War of Revenge

The War of Revenge was a conflict fought on the coasts of the Ilakan Gulf between Ilaka and the military alliance between Gonarundu and the Carto Empire. It’s namesake comes from the growing anger of the Cartons and Gonarunduns for their mistreatment by Ilaka during the Helicules War and subjugation afterwards.

## Background

In **415PR** Minos Dimelis, under command of King Thodoris of Ilaka, marched across the border and attacked the then-Gonarundun city of Helicules. Despite their loss to Miguel Baztan, the Ilakans would invade again in **416PR**, defeating the Gonarunduns in the Battle of the Kunan and ending the war.

In the terms of the surrender, King Augustin Fidalgo handed over everything East of the Kunan River to the Ilakans, giving up the city of Helicules and the major town of Aecae. When Minos arrived in Helicules he brutalised it, killing a lot of their populace and forcing any that remained into poverty.

In **489PR** after tensions rose to new levels, a man named Zinon Carto led a rebellion against the Ilakans in Helicules, called the Carton War. He defeated the Ilakans in the Battle of the Carto Empire, and forced the Ilakan King Ilias Kostides into a peace agreement that recognised the lands taken as the new Empire.

The Ilakans later fought the Nirvan Republic in the Asger War in **502PR**, severely weakening the nation after their defeat in the Battle of Dimale, costing the life of their King, Argiris. The war ended in **518PR**, placing Nasos Kostides on the throne.

During the war above, Emperor Alkis Carto was able to peacefully reform a lot of the Carton military, focusing on extensive training rather than just the amount of soldiers.

Nasos’s rule only weakened the nation further, ending with his assassination in **530PR**.

In **550PR** Pelias Kostides ascended to the throne. In his reign of terror he ordered the execution and assassination of many prominent members in Ilaka, weakening the already struggling nation. In **564PR** he committed suicide after his Royal Guard turned against him.

In **571PR** King Aetios Kostides took the throne, known for his skill and good leadership. He began training his advisors and new generals, bringing them back in **579PR** and implementing them into his government.

In **581PR**, Emperor Adonis Carto and King Miguel Fidalgo entered a military alliance, presenting a unified front against Ilaka and their previous oppression. Aetios began a recruitment drive in order to boost his armies numbers.

On Mak **583PR** Gonarundun forces led by Prince Daniel Fidalgo crossed the Kunan River and entered Carton territory, meeting with Adonis and his own Carton forces. After a brief meeting the two marched across the border into Ilakan territory, declaring war on Ilaka and starting the War of Revenge.

## First War

Passing the immediate border was a bit of an easy task for the Allied armies, getting any further was the more difficult part. In the aftermath of the Carton War, King Ilias had built a series of fortifications on the border to protect from any invasion. While the allied armies could defeat them, it gave valuable time to King Aetios and his troops to gather and move ahead, building more fortifications along the way if they wished.

### The Border Defence

Having trained his army and knowing about the fortifications thanks to the spies, Adonis was able to make short work of some, but struggled with others. The Gonarunduns were valuable help, their archery skills par to none in South-East Arlec, but that still kept things slow.

Whenever he could, Aetios sent out groups of troops to harass the invaders, mostly using tribal members he recruited. With the tribal members' experience, they were able to inflict immediate results, alleviating some of the pressure on the forts and allowing them to get valuable supplies in, increasing the length of the siege.

Frustrated, Adonis sent out Daniel and the Gonarunduns to hunt down the raiders. As the Gonarunduns had a history of trouble with the same tribes, Daniel was happy to oblige, sending his horse archers to hunt them down and tagging along. At one point he was almost surrounded but managed to break the opponent instead, bringing an end to Aetios’s initial plan.

Midway through the next year, the final fortress fell, the garrison down to a skeleton crew, the rest leaving to go and join Aetios in secret.

### The Two Sides Meet

With the fortresses now gone, both armies were confident enough to meet one another in battle. Aetios believed he had sufficiently exhausted the enemy army and cost them not only valuable supplies but men and equipment as well, while Adonis believed that the Ilakans were simply too weak to face them in battle.

The two eventually collided in the Battle of Kulak, a small victory for the Ilakans. Adonis and Daniel Fidalgo both agreed to keep the incident quiet, putting a strangle on any information being sent out. Eventually they got the victory they needed for political gains in the Battle of Lonan, putting the Ilakans again on the defensive.

### Cycnus's Tactic and Response

After his defeat at the Battle of Lonan, Aetios again used his tribal members to raid their supply lines, this time with the advice of Cycnus. Cycnus’s advice meant that the tribal members were going to be used as bait and set up ambushes, as the tribes got their loot and ran, they would bait the Gonarundun horse archers into their own range. Confident from their last victory, the Gonarunduns were completely surprised by the ambushes and began taking heavy casualties. Daniel himself was almost surrounded again but broke through at the cost of a lot of men.

