Host of Man

The Host of Man was a colossal campaign planned for three decades and initiated in 4175 by Valdamir Ikeurium, King of the Empire, with the aim of preventing the resurrection of the Dark God. It totalled 400,000 men from all corners of the Old World, draining every single ounce of manpower into one unimaginable army. The food required to support such a force was also incredible: a land baggage train stretching for miles followed in its wake, and a fleet of a thousand ships carried reserve supplies in case the former was destroyed. It was very possibly the largest single army humanity had ever assembled throughout recorded time.

Campaign
The Host set out from Gatteroth in early 4175, marching northwards at pace. Teihuer, the city of the ancient Rhogorochi tribe for millennia, was conquered in hours with scarcely a thousand casualties. As the Host crawled northwards, it rapidly exhausted its land baggage train, which trailed for ten miles in its wake. Sorcerers noted of what looked to be a storm on the horizon. However, as it neared them, they realised it to be a Horde of old, numbering at as many as 100,000 Keth. Such a threat had to be avoided, so the host sped up, but couldn't overtake the army shadowing them. They marched for weeks on end until finally ,ambushed by the Keth. Although their lines were damaged, they managed to throw off the Horde, suffering 30,000 casualties in the process.

The march continued ever northwards, the weather growing harsher even as the summer approached. The baggage train, having been almost destroyed, was abandoned. Men resorted to surviving off the ships that sailed alongside them. Finally, after yet more months, the Host cornered the Horde at Vangesh and met it full-on. They destroyed the Keth at first, inflicting tens of thousands of casualties, while also suffering the same amount in the wake of counter-attacks. However, they didn't foresee the use of a sorcerous artefact, known as the Detonator, hidden inside the ruined citadel. It exploded as it was touched, incinerating tens of thousands and hideously burning thousands more. In the aftermath, men realised that their King, Valdamir, had been killed, and that they'd lost more than 100,000 men in the explosion, plus 50,000 during the battle itself. The ships were also destroyed.

Nyorvanor Ikeurium, new King, was now forced to make a hideous decision. Facing total defeat and destruction due to starvation, and knowing that Keth meat was poisonous, he bid his dying men to eat their own kind. Limbs were lopped off and carried, the men devolving gradually into savages as they reached the final leg of their journey.

As the Host crossed Jhayita, tragedy struck. An outbreak of Red Plague, spread by contaminated meat, exploded through the population. More thousands died until ten thousand were dying every day. This reduced the host's number to around 110,000 men.

The battle of the gate reduced this by yet another ten thousand.