The Rich and Bloody Tales of Trevast: A Look into Trevast's Greatest Achievements and Tragedies.

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Introduction

Old depictions of Vaiken raiders- in this particular painting, a Lorminwulf unit- ambushing across a Bayne contingent attempting to cross the Loringâst Forest. The ensuing battle would not have been a clean fight, and most likely would have resulted in a massacre for the invading forces. Lorminwulf are highly defensive of their lands, and intrusions were not taken lightly.
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It is to no great surprise that a kingdom as varied and diverse as Trevast would have its own equally colorful history. What started off as a collection of nomadic tribes that eventually settled down in their location of choice, has over the past thousands of years grew with the help of historical catalysts into a prosperous land- yet the past is not so easily ignored, from the northmen tribes trying desperately to breach the Northern Houses to the Eastern menace of the Boteri horse-riders seeking to expand their vast empire into fertile soil. In this treatise of a brief collection of some of Trevast's turning points in history, this author (Gregory Payne) will share some insight to the events and the logistics, socioeconomic and political situation that had beleaguered many scholars until now.

The history of Trevast can be divided into four peiods: The Pre-Unification era or the 'Time of Many Nights' as it were to the common folk; The Boteri Invasion followed by the Unification Era or the 'Age of Reclamation' and lastly the recent Post-Unification Period, having started not 40 years ago when the Boteri was finally pushed out from Trevast in a humiliating battle for the horsemen at the Battle of Kaith. Many theories exists as to the potential ramifications of certain actions and the outcomes of key events, but rest assured as the explanations of this book will attempt to take perspectives from the contemporary arguments.

The Pre-Unification Era (Time of Many Nights)​

Prior to its current existing state as a unified kingdom Trevast was initially an unnamed peninsula south of the northern continent- compared to the icy mountains, inhospitable volcanoes and generally lack of sufficient flat lands for agriculture, Trevast was not surprisingly seen as a godsend to the few tribes who reached it first. Its ecosystem was relatively stable and had a consistent weather, and most importantly was sheltered by the Westerland bodies during monsoon seasons providing incentive to settle down and grow roots into their new homes.

Over time some of the tribes and clans began to merge with one another on the basis of regional similarities, geographical distance and sometimes purely because of other beneficial reasons which lead to the formation of a governing body which was usually a family, otherwise known as Houses. Each region with its as-of-yet-unofficial borders had at least a single ruling House, and at times multiple who would fight for dominance such as the Riverlands which was split four-ways between House Riddermark (Later Eladized [Spoken in the dialects of the prevalent Elad ethnic in the South-West] as Rivermark), Rendall, Rosmann and Elódi (Later Eladized as Eule). At that time materialistic wealth and titles were limited to the store of grain they had for winter and the term 'Chieftain'.

Fast forward to fifty or so years later and the houses started to see past beyond the simple prospect of survival- abstract concepts such as chivalry, family honor and duty were still at its infancy but was growing at a rapid rate, eventually becoming a societal norm in many areas. It was particularly prevalent down south, closer to the shoreline. The idea was resisted by the north for a long time who had a more pragmatic view of life due to their constant exposure to tribal influences, but eventually succumbed to the trend as well. By now the ruling Houses had begun to form diplomatic relations with each other and set to drawing borders around their lands- some disputes were had but ultimately the victors of the battles would gain much of advantageous lands for themselves. House Bann (later Coùmonized [Spoken in the dialects of the prevalent Coùmonn ethnic in the south] as House Bayne) is a particular example of such a victor, who defended their claims from House Courant, Glenndale and Erêa.

By now Trevast was split into two sections, further segmented into territories held by the ruling lords: The North, simply called by its inhabitants, was a harsh territory reminiscent of the Northern continent and had jealously guarded entrance into the south for many years. The most prevailing families of the time were House Barran, House Vaiken, House Centerridge (Now extinct after years of intermarriage between House Vaiken and Barran. The closest living male descendant is now a simple footman residing somewhere within Lorminium.). Below them were the Southern Principalities, dominated by House Bann, House Anor (later supplanted by House Wolnier) , House Rendall, House Riddermark and still emerging at that time, House Elódi. In this era a number of petty wars over minor disputes erupted across the lands, but not many were documented (officially, anyways.). What were readily available for inspection and scrutinization mostly told of the wars in the south.

Names such as the Mudd Wars and the Wolnier Expansion come to mind, the latter forcing the former war to a pause.

Mudd Wars​

Though many would consider the many battles fought between the Riverlords over Elódi lands as multiple wars, it is more accurate to see it as a single war, fought in multiple battles with several breaks in between. Starting roughly around 329 B.I (Before Invasion), the Mudd Wars initially started as a Riddermark attempt to claim the lands surrounding the Mudd Bridge for themselves to alleviate the burdens of costs on their many projects through the income they would gain through heavy taxation on the travelers. House Riddermark, then led by Lord Golt Riddermark did not see House Elódi as a threat who at the time could only bring three thousand men to battle, in the face of four thousand Riddermark horsemen and two thousand infantry- what greeted them in their first encounter with the Elódi would greatly shake the Riddermark soldier's faith in their commanders, adding a stigma for their common soldiers up to this day.

Lord Golt, with a host mainly comprised of mailed horsemen was greatly confident in a short and decisive battle against a predominantly infantry army hosted by Lord Delte Elódi- it was easy to see why, as during that era the use of horsemen, particularly in the west, were mainly for scouting duties or for rapid mobilization of infantry, who would then dismount to fight. The Riddermarks would start a trend by using them as effective shock units, bringing House Rosmann to its fold as vassals (rather unwillingly) and co-ercing the Rendalls to their cause; infantry at that period were expected to fall quickly in the face of cavalry, which would explain why in the days before battle, Lord Golt assumed the lack of need to send scouts to screen their army and gather intelligence. This negligence would cost him the battle, and his life.

Lord Delte, on the other hand was a rather cautious individual- raised in one of the many Elad clans, his earlier achievements were the unification of the Elad, Eldun and Erêm clans and establishing House Elódi as the ruling family. Even before Riddermark soldiers set foot in their lands he did not trust Lord Golt, having head of his actions and rightly predicting his next victim- while Golt busied himself trying to subdue Rosmann partisans seeking independence from their overlords, Delte set about raising his men and training them, often for days on end- his harshness would serve him well, as by the time the invasion had commenced his soldiers were far more effective than the rabble Golt's men had faced. To compound on his advantage, he did what Golt should have done and sent out riders to survey the lands for preferable locations for battle, preferably one with a natural funnel. In addition, Delte emptied his House's coffers to provide the best arms and armor to his men- tactically sound, though in the long run he would incur a massive debt on his household to House Courant after the battle. This debt would later be waved off after House Courant ceased to exist.

As Riddermark soldiers pressed further inwards Delte's scouts had reported back two possible avenues of battle, both of which met his criteria- The Yondau Pass, a narrow valley that led to a steep hill, easily defendable and with natural guards to his flanks and the Bitternacht Plains, which had turned muddy and wet overnight after a bout of torrential rain which would completely negate Golt's horsemen as well- it however did not have the natural guard to his flanks, the only high ground would not be enough to fit all of his men and it would also hinder his own soldiers ability to fight effectively. However, while the choice remained obvious to some commanders today, Lord Delte instead chose the Bitternacht Plains over Yondau Pass for several reasons. Given his cautious (indeed, some would say overly cautious) personality, Delte probably did not expect to win the engagement and had a few contingencies set in place- Bitternacht was closer to several nearby settlements and villages that his retreating force could fall back to in the event of a rout, allowing him to regroup and fight for another day. Yondau Pass on the other hand was extremely disconnected from civilization, and was a great distance away for his army to travel on foot- Golt's host had more mobility, and it was likely that he would have reached the pass before he did, thus negating a lot of the terrain advantage he would have used against him. Thus he enacted a controversial move, and positioned his men at Bitternacht Fields and set about fortifying his position, using the bout of bad weather that delayed Golt's forces to his advantage.

Three Elódi warriors standing side by side- judging by their quality of armor these were probably part of Delte's special few who were fortunate enough to be part of the group to receive subsidized armor: many of his soldiers had to pay for their own arms and armor, but a standard man-at-arms usually had a 'Sipaki' (Short sword, primarily for thrusting, although historians today have shown it also had a cutting edge.), 'Trobak' style shields made from pinewood and the 'Pyd' spear. For their time, this was the hallmark of a well equipped force and. The standard warrior at the time knew his job well, and was trained to act on it but was still affected by their original tribal style of fighting; it the thick of the muddy, bloody melee it was easy to forget their training and fall into their instincts. ​

When Lord Golt finally arrived at Bitternacht Field, he was surprised at the presence of the Elódi defenders, whom he expected to have met him over at Yondau Pass. Seeing their chosen point of defense however, it was unsurprising that his contempt for the Elódi grew along with his overconfidence- open fields with little to no readily available natural terrain? He either thought them foolish or brave, and at 8 in the morning proceeded to charge them with his cavalry enmasse in his usual brute force style. As his cavalry floundered in the muddy, water-logged field however, it was soon made readily apparent to him that he had chosen poorly: half his riders were stuck in the man-made bogs the defenders had dug out the night before, filling it with water to deceive the attackers. Some simply were stuck in the mud, or were shot down by Erêm bowmen who wore down the charge with their hail of arrows. By the time Golt's men had reached halfway through the fields it was clear that his usual frontal assault would not work; he ordered a hasty withdrawal and gave his men- and the defenders who suffered minimal casualties- a chance to rest. The first wave was costly- of the 6000 strong army he had brought with him, 4000 were horses- of the 4000 he sent, 2791 (The numbers vary from historian to historian, some over-exaggerating the numbers to perhaps gain favour of the current Lord Eule- many however can agree the range was between 3000-2000.) returned in fighting condition; the rest were dead or too heavily wounded to carry on. For the attackers, it was a staggering blow in morale and manpower and for Delte's brave few, it was an astounding act of defiance that blunted a terrifying force.

The Erêm bowmen of the Elódi host played a crucial role in the Bitternacht Battle, wearing down Lord Golt's force even when rain poured- the strings which they used to string their bow were made of the stems of the Harbê plant, which transposed its natural water-resistant qualities to the refined object. This allowed the archers to continuously fire with minimal interference even during the downpour, while the Riddermark archers struggled to get in range- to this day Erêm archers hold a special place in the Eulean military, often seen as Prekoyai or armed with the bow as Volkssturm.
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Yet despite this Golt's optimism was not curbed, and he quickly changed strategies- his infantry were untouched and relatively fresh, and would draw fire down the center supported with Rosmann auxiliaries who would counter the Erêm archers with their own bows whilst his remaining cavalry would encircle and trap Delte's men; not a bad strategy overall. He launched the second and what was considered to be the final wave at the enemy at midday- his infantry fared no better than his riders crossing the terrain, though they had shields to protect them this time around- scant relief, as the arrows would often pierce the shields and impale their limbs to their shields. Still, this time they had made considerable progress but immediately ran into another issue that jarred Golt's plan in it's place: his cavalry had still not yet managed to clear the Elódi flanks, troubled still by the numerous bogs and mounds placed by the defenders to slow down any attempts to flank- those that cleared the obstacles would run head on into the stakes, hidden behind a rise purposely placed to lure in the Riddermark horse riders. By then a contingent of infantry had already set about their butcher's task, brutally ripping many of the riders from their saddles and slaughtering them with a frightening level of brutality and viciousness not expected of the current day professional armies of Eule.

Furthermore, the charging Riddermarks were greeted with a clap of thunder, and a sudden torrent of rain- Rosmann auxiliaries suddenly had a harder time performing their jobs, forcing them to close the distance along with their shield brothers only to be caught in the ensuing hail of arrows. Battered, bruised and beaten, it is not so difficult to see why the attackers chose to withdraw, which turned into a full rout as the defenders charged forward- Lord Golt and his retinue, in an attempt to rally his routing forces was struck by an arrow to his neck. By 4 in the evening, the battle was well and truly over and Delte had won in the face of an army that had forced lords to bend their knees. This of course would not be the only time he would have to fight, as the Riddermarks would return with an even greater force, often with auxiliaries from their allies but for now the Bitternacht Battle was an astounding success, a perfect military example of good use of land, range and natural resources to negate an opponent's advantages. The invading force fled, leaving behind a grand total of 4652 dead or wounded behind, while the Elódi suffered 152 in total casualties. Prisoners caught, especially riders were given a choice- join the Elódi as part of Delte's own initiative to emulate the Riddermark's fearsome riders for his own, or be executed on the spot- not surprisingly many chose to join Delte's army, later amounting to an impressive 2000 in total of horsemen.

