Sederen sandseers and allied mages were seen meeting with known and suspected stonebound. Officials around the world suspect it has to do with recruitment to fend off desert invaders. How many stonebound agreed to join the Sederens is unknown.
What is known is that an army of fiery beings has currently laid siege to Audira, and surrounds the city. Reports indicate the army consists of fire giants, fire elementals, beings that "walk" on fire instead of with legs, and other strange, deadly creatures. No demands have yet been made by this invading army, but the defenses of Audira are tested daily by the invaders.
The Sederens discovered this invading army weeks before it arrived at Audira. The origin of the "flamewalkers," as they are now being called, is unknown, but from all reports simply appeared in the middle of the Great Desert and began heading toward Audira. The Jnaar sent diplomats to meet with the flamewalkers' forces, but the flamewalkers slew all the messengers and diplomats. Bracing for war, Sedera reached out to its allies for military support. Trelania, Brelin, and the Boyers (including a contingent of dwarves from the Runic Anvil), all spared some forces to aid Audira. Despite not being official allies, Rael also sent forces to aid Audira, much like during the conflict with the Green Dragon Cult out of Kuhl. While not providing official aid, Succession allowed mercenary forces to join the allied forces in defending Audira.
All the aid, however, was projected to arrive after the flamewalker army arrived at the Sederen capitol. Dsen Ravorninin, the third son of the Jnaar and one of Sedera's military commanders, was tasked with finding a way to delay the invading army long enough for allied forces to arrive to fortify Audira. It's said that he lead a force of mercenaries that included a handful of veteran stonebound in multiple hit-and-run strikes against the flamewalkers. Using some manner of traps combined with magic that caused the sand around the flamewalker army to be disrupted on such a scale as to bury portions of the army, Commander Dsen was able to delay the forward progress of the flamewalkers long enough for allied reinforcements to arrive, preventing the feared loss of Audira to the flamewalkers. The Jnaar has commended the efforts of Dsen and the special forces he lead on what was expected to be a suicide mission.
The war, however, has just begun, so there is no time for celebration. So far, there is a stalemate between Sedera and the attacking flamewalkers. If the Jnaar doesn't find a way to defeat the invaders, it may be the end of Sedera, nevermind the threat these invaders may pose to surrounding kingdoms.
/// PCs participating in the Fire in the Blood quest series, please use this thread to add extra RP, list PC actions, etc. Also, I have formed a chat in Discord for direct RP between PCs. ///
