Dread War
| Dread War | |
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| Historical Event | |
| Event Name | Dread War |
| Dates and Times | February 19, 307 - November 9, 307 AC |
| Location | Altaleï and Westwynd |
| People Involved | Regalian Empire and Crown Alliance, Altaleïn nations, Dread Empire |
The Dread War was waged between the Regalian Empire, temporarily allied with many Elven nations of Altaleï, against the Dread Empire, or Rokhaval as known by the Kathar. As the Regalians came out of the Altaleï-Regalian War which was ended by a truce to let the Elves focus on a Kathar invasion, it became clear the fighting wasn't over. The Kathar continued to push their expansion, so Ailor and Elf set their differences aside to work against a common foe. The nearly year-long campaign that followed saw the Kathar pushed back, ending long years of conflict across the lands of Altaleï. Today, the Dread War is seen as a successful conclusion to a relatively stagnant war, though some consider the final battle to have been pyrrhic, while also being one of several events that set the stage for the return of the Allorn Empire.
Background Information
The Dread War’s origins began during the final months of the Altaleï-Regalian War. As the Regalian Military pushed through defenses set by nearby enemy nations, the Dread Empire’s focus turned from simple raids and harassment to full-on invasion. The Kathar push was so immediate and intense, it ran into the advance of the Regalian Empire. The clashes that followed caused the retreat of the Regalians back to more fortified positions, and the Kathar also turned to focus on consolidating their control. With chaos again back in Corontium (specifically Anglia, as an unknown mist surged up and coated the land) further delaying a focus on the ongoing war, military leaders on the frontline of both sides agreed to a truce, and turned away to handle their mutual problems.
After the Anglian Misery was resolved, Emperor Alexander I returned to the throne, ending a year-long interregnum where no one held the position. As one of his first acts, Alexander commanded that the Marshal Cabinet be readied for conflict, with generals and admirals replaced or shuffled. At roughly the same time, a Regalian general stationed in the currently Regalian-conquered Altaleïn territories, Edgar Altenberg, urged the Empire to send his position reinforcements as the Kathar menace arrived and threatened to overwhelm the Regalian-held region. Given their orders, the military leaders of the Empire acted and mustered their available forces for the conflict.
History
The Invasion of Fort Threlwar
The region the Kathar and Regalians fought in was a southern coastal region of Altaleï, previously under Elven control, briefly held by Regalians in their initial push months ago, before the Kathar took the region and fortified it to prepare for an assault on the Regalian positions further along the coast. The first objective for the Empire was Fort Threlwar, and while there was great difficulty in hiding their approach given the huge troop buildup beforehand, the months of prior inactivity by the Regalians gave them the element of surprise when they suddenly did move in force. The Regalians first formed a beachhead and proceeded to the target fort. Commanded by the Kathar General Van’viilar Rovaknial and several Void Mages, it was a slow but steady advance, ending with the capture of the structure.
However, the extremely xenophobic Anglian general in charge of the attack had the Kathar leaders turned into soup, an act that repulsed many of the other Regalians in the field. He had also horrifically tortured and killed most of the captured Kathar prisoners, and when word of this reached Dread Empire forces further down the coastline in the city of Merkar’sarh, they responded in kind, massacring and mutilating a number of captured Regalian and local Elven troops. Among their number was General Altenburg. Meanwhile, at sea, a Regalian armada successfully skirmished with a minor force of Kathar ships, and drove them away from the beachhead, ensuring the Regalian Navy dominance in the opening of the campaign. While the Regalians had succeeded in securing a base of operations, the actions of the Anglian commander were a dark spot, especially since similar conduct had been seen in Regalian forces before, during the Altaleï-Regalian War.
Rival Orders and Liberations
Scouting parties soon reported back to the Regalian lines after the taking of Fort Threlwar, revealing two nearby locations for capture. The first was Neenasari Prison, where General Altenburg and other prisoners had been horribly executed,while the second was the town of Alynaneas. While the Regalian Military further organized themselves for a push down the coastline, (handling the arriving 150,000 soldiers was quite the task), the Bloodcast and Viridian Orders were tasked with sending forward parties to take the prison and the town. The Viridians assaulted the prison, and while they were able to successfully seize the small fortification, a number of the party’s members suffered serious injuries, some comically caused by the stampede of terrified Regalian and Altaleïn troops rushing out of their imprisonment when they realized they were being saved. When news of this success reached the Bloodcast contingent, they immediately moved on Alynaneas. Dividing into two teams, one group drew the majority of the Kathar garrison to their position, while, entering from the other side of town, the second team came crashing into the Kathar position, comprehensively defeating them. While the Bloodcast also suffered injuries, few were as severe as those the Viridians had taken, and the two sides would bicker for weeks about whose mission had been more successful.