In the end, many historians would mark this as House Elódi's rise and a hallmark event that would pave way for the many military successes they would enjoy in the battles to come. Their armed forces would evolve as Lord Delte refined his strategies and training regimes, forcing a gradual change that would become the infant stages of Eule's army into its professional, drilled force. Lord Delte's legacy would pass on to his son, Lord Desel the Humiliater who would later be famous for his infamous Plain's Run- multiple conflicts would erupt over in Delte's time as a Lord, later passing on to his son and the next lord. The Mudd Wars would only see an end when the Wolnier Expansion started, forcing the four Houses to an uneasy truce as they fought (and very rarely banded together) against the Wolnier Overlords.

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[Tristar]

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The Wolnier Expansion​

The Mudd Wars would only see an end a hundred years after it started since Golt's disastrous charge at the Bitternacht Plains due to the imminent threat of House Wolnier, then newly formed from its tribal status as Clan Wolnier. Today House Wolnier is one of the many Houses that reside in Trevast in support of the royalty, though bears a uniqueness to it in the regard that it is perhaps one of the few Houses to not have originated from the northern tribes, but rather as a result of a mass exodus to the west from Boteri, across the Ab'naki River. ​

The great Exodus would take the better of twenty years for the Vaes of Wolnier to break out from the deserts of Boteri. On the way, they absorbed numerous tribes into themselves, leading to a very large family tree. In comparison to today', House Wolnier's lineage is relatively linear following the succession of Vordan the First's line. ​

The Great Exodus as it was called then, was the result of a great diviner known as Faraam the (not surprisingly) Diviner who united a great number of tribes under the leadership of Clan Wolnier in a 'heaven-sent' vision, which foretold a land ripe for the taking, with glory, fame, riches and women all in one: all that was expected was to cross the Great River Ab'Naki, held sacred by their people. Whether or not Faraam's ability to see visions or into the future is most debatable, although it may have been most likely that he was a great mathematician capable of calculating probabilities who overheard rumors from passing merchants. Regardless, he managed to convince his listeners to take up arms and follow him westwards. Along the way they encountered tribes, whom they convinced to join in their grand crusade. As Faraam's host swelled, so did his Vaes (Family of Blood, or their version of House.), starting a tradition of marrying a woman from a conquered tribe as a prerequisite to join his army.

Faraam the Diviner, with his trademark Shokala (sabre); though his plans were grand, they were highly optimistic and as such, his army in the hands of his son would suffer greatly even after the conquest of Anor Londor. Despite this he is seen in positive light by many Wolnier citizens today, and the ruling family too: without him House Wolnier would not have existed, and Anor would have perhaps conquered the deserts by themselves. Sadly, his name is not so well known by the northern families- Argost the Progenitor on the other hand, is a very well known figure, and not in the good way.​

Though Faraam himself did not manage to oversee the grand invasion, his work contributed heavily to the planning and preparations of the operation- by the time his army had reached the banks of Ab'Naki, he had up to a staggering 300 000 Boteri screamers- a vast majority of them were infantry (later on during Argost's rule, this would become the dominant and single force to his army, given the leader's natural phobia of horses due to superstition.). After Faraam's death due to age and disease, his legacy was passed on to his son, Argost the Progenitor who delayed the invasion to go on a 'brief' bout of rampage along the coastline to gain more military power as he had feared that the lands of Trevast would hold larger and more formidable armies than that his father had encountered. Soon, the 300 thousand would swell to a terrifying 450 000- supplies were stretched as it were, and most men did not have a strong and lasting loyalty. Regardless, Argost was satisfied and on 279 B.I crossed the Ab'Naki River.

However his delayed invasion costed him greatly during the crossing- Monsoon season had arrived, and while the mainland of Trevast was sheltered from the worse of the storms, the waters were incredibly choppy and unforgiving. His men's inexperience in rough waters would only serve to disadvantage him further, as a good number of his ships would sink. When he made landfall on the other side on Trevast, he would discover that all of his work was for naught, as his army would fall to 200 000. Along with his men, most of their supply ships sunk in the rough waters, leaving them in desperate short supply as it were. Rationing was implemented, and morale was an all time low. Still, Argost was not deterred from his ambition, and sent out riders to seek out nearby 'clans' or in his famous words:

"Ride far and wide; ride for morning and for dusk; ride until your bones are dust and do not return until you have found us a worthy foe."
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It was also during this time where he was told of his doom that would seek him out by his beard (Proof of one's victories in Boteri came from their uncut beards. To cut it, was to show their defeat. This tradition would slowly peter out from House Wolnier as they slowly integrated with their Trevestine brothers.). Unwilling to cut his beard and ruin his pride and status as a great leader, he covered his face in his iconic mask, and commanded the rest of his men to do the same. His superstition would later cause a massive influx of stories of 'Faceless raiders' that had landed south of Trevast; these rumors would be brushed off for a while, until Argost set his war path up north.

Argost was said to never show his face from that point onwards, and never lifted his mask off of his face until he reached the north, where the cold was too unbearable. Unfortunately by this point he had well forgotten the warnings of the soothsayer, having worn the mask out of habit and to maintain his fearsome reputation. His death would follow shortly after revealing his face after several years. ​

By the time his riders returned Argost was informed of a great mine to the south, guarded by a massive castle that was held by strangely dressed people. When questioned further, his scouts reported that their defenses were almost impregnable. "Almost is not impossible." as he was also known for saying, and marched his force down south.

The castle his riders had reported belonged to House Anor, by name of Anor Londor which directly translates to 'Great Kingdom' in Èshkari. While Argost sought out his foes, the Lord of Anor, Asraf had already heard of the faceless menance to his east, and correctly guessed that soon his castle would be besieged. He knew that he was sadly outclassed in sheer numbers, with the Boteri foreigners outnumbering his men 16 to 1. His best chance as it were was to fortify Anor Londor while delaying the arrival of his enemy: in a heavy handed maneuver he ordered that all settlements within a hundred leagues were to be torched and its people driven off- an act that Argost saw as a desperate move, who would grow confident in his ability to take over the castle. Reaching the castle took its toll, and in two weeks his bedraggled army had finally reached their destination. It was there that Argost realized the sheer magnitude of the task that he had set himself before him.

The Hashiim of the Wolnier host was usually clothed in simple, loose fitting garments to accentuate their culture as well as to combat the heat fatigue, which was a serious problem in the deserts. Only those with hardy constitutions or of noble heritage would bother wearing heavier armor, though its class was sadly outdated compared to the heavy mail and partial plate armors of the north: usually scale or lamellar armor served them well, and the occasional mail for those of serious wealth. Armed with a Shrashkala blade (Curved shortsword), wooden shields and a dagger, a standard well equipped Wolnier Hashiim could match against a Trevastine soldier on his own considerably well. ​

Anor Londor, or Whitestone Keep today is a formidable and imposing figure even from a distance, with grand towers and walls that kept its enemies out- built into the mountain, it appears today's current image of Whitestone Keep did not do justice to its historical depictions: their walls supposedly had thickened considerably, with a number of bolt holes for archers to fire out off- above the gates were the 'Hell Holes' from which the defenders could pour boiling oil to the attackers. Great swathes of land were devoted to barricades and stakes to funnel his army through, with a perimeter of ballista towers a good league away from the castle itself to capitalize on a slowed army. All Asraf's men had to do to win this battle was to sit and let Wolnier's host to approach them and cut them down with missile fire.

So for the time being, a frontal assault was suicide, but Argost had traveled halfway across the world for this very moment and he was not about to let it pass- had he backed down from the challenge it was more than likely that he and his Vaes would be slaughtered in anger by their own men. In a surprising move that emulated the western armies, he immediately ordered his men to erect a defensive wall with a spacing of a league between his men and the ballista towers. Fearing outside intervention, he added an outer wall to be constructed with forts in intervals with plenty of space to move his troops around comfortably. Asraf immediately noticed the defensive fortifications built around his fortress, and sent out messenger birds to his closest vassals to help break them out. Despite this, he was not too worried as he had a safe stockpile of supplies that could last him and his men for 2 years: Argost barely had a quarter of that time remaining. Yet even with his palisades and forts, Argost was not satisfied, and ordered ditches and stakes to be built to further fortify his own position. Most likely at this stage it was a message to Lord Asraf that they too could build their own fortifications. His actions however would see the nearby forest cut down, leaving behind nothing but sand that would last to this day.

By the time his men had finish their work, the defensive perimeter had spanned almost 5 leagues (28 kilometers), with three rows of ditches dug in, 7 forts and 23 redoubts. Argost however, may have wasted time in doing so- a sizeable host of 30 000 men had arrived on his doorstep and threatened to break into his perimeter: at first, they sent probing attacks via cavalry to test the defenses. When those were repelled, the assisting army focused their target on the westernmost section and began battering it with their bodies- Argost's defenses would prove useful in repelling the attackers, but each day he spent defending was a day wasted, and more supplies consumed without any grounds made. In short, Asraf was winning by doing literally nothing. This could not happen, and a course of action needed to be taken.

On the eight day of his siege, he finally discovered a way to bypass the ballista towers and use it to his own advantage: he immediately ordered a number of his men to begin digging underground tunnels leading to the towers. To make sure this went unnoticed, he ordered the work to be done mostly at night, and scheduled for his archers to fire a volley of arrows at the same time every day with random intervals of intense sessions. This kept the defenders too concerned about the imminent death via missiles to suspect a subterranean infiltration. Progress was slow, handicapped by dulled tools and the uncooperative sand, but work continued under the motivation of either death from the assisting army, death from a frontal charge or death from starvation. After three weeks, Argosts men were tired of fighting, and were exhausted- their initial size of 200 000 had be worn down to 115 000 within the month, while the attackers still posted themselves in the nearby cities, returning every day to make a push through their already weakening defenses. They had the luxury to resupply and rotate men out of battle, but lead to a disparity of experience and expectations between the soldiers: Wolnier's forces were all veterans at this stage, and were slowly beginning to reduce their casualty potential with each passing battle. When the tunnels were done, Argost wasted no time and began preparations: his experience with night time operations meant he had a propensity to favour night time raids, so unsurprisingly he chose the middle of the night as the start of his operation. In order to keep his enemies guessing, he had archers fire a constant and intense volley of missiles, forcing the defenders to rotate men. To further increase his chances, he sent his best men, the aptly named Saeh Hashiim (Sand Soldiers translated from Èshkari) through the tunnels.

The Saeh Hashiim at that time were slaves bought off and trained to fight for their masters; famed for their aggressive fighting styles and rapid violence of action, they were the prime candidates to send down into the tunnels to take over the ballista towers. They would later serve on as shocktroops in battle, but were quickly negated by the use of cavalry on the battlefield. As time passed on they would be affiliated with Vordan the First, and fought for their new Lord at Whitestone Keep. Today their armors have evolved, though their fighting style and reputation has not.​

By twilight his men were in position and awaiting signal- by the blast of his warhorn, two thousand men burst from the ground by the base of the towers and broke into the towers, slaughtering the unprepared guards in there. As the towers fell Argost sent his men through the No-Man's Land, extinguishing the braziers of light as they ran; the captured towers quickly turned their armaments towards the castle and fired a volley to the parapets, disrupting the arriving contingent of archers which gave them the necessary time to turn all available ballista at the main gates: it quickly caved in to the sheer force of the bolts, letting in his men for a quick slaughter of the castle's inhabitants. Lord Asraf awoke to a scenery of chaos and could not rally his men to make a sufficient last stand against their invaders. By dawn break, everyone guarding the castle had been killed or used as slaves, and Asraf's head was given to Argost as a gift. Thus ended the siege of Anor Londor, renamed as Whitestone Keep by the victors to wash away the remnants of Anor's legacy. The nearby army quickly dissolved and made a hasty retreat to their own homes to fortify their defenses once they saw that Anor Londor was taken by the 'savage barbarians'.

