The first chief of the united Uthuk Y'llan tribes and the instigator of the First Darkness, Llovar Rutonu Lokander is a name many know and fear. He was a ruthless warlord and a powerful mage, unstoppable on the battlefield and in a magical duel. It was only the combined forces of Talindon, Dunwarr, Al-Kalim and the Aymhelin that were able to finally defeat his savage onslaught at the Battle of the Locusts.
The Evil That Slept in the Sands
By the best reckoning, Llovar was born in the year 412 to a tribe of Loth K'har. The people of his parents’ tribe were noted among the Loth K’har for their ability to survive even in the far-eastern wastes, where little grows and deep volcanic vents usher poisonous fumes from the world’s depths. Llovar’s family was noted in the tribe for producing many renowned nightseers and chiefs, and Llovar’s elder brother, Llander, had shown quality as a raider and forager despite his tender years.
Much was expected of the young Llovar, but even so, he defied expectations. Scholars called to account for his prodigy suspect that one of the Daewyl rents between our mortal realm and the Ynfernael can be found within the eastern wastes, and that Llovar was sensitive to the influence of the Ynfernael from infancy. An interesting theory, if perhaps one forever to be unproven given the quite deadly reaction that region has towards visitors.
Llovar Ascendant
Llovar quickly became recognized for his prodigious dreamwalking abilities, earning the title of nightseer by his eleventh birthday. He grew increasingly reckless, though, and during a lengthy sojourn in the T’mara T’rusheen, Llovar is said to have met with an aspect of the Ynfernael and to have fallen into irrevocable corruption.
Within the harsh but otherwise peaceful society of the Loth K’har, Llovar’s prowess and wayward genius was celebrated despite the clear signs of malign influence. The young seer was hailed by the chieftains of his tribe as a holy figure, brought to them in order to exalt their tribe above all others. Soon they made him their peer, then their leader. Those who opposed Llovar’s increasing power and influence were shunned or executed, though it is said that Llander remained a close confidant of Llovar despite having voiced misgivings about his brother’s rule.
The Night of Summons
Llovar sprung his carefully laid scheme during the Night of Summons. Promising great rewards and using forbidden bindings, he led his tribe’s greatest warriors into the T’mara T’rusheen. They emerged physically transformed, shaped by Ynfernael influence. Their wiry muscles became supernaturally powerful, and their very bones became weapons that pushed through their skin to form great spikes and blades.
With these warriors at his side, Llovar began to form a confederation of tribes, conquering those who refused to form alliances willingly. Even the chiefs of the Scal and L'Jan tribes, which were many times larger than the Loth K’har, bent their knee to Llovar. Soon his campaign bloomed into full-scale civil war between the tribes of the plains. The Loth K’har and their allies took on a new title, the Uthuk Y’llan, which means “locust swarm” in the language of the plains people, as they conquered more and more of the Ru.
Even his own brother was not safe from Llovar's wrath. Llander and his wife Rala fled to Lorimor with their newborn child, Timmorran Lokander, as they feared the path Llovar was going down. Llovar regarded his brother’s abandonment as a dreadful betrayal, and he called for Ynfernael forces to curse the runaways. The effectiveness of such curses is not known, though Rala died of a lingering sickness on the road and Llander mysteriously vanished shortly before Timmorran, by now a boy of five, reached the gates of Lorimor far to the west. Assassins of the Q'aro Fenn tracked down Timmorran but were defeated by the boy's new wizard master, Sal Meringyr.
Llovar Swarms into the West
According to ancient records, Llovar had finished his consolidation of the tribes of the northern plains by the year 478. The armies of the Uthuk Y’llan brought about the time of the First Darkness as they marched to despoil the southern lands.
The Uthuk Y’llan already comprised a fearsome host of warriors, fueled by Ynfernael energies and filled with a desire to pillage foreign lands and destroy any resistance. Yet, while these warriors were terrible, Llovar could not have brought war to Talindon without the help of allies who swore themselves to his cause. The Orcs of the Broken Plains were the first to pledge allegiance to the Locust Lord, their bellicose Chief Lukosh seeking any opportunity for violence. Later, they were joined by Warlord Hellspanth and his band of dragons from the far north. These forces combined into a great army, though the Uthuk Y’llan always formed the vanguard, and Llovar reserved final say on matters of strategy. He led the Uthuk atop his beloved steed Dire, a carnivorous beast he had personally summoned from the Ynfernael.
