Fallowfolk Opposition
While The Black Leaf Guild holds the most power within the Amber Fallow, its reign is not without opposition and dissent. The Amber Fallow is a brutish region, home to many that would wish to see the Guild burn or be devoured. Expansion and development by the Black Leaf has only increased hostilities towards the wasp nation, with attacks becoming more frequent.
Don’t fear the dark, fear what it hides
The Amber Fallow has long been exposed to the Cullpines through a portal known as the Ambermaw. From this portal spilled out the malevolent fiends known as strixians. Originally avian in appearance, these fiends scoured the Cullpines as its apex predators, devouring what little life essence they could find. During ancient times, these fiends found the Ambermaw, and spilled forth into the Amber Fallow, changing the region forever. At first, they devoured as much as they could find, and destroyed what they couldn’t eat, until they were stopped by the cold and the new terrain.
They slowly began adapting to the wilds they now found themselves in. The constant gorging of life essence bloated these predators, and soon they embraced the darkness of the Fallow’s canopy. To this day, these fiends stalk the snow laden branches of the taiga, picking off any group unlucky enough to be spotted on their own. Travelers of the Fallow take extra care to spot them out, either sporting more numbers or specialized weaponry. The Black Leaf itself has taken considerable efforts to equip their scouting parties to deal with strixian attacks.
The most frequent encounters with strixians happen on established trade routes and supply lines. Caravans and sappers encounter strixians appearing in the form of ravens, attacking in numbers from the darkness above the paths. The Black Leaf Guild has taken measures to have these routes patrolled, and their workers escorted, but if the strixian crows have the advantage of numbers, they will still attack. Black Leaf scouting parties that venture into the uncharted Fallow have been attacked by strixians so swift they appear as a blur, and by gargantuan strixians that sway the trees with each wing beat. Few scouting parties have come back from these attacks without issue, serious injury and/or casualties being common.
These reports halt the Black Leaf’s immediate developmental efforts in the scouted area. Sending forces to deal with the strixians has proved to be too risky without enough information. Further impeding the Black Leaf efforts are emboldened strixians, much larger than the rest. Dubbed ‘apex’ strixians, they are far more insidious, organizing lesser fiends into flocks, and coordinating attacks on entire settlements. Despite the clear show of intelligence, no known strixians of any kind have a grander scheme at play; they solely hunt to feast.
A cry for the betrayed, a blade for the forest
In the fall of 33 AC, the locusts were finally discovered by the civilized insectoids of Alvandis, and they were impressed. The old Leaf Group wasps had evaded the adept locust rangers for some months. When they finally met, the locusts of the Great Wings tribe greeted them curiously. These positive interactions were cut short when the locusts eventually revealed amber to the desperate wasps. In one fell swoop, the locusts' leaders were killed by the Leaf Group, their peoples routed from their home. Scarred by this cold-hearted betrayal, the Great Wings tribe fled into the Amber Fallow, spreading word of dark wasp betrayers. While most fallowfolk tribes heeded this warning, the remaining did not seek to enact violence, and instead kept to themselves. In 34 AC, the Black Leaf Guild was formally established, and their push into the forest for amber did not go unnoticed.
Bands of Great Wing descendants have since come together to attack the Black Leaf’s mining operations, slowing or even shutting down the quarries. These attacks have continued into the present, increasing in force with each amber quarry made. Supply lines to and from the quarries go from safe to certain death, straining the quarry’s workers. Direct attacks are brutal, with arrows, spears, and even improvised explosives assailing the quarry’s equipment. While no figurehead has ever claimed responsibility for the fallowfolk attacks, one name and group has been whispered from the edges of the wood, and heard echo across battles.
One descendant of the Great Wings tribe has been rallying Fallowfolk tribes. Known as Epit Klau, this young locust leader has been spreading word of the Black Leaf’s careless destruction of the amber beneath the soil. In 29 NA, a call for all able fallowfolk rolled across the Fallow as Epit Klau began to organize a fighting force called the ‘Apex Wings.’ With enough numbers, Epit Klau plans to mount an offensive against the Black Leaf’s spreading influence, seeking to push the wasps into exile once more.
In light of the Apex Wings organizing, another group stirs to answer the call. A settlement of forgotten fire and ice ants reside far to the northern coastline. Only known to the Black Leaf as the Frozen Scorch, this company of ant warriors have long struggled to survive in the Fallow after being left behind by their former masters in ancient times. Hanging onto life through kinship and sheer will, the lost warriors were pitied by the early Fallowfolk. The Fallowfolk would teach the ant warriors of survival, and the unique methods of the Amber Fallow. In turn, the ants were forever grateful, and found peace amidst the Fallow’s frozen north.
To this day, the Frozen Scorch still remembers the kindness of the Fallowfolks’ predecessors, and rallies to Epit Klau, swearing to help retake the land. Acting as a formidable front line shock troops, the Frozen Scorch protects their ranger allies and rams into wasp defenses. Patrolling guards are taken aback as quarry walls are suddenly splintered into sawdust, followed by the Fallowfolks’ many arrows. Once the guards scramble to protect the quarry, it is already ruined, and the ants disappear as fast as they arrived.
In addition to the Frozen Scorch, the The Mush-Folk of the Fallow and other adjacent regions can also hear Epit Klau’s call, alongside the Slumbering Roots themselves crying out in pain. Typically a peaceful following, many Mushfolk individuals have left their circles in order to directly fight for the amber leylines. These extremists are on rough terms with their peaceful brethren, questioning why they would sit and watch such horrors unfold. Nicknamed ‘Mashfolk’ by sappers, they are armed with druidic magic and mycelial remedies, able to empower the attacking troops, heal them, and aid in their retreat. Without proper magical countermeasures, Black Leaf troops take significant losses when combating Fallowfolk with Mushfolk support.
The Apex Wings, Frozen Scorch, Strixians, Fallowfolk Tribes Type
Military, Tribal alliance, Junta Membership
~30,000 Demonym
Falks, Scorchers, locusts, strix, mashfolk Parent Organization
Amber Fallow Dates Active
Apex Wings active 29 NA - present Fighting Style
Total War, Guerilla Tactics, Important Locations
Ambermaw, Celestia Peaks Notable Members
Epit Klau
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