The Ranger Crisis

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Ranger Crisis
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Historical Event
Event Name Ranger Crisis
Dates and Times 295 AC
Location Daendroc
People Involved Ailor, Avanthar, Altalar, Orc, Cielothar

Since the fall of the Elven Empire, Daendroc has been an ethnic mess in terms of demographics, borders, and political conflicts. In 295 AC, this brewing conflict would come to head; the dams burst, spewing forth a crisis that was only temporarily averted. While the causation factor is largely unknown due to the amount of finger pointing involved by all sides of the conflict, it boils down to the core ideas of Ailor Expansionism, Orc Aggression, and Elven Reclamation. The conflict was relatively short-lived; it was the severe death tolls, horrendous war practices, and the potential for drastic escalation that truly saw the Ranger Crisis stand out from all other Regalian conflicts, even though it was never truly considered a war due to the amount of guerilla tactics and underhanded methods employed.

The Instigation of a Crisis

In order to understand the Ranger Crisis, one must first understand the political and demographic climate of Daendroc and Hyarroc of the day. The dangerous and complex crisis was a result of historical rivalries and stagnation in relations and conflicts, which eventually led to a volatile burst.

The Daendroque and Altalar States

In the north-west sat three Altalar states, predominantly under the control of the largest, Thellassia. These states were juxtaposed to the east by the Kingdom of Lusits and the then-small lumber-based colony of Daenshore. Over the past century, a security dilemma had formed between these two groups, where each side wanted to have a stronger defense against the other. While relations certainly were hostile, the two sides never partook in direct conflict, instead seeking to outdo each other.

The Orc Hordes

To the south sat the two predominant Orc Hordes: The Dark Iron Tribelands, and the Blood Clan Tribelands. While the Blood Clans proved more aggressive in attacking the Elves and Humans alike, the Dark Iron Tribes directed their efforts toward combating the Avanthar, who in turn constantly harassed the Dark Iron Tribes to limit the growth of the Orcs. While the Orcs were a force to be reckoned with, they were largely unable to overcome any external forces because of the present internal conflicts within the clans.

The Avanthar

Within the Alarenes Tribelands, the Avanthar patrolled town to town, fending off any Orc packs using hit and run techniques to outpace the green barbarians. This technique was especially effective when it came to defending their homeland, but it was not able to be used to conquer any land back due to the mobility it required. The Avanthar found themselves at odds with the intrusive Orcs and the ever expanding Daendroque lumber companies.

Human Expansionism

The conflict is first recorded to have begun when the Daendroquin lumber companies began trespassing on lands previously left untouched due to the problematic presence of the Cielothar and Yanar. Typically, they left the pacifists alone, however in search of more profits, the companies ignored precedent and moved in on the Cielothar villages. Their previous neutrality was perceived as the driving factor behind the balance of power in Daendroc prior to the Ranger Crisis, and so when the lumber companies of Daenshore crossed the apparent line, chaos broke loose.

The Avanthar, infuriated with the aggressions towards the Cielothar made haste towards the human settlements, setting fire to their lumber stocks and homesteads alike. This sabotage impoverished many Ailor, and was perceived as an attack on humanity itself. Seeing the Avanthar forces spread thin into the northern jungles, the Blood Clan Orcs began wreaking havoc across the Alarenes valley, carefully avoiding the Avanthar tent city, but destroying everything else in their wake. Acknowledging the strategic importance of the event, the Dark Iron clans joined in as well, trying to contain their more savage brothers as well as make gains on the Ailor and Avanthar. This would become an incredibly confusing four-way war between the powers of the region.

Regalian Involvement

Seeing their lumber trade in danger, the Regalian Empire wasted no time in involving themselves in the conflict. They sent armies to Daendroc to protect their colonies. Quickly making gains, the Regalian military forced a path into the Alarenes Tribelands, burning down villages, and cutting down tribes and communities of men, women, and children. Unfortunately, this resulted in the Ailor armies being entrenched in unfamiliar territory. The Avanthar circled around and cut off their supply lines, making the Ailor an easy target in the dense jungles of Daendroc. Seeing an opportunity for expansion, Thellassia and the other northern Elven states began to prepare for an opportunistic war against Lusits. Fearing for the safety of its armies, as well as the impact this disaster would have on the current Arch-Chancellor Moriarty Kade, Regalia arranged for translators to meet with the Avanthar Horselords to broker a truce. The joint forces pushed the Orc clans back to their homelands, and immense conflict was over.

The Aftermath

Though the impact could have been much greater should the conflict have lasted much longer, the Ranger Crisis did leave its mark on history. The greatest takeaway from the event would be the Ranger’s Treaty of 295 AC, which concluded the fighting itself. The Avanthar promised huge amounts of land to Regalia, while the Regalian Empire was pledged to assist the Elves in their conflict against the Orcs. Since the Avanthar could not communicate in Common so easily, there were oftentimes situations where several words or phrases were lost in translation. Whether by design of the Regalians or by complete misfortune, the Regalian Empire only found itself giving minimalistic aid to the Elves in the form of rusted and sometimes even broken weapons.

Those who lost out by far, however, were the Cielothar. The Avanthar were so readily able to give up land because they were nomadic in nature and didn’t have too big of a problem with having smaller territory. They failed to foresee the consequences of giving away Cielothar land. Because the Cielothar lived on farms, it was much harder for them to migrate. Sometimes, the Daendroque lumber companies simply logged around their villages. Others stole crops from the peace-loving farmers. Some more radical companies forced the Cielothar to gather their earthly possessions and move south on old trails that would come to be known as the Trails of the Fallen Star. Worse yet, due to the communal cultural belief in not owning personal belongings, the Cielothar oftentimes simply left their valuable possessions to the Daendroquin lumber companies, not wishing to offend their overlords by withholding gifts. Thousands of Cielothar died years after the actual fighting as a direct result of famine, disease, and overcrowdedness in Cielothar settlements.

Long-Term Effects

The Ranger’s Treaty would only broker peace for a few years. Regalia, ever diligent in finding the best deals to suit their needs, made a secret alliance with the Dark Iron clans. In exchange for helping the Regalian Empire in their wars, the Ailor offered to support the Orcs in their conquest of the Elven lands. Because the Orcs asked for much less than the Avanthar, and enjoyed killing everything, they were the perfect device of war against the Altalar kingdoms in the north. This was all revealed as Regalia declared war on Thellassia, breaking the Ranger’s Treaty. In what would be a quick and decisive war, the Regalian Empire had subjugated nearly the entire northern half of Daendroc and had access to all of the lumber they could cut.

Trivia

  • The Dark Iron warriors eventually took up arms in the name of Regalia during the Qadir War, fulfilling their end of the bargain made at the beginning of the Elven War. In conjunction with Dwarven engineers, they developed armored siege weapons to protect them as they slaughtered all Qadir in their path. While contact has since been cut off, and the war has been over for over a year now, it is still theorized that little clans of Orcs are rolling around the deserts of Farah’deen, wreaking havoc from Hadritya to Hadritya.
  • Because of the nature of how each side threw blame to the others, the true cause of the Ranger Crisis may never be known.
  • The Elven reconquest effort, known as Lle’cӧn-sess’teia, has been permanently jeopardized due to the ignorant concessions of the Avanthar during the Ranger’s Treaty. This is why most Altalar have come to dislike the Avanthar in recent years.

Accreditation
Writers Shayin
Processors LumosJared, Aespair, TheBioverse
Last Editor DrunkFailure on 01/9/2018.

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