Treggars Mountain Tunnels

Excerpt from 'Mercenary Groups of Illyria', by the retired general, Thomas Lannigold wrote:

It all started with Treggar Rockthorn.

Treggar was a first cousin to the Dwarven chief of Clan Bealagh, Baelon Graythorn, so he enjoyed a certain amount of respect among the Dwarves. However, after an expedition deep into the very heart of the mountains that surround the Dwarven city of Glinntre, Treggar came back a changed dwarf. Something had happened to Treggar and his expedition party down in the long forgotten underground tunnels…they all came back alive, but somehow…different. The story goes that Treggar and his party members started behaving strangely, keeping to their own company and rebuffing any attempt made by the other Dwarfs to learn of what had happened during their foray into the ancient mountain tunnels.

It was said that Treggar’s demeanor started to take a turn for the worse, and he became incredibly secretive, even with his immediate family members. Concerned for the well-being of his cousin, and mystified with the way the Dwarves had been acting ever since their return, Baelon gathered his best spies and informants to find out the truth.

Here, the tale gets a little bit vague. No one knows exactly what happened next, but all agree that Treggar and the other Dwarves from the expedition party were exiled from their ancestral homeland, on orders of King Bealon himself. Some say the King found out that Treggar and his company had turned traitors and had secretly formed a pact with the Parvacones Kobolds, promising to supply the Greenskins with weapons in exchange for treasure. Others think that Treggar and the other Dwarves had contracted a rare disease that altered their personalities and minds.

I personally believe the latter is far more likely than the former, but who knows the true story? Most Dwarves have no idea why Treggar and his company were exiled, and none of the original founders of the mercenary group have ever revealed the reason behind their exile.

Treggar and his band left their ancestral homeland and started making a name for themselves as a capable mercenary group. They came to be known as Treggar’s Crows, in honour of their leader. The second part of the name came about because these exiled Dwarves were always dressed in black. Their coat-of-arms depict a flying crow against a grey mountain, on a red background.

Treggar and his Crows are definitely a feared fighting force. They specialize in a very un-Dwarven way of battle – guerilla warfare. All of the Crows are deeply knowledgeable about shoot-and-run tactics and are adept at harassing the enemy from different angles. The Crows’ tactics and strategies often involve pecking at their enemies, bit by bit, softening them with each small skirmish, until the enemy is sufficiently weakened, whereupon Treggar and his Crows will then proceed to launch their final, deadly attack and secure victory.

Dealing with Treggar and his Crows can be a little unnerving. They are dour and taciturn, and generally communicate only as much as needed to complete their mission. Some of them, unsatisfied with only dressing completely in black, have taken to applying black war-paint to their faces, giving them a more menacing countenance. Treggar's Crows also make use of magic in their campaigns, albeit on a small and subtle scale. This would include amulets and charms to offer protection in battle, lengthening and creating shadows as a form of misdirection, and several illusionary spells used in diversionary tactics.

Some mages have told me that Treggar and his Crows employ a rudimentary form of a long-forgotten branch of magic, based around ancient runes, once said to have been the sole province of a powerful race of wizards that roamed the lands long before the birth of any of the current races of Illyria.

Could this be the secret that they uncovered in those ancient tunnels, the very same secret that had a part to play in their exile?