The realms of Tyrica

THE REALMS OF TYRICA

INTRODUCTION
East of Adrila lie the Grimscathe mountains. North of them again lies Tyrica, a land rich with tradition and custom. From Camlean in the south, with its fair valleys and ogreous gorgeous vistae, through Silverdale, located in Tyrica's exact center, a beautiful city serving as Tyrica's capital, and north to Herlean, the warm and pleasant fiefdom where oranges and apples grow wild, Tyricans boldly claim to be from the most breathtaking land in the Old World. Tyricans also tend to be very religious; the Guardian Church' Overpriest resides in Silverdale. As a result, the Five Guardians are held in high regard all over the country, and anyone insulting the Five before a Tyrican will find themselves in trouble quickly.

Tyricans tend to be large of stature, and they are usually half a head taller than most Adrilans. They also easily grow large in other ways, either through muscle or through excess fat, often related to their profession. A skinny Tyrican is rather unusual.

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HISTORY

Tyrica's earliest history is shrouded in time. All that is known is that one day, the Sword of the Stalwart, a magical weapon of great power, was found by a lonely wanderer far from home. When he drew it from its sheath, he was struck by a vision, and it inspired him to build the sanctuary of the Five, where Silverdale is now. The sanctuary was small at first, but as he remained there, more travellers eventually came upon the chapel, where the wanderer turned priest offered rest and shelter from their journeys. Not all remained, but many did, and as time passed by, Silverdale had become a small town. However, Tyrica was already settled. Ogres had built crude settlements in Tyrica's hills and valleys, long before the first humans came. At first, the ogres tolerated the small human presence, deemed unimportant by their warlord. That is not to say the ogres ignored the humans completely; whenever the ogre lord deemed Silverdale too great, they raided the town. Many were slain, and many buildings burned, but the small stone chapel seemed protected; every time an ogre moved through the doorway, lightning burst forth from the Stalwart Sword, turning the ogre to ash. Many began seeking refuge in the chapel during ogre raids, protected by the Sword.

After a few of these ogre raids had been weathered, it became evident that Silverdale could not carry on like this. So many died at ogre hands every time, and its population was rapidly dwindling. It was then that a young man, brash and reckless, took the Sword. Legends contradict each other regarding his origins; some say he came from the Adrilan Basin, a dishonoured knight seeking to redeem his past failures. Others claim he was the first man native to Silverdale, a rugged huntsman clad in the furs of his prey. Yet others claim that he came from Chandeum, a battlemage wielding magic and weapons with equal skill. No matter his heritage, the young man gathered those few who had the courage to follow him against the ogres, and thanks to the Sword's power, they decimated those ogre camps surrounding Silverdale. As ogre heads were planted on stakes around Silverdale, the ogre warlord grew furious. The small band of warriors that kept killing his vanguard and scared his other troops was a nuisance in his eyes; a nuisance for him to deal with. Forth strode the ogre warlord, and at his heels, a mighty army followed.

Silverdale was not ready for a siege. No fortifications ever existed, and if a fire caught, it would engulf the entire city in too short a time. No army could be mustered in its defence. Its sole protector was the wielder of the Stalwart Sword; his fellows were exhausted. Condemned by most of Silverdale's citizens for hastening their doom, he left the city at night, taking the Sword with him. The only man there to see him off was the priest who had originally found the Sword.

Exactly what happened that night has never been explained. Only legends surround it, just as legend now surrounds the young man; some claim the young man single-handedly slew two hundred ogres to prove his ability to challenge the warlord. While such tales are likely exaggerated, the ogre warlord's head was found on a stake outside Silverdale's chapel the next morning, with the Stalwart Sword lodged deep into its skull. No ogre army came upon Silverdale, and scouts reported that no ogres could be found anywhere near the town. Only the warlord's body was found, headless and cut by a hundred blows. The young man, likewise, was gone, only the Sword serving as proof he ever existed. A miracle had occurred, the citizens claimed. The priest, however, said nothing, and kept his mouth shut about the matter.

For two centuries, Silverdale was left alone, untroubled by ogres. The town grew into a city, fortified and strong, and villages began appearing in the surrounding lands. Humans thrived, and those of brave hearts and strong minds set themselves to defending the human lands from the ogres, who now roamed the lands in smaller bands. No warlord had risen up to gather them again. While Tyrica was far from properly settled, the humans residing there were allowed peaceful lives.

