavian Empire, word spreads of the impossible feat that Koronos accomplished and with how it was achieved: with The Sword of the First. When it eventually falls on the ears of Octavius, by the mouth of Calvion no less, the emperor becomes furious and kills some of his own guards in a fit of rage, it has been said.
Within mere days of the banishment of the Aberration, green returns to the trees and plants in the valley, and the birds and animals start to return. It seems too quickly to seem possible, as if some power is affecting the environment; that power is Koronos. People of the more oppressed and impoverished areas and ethnicities come to the valley formerly known as the Cursed Valley, the people start calling it ‘The Realm of Koronos,’ and they simply call him ‘The Miracle.’ This motley group asks for permission to live within the borders of his lands; it is granted.
Koronos has his men quickly refit the fortifications in the narrow valley pass that connects the fortress lands to High Point; it’s a place where a few men with ranged weapons behind walls could hold back an army, because he may have to hold back an army soon. The farthest northernmost actual town in the Octavian empire is Castle Ridge, and it’s only a few days’ march. Koronos and Captain Korvax hold a meeting about this.
Captain Korvax says to Koronos after he takes a drink from a goblet of wine, “if they haven’t already received orders to march on the fortress, then they soon will, sir.” He’s an older burly soldier with a full beard and a face as hard and tough as nails.
“There is a garrison posted there with a company of soldiers, commanded by the notoriously cruel Lord Stone. I have never met him; I only know of him through his reputation.” Koronos says as they look over an old map of the region, rolled out on the officers’ old dining table in the mess hall.
Making a grumbling grunt noise, the captain adds, “aye, I’ve heard of him as well, nothing good either, sir. He gets his men killed in battle liberally, so rumor is that the emperor posted him way up here to get rid of him, essentially. Left to his own devices, he runs Castle Ridge like his own personal kingdom, as long as taxes are collected and sent to the capital, no one cares… Likely a lot of his own men hate him, we could use this to our advantage, which gives me an idea. With your permission, I can send a man into Castle Ridge to do some espionage and offer the soldiers a deal. Would be nice if we could lure away some of his men before the fighting even begins.”
“What would this offer be?” Queries Koronos, interested in what the captain has to say.
“Better pay, better perks, like titles and land in the valley. Last I recall, the pay for an Octavian soldier was shit, and I doubt it’s changed a whole lot in the past few years since I served in the legions. It turns out, I have the perfect man for the job, Sergeant Xavion.”
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Koronos slaps the captain on the shoulder in a friendly gesture, “do it, and since this is your idea, you work out the details of the offer and these titles.”
With only a small window of opportunity, Koronos decides to do some scouting around the valley and the base of the mountains for anything to possibly hunt. This is when he sees it, a huge paw print of some large cat, a print the size of a dinner plate. He’s only heard rumors of such an animal, it’s a gigantic black pantera that stands at shoulder height of a man, from deep in the mountains and weighs at least 100 stone. It’s thought to have been gone from these lands for hundreds of years. Somewhere out in the brush, he can ‘feel’ its eyes upon him, watching him. Koronos can sense a little about this animal, her name is Shelove and she is cautious, intelligent and curious. He tries to reach out with his mind to the animal to make mental contact; “hello, I am Koronos and I mean you no ill will, my friend,” it startles her a little, so the impressive beast runs off into the foothills. She is fast. Of course, she doesn’t understand words, the communication attempt was more with feelings, emotions and intentions, it’s on a deeper level than mere words anyway.
It is only a few days later when a scout of Koronos spots Octavian legionnaires arriving in High Point village. About half are calvary with Lord Stone in command, mounted upon an enormous black warhorse named Abyss. The lord earned his title in battle, he’s a huge, muscular man that looks like he was forged in the fires of battle instead of being born as a babe to a woman. He even looks a little gray, to match his name: it’s rumored that his family line has Kazarian blood somewhere in their ancestry.
They have maybe a few days, at most, to prepare for an attack on the pass at High Point fortifications. Fortunately for Koronos, when I call it a pass; it’s barely wide enough for a wagon that occasionally gives way to sheer drops on one side or both sides with treacherous jagged rocks below. In addition to that, as one approaches the fortified gates to the valley beyond, towering sheer cliffs on each side, perfect for raining arrows, rock and stone down on top of unwelcome guests.
Captain Korvax and Koronos make the day's ride to the gate of the mountain-pass to prepare for the imminent attack, along with fifty of the new residents that volunteered to help defend their new home. Four of them are there to protect Koronos as bodyguards from assassins, each one is a representative of the main ethnicity groups, more or less, from the valley. They are Pericles; the greatest swordsman in the valley, Hybornyesis; unmatched with throwing daggers, spear and the bow, Skullcrusher; he earned this title by crushing a man’s skull with his bare hands, and the last is a true barbarian shieldmaiden named Corvannafax, renowned for her unarmed martial combat skills, she looks half Kazarian, but of the northern tribes of the hot desert regions of the Helfire Range. Her golden hair, yellow irises and reddish skin is the common appearance of the northern Kazarian people. The new residents of the valley are the people that aren’t welcome anywhere else.
Evidently the people elected a mayor of sorts, and this mayor decided this was best. Competitions were held to see who the best warriors were. The captain had them swear that they would take a blade or arrow to protect their warlord.
Assassination attempts are not entirely uncommon, even for battle commanders, a warlord is an even bigger target, so Koronos reluctantly agreed.