Mosran Crusades

## Introduction

The **Mosran Crusade** also called the **Cysetian Crusade** was a **20-year-long religious war** initiated by the **High Cysetian Salabats** from **652 BCE** to **672 BCE**. The war was best known for the destruction and fall of the **First Mosran Empire** and the destruction of the **Cysetian Salabat** religious system in the period of Mosra during Zarrishian control. What started as a successful full-scale invasion of the three paganic nations (Felamit, Harada, and Telkhab) ended up with the fall of the First Mosran Empire to the hands of the Zarrishians and the mass forced assimilation of the Mosran people.

## History

### Background

In **646 BCE**, backed by the Cysetian Salabats, **King Alash II** proclaimed his intentions to "eradicate paganism and paganists from our land". A few days after, he encouraged military support from the highly experienced **Armataran Army**, who were also **pro-cysetianism**. Across all the lives in Mosra, there was an **enthusiastic response**. Meanwhile, in the paganic nations, the proclamation was seen as "the end of paganism" by the average follower. The proclamation had a variety of motivations towards the Mosran people, including **religious salvation**, **satisfying nationalist emotions**, **opportunities for more lands**, and **economic or political gain**.

### Process

In **643 BCE**, just three years after the proclamation by King Alash II and the boycotting of Pagan religious symbols in Mosra, **Aluk Zaman**, **Alash's top military adviso**r began planning a full-scale military campaign for the "liberation" of the three paganic nations. Just a year later, he realized that his dream of conquering the pagans would come to life, hosting a decisive meeting and subsequent ones with the top brass of the Mosran government, resulting in the decision to mobilize all of Mosra's loyal men to fight in their holy war.

Zarrishian emperor **Arhan Pokaa**, worried about the continued political aggression against their pagan neighbors, sent envoys to the Mosran councils asking them to terminate any plans for invasions, threatening that consequences may appear. Aluk diminished the letter and instead sent a letter back, insulting the emperor. However, King Alash II warned Aluk regarding the necessity of maintaining a stable relationship with the Zarrishians as he feared of a possible intervention in the future.

Rebellion Against The War

Immediately after the declaration of war in **642 BCE**, former Mosran Salabat, **Satar**, led thousands of mostly poor Mosrans into King Alash II's palace in an act of rebellion aimed against the declaration of war. In transit through the streets of the Mosran capital Thurat, the large crowd was attacked by armed Cysetian bands who massacred them in what became known as the **Azhav massacres**. The small rebellion was eliminated in just a week when the main body of the rebellion was killed in his home.

### The War Begins

The first military action was done by the Mosran army when they marched into the Telkhabian borders with little resistance from the Telkhabian Army, which was still not fully functional since the proclamation 6 years earlier. The Mosran crusaders began to lay siege on multiple Telkhabian cities near the border in **October 640 BCE** and fought for **6 months** until the border fell to the Mosran Army. With the Telkhab Army retreating, the King of Telhab persuaded their Pagan neighbors to send reinforcements. However, the Mosran crusaders already entered the core cities, massacring the Pagan inhabitants as well as the remaining Telkhabian troops. A force to recapture these cities was raised but was never put into action.

In response to the invasion of Telkhab, **Zarrishian paid mercenary factions** took the initiative to fight in Telkhab. Foremost amongst these was the elite and renowned **Janut mercenary group**, who with assistance from the Zarrishian Army, **commanded the relief forces to Telkhab**. Other armies included: **one led by Haradan volunteers**; **forces led by Felamitian volunteers**; and **contingents under the Zarrishian Army**. The armies traveled to Telkhab where they were cautiously welcomed by the Telkhabian king.

### Fall of Telkhab

An army led by **Alash Dalem**, **Alash II's little brother**, besieged the last standing cities of Telkhab in **mid-February 638** and the crusaders sent an emissary to the king of Telkhab demanding him to surrender and write a treaty. When the king met the emissary, he ordered the guards to literally "cut his head off" which served no purpose but to lengthen the sieges. **On June 636**, the king challenged Alash Dalem to a duel. Alash accepted the challenge but betrayed the Telkhabian king by orchestrating a surprise attack ordered by Alash to his guards. The king was captured and underwent weeks of torture and ordeal and died after days of agony from his wounds.

