In 1868, a mere six years after the Fall of London, the British Cavalry was tasked with mapping the vast new landscape of the Neath.[1] As they explored, the British forces found Rubbery Men, devils, and more excitingly, news of the lands beyond London's borders. True to both imperial and Christian ambition, they decided upon an invasion of Hell.[2]
However, it was the devils who struck first after learning of the British war plans. They invaded London through the remnant of the Fourth City, the Forgotten Quarter.[3] British forces, including the Blues and Royals, the 23rd Neathy Rifles, and both Heavy and Light Brigades, were deployed in defense. Shrouded in mist,[4] they charged blindly into the unknown—into horrors beyond imagination. The battle was a catastrophe. The remnants of the Empress’ cavalry were captured.[5] Those taken prisoner were condemned to work on Hell's slave ships, rowing endlessly on a dark river.[6] The devils demanded that for each prisoner released, they must be given a soul in echange.[7] Some soldiers' ransom were paid by their loved ones at great personal costs.[8]
Despite this crushing initial setback, a portion of the British Army managed to push forward into the hinterlands, crossing into infernal territory. One battlefield was Moulin, now a small hamlet,[9] with some historians excavating and selling the remains of the Campaign.[10] The part of Moulin now called the Waste saw the most bombardment.[11] It's littered with weapons,[12] uniforms,[13] and tools from London's veterans,[14] as well as devices of infernal manufacture.[15][16] It is also pockmarked with trenches and craters from Hell's ordinance;[17] some of these craters are snap-gaps that forcefully warp travelers from one edge to another instantaneously.[18]
Infernal strategists deliberately allowed the army to advance deeper into Hell’s territory, channeling them towards a treacherous battlefield known as the March of the Roses. The culminating engagement took place at a natural chokepoint, the Lamentations of the Violet,[19] a gorge fortified with infernal artillery and diabolic defenses.[20]
A Law Furnace
At first, British forces were hopeful, immediately attempting to scale the walls of Hell itself.[21] But they were repelled, crushed beneath an endless tide of devils and their devastating artillery.[22] The army, unwilling to retreat, resorted to a strategy of attrition. Against Hell, such a plan was sheer folly. Nevertheless, the British persisted, forced to employ trench warfare, an unfamiliar and desperate strategy.[23] The battlefield, the Fields of Roses, bore the scars of intense combat. Wrecked siege engines littered the landscape, their rusting hulks testaments to the futility of traditional warfare against Hell’s defenses.[24]
The Brazen Brigade
One unexpected ally emerged in the form of the Brazen Brigade, a faction of counter-revolutionary devils opposed to Hell’s ruling elite. Their assistance provided London’s army with a temporary advantage, but it was not enough to turn the tide of war.[25]
By early 1869, the campaign had reached a standstill. Soldiers sought whatever small comforts they could. On New Year's Day, some played football in the trenches for amusement. But in a cruel twist, the devils released prisoners of war to compete against their former comrades[26]—a psychological tactic designed to erode morale even further.[27]
Infernal Sharpshooter's Rifle
The final days of the campaign descended into chaos. London’s forces, running out of modern ammunition, resorted to medieval siege weapons: trebuchets, mangonels, and slings.[28] Hell, by contrast, deployed an endless array of eldritch weaponry, which not only tore men apart but warped their minds, turning them into deserters or traitors.[29] The trenches became mass graves.[30][31] London’s troops, exhausted and outmatched, broke.[32]
Desertion was rampant. Some soldiers fled due to the unnatural effects of Hell’s weapons; others simply realized the hopelessness of their cause. Those caught were executed by their own officers.[33] Some tried to escape back to London, while others, lost and disoriented, stumbled straight into the waiting hands of Hell’s forces.[34] Infernal cavalry swept across the battlefield, rounding up the survivors and driving them into captivity.[35]
Hell's Gate
Those who made it back to London brought with them accounts of terrifying sights: fields of burning roses, devilbone churches, brass triremes, a vast and pitiless bureaucracy, a throne that stands in the shadow of a gallows.[36] Those who were captured were not the same when they returned. Some had been twisted into devils.[37] Others had become sapient roses.[38]
Aftermath
After the war, London was grudgingly force to accept normalized diplomatic relations with Hell. The devils constructed their consulate, the Brass Embassy, on Baker Street (now known as Moloch Street) and set up an express railway back to Hell itself. They forced London to legalize trade in human souls, although it still remains strictly regulated. Hell does extensive business with London, importing souls and exporting coal, sulfur, nevercold brass, and devilbone.