Then the Black Years came. Silverdale, like so many other human settlements, suffered badly, but their suffering was nothing compared to the ogres'. The plague infected them just as badly, and without the cure Ameran of Elthern had made, as well as the ogres' brute minds failing to comprehend what they were dealing with, they nearly exterminated themselves. With the ogres weakened so drastically, Silverdale hired mercenaries and lawless folk from other parts of the Old World to drive out the ogres, in exchange for a place in their new country. The ogres were defeated and driven south through Camlean into Grimscathe. Many battles were fought, yet the Sword of the Stalwart remained undrawn in Silverdale; it had at this point grown to become a holy artifact to the Tyricans, deliverance from all threats, and a national treasure. So long as the Sword of the Stalwart remained in Silverdale, Tyrica would remain safe.

Gradually, Tyrica was populated, with several families and survivors from ruined villages in Ivellea emigrating through the Adrilan basin and then through the Grimscathe mountains. Many bands of mercenaries offered escorts, only to rob the poor immigrants once they made it through. Often possessionless, these families had to adapt to life on the frontier, which was understandably tough, but the fresh Tyricans took it in stride, and soon the country was populated with brave individuals seeking to preserve a peaceful life for themselves.

The ogres gradually repopulated, as well, and some 40 years ago they again began attacking Tyrica in force; only this time, they had no idea how to conduct warfare. Brave men ventured south to Camlean to stop them, and the ogres were repelled before they ever crossed the Sacern pass, separating Camlean from Tyrica proper. With posthaste, the men erected defences and began building fortresses along three mountain passes; the Stalwart Gate in the southwest, the Scathepass Fortress in the south, and Tyrica's Shield to the southeast. These three fortresses were completed eight years after construction was started, although the walls had already begun repelling bold ogres before then. A fourth, even greater, fortress was built; Sacern Castle, made in the case the ogres were to overrun the three other fortresses and spill into Camlean.

For thirty-six years the fortresses continued to hold the ogres in the mountains, manned by brave volunteers from all over Tyrica, though most men came from Camlean itself. However, as these warriors held the line, they began being taken for granted; no letters of appreciation came from concerned citizens anymore, and supply caravans began coming once a week rather than once every three days, as was customary. Although attempts at raising public awareness were made, none had the desired effect. The order of warriors, long having received volunteers and criminals alike from all over Tyrica, was left to its own devices, with no sign of reinforcements.

Forced to improvise, the warriors of Camlean began taking extreme measures around springtime 1979. One on one, none of them could stand up against an ogre, and the ogres outnumbered them. They had to grow increasingly pragmatic and cruel, even to themselves; over the course of each week, every warrior in the three fortresses were subjected to both mental and physical torture in order to better fight the ogres. As the times passed, the warriors grew to feel no pity and no remorse for ogres, and while still physically weaker than the ogres, developed inhuman reflexes and a toughness that allowed them to ignore lesser bruises and cuts.  Those few still willing to lead the supply caravans were intimidated by the warriors' scarred and bruised appearances, as well as their thousand-yard stare. Yet, all this was necessary to keep the increasingly hostile ogres away for a while longer. Camlean's bravest fought on despite wounds that would put most warriors out of fighting for good. Every week, a new assault came upon them, gradually increasing in strength. Only an iron will kept them going, for their days held little joy; only vigilance and pain.

In summer 1981, according to Ivellean calendar, the warriors began deserting the three fortresses. Tired of being ignored by Silverdale and the rest of Tyrica, and weary of sacrificing themselves with no thanks, they left Camlean, heading west into Ivellea and Adrila, or east into the abandoned plains there, as deserters. Autumn the same year, the Scathepass Fortress fell, and the ogres ran rampant into Camlean. The first survivors from outlying hamlets all told the same tale; ogres burning and pillaging, destroying everything Tyrica might want to reconquer. The Stalwart Gate and Tyrica's Shield fell during the next month, as their few defenders were incapable of holding against attacks from two fronts.

