The Struggle of Dzaklak

Military action

A battle between the forces of Rasnei, an evil sorcerer, and Artus II.

Artus II had begun to appoint Magistrates for all of the Gratic towns and villages under his control when he appointed Rasnei. Rasnei, a kindly old man whose knowledge of the terrain had been instrumental in the victory at Ragged Bush, was placed in charge of a village whose name is lost to history. In those days, Magistrates had very little to no oversight, and the annual Provincial Assemblies had not yet come into force. Because of this, Rasnei was able to work on his work in secret.   Rasnei, kindly though he may have seemed, was interested in necromancy and the study of undeath, that dreaded branch of Health magic that aims to reanimate the dead. Rasnei needed a large number of villagers to be used for his experiments in creating undying troops. His success in winter of 23 I in creating one of the first zombies quickly led to his inability to control it, where it infected the rest of the village. As he was responsible for its creation, the zombies did not kill him, but soon a walking army of the undead replaced his village. Only a few villagers escaped this event, and they brought word of Rasnei's plans to Artus II.   Rasnei decided to attack the nearest village, which happened to be Dzaklak, one of the newest villages in the region. Unfortunately, Rasnei had underestimated the Gratic swordsmen, who surprised and cut his army to pieces with very minimal losses. Rasnei was captured and brought before Artus II, who had him executed for his treason and dark magic.