The Violet Treaty,[39] signed between London and Hell, established a neutral buffer zone. The lands west of Balmoral fall under neither jurisdiction, with both parties forbidden from using the territory for espionage, political maneuvering, or religious conversion.[40] It remains a no-man’s land, marked by an abandoned church.[41]
A Rose Afflicted Veteran
One can find veterans of the invasion around the city: traumatized warriors in the bars of Watchmaker's Hill, peculiarly ambitious clergymen, drunkards passed out in the gutter. The weapons of Hell left more than scars; some survivors carry wounds far stranger—roses that burrowed deep into their flesh.[42] Some were wounded much harder than others.[43]
The invasion left a long shadow on London,[44] but even after such a dramatic loss, there’s no way the clergy doesn’t have more plans in store for the devils.
Veterans
Among those captured by Hell, the Regretful Soldier bears a tragic legacy. His wife, in a desperate act of devotion, traded her soul for his release. Yet freedom brought him no solace. Wracked with guilt and haunted by what he had witnessed, he turned to drink, seeking refuge in oblivion.
The Bishop of Southwark is a notable veteran of the campaign. He was the chaplain[45] for a brigade that was captured in battle; his scream of pain after touching a fiery hellish rose alerted the devils to the regiment's presence.[46] He was forced to work on Hell's galleys, until he signed a contract allowing him to keep his soul and go back to London. He became Bishop sometime after the war ended.[47]
One of only two survivors from his regiment, the Thorned Manservant now serves at the Palace. He organizes meetings for veterans, offering them a space to share their memories and grief.[48] His master, the Bellicose Prince—one of the Empress’s sons—secretly joined the campaign, driven by youthful zeal and reckless ambition. Though he survived, the war left deep wounds upon his soul, and he continues to torment himself over the horrors he witnessed and the choices he made.[49]
Many veterans whisper of a figure resembling Nicator among the ranks of the campaign. Some claim he led the charge to defend London against the devils in the Forgotten Quarter. Whether these accounts are true remains uncertain.[50]
References
↑Caught Up in a Soldier's Heartbreaking Tale, Fallen London"In '69, once the city had settled and the dashed bats had cleared off, we in the Cavalry were detailed to map out the Neath. [...]" [Editor's note: The date noted here is likely a typo or the Soldier misremembering the year, since it's known as the Campaign of '68 everywhere else.]
↑Caught Up in a Soldier's Heartbreaking Tale, Fallen London"Soon we came across the rubbery chaps, devils and so on, and learned that there were lands beyond London's borders. [...] So we mounted up, loaded the pistols and set out to conquer Hell for Her Majesty..."
↑Caught Up in a Soldier's Heartbreaking Tale, Fallen London"[...] The Blues and Royals, The 23rd Neathy Rifles, Heavy and Light Brigades, all lined up among the broken stone warriors of another stolen city. And off in the mists... well... the voices..."
↑Caught Up in a Soldier's Heartbreaking Tale, Fallen London"[...] When the bugler sounded the charge I felt my insides turn to liquid, I don't mind telling you. We lowered our lances and spurred into the fog. [...] The voices on either side of us... eyes in the mist... Led us deep into the marshes [...] The last thing I saw was a face..."
↑Caught Up in a Soldier's Heartbreaking Tale, Fallen London"When I awoke, I was in a boat on a dark river. [...] It was a great shining brass-clad trireme, and I was chained to an oar, along with the ragged remnants of the Empress' cavalry. [...] At the helm was a fellow with a bandaged face."
↑Caught Up in a Soldier's Heartbreaking Tale, Fallen London"A Devil in a velvet suit sauntered up to me. 'Ah, you're awake,' he said. 'So glad you could join our little cruise. You'll be our guest until the Traitor Empress agrees to pay a ransom. One soul for each of you. Until then, you row.' And he pointed to the North."