The Battle of Merkar’sarh and Landing of Holvechis
With the Knight Orders having cleared the way for the first proper push of the campaign, the Regalian forces moved their main army down the coastline toward the city of Merkar’sarh, accompanied by Prince Marshal Cedric Kade on land, and a portion of the Regalian armada at sea. The Kathar forces were now alerted of the Regalian presence, however, and when the army arrived, they found the Kathar prepared to face them. The enemy commanders, Blood Prince Valuiin'eron and Silver-Tear Paladin Uneilan, one of the Dread Empire’s most elite warriors, had arrayed their forces outside of the city, ready to withstand the Regalians. The battle began with both infantry lines moving to engage each other, banners waving in the wind. Unfortunately, a Regalian sea captain mistook one of the Regalian banner waves as a specific signal previously coordinated between the army and navy. He thus fired onto land, killing hundreds of Dread and Regalian soldiers before the admiral was able to prevent other ships from following suit, as well as further fire.
On land, the same Anglian general as before now led a headlong flanking charge into the Kathar position, only to be attacked by Kathar skirmish forces emerging from the nearby forestry to the west of the Regalian position. The Regalian charge was able to fend off these forces in a fierce fight and push back the attempted counterflank. Cedric Kade then transformed into the Imperial Dragon and began to attack the enemy forces. Meanwhile, another section of the army was fighting the vanguard of the Kathar forces led by their Silver-Tear Paladin. While his use of Magic in combat made him a lethal force, the tide of battle forced him and the Blood Prince to retreat from their lost position, fleeing to the much larger city of Nuthotehk far down the coast. With the city of Merkar’sarh recaptured the Regalian generals proceeded to execute the remaining Kathar, liberating the city for their allies.
Elsewhere on the front line, a smaller army led by the first Urlan general of the Empire proceeded to the nearby isle of Holvechis to seize the town and fortification there so the Regalians could turn the position into a naval outpost. Landing on difficult terrain to avoid detection, the general ordered scouts to investigate the island’s main fort but after hours of no response, he was forced to slowly approach the fortress with his troops. Unfortunately, the Kathar had rigged the fort with traps, causing an explosion that would severely damage the Urlan’s legs and render him unconscious. With their general incapacitated, command of the army went to his brother, who continued to scout the island for traps. In the end, many more troops were lost, but the last of the devices were disarmed. What the Regalians found was an emptied port town, and when they gained access to the fortress, an extremely distressed Temple Orphan stuffed into the structure’s catacombs. Able to successfully and miraculously flee from the creature, the Regalians concluded that the island was unusable, and retreated. In total, the battle and expedition culminated in the loss of 26,000 Kathar troops and 16,200 Regalian casualties. Merkar’sarh was soon turned into the forward-operating post for the Regalian Military, but it would ultimately face several assaults by the Dread Empire in the battles to come.
The Massacre of the Lurlavan Forest and the Defense of Merkar’sarh
With Merkar’sarh taken, the Regalians now had two roads to advance down: The forest path that led west, deeper inland, towards the city of Lurlavan, and the other path leading to the large city of Nothotehk. Choosing to focus on securing territory closer to their supply lines, the Regalian Military tasked an army with marching down the forest-lined pathway to take Lurlavan, while other forces prepared to defend Merkar’sarh from a Kathar counterattack. Soon into the Lurlavan attacker’s march, however, the number of men in each army column slowed the Regalian advance to a standstill, and the concept of uniform marching was soon abandoned as the foliage crept up around the soldiers. As the force advanced, their composition became more and more disorganized, which played right into the hands of the Kathar ambushers who had been shadowing the army. While the Regalians fought valiantly, they were unable to repel the endless waves of Kathar coming from the treetops, hidden tunnels in the forest, and other unknown areas. Faced with the possibility of losing three Cabinet members, the Regalians would ultimately be saved by the personal regiments commanded by an Allar ally of the Regalian Empire. Through his Allar skirmishers, the Ailor armies were rescued from annihilation, but were forced to retreat back to Merkar’sarh, which was now facing a battle of its own.