Yet despite this Argost did not let his victory fool him and began preparations for another crusader: within a year his army finally returned to full strength- at 100 000 men, he had the largest army nearby and he knew it. Within six months Argost had forced multiple Houses to join under his banner either through military actions, or by political arrangements- murdering the male line of a family and marrying the female heir was a favourite tactic that also added to his large group of concubines and wives. He was however, for all of his military success of his career, a bad parent and did not spend much time with his children and heir apparent- this neglect would later cost his entire empire in a subsequent act of irony.

With the deserts under his banner, Argost immediately set his eyes northwards where the lands were lush and fertile, but also jealously guarded: at 271 B.I as his army headed towards the Mudd Bridge, he encountered a coalition force of 70 000 strong compromised primarily of Bayne, Courant, Eule and Rivermark forces- this would mark the only time where House Eule and Rivermark would cooperate in the face of a foreign threat. While Argost's 200 000 strong easily outnumbered them, his army consisted primarily of infantry as he had decreed that he would not cater to cavalry due to his strong superstitious beliefs. The coalition however, had refined its use of cavalry, with proper mailed riders who took on the title of 'Knights' at this stage. With better equipment and training, the coalition made use of their mobile strike force to shatter the spearhead of Argost's army, as his primary tactic back then was to envelop his opponent's flanks before making an inward push. With his center repeatedly broken, Argost would have to reconsider his strategy, and found a quick solution to everything- withdrawing his forces, he set about a large scale construction of a bridge at the south, now known as the Sea Bridge. Though not as wide or glorious as its northern brother, the Mudd Bridge, it served its purpose well in transporting Wolnier's forces across and bypassing the coalition force. When Rivermark heard that Wolnier forces were marching through their territory, they quickly broke away from the coalition in defense of their homeland; their army alone would prove insufficient against the Wolnier horde, and Argost gained a substantial amount of land for himself. However, he avoided the lands around the Mudd Bridge, fearing the wrath of the coalition. Instead, he marched north through Rivermark lands, passing the World's Spine and finally stopped by present day Loringâst Forest.

With stretched supply lines reminiscent of his pre-Whitestone days, Argost's army, previously victorious in their rampage would find no pass through the jealously guarded deciduous forests: Vaiken skirmishers would terrorize his men and force him to commit unnecessary supplies in pitched battles, who fought surprisingly well in prolonged engagements. After repeated attempts to enter their forest, he gave up and once more relied on bridges to bypass a stubborn obstacle- the Northern Bridge, built by House Centerridge and House Barran would allow him to avoid the Loringâst Forest but would pitch him against Barran and Centerridge forcees, but like always, he would cross that bridge when it came to it- except he never managed to do so. House Barran, aware from reports from House Vaiken, had prepositioned themselves by the bridge and set it ablaze. When Argost finally arrived, all that greeted him was the charred remains of a bridge that could have prolonged his great and vast empire, but thoroughly denied by the actions of the northmen. Enraged, he encamped his men and set about constructing a new bridge with a new goal in mind: To torch the northern forests out of spite against the northmen that resided there. As it would turn out in the future, this was perhaps a mistake on his part.

The Barran Gallowglaigh (Soldier, though the term is more appropriate for the word warrior in Northern Hilgóff) did not make the Wolnier soldiers jobs easy- with superior strength and knowledge of the lands around him, the Gallowglaigh would often cooperate with Vaiken Lorminwulfs in battles; what the Barrans lacked in healing factor compared to their Vaiken counterparts, they made up for in sheer tenacity in battle, able to continue fighting where most men would have dropped dead. Together these fighting men would make Wolnier Hashiim suffer in their time in the north, and eventually would drive them back in a chaotic mess.​

Avoiding the coalition force allowed them to regroup and resupply in the South, and with a renewed vigour began to threaten his lines of supply, even attempted at retaking settlements back. Meanwhile his northern camp ran risk everyday of Vaiken or Barran harassment which slowed his progress considerably: in one particular instance a small group of Barran soldiers snuck into his tent as he was asleep and left a hatchet buried next to his wine jug, sowing roots for paranoia, which eventually grew into an unstable mindset. Beset on all forces and at the helm, an unstable ruler, it is not so difficult to see why his sons and daughters, conquered lords and aspiring chieftains began to raise their voices in rebellion- when Argost learned of this, he had suspected units decimated to send them a message and with intentions to quell the voices. Sadly the move was misjudged, clouded by the instability of his character- the rebels would use his actions to rally more men to their side, and finally all form of unity broke apart as the camp began to turn on each other. Argost would be slaughtered by his own personal guard, each one of them bought out by different individual lords.

In the end, his father's dream of a vast, influential empire was only a temporary image that disappeared due to the inherent lack of unity: it was to be expected from an army that fielded out more auxiliaries than actual Wolnier forces. Indeed, a rough three fifths were auxiliaries from conquered Houses, with the rest either hired mercenaries or Wolnier raiders. The Wolnier expansion would officially end at 269 B.I as the empire receded to the south with various political factions fighting against each other for dominance. The victor however, would be Vordan the First, the youngest of Argost's many sons and the only one left behind to safeguard Argost's realm from invaders. He would use Whitestone Keep's famed invulnerability to his advantage to ward off wannabe-Lords and finally assumed the mantle of leadership to himself. By 265 B.I, the Wolnier empire would only exist within the southern deserts, which Bayne, Eule, Rivermark and the rest of the northern lords were happy to let them keep.
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[Tristar]

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The Boteri Invasion​

Before we delve deeper into one of Trevast's darker moments, it is pertinent that the reader is familiar with the common misconceptions and the actual truths of this period. Many people would assume that this era was defined only by the invasion of the horselords across the Ab'Naki river, which is half a truth: the Boteri did not cross the Ab'Naki river until later towards the end of this era,catching everyone off guard in an event of a grand scale that would mark itself as the darkest times during Trevast's growth. The earlier stages of the period however, was not peaceful either: it was here that culture and literature flowered along with the incompatibility of ideologies between houses, sparking several wars that would be elapsed in the eyes of the public by the more memorable Invasion. This would also clear up the second misconception, that the progress of technology had stagnated during this time- rather, we must give thanks to the monks sitting above in their monasteries for the vast collection of books and scrolls preserved in the Grand Library today, who spent their lifetime recording works of literature from famous authors, such as Devan du'Cot and Smevyoch Vitali. The advancement of tactics, arms and armor flourished, sometimes out of pure necessity: domestic inventions such as the concept of crop cycles would also come out from this period- without it, our produce would undoubtedly have suffered much potential growth.

The Barrans would show their ferocity on the Trident Marshes to the south during the brief, but bloody Battle of the Fools; an upstart northern lord would lead his House and his people against the Barrans with the help of southron mercenaries, vowing to become the 'New Lord in the North but had overestimated their own abilities. The result was a complete extinction of his line after the battle, and his keep grounded to dust. Such was the extensive nature of Barran's purge that their names are no longer remembered; historians today have several candidates, such as House Evermore, House Tedor and House Hogmount, all of them having disappeared from the almanacs roughly during this period.
​

This period would last for over 250 years, with the Boteri becoming a factor at the end of the period, spilling over into the early stages of the Unification era. For over 200 of these years, Trevast would see much bloodshed and betrayal in petty wars that could have easily been avoided. Castles and cities would exchange hands, often as many as 15 times within the year- at one point, Heldrayth was no longer in the Bayne's possession, having lost it in the costly Battle of Tour/Gravouer Plains to House Erêa. This would not remain this way for long; within twenty years Lord Andre Bayne would muster a force of 30 000 strong (much of it Barran troops sent as a gesture of goodwill, mercenaries and the contributions of Bayne's many vassals.) on a march to retake Heldrayth. House Erêa did not let their prized trophy go without a fight, but was forced to capitulate after a long year of starvation at the hands of the siege force. However, we are not too particularly interested in these minor battles: the entire purpose of this book is to shed light on Trevast's defining moments- as it so happens, a majority of it came from battles fought by brave men, lead by extraordinary generals and concocted by the shrewd political maneuvering of the Lords.

Here we shall discuss the four battles that have had its mark on Trevestine history: The Battle of the Fools fought between House Barran and an unnamed House during 221 B.I, The Heldrayth Wars fought between House Bayne and House Erêa in 220 B.I until 216 B.I, Fredrick's March between House Eule and House Rivermark and finally the disastrous Charge of Kaith, that pitted the forces of the Trevestine Coalition led by House Bayne, Courant and Glenndale versus the Boteri horde in 1 B.I.

The Battle of the Fools​

If it is one thing a traveler must be cautious of when they head north, is to make sure they do not do anything to sully a northman's honor: chances are that they might have provoked a Vaiken, or so help them, a Barran. Standing at 6' tall on average with the hearty constitution they are known for, the simple northman makes up for what it lacks in the elegance and grace of the southerners, in sheer raw strength and stamina: indeed, a common slur for the northerners spoken by drunken travelers is 'Muelmann', or directly translates to 'Mule man' due to their inherent ability to work from dawn to dusk without tiring out. Despite this one cannot simply consider them as illiterate brutes- after all, the concept of honour is said to have come from the north by many, though historians cannot agree on which House was directly responsible for its birth, but House Barran appears to be the immediate cultivator of the idea itself. Whether or not this concept comes from the south or north is not of great importance: what matters is that one should never underestimate the northerners for sticking to their ancient traditions.

House Barran is considered by many to be one of the oldest House in all of Trevast, contested only by House Bayne; given their relative position closer to the north, Barran is most likely to hold this title themselves. When one speaks of a House dedicated to the preservation of old cultures and strong alliances, House Barran is the first to come to mind. Ancient guardians of Trevast from the northern tribes (through countless diplomatic actions that seems to have worked spectacularly in our favour), they did not appear many times in the Pre-Unification era mainly due to the fact that House Barran rarely marches to war; for these mountain men, to bring war was to bring the entirety of their House's wrath along with them, and with it the complete and utter lack of mercy. The Battle of the Fools was a clear-cut reminder to the northern houses it holds power over as the once Kings of the Twin Peaks: step out of line, and House Barran will come.

According to various texts available, the battle itself was not done in a single act of provocation: the lord of the unnamed house known only as Gerard apparently had a unhealthy appetite for depraved and very often, unspeakable acts of nature some of which included feeding his prisoners of war to hounds (irregardless of age, gender or race.), torture and blatant corruption. While such acts were often common by the more antagonistic lords to the south, Barrans had a reputation of treating their prisoners justly and in a bizarre concept during that time, with dignity and as humanely as possible; this consequentially gave confidence for the northern tribesmen to trust the Kings of the Twin Peaks. Thus when a vassal of Barran started to go against this precedent, current negotiations began to take a turn for the worse. The King of Twin Peaks, King Brennan Barran had corresponded to his unruly lord with a decree and a personal letter- when the acts showed no signs of stopping, it is safe to assume that the lord had either a) read the letter and ignored the decree from his liege, or b) simply discarded it, unread. Tensions would grow, and many of Barran's vassals had began to see this as a turning point in House Barran's relatively peaceful rule and sought out their allegiance: while plenty of houses would remain loyal to their liege lord, more unscrupulous families would side with this would-be-warlord.