↑Caught Up in a Soldier's Heartbreaking Tale, Fallen London"Agnes was waiting for me," he says at last. "I gazed into her empty eyes, and the happiest day of my life turned into the saddest. Agnes had given her soul to buy me back, you see. I still love her, of course. And she loves me. In her own way..."
↑A Hamlet, Fallen London"[...] You find no business of note, and little cause for human habitation, other than a cramped shop selling antiques. On the window, a sign proclaims the sale of Souvenirs & Mementos of the Campaign of ‘68."
↑A Clatterwaul, Fallen London"Piles of discarded military paraphernalia accumulate in a muddy trench in the Waste: tarnished buttons from uniforms, rusting cavalry sabres, outmoded rifles rotting away."
↑Who built it?, Fallen London"Beyond it lies the Moulin Waste: a desolate battlefield, blasted with Hellish weapons during London’s war against Hell forty years ago. The landscape is churned mud, craters, and deep trenches."
↑A Snap-Gap, Fallen London"The detonation of Hellish ordnance has left a crater here, [...] Inside it, space is having a difficult time holding itself together. [...] It's not entirely unlike the Missing Block. Trying to move across will lurch your body to the other side without passing through the intervening space. [...] these 'snap-gaps' are liable to break a few bones along the way."
↑For All the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest, Fallen London"The Lamentations of the Violet" "The Scarlet Condottiere leads you towards a gorge carved into the fields. Smoke rises up from it in lazy plumes. Violet flowers speckle the rock, like the start of a rash. The Condottiere advises that you keep to the left, away from the smoke."
↑The Remembrance of the Rose, Fallen London"The first salvo. Morale is high in the ranks. The Sergeant Major sounds the bugle, and it is up and over. When you reach the top, you –"
↑Hold back, Fallen London"The devils do not die. They rise, and rise again. Stronger. Or else the law furnaces belch their hateful acrid, and so may they never die. At the battle's end, your battalion is at a third strength. The policy of attrition is not revised."
↑For All the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest, Fallen London"The Fields of Roses" "Rusting machinery dots the scarred landscape, ruined by the troop movements: the raising and toppling of defences; the casting down of commanders. Here and there, roses rise from the earth: red as open wounds."
↑The Laws of the Game, Fallen London"It was New Year's Day, as far as they could keep the calendars making sense. The game started as normal – the soldiers often played football to keep themselves busy between sorties – but a half-hour in they realised that there were more players than there should be. They wore the faces of friends they thought lost."
↑The Laws of the Game, Fallen London"They were lost soldiers of the regiment, released by the devils to play one game. Perhaps it was meant as some kind of indecipherable olive branch, but more likely it was meant to harm the soldier's morale. Apparently they had to fix up the rules to account for uncanny infernal tricks: searing sigils and the wax that poured from former comrades, that sort of thing."
↑For All the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest, Fallen London"Battered armaments litter the tops of the trenches; cannon here, a chain-gun there; a single benighted Cotterell & Hathersage 'Discouragement', poking forlornly from the mire. When London's forces ran out of ammunition, they turned to antique weaponry: the trebuchet, the mangonel, the sling."
↑For All the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest, Fallen London"Elsewhere, you can find the detritus of Hell's weaponry. A slumbering Utterance, never committed. The incandescent aftereffects of a Brazen Doctrine, still exuding perfume; the still-smouldering bulk of a War-Furnace; decreeing death, torpor and desertion."
↑For All the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest, Fallen London"A gibbet stands above the command trenches; three bodies still hang. They have been preserved: an edict from the Law Furnaces. They are handsome youths in regimental dress; their eyes closed as though sleeping. But for the livid marks on their necks, they might be."
↑For All the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest, Fallen London"Pictures of old sweethearts hang on rose-mortared walls. Corpses lie together, their hands entwined, their fingers bound by blackened roses. The command trenches bear witness to frenzied anarchy; knives in the back of uniformed officers, victims of a mounted Ordinance."
↑For All the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest, Fallen London"The trenches are clogged with the thrown down weaponry of failed battalions. You find letters in the command trenches; maudlin poetry, last-minute wills. Bodies strewn with roses hamper your path."
↑A Crown of Thorns, Fallen London"Alone, you crawl up an outcrop and fumble for your field-glasses. You watch helplessly as devils storm the glowing trenches, and herd the rest of the platoon into cages. This is your doing."
