[fungalreason]

-- excerpt from The Lost Ballads of the Norse

T'was indeed a troubling time
in the once peaceful Vanheim.
A great goblin host
marched toward our coast,
along with his partner in crime.

Most forsaw a quick end
to 'heim's quest to ascend.
Yet, the Norse rallied to arms
and they inflicted great harm
much to our foes' chargrin.

A mass of archers arrived first at Van's door
after engaging in a leisurely tour.
But the Vanir were prepared;
a meagre army was reared,
by imposing heavy taxes on our poor.

Several demons led the assault,
a strategy clearly without fault.
Yet Van had priests on hand,
who spammed banish as planned,
sending those Oni back to their vault.

Very soon the sky darkened with blades;
Bakemono expired in waves.
They fled the grisly scene,
and in month Seventeen
A truce with Shinuyama was made.

The other foe had been conspicuously hiding,
but on the eve of the new-found peace tidings
Arco lauched their attack,
giving no time to slack.
Our early research lead was rapidly subsiding.

Arco's forces this time were a bit more diverse;
great chariots posed a potent threat to Vanherse.
But my dwarves had discovered Destruction
and were ready to give some instruction...
to drive the invading horde back home in reverse.

Despite several attempts to surround,
Arco's quick movements were hard to pin down.
With his troops heavily malnourished,
There was hope Van really might flourish.
Then abruptly, his troops pulled back to town.

With that curious move, Van expected a trap of some sort.
and quickly perused countless grimoires to glean its purport.
With luck a wise leader predicted the plot
and quickly withdrew every Vandrott.
With a great hunt impending... there was but one last resort.

Forces fled with haste, and just in time,
they dodged the vicious assault of mind.
Even the capital was tried in vanity,
but those mages were soon repaid with insanity
...perhaps the victory most sublime.

And just when things started to look grim,
Van's movements subject to Arco's whim,
the services of an crucial merc were engaged...
a dread legion of ghosts led by a spectral mage.
With luck the future wasn't so dim.

And so the ragged bunch continued north,
bravely challenged their foe to venture forth.
With fearsome weapons were they encumbered,
Arco's last days here were surely numbered.
a fight would resolve the fate of the Norse.

In the next engagement, many souls departed.
Both sides were destroyed before forces darted.
Odin's favor stayed with Van all along,
and when dust settled, the siege still held strong.
However, a grievous toll had been imparted.

And thus concludes Vanhiem's next thrilling chapter,
with valiant leaders erupting in laughter
at those whose spied an easy prize
only to meet their own demise.
Lets hope the next verse ends, "Happily there after".