King Brennan Barran the Hairy was known for three things: his love for beer, his love for battle and his love of a challenge. All three of these characteristics would later come into play during the battle, and his grand beard would have made plenty of Boteri horselords envious. As a king he was an able diplomat, with full knowledge of northern customs that gave him a strong bond between him and the clansmen who would come to his aid during the rebellion; as a king, he was also a fearsome warrior of his time, and was supposedly as strong as a bear- with his bear-skin cloak, it is easy to see why many would accept this belief.​

In the month of Septarius*, distressing news would reach Brennan's ears: his rebellious subject had bloodied his hands once more, but this time on his own kin. From official records, Gerard's daughter had eloped with her lover and in the time it took the lord to hunt her down, had bore her lover a son. She was taken back, her lover castrated and tortured in his dungeons while the babe killed and the daughter beaten. An intervention by his own wife would see her murdered in anger. Kinslaying, an act forbidden by the gods themselves was not an act forgiveable by King Brennan or by the Gods, old and new: despite this, true to their nature King Brennan would try to find a diplomatic solution, unwilling to spill Barran blood (but apparently, not the blood of Gerard's men.): he gave Gerard his famous ultimatum:

"Desist your acts against the nature of the northmen, for if you do not stop we will spill blood easily avoided."
​

To which Gerard would respond briefly in kind:

"Not everything is so easily avoided."
​

Perhaps Gerard meant otherwise in his reply, but Brennan took this as a declaration of open rebellion and began to rally his clans: unfortunately this was a slow process as many of his vassals were spread out- worse offender of this was the northern tribes that required his royal messengers to scale mountains. Message by pidgeon was not acceptable as it was not the way of the north: a king must send his representative at the very least, if he seeks help from a kin. Meanwhile, Lord Gerard was not bound by such petty restrictions, and even bought a mercenary force from abroad numbering nine thousand heavily armoured warriors, all veterans from recent wars. By the time Brennan had mustered his host, Gerard had already raised a size of 30 000 men with a core of southron mercenaries. King Brennan on the other hand, could only raise as much as 19 000 and most of them undisciplined and unruly warriors from the north, but included the infamous 'Claighmuelle' (warriors of the Claigh tribe, well known for their berserking tendencies. Today many of them are often seen as personal bodyguards or household guards for their ferocious and vicious nature in combat, as would be proven in battle.) While Gerard was comfortable with the size of his force, which had already began to march north, King Brennan did not let numbers fool him: his general, a distant cousin by name of Caasach Greybarran was an experienced leader, having lead many of House Barran's expeditionary troops sent to help House Bayne in countless wars. When given command, he immediately consulted his maps and declared that they would take battle on the Trident Marshes at the point where the three rivers of the north would converge. It was the most likely point of attack for Gerard's forces, as a march eastwards would only take them to impassable mountains.

The standard mercenary that formed the core of Gerard's army was a well experienced soldier from the many wars he had fought in; by this point he would have amassed enough coin to afford himself a chain or platemail, hauberk, brigandine and a helmet. In the southern fields, these were a necessity to survive the harsh, extended pitched battles he would have had fought but in the north they were more of a hindrance: the marshes, his exhaustion and the restrictiveness of the sallets would slow him down versus the average gallowglaigh. ​

The Barran gallowglaigh on the other hand, did not trouble themselves with plate; simple cloth, leather and sometimes mail suited their more aggressive style of warfare, and many wore kilts for ergonomic reasons. While they were more susceptible to grievous wounds, men of Barran blood have a higher level of pain resistance that is still a mystery to many scholars to this date, and as such did not bother them as much. Many did not choose to fight with shields, preferring to commit to their butchers work with nothing but a simple claymore, their kilts and more importantly their own fanatical devotion to their King.​

The brilliance of his act that many battlefield commanders today saw was that the Trident Marshes was geographically ideal for an engagement in his terms: heavily forested with interjections of empty fields and the odd hills, such irregular terrain made the effect of cavalry (which the Barrans could not field out in great numbers.) nullified. Furthermore, Barran gallowglaighs were used to fighting in such conditions- Gerard's men had been spoiled by the great swaths of plains that his territories offered, and as such his men were ill-suited to fight in such terrain. This did not dissuade Gerard, who saw that if he reached the marshes quicker, he would be able to hold Caasach's side of the banks which were more favourable to his kind of warfare; he would order a force march to exhaustion in order to catch up to Brennan's host.

Bad weather combined with Barran sympathizers within settlements would delay Gerard's death march by days, which he could not afford. In his usual act of aggression, he set fire to most of the villages enroute to quicken his progress, displacing many villagers along the way but also left his own troops in short supply and constantly harassed by civilians who would mob them from time to time. By the time he arrived however, his outriders had spotted Caasach's vanguard marching towards him- if he ordered a charge then and now, he could gain his objective before the Barran men had time to react, and did so. Unfortunately as a commander he had forgotten to take into account the conditions of his men, many of them had been worn out by weeks of marching. Combined with their heavier armor, they could not make to their objective in time before the first of Barran's vanguards had approached. Well rested and well motivated to fight for a king who had marched alongside them (there have been disputes about this particular anecdote which King Brennan had refused a horse, preferring to walk to battle.), the tribesmen broke formation and charged forward, blowing their warhorns.

An artwork by Connor Bannockburn, titled 'The Charge of the Few' depicts the vanguard of Brennan's men charging into battle. His van consisted of his more heavily armoured soldiers and men with sons to pass on their lineage, and thus fought as men who had nothing to lose. Their fanaticism would endure today in a statue built to commemorate their valorous sacrifice: its plaque would bear the words "Bho na beagan gu mòran, tha sinn a 'cur aghaidh dhuit" which translates from Gêighamon to "From the Few to the Many, We Defy Thee."​

The ensuing battle would be a muddy struggle between Gerard's main body versus Barran's vanguard, who were expecting their main body to arrive shortly- unknown to them however, King Brennan's forces had been delayed by a sudden landslide caused by the trampling of his men- this delay would nearly cost him the battle. For a whole hour a dangerously outnumbered vanguard fought, often by tooth and nail against their own kin whilst Gerard urged his men forward, often threatening death to slackers. The heavy resistance would puzzle Gerard immensely: surely they would have known that they were beset on all sides? However, a lack of communication and an absurd amount of faith to their King (whom they were sure were fighting alongside them- indeed, many anecdotes exists which says that Brennan had fought side by side with the storyteller. If all of the stories were true, then Brennan would have been at 16 different places at once.) would fool Gerard's foe that they were already joined with the main body.

​

The battle had started at 11 in the morning, and by afternoon Gerard's forces had finally pushed the vanguard back through sheer attrition- Caasach's banks were theirs, but at a staggering cost to their forces. Numbers today are wild and varies between historian to historian, but the most accepted ratio was 4 of Gerard's southrons to one of Brennan's wildlings, and even then it is still considered unbelievable. Tired, bloodied and weighed down by their excess armor, Gerard's forces would attempt to rout the remaining survivors, but their conditions would mean half of the infantry on the field were fighting blindly, often inflicting friendly casualties by accident. Gerard's reserve, his cavalry were on guard, waiting for Brennan's remaining forces to appear before charging- he had hoped for a quick rout with his seemingly invincible horsemen but the sheer amount of resistance that still persisted until now gave Gerard doubts. In hasty order he sent half of his knights to run down the defenders, who at this point were fighting to the death. This would prove Gerard's undoing- as though on cue, Brennan's horn blower would sound their arrival in a thunderous blast that was said to shake the ground. At the front, King Brennan surrounded by his retinue would surge forward, reinforcing the shattering vanguard, almost annihilated to the last man: Gerard would respond in panic, sending the remainder of his horses against King Brennan, with himself at the lead for if his own men saw that their leader had took the head of Brennan, it would undoubtedly give them the burst of morale and frenzied energy to maintain their pace.

By now Gerard's men had tired of fighting for their lord, and instead fought for their own survival: battlefield conditions by then was a slurry of mud, blood and filled with bodies on both sides. The arrival of Brennan would sent the men into a frantic and desperate mania, and began slaughtering as many as they could to fight their way out of the bloodbath. Scant few of the mercenaries would survive the battle, and they wouldn't have been able to recover their losses from the battle. Not even the intervention of mailed knights could help them break the spirit of Brennan's men, and with Brennan this time actually by their side, they saw nothing but victory. Gerard's men really did not have a chance.​

While Gerard commanded his own army, Brennan was more than happy to leave the details to his cousin whom he recognized was superior in such matters: while Brennan fought in the front, motivating his men, Caasach would take the reserve force of the few riders they had along with the Claighmuelles and watch over the battle, unperturbed by the threat of imminent death. Brennan's arrival would set his army into a state of impetuousness, slaughtering the tired southrons. Gerard's nine thousand mercenaries would be King Brennan's biggest threat, whose plate armor gave them a slight advantage in melee- however, they were slower to move and react, which allowed Brennan's forces to envelop them and pick them off one by one, pulling them out of formation and often multiple gallowglaighs would gang up on a single mercenary. When Brennan noticed Gerard's cavalry charging at him, he was purportedly having witnessed by his men to switch targets and charge with renewed vigor and yelling his famous war cry:

"First man to yank a rider off of his horse wins a pint from me!"
​

This competition would not go amiss later at the end of the battle, although thirty two men would claim they were the victors. This would be resolved by a pint to be split between them all, leading to many grumblings between the thirty two; never let it be said that the Barrans lacked for a sense of humor. Gerard's famous charge did not work out as well as he had hoped- in fact, he was killed during the charge, supposedly to Brennan's own axe. The death of their leader would sow the roots of confusion and shatter morale; soon men began to retreat, which lead to a mass rout. One of Gerard's generals who had survived the disastrous charge began to rally the routing forces, and was met with a level of success that Caasach did not anticipate. Desperate to cull their losses, he ordered his reserves into battle, and determined to finish the fight, charged along with them. The clash would send the late-lord's forces into an irreparable state of disarray. Unfortunately, Caasach Greybarran would fall to a mortal wound caused by a war lance- records of the household maester seems to report that the lance had pierced through his shoulder and broken every bone on its exit, yet he was found to have grasped the reigns of his horse and weapon tightly even in death. The battle was won by 4 in the evening, and at dusk the wounded had been retrieved and a camp established. Brennan's men would not be able to pursue Gerard's forces to further solidify their advantage, but enough damage had been done: By the winters of Decemarii**, the head of the Gerard's heir would be delivered by a defecting general, hoping to earn amnesty in the eyes of Brennan. Instead, he was gifted with the executioner's block and blade by the King's order: a servant of a lord should not betray his master, and he had made sure Gerard knew the lesson, and in turn, the defector. With Gerard's male heir dead, King Brennan would head south to ground the keep to dust. The women of Gerard's household would be married off to his many sons, or to other houses who had served him well in the battle, while the children were taken in as wards.

Famous words by a famous man, King Brennan would honour his cousin by crafting an oaken table that now sits in the Barran's dining hall- on both ends reads the shoddily carved words, "
Bha thu mar mo bhràthair ; Fêst math ann an Valhalla dhomh." Translated, it means "You were like my brother: Feast well in Valhalla for me." The battle would ensure King Brennan's peaceful rule from this point onwards, but his son would not be so lucky. He would die later at the age of 60 after attempting to wrestle a mother bear. His dying words were: "Nary a regret; skin the b*tch and burn her pelt with me when I die."​

What should be noted however, was that the Battle of the Fools (so named by both sides of the war: Barran men would call Gerard a fool for defying his liege lord, while historians considered Brennan a fool for not acting earlier and potentially mitigating the many casualties sustained in battle.) was not the glorious charge that many envisioned: it was a close fight that Gerard could've easily won had he committed his cavalry reserves earlier rather than send tired men to wipe out a well motivated group. Furthermore, had Gerard not over-exerted his own men there was a possibility that he would have still been able to take his objective with more well rested and well prepared men. Brennan's forces, lightly armoured in comparison to Gerard's plate-and-mail took full advantage of their superior mobility and fought with the savagery of the wild norths, breaking the normal conventions that Gerard's mercenaries were expecting. His own character failed to inspire his men to greater feats that could have given him his victory, unlike King Brennan who routinely ate and marched with his own men. Ultimately, it was a battle that was won by Brennan's vanguard who did not break even when hard pressed on all sides. Caasach would live on as an immortal in stories and as a martyr for all House Barran stood for, while Gerard's house would be extinguished from the books of history.

*September
**December[/beebox]

 

[Tristar]

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Heldrayth Wars (220 B.I - 216 B.I)​

In one of the most well documented major battles of Trevast, the Heldrayth Wars lasted 4 years with only 2 battles fought during its period: The First Battle for Heldrayth in the beginning, and the Final Battle of Heldrayth to close the war. A large scale conflict between House Bayne and House Erêa, the precedent of this war would start due to a miscommunication between two of the largest trading companies in Trevast, Bannmann Brothers and Milano Co. after a failed marketing scheme. Trading rivals, both of these companies had two things in common: both directly reported to a ruling House, and had a monopoly in agriculture in their own respective regional markets. Their relationship, though bound by contract was not a very happy relationship- but was prosperous and that in itself became the binding solvent that held the pact together. Bannmann Brothers, as expected from their names are under the care of House Bayne and ruled over the markets of the Heldrayth region- Milano Co. held the markets to the east of Heldrayth by the Summerset Region, under direction of House Erêa: effectively proxies between the two houses, they would wage a cold war between the two via economics only for Erêa to resort to brute violence.

