The Phantom Front

X Worldbuilders:

GM James R

The Phantom Front was an iconic battlefield of Realm War I, representing the war between Champerty and Troverth. The former being a mystical and magical kingdom of unlimited power, and the latter being a massive and well-trained martial kingdom of unpredictable humans. The front existed for only a few years before the DolmHarm Regality moved forces into the area, creating a much more complex no-man's-land.

Despite it's brief stint, the front was the apex of Might versus Magic in the Realm War as it pitted mortal enemies at one another.

About

The Phantom Front was located in Osugbo, though its exact location pushed further north-west and south-east depending on what point in the war.

For the most part, Troverth was on the offensive, constantly trying to push towards Champerty, while the Champerts kept a strong mystically-enhanced defense.

Timeline

10 PR (The OathWielders)

Taken from Troverth commander journals:

An attempt was made by Champerty to isolate the factions covering the Troverth Tip by flaking in from the right and left and isolating the parties, probably for some sort of magical ambush. Intelligence got through to us of the plan, and we were able to interrupt movement on the north east and southwest sides of the tip through some very clever work by the Unshu.

However, our sides need to be stronger than ever, lest we all get surrounded and trapped by magic and demons at every edge. Because of this, stronger forces and being displaced right and left, and new reinforcements are being brought up the rear flank to guard the real front. That includes more Barakas then ever.

Barakas, they're not trained for war, they're not good at it either, but they keep enemies busy and sometimes time is the most important thing.

In 10 PR, Tasaday Liver was one of the commanders on the front, living in a trench camp in the most dangerous areas, as his Curse of Life kept him from dying.

The Oathwielders would be rescued from dying on the front when Champerty teleporters arrived in their trench camp one night, recognizing that Niebelung was a mystic, and offered them escape from the baraka platoon.

However, before enough reinforcements could be teleported over to save the team, the team found themselves caught in the middle of Breakwater's Bamboozle.

Troverth

Base Camp

The Troverth base camps were located 5 miles from the front, and contained a constantly rotating caliber of armies as they were appointed and assigned positions on the front, as well as various offices and medical facilities. Before moving from the Base Camp to a Trench Camp, soldiers are instructed to leave all valuables behind, including money.

Trench Camps

Troverth had a trench that spanned the length of the front, and downfield from the trench (away from No-Man's-Land) were Trench Camps. These camps existed at trench level, but about a mile out of sight from the battlefield, but were constantly targeted by champert ambushes.

Life on the Trench Camp was difficult, there was always a haunting menagerie of magical sounds in the distance, and magical storms meant to wash away bodies kept the ground constantly damp.

Samurai referred to the final mile between Trench Camp and the battlefield proper as the Nuke Mile, taken from the Troverthian language term "Nukeni" which translated to "Contraband", as the Samurai were certain they would be smuggled out of their own country as prisoners of war.

A diagram of the Phantom Front's platoon organization in 10 PR

Troverth stationed 1 to 3 armies at a trench camp every 10 miles, alongside scouts (see below) who were stationed every half mile.

Scouting Raids

Every night, 2/3rds of the soldiers stationed at a trench camp were expected to go on a scouting raid, leaving the final 1/3rd to stay at the trench as lookouts.

• A suicide mission that hopes to determine what they are facing and what is being prepared beyond the front line
• The Goal is to get into the enemy trench on the other side
• Taking a Champert prisoner would be the best way to scout out intel, to determine what the oncoming assault is, and how many men they will need to prepare for it.
• Soldiers must remove anything that would identify them if they were captured, killed, or left behind wounded. Letter, insignia, pay books, and identity tags are left behind.

Forces

As the Phantom front was near impenetrable, Troverth employed many platoons of Baraka, who died mercilessly against the champert mages.

Each Clan and Unshu had up to 100 Samurai, while the Baraka typically held between 10 and 20 soldiers, depending on how many prisoners and servants could be brought to the front at any given time.

Champerty

Trench

Mages using earth-excavation magic commissioned a massive trench along the champert side of the field. It was from this trench that Champerty could station low-level magicians whose task was to charge the front and eliminate samurai who were unphased by the phantoms (see below). A handful of mystics also lived in the trenches, probing the field with psionic energies to detect any enemies in hiding.

Wall of Phantoms

Champerty stationed a single master-level illusionist approximately every 120 feet along the front. Each illusionist was tasked with keeping up a major image of terrifying creatures, including dragons, beholders, giants, and other abominations. Each illusion was enhanced with the power of a Phantasmal Force, causing fear in those who were fighting the illusions, typically leading to entire Troverth platoons dropping weapons and charging back to their own trenches.

POWs

Champerty employed an elite squadron of teleporting agents whose M.O. was to rescue captured prisoners of war from Troverth. These squads would teleport over enemy lines in the middle of the night, locate prisoners, and teleport them back to safety. Niebelung was one such mystic rescued on the Phantom Front in this manor.