Chapter 1: Captain Nemo

I suppose had Captain Nemo not gone on to greater glory, I might not tell this tale, yet perhaps I might. For not all events must involve the great and mighty to be of value to the reader and this event showed the capacity for greatness to which all might aspire.

Captain Nemo was leading his men around the frozen shore of the Eastern Ocean when they came upon an army of Dwarfs, yet these were Dwarfs of a type he had never seen before.

It was not that the humans and Dwarfs had no contact, for of course they did, even in these dark times. Some have speculated it was the teaching of the Dwarfs as to how the humans might make the mighty cannons they had begun to build that led Patton and Nemo to believe they could expand their territory.

Be that as it may, these Dwarfs had a look of their own. They wore tall hats, some so tall that they eclipsed the height of even Captain Nemo, who was himself a tall man. The Dwarfs had intricately braided beards. Braided into their beards were many dark gems.

Their countenances bespoke anger and fury and they had with them cannons such as the men of Speter had never seen. Unlike their own cannons, the cannon with the Dwarfs seemed to move with a mind and fury of its own.

With his customary efficiency, Captain Nemo deployed his battle line. He set up his cannon upon a hill, anchoring his right flank against a cliff. Beside it he set up his pistol-wielding men to protect the flank of his spearmen. His Knights he deployed on his left flank, though they were delayed in taking their position by a small stream. This delay brought about the events that nearly ended the command of Captain Nemo.

He flew forward upon his winged pegasus to treat with the leader of the Dwarfs. At least, that is the story his men spread after the battle. Some who were there claimed the Speterites fired first.

Their mighty cannon belched forth flame, but the ball whistled harmlessly over the head of the big block of Dwarf Warriors who implacably advanced.

Captain Nemo flew behind the enemy to shoot at their cannon, relying on the speed of his Pegasus to keep him safe. He was able to wound the monster inside the cannon, but in return the Dwarfs unleashed a hail of fire such as he had never seen.

They carried curious rifles somewhat like the long rifles some of his own men carried, yet the end of these was wide, like a trumpet. He would later learn they were called blunderbusses. They unleashed a hail of lead towards him that would have torn him in two had he been just a few feet closer. As it was, they fell a bit short.

Meanwhile, the Dwarf cannon spit flame at the spearmen. Several fell.

Again the Speter cannon roared, only this time it did not fire at all. As the blunderbusses and Dwarf Cannon took their toll on the Speter spearmen, the cannoneers worked feverishly to get their machine fixed.

The battle looked bad for the Speterites. Their Knights were struggling to cross the stream, their cannon was doing nothing, their spearmen were falling to the hail of fire from the strange, monster-driven cannon of the opponent and those awful blunderbusses.

They broke and began to run.

It was at this moment that the career of Captain Nemo hung in the balance. His larger army was on the verge of seeing all break and run. It was now that he showed his steel.

Ignoring the danger from the blunderbusses, he flew over and brought the Knights across the stream, sending them charging into the right flank of the Dwarfs. He directed the fire of his own archers, and stayed there long enough to see a few Dwarfs fall. He shot down the beast inside the enemy cannon, silencing it for good. He even managed to get his own cannon working again.

He seemed to be everywhere at once, and his mighty deeds began to turn the tide. His fleeing men turned back to the field just as the wave of Knights crashed upon the Dwarf line like a wave of steel. Silver reflected from sunlight as their blades rose and fell.

Even the archers were so inspired, they charged into the Dwarf Warriors. Perhaps it was some optical illusion of the land, perhaps it was fate, but their charge ended up hitting the Dwarfs in the side.

Now it was the Dwarf army that panicked, went into retreat. They, however, had nobody like Captain Nemo to rally them.

From certain defeat, Nemo had turned it into a smashing victory. Thus a small, seemingly insignificant skirmish started him on the path to greatness.

The Dwarfs were so demoralized that they retreated from the territory, allowing Patton to move in some of his own people and begin setting up a larger kingdom.