Battle of Pendraic

Combatants| * Calradic Empire
* Aserai
* Khuzait
* Kingdom of Battania
* Kingdom of Vlandia

Commanders| * Emperor Drosios Neretzes †
* Arenicos Pethros
* Penton Nereztes
* Lucon Osticos
* Solun Noyan †
* Nimr
* High King Caladog fen Gruffendoc
* King Derthert dey Meroc
* Olek the Old †
* Unthery dey Arromanc

Forces| * 10 000 Imperial Infantry / 3 000 Imperial Cavalry & 2 000 Imperial Archers
* 2 000 Khergit Horsemen
* 1 000 Aserai Warriors
* 2 500 Sturgian Infantry
* 1 000 Vlandian Knights / 500 Vlandian Crossbowmen

Casualties| Army annihilated, only 100 soldiers retreated | Less than 4 000 dead* 1 000 Battanian Infantry / 500 Archers
* 1 500 Sturgian Infantry
* 500 Vlandian Knights / 500 Crossbowmen

The **Battle of Pendraic**, nicknamed **Neretzes' Folly**, was a major military engagement in the year 1077 involving all major factions in Calradia. The battle was primarily fought between the Calradic Empire and the Principality of Sturgia, with some Aserai and Khuzait clans and mercenaries siding with the former, and the Kingdoms of Battania and Vlandia siding with the latter.

## Viewpoint Narratives

There is much discrepancy in what actually occurred, but what is certain is that the Empire suffered significant casualties, including the Emperor Drosios Neretzes himself, whose death would only further accelerate the decline of Imperial authority. In the aftermath, Arenicos Pethros (who participated in the battle) ascended to the Imperial throne. In his rule as Emperor, he slowed the Empire's decline that had resulted from the devastating defeat at Pendraic.

Meanwhile, while ultimately victorious, the Sturgians, Battanians and Vlandians enjoyed a pyrrhic victory at best, due to high casualties and the deaths of Grand Prince Vadinslav and Olek the Old. Furthermore, the coalition alliance collapsed due to conflicts in the aftermath of the battle. This was further exacerbated by the dispute regarding the Dragon Banner.

### Imperial Viewpoints

* Empress Marcella was not at the battle herself, but claims that Arenicos told her he unsuccessfully attempted to dissuade Emperor Drosios Neretzes from marching into the ambush. After the battle was lost, Arenicos managed to escape with a force of the Emperor's guardsmen.
* Lucon was a junior officer in Neretzes' staff during the battle. He claims that Neretzes had known about the ambush in the valley, but sent his imperial vanguard anyway. When the Sturgians stormed the Imperial camp, Lucon escaped with Arenicos's group of soldiers back to safety.
* Garios was present as a soldier at the battle, which he alleges he barely escaped with his life, hiding in the woods with his fellow survivors to escape their Battanian persecutors. He credits this experience as the formative moment behind his later ascendancy to the rule of the Western Empire in the Calradic Civil War.
* The Khuzait narrative mostly concerns the Khergit, a Khuzait clan, who had joined the Empire as mercenaries. The Khergit suffered major losses when they engaged Vlandian heavy cavalry, with the death of Solun noyan, and his sons. In the aftermath, Mesui was forced to lead the Khergit because of the lack of male heirs. As a result, Khergit lands were pillaged with impunity by the other clans (without much intervention from Monchug), greatly weakening their position in the khanate.
* The Aserai narrative revolves around the warrior Nimr of the Banu Sarran. Nimr was a young warrior who, along with other Aserai warriors, were eager to join the Empire. Sultan Unqid allowed Nimr to participate in the battle, but the Aserai, who mostly consisted of javelin-wielding skirmishers, were largely run down by Vlandian cavalry when they were regrouping. Still, when Nimr returned home, he was hailed a hero, until a notorious incident caused his death.

### Coalition Viewpoints

* The Sturgians, particularly Raganvad, claim that they had done most of the work in fighting the Empire's forces. Relations between the Battanians and the Sturgians worsened when the Battanians allegedly hoarded most of the loot from their battle against the vanguard, despite not participating in the main assault against the imperial encampment. The Knyaz Godun considers the battle a great victory, squandered by Raganvad's public resentment towards his vassals and Battanian allies in the aftermath of the battle.
* The Battanian nobility mostly considers the battle a success. High King Caladog argues that the battle was a major success for the coalition. In his explanation, he claims that a contingent of Battanian archers and falxmen had ambushed the Imperials in a wooded mountain pass, annihilating the bulk of Neretzes' army. Mormaer Ergeon agrees that the battle was a major success, while the Mormaer Melidir agrees regarding the strategic success but considers the ordeal a failure given the resulting strained relationship with the Sturgians and Vlandians.
* The Vlandians have differing views on the battle. King Derthert regrets his decision to join the Battanians, as little gain was made in exchange for much loss, but cites that he had little choice when the Emperor Neretzes insulted his honor by naming him a coward for hesitating to join them in the battle (Vlandia had previously agreed to a defensive pact with the Empire). The Baron Ingalther considers Pendraic as a wasted opportunity for invading a weakened empire. According to Unthery, who was in charge of the Vlandian crossbowmen, his men had to retreat from a charge of Imperial cataphracts, a situation that according to him occured due to unruly Barons like Ingalther and Aldric who ignored King Derthert's plan.

