The Northern Vesve

This area is of major importance, as the presence of the Lesser Boneheart priest Panshazek as regional commander shows. The main bases here are those at Greenreach and Izlen along the lakeside trail leading south. There are three types of operations conducted or supervised by the troops under Panshazek's command.

Infiltrations: The northern margins of the Vesve along the Deepstil are technically within the fief of the Wolf Nomads, but Iuz's forces creep out from their secret base at Waterwall and from encampments along the southern banks. From here, they head into the western lands of the wood elves, and have even made raids into the forested hills of the gnomes far to the west.

These expeditions serve the purpose of espionage, the capture of slaves, the study of enemy defenses, and theft. What is unusual and characteristic of them is that the orcs are subtle, clever and well-trained as forest scouts and ambushers. The troops do not fight pitched or mass battles with the wood elves, and have learned to recognize wood elf signals and the signs of elven ambush. This “theater of operations" is very much one of mutual guerilla warfare, and a half-dozen mid-level mages are stationed at Greenreach and Waterwall. These mages use disguise and camouflage spells to assist the stealth of orc infiltrations. Also, such subtle strategies as the use of a chain madness spell have been used against the wood elves to see what developments occurred.

Recruit or else: Along most of the frontier with the northern area lie lands occupied by the "free humanoids" of the Vesve; primarily hobgoblins and gnolls, but also some renegade Celbits and Jebli who do not accept service to Iuz. The policy of Iuz's leaders to these humanoids varies from leader to leader, and from time to time. It is dictated by caprice and whim more than anything else.

For example, if the commander's orc soldiers are getting frustrated and irritable, what better way to resolve that problem than to have them attack the gnolls and hobgoblins a few miles away in the forest? Orcs need battle to keep them happy. On the other hand, attempts to recruit the free humanoids into armies have sometimes been successful, although usually only under duress, and "converts" tend to backslide. A typical policy is to hire free humanoids as mercenaries, and then increasingly coerce them into regular army service. Periodically, Panshazek or an important orc/orog chieftain will decide to advance swiftly through a great chunk of this “free forest,” driving the humanoids west and into the heartlands of the elves, rangers and woodsmen of the west.

There is a special problem for Panshazek and his commanders which has arisen of late. Among the "free" Celbits, a charismatic cult, styling itself as the Torch of Gruumsh, has become very influential. Their leader, Grekdenn Celrurk, is said to be seven feet tall. and to have skin of stone. He is said to possess a magical torch which blinds and spits fire at enemies of the orc Power who is his patron. Rumors of his prowess spread like wildfire among Iuz's orcs. This wouldn't be considered too big of a problem, but an entire warband of 200 Celbits based in Izlen converted to the faith in Readying and slew the priests of Iuz who commanded them, fleeing into the forest to join the "free orcs" there. This is the only time such an occurrence has happened, and Panshazek has concealed it from his Greater Boneheart superiors and Iuz himself. The priest is now desperate to wipe out the Torch of Gruumsh, so the balance of operations has turned to search-and-destroy here.

Timbering and Plundering: Forest lands on the borderlands of elven; human, and humanoid settlements are usually attacked by acid and fire, which has limited effectiveness, given that there is good rainfall over the Vesve. However, enslaved humans, especially Vesve woodsmen, are used for timbering and logging in a number of small camps strung out along the eastern fringes of the forest. These are unmapped, because camp sites move frequently as forest is cleared and also to avoid any attempts to free these slaves by free woodsmen, Vesve rangers, and other forces of good in the Vesve.