The Sunset Invasions

While the Julijonas Dynasty had been swiftly and brutally executed, their nation remained. The nobility had taken it upon themselves to elect a new King who would rule them, and the rest of the world, for the rest of time. This King would be Rimantas iš Danauskas, a Dracon known for his intelligence, martial skill, and newfound faith in "The Way Of The Travelling Gods".   Upon his coronation in 1 E.D., King Rimantas would declare that it was the duty of the Immortal Kingdom to assist the Trinity in their conquest of this new world. Before this time, Dracons were a rare sight in the world, as they seldom left their island home. The most the average person knew about them was shrouded in rumor and myth, or gathered from Dracon traders. No more. With King Rimantas at their head, the Dracons would be a worldwide name, feared by all.   In 3 E.D., Dracon warriors would march North into the lower regions of the Arctic Chain. The native Ogres did not bother them, and the Dracons left them alone in turn. However, they got to work building several military encampments in the area, proclaiming that the Ogres were now under the protection of the Immortal Kingdom. In practice, not much changed for the nomadic peoples, although trade between various Ogren Tribes and the Dracons became easier.   Years later, in the year 8 E.D., the Tengu citizens of the small, coastal village of Bandardi were settling down for the night. The sea was calm, if not a bit foggy, and the shining sky of sunset illuminated the land. The farmers put down their tools, and the blacksmiths had put out their forges. But then, out of the fog, a deep horn sound began to reverberate over the sea and into the village. As the Tengu rushed from their homes to see what was the matter, they looked on in horror as longships beached themselves upon the shore. Warriors from the North, wielding battle axes and short swords, hopped from the boat and began to loot the town, killing any that stood in their way. A few escaped on their llamas to the nearest military camp, but by the time the soldiers arrived back at Bandardi, they found nothing but ash. Everything of value had been taken by the Dracon Raiders, who were now long gone.   For over a decade, all lands near the island of Borealia suffered raids. Northern Sahul was hit the hardest, especially the Sickle Islands, but the Shahdom of Arkadija (who at this point in time owned much of Northwestern Oriens) was also hard hit. Word of the phenomena was spread throughout Ecumene, with the events collectively becoming known as the "Sunset Invasions". This is because, by the time the raiding parties reached a foreign shore, it was usually around sunset.   However, these raids were nothing more than a preliminary action. While the raiding parties went out, spreading fear and collecting loot for the Immortal Kingdom, King Rimantas was building the greatest army the world had ever seen. Thousands and thousands of Dracon warriors hailing from the cold lands of Borealia had been gathered, and they were ready to make sure the world knew the glory of the Traveling Gods.   As the year turned to 21 E.D., King Rimantas knew it was time. A great ritual was performed in the capital city of Sulaca, with a mighty bear being slain on an altar so that the Trinity would imbue the Dracon warriors with the strength of the beast. With that, the Great Zealot Army marched to water and then rode the waves all the way to the Rajv Peninsula. Rimantas himself would be the first on the ground, as his brother stayed behind to administer the Kingdom in his absence. With their King at the head of the Army, the Dracons were convinced they could do anything, and they were not wrong. One by one, the many, many Tengu Kingdoms fell to the axes of the Great Zealot Army. Thousands died to the bloodthirsty horde, and within five years, the peninsulas of Rajv and Nav had fallen and were incorporated into the Immortal Kingdom. Great warriors and the sons of nobility were allowed domain over the conquered territory, but the King was not done. Within another two years, the peninsula of Rohil had fallen like the others. By now, almost every Tengu in the world was under Dracon domination, and the only thing stopping further domination of Sahul was the many mountain ranges and the Dwarven warriors that inhabited them.   With the lands near to the Gulf of Zanja and the Sickle Sea secured, King Rimantas took a smaller army over the sea and into the Arkadī Isle. While he made some early gains, the Dryad warriors proved to be an even match for the Dracons, as they had prepared for the eventual invasion of the Great Zealot Army. There were many great battles, but by the time 33 E.D. rolled around, the small force the King had taken with him was tiring and getting low on supplies, while the Dryads had not yet tired of defending their ancient home. The final nail in the coffin came at the Battle Of Kopran River, in which the Great Zealot Army attempted to cross a bridge over Kopran Stream, a smaller river only a bit of a way away from the Arcadian capital of Sjataç. It was a last-ditch effort towards victory, but it was for naught. As the Dracons attempted to cross the bridge, they were ambushed by Dryads in the nearby woods. Those on the bridge were slaughtered, and the Dracons (who were in no way expecting a defensive fight) were caught on the backfoot. Arrows rained from the treeline as the river swelled up and began to knock the Dracons to their feet, allowing the Dryad warriors to make quick work of them. After King Rimantas took an arrow to the leg and saw most of his high-ranking men slaughtered by the Dryads, he called a retreat, mounting his Riding Mammoth as the last of his force ran with their tail between their legs all the way back to Borealia.   However, the arrival of the Great Zealot Army did not just bring death and destruction. The formerly disorganized and rather poor lands of the Tengu were propped up by the much richer Immortal Kingdom (with loot stolen from them in raids ironically going back into the reformation of the countryside). Roads between towns and cities were refurbished to suit the needs of the Army, and the Immortal Kingdom began to fully reform and streamline taxation. While the old Tengu Kingdoms would directly tax the countryside, the Immortal Kingdom began to allow the small landowning class of Northern Sahul to collect the taxes for the newly massive Kingdom, providing that they give a share to the government in Sulaca. Ironically, this would make the formerly small landowning class into a powerful force in the Tengu lands, a powerful force that while currently loyal to the Immortal Kingdom, would turn against them in the North Sea Crusade.