Silverdale rallied its finest knights, the Silver Shields, to ride to Sacern Castle and aid the defenders. The Silver Shields were the sons of nobles and deceased war heroes, but not even they were infallible; at the same time as Camlean's last outposts fell, one of their number was caught for treason, still in Silverdale. He was cast out of the Shields; the weapons granted to him by his noble father were taken from him, and were it not for the intervention of another noble's daughter, he would have been hanged for planning the downfall of Tyrica and conspiring with the ogres. She pleaded for him to be exiled rather than hanged, insisting with both pretty words and what evidence she could produce that he was no ogre's ally, and those arrayed against him eventually agreed. The knight was exiled from Tyrica, and the noble's daughter was stripped of all rank and privilege. The knight was given a horse and ordered to leave Tyrica in ten days, and the noble's daughter was disowned and forced to leave Silverdale, as none wanted to acknowledge a traitor's sympathiser.

Regardless of whether the traitor's allegiance with the ogres was true or no, the ogres rampaged through Camlean. The valleys burned, farms were ruined, brooks were destroyed and hills were mined for anything that could be used for a weapon. Only at Sacern Castle was the ogre advance stopped; the grand castle turned out too great for the ogres to destroy with brute force.

These days, most of Tyrica remains as it has for the past century, but Camlean is no more, and ogres are pounding on Tyrica's gate. It is hard to tell what course this country will take in the future - but for now, the country remains on the defensive, only rallied to arms when those who sacrificed for the good of others were forgotten.

LIFE IN TYRICA

How Tyricans get by
Most people living in Tyrica hold civilian jobs - loggers, farmers, masons, carpenters, smiths, hunters and so on. Most Tyrican villages are self-dependent - they acquire the resources they need for everyday life on their own, and generally, each village's lord will make decisions related to the running of the village.

Lords of Tyrican villages are hardly considered nobles in the regular aspect; they are simply part of a long line, starting with the village's founder (exceptions exist), and will gladly put their backs into manual labour if needed or requested (exceptions exist here also). They are down-to-earth individuals who haven't lost their touch with their people, guiding the village with a gentle hand. Along with priests of Iryan, the village lords are those that peasants turn to in dire times.

The Tyricans are largely peaceful, preferring to gain what they want through trading and bartering. As their history annals tell, many Tyricans were once men of Chandeum, sick and tired of their life there. Others were residents of the Adrilan Basin, of a less warlike disposition and tired of being ruled by prideful knights. Finding Tyrica untainted by the wars of humans, they settled there, and once the ogres were driven out of their land, Tyrica's residents simply decided to mind their own business, excluding those volunteering to hold the ogres out. Such are the ways of Tyrica to this day, even though Camlean's fall has alerted many Tyricans.

Tyricans and religion
The Five Guardians are very important to the Tyricans; gods they pray to, hoping that the gods will provide for and look after them. To Iryan they pray, for her to look after their farms and ensure all fares well in their lands. To Casun they pray, for him to ensure their towns are sturdy enough to withstand storms. To Turas they pray, for their trades to go well and their lives to be happy. As one might expect, Nirae and Aeras are not widely venerated in Tyrica.

Priests in Tyrica often care a lot for the well being of those around them, and so each priest will endeavour towards using what money they can spare to spread some happiness among their followers. Sermons are sometimes followed by priests sharing some food with all those attending, symbolising their community's sharing and working together. Many villages use these as an excuse to set up grand feasts after sermons, where the entire village works together to create a good celebration.

Magic is not widely cared about in Tyrica; it remains a part of life, much like the wind and the rain, but few care for it beyond that. As a result, the Arcane Church has very few followers in Tyrica, though they maintain a few chapels there, where clerics and knights keep an eye out for heretical cults. While these chapels are rarely visited by common peasants, clerics maintain them, and knights patrol the land. The Arcane Knights are feared by Tyrican peasantry, as their stern and cold manner differs a lot from Tyrica's own knights; skillful and noble, yet still friendly and considered some of Tyrica's greatest men.

A word on Tyrican military
Where Adrilans all hold great reverence for King Arrendal, and Ivelleans (the loyal ones, at least) both fear and admire their Emperor, Tyricans don't worry too much about where their ultimate loyalties lie. Their current ruler is Dalbred of Silverdale, but in a time of war, it would take a lot for Dalbred to reliably call upon any militias from outlying towns. Thus, Tyrica has few professional soldiers, and its defences are concentrated heavily upon the entry points into the country.