Soon after the Lurlavan attackers had left, Regalian forces marched out of Merkar’sarh to face a smaller Kathar army. However, this force was once again led by Silver-Tear Paladin Uneilan and two other Dread Champions, alongside three mysterious weapons controlled by Kathar Mages. As soon as both armies met each other, the Dread Mages began to utilize these weapons to create several golems made of blood. Wasting little time, the Regalians advanced, seeking to reach and kill the Mages powering these constructs. As the battle continued, the Regalians were able to destroy one of the weapons, and before long the remaining portions of the Regalian force advanced, eliminating the other two weapons with quick cavalry charges. With their weapons destroyed, the Dread soldiers were forced to retreat back to Nuthotehk. The commanders knew that the battle was only a simple test for what else was to come. Back in the city, a Regalian blunder was unfolding. The Regalian general in charge of fortifying the city made a key error when he mentioned that non-Ailor would be expelled from the city should a siege be undertaken, an order that echoed in the government halls of the city. The Elven emissaries immediately distributed this news to the citizens, who began to riot against their supposed Regalian allies. It would only be the return of the defense forces that would quell the riots, but the blunder set relations back between the local Elves and the Regalian Empire.
The Attempt on Nuthotehk
With the failure to capture Lurlavan came the Regalian Military’s only other option: March south to take the City of Nuthotehk. While the main army marched down the coastline to complete this task, a reinforcement group was left nearby in order to shield the main army from any attacks via the dense local forests. Scouts sent to the city previously had reported on the placement of significant defenses, most notably heavy scorpion bows of the Kathar. A short time after arrival, the Regalians broke into six smaller armies to assail the walls, and then the attack began. Despite this constant pressure, Nuthotehk proved to be impregnable in a direct assault. While some scorpions were able to be destroyed, the vast majority of them remained in use, repelling infantry units as they advanced. As for the reinforcements, they too became engaged with the Kathar ambushers, with the leading commander almost captured by a Kathar force that outmaneuvered the army - an endeavor that was repelled by reinforcements. In short, the attempt to take Nuthotehk proved to be an underprepared one, forcing the Marshal Cabinet to reevaluate their current plans in order to secure new victories.
Turning the Tides of War
After the failure of Nuthotehk, it was decided that another attempt at Lurlavan would be organized. Now overseen by a different general than before, the forest-lined path was successfully cleared out by a Wirtem-led army. Having seen the Kathar’s strategies several times already at different engagements in the war so far, the complete clearing of the enemy force proved exceptionally successful, and within hours, Lurlavan was now surrounded. The Battle of Lurlavan would prove to be the tactical victory that the Regalians were looking for. Scouting parties had determined the surrounding fields to be boggy and filled with cavalry traps, so in a fairly controversial move for a Wirtem, the general recruited a few Arkenborn to infiltrate the city gates posing as Dread Loyalists. Once inside, they began to make preparations for the imprisoned city populace to revolt when a signal was given. What this signal was would be unknown to the infiltrators.
When the day of the battle arrived, two columns marched forward, being overseen by several generals as well as Cedric Kade. As the Regalian forces began to skirmish, the infiltration plan was put into action. Transforming into the Imperial Dragon, the Prince Marshal descended on the outer walls while the imprisoned Altaleïns on the inside began to revolt, forcing the Kathar forces to retreat from the city. In addition, the remnants of the forest-based Kathar force that survived the extensive Regalian clearing effort were fully crushed when Regalian forces pursued the fleeing Kathar forces. Lurlavan firmly fell into Regalian hands, with a minimal loss of life.
Meanwhile, the city of Merkar’sarh again prepared for another defensive battle with the Kathar, which the Regalians had been expecting. With the Kathar Mages utilizing their magics alongside corrupted creatures from the Dread Empire, their focus was set on taking the city, not expecting the Regalians to have changed tactics since the last engagement. This would be the Kathar’s undoing, as a third army under General Harhold was placed in hiding nearby until the opportune time. The flanking attack that followed ultimately forced the Kathar to retreat once more, adding another victory to the Regalian tally. The Battle of Lurlavan and the Second Defense of Merkar’sarh would prove to be a turning point in the war. The tactical plan of the Wirtem general would be cited as one of the most notable throughout the entire campaign, which earned him much prestige after the battle concluded. Unfortunately, the firm liberation of so much of the region had one negative outcome which would set the scene of the final battle.
