Ariel fled the skies, covered by the fires of the last of her forest dragons as she hurtled towards the edge of the forest. Meanwhile, Scarloc, Naieth and Durthu had proceeded with Ariel’s plan to evacuate the forests. Adanhu, Eldest of the Tree Ancients, and Naieth the Prophetess led thousands of Asrai civilians into the World Roots, lighting the way with her Rod of Divination. Behind them, Durthu, youngest of the Tree Ancients, guarded the entrance to the roots, as Scarloc sat up top in his branches firing his arrows at approaching Dwarves. Durthu may only have 1 working arm but that’s all he needs to swing his blade as Dwarfs approach.

Returning to the forests’ edge, Ariel and her handmaidens desperately attempted to fight back the approaching Dwarfs as they blasted amber spears, burning gaze, flocks of doom and banishment spells at the approaching armies. As the trees around the elves were blown to pieces by enemy artillery, the Dwarfs entered the fringe of the forests fighting off Wardancers, glade guards, treekin, dryads, sisters of the thorn, wild riders, eternal guards and any other elven units which attempted to fight them back. The last of the forest dragon swiped at the invaders with its tail and spewed noxious breaths onto them. Elves were battered to death by hammers, tree spirits were burned by Irondrakes and blasting charges, the forests had never seen such devastation. As Ariel fought for her species’ mere survival, the soil around her shook as the monster of Athel Loren continued to bellow “Release Me Elf! Release me! Release me!!!!!”.

As more and more dwarfs poured into the forest, the elves were continually pushed back as they gave their all to keep their Queen alive. But alas, no queen rules forever. The remaining Dwarf air force flew over the queen’s location and let loose, on the forest below. Everything around her burnt and before she could even move, a tree fell on Ariel, crushing her spine. The Queen of the Asrai lay beneath a tree’s oak, bleeding out as its branches pierced the skin of her back. She looked over at the last of the Forest Dragons, himself being swarmed by slayers and the Slayer King of Karak Kadrin himself. The trees around her burnt, the elves lay dead and the Avatar of Isha herself couldn’t even move. And so with her final breaths, Ariel cast one last spell, removing the bindings that had contained the monster of Athel Loren, a being she had spent much of her life trying to forget…..

High King Thorgrim Grudgebringer looked on proudly as his armies ran into the fires of the burning forests without fear and ordered his throne-bearers to move him into battle. However, as the throne of the High King passed through the forest he was suddenly ambushed as a being rose out of the swamp lands beneath him and tipped his throne over. Coeddil the Cunning, middle ‘sibling’ of the three Tree Ancients and Master of Drycha who had been imprisoned within the Shadow-Glades ever since he tried to kill Ariel and prevent Orion’s rebirth 500 years after the Battle of Anguish due both to corruption by Morghur the Shadowgave and his own innate hatred of elves, is free and ready to kill the King of the race that dares to destroy his forests.

Love React – Clear Thorgrim Victory: The Armour of Skaldor allowed Thorgrim to absorb some of Coeddil’s hits before he turned back to fight the Tree on his own terms. He lifted his Axe of Grimnir and seemed to ignite the power of the rune magic within, resulting in all his blows instantly piercing through the Tree Ancient’s barkskin. Coeddil was dismembered limb from limb as Thorgrim relentlessly hacked him to death.

Wow React – Close Thorgrim Victory: Thorgrim took a few blows from Coeddil before deciding to flee. Coeddil chased after the Dwarf but unbeknowst to him, Coeddil had walked into a trap as a platoon of Irondrakes unleashed their flamethrowers on him, burning the Tree Ancient to death.

Laugh React – Thorgrim took a few blows from Coeddil before deciding to flee. Coeddil attempted to pursue him only to find his path obstructed by burnt trees and fire smoke causing him lose sight of the Dwarf. With Thorgrim nowhere in sight, Coeddil looked for other Dwarfs of note to engage with.

Sad React – Close Coeddil Victory: Coeddil launched into a flurry of attacks against the Dwarf, smashing Throgrim into the ground repeatedly. He became so fixated in trying to kill the Dawi King that he lost sight of his surroundings, becoming unaware of the nearby squadron of Irondrakes approaching him. Coeddil continued to press against the Dwarf, slowly finding the gaps in his armour and prodding through them with his sharpened branch-fingers. The Irondrakes began to fire at him but he remained focussed on the King, even forcing the vines from his arms to pierce the Dwarf’s lips and tear the Dwarf’s organs apart from the inside. Finally, the King was dead but with a cost, as Coeddil waist came loose from his legs due to the intense Irondrake burns, forcing him to shamble after the other Dwarfs using his arms, as if he were a wooden Mourngul.

Angry React – Clear Coeddil Victory: Coeddil charged straight at the Dwarf, clobbering Throgrim with his branch arms. Whenever Throgrim struck Coeddil back with his axe, Coeddil only became more enraged in return resulting in harder blows. Finally, as Coeddil saw other Dwarfs coming to their King’s aid, Coeddil picked Throgrim up and submerged him in the nearby Swamp waters, using his foot-vines to hold the king in place as he lashed out at oncoming warriors with his long arms preventing any warriors from being able to rescue their king. Finally, Throgrim ceased trying to wrestle himself free from the vines. The Dwarf King had drowned.