Tyrica's current state
While Tyrica's folk are generally peaceful and little concerned with what happens outside their villages, recent developments have them alerted and worried.  The Sacern Gate is the single most defended point in Tyrica, a mighty fortress that the ogres have besieged continuously for four years - while the defenders are valiantly holding them back, the ogres are growing stronger and more numerous, as Camlean's resources are being drained to feed the ogre hordes. With the Silver Shields mobilised - Tyrica's elite knights - deployed, most of Tyrica knows of the siege. Contingents of Arcane Knights aid the Silver Shields in the battle, as well as numerous young, rash men from villages all over the country to aid in any way they can. Tyrica is worried, a weight on the minds of all its residents - when the ogres inevitably breach Sacern Gate, they will stop at nothing until Silverdale is destroyed. Some are emigrating, unwilling to risk their lives. Most pray for a miracle.

Bits and pieces

Tyricans tend to be tradition-bound people, to the point where some things linger from back before they migrated, only because it's habit and tradition.

An old tradition in Tyrica is for the parents of young people to arrange marriages. This was once done out of necessity, to ensure warriors had children suited to be warriors as well, and to ensure the bloodlines were 'pure'. Nowadays, this still happens, but the bloodlines matter less, and there is a bigger emphasis on whether the families like each other or not. An arranged marriage is a good way to ensure closer bonds between a noble family and their servants (who often tend to be relatives of each other), for instance. It still happens that bloodlines of Ivellean descent approach another family of Ivellean heritage for an arranged marriage, to ensure the child maintains Ivellean grace and dignity.  There is some tension between different noble families for this reason.

It's unusual for Tyricans to specialise in magic. Hedge wizards are their most common kind of magician; unschooled amateurs who taught themselves in the most rudimentary ways of spellcraft. Nonetheless, with magic being as it is, it's not completely impossible that some old and experienced hedge wizard has crafted a spell that's not used in any spellbook. These wizards tend to live at the outskirts of towns, providing many kinds of magical spells. Some tend to miscast their spells due to their lack of discipline, sometimes with hilarious results.

Actual Tyrican nobles, i.e. those who live in and around Silverdale, have a tendency of being arrogant towards lesser citizens, and even more so towards foreigners. By comparison, Tyrican peasantry tend to be very welcoming and trustful towards foreign humans and human-like races, though with the past experiences with ogres, races that differ more from humans, such as xillidi and centaurs, are often treated with suspicion and paranoia. It's not too difficult for members of these races either to get in the good graces of the Tyricans, however, as a display of trust will often be enough for the Tyricans to accept them. The nobles, however, will require more significant acts before they deem strangers from abroad worthy of dealing with. Adrilans consider this a thickheaded act, as the thing Tyrica needs most now is aid from abroad to deal with the ogres. Ivelleans consider Tyricans simpleminded oafs, as Tyricans hardly hold anything Ivelleans consider special in any particular way, and thus find their arrogance foolish. Folk of Elthern, on the other hand, often deal with Tyricans, as the Tyricans' annals of history contain information relevant or interesting to the scholars. Elthern and Tyrica benefit from ties of friendship, but Elthern unfortunately lacks any means with which to aid the Tyricans save from the occasional wizard. Centaurs don't care much for Tyricans, and Tyricans don't care much for centaurs either, as the Tyricans' average size is too much for most centaur to even consider carrying on their backs. As a matter of fact, Tyrican horses are massive creatures compared to Adrilan ones, though the greater size has left them less capable of manoeuvring through battles. Tyrican horses thus are primarily means of transport and workhorses, though the Silver Shields order has horses bred for battle; giant beasts with great deals of muscle and possessing a basic intellect.

GEOGRAPHY


Tyrica is, by and large, divided into five realms. These five realms are Vidlean, to the east, Herlean to the north, Camlean to the south, Marlean to the west, and Silverdale in the center. Common for four of these, those being Vidlean, Herlean, Marlean and Silverdale, is that they are all largely covered in forest. The type of forest varies, from needle forests in Marlean's higher regions to leaf forests throughout Vidlean, and a great many fruit-bearing trees in Herlean. The fifth, Camlean, is far more open, although in place of trees, Camlean has large amounts of rock scattered around the land.

Silverdale
Silverdale is the capital and central area of Tyrica, and forms its center of administration. It is from here the king's tax collectors venture out, and it is here the Church of Guardians has its origin. It was here that the ogre warlord Hadok the Heinous was slain with the Sword of Stalwarts many, many years ago, and thanks to the miracle that occurred, the church was founded. It is here that the elite Tyrican knights, the Silver Shields, have their base fortress, and it is here that King Dalbred of Tyrica has his seat of power.