↑For All the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest, Fallen London"[...] Some were fleeing east towards London; others, lost, ran in the direction of Hell. Amongst the wreckage, you find evidence of mounted cavalry: hoof-prints in the dirt. Hell's chargers, come to shepherd the fleeing soldiers through Hell's gates."
↑Remnants of the war, Fallen London"You examine regimental diaries and talk to historians. Few of the old soldiers from the ill-fated campaign of '68 are still in the Neath. [...] A few themes recur in the stories you do hear: slave-rowed triremes, fields of burning roses, a vast and pitiless bureaucracy. A throne that stands in the shadow of a gallows."
↑The Brass Grail, Fallen London"The devil pulls off his mask. "Was this effort to deny them worth it, Reginald? All Clarissa wanted was to get me into your seminary. Don't you want me any more?" An accent creeps into his voice, from the South end of Ireland. The Bishop drops his case. "Michael." The Bishop's former lover smiles and makes a slight bow. Michael says: "I haven't changed that much. We're more similar than you might think." The Bishop picks up a poker from the fireplace and then drops it. "No. We are finished, Michael. We are over. A hiss of steam escapes from Michael's eye as you and the Bishop turn away."
↑Stay at your post, Fallen London"The Gospel of the Thorn 6:75. The boy found Hell not as expected. There was much he did not expect. He was welcomed to each district in time, and at the last, he was asked what he would like to be. There was only one possible answer. There only ever is."
↑Listen to the Synod's Opening, Fallen London"Learned friends, detested enemies, muddle-brained heretics, a great matter is upon us. Someone –" He glowers at you. "– has opened a Christian house of worship in the High Hinterlands. This contravenes the Violet Treaty, article seven."
↑Listen to the Synod's Opening, Fallen London"The land west of Balmoral falls under neither the jurisdiction of Hell nor London. It is forbidden for either side to attempt to use the territory betwixt the two for matters of espionage, politics or religious conversion."
↑Broken Spires, Fallen London"Beyond the hill are the battlefields of Hell. This ruined church is the last outpost before the devils' domain."
↑"The Thorned Manservant raises his fingertips to a flower budding above his ear. He twists it off, and blood drops from the stalk onto his shirt. "It's a war wound, from '68. I try not to complain. Some of the stories I've heard in this room – well, let's just say I got off lightly." [...]"
↑For All the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest, Fallen London"At last, the cloth is away, and you can see the flesh exposed. His chest looks as though it has been tattooed from the inside. Except — except the tattoo is moving, and grows out from the bone. Thorns poke upwards out of the flesh. Roses bloom across the exposed chest, which bleeds incessantly. The man is entirely perforated."
↑Submit your prisoner to the ministrations of Hell, Fallen London"The Grey Man has feared these walls for decades, even though he has existed (in this form) only for a few months. He whimpers as you get closer. He asks you to relent. London came this direction in '68, and it was sorry, very sorry, to have done so."
↑The Brass Grail (Story), Fallen London"I was newly ordained back then. The army was in dire need of chaplains for the campaign and so I accepted a commission."
↑The Brass Grail (Story), Fallen London"I saw a rose that I thought Mi... it doesn't matter why, but I picked it. The d_____ thing burst into flames and seared my arm! If only I'd kept quiet! But I was weak and I cried out and gave us away. The whole troop was captured."
↑The Brass Grail (Story), Fallen London"All I knew at the time was that it would allow me to leave with my soul. That such a craven should rise to the mitre..."
↑A Crown of Thorns, Fallen London"My memories hurt far worse than these do," says the Thorned Manservant, pointing at the barbs that rupture his scalp. "I thought sharing them with other veterans might help, so I began hosting these meetings."
↑A Crown of Thorns, Fallen London"Most Londoners can tell themselves they're nothing but pawns, left to fall where they may. But the son of the Traitor Empress can do no such thing. He is troubled, and he is doing something awful to bear it."
↑Describe a Nicatorean Relic, Fallen London"Many veterans of the Campaign of '68 attest to having seen an unknown cavalry officer, eight feet tall and sat atop a massive war-horse, leading charges against the forces of Hell. What these soldiers do not know is that their description of this unknown 'Knight of the Forgotten Quarter' matches effigies found on Elder Continent coins struck around the year 500 A.D..."
