The Many Wars of Southwynd
| The Many Wars of Southwynd | |
|---|---|
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| Literature | |
| Author | Jean Mereille |
| Genre | Nonfictional Prose |
| Printer | Scholar’s Court Press |
“The Many Wars of Southwynd” is a text written in 225 AC as part of propaganda efforts seeking to demonstrate the peace-bringing mission of the Regalian Empire. Southwynd as a region was substantially divided in the decades after the Cataclysm, with minor states conquered by neighbors, and the larger states that existed closer to 200 AC beginning to more frequently clash for what territory remained or to try and take from others. However, the region was then largely conquered and absorbed into the Regalian Empire, with scholar Jean Mereille dispatched as part of the Scribe Order to begin cataloging regional knowledge. He stuck upon the thesis that Regalia’s arrival was a net positive for the region’s population, and set out to prove it by recording many highly destructive local conflicts, and then highlighting how the region appeared or had changed in more recent years, thanks to Regalian influence.
The Many Wars of Southwynd
Statement
I, Jean Aoûte-Croissant Plume Coeur Mereille Hibou de L'Annsiée, am a proud servant of the Regalian Empire. While on a mission to the recently conquered lands of Southwynd in the name of the Scribe Order, I was struck by the changes one can see between the modern, held states, and those of the past, both recent and more distant. These polities of Ailor and their allies wasted themselves in conflicts without benefit save the borders on their maps, often over terrain with little practical value. These engagements were instead brought into being due to quests for honor and retribution for old slights, the same sort of old system of eye-for-eye violence that still wracks Old Ceardia and leaves it a hollow shell. It is little wonder the Proto-Velheim fled from that land upon the sea to seek better lives beyond the constant bickering of small divisions and those who could not forgive mistakes made decades ago. Regalia in Southwynd has ultimately brought order and betterment to the many states now under its banner. We will explore Southwynd’s history, and see this for ourselves, as well as investigate the modern station and condition of those groups once involved in these savage slapping fights.
Battering of Kenshield
Kenshield can be uncharitably described as a land of rubble, the remains of great geographic movements leaving the land a harsh, rocky hinterland between more pastoral, pleasant regions. Yet this harsh terrain has great tidal pools, caverns, and a people as hardy as any other. Yet many years ago they were once brought to their very breaking point.
Roughly in 55 AC, Kenshield had made an enemy of a minor region in a heavily forested area to their south. This nameless state began the conflict later named the Battering of Kenshield through an intensive campaign of violence. The cause for this war was a minor trade dispute over lumber rights, apparently magnified by local noble leaders to help them settle their old grudges. What arable land Kenshield contains was raised, and some of their finest forts, created from carefully stacking stones upon each other, were torn down by their foes. But, it was worse for the Kenshielders because the enemy also brought miners with them, and the very best equipment. Great rocks, and pieces of the natural landscape, were collapsed, or tunneled within as the enemy searched for mineral wealth. This proved their downfall, as Kenshield lacked such valuables, and in the end, the Shieldlord rallied his people to defeat their enemies. Legends say the Kenshielders toppled a great boulder, causing it to roll down, and crush many thousands of foes in its path, leading to peace. In reality, the numbers are likely closer to dozens or a hundred men.
Kenshield’s geography remains intact today, and while not rich in minerals, its people benefit from the Regalian Empire opening new markets with better materials to create solid homes with. Their enemies are also now long gone, and the forests they once inhabited are owned by Keldswyn, another Regalian vassal, who peacefully trades with its neighbor where before there might have been bitter posturing.
Berrickwyle-Kenwyle War
Today, Berrickwyle is one of the larger states that prosper in the lands of Southwynd, but it was once far smaller. In this old time, before the Cataclysm, Berrickwyle was built around a handful of linked mountain valleys, from which Bronze and Copper were extracted. To their north, close to the nation of Kenshield, was Kenwyle, apparently the product of a rogue lineage of the rulers from both Kenshield and Berrickwyle.