Silverdale is built mostly out of wood. Quarries are rare in Tyrica, as good stone can only be found in Marlean's western regions as well as Camlean's ruins, and transporting stone that far is not good business. Therefore, timber, which is far easier to transport, is used, and the result is that Silverdale fits in very well with the surrounding landscape. Speaking of which, Silverdale sits along the walls of a deep gorge - the city has been painstakingly carved into the rock face, then expanded upon with wood, so that in many places, the city covers the top of the gorge on multiple levels, and the expert woodwork is quite impressive, as it carries great weight upon itself. And indeed, if the woodwork was of any lesser quality, the entire city would have been dragged into the gorge. Therefore, carpenters continuously work, even with the battles at Sacern Gate, to reinforce and improve the city's bearing pillars.

Strategic assessment
Absolute value. Unlike countries like Ivellea and Adrila, where multiple, heavily fortified cities form bastions across the length and breadth of the country, Tyrica has only one strongpoint north of Sacern Gate, and that is Silverdale. Capture Silverdale, and all of Tyrica will have been conquered. Worse yet for the Tyricans, the city's walls, too, are mostly made out of wood, and the city's construction makes it very fragile to catapult shots and other heavy bombardment, as well as volleys of fire arrows. Only the lower caverns of the city are truly safe in case of a siege, as these are carved into the rock face of the gorge and are very difficult to access without the walkways. In true Silverdale tradition, if the city falls, it will have to be rebuilt from scratch, but the small chapel normally housing the Sword of Stalwarts, as well as the cave systems that serve as a refuge haven for the city's populace, will remain safe.

Marlean
In the west, near the mountains separating Tyrica from the Federation of the Sacred Dragon, Marlean's woods lie like a green blanket covering the hills. This was Tyrica's most sparsely populated region, as it lacks the good soil you find in Vidlean and Herlean, and is not nearly as threatened by enemy invasions as Camlean was. However, Marlean is the source of much of Tyrica's lumber, and the villages in the province make a good living producing timber used in construction and fletchery all over the realm.

Marlean is largely protected from magic by a focus point in the mountains to the west. Only a small blot of land in the far southwest is not covered by this, and here, the forests grow a little strangely. The trees, instead of growing straight up, grow in all possible direction, with one notable case being a tree growing upside down into the ground, its roots spread wildly up in the air! Worse yet, reports from citizens speak of underground predators that suddenly leap up from underground, devouring people and animals whole. The region is best avoided, lest one walks softly and carries a big axe.

Marlean's citizens generally mind their own business, hunting, lumberjacking and trading with other provinces. However, many of their young men have been sent south to Sacern Gate, where their strong arms can aid against the ogres. This has left the province's lumber trade undermanned, and trade is not going as well as it used to. With the king demanding timber to the south, without offering recompense, Marlean folk are growing restless. Many villages have shut down logging operations entirely, choosing to care for themselves first and foremost by hunting and some spread farming.

Strategic assessment
Marlean's resources are of great value to Tyrica as a whole, at least in peace times. When Marlean's timber resources are being distributed across Tyrica, blocking the main roads will severely cripple trade, and capturing the many spread-out villages will not pose much of a challenge, compared to the troubles it will cause to Tyrica and Silverdale. Within a month, the entire province can be under an invader's control, and the rest of Tyrica will be weakened enough to be easy pickings from there on.

Vidlean
Tyrica's easternmost province is Vidlean. The province is large, and rather flat; the terrain of the province, on a large scale, descends eastwards, but this is hard to notice, as the slope is neither steep nor constant. In the province's western reaches, near the small village of Rilloc, the province's main focus point is located. This is powerful enough to drain much of the province; more on this in another section.

The province is by far Tyrica's most lush one, and one can go as far as to call it a temperate jungle. It is very rarely worth the risk of going off the road, and even the roads are surprisingly hard to find at times. As the area can often suffer heavy rain for several days, only to have brilliant weather for days after that, the plant life is given all the nutrition it needs to grow and thrive. Several plants are unique to Vidlean, and grow in large amounts here. Animals, in particular herbivores, thrive in Vidlean, as food is readily available, and various types of carnivores can be found as well, as a direct result of the abundance of food.

Vidlean is the largest province in Tyrica. Many villages are located in the province, but it is far between each, and many roads have fallen into disrepair as more and more of the country's resources are channeled to the defence of Sacern Gate. This means roads often are in danger of being reclaimed by the wilderness on the longer routes. Travellers are therefore advised to bring a map and at least one lumbering axe per traveller, while the use of fire, whether magical or mundane, is strictly prohibited, as a forest fire risks burning down half the province.

