DIABLO
MASSACRE
The most famous battle of the
Eastlands campaign demonstrated
Pseudo-Duncanthrax’s daring, cunning and ruthlessness. The Diablo
Massacre, occurred at the
Zorbel Pass in 666 GUE when the invading
armies of King Duncanthrax met a native militia of Eastland
troll
warriors. The
Quendoran invaders were outnumbered but well-armed; the
natives were equipped only with wooden clubs and a large piece of very
strong garlic. Despite these crude weapons, the natives entrenched
themselves at the exit of the narrow path and managed to hold the
larger army at bay for some time, taking advantage of the narrow
battleground to limit the size of Pseudo-Duncanthrax’s vanguard to only
a few men at a time, but the King had a plan.
He responded by making a feint with his vanguard, attacking the heavily
entrenched enemy. After a short skirmish, the brave general ordered a
hasty retreat—the majority of his troops pulled out of the gorge. The
natives, thinking they had forced a retreat and imagining victory was
within their grasp, began a pell-mell pursuit of the remaining forces.
Pseudo-Duncanthrax led the natives through the pass and out into the
plains beyond. And there, on open ground, his waiting army closed on
the chaotic hoard and swiftly cutting through their meager ranks,
destroyed them. This battle marked the end of the last pathetic
resistance to Pseudo-Duncanthrax’s campaign. Military historians
consider the routing of the native militia as a key moment in the
conquering of the Eastlands. The remaining portions of the land were
conquered without much difficulty, and within months, Duncanthrax was
in control of the entire territory. And the other less sentient beings
who occupied the land, such as many of the trolls and
gnomes, were kept
alive during the Duncanthrax conquests both for manual labor and their
inherent novelty.
| SOURCE(S): Zork I (History of the Great Underground Empire), Zork Nemesis, A History of Quendor(?) |