Berrick III’s personal feud with Kenwyle’s leader in this age, his cousin, led to a savage war where men from what became Kenshield today were recruited into the warbands of Kenwyle. Berrickwyle, for their part, reached south and used overland trade contacts to purchase the aid of a group of Eronidas mercenary warriors from Ashaven. While Ashaven is best known for its trade even to this day, they still trained excellent warriors in this older time, though in small, elite forces to guard their cities. One of these centers was happy to strengthen its trade with Berrickwyle, and so the warfare began in earnest. After three years of on-and-off fighting when the weather would allow, Kenwyle was toppled and Berrick IV took the lands, beginning the first expansion of what became the modern borders of Berrickwyle.
Berrickwyle today is a prosperous region with mining operations that benefit the local economy and that of the Regalian Empire. Base minerals, from metals to stone types valued amidst the Empire’s many populations, slowly flow from the mines of this land. Its people are at peace, no longer free to expand their borders with such ferocity and careless disregard for others, while the Eronidas of Ashaven have largely returned to their homeland to conduct trade and keep themselves closer at hand to their cities.
Pentan’s Scouring
A most mortifying chapter in Southwynd history, Pentan’s Scouring is the name given for the campaign carried out by the forces of Keldswyn against what was then a minority of Unionist faithful in the northeast of their state. It was this conflict that brought Regalia to the lands of Southwynd.
Earl Pentan was a noted leader of Keldswyn, related to the king by marriage, and an ardent follower of a now-dead creed originating back in Oldtera. Because of his faith, and a fervor for protecting his rights and territory, he became outraged to hear of the encroachments made by Unionism upon his peasantry from across the border in a nearby, smaller earldom. He brought the matter to the king and was told to seek a royal-backed accord with Earl Athelman. However, Earl Pentan went beyond his initial privilege, as upon seeing the spread of Unionism in Athelman’s lands, vowed to remove its influence. Athelman objected to this, only for Pentan to ignore him, and march across Athelman’s earldom, destroying Unionist shrines, and forcefully reconverting the populace back to their old pagan ways. His greatest crime came at the fortress of Flaedwyn, where upon realizing he faced a united populace, and Regalian-born Unionists, he torched the structure, toppled the newly built Unionist temple, and killed some three hundred converts. The Keldswyn king ultimately supported his actions, but this atrocity would later be answered for.
Today, Keldswyn has lost the majority of its warrior ways thanks to the Regalian Empire’s pacification of this land. Its people now know to do better than attacking one’s fellow Ailor over a difference of religion, especially to attack the faith of Unionism which seeks to bind us all together. Earl Pentan died in war against Regalia, and his fortress suffered the same fate as he inflicted on others, though Regalia first removed the populace from that place of paganism before its destruction. Keldswyn’s agriculture is its focus now, and its beef is a great boon to neighboring lands lacking diversity in their food supplies.
Affa’s War
The land of Dalewyth was once sharply opposed to its neighbor Whitslea, and the two often fought against each other as their territory solidified over decades of conquest. By 20 AC, Dalewyth was led by King Affa the Builder, known as such for his grand ditch built as a rudimentary fortification against the encroachment of Whitslea. This served as a barrier for several miles along their shared border and represented an enormous investment of effort and prestige by the royal family.
But in 23 AC, Whitslea conducted a raid through the barricade, reaching two towns beyond, before returning home with their limited plunder. Affa reacted very aggressively to this action, sending a column through the mountains to attack the lands of the Whits while he marched forward, over his fortification, to do the same. While the mountain column was turned back, Affa’s warband raided harshly against the Whits, burning two towns, plundering at least three more, and killing one of the sons of the king of Whitslea when he marched at the head of a force to push Affa back. It was only as winter approached that Affa turned back, though he made another attack the next year, this time entirely over the ditch, which was met with more success. He ravaged the border and charged south, dedicated now to taking over the whole of Whitslea, only to die of a bog-born disease, and his son to choose retreat over pressing forward.