As mentioned previous, both companies had a regional monopoly and had considerable amounts of power to back it up- Milano Co. was expanding its influence to the West, hoping to profit on the flourishing markets by the Eule markets. With its size and political influence, the company could easily enter the market and set up shop but for one very important roadblock: the barriers of entry to the markets of House Eule were extremely tight and only the approval of the house Lord could give them the so-treasured passage into a 'merchant's paradise' as it were. The political influence exerted by House Erêa in itself would not be enough to force the Lord Eule to allow them entry. For a company of this scale it would require at the very least a second House- and Milano already had a target in mind: if it could force the Brothers to merge with them it would come along with the added benefit of a host of political connections to House Bayne, which would be their trump card and gain them access to the West of Trevast. Furthermore, the Brother's monopoly over the Heldrayth region would also be theirs- the potential profits were extremely huge and could easily send their benefactors, House Erêa, into a powerful position over two of the more influential houses in the region.

Thus began a process of bargaining their way into the markets of Heldrayth- to this end Cezarê, the head of the Milano Co. had to thin out his company's coffers substantially in bribes for certain 'favours', politically and economically. Though their presence in the Heldrayth was minute, their branch was slowly growing and began to threaten Bannmann's operations: indeed, they had already used up plenty of their capital to buy off suppliers and putting a dent in Bannmann's stock. As prices rose, the people slowly switched to the foreign company. This was nowhere near their expected share of the markets, and Cezarê sought to resort to more direct and aggressive methods- first it started with an offer for a partnership: when Breth Bannmann, head manager of all Bannmann branches denied their offer, Cezarê ramped up his negotiations until enmity took over logic and rationale. It was made clear several times, at first in person and then in letters when the relationships between the two giant companies were becoming tense: Bannmann would not relinquish their share of the markets and neither were they interested in joining assets as a single entity. In response to their aggressive negotiations, Breth started to buy out several companies and bulk up their assets- mass renovations for their buildings were underway with the clear intention of increasing land value: Bannmann in short, was slowly making it impossible for Milano Co., who had yet to regain most of their losses from their brute-force entry into the market, to buy them over, Furthermore, a mercenary group was hired to guard their assets to prevent them to forcibly seize their assets.

Cezarê was not deterred: he still had an ace up in his sleeves, and sought an audience with Lord Crastor Erêa the Fifth. He explained that the takeover was taking longer than expected, and that he needed help to prevent Bannmann from carrying out their bulking operations. When Crastor asked what he needed, Cezarê specified that he needed a thousand armed men who were ready to commit atrocities for their lord. Crastor supposedly granted him his wish, but had warned the merchant lord:

"For every man, I expect a thousand coin in your coffers, and ten thousand in mine."
​

Cezarê reassured his benefactor, as the combined assets and cash flow of their rivals could finance such extravagant cuts. This would add oil to the kindling, as Milano would set upon his newfound force to begin sabotaging Bannmann's operations: caravans carrying stocks and payments from them were raided, and renovated buildings were under constant threat of vandals- on the 15th of Aprias 221 B.I, a Milano arsonist set fire to Bannmann's second largest store, with expectations that it would simply burn down the building to the ground. Instead, the flames caught the stock of lamp oil that was preserved in the basement of the building which resulted in the Great Fire of Heldrayth, a massive explosion that cost the Baynes several thousands in damage control and repairs- the fire was said to last for four days before being subdued, but not before it burned down a significant portion of the merchant district and the harbour. This collateral damage may have initially been good news to Cezarê as a number of Bannmann's stores were also caught in the fires but would soon turn for the worse: the arsonist did not survive the fire, and his body somehow miraculously survived the fire. Indepth investigation soon pointed all fingers back to Milano Co. and drew much ire and wroth from King Ulstead Bayne and his lot of supporters. This in turn would seep over to House Erêa who had every responsibility to manage and control the company under them.

Cezarê was blamed for the sudden turn of diplomatic relationships between their houses, and Lord Crastor had him executed for his gross negligence- Milano Co. would be seized by his son, who was nowhere as close of a merchant as his predecessor was. However, Crastor was not immediately threatened by a lack of profits caused by his son's inability to keep records or handle transactions: war loomed over the horizon as Ulstead demanded reparations for the extensive damage caused by Cezarê. Executing the man was a step in that direction, but when the king gave him a total tally of how much Crastor owed his house, House Erêa took ten step backwards by saying that they would not pay the amount listed, but instead would pay for barely a quarter of the damages paid and that the sum they gave back was their final offer. House Bayne of course, refused and demanded that they pay up the full sum: Lord Crastor refused, and from that point onwards refused to let in any representative of the king. The message was clear to Ulstead, who raised his own banners just as Crastor had.

However between the two Houses, Crastor had an easier time mustering his forces as he had anticipated this from the very beginning: 25 000 men at arms were raised, along with a huge contingent of siege engineers, although King Ulstead's spymaster would fail to take notice of the proceedings. House Bayne, by the end of the week war had been declared by the two houses, could raise up 19 000 on their own, but was expecting another 5000 from their vassals by the next week to arrive to help them. Lord Crastor could not allow two things at once: he could not hope to match the Baynes on the field due to their cavalry- Erêa's did not field large quantities of horsemen, and was very much an infantry army at the core. Against Bayne riders however, even a distinguished military commander would have a hard time about maintaining order. Secondly, Crastor could not allow for the reinforcements to aid the army. Besieging a Heldrayth held by the full might of the Bayne's military was also out of the question- when it came to turtling within defenses and daring their foes to come at them, there was none better than the red and gold lion and his cubs. Erêa needed to lure out the army if they had a hope of winning a siege, and after contemplating his options, Crastor found a way to kill two birds with a stone.

He split his force into three groups: the first group, numbering 4000 was lead by General Hoffstede Jurê. Their task force had the highest concentration of mounted infantry and raiders, with a mission directive to intercept and ambush the Bayne's reinforcing troops. Their ultimate objective however, was to strike with such brutality and shock that they would ground the forces down and force their commander to request aid from the garrisoned army; a group of engineers were also attached to their unit. The second group of 6000 by General Trezonê Fðlle would lay in hiding and ambush a responding Bayne force in the surrounding forests leading to the site of the ambush. If for whatever reason the Baynes would not respond, their unit of horse was to go and terrorize the local settlements and force the citizenry to plead for the king's assistance- a refusal or outright ignoring their requests could spark a riot and unsettlement with the king's local subjects, which would also help Crastor accomplish his objective. The final group personally lead by Lord Crastor himself were the leftovers and had the largest number of siege engineers- their job was to remain in hiding until the Baynes sent a responding force before making a force march to Heldrayth and besiege it.

When Hoffstede's unit struck, their ambush went superbly and according to textbook- so great was the effect of their attack that the commander of the unit immediately sent a raven to King Ulstead, over-exaggerating the numbers of their attackers to the point that King Ulstead was fooled to believe that Crastor's main force had struck them. In reality, Hoffstede's raiders simply caused so much chaos and damage in such a short amount of time that it in effect, gave them the appearance of a far bigger task force. The reinforcing troops would be wiped out to the last man, and any ravens warning the Baynes of their lost was shot down- instead, Hoffstede wrote a false letter reassuring the King that their unit had managed to rally and was holding out but needed immediate reinforcements at their position, which forced them to run by the second group. King Ulstead received the letter but immediately began to suspect that something was amiss- he delayed sending reinforcements hoping to receive another letter from the unit commander, but waited in vain- Hoffstede, impatient, went over to Trezonê's location and took command of his horsemen and raided the country side, provoking the local militia and slaughtering much of the defenders. In response, the citizens sent multiple requests for relief, which Ulstead could not ignore so easily. Once more, the letters had lead him to believe that the Erêa lord had lead his army on a rampage in the country side to lure him out; had he known the actual truth, King Ulstead would have not sent such a large force to respond to the villager's cries. Mounting a force of 15 000, he left Heldrayth in the hands of General Fyodor Isellyovich who was a card playing, social officer who earned his position through marrying the right family and playing favours with the nobility. Despite this, he would later show incredible amounts of authority and tactics when Crastor besieged Heldrayth.

When news that Ulstead had left behind nothing more than a political officer in charge of Heldrayth to go on a wild goose chase, Crastor was said to be overcome with such joy that he wrote back to his wife saying:

"On this day, I have accomplished to make the King of Heldrayth a fool; I will go down a legend in the rivers of history."
​

He immediately marched his task group to Heldrayth, avoiding major population centers and Ulstead's army- on the third day of his march, he arrived at Heldrayth and immediately set siegeworks around the city, taking a note out of House Wolnier's ancient victory by setting up two layers of walls to guard from Ulstead's army that had left the city. He hired a small mercenary fleet to watch the Peylon River for him, and had his men shoot down the ravens of the besieged city- communications were so effectively shut down, that Ulstead still remained convinced that he had fought Crastor's main host when he ran into the ambushing unit. It was only thanks to his scouts that warned him of an ambush that allowed him to set it off prematurely and draw Trezonê out of the forests, where his horsemen ran his unit down. With orders to explicitly hold the army until the siege was over, Trezonê immediately disengage and provoked a chase through a forest riddled with traps, fighting with hit and run tactics. Combined with Hoffstede's horsemen who harassed King Ulstead's baggage train repeatedly, this harsh lesson of asymmetrical warfare would start a heated argument on the creation of a unit type that could fend off a foe that utilized such a style against their relatively slow to react force. Their armoured horsemen could not muster enough speed to outrun the more lightly amroured Erêa horses, who were bred to run quick and restore their stamina at a greater rate. The constant pressure would keep his army pinned down while Crastor set siege to the walls.

The Bayne sergeant man-at-arms was a terrifying figure to be greeted as an Erêan levy- with his bardiche and scale armor, he posed a terrible threat to anyone that dared trespass his walls. If they survived the massed archer volley, then there was little the attackers could do in the face of a weapon literally designed to break wooden shields apart: with enough force, a sergeant was well capable of splitting a man in half and has been proven many times. Their red feather makes them distinguishable in the ranks, as well as their bronze facemasks- all of these added to the terror a common soldier would have felt moments before dying.

The Erêan soldier was a pitiful thing, with only a coat of mail, his spear, sword and shield- he would often fight disillusioned by his faith in his god to protect him from sharp blades. His morale was not at its highest during the siege and understandably so- during the street fights of Heldrayth, his spear would have been useless, and his light armor did nothing against Bayne axes. Some of the Erêan soldiers were often farm boys who were given their arms and armor, with little to no training versus the Bayne man-at-arms, who consistently trained to keep their skills sharp. Even outnumbered, there was a higher chance of the Baynes winning the engagement. Luck as it would seem, was not entirely on Isellyovich's side.​

His did not commit to the first assault, intending to test the capabilities of the force within the walls: Isellyovich had nearly panicked when told that his city had been sieged, but almost immediately sobered up when he saw the vast army of Crastor. Showing a degree of command that was unexpected of his character, he manned the walls and personally lead the defense to repel the probing assault- Crastor's men would not reach the walls with their ladders after a shower of arrows that sent most of the running back. When Crastor saw Isellyovich by the feathered hat he always wore, the Erêan lord supposedly snorted in derision before reorganizing his retreating men. At 2 in the afternoon, he had his men mount up for a mass charge, hoping to overpower the general into submission- this would not be so easily accomplished as he later found out. His men struggled to set their ladders in place, as Bayne sergeants would hack them into pieces with the use of their bardiches, forcing his men to run back and recover more ladders. Suppressive fire from his own archers did not deter the defenders, who responded by showering the scaling troops with rubble from the Great Fire. Crastor's first assault would take four hours before he called it off, having sustained heavy losses to his assault force- Isellyovich on the other hand, only lost a single man though sustained several wounded to his force. In comparison, Crastor was made a fool by an untested military commander.