The War’s End
Scout reports came back quickly after Lurlavan was taken, each claiming that the Dread Empire had regrouped around the Black Mountain Pass which separated the coastal region from the true interior of Altaleï. Most notable was the rumor of the “Dread Dragon,” a Void-infested Dragon commonly claimed by Regalians to be the at-large lesser Dragon Renita fully turned to darkness, accompanying enemy forces into the region, confirming suspicions that the perpetrator of the Dragon Crisis in the capital city from earlier years had fled to the Dread Empire after leaving Corontium. Despite a large host preparing to march northwards, the news paled in comparison to the final report that came in: Nuthotehk was leveled to the ground. Thousands were dead, and the Kathar were coming for the Regalians. With the Marshal Cabinet given less than a week to prepare, all armies were deployed south of Merkar’sarh, spanning from the forest to the coastline with the single objective of defeating the enemy, while a light force remained inside the walls to serve as reinforcements
The final battle of the Dread War tested every member of the Marshal Cabinet, Generals and Admirals alike. On land, the armies faced off against the greatest forces of the Dread Empire, with columns breaking and being reinforced by artillery and cavalry charges. At sea, the Imperial ships fought a great Void-corrupted sea beast which they had encountered several weeks ago on reconnaissance. Despite all the Cabinet giving their all, the real battle would be fought in the skies as the Dread Dragon and Imperial Dragon clashed high above the battling forces, but also dipping down to do great damage against the opposing force. Eventually, the draconic duo moved the battle into the City of Merkar’sarh itself, where the reserve force battled in aid of Cedric Kade. The humanoid form of the Dread Dragon and Prince Cedric would face off in the city streets, returning to humanoid form, with the former utilizing dark magic to turn the Archon in the vicinity against their comrades in arms. Battered and beaten, the two would briefly converse in the language of Dragons, before they both unexpectedly transformed back into Dragons and flew away together, vanishing into the skies. At this point, all Archons regained their senses but were ultimately detained by the military for the remainder of the battle.
The effects of the Dragons’ departure would quickly be seen on the front lines. The Kathar creatures began to disappear, with several Mages unable to maintain their arcane abilities. Even the monstrous sea monster disappeared into the waves, leaving the Regalian Navy with the seas under their control. Having lost their source of power, the Kathar forces buckled and began to retreat over the Black Mountains, back to the main territory of their Empire. There was little celebration after the battle, but rather a sense of relief. Having started the Altaleï-Regalian War years ago, the Regalian Military was finally able to say that the war was over, with the soldiers finally returning back to their families and previous lives.
Effects
The Dread War is a highly controversial conflict to discuss in the modern day. For all of its successes and victories, both in the south and in other smaller battlefields across the whole of Altaleï as Regalian troops worked with regional Elves to beat back the Dread Empire’s invasion, there was no lasting unity between Regalia and these people. When the conflict came to an end, the Regalian Empire simply left, giving up all of its captured territories won in prior conflicts, and did not engage the region whatsoever. While initially, the Altaleï Elves were unaffected, focused far more on immediate issues, the seeming Regalian apathy came to greatly anger many leaders who now had to rebuild devastated princedoms and cities, and had seemed intent on joining the Empire. Regalia not following up on the chance for further bonds was the choice of the Chancellor at the time, and while some efforts were made later on, the Teledden had already made up their minds. When Talea supposedly returned in 309 AC, two years after the end of the conflict, the region’s High Elves were more than happy to recant any idea of future cooperation with the Regalian Empire in favor of relying on themselves, their faith, and their apparently returned Empress.
The conflict for the Regalian Empire, aside from the earlier mentioned political failure, was a solid victory. Political machinations at home did little to affect the course of the war, and many military officers won renown for themselves. However, it soon turned sour for a variety of reasons. One of the most looming problems was the debts the war incurred, followed by political discontent as the near-year of political stagnation, and sole focus on the war, caused several regions to declare rebellion as their needs were not met by the Empire. One of the most notable was the Drixagh Rebellion, and while the situation was soon resolved, the Empire has seriously struggled since the Dread War to engage in world politics as it once did, as well as win military campaigns abroad.
Trivia
- Why and how there was a Temple Orphan in those old catacombs remains a great mystery to the Regalian Empire. An attempted investigation did suggest it had somehow been summoned by the Kathar from distant Solangeria, but further answers elude modern knowledge.
- Many of the location names during this war were Kathar designations, given to the area after they conquered the territory. Others were Regalian in origin, to designate locations the Kathar naming system didn’t touch, and where the excessively verbose Altalar tongue was deemed illogical to be used.
- Among those given medals at the end of the conflict were a Vampire Brood, and a Manathar, both women as well, who had served in the retinues of some of the Regalian generals. While this briefly marked a high point of positive note for such groups, the Manathar ceased to exist in 310 AC and the Vampire invasion of the Crown Isle in 309 AC destroyed any chance these groups could form a path to greater acceptance in Regalian society.
- While Regalians commonly hold Renita up as the Dread Dragon, someone who let themselves be corrupted to help lead the Kathar against the Regalians, and who was ultimately “defeated,” Draconism followers strongly disagree. Not only has Renita appeared, uncorrupted, in the years since this disaster, but the faithful instead claim the Dread Dragon was in fact Triton, the Dark Dragon.
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