Adonis saw the problem and instead placed his Carton soldiers in defense of the supply lines, using his heavy infantry to simply ignore the light attacks of the tribal warriors but fending them off when it got serious. This accidentally turned into the Battle of Ulin, a costly victory for the Allied forces.

### Defence of Ayteran

In **586PR** the war had already been going on for 3 years with no major victories. Adonis and the Allied forces figured they needed a target. This was because of two reasons, one, it united the forces again under the same goal, and two, Daniel and Adonis had begun arguing constantly, making the alliance’s relationship quite fickle. The two decided the target would be the city of Ayteran, a large walled place that was vital to Ilaka.

The moment Aetios heard about the new target he and his army rushed to its defense, still keeping up the raids on their supply lines. Knowing little on how to defend a city, Aetios called for his advisors to meet, discussing possible solutions to the problem. Eventually they went with a riskier tactic, the bulk of the force would remain with Aetios and Cycnus, but a small group led by Peritas and would move past the Allied forces and hit their own fortifications.

Eventually this meant two battles, Aetios and Cycnus fought Adonis and Daniel in the Battle of Ayteran, and Peritas would fight Endo in the Battle of Newell.

### Treaty

After the Ilakan defeat in the Battle of Ayteran, Aetios, Adonis and Daniel signed a treaty. The treaty would cede the lands over to Adonis but they would get a hefty sum of money at the same time.

Despite the loss, Aetios would manage to keep Ilaka strong, investing the money intelligently to boost not only their military but the prosperity of their own people.

## Second War

In **611PR** the Carto Empire suffered heavily from the Plague of the 6th Century, nearly wiping out some of its frontier settlements. Despite the plague only lasting 3 years, the Cartons did not return to normalcy until **616PR**.

Needing a distraction and a chance to conquer more lands, current Emperor Aktis Carto II began politically insulting and denouncing Ilakan King Athen Kostides. Enraged by the actions, the two nations quickly became hostile, igniting old sparks.

When the argument grew in scale, Aktis II gathered the support of his people and officially declared war on Ilaka in **618PR**, starting the second War of Revenge. In the same month he mobilised his army under General Nilus Eruch and sent them across the border.

### First Engagement

With the Carton border so close to the Ilakan capital city, the two sides fought almost immediately, mobilising both their armies and fighting just on the outskirts. Both sides quickly learnt a lot about one another, realising that their commanders while capable were not the same quality as the first war, making major errors in their advance. After the Battle of Kras, the Ilakans were defeated, leading to the capture of their capital, Kras.

Capturing the capital was a huge moment in the War of Revenge, the Ilakans having never been that humiliated in war before. In response, King Aktis II called for it to be razed, enslaving or slaughtering any citizens that remained in the city.

### Ilakans on the Retreat

With the loss of their capital, the Ilakans were in chaos. They needed a new capital quickly, and a place that Athen could successfully rule from. Eventually they decided upon Serdica, a potential stronghold that could maintain Ilaka for the years to come. On his journey to the new capital, Athen was assassinated, putting Panos on the throne.

Without a capital, turmoil in their leadership, and no chance to mount a defence, the Ilakans simply continued to run, allowing Nilus and the Cartons to take as much land as they could, defeating anything in their way.

It took until the start of **620PR** for the Ilakans to finally gather their army again, this time under the leadership of Tereus Malas.

### Ilakan Defeat

In **620PR** the Ilakans went on the defensive, using their newfound vigour in an attempt to reclaim what was lost in the previous year. Initially, this was successful, taking Nilus by surprise. Early on, the Ilakans managed to win 3 minor battles, bringing the Carton momentum to a halt, and their supplies to be outstretched.

Needing to take their time, it was Nilus who went on the defensive, protecting his vulnerable supply lines with extra troops, while digging in with the rest. Believing they could win, the Ilakans attacked these isolated Cartons, defeating two groups but failing against a third, letting Nilus get the reinforcements he needed.

Tereus instead decided to attack again, knowing that his skills as a general were much better offensively rather than defensively. According to letters sent to King Panos, Tereus knew that no matter what it was likely he would lose, but if he were to fight as the aggressor he could potentially achieve one of two outcomes: victory over the Cartons, or enough casualties that the Cartons would be forced to accept the peace agreement.

In the Battle of Old Ilaka in **621PR**, he achieved the latter, sending his troops into a slaughter, and fighting to the last. Tereus was killed later in the combat, charging in with his own bodyguard and almost taking out Nilus, who was saved by his officer, Perios, who was killed instead. Failing, Tereus was stabbed three times by Nilus’s bodyguard, who continued to fight until the end of the battle.

### Treaty

Despite losing the battle and his life, Tereus had managed to achieve his objective, Emperor Aktis Carto II agreeing to peace with the Ilakans, letting them keep their remaining land. For Ilaka it was simply a breath of fresh air, their nation almost wiped out completely in a few years.