Masteri War

The **Masteri War** was a series of battles fought between the first generation of Colormen, and The Order of Masteri.

Fought from April 1109 to November 1109, a series of 14 battles were waged, the Colormen using their relatively newfound powers, and the Masteri relying on their golems.

In one of the most lopsided wars ever, the Colormen only lost eight men across the whole campaign, while the Masteri and their golems were wiped out.

**1: FIRST BATTLE OF NORTHERN SODOR**

DATE: April 2, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 120 Colormen, commanded by Man In White

COLORMAN LOSSES: 0 deaths, 83 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 20 Mages, 10 rock Golems, 10 Ice Golems, 10 fire Golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 7 rock golems destroyed, 8 ice golems destroyed, 5 fire golems destroyed, 8 mages killed, 3 mages injured

OUTCOME: tactical Masteri victory, strategic Colormen victory

OVERVIEW: The Masteri announced their presence on Sodor with this battle in a field somewhere in Northern Sodor. To demonstrate their power, 10 golems of each type were created to wreck havoc on villages in Northern Sodor. A force of 120 Colormen intercepted and ambushed them before real damage could be done. The Masteri injured more than 2/3 of the Colormen force, but lost more than half of their golems in the process, forcing a withdrawal when the Colormen put up a stronger fight than anticipated. The Colormen learned a valuable piece of information from this battle: though the golems were powerful, the mages themselves proved surprisingly easy to defeat, since they were so focused on golem magic they failed to spend any time learning spells to attack/defend themselves.

**2: SECOND BATTLE OF NORTHERN SODOR**

DATE: April 23, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 100 Colormen, commanded by Man In White

COLORMAN LOSSES: 0 deaths, 31 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 20 Mages, 10 rock Golems, 10 Ice Golems, 10 fire Golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 10 rock golems destroyed, 10 ice golems destroyed, 8 fire golems destroyed, 6 mages killed, 10 mages injured

OUTCOME: Strategic Colormen victory

OVERVIEW: Learning valuable lessons from the first battle, the Colormen knew what tactics to apply to what golems in future battles. The Masteri, in their arrogance, gave little to no changes in their tactics. The results were staggering- less than a third of the Colorman force injured, all but 2 golems destroyed, and 6 Masteri Mages killed, 10 injured. the retreating Masteri blamed their defeat on "poor materials" that the golems were made from, taking no responsibility for the loss themselves.

**3: BATTLE OF THE NORTHERN WOODS**

DATE: May 4, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 80 Colormen, commanded by Man In Red

COLORMAN LOSSES: 1 death, 9 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 10 Mages, 20 rock Golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 20 rock golems destroyed, 6 mages killed,

OUTCOME: decisive Colormen victory

OVERVIEW: This battle happened purely by chance. Both forces were merely undergoing training regiments in the Northern woods of Sodor, the Colormen were on a march, and the 10 Masteri mages were perfecting the methods to form rock golems. Using very aggressive ambush tactics, the Man In Red struck a heavy blow from the beginning, creating confusion among the Masteri and forcing them to remain defensive throughout the battle. In the end, the only victory the surviving mages could claim was the death of a single Colorman, the first since the war began

**4: SIEGE OF RANDOW**

DATE: May 8- June 2, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 100 Colormen, commanded by Man In Silver

COLORMAN LOSSES: 2 deaths, 39 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 50 Mages, 30 rock Golems, 30 ice golems, 30 fire golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 24 rock golems destroyed, 27 ice golems destroyed, 23 fire golems destroyed, 16 mages killed, 18 injured

OUTCOME: Colormen victory

OVERVIEW: Enraged by losing three battles, and only having killed one Colorman to show for it, the Masteri went big and besiged the town of Randow in a spectacular show of force. Refusing to let his hometown fall, the Colormen worked to save the city under guidance from Man In Silver. First working defensively to ensure the town remained intact to a degree, then turning the tables on the golems in a series of offensive ambushes. Night ambushes of the Masteri mages proved particularly effective, and the siege was eventually broken when both the Master in charge of the siege forces and his second in command were killed in ambush. Though much of Randow had been destroyed, thanks to the efforts of the Colormen less than 14 civilians and only 2 Colormen were killed. Once again, the Masteri that survived blamed the failure on the lack of quality materials to contruct the golems out of.