War came to Penacor lands, and the armies of Llovar scattered the uncoordinated forces they met across the region. Throughout 478, they burned the eastern groves of the Aymhelin and plundered Talindon. King Falladir Penacor mustered his soldiers to face the foe, but they were comprehensively bested in open battle. A chief of the Uthuk named Nashaia struck King Falladir from his steed and was poised to dispatch him, but a desperate counterattack by Prince Parren forced the foe back long enough to rescue the king and carry him from the field. While King Falladir nursed his wounds, the tattered remnants of his army became merely a fugitive band of vagabonds, able to do little more than harass wayward and straggling units from Llovar’s horde.
The following year, Llovar ordered his Orc allies to continue raiding throughout Talindon while he marched his Uthuk north through narrow defiles in the Dunwarr Mountains to the gates of the great fortress of Thelgrim. Llovar considered the Dwarven capital a particular prize, for it commanded a position from which an army could strike at strategically important locations throughout surrounding lands and opened up the entire northern border of Talindon. Thelgrim also straddled important supply routes through the mountains. As powerful as Llovar’s forces were, however, they did not have the equipment to storm Thelgrim; instead, they encircled the fortress, planning to starve the defenders into surrender.
King Falladir was able to forge an alliance with King Triamlavar of the Latari and striked at the Uthuk siege host. An elite force was hastily assembled, combining the best of the fast and hard-hitting troops that they could muster. They force-marched through mountain passes and fell upon the rear of Llovar’s forces in a devastating surprise attack.The Humans and Elves threw the Uthuk into disarray and forced Llovar to retreat and regroup. Falladir and Triamlavar were able to relieve the Dwarven fortress and entreated the Dwarves to join the war, but the Dunwarr Deeplords were unwilling to commit to military action.
In the meantime, Uthuk raiders preyed upon Penacor freeholds, and an old enemy reemerged. From the sullen Misty Hills to the northeast marched a column of skeletal warriors with Farrenghast riding at their head. Some, especially those far from Nerekhall, had forgotten his evil, but he was a deathless curse on the land. The vile wight had no hesitation, of course, in pledging his assistance to the Ynfernael cause.
The Alliance Strikes Back
In the year 481, Timmorran persuaded his friend Ashan the Elder to send forces to the defense of Talindon, reasoning that if Llovar could not be stopped there, he would bring war to Ghom in time. They arranged for an army of Sundermen to be assembled and struck a deal with the fleet of Lorimor to sail them from Ghom to Lorimor and then up the Flametail River to join Falladir’s forces. The plan took a full year to come to fruition, and in 482, Timmorran reinforced the alliance. His army began to mop up bands of raiders that were harrowing the farmlands of southeastern Talindon.
In 483, Timmorran’s campaign began in earnest. With the consent of Falladir and Triamlavar, he ordered the allied army to split into two contingents, one commanded by himself and the other by the famed Sunderland general Waiqar Sumarion.
Timmorran sent Waiqar to relieve Thelgrim, which was once again besieged, and the task proved simple enough for the Sunderman (who was a proficient wizard as well as skilled military leader). By autumn, he had even grown bored with his duty and devised his own campaign against the forces of Farrenghast. This campaign proved a great success, and Waiqar’s forces banished the undead horde.
In the meantime, Timmorran’s enchanted army, now joined by Falladir and Triamlavar, sought out the Uthuk and their allies. At the Battle of the Burning Hills, they baited an army of Orcs into attacking their strong, elevated position, leading to a conclusive victory in which Timmorran struck down Chief Lukosh with his magic. Timmorran considered Orcs violent brutes, but he sensed that they had little love for the Ynfernael. He reckoned that the only reason Llovar could rely on his Orc allies was because of Lukosh’s bloodthirsty brand of personal loyalty. Sure enough, the Orcs soon began to desert the Ynfernael cause and by 486 Llovar would no longer be able to call upon a single Orcish regiment.
Waiqar was keen to press the advantage, though Timmorran was more circumspect, advising that the allies consolidate their victories and concentrate on defeating Uthuk forces in southern Talindon. Regrettably, Waiqar would not heed this advice. He gathered a warhost and led them into the wastes of the Charg’r, directly to where Llovar was said to have raised a great Black Citadel from which he was directing his campaign.
Throughout 485, Timmorran continued to oversee the reconquest of Penacor lands, and his armies scattered the Uthuk before them. Timmorran found it hard to celebrate, however, for there was no news of what had become of Waiqar and his army. To all appearances, they had simply vanished into the Charg’r Wastes.
