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[center][b]Elthana Offers Conditional Surrender[/b][/center]

[i]Attacked on two fronts, the Elven army of Elthana crumbles steadily in the face of overwhelming numbers. From the East, the High Orcs have driven the 6th Army into the sea, with few survivors able to make their way to safety on the mainland. From the West, the Krakons have stormed Fort Thana and obliterated the 2nd Army in the ensuing battle. The mainland is left with few professional warriors, and though all Elves by the general nature of their long lives are versed in the arts of war, the availability of heavy armor and refined weaponry is scarce. 

Nevertheless, the peoples of this nation have rallied against the raging tide of their attackers. Thousands, male and female, are gathering at the nearest barracks to take whatever weapons and armor are available. Ditches are being dug at key points on the road to the Elthenian capital, and Elven Rangers are sabotaging bridges and roadways in an attempt to slow the invasion.[/i]

However, the Elthanian High Command know the war is lost. They have not the military or economic strength to withstand an extended conflict, and have dispatched riders to both sides with the following terms: 

[b]The islands of Elthana will be surrendered wholly to the nations of Bahapore and Torfas without further need for further fighting, on the following conditions:[/b]

[list]- The Elthanian people are given four weeks to bury their dead, treat their wounded and prepare for a mass exodus.

- They are provided with safe passage through Bahapore, so that they may make their way to Bohaddon. 

- The prisoners taken by the invaders are released and returned to their families.[/list]

Failure to agree will result in a fanatical last stand, where the Elthenian peoples are prepared to fight to the death for their homes, families and livelihoods - or so say the Elven messengers.

[center][b]Echen Goes Dark[/b][/center]

It has been a week since the last badly damaged merchant vessel reached the safety of a harbor, having escaped the slaughter at Echen City. No-one from the mainland has yet approached the islands, and they have been given a wide birth by passing ships. The fate of the Dwarves are unknown, but the worst is presumed. 

[center][b]The Eagle of the South?[/b][/center]

Word has traveled north that a newly reformed Bohaddon Empire has established a firm power base in the deep south of the Orysson continent. They say that entire legions, composed of thousands of soldiers, are amassing on the borders of this resurgent power in readiness to strike at an unsuspecting world. If this is true, and the legions in South Orysson are of the same composition and quality of those who fought in the field twenty years ago, then the North has much to fear. However, as always, rumours are rumours, speculation is speculation.