**5: FIRST BATTLE OF EASTERN SODOR**

DATE: May 17-19, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 60 Colormen, commanded by Man In Brown

COLORMAN LOSSES: 0 death, 4 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 15 Mages, 20 rock Golems, 10 ice golems, 15 fire golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 6 rock golems destroyed, 3 ice golems destroyed, 4 fire golems destroyed, 2 mages killed, 3 injured

OUTCOME: tactical Colormen victory, strategically inconclusive

OVERVIEW: an attempt to draw Masteri attention away from the siege of Randow, 60 Colormen found a force of Masteri preparing to go attack more towns around Sodor. A series of ambushes over three days forced them to call off their attack plans. despite the Masteri losses, this battle wound up having little strategic importance.

**6: THIRD BATTLE OF NORTHERN SODOR**

DATE: May 22-25, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 50 Colormen, commanded by Man In Yellow

COLORMAN LOSSES: 0 death, 14 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 25 Mages, 5 rock Golems, 20 fire golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 2 rock golems destroyed, 2 fire golems destroyed, 3 mages killed

OUTCOME: inconclusive outcome

OVERVIEW: Another attempt to draw Colormen attention away from the Siege of Randow. Noted for it's lack of actual fighting; most of the battle was a stand-off with neither side making a move. Despite more losses for the Masteri, no clear winner emerged here.

**7: BATTLE OF CULDEE FELL**

DATE: July 8-14, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 75 Colormen, commanded by Man In White

COLORMAN LOSSES: 0 death, 9 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 25 Mages, 25 rock Golems, 25 ice golems, 25 fire golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 16 rock golems destroyed, 13 ice golems destroyed, 16 fire golems destroyed, 8 mages killed, 13 injured

OUTCOME: Strategic Colormen Victory

OVERVIEW: Believing the mountains of Culdee Fell to be rich in high quality resources to yield ice golems and stone golems, the Masteri sent a party to the mountain to investigate. The Colormen intervened, but rough weather made the battle long and difficult. In the end, the Masteri were forced to withdraw, once again blaming defeat on poor quality resources for the golems.

**8: BATTLE OF SKARLOEY**

DATE: July 26, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 20 Colormen, commanded by Man In Cerulean

COLORMAN LOSSES: 0 death, 2 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 5 Mages, 5 rock Golems, 5 ice golems, 5 fire golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 5 rock golems destroyed, 5 ice golems destroyed, 5 fire golems destroyed, 4 mages killed, 1 injured

OUTCOME: tactical Colormen victory, strategically inconclusive

OVERVIEW: The First time Man In Cerulean used his "giant spell" against the Masteri, the mages were caught off-guard when a scouting party was ambushed by a "cerulean giant" who destroyed their golems with his giant spike, and powerful magic. A single injured Masteri survived to tell the others of the giant, but no one took his warning seriously; this mage died of his wounds 4 days later. Though the Masteri scouting party had been wiped out, there were no long term gains for either side.

**9: SECOND BATTLE OF EASTERN SODOR**

DATE: August 4-10, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 100 Colormen, commanded by Man In White

COLORMAN LOSSES: 3 deaths, 23 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 80 Mages, 50 rock Golems, 45 ice golems, 50 fire golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 43 rock golems destroyed, 41 ice golems destroyed, 46 fire golems destroyed, 42 mages killed, 22 injured

OUTCOME: Decisive Colormen Victory

OVERVIEW: Frustrated with their lack of progress, an all out assault was launched on Eastern Sodor to break the Colormen's fighting spirit. It turned into a brilliant backfire when a series of miscommunications on the Masteri side failed to relay orders properly, and what was supposed to be a coordinated assault on several areas turned into a series of small attacks that happened over the course of 6 days. The Mastei losses proved to be so great it ended all further actions by them in Eastern Sodor.

**10: ATTACK ON MASTERI CASTLE**

DATE: August 30, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 30 Colormen, commanded by Man In Blue

COLORMAN LOSSES: 0 death, 11 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 50 Mages, 30 rock Golems, 5 ice golems, 25 fire golems (NOTE: refers only to the forces that actively defended the Castle towards the end of the attack)

MASTERI LOSSES: 4 Mages injured

OUTCOME: tactical Masteri victory, strategic Colormen Victory

OVERVIEW: Deciding that they needed a way to undermine the Masteri operations, Man In White formulated a plan where a small group of Colormen would sneak onto the grounds of Masteri Castle and compromise their food and water supplies. Under the cover of darkness, the Colormen sneaked into the grounds, and cast sleeping spells on the few Masteri guards on duty. Subsequently, their grain silos were set on fire, their wells were poisoned, their crop fields were tainted so that all their food plants died, and the Masteri livestock, which had been stolen from local villagers, was stolen back to be returned. By the time the Masteri figured out what was going on, the Colormen had already begun withdrawing, and only a small skirmish took place where the Masteri injured a third of the Colormen. The damage had been done though: with their food sources destroyed, all they had left was whatever was in their storehouses that had not been destroyed by the Colormen. From this point, Masteri were forced to travel undercover to villages around Sodor, and using money from their sale of golems to other magic factions, bought their food off of local farmers and vendors.