Figuring that he couldn't take the city by ladders alone, Crastor let the castle for the rest of the day to set up his precious siege engines- this was spotted by Isellyovich, and at night ordered a small raiding unit to slip into the besieger's siege workshops and sabotage it. This plan did not go as planned as a wakeful sentry caught the sight of the defenders attempting to light the workshop on fire- the saboteurs fought their way out, but only 6 men would survive the failed attempt. Crastor regained some of his bravado from Isellyovich's attempt to stop his engines from being raised, although it raised concerns from his accompanying general, Theodre Jurgenstede. On the second day of the siege, Crastor sent another wave at 8 in the morning, this time accompanied by 12 trebuchets and 2 ballistas. Unfortunately he chose to ignore Theodre's suggestions to set up additional ballistas to counter the defender's own siege weapons, as he did not think too much of Isellyovich. When the city's ballistas broke 6 of his trebuchets during the assault however, he became convinced and had his engineers set up the remaining ballistas to counter-artillery the defender's ballista towers. The second assault would make little headway, although this time the hurled rocks suppressed Bayne troops long enough for their own soldiers to scale the wall only to be dragged in and hacked to death- or simply thrown off from the castle walls. Grappling hooks had their ropes cut, thrown out- those who made it were far and few and were very often simply tossed out by the sergeants who manned the walls along with the archers. At the end of the day, Crastor had to recall his men and leave the defenders to lick their wounds while he assessed his situation.

Lord Crastor watches his siege operators man the trebuchets, disgruntled at the lack of success even when siege weaponry was employed. In truth, historians today claimed that it was a case of 'too little, too late'- had he prepared more siege weaponry, Heldrayth could have fallen faster and with less human lives wasted: his lack of commitment in his earlier assaults gave Isellyovich plenty of time to set up his traps and chokepoints, causing the attacking general much grief later on.​

He didn't have much time- sooner or later King Ulstead would find out that he had been hoodwinked and make a rush back to Heldrayth and at that point, Erêa would lose the engagement. Isellyovich on the other hand, had a good set up for himself- his numerical disadvantage didn't count for much against him when his foes could barely make it close enough to scale the walls before engaging with his own infantry, and that was not factoring the ballista towers he had at his disposal, which was terrifyingly accurate and forced him to use his own siege engines at a further distance, making precision fire harder. On the third day, Isellyovich had a moment of peace as Crastor chose to spend the day deciding on his next move- the defending commander kept his men well rotated and fresh for the fight, but knew that eventually Crastor would have to break down the walls to get inside. Using the rare moment of peace, he had his men cooperate with the citizenry to erect barricades, stakes and chokepoints where they could hold out once the walls faltered. His preparations would not be fully finished until the fifth day, delayed by Crastor's half-hearted assault on the walls- this time with his men attempting to batter down the gates- hot oil met the troops carrying the siege equipment, and a torch lit the spill, creating a natural barricade that forced to try and take the walls once more which went about as effective as his first two assaults had been. When he corresponded with his two generals, they could only guarantee him as much as another week- Bayne had begun to become accustomed to their raids and were slowly acclimatizing to their tactics. Even the proposed week was an optimistic suggestion: Crastor had to take it at the end of the week, or he would be caught in a very serious predicament.

On the fifth day he tried to mount a night attack, hoping to catch the defenders off guard- with the ballista crew unable to properly see their targets, he could finally utilize his siege weaponry to their full potential, although it was too little to do more than chip away at the great wall- most of the time, due to his own siege crew's inexperience in night-time operations, he inflicted friendly fire on his troops which assisted the defenders greatly in repelling the invaders. Mass confusion combined with the inexperience of his siege crew prevented a successful assault- in reality, Isellyovich had not expected a nighttime battle and had barely woken up to the sounds of metal-upon-metal. The commander ordered a more vigilant night shift to make up for his initial mistake, and ordered his ballista crews to fire flaming bolts in the general vicinity of the besiegers as a warning shot- warning indeed, as the flaming bolts had done more damage than he had anticipated: two of them had struck down the pallisades of Crastor's redoubt, while a stray bolt struck down a tent and lit several on fire as a result- as a result on the sixth day, Crastor had a field day attempting to restore order and salvage the situation. Isellyovich on the other hand, grew more and more paranoid and expected another assault- it would come only on the eight day after a withering hail of arrows to remind him that the threat still lurked over in the horizon.

Waves of cannon fodder surges through the beaten defenses of Heldrayth, only to be lured to a fate worse than the fires of hell. The depiction of the fall of Heldrayth fails to capture the misery and fatigue of the attackers, who are shown to be more vigorous in the painting. Furthermore, damage to the outer walls were actually not as extensive as shown here- inaccurate or not, the painting still provides the sense of relief for the attackers as they took the walls. ​

On the eight day, things began to look up for Crastor- cold winds blew had blown in a thick mist in the morning, and when the lord realized what it meant for his troops, he roused them up for another assault, this time a committed battle. Under the cover of the mist, he managed to sneak his troops close to the wall before scaling it. Only when they had mounted the walls did the Bayne soldiers realized that they had been had by nature, and blew the horn- the walls had finally been mounted by Erêan feet, their owners beginning to chew through the defenders slowly, grinding their faces in the battle of attrition- the Bayne sergeants, with their bardiches kept them from making substantial gains while Isellyovich readied his men at their stations. His plan was to let them fight for the wall, which he had already given up on defending. When the walls finally fell, the sun had finally risen and the Bayne defenders braced themselves in their stations- civilians were herded into the grand palace to minimize collateral damage, and a series of traps had been placed, especially at the main gate- when the Erêan wall-takers swung the gates open, Crastor's soldiers flooded through. When the tide seemed the heaviest, Isellyovich executed an extremely controversial order even up to this day: a lone sapper by the name of Heymach tosses a torch into one of the many rooms filled with barrels of pitch and oil by the third blast of Isellyovich's warhorn and prays for forgiveness as he flees the vicinity. In an explosion that barely only surpasses the Great Fire not too long ago, Isellyovich had cut down a third of Crastor's men in a single stroke, but only added to the city's destruction. Several blocks had turned to rubble and fires had gone to the streets; some of his own men had been caught in the blastwave but was nothing compared to the devastation in the main street and the area around it- the flames produced hazardous smoke that choked the lungs of the invaders, or what remained of them, limiting their ability to fight effectively. Lord Crastor himself was taken aback at the audacity of the Bayne commander, but was impressed- and horrified- at the damage he had wrought on his own force: of the fifteen thousand that he had brought with him, a mere 9 000 remained- 4000 of those were guarding their rear

The battle for Heldrayth did not end there and then: Crastor still had to force his men to wade through the streets, amidst the burning city for another 3 days in a devastating display of Bayne urban combat- the Butcher's Street in Heldrayth today was not named because of the occupation of the shopkeepers that line the streets, but because of the stack of bodies the Baynes defenders had lined up after each assault- when their wooden barricades fell, they used the bodies instead which were far better at providing protection from arrows. It also had the bonus benefit of providing a psychological effect on the attackers who had to climb walls made of bodies of former comrades- Bayne men at arms had no qualms at making their walls higher with each hour. Sheer exhaustion and numbers would get the better of the defenders, and one by one the checkpoints fell to the Erêan forces who grew more and more desperate to end the massacre. Street fighting ensued in many parts of the districts, with the Baker's Block holding out for the longest with Sergeant Uleimann and his band of twelve who would continue to fight even when Kapitan Strelok capitulated on the 11th day- the last of his unit would perish in a storehouse, which was set on fire to smoke them out: to their credit, none of them walked out, preferring to die to the smoke than to let the Erêan's have the joy of killing them. The battle of the Grand Palace lasted for two hours until Isellyovich sought to end the fight once and for all by challenging Lord Crastor to an honor duel- his challenge was met by a volley of arrows. Command then fell to Kapitan Strelok of the 60th Regiment, who finally relented. At 5 in the evening, he presented the victor of the fight with the Bayne household banner and the Erêan Ermine was raised over the castle.

A bust of Isellyovich- villain or brave hero? A debate that rages in many Bayne historians and military commanders. Should he have sacrificed a portion of the city to defend its people, or should he have relied on the strength of his men? Ingenuity or cowardice? His body now lays in the White Cemetery where the heroes of Trevast are buried, though some prefer it if he had been buried elsewhere. ​

For King Ulstead, news of the fall of his castle would only reach him when Crastor sent a raven to his generals asking for the king to surrender: informed of his loss by his foes, his wrath was great to behold but there was nothing to be done. Rather than give up however, he lead his men to break out of their pinned down position in a well executed withdrawal before marching north to the mountain tops of House Barran, who greeted them though were at first wary of the King's battle-weary host, which had been drained to 11 716. There, the Barrans would provide for their esteemed guest for four years while Ulstead attempted to make contact with his vassals and engage in diplomatic fencing with the lords who demanded to know what had happened. For Lord Crastor however, the situation was more dire- his victory had costed him too many lives, and the damage of the city was too much for him to bear on his own. Even the combined finances of his house, vassals and Milano Co. wouldn't be enough. He would later attempt to extract a loan from House Eule, but furiously declined after he learned of their exorbitant interest rates coupled with an extremely short repayment period- Lord Frederick was not fond of the war that Lord Crastor had waged as it had costed him much in trade which was heavily disrupted due to their fight. For Lord Crastor, this was a bittersweet victory that held no strategic value whatsoever: without any sufficient means to rebuild and repair, it was a long four harsh years for House Erêa as they struggled to cope with the aftermath of their victory. Isellyovich's rash actions dealt the biggest blow to him, both during and after the battle and Lord Crastor had his body crucified at the top of the castle gates for his impudence as revenge on a dead man.

On the season of summer, 216 B.I King Ulstead with a force of twenty thousand, a bulk made up of Barran troops who were given as assistance by the King of the Twin Peaks, marched south to retake Heldrayth. On his way his force would slowly accumulate with reinforcements from his vassals, and bands of mercenaries who were part of a flourishing industry. Upon arrival King Ulstead finally saw the vast damage dealt upon his precious city, and how little the Erêans had managed to restore it to its former glory. Coming to terms with a city of ashes took its toll on the king, who would be affected years after retaking Heldrayth. This time, the second siege of Heldrayth went far better for the attackers, who had considerably less work to do with plenty of breaches to infiltrate. To say that the Bayne soldiers were well motivated would be an understatement- to the average soldier, everything that had happened was entirely the fault of Lord Crastor, and was keen to exact bloody revenge on House Erêa. Ulstead laid siege to the city, but the defenders almost immediately gave up on the third day due to constant pressure from Bayne soldiers who had intimate knowledge of the city, and exploited the breaches in their defenses. There was no stack of bodies to slow them down, nor was there another explosive trap awaiting for them, but rather tired and haggard troops, starving from the lack of economic flow through the devastated city- Lord Crastor was killed by his own men as he attempted to rally them, and his head presented to the rightful owners of the city. Whatever plans King Ulstead had to tear down House Erêa did not come to realization- Crastor had to place heavy taxes on his own citizens in order to fund the ongoing repairs of the city and replenish his wearied army, causing immense resentment towards him and his family. When the death of Crastor reached Summerset Hall, the peasant revolted and went after the nobility; with everyone of them lynched by the mob, King Ulstead took ownership of their lands but had their legacy burned down as revenge- to this day Summerset Hall is but a charred ruin, ancient seat to a family long gone.

Though King Ulstead came out as the victor in the end, this was not the end of his troubles- with massive damages to his city and a disruption of trade, it would take a hundred years before House Bayne could restore Heldrayth to its former glory, largely due to the assistance of the Barrans, who also facilitated the revival of Heldrayth's status as a trading city. To this day the scars of the battle still remains etched upon the walls of the city, especially the gatehouse which still bears marks from the fires. House Bayne would reassert them as the rightful owners of Heldrayth and honor their relationship with House Barran, who remained their greatest ally to this point onwards. While the name Isellyovich is a touchy topic within the military ranks of the Baynes, it is without a doubt that if it were not for his order to sacrifice a portion of the city to the invaders, the defenders would have had a much harder time holding out for as long as they had. To many he is considered to be a failure of a military officer, though there are plenty who revere him as the patron saint of garrisons and militias everywhere- to be fair, plenty of stranger things have happened.



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[Tristar]

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Fredrick's March (200 B.I - 198 B.I)​

There are scant few houses today in the whole of Trevast that owes most of its culture and history to the battles it has fought, won and lost- lesser still are the houses who can safely claim that success and victory is in their nature. When it comes to military success on the battlefield however, there is no better House to explore than that of the House of Owls: The Northmen fight fiercely and without fear, the Wolniers rule the seas with the edge of their swords, Baynes tear down castles and build up impregnable fortresses but when it comes to fighting men on the field none can match the organization and discipline of the Eules. Their way of war is a forced evolutionary process that comes from a constant season of conflict with their neighbours and the generations of generals and lords all contribute to the metamorphosis of the Eulean military. Yet Lord Fredrick the First will go down in history as the man who truly revolutionized the fighting men of House Eule.

