Second Orc War
From World of Gothic
Ten years before the hero arrived in Myrtana harsh winter forced the orcs north of Nordmar to invade south in order to look for a new homeland. First fights started in the Nordmar, that was invaded by king's, Rhobar II, army five years before. Nordmar was strategically very important, mostly because of the ore mines and weapon production, so the Royal army built many fortresses for defensive purposes. Even when their were dug in, they couldn't stop the hungry orc army from conquering Nordmar. Meanwhile the orcish navy invaded eastern Archipelagos. The loss of the ore mines of Nordmar was a heavy blow for the Kingdom of Myrtana.
The need for the ore increased as it was vital for the king's army. That is why the penal colony and the Barrier was created on Khorinis. The Valley of Mines was back then, the king's only source of magic ore. So royal troops were mostly defending the very important coast. After two years of Nordmar occupation orcs were resupplied and ready for the great invasion of Myrtana. The mighty castle of Faring played the key role of defending the pass to Nordmar. This disabled the ors from invading the capital. But orcs managed to invade Myrtana in the west. It was most distanced from the capital, coast and therefore supplies and reinforcements would take a long time to reach the place. There was barely a resistance, city of Silden was first to fall.
After two years of constal warfare and numerous battles the orcs pushed the royal troops south until they reached Varant. They occupied strategically important castle of Trelis and economically as well as the tactically important city of Geldern. With this act the kingdom of Rhobar II lost all contact with Varant that was very important especially for the trade and economy.
At that point Myrtana wasn't able to do anything else but to defend. The orcs were constantly trying to invade the central realm and city of Montera and the Paladin castle of Gotha were playing a great part in defense of the midland. Rhobar received most of the crops, food and farming incomes from the midlands so the loss of them would mean a collapse of his now already small kingdom. Two years of warfare destroyed the region and the fall of Montera sealed it's fate.
Orc put all their strength to siege Gotha end to finally break through Faring. But the king's paladins were highly motivated and didn't give in. Without constant food and ore income the kingdom was before it's fall. At that time Rhobar II made an important decision that decided the fate of many. He ordered lord Hagen and a group of paladins to sail to Khorinis with king's navy last sheep Esmeralda. There, in the valley of mines he was about to collect as much ore as he could, but events that took place there hindered and ruined the expedition.
Xardas, after he absorbed the power of Beliar came to Myrtana and took the orcish leadership. He as being the strongest person in the world made an alliance with the orc. They promised him the ancient artifacts, and he gave them complete victory of the second orc war. He destroyed the rune magic of the magicians and paladins. Without this magic the were easy pray for the orcs. Many were slaughtered, only few fled and hid. Confusion in the human realm was a great opportunity for the orcs to won their final victory against Rhobar II. Xardas appeared in until now invincible fortress of Faring and with some spells of darkness the royal troops were defeated. The way to the coast and Vengard was now free for the orc. They immediately besieged the human capital and siezed the two other coastal towns of Ardea and Cape Dun. In Vengard Rhobar and his Mages in a desperately moment created a defensive barrier, but outside this obstacle orcs were already establishing slave colonies, gathering mercenaries. Only the fortress of Gotha remained under control of the royal paladins. They were besieged for a long time and orc shamans decided to put an end to this heroic last stand with a rather risky and destructive spell. They summoned a demon that turned the paladins of Gotha in the host of undead.
So the war ended with orc as rulers of the cities. But many orc troops were sent to Varant on a quest for the artifacts of Adanos, and many were sent in Nordmar to fight against the free human tribes. So humans were again regrouping in forests and caves only looking for a chance to drove the orc rulers of Myrtana.