War of a Thousand Screams

Major
Belligerents	
Vht'shjenjé
Assénjare 	
Shjevrenjé
Sh'varajth
Minor Belligerents	Kevsjéh Ravsháj Haizjaré	
Arvakalashé
Syjuthrinjé
Forces 	~28.000 	~37.500
Losses 	 	
Outcome 	Pyrrhic victory 	Defeat
The War of a Thousand Screams (Vht'shjenjé: Trvsh'akhtsírvnsh) is the commonly recorded name for the fateful series of conflicts that plunged most of the northern Mír region into war, with the main belligerents being two alliances; the Vht'shjenjé-Assénjare and the Shjevrenjé-Sh'varajth. Through convoluted power politics and crossing alliances, the war quickly exploded to become the largest war ever fought in the Mír region, even larger than the much more famous Thousand-Year War. Unlike the latter, this war is recorded as a tragedy that led to huge losses on all sides and very little gain.
==Origins==
The prelude to the war was already there almost immediately after the final defeat of the Mósharenja at the battle of Shtvakhír. The Vht'shjenjé government, now at peace, directed its attention inwards to refining its spiritual pursuits now that the religious conflict had ended. It found the neighbouring two states, the Assénjare and Shjevrenjé, both adhering to the Ancestral Veneration Cult and thus considered to be friendly states, were locked in conflict. Although bloodless yet at the time, the two states had been feuding for generations over slight doctrinal discrepancies and minor incidents that fueled their antagonism. The Vht'shjenjé government, weary of war, offered to intervene and mediated peace between the two. 
The mediation was a success and a treaty was about to be signed when the emissaries returning from the two states were assaulted. Bitterness arose again, and a Shjevrenjé priest named Ihrisjethen began to instigate hatred against the Vht'shjenjé.
==The Treachery of Ihrisjethen==
The priest Ihrisjethen was originally denounced by his own government and an apology was issued by the Shjevrenjé government at a fateful banquet held in Rakthelé, the capital city of Shjevrenjé. Ihrisjethen himself also participated in the banquet and spoke out against the Shadowborn, accusing them of manipulating Shjevrenjé against a war with Sh'varajth, whose increasing belligerence had worried several smaller states in the region. Then, Ihrisjethen took a sip from his cup and fell down in convulsions, his berry-wine having been laced with álesh, a deadly herbal poison that coagulates the blood while still in the veins. The Shadowborn emissaries were blamed for the incident and despite pleading innocence, were all sentenced to death by exsanguinisation and their bodies thrown down a well. After which, Shjevrenjé formally declared war against Vht'shjenjé and entered into an alliance with Sh'varajth.
Assénjare signed an alliance with Vht'shjenjé and the war had begun.
==The Sh'varajthene front==
Most of the fighting in the early stage of the war was fought on the western plateau of the Mír gorge, with 8.000 Vht'shjenjé troops marching south against Sh'varajth territory. The state of Kevsjéh, who were in the way, originally protested to the Shadowborn troops but did nothing to prevent them. The Shadowborn troops met their enemy first at the border fortress of Ashjenale and quickly captured the fort, but had to abandon it when Sh'varaith mobilised 9.000 men to counterattack. Vht'shjenjé troops retreated into Kevsjéh territory, whereupon they were in turn attacked by Sh'varajth forces which led to skirmishes throughout the entire border territory. The war stood at a standstill for over a year, until Kevsjéh and Vht'shjenjé coordinated their forces to break through the stalemate and penetrate Sh'varajth territory. The small city-state of Ravshaj south of Sh'varajth declared war upon their northern neighbour and marched upon them from the south, creating a double-front war.
A second army of 10.000 Sh'varajthene troops marched north to attack the Kevsjéh capital itself which was nearly destroyed in a long and especially brutal siege. The army was intercepted from the south, however, and over 8.000 of them were destroyed in a single great decisive battle. The remaining Sh'varajthene troops retreated, destroying bridges behind them to prevent the more powerful army to pursue and attack their capital. Their strategy succeeded, a Vht'shjenjé emissary was sent to the city with a peace treaty which was subsequently accepted.
