This particular story can be heard in most major cities of the Republic and elsewhere; anyplace large enough to draw a decent bard. Though some bards change or embellish a bit, the stories appear almost identical in the telling. This particular telling was told by the famous bard, Joscod, in a city park in Polisport. Joscod explained that it was not her story but rather, one she had heard on the wind, from a rich and delightful voice:

"I had hoped it would not come to pass. So long have the people of this land dealt with suffering that they have forgotten the years of peace and bliss in ages long ago. In the days since that nigh-forgotten era, their souls and culture have been polluted by false gods and heretics claiming truth. All they have been handed is the chaos of war, of pain, of death. Unlike some of my brethren, I do not desire the rule of law above all else; However, these people have gone so long in darkness that they know not joy. They fight that which will bring them closer to the good, closer to the divine, closer to paradise. Their souls, so far corrupted, fight against their own betterment; it is with no pleasure that I relish the days of combat that have passed, nor the ones that will come.

Some call it the greatest battle this continent has seen in millennia. Those who have long memories, know of many greater in the past; those with keen foresight, know of many greater still waiting in the future. A great Barrier, forty feet high, protects a nation called Kylor that is not a nation. It protects pain and suffering hidden behind words like ‘freedom.’ Freedom from what, I ask? Freedom from serenity and prosperity is all that Barrier protects. As in ages past, the noble genies and those who understand the true path, were forced to war against the foul taint of false gods found in humans; humans who have corrupted the beautiful spirit of the gnoll and bought the kobold with promises of freedom but will deliver only their man-made tyranny. More than two thousand of these unfortunate creatures defend with their lives this so-called ‘Great Barrier.’

Hizon summoned a great army commanded by the noble Tir-Amen to destroy this Barrier to eternal peace. Many follow the righteous path of the good and true – goblins of all types, gnolls, kobolds, trolls and men too. Those organized to topple the Barrier number ore than three times defenders! Though they began to arrive more than a week earlier, it was on the Day of Rising Sohl in the sixth hundred and eighty-fourth year of the Andelai Republic that the battle began. A great host from across the Amnon rose up in earnest and would not be appeased until it saw the days of peace and bliss restored.

However, upon that first day, those heretics who worship and drain strength from the land itself, disguised as mere unintelligent beasts, which is less a disguise than they think, commanded the trees and grass to grip and hold. Arcanists spewed their own webs among the trees further trapping the attackers like a spider traps its prey. The forces of righteousness found themselves held in the throes of heretical magic as the arrows and bolts from the high walls rained down upon them. The strong moved ahead and began to fire their own arrows and bolts upon the walled defenders. Magic flew down in fire and lightning at the attackers but then magic emerged from the ranks of the goblins, countering the spells thrown at their kin before magic itself tested the walls. Priests of Cormas stepped forward and made a vast wall of wind that made the arrows and bolts of the defenders useless as Tir-Amen ordered a withdrawal. The Defenders thought it victory and cheered but little did they know the doom awaiting them.

On the next day, the attackers were prepared for their tactics. Shamans cast spells of darkness at the wall, blinding even kobold archers who knew darkness well. The druids and mages worked to undo this blindness, allowing the attackers to make it close to the wall. By the time they could once more see, they found their attackers closer than they thought and hails of arrows were exchanged as ladders began to rise up along the great wall. Those ladders were repelled by the skilled defenders and only a few goblins managed to make it to the top of the wall before being forced to withdraw. A great boom was heard, then, as a massive hole in the Barrier emerged, the wish of Amir Tamash, the commander of Apinia. Goblins and humans poured through the breach, threatening to surround and overwhelm its defenders, but the Third Lightning Lancers of the Republic rode their mighty beasts and repelled the advances, routing the attackers and pushing them back. However, in their arrogance and haste, they pushed farther than they needed and found themselves cut off from the rest of defenses. They have to fight their way back to the Barrier and in doing so, lost many of their number. Their commander, Major Thompson Greth, almost fell to the goblins in the process, but was saved by his companion, Captain T’Kayade Sil, who, right before death, managed to cast a spell, making Greth disappear and able to reach the safety of the walls. Tir-Amen ordered a withdrawal once more; Amir Tamash of Apinia disobeyed the order and continued the assault to the detriment of his forces, before being forced to withdraw.

During the night, efforts are hurried to repair the Barrier. As Sohl rises on the third day of the siege, the defenders look much reduced on the walls and it appears to be a foregone conclusion. A wish granted to Amir Bloodtooth builds a massive ramp that allows his goblins to easily climb up to the Barrier and a great melee ensued between the forces who wish to remove this obstacle to paradise and those who defend it in the name of freedom. In the melee, Amir Tamash fell; rumors began about it being at the hands of his own men, or at the order of Tir-Amen, though all such talk is baseless slander! The defenders fought well and the fight went into the night as the defenders are slowly pushed to the other side of their wall. The previous night, however, they had already begun an organized withdrawal and those at the Barrier were merely a rear guard! The Barrier was finally taken that night and there is much rejoicing in the camps of Hizon, Gin Galen and Apinia for the Barrier that held for so long is finally overcome.

Over the next several days, the forces of Kylor and the Republic continue hit and run tactics on the larger goblin army, forcing it to move out and pursue them in order to stem losses. The great worgoblins, faster than even a horse, are sent in numbers to pursue the fleeing forces and they tear through the resistance, stopping the hit-and-run tactics and putting the remaining forces on the run! They are stopped from destroying the remaining forces once and for all only by the magic of Aberen and the Order of the Golden Amethyst, which protects the fleeing remnants of the army and the nation of Kylor as they retreat into the mountains.