With the king dead, the Telkhabian army surrendered and **Dalem lifted the sieges in December** without ordering any massacring or plundering of the cities and the crusade proceeded north along the **Felamitian border**. Alash Dalem remained in TelKhab, despite his pledge to keep moving forward. Local Telkhabians offered little resistance. They opted for peace in return for providing provisions. The Mosran emissaries rejoined the army. The emissaries brought one piece of information while in captivity: **the Telkhabian people planned for a rebellion**. With the information, and Dalem still in Telkhab, an order was given to massacre the cities suspected of attempting a rebellion.

### Invasion of Felamit

On **15 November 635**, the Mosran Army reached the border of Felamit. Many of the Mosran soldiers were exhausted after battling with the Telkhabians. An initial attack on bordering cities failed, and multiple attempts at sieges also fell flat. As a response, the Mosran king appointed **Bagh Lagh Zaman**, a **high-ranking commander** in the Mosran Army, as the **new commanding officer** of the invading Mosran forces. They breached the border on **15 January 633**. Bagh Lagh struck a deal with the Felamitian King to surrender before it was too late. The King in return sent a message threatening Bagh that the Zarrishians are coming. For **two years** Bagh's campaign nearly seized **half of Felamit and its cities**. However, Bagh underestimated the relief force sent by the Zarrishians and on **29 January 633**, the Zarrishian army finally came and assisted the remaining Felamitian warriors in combat.

On **April 2, 632**, a counter-offensive operation was held by the Zarrishian Army to repel the rapid invasion of the Mosrans led by Bagh Lagh. At this point, most Mosran soldiers considered their participation in the war complete and returned to Mosra. The paganic counter-offensive force was left with a small number of troops – a mere **12000 knights** and **20,000-foot soldiers** – to defend the kingdom. In **August 632**, the Zarrishians defeated a Mosran invasion force at the **battle of Nacol**. However, with the small counter-offensive force, the Zarrishians didn't get so far and were immediately defeated in multiple battles with the Mosran Army. Now with the Felamitian army defeated, the lands conquered, and the Haradans surrendering, the crusade was fulfilled for most commoners in Mosra, thus the Mosran soldiers were permitted to be sent back to Mosra.

### Zarrishian Counter-offensive

The military expeditions undertaken by the Mosran Army in Telkhab, Felamit, and Harada provided an opportunity for the eager Zarrishians warfare. In **630 BCE**, the Zarrishian Emperor formally declared war on the Mosrans, as a throwback to the proclamation by Alash II, **Emperor Arhan III** performed the same type of speech with his people. The counter-offensive campaigns done by the Zarrishian army included the **conquest of Telkhab**; **the conquest of Felamit and Harada**; **and the invasion of Mosra**. The counter-offensive was a massive success for the Zarrishian army and only took them **2 years to remove the Mosran presence in paganic land**.

### Zarrishian Invasion of Mosra

In the **spring of 628**, King Alash II ordered all of the men in the army into the border to halt any Zarrishian advances into Mosran ground, quoting this order as "God's orders" against the Zarrishians. The Zarrishian Army finally entered Mosran land and started a campaign to capture all bordering cities from **11 January** to **5 September 628**. It was followed by the **two-month siege of nearby cities**, ending on **4 December 628** with a **defeat for the Mosrans**.

Back in Mosra, some **peasants were** **reluctant to fight** in the army due to the lack of compensation for their participation. By the time the Zarrishians reached **Mosra's southern provinces**, the Cysetian Salabat Order and King Alash II were **facing heavy backlash** for their failure to protect the land from the pagans. Soon rebellions against the people in power rose which caused some chaos needed for the Zarrishians to possibly manipulate and control the Mosran population. In **622**, the Zarrishians were **victorious at the Battle of Thurat** with the **support of local rebels**. Many of these rebels were **former pagans** who felt that the arrival of the Zarrishians was their salvation from their Gods.

## Aftermath

With his country torn apart and mortified by their defeat to the Zarrishians, King Alash II **died on 16 March 621**, likely from **suicide**. The news of his death was met with mourning throughout Mosra. He was given a **one-week ceremony** by the Zarrishians before his **burial at his palace in Thura**t. The Zarrishian troops offered the Mosran people a peaceful resolution to the war but with certain conditions which included: **the assimilation of the population**, **removal of Cysetian influences**, and a **new government dependent on Zarrish**. Alash II's older brother, **Alash Dakan**, was appointed as the **new King of Mosra** under the **heavy supervision of the Zarrishians**. Meanwhile, Alash Dalem, the younger brother, was **tortured and executed for his crimes in Telkhab**.

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