A product of an unsatisfactory attempt to patch relationships between House Rosmann and House Eule, he spent most of his childhood growing up with his granduncle General Horatius Maneul while his father, Lord Barnabas III traveled to and fro between Roslund (The land of Rosmanns) and Eulund (The land of Eules) in an attempt to bring back his mother. Growing up in Fort Lodale, Fredrick was fond of soldiers and often dressed up to play as one, earning him his nickname that would last until the day he died; Fredrick the Corporal despised his sobriquet as an adult but ironically spent most of his career as a general and as a lord as an infantry commander.

Lord Fredrick Eule I was as handsome as it goes- a shame then, that he remained a bachelor for the rest of his life, leaving his house no heir. He was implied to have a lover from the south, but made no attempts to bind their relationship together permanently. Some say he was too busy ruling- he himself personally claimed that 'his land was his wife'. However, it is highly plausible that he was simply asexual and saw no joy in love. ​

The day he took the mantle as the house lord was a day of mourning for the entire house as news of Lord Barnabas's death reached the court- suspected to have died from an assassin, he was promptly buried with full honours despite being a lord more concerned for his failed marriage than the matters of his household. As his first act as Lord, Fredrick established an investigation network to clear the cause of his father's death- or at least in paper. In reality Fredrick cared little for his parents and used his father's death to set his own personal intelligence network that was rumoured to have had its ears and eyes even far north- his spies would influence many of his decisions and become the equalizer to many of his lopsided victories. When news that his mother was somehow involved in the assassination of his father, Fredrick, at the age of 17 shocked his household and the neighbouring houses by immediately declaring war on the Rosmanns- and with it, their lords Rivermark and Rendalls. At the time House Eule could muster a weak force of 15 000 men to the 65 thousand the trio could bring to the field: it was unheard off for such a numerically disadvantaged host to beat an army nearly 3 times as big as it was- but Fredrick did not have plans to let the enemy march into his lands like times of past, and revealed that it would be the start of his great conquest. Many of his own thought him mad and a fool, and within a fortnight half his court left him- some defected to the Triple Entete, who were more than happy to gain insider's knowledge of their foe. All of them claimed that their former lord was a madman, which only helped to pad the ego of their new masters: victory became a foregone conclusion for them, such that they were willing to let the Eules decide upon the grounds for battle.

Fredrick was of course, nowhere near a madman but simply a strong willed and openly vocal ideologist who promised his men two things: That he would find a way to win the upcoming battle with their numbers, and that they would march into the lands of their foes as victors. Though this seemed as a hollow promise, the men had little to turn their faith towards to, and so with heavy hearts yelled "Ave Fredrick" and committed themselves to the slaughter. Here however, Fredrick's spies came into play: by feeding false information to the lords of his whereabouts of his troop deployment, he sowed chaos to their generals who were split between four different locations at once, all of which threatened a specific object of interest to them from the Tientrê Woods of Roslund to the Ruddên Hills of Rielande. Split with indecision, the generals spread out their forces to watch the four entry ways with a score of riders ready to warn the rest of the army should Fredrick try to march against either one of them. Unfortunately covering the stretch between the four hotspots also meant they had to weaken their total available force, up to an average of 15 000 per field- leveling the board to Fredrick's advantage. Having successfully fooling his enemies into entrenching themselves and letting him move first, Fredrick deliberately held off his invasion to let his spies wreck more chaos behind the lines; within two days his coterie of spies ran amok, plunging the entire communication lines between the three armies into disarray, allowing him to spearhead a push into an entangled mess of the three combined armies.

Fredrick's spies had caused such an uproar that when he finally took to the field, he was met virtually unopposed- men would mistake his army as a reinforcing guard, only to be herded together for a slaughter. His army swept the battlefield with vicious speed and force, sending a majority of the men fleeing- those that tried to stay and fight were quickly squelched; killed or captured, it was an astounding victory for Fredrick.​

Devoid of orders, leadership and command, the armies of the coalition failed to halt Fredrick's host which had by then captured 8000 in prisoners, many of which had surrendered without offering resistance. Humiliated, the army withdrew from their defensive positions while their generals attempted to break Fredrick's pace- unfortunately the many-headed nature of the army's leadership meant that a conclusion that satisfied everyone couldn't be achieved, which Fredrick capitalized: in the three days that it took for the three armies to come to an agreement, Fredrick's host had pushed in 21 kilometers into Rielande who were welcomed by the citizens who saw them as charismatic liberators than invaders. Indeed, Fredrick's reputation (largely fabricated early on by his intelligence network) played a significant role in supplying his armies as the local populace were more than willing to throw their support behind him. This resolved a part of his logistics issues, but had much more potential than was initially shown: setting up a recruitment program specifically for the 'liberated' citizens, Fredrick expanded his intelligence networks with the local citizenry which allowed him to be informed of his opponent's movements, allowing to bypass the main bulk of the coalition. Within 4 months the Triple Entente had finally began to shed some clarity in their mess and appointed General Raegge Haversmark as lord-commander of the coalition force, setting up a clear leadership and font of authority. As a military commander Raegge was every bit of an antithesis to Fredrick: overly cautious, he often failed to take advantage of opportunities as they appeared due to his lack of initiative and fear of undertaking risks- Fredrick on the other hand maintained a very aggressive momentum and often forced opportunities to appear where there was none. Pitted against each other, Raegge's task of countering Fredrick's actions was no easy feat beset by rivalry, mounting pressure and the chaos that Fredrick's spies constantly generated. The wily lord would not allow the general to pin him down and engage him in a pitched battle, preferring to use his cavalry to breach Raegge's meticulous formations thus allowing his infantry to exploit the exposed point- by splitting his force into smaller, easier-to-manage regiments Fredrick could afford to strike at numerous points in Raegge's army and preventing him to rally his men. More than often, the battles that Raegge lost were because of his men's inability to maintain discipline and causing them to flee.

Many citizens did not oppose to his conquest, often assisting him under the illusion of a liberator who had come to free them from the shackles of heavy taxes- though he promised to be a benevolent lord, it was no secret that his new people had troubles adjusting to their new leader. Regardless their contributions allowed him to continue running his campaign for as long as he did, and he made sure those that helped were properly rewarded- the citizens of the Maybarr Plains for instance, now have a high number of their people within the Eulean government as part of Fredrick's movement.​

When snow touched the ground, Fredrick was the first to offer the Triple Entente a cease-fire for the duration of winter, which they readily accepted: Raegge did not think Fredrick had done this out of his own goodwill, and pleaded for the lords to keep their forces together instead of retreating back to their keeps- this was done mostly in vain, although he managed to convince the Rivermarks to keep a third of their force on the field. Raegge was right of course: Fredrick had no intention of honouring the cease-fire, and instead used the annual wintertime festival to screen the movement of his army, who were kept in high spirits as they passed from one village to another, helping themselves to the meals offered to them. Fredrick sent all gifts back to his keep, intent on keeping his baggage train as light as possible while he maneuvered around his captured territory: by the 21st of Decemarii, Fredrick's armies were in position by the Rendall's borders and by dawn broke the ceasefire by marching into Relunde. Raegge was informed after a 2 hours delay, and immediately mobilized what was available to him (6000 Rivermark soldiers and 500 Rosmann riders.) and pursued after Fredrick, who had pushed an impressive 15 kilometers by mid-day. Unbeknownst to Raegge, Fredrick had split his force into two groups for a split push- the larger task group spearheaded into Relunde, drawing Raegge's attention; the remaining 6000 quickly seized Raegge's encampment site and stole their supplies before cutting off the Triple Entente's avenues of retreat. When Raegge came to realize this, it was clear that Fredrick had trapped him- encircling the Rivermark defenders, the Eules began to tighten the noose mercilessly until the Rivermark forces were driven to Lohentuz Hill- a 300 meter patch of land with a slight elevation of roughly 20 meters and was barren during wintertime. With his army exposed, Raegge had very little choice except to hope that the Triple Entente would muster up their reserves to break him out.

His attempts to sally forth were repelled by Eulean pike formations, a relatively new concept that Fredrick implemented to great effect- unable to make a breakthrough, Raegge consigned himself to defeat and sent a raven to his wife telling her to "pack her bags and flee" for his failure - by death or capture- would anger his lords enough to lash out at his family: Lady Haversmark fled south and married a merchant soon after. By the time the three houses finally mobilized their reserves and marched to meet Fredrick on the field of battle, General Raegge and his 4000 men surrendered themselves to Fredrick. During the passing of banners, Lord Eule made his mark by quoting:

"If I had any doubts of my success, my foe has proven my otherwise: he has knelt, and my knees are clean."
​

Dismayed by the speed of his surrender, leadership of the coalition force fell to General Eustice Rosmann, uncle to Lord Eroldus Rosmann- at the age of 70 Eustice was a staunch practitioner of the old way of waging combat; that was, a slow immobile force that relied on its core of infantry. Against Fredrick who consistently showed himself to be an aggressive infantry commander, General Eustice's command would be cut short after the disastrous defeat during the Battle of Bargraf Forest and replaced by General Ulemann Reymark. At the final stages of the war, Fredrick had conquered an impressive 100 kilometers of space that had once belonged to the Triple Entente, seizing important economical assets for his House- at the age of 18 years old (turning 19 within a few months) he was House Eule's most successful commander to date. With an aim for a final thrust to the heart of Rielande to capture the town of Pòlz, Lord Fredrick gathered his victorious army numbering 17 650 (bloated in size from replacements, mercenaries and auxiliaries he recruited from his conquests) to march for their last time against the Triple Entente. Forewarned by their scouts, Lord Naymann Rivermark beseeched Ulemann to march their armies to meet Fredrick; Ulemann however was unwilling to commit his forces to hold the town of Pòlz which was situated within a valley- holding it was to hold against Fredrick's army from all sides. Their once mighty force of 65 000 had fallen to a meek 30 000 under the inept leaderships of his predecessors, which he felt was highly insufficient. Still, under political pressure he was forced to fortify his forces in the valley of Pòluza and was very much involved in its fortifications, running from place to place and constructing barricades to slow down Fredrick's impending march.

On the dawn of the 1st of Octavii, Fredrick's army arrived at the battlefield with a vanguard composed of Fredrick's personal guard, the Preoberzhanskoi Guard- the three most successful and prestigious infantry regiments, their golden reputation as a highly disciplined and unbreakable force remains to this day, and was prominent during the Battle for the Mudd Bridge several decades later when the Boteri struck. With their banners leading the way, Fredrick was confident in his victory and split his force three ways to strike from the south, west and north of Pòlz: his main army, lead by the Preoberzhanskoi numbered 6000 with an infantry core was to attack the western flank. The north was to be taken by the second group, a force composed of mostly mercenaries and auxiliary force while the third task group of horsemen was to assault the southern flank.

The Preoberzhanskoi faced their rivals upon the muddy rice fields of Pòlz; bogged by heavy armour and the clinging mud, fighting was toughest where they were, and very few emerged from the melee unscathed. ​

Fredrick's battle plan was simple: his main assault was to be undertaken by the mercenary force to the north. By placing a pertinent role onto his mercenaries he ensured that they would fight with greater motivation. His army was to draw most of the attention to themselves, allowing the northern flank to fall quicker- his cavalry, surprisingly for an Eulean tactic, was given a subsidiary role of cutting the lines of supply between the northern and western segments of Ulemann's armies thus denying reinforcements to the affected fronts. He planned on choking out Ulemann's fighting force and coerce him into surrendering, bringing the war to an end. However, the general proved himself unwilling to submit before the conqueror: as the sun rose above the field, Fredrick's drums and fife marked the signal for the assault and spurred his groups to battle with eagerness. Skirmish actions at the northern sectors delayed the mercenary group from their objective for awhile, but was fended off after a rally- meanwhile Fredrick's Preoberzhanskoi had found itself engaged by Ulemann's own personal guard, the Ledersahon Brigade. The face off between the two elite force became a grueling stalemate as both sides butchered each other, unwilling to break in the face of their rivals. When the north was finally engaged by Fredrick's second group, his personal guard had already accounted for more than 90 percent of their casualties on the field and was continuing to rise higher and higher.

