Goblin War

The Goblin War was a conflict fought in Cormyr in 1371 DR. The war started when Nalavarauthatoryl, the Devil Dragon, massed an army of orcs, Grodd goblins, the seven ghazneths, and other monsters to attack the kingdom. It led to the deaths of King Azoun IV and Princess Tanalasta Obarskyr and beginning of the Steel Regency of Alusair Obarskyr on behalf of the infant King Azoun Obarskyr V.
==History==
===Causes===
In the 1 century DR, Thatoryl Elian, an elf hunter of the Wolf Woods, was murdered by Andar Obarskyr; he was the first elf in the region ever murdered by human hands. Thatoryl's betrothed, an elf-dragon known then as Lorelei Alavara, persuaded Iliphar Nelnueve, Lord of Scepters, to help her take revenge against human settlers. Despite earning Iliphar's respect and alliance when he and Andar's brother Ondeth first met, around 1000 humans were killed by elven hands before the elves grew tired of Lorelei's warmongering and, over a century since Elian's death, banished her to the Stonelands. However, she maintained her quest for vengeance on the Obarskyr name and all humans in Cormyr.
In the , a group of five Cormyrean wizards cast binding spells, specifically keyed to the elf-dragon, and imprisoned her in the Grodd demiplane. In the casting, two of the wizards gave their lives to empower the final words of the spell. In the process, several of Nalavara's companions were also cast into a parallel dimension.
Centuries of suffering, imprisonment, and grief only enhanced her hatred for the realm of Cormyr. In her time, Nalavara, as she was now known, searched for a means of escape and raised the Grodd goblins to an advanced and militant society. When Cormyr's Royal Wizard Vangerdahast became temporarily trapped in Grodd in the , she used his magic to power her escape, opening gates back to the Prime Material plane, which appeared in the Storm Horns mountains. She also created the ghazneths, long-dead traitors to the realm resurrected and transformed into winged monsters through dark magic.
===Battles===
First, the red dragon Nalavarauthatoryl sent orcs and the Grodd goblins through the gates to assault the kingdom, in greater numbers than Cormyr had suffered in centuries. She also sent the ghazneths. They were to prepare the way for her own return.
The Cormyreans, led by King Azoun V and Steel Princess Alusair, fought to defend the realm suffered many defeats. However, the Royal Magician Vangerdahast was still missing. Worse, some nobles defied Crown Princess Tanalasta or committed treason, showing they'd had more loyalty to Azoun than the Crown. Meanwhile, the victorious goblins raised fortifications in the north.
Many settlements in the Storm Horns were evacuated. The village of Tyrluk was sacked and burnt by ghazneths and goblin raiders, and all but two buildings were destroyed, while its people fled into the hills for refuge. In Eveningstar, around a dozen of the fifty or so buildings ruined in ghazneth and goblin attacks, but the town held out. At one point, the city of Arabel was besieged and its people were occupied before the goblins seized it.
Finally, Nalavarauthatoryl herself entered the fray, being sighted in the skies with the ghazneths.
Ultimately, King Azoun IV and Nalavara faced each other in battle. Azoun slew the dragon and was victorious, but at great cost, for he later died of his wounds.
Meanwhile, Crown Princess Tanalasta vanquished the ghazneths, but she too perished soon after, dying in childbirth as she brought Azoun V into the world.
===Legacy===
Azoun IV was succeeded by the infant king Azoun V and Alusair reigned as regent.
The conflict had laid waste to much of Cormyr. As late as Flamerule of , many Arabellans remained displaced and impoverished by the war. Some inhabited Pauper's Town outside Arabel, where onetime farmers and craftsmen subsisted as beggars. Goods such as wine were also in short supply in Arabel. By autumn of , many of these refugees had resettled in Wheloon, rapidly building up the eastern bank.
==Combatants==
One noted commander in the conflict would be the grandfather of Burgher Xarod, a wealthy citizen of Marsember a century later.
===Casualties===
As well as King Azoun IV and Crown Princess Tanalasta, Cormyr had lost many of its best and brightest: great warriors and soldiers, skilled officials, War Wizards, and high-ranking nobles, as well as minor nobles like Olaf Vaylan.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===References===
FR:Guerre des gobelins
Category:Wars
Category:Events in Cormyr
Category:Events in the Eastern Heartlands
Category:Events in Interior Faerûn
Category:Events in Faerûn
Category:Events on Toril