Strategic assessment
Vidlean's size works both for and against it. The bad condition of the roads means the land is difficult to move an army through, and most marches would be very long ones. The main road, however, is better than the rest, and the stretch from Silverdale's borders to the area around Rilloc is a vital section to hold. The province's decentralised structure means the only way to take the whole province is to go to every little village and claim it by force, which takes a lot of time, and is hardly worth it. Once one holds the focus point and the main road, one holds what is worth holding in Vidlean.

Herlean
Tyrica's northernmost province, Herlean, is a sunny and fertile land with an abundance of fruits. While the trees originally grew wild, and some places still do, they are being grown and kept by Tyrican farmers, who harvest the fruit and trade it for other goods from other lands. The undergrowth is not as thick here as in Vidlean, and in the southernmost regions, the ground is very dry, leaving few plants capable of growing there. The focus point in Herlean is artificial, and has been erected in the dead center of the province, covering a great deal of the open, flat terrain.

Herlean has a fairly high population count for its size. Many of Herlean's citizens are war refugees from Ivellea, and others are former refugees from Camlean who've settled down. The increased population has led to a bigger harvest in recent years, and Herlean citizens have managed to improve their lot in life with the increased immigrants. There are, however, some conflicts between Tyricans and Ivelleans, mostly initiated by Tyricans, and that tension is the last thing Tyrica needs now.

Strategic assessment
Herlean, like Vidlean, is a wide, open-bordered province that is easy to move an army into. A cunning commander would use scouts to block the roads from Herlean's central regions to stop all messengers from reaching Silverdale. Afterwards, moving in along the main roads would be of little trouble to the invaders, as Tyrica's defences are consolidated around Silverdale and the passes in Camlean. Seizing the focus point would only be of use to magicians, as it is not very defensible; setting up a strong fort deep into Herlean would be a fine way to shore up any counter-attacks while claiming the rest of the province.

Camlean
In the south, Tyrica is a rocky land with a great many cliffs, sheer drops, deep valleys, ravines and rivers. It is less fertile than other regions, and for this reason has made a fine bulwark against the ogre invaders from the Grimscathe mountains in times past. The people of Camlean are notorious for using the terrain to their advantage in ways more than one, and many ravines are traversed on narrow rope bridges. These bridges are, naturally, impossible for the heavy ogres to cross, and thus are perfect escape routes for the natives. A natural focus point stands strong in the realm's southwest, but to strengthen the protection in Camlean's northeast, another focus point has been raised, with Elthern's aid.

The people of Camlean are mostly supported by Tyrica's other provinces. Food and goods of all kinds come from the other three realms and travel by cart to Camlean, and in return Camlean supplies stone from their quarries, the one thing Camlean has aplenty. In the watchful times before the ogres invaded, many claimed Camlean was leeching off of their wealth, and the realm received little love from the nobles in Silverdale. Many who made their homes in Camlean moved elsewhere, as they would rather live in the wealthier realms, and Camlean was underpopulated for many years.

Strategic assessment
Despite being Tyrica's definitely poorest province, Camlean is - strategically speaking - the most important one. Tyrica's defences against the ogres is concentrated wholly in Camlean, first through the three fortresses guarding the mountain passes, then at the massive Sacern Castle, protecting the pass leading directly to Silverdale. Any invader would do well to consider Camlean's position, as well as their backing from other provinces, when attempting an invasion. This makes an invasion difficult, as attacking Camlean itself means the ogres are sure to break through. Any such invasion must therefore be performed with great caution.

Ten years ago, Camlean fell to ogres. The ogres came in three great forces, supported by beasts and goblins from the mountains, and overwhelmed the fortresses watching the mountain passes before Tyrica had a chance to reinforce their defenders. Rumours state that a dragon assisted the ogres as well, but this is not confirmed. Camlean was quickly overwhelmed, and the remaining defenders fell back to Sacern Castle, with the ogres in pursuit. A massive siege followed, where the ogres and their allies broke through Sacern Castle's first line of defence. Only when reinforcements from Silverdale arrived, including the Silver Shield knights, were the ogres driven back. Nonetheless, the ogres still hold all of Camlean, and the realm is currently beyond Tyrica's control.