A furious Fredrick ordering his captains to do a better job at assaulting the northern flank- had they failed to take their objective, Fredrick's campaign would've ended with a defeat, and his precious Preoberzhanskoi would've been lost to the enemy. The invention of plate armor did wonders for the survival rate for his personal guard, but was unlikely to save them from a prolonged engagement. The north had to be taken, and fast.​

Desperate for a breaking action, Fredrick rode to his northern sector and questioned his captains why their progress was taking so long. When they replied that they had met with fierce resistance, Fredrick was said to have exclaimed in dismay and berate them:

"Fierce?! By ye gods, my men are dying in droves and you call a lamb's dinner fierce?"
​

Acting against time, he spurred the northern sector to push harder and even joined in the melee with his retinue, losing his squire and his shieldbearer in the process- his timely action saved his Preoberzhanskoi from annihilation and relieved his besieging forces. On the southern flank, Eulean cavalry repeatedly charged itself against Ulemann's rearguard but was unable to make significant gains, allowing Ulemann to send reinforcements to his fronts in relative safety. For the first time in his military career, Fredrick was faced with the threat of defeat- fearing the possibility, he switched to the southern sector and consolidated his cavalry- under his direct management the cavalry was finally able to break the rearguard and send Ulemann's force into disarray. With the south finally broken, his west finally made progress and shattered their opposition who were taking fire from three different directions at once. With Ulemann's army broken on all three fronts, he had no other choice but to execute a hasty withdrawal, losing more than half his men during the action- many were ransomed later for gold, especially members of his Ledersahon Brigade. By nightfall, the town of Pòlz belonged to Fredrick, who sent a raven calling the Triple Entente for negotiations. Three weeks later the war would finally end, and Fredrick the Corporal would be hailed as House Eule's greatest leader to date.

His achievements were certainly impressive for someone barely out of their adolescences, though was heavily influenced from the works of his granduncle, Horatius Maneul. Many thought Fredrick should have continued his march, possibly conquering over the Rivermarks but failed to acknowledge the fact that his army had suffered terrible losses at the Battle of Pòlz. For all his aggressive actions, Fredrick knew when to not press his luck and understood that if he continued his push deeper into Rielande he would undoubtedly face fiercer resistance, not from his foe's army but from the local populace as well. He had been extremely fortuitous that he was capable of winning the conquered citizen's hearts this far into enemy territory but needed to solidify their trust in him before he could do anything. Furthermore small pockets of resistance, mostly remnants of the Triple Entente's armies posing as bandits were beginning to appear and threatened to cut his lines of supply. For all the possibilities, Fredrick committed to making sure the ground that he had won remained his, and spent the rest of his rule assimilating the conquered citizens. Today many hailed this move as a sensible but uncharacteristic act from him, who repeatedly showed what was akin to unbridled ambition- it is however, widely regarded as the effect of his maturing as a leader.

It is then considered such a shame that he died at the age of 35 without a proper heir, leaving his crown to his cousin, Caulde Eule. Even so his legacy would give him a sense of immortality to this day, from his network of spies that remain in secrecy to the sheer volumes that he had authored during his lifetime- truly, a man with few in comparison. [/beebox]

 

[Tristar]

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Charge of Kaith​

Arguably the turning point in Trevestine history, it was a period that broke all semblance of peace and punished plenty of Trevast's noble houses for their negligence. The Boteri invasion is remembered by everyone as the darkest moment of Trevast when close to 100 000 screamers and raiders crossed the Kaith Bridge, reminiscence of the Wolnier invasion several centuries ago. Unlike their Trevestine cousins however, the Boteri Empire had a well planned logistics network and a baggage train that was no less than several thousand horses and wagons carrying supplies, weapons and skilled craftsmen; often these unfortunate souls were spoils of war from their previous conquests and forced into labour. Their foresight allowed the horsemen to continue to wage a prolonged war on multiple fronts and they could easily replace their losses compared to the house lords that rose to meet them, who severely underestimated their enemy based on appearances and prior victories alone; while the invaders had the appearances of upstart raiders taking one step too far, their skill on horseback and experience in deep assault tactics gave the defenders a hard time to muster a capable defense and subsequently fell to Boteri scimitars.

The Boteri Invasion was the product of brilliance and ambition from the Emperor Salêm'uhr Hiiram, the grandson of the first Emperor Uzhur who had united the many tribes that pervaded Boterim in a sweeping conquest, forming a vast empire under a theocratic government where he and his every descendants were recognized as prophets of the Great Horse Rider, Inshahazim. Prior to his ascendancy, Salêm'uhr's father, Fahir had left much to be desired during his ruling: he lacked Uzhur's natural charisma and his heavy handed decisions wrought much political instability, threatening to destabilize Uzhur's work. The army was by far neglected, and Boterim was suffering from a severe lack of national unity, preventing much progress- as such, Salêm'uhr was left with the carcass of a nation threatening to topple over at any second. Casting his eyes to the far west, he saw the perfect target to unite his people together once more.

Declaring Trevast as a target for their 'Reha'jad' (Holy War), Salêm'uhr spent 10 years restructuring Boterim's economy, military and initiated a purge to wipe his government clear of any opposers to his rule; though harsh, it had the desired effect. By the end of his preparatory period the Boteri had regained a semblance of their former glory and lusted for the spoils and riches on the mainland- as dictated by their religious texts, Inshahazim had allowed the destruction of others if it was done to propagate his religion. Using this as a reason for his Reha'jad, Salêm'uhr began his march and crossed the Kaith Bridge on the eve of 30th Decimarii, 2 B.I.

His movement did not go unnoticed by House Wolnier's riders, who sent ravens to the nearby kingdoms warning them of an imminent Eastern threat; had the Lord Wolnier known of the response he would receive prior to sending his message, he might not have bothered at all. Most of the house lords had dismissed the warning in contempt, still mistrusting Wolnier for their past- others were more receptive of his message, to hesitant to act. Of the 20 southern lords he had sent a raven to, only 3 responded in full: House Bayne, House Courant and House Glenndale (along with their vassals). Together these three houses formed a coalition of forces numbering 54 600 in total strength (according to official records): these numbers are deceptive, as the actual composition of troops were heavily lopsided in favour of cavalry. Of the 54 600 they had, roughly 40% of that was heavy cavalry and mounted knights- 35% were archers or skirmishers and a meager 13 650 were infantry, mostly supplied by Bayne men-at-arms. The Baynes were appointed as commander of the military, and the highest position of Field Marshal was given to King Euldred, a decorated military enthusiast and formidable commander. A cavalryman at heart, it was deemed appropriate for Euldred to lead the cavalry-centric army and in the words of Lord Emond Courant:

"Show these eastmen how you ride a horse."
​

Though his many lords saw no challenge in the new threat that had just made landfall in the trade city of Kaith, Euldred was not one to underestimate his foes and kept close contact with Lord Hashamin Wolnier who relayed constant updates of the army's movement. When the Boteri made landfall on the east of Kaith Euldred had hoped the city of Kaith would hold out while he mustered the rest of his army to reinforce the merchant city- unfortunately human greed gave way, as well as the inherent want to survive: the city gave way to the foreigners after a day of half-hearted resistance to show that they weren't simply offering the city away. The rest of Trevast did not bite the bait, and it was said that Euldred himself cursed the city when the news reached him. However for the Bayne leader, not all hope was lost: if his host could march quick, he could catch the invaders within the walls of Kaith where he could use his army's natural skill at sieges to break the army apart. Unfortunately, Salêm'uhr had no delusions of being caught like rats in a cage and very quickly forced a march from his men to leave the city to cross the western bridge that would allow his men entry to the new world.

Euldred knew that the bridge was central to stopping the Boteri, and using his army's mobility to his advantage raced Salêm'uhr to the bridge; here however, he was forced to make concessions to his baggage train in order to reach there in time. Sending his horsemen ahead of the army as part of the van, the coalition's knights rode with only foraging and commandeering civilian lodges for supplies which ravaged much of the land in their wake. The infantry and archers would march as quick as possible, but was severely hampered by the baggage train: at one point, Euldred's horses covered so much land that there was a 15 mile gap between the infantry and them. Timing his marches were difficult and problems with communications did not help his case at all- struggling to maintain a reasonable gap only delayed his march. Salêm'uhr was also faced with his own problems from insurgency from the local citizens as well as raiding fleeing merchant caravans headed for the safety of Whitestone Keep: despite trespassing into Wolnier grounds repeatedly Lord Hashamin made no attempts to push the invaders away, turtling up within his castle and shoring up resources for a long siege- it never arrived after Hashamin dealt with Salêm'uhr's messenger bringing a demand of surrender for the desert folk. No serious attempts were made to push into Wolnier territory as Euldred's presence made a siege on Whitestone Keep a treacherous proposition for the Emperor. Salêm'uhr's massive army would trudge along the sands for days until their scouts stumbled upon the first of Euldred's horsemen.

Salêm'uhr's scouts managed to extract themselves from the skirmish, leaving Euldred's heavier knights in the dust. With knowledge of the arrival of their enemy the Boteri mass halted their advances and laid camp by the Fields of Kaith in a questionable move by historians today. No specific reason was offered to Salêm's sudden pause in his march, as the delay only allowed the rest of Euldred's army to close the gap; a plausible reason was perhaps the Boteri Emperor had hoped to lure in Euldred and force him to commit the entirety of Trevast's armies in a single, decisive blow and grab the entire continent for himself. For the great conqueror however, this would have been a major oversight- it would not have been logical to expect the whole of Trevast to react in what little time he offered upon his landing. Furthermore the political scenario of Trevast was still very much a mystery to Salêm, and often made very little sense to him- it was this fact that would pose much challenge to his conquest in the later stages. However, had Trevast been united as it is today, there is little question that the kingdom would have been able to repel Salêm's invasion with ease- numbers at that period were far more bloated than it is today for the Trevestine, and it is possible that combined the bulk of it would have overpowered the Boteri through sheer numbers alone. This however was not the case, and Salêm had delayed his march for no readily available strategic purpose. When Euldred crossed the bridge to the Fields of Kaith, it became clear to him that the battle would be focused around controlling the access to the bridge- failing that, the coalition would have to destroy the bridge itself after a forced withdrawal. Perhaps he was not confident in his victory or perhaps he did not fully trust the Wolnier's assessment of Salêm'uhr's numbers- whatever the reason behind it, the king allocated a much larger force for his rearguard, taking away much of the needed infantry to form his front lines.

The lack of the bulk from his frontlines would definitely guarantee a defeat for the coalition, who would have had to rely to their cavalry- heavily armoured from head to toe and deadly with the lance, the knights of Trevast fought in pitched battles, using the shock of cavalry to route infantry and break charges alike. Against lighter foes who were armed for both ranged and melee, there was little the knights could to to prevent a Boteri 'Hussharia' (Horseman in Boter, the equivalent of Trevestine knights.) from pelting them from a distance and evading a pitched engagement. Facing pressure from his generals and the Courant and Glenndale lords to withdraw and allow Salêm's army to cross the bridge, Euldred relented, knowing that a bottleneck would greatly assist in defeating their foe- not a day after they had arrived, the coalition packed up their tents and marched back across the bridge where they set themselves in good defensive positions overlooking the mouth of the bridge. Here, Euldred's infantry could play their roles to great effectiveness- he chose to dismount a quarter of his knights and use them as heavy infantry to reinforce his flanks and prepared to lay waste by archer fire when the Boteri horsemen appeared. Whatever was left of the flora nearby was turned into making palisades, although the scarcity behind it meant the Baynes were fairly restricted in their defense-works. Had the general chose to fortify his position even further and commit to a siege, perhaps Trevast would not have known such a perilous time in the next hundreds of years- instead, the king faced pressure from his younger lords to take on the offensive, many of which were hungry for glory in combat. Eventually the pressure mounted to a full blown threat of mutiny, and Euldred compromised: on the 4th day he sent out his cavalry with the young lords at the head of the formation to sweep around and cross at the shallows of the river. From there, they could swing upwards and hit Salêm'uhr's encamped force potentially unawares and force a route. Despite the simplicity behind the objectives and the quality of his men, Euldred was not hopeful and prepared a contingency for a tactical withdrawal.

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