Mead War

The Mead War was a minor conflict during the late 5th Century. It took place exclusively in the town of Haselgard in Varhold, and pitted around a dozen rival Mead Halls in an all-out battle for dominance over a three-year period.
== Background ==
Haselgard had been a lawless settlement since the local noblemen acquired land in the northeast of Varhold and moved away in 475. Over the years it gained a reputation as a gathering place for brigands, vagrants and bandits, and was avoided by authorities at all costs.
Then Folkart arrived. The disinherited second son of a prince in eastern Varhold, he came to Haselgard at age nineteen in 480 and began work as bar staff at one of the Mead Halls.
Haselgard had over a dozen Mead Halls, each attracting a gang of regulars who lived up to Haselgard's reputation. Through this situation, Folkart rose until he was the proprietor of his Mead Hall in 487.
Folkart was a pacifist at heart, and believed that peace could only be achieved through force. Following a vicious brawl between patrons of his Mead Hall and a neighbouring establishment in early 489, he saw what was to be done. 
== The Mead War ==
Folkart was a charismatic man, and combined his rousing speeches with offers of discount mead to rally his men to battle. Clutching whatever came to hand, he and his men surprised the other Mead Hall and, subduing the patrons, managed to force the rival Mead Hall out of business.
He repeated this with two other Halls before the others caught on and, by August 489, Haselgard was the site of an all-out war. The town had divided into a dozen territories, each ruled by a Mead Hall and its patrons. Throughout the following years, the Mead Halls attacked and counterattacked, and one by one they fell. Rival Mead Halls were burned to the ground and their patrons exiled or absorbed into the victor's contingent.
In November of 491 the last Hall fell and Folkart was victorious. He had the total support of the patrons of his Mead Hall and, over time, he gained the trust and support of the rest of the population as an administrator as well as a military leader. 
== Aftermath ==
Haselgard came out of the Mead War a united settlement. Folkart was formally recognised as Yarl of Haselgard by the warlord Kurt of Varhold, ruler of all Varhold. He built walls to keep brigands out, and made a point of finding honourable professions for those patrons of his who had been outlaws, brigands and vagrants.
Category:Events
Category:Varhold