Last week, in part one of this article, I explored the possibility of a second God Wars, and the role the followers of the four gods that inhabit Gielinor today would play in it. However, since the days of the God Wars, various other gods have made their appearance on Gielinor. There is also a number of groups that seem to hold no divine allegiance yet hold enough power to make a significant difference in the tides of war.
The Fremmenik tribes have carved out their own existence in the rocky wastes to the north of Kandarin. Their territory is fairly isolated, cut off by the sea on two sides and mountains on the third. Their resources are fairly limited. Their main food is the fish they catch in the seas, their main export consists of the Fremmenik helmets and other equipment that only the Fremmenik blacksmiths know how to forge. Their position however, is all but safe. The mountain that forms the eastern border of their territory is swarming with the trolls that make up a major part of Bandos' forces. In the southern kingdom of Kandarin the Zamorakian forces will take any chance they get to expand. The Fremmenik people will not go down quietly however, as they are a nation of proud warriors who will defend their home to the very end. Unfortunately this pride has also lead to an isolationistic attitude that could cost them in the long term. If they do get desperate enough to ask a god for help, it's all but certain that those gods will even listen, and that the Fremmenik are willing to pay the full price of divine intervention. However, if they do decide to rally under the banner of any one god, they will be a powerful asset on the battlefield.
The dwarves' participation in the last God Wars was limited to getting the hell off the surface of Gielinor and walling themselves in as deeply as possible. While the dwarves could easily abandon their strongholds under White Wolf and Snowy Mountain to seek the safety of Kandarin, this might not be the safest option for the dwarves. Many of their mines are accessed to territory that is controlled by one deity or another, and they will be called upon to fork over the goods sooner or later. Knowing the nature of certain gods, this calling upon may be done rather forcefully.
The city of Keldagrim, the main dwarven stronghold in Gielinor, could easily be isolated from the outside world by collapsing the various tunnels that lead into the city. Their precious blast furnace, capable of churning out metal bars faster and with less fuel than any regular furnace ever could, might be too tempting a target, motivating some very determined divine forces to dig through the dwarven defences in search of control for that facility. If the dwarves do call on divine help to protect their mines, the dwarven warriors and metalworks that will be asked in return will surely make a difference in the flow of war.
In the south-eastern Kharidian desert, the peoples' spiritual needs are fulfilled by a wholly different group of gods. The Kharidian pantheon stands completely independent from the gods that control the rest of Gielinor, and are generally much too busy fighting amongst themselves to concern themselves with the larger world. Furthermore, it seems that the sands of the south offer very little of any interest. There are a handful of mines, but other than that most of the area seems to consist of sandy wasteland. If the desert pantheon does become involved in the war however, they could bring in quite a few nasty surprises. Besides the mummies, scorpions, wild camels, Menaphite thugs and Bedannin tribes that inhabit the desert, there is also the constant thread of Kalphites. The tunnels of the hive stretch far, so far in fact that they stand in almost direct contact with Lumbridge castle and the underground city of Dorgesh-Khaan. There would be no end to the carnage if the toxic Kalphite soldiers come pouring into the streets of Lumbridge.
The gnomes, though diminutive in size, make for fierce warriors possess perhaps the most powerful cavalry of all of Gielinor. From the backs of their terrorbirds and war tortoises their warriors, rangers and mages have proven to be more than a match for invading humans. They are also the only faction to maintain an active air force. From their Grand Tree they can launch powerful gliders that have an action radius that covers most of Gielinor. The mobility of their forces is further boosted by their abilities to cross the world at a moments' notice through the spirit trees.
While the gnomes might wish to isolate themselves from the world like the dwarves, their Grand Tree is not nearly as easily sealed off as the dwarven mines. Their two main settlements, the Grand Tree and the Tree Gnome Village, are both surrounded on four sides by the forces of Zamorak. They have had skirmishes with human forces in the past, most notably with the army of General Khazard. There are even elements within the Gnomish community that would actively seek war with the humans around them. These forces are far more unpredictable than your regular garden variety gnomes (editor's note: the author was beaten severely for this pun). While they are rumoured to hold a Zamorakian allegiance very little is known about their loyalties and long term goals beyond destroying all humans.
The pirates of Runescape seem to hold no divine allegiance at all. Their only loyalty is to their wallets. Of course war can be a very profitable business. Whether it's smuggling weapons and supplies or capturing ships loaded with riches to fuel the war effort, pirates will have plenty of opportunities to exploit a global divine conflict for personal gain. One major advantage they seem to have is that all their major ports, such as Brimhaven and Moss'le Harmless, are fairly isolated from any potential battlegrounds, thus giving them plenty of room to retreat and catch their breath if the heat of battle becomes too much for them. Furthermore the pirate fleet seems far superior to anything the gods can put out to sea. This means that, for a while at least, pirates will be free to do as they please.
However, the greed that defines pirates can also be their downfall. To get ahead in the world pirates are willing to make a deal with pretty much anyone, including but not limited to the devil. This is evidenced by the presence of the cursed zombie pirates that roam the seas of Gielinor to this day. Because of their lust for gold pirates may be willing to sacrifice a little independence in exchange for capital gain, but very few mortals realize that there's no such thing as sacrificing 'a little' independence when you're dealing with the gods.
The elves that are still loyal to the Crystal Goddess find themselves in a pretty much indefensible positions. Those outside the mighty Iowerth clan are already hunted by their Zamorakian kin, and the constant pressure they are under seems to have completely eliminated their hope of founding a permanent settlement. They are surrounded on all sides, with little hope to escape except for the small port the humans have established in the far south western corner of their lands. If any god could add those loyal to Seren to their forces they would find that the elves, despite the fact that they have been living nomadic lives for the past few centuries, still make fearsome warriors, rangers and mages.
All these paragraphs are of course nothing but speculation, educated guesses at what might happen if the god wars break out. There is of course one group I haven't discussed yet. You. The adventurer that roams the land in search of fame and riches. Of course each adventurer will choose their own path through the conflict, whether it's joining forces with one of the four gods, trying to stay with one of the independent factions or remaining entirely neutral. Whatever choice we make, when the second God Wars break out all we can really do is strap in, brace for impact and pray to the gods that we have made the right choice.