Sh'varajth, with its decimated army, was forced to withdraw from the conflict and grant passage to Vht'shjenjé troops throughout their territory. The border fortress of Ashenjale was also ceded to Kevsjéh. With the western front closed, the Vht'shjenjé could focus entirely on the war in the east.
==The Shjevrenjé front==
The Shjevrenjé front was opened with a joint Assénjare-Vht'shjenjé army quickly marching over the border and attacking Rhaktelé. The ancient city, surrounded by nine fortresses, put up stalwart resistance and only three of the nine fortifications were captured in the initial skirmishes, 7.000 allied troops dead in the siege while Shjevrenjé lost over 11.000.
In desperation, Shjevrenjé brokered deals with their southern neighbours of Arvakalashé and Syjuthrinjé and signed a treaty where they would control all traffic down the eastern portion of the Mír delta, and also a mutual defence pact. The two states together mustered an army of 10.000 who marched up to assist Shjevrenjé. The years that followed saw a number of convoluted offences from Shjevrenjé and their allies to retake their territory and also even make advances on Assénjare territory, all of them repelled but with horrendous costs of human life on both sides, with over 16.000 dead in total.
At this time, the Azure Army of the Vht'shjenjé had produced enough bronze weaponry to make it the standard armament of all their troops, and began thus equipping their troops with new bronze-plated robes and heavy bronze chopping blades. At this turning point, the neighbouring city of Haizjaré also intervene and declared war on Shjevrenjé.
While the Vht'shjenjé army held the three fortresses of Rakthelé, the mainstay of the remaining allied enemy army - 7.500 in total - make a quick assault on the eponymous capital city of Assénjare. The battle that ensued was extremely bloody, and there are stories of immense brutality. It is said that one officer from Shjévrenjé had her guts flowing through her leather armour, but still ran after and killed seven warriors with a broken spear. One archer from Assénjare alone defended the last room of the third tower of the second citadel for ten days, killing over fifty soldiers from Shjévrenjé alone.
The battle of Assénjare led to 7.000 of the Shevrenjé troops massacred, a defeat that they never managed to recover from. At this point, Sh'varajth surrendered to Vht'shjenjé and the Azure Army could focus their entire attention on Shevrenjé, which was again attacked and all of the remaining fortresses captured. A combination of renewed tactics, bronze weaponry and numbers led the war into what would seem a final ending. The Vht'shjenjé commander presented her ultimatum to the last defenders of Rakthele - surrender and you will be spared, your city shall stand and your sovereignty will be respected. Fight and there will be nothing between them and ultimate destruction at the hands of the Assénjare, who reveled in the chance to ultimately annihilate their ancient foe.
The Shjevrenjé accepted the offer and opened their gates to the Azure Army, but in a final treacherous act of defiance they closed the gates behind them and slaughtered the troops that entered. Thus, the total might of the Assénjare-Vht'shjenjé alliance fell upon the city, which after six months of bitter fighting faced completely obliteration.
==Aftermath==
The ultimate resistance of Rakhtelé cost them dearly - the onslaught of the allied army utterly destroyed the city, its magnificient halls and chambers reduced to ruins and its inhabitants killed or enslaved in the thousands. It is said that over 15.000 Shjevrenjé are forever entombed in the ruins of Rakhtele, which were later abandoned and believed to be cursed, the dead having been mummified in the dry desert heat to wander about their destroyed home forever.  It is said that the winds blowing through the ruins echo like a thousand tormented screams - hence the name of this war.
Sh'varajth was temporarily crippled by their defeat but did not suffer nearly as much as they quickly accepted the peace treaty offered by Vht'shjenjé.
The origins of the war has been speculated on much by Vht'shjenjé scholars, who fail to comprehend the motives of Ihrisjethen. In official chronicles, he poisoned himself and framed the Shadowborn emissaries to incite the spark of war into this people, and is thus considered to be the ultimate aggressor who turned the unstable conflict into the bloodiest and largest campaign of war fought in the Iron Desert.
The war, although ultimately a victory for Vht'shjenjé, is officially lamented as an unnecessary kinslayer war where thousands of people lost their lives in a war that could have been avoided. Ihrisjethen is largely blamed for everything and his name is uttered with contempt in the chronicles.
Category:Wars
Category:History
Category:Vht'shjenjé