War of the Tulip

The War of the Tulip, The Western War or Barrade's Conquest was a war fought between the Kingdom of Lambert and the Kingdom of the First Men from 799-812. The war would begin with the Battle of Knightshome when Duke Barrade of Shieldsbane gathered force of men-at-arms and mercenaries to fight a pitched battle between the massed bare-chested fighters of the First Men. It would be the first major war that would begin the steady decline of the Kingdom of the First Men's power over the Western Region as Lord Barrade would set out to destroy most of the nobility in First Men territory while orcs and savage men harassed their western borders.
== Background ==
For centuries the Kingdom of the First Men held significant control over the barbaric tribes and clans that populated their kingdom who were kept in check by appointed great lords that loosely ruled over their inhabitants. Stopped only by the greenskins and stout dwarfs in their conquest of expansion, the kingdom regularly bumped heads with the conflicting Kingdom of Lambert who often came into conflict with the feudal kingdom throughout the Age of Iron. Border raids were the norm in the Duchy of Shieldsbane as marauding bands of tribals would march across their borders in search of iron tools and weapons. It would not be until 797 when Duke Barrade of Shieldsbane would formally complain to King Henri Garnot the Barbarian about the issue but would largely fall on deaf ears as the kingdom was focused on their efforts in the Wildman Plains sacking Urf. Upon hearing the lack of a response, Barrade would spend the next year and a half gathering support among the other lords of Lambert who were either uninvolved or indifferent of the northern conquests and ask for their help in the coming campaigns. By 799, Barrade would march onto Waldin with over a thousand men-at-arms including several dozen knights as well as the Noble Stags, who were a sellsword company based out of Deerfort and were a company of elves and humans around 500 in strength.
== History ==
=== Raid on Waldin - 799 ===
Barrade would begin the war by marching onto First Man territory with no prior declaration. Although Chieftain Arro Darkan anticipated an attack in consideration of spy and scout reports, a minimal number of tribal warriors were ready to face the invaders before it was too late. The Battle of Waldin Hill would occur in the fall of 799 and would be a decisive Lambertian victory. Shortly after the battle, the Golden Stags were dispatched along with a banner of knights who fell upon Waldin with only a makeshift battering ram which battered down the gates but only after horrendous casualties among the sellsword company. The Razing of Waldin in the same year would soon occur and would result in the decimation of Waldin and its tribal population, leaving little left for rebuilding.
=== Road to Darry - 800-802 ===
Shortly after capturing Waldin, Barrade would send his full force westward in an attempt to capture the tribal capital of Spearsrest which laid across the Sting River. But before he could conquer Spearsrest, he would first have to besiege and destroy Darry which stood in between them and Spearsrest. The road to Darry was harsh and it was reported that small forces of tribals from different tribes along the road regularly harassed marching columns and retreated before any retaliation could be mustered. Barrade would report bands of hillmen who would lob stones from high places using slings which would often knock a knight off his horse or brutalize a man. Barrade would respond to the attacks with a hired band of clansmen who were mostly mounted calling themselves Morgan's Will, using them to scourge the countryside roads and they were ordered to kill or capture any tribal in association with the attacks. With that order and little ways to distinguish combatant from not, the riders practically killed any and all they came across, diminishing the tribals in the area whether they fought or not.
=== Siege of Darry - 802-806 ===