The kingdom of Kemnar was a rather small country compared to most others on the continent. It had been at peace for more than a century which was mostly thanks to its surrounding geography. To its west lay a wide mountain range which made it almost impossible to attack from this direction due to difficult terrain and hostile mountain tribes.

In both south and north Kemnar directly bordered one of the continent’s largest countries: Silphen to the north and the Mimurian Empire to the south. Since an invasion into Kemnar by one of the two would be seen as a threat by the other and neither of them could afford a war between these superpowers, they just eyed each other suspiciously over the small patch of land that is Kemnar.

The only threat to the kingdoms peace came from the sea which closed it off to the east. Raiding parties which originated from some of the barbarian island nations would sometimes plunder coastal towns, so most of the military, whose size had been reduced over the course of the peaceful decades, was now stationed in the east to ward against such attacks.

But the lack of military strength proved fatal, when the country was overrun by an army of undead in spring of the year 642 a.f.(in the 642th year after the fall of the last great empire which encompassed the entire continent as well as most of the nearby islands). It began with sightings of small groups of undeads in the mountains and the disappearance of hunters and other civilians who entered these areas. None of the scouting groups that were sent to investigate returned.

To prepare for the threat of the growing undead forces and the Necromancers which undoubtedly controlled them a large part of the troops guarding the coastal region was set into motion and started marching westward under the command of the first prince Dorian and the kingdoms two most capable generals. However soon after their departure the number of ships that went missing on sea started increasing dramatically without any obvious reason.

One day after the army started mobilizing hordes of undead began to pour out of the mountains along nearly the entire western border, destroying everything in their path. Those they killed soon became part of the undead army after being resurrected by one of the Necromancers that lead these armies.

The neighbouring nations too faced an undead invasion, although on a much smaller scale. Most likely they were intended to be diversions to prevent these countries from lending Kemnar support.

Shortly before the Prince along with the vanguard of his army arrived at the current frontline of the war the undead started their second offense. The ships that had disappeared over the past days landed all across the shore releasing their freight of undead which immediately started to overwhelm the thinned out garrisons and soon advanced land inwards while steadily increasing their forces. Thanks to this pincer attack the undead army devastated almost the entire country over the course of the next few weeks, being only temporarily stopped by fortified cities.

After two months all contact with the princes army had been lost and only two major locations were reported to still hold out: The Capital and the royal Castle. The Capital was positioned almost at the centre of the Kingdom and was surrounded by multiple walls, relics of a long war in the past. Below the Capital there were so called `frozen caverns´, caves that had very low temperatures across the entire year and were used to store large amounts food and other perishable goods which now allowed to withstand a prolonged siege. These assets allowed the capital to prevail through this calamity.

The royal castle was located a few miles to the west of the capital and was the primary target of the undead assault. It was constantly attacked by powerful undead but thanks to its strong magic defences it still managed to hold out for three more weeks until a battalion of liches managed to break through the castle walls and the undead horde stormed into the opening. Less than a day after that the entire castle was dyed red with blood. Besides a few captives such as the royal court magician there were no survivors. The casualties include the king and the queen.

However shortly before being captured the royal court magician, a man named Kinrow, activated something in a secret room of his laboratory. He then closed the room off so the entrance would look just like a part of the wall.

After conquering the castle the undead army soon proceeded towards the capital, the last bastion of resistance. Only the weaker undeads stayed behind to guard the ruins, since the forces that besieged the capital already had many of these and the necromancers didn’t want to leave the castle completely abandoned, in case any scattered remains of the kingdoms army should return there.

Four days later something awoke in the secret room.

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This is my first time writing so if you have any complaints, please say it.