From out of the dank interior of the Fell Bastion, which now lay buried under a thick coating of ash, armoured warriors emerged carrying strange devices. These knights were huge, far bigger than the scouting parties, dressed in massive clunking suits of armour the colour of stone. Again, without word, they fanned out, cluster after cluster, seeking out the powerful lizards that populated the Vale of Embers.
Herding the mighty beasts with flame and lightning, the Knights of Ebon Scar drew many of them closer, setting up enclosures and trapping the beasts there. As soon as they were captured, other warriors began to study the creatures, experimenting on them with more of their strange contraptions.
All this was overseen by a great warrior never yet seen; a bald headed man dressed in pure white armour. Unlike the others who kept silent or only whispered, this one barked out orders in a strange tongue unknown within the lands of the Empire. It showed traits of the Tilian tongue but even that was alien to it. This warrior's name was Felix Wulf and he oversaw this strange new process as the warriors began to prod and goad the monsters, drilling esoteric cabinets to the sides of their heads.
The foes about them were many and the daemonic legions of the Pernicious Gate were especially threatening; but clearly the strength of the Men of Stone had been diminished by their turbulent entry into this world.
They recognised the strength of these terrible lizards and they planned to add it to their own.
As his men worked, Felix Wulf took up his Quake Clubs and ventured out into the wilds of the Vale of Embers, alone. Without fear he journeyed up into the forests and there faced the apex predator, the most powerful creature within the Border Princes, the dreaded Tyrannosaur.
Enraged in blood frenzy, the Tyrannosaur brought him to battle but such was the power of Wulf's strength at arms; such was the magic in his gigantic clubs; that he brought his attacker down.
Then he sat and waited for it to wake up.
When it did he departed, letting it follow his trail and again they came to battle. Again it was defeated. And again Felix waited.
The third time the beast attacked, its fury was like the tempest. It fought harder than any foe he had ever met and almost defeated him. Both warrior and dinosaur tumbled down a rocky slope, still fighting, still trying to kill. Trees were felled. Birds and animals fled. Still they fought.The sounds of battle could be heard at the Scar where the rest of the warriors continued to work, and then finally the cacophony ceased.
Days went by, and finally, as the work of the warriors came to an end, Felix Wulf returned to the camp, the great Tyrannosaur at his heel. Neither one had broken. Neither one had submitted. But a deep respect or predator to predator had been formed. Joined forever as twin-souled warriors were dinosaur and man.
And now the work was completed.
The terrible creatures of the Vale of Embers had been tamed by the magics of the Men of Stone, the strange cases attached to their skulls alternately making them docile and then, when needed, overcome by murderous fury.
With armoured shins and coils of razored blades around their ankles, the dinosaurs roared at the call of their powerful masters.
It was almost time to go to war!
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