**11: FOURTH BATTLE OF NORTHERN SODOR**

DATE: September 9, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 120 Colormen, commanded by Man In White

COLORMAN LOSSES: 0 death, 21 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 100 Mages, 100 rock Golems, 50 ice golems, 50 fire golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 76 rock golems destroyed, 23 ice golems destroyed, 34 fire golems destroyed, 20 mages killed, 33 injured

OUTCOME: Strategic Colormen Victory

OVERVIEW: Deciding that it was time to destroy Sodor once and for all, a large force was assembled to destroy Sodor in a scorched earth campaign. Deciding to begin the destruction where they had lost three times prior, it is said the Masteri did manage to destroy two small villages before the Colormen finally took action. Surprisingly, though only 1/5 of the Masteri Mages had been killed, they retreated several hours into the battle, due to the deaths including the 4 Mages commanding the operation, leaving no one in charge to command the operation. Once the Mages retreated, only some of the golems were able to follow; the rest were destroyed. This defeat not only lead to the cancellation of the scorched earth campaign, but also any further actions by the Masteri in Northern Sodor

**12: BATTLE OF WESTERN SODOR**

DATE: September 10, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 50 Colormen, commanded by Man In Blue

COLORMAN LOSSES: 0 death, 12 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 35 Mages, 40 rock Golems, 40 ice golems, 20 fire golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 33 rock golems destroyed, 38 ice golems destroyed, 20 fire golems destroyed, 28 mages killed,

OUTCOME: Strategic Colormen victory

OVERVIEW: Originally intended to be a diversionary attack to divide the Colormen forces between the main force in the North and this force in the West, the attack wound up starting a day late due to poor weather delaying a messenger to the commander of the western force. Attacking in the dead of night, the Colormen ambushed the Masteri as they were going to sleep, wiping out the diversionary force except for a few golems and mages that managed to slip away in the chaos.

**13: BATTLE NEAR THE GREAT HALL**

DATE: August 15-18, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 300 Colormen, commanded by Man In Blue

COLORMAN LOSSES: 0 death, 144 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 150 Mages, 100 rock Golems, 100 ice golems, 100 fire golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 47 rock golems destroyed, 29 ice golems destroyed, 38 fire golems destroyed, 12 mages killed, 39 injured

OUTCOME: tactical Masteri victory, strategically inconclusive

OVERVIEW: Purposefully remaining inactive for a month to make the Colormen think they had disappeared from Sodor, they decided to launch an all out assault on the Great Hall itself to put an end to the faction that had repeatedly humiliated them time and time again. They failed to take into account the Hall's protective charm though, and were forced to withdraw to a field near the Great Hall. (due to missing records, it is unknown exactly what caused them to fall back). The Colormen as a faction found viciously to protect their land and family, and in the end the Masteri withdrew when they felt they "Have had their fun" even though the mage commanding this assault had been killed. The Colormen realized that enough was enough, and decided the time had come for them to take action against the Masteri.

**14:** **FALL OF MASTERI CASTLE**

DATE: November 4-8, 1109

COLORMAN STRENGTH: 240 Colormen, commanded by Man In Bronze

COLORMAN LOSSES: 2 deaths, 44 injured

MASTERI STRENGTH: 320 Mages, 100 rock Golems, 100 ice golems, 100 fire golems

MASTERI LOSSES: 100 rock golems destroyed, 98 ice golems destroyed, 100 fire golems destroyed, 319 mages killed, 1 sealed away

OUTCOME: decisive Colorman victory

OVERVIEW: The climactic last battle between the Colormen and the Masteri was waged at the Masteri's own castle on Sodor. With the Man In Bronze leading the charge, the Colormen obliterated the golems sent before them, and wiped out the Masteri. Only two ice golems, who had developed a human level of intelligence, self-awareness and recognized the difference between good and evil, and chose good, were spared. After the battle, the Colormen found out what intel they could from the Masteri Library in the castle. Deeming the magic too dangerous to possess, they scrolls and texts contained within were destroyed. Only select scrolls were spared when they were taken to the Colormen Archives for research. These documents were then destroyed by the Man In Gold during the Dark Era to prevent them from falling into evil hands.

Of the Masteri, only a single mage survived; sealing himself away to be awakened "when the time was right," bringing only a handful of important scrolls with him. When he was awakened, these turned out to be the only surviving texts concerning golem magic.