Today, Whitslea and Dalewyth are at peace. They were brought fellowship through the Evintarian faith of Etosil located so close to each state, and later, by the arrival of the Thaler who refined the local populace to find further agreement. These two states ultimately peacefully joined Regalia together, and are now productive members of the Empire, reinforced by faith fostered originally in Corontium and the bonds of greater trade.
The Nine against The Five
Dunden stands as the place of origin for the Dunden Culture, an Ailor group devoted to warrior honor, and the construction of fortifications both inland and along the coastline. While Dunden today is a shadow of its former self as a result of the Cataclysm, the Dunden of old was a larger piece of land, dense with forests and rich landscape that fostered much competition.
The Dunden built their centers of defense initially to ward off attacks from Allorn slavers, and then later each other, and a few also fought the local Vissin population. However, as the Cataclysm approached around 30 BC, the Ailor of the land were firmly divided into two camps. While Dunden expeditions and missions north led to their cultural spread, the homeland remained a land rich with old lineages and centuries of purported history. The Nine against The Five was the last of their great conflicts, which saw nine urban centers battle it out against five others. These groups were divided by geography, with The Five in the north, and The Nine below them to the south. Great queens and kings battled one another in the forests and mountain foothills, but in the end, it was mutual exhaustion, and a brief resurgence of the Vissin, that led the war to conclude.
Dunden is now sadly damaged and of little mention today. While it remains outside of Regalian control at present, its place in Southwynd cultural memory has resulted in our diplomats pursuing their inclusion into the Empire with great interest. We can and shall aid them with their lot in life, and will be sure to highlight their ancient history with its ties to groups long gone, once they join our great Empire.
Third Arkes Blockade
The Third Akes Blockade was the last major naval action launched by the state of Sterswyn before the arrival of the Regalian Empire. Also known as Seagate for many years, Sterswyn was little better than a pirate state, which preyed upon shipping and coastal trading centers due to their control of the easiest routes between the two halves of Southwynd, as well as local straits.
Arkeswyn, one of the states found to the east of Southwynd, was one of the states they clashed with most frequently. Various raids and blockades were carried out over the years, but in 183 AC, Sterswyn focused all of its efforts on its enemy. They instituted a grand blockade, their third such action in several decades, with their vessels gathering near major Arkeswyn ports, and patrolling for vessels as simple as belonging to fisherpeople. Arkeswyn initially floundered, trying to instead focus on building up their eastern-facing ports, though a flotilla of ships from Sterswyn eventually rounded the landmass, and came to threaten those shipments as well. While full destruction of ships was rare, the tolls they extracted were high, and many more ships were damaged or ran aground, with their cargo then plundered by the Sterswyners. Eventually, however, the ships of other states grew tired of paying tolls and fighting the ships that blocked their passage, and Keldswyn launched a raid against Sterswyn to take advantage of their diverted attention. In the end, the blockade lasted a little over two years.
In response to these events, Arkeswyn launched its ships out on a cultural offensive, taking charge and helping to establish safe ports and ties in other regions, spreading Thaler culture as a result. Today Sterswyn is part of the Regalian Empire, having seen the majesty of the Regalian Navy and understanding that its strength can be the strength of all Ailor nations. Their days of piracy and preying upon shipping are at an end, with their people now joining the Navy or plying the seas as fisherpeople, with their boats now protected from piracy by the Regalian Navy they serve and support.
Trivia
- Southwynd was partly conquered under Emperor Allestrain I, with other nations later brought in through diplomatic efforts under Arch Chancellor Morgan I.
- ”The Many Wars of Southwynd” and more thorough examinations of its various battles within each conflict have been a popular source for Regalian military schools crafting teaching scenarios for their students.
- Some have proposed writing less biased, and more complete texts outlining the conflicts of Southwynd more thoroughly, though to say that would be a task is an understatement.
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