The Host of Thorns
In the distant Ru Darklands, Llovar gathered his reserves. With the undead of Farrenghast eliminated and the Orcs of Lukosh routed to the Broken Plains, though, he could now only rely upon the dragons of Warlord Hellspanth as powerful allies. Still, the army of Llovar was so great that it was said to blacken the face of the world, and it was despairingly called the Host of Thorns. Llovar had split the forces into several contingents, each led by a trusted lieutenant. The names of these captains soon became bywords for wickedness and treachery: the dreaded bone-witch Q’aro Fenn; Melinesh the Cruel and Terrible; Nashaia King’s Bane; and Kul the Serpent, otherwise known as the Viper, the greatest archer of the Uthuk. Even today, these names draw shudders when historians in Greyhaven discuss the events.
In 487, the Host of Thorns invaded Talindon, sweeping all before them. On the Ashen Field, the Host fell upon an army led by King Falladir and his sons. They fought valiantly. A blow from King Falladir’s sword nearly cleaved the head from Melinesh, while Prince Parren drove a lance through the heart of Nashaia. But Llovar had numbers, magic, and malice on his side, and by the end of the day, the three Penacors lay dead upon the field together with the soldiers who had pledged to follow their banner. A small group of ragged survivors, led by the noble young Baron Daqan, escaped the slaughter. Only the fury of a great tempest prevented Llovar from running the shattered survivors down. They could only ride off through the pelting rain to warn Timmorran of Llovar’s renewed force.
The Battle of the Locusts
Timmorran ordered his troops to regroup in the foothills of the Razor Crags. He chose a strategic location for a desperate stand, the flanks of his force protected on one side by the deep waters of Lake Clearstar and on the other by the sheer slopes of Mount Goltok.
While he waited for Llovar’s Host of Thorns, Timmorran was astonished to hear reports of an army approaching from the rear. He and his troops were relieved to find that it was a force of Dwarves from Thelgrim. Halgir Son of Grom had finally talked the Dunwarr Deeplords into committing Dwarven troops to the war. This is well remembered in Dwarven history.
Llovar’s troops arrived at dawn and threw themselves forward in waves, with frenzied Uthuk line-breakers and demonic beasts spearheading each blood-filled attack. The Battle of the Locusts had begun. The air was thick with arrows and bolts of magical power, and the Uthuk fell in droves, but still they came on. Kul led the third wave, concentrating on giving covering fire to his vanguard as they broke through to Timmorran’s position.
Scything bone blades slashed at Timmorran, but King Triamlavar leapt before the charging Uthuk. While Triamlavar was distracted, Kul punched an envenomed arrow through the Elf king’s belly. Enraged, Halgir Son of Grom challenged Kul to face his axe. For his bravery, the Deeplord’s brains were pierced with a bodkin. Ashan the Elder then stepped up. Kul sent a barrage of shafts that perforated the Sunderman’s lungs. These three sacrifices were not in vain, though, for Kul’s efforts had exhausted him, and Timmorran survived the onslaught.
On learning that Kul’s assault had been repulsed, Llovar called for Dire, his demonic steed whose harness was bedecked with the heads of freshly-fallen lords. The Locust Master called for Q’aro Fenn to join him with his remaining elite warriors. He acted quickly, trying to take advantage of the disorder around Timmorran’s position caused by Kul’s assault.
The Fall of Llovar
What Llovar had not anticipated was that Timmorran had been conserving his own magical energies for this very occasion. The two armies clashed once more, and the mountains themselves quailed as Timmorran and Llovar unleashed sorcerous energies of incredible potency. Llovar summoned forth Ynfernael monstrosities only for Timmorran to boil them away with blazing arcane light. Llovar’s blade swung, ensorcelled with green flames and dripping black venom, but Timmorran shrouded himself within a shield of pure force and withstood its blows. Then, Timmorran stretched forth his hand, and a lance of the wizard’s power pierced his uncle’s rotten heart.
So Llovar fell. Dire fell alongside him, the terrible beast’s body dissolving as its energies returned to the Ynfernael. Then, rank by rank, the forces of the Host of Thorns turned and fled from the Broken Crags. The Battle of the Locusts was over; the First Darkness had passed.
Some say that Q’aro Fenn rescued Llovar’s corpse from the crags and took it to a secret place far beyond the Ru. If such a thing occurred, the resting place of the Locust Master must be a venerated monument to all who seek to curry the favor of Ynfernael forces. It is also said, though, that one may find Llovar’s tomb if one can locate and follow the trail of Q’aro Fenn’s bitter tears. The ultimate fates of Kul, Q’aro Fenn, and the Warlord Hellspanth are not known.
References
- Realms of Terrinoth