## Timeline

### **The Ambush in Pendraic Forest**

On the first day of the battle, the army of Emperor Neretzes was led by Arenicos Pethros, Penton Nereztes and Lucon Osticos. The army was headed for Pendraic forest with at least 5,000 Imperial infantry, 2,000 Imperial knights and 1,000 Imperial archers, an effective number of more than 8,000 men.

Arenicos, Penton and Lucon marched with their army through a mountain pass with the intent of later facing the enemy army head on, but were ambushed in the pass by Battanian archers and Vlandian crossbowmen, causing devastation to the Imperials. Lucon ends up being hit in the leg by one of the arrows and falls from his horse. Caladog gives the signal to fall back and prepare for a second attack. Recomposing with the rest of the Imperial army, Arenicos, Penton and a wounded Lucon, fled towards camp although ultimately were encountered by Sturgian infantry. Olek the Old lead the Sturgian shield wall. Caladog and Vadinslav watched the combat at the foot of the mountain and noticed that they were being pushed back by the Imperials. Caladog and Vadinslav raise their swords in an attack signal, the two join the fray with the archers and crossbowmen supporting Olek and Derthert on the field.

After a long time of fighting, Penton realised that they were being annihilated, and convinced Arenicos and Lucon that they should retreat to the Imperial camp. After the smoke cleared, the Battanian army had lost at least 600 of its infantry and 500 of its archers while the Imperials had retreated with only 2,000 of their forces (over 6,000 Imperials dead: 3,000 infantry dead and all knights and archers dead). Shortly after gathering their dead and burning the bodies of the imperials, Vadinslav and the other leaders return to camp preparing for the second day of battle.

### **The Battle in the Pendraic Field**

Shortly after the Emperor's army suffered heavy losses and retreated to the Imperial camp on the Fiur River near Swenryn, Drosios Neretzes is enraged by the news that his army has failed to pass through the Sturgian, Battanian and Vlandian alliance forces. So with no more surprises or if you want a plan in mind, the Emperor gathers the rest of his 12,000 men and marches into Pendraic's camp to end it once and for all, but before they could continue Arenicos emerged that they wouldn't attack until had a plan.

Meanwhile on the other side of the valley at the alliance camp, Vadinslav, Caladog, Derthert and the other leaders thought of some way to defeat the Emperor's entire army in the open now, Vadinslav proposed the idea of ​​letting the Sturgis meet face to face with one another to the other on open land and the Vlandian knights hidden in the rear as well as the rest of the Battanian army and with that they would make a double siege against the enemy army, Neretzes planned to divide his forces into 12 battalions (1,000 soldiers in each).

When noon struck, Neretzes' army could find itself facing forward in the open field as the 2,500 Sturgean warriors led by Prince Raganvad and his father Grand Prince Vadinslav are sighted across the field. Drosios starts the battle by sending Solun and his 2,000 Khuzait knights and Nimr with his 1,000 Aseral soldiers to the front line to take down the Sturgian army, but Caldog further showed the Kurdish Emperor that the alliance was not as dumb as they thought because the archers battanians and crossbowmen begin their hail of arrows for the second time, hitting the Khuzait and Aseral forces. Solun had lost at least 1,000 of his knights and Nimr lost more than half of his 1,000 soldiers, after the strategy had given a surprising result the two Sturgean princes advance with their forces against the knights and the fallen soldiers in front of them facing them until they retreat.

Managed to eliminate the Aseral forces and the Khuzait knights in a hand to hand combat, Vadinslav and his son take down Solun with several blows to the body that soon dies and then the two gather their army to form a wall of shields and thus provoking the Emperor to send his main army, so heeding the provocation he sends 5 battalions at most 5,000 soldiers. Both sides collided in a mass of bodies, with the Sturgean warriors slashing at the Imperial soldiers with their shields and swords, the Imperials continuing to advance as they fought the Sturgeans. After their first attacks by the Sturgeans thinned the ranks of the Imperial army killing at least 1,500 soldiers, Raganvad and his father continued combat with his army that had lost over 1,000 warriors, gave the signal for Derthert to begin sending his 1,000 knights against the forces. lines that the two princes were fighting, Derthert starts the attack supporting the warriors in the field.

Derthert and his army of knights were cut in half when Arenicos and Penton led 1,000 Imperial knights and 1,000 archers against them, but that didn't stop them from continuing the fight as Derthert wanted to honor his name and his people in battle. The battle was still on, the Sturgeans and Vlandians remained until the end, but the Emperor led his other 7,000 soldiers to crush the alliance's ranks, Caladog was in despair to see the Sturgeans and Vlandians being slaughtered, but Vandinslav wanted him wait until the Emperor gets closer, but Caladog doesn't listen as he doesn't want to see his friends dead so he leads the 500 battanian archers, 500 vlandian crossbowmen and 1400 battanian infantry to combat, with this attack they managed to eliminate 2000 imperial soldiers.

As the battle progressed, it became clear to Vandinslav that the fight was lost and the only way was to eliminate the Emperor, so he fights his way through the Emperor, but ends up being killed by a spear in the chest by Neretzes, Raganvad as he looked upon his father and his dead in the field, then pulling himself together he led the army to victory with bloodlust and hatred in his heart, the imperials retreated for the second time to the camp leaving the battlefield in wait, this time the army of Neretzes had lost much of their strength with more of 7,500 dead (6,000 infantry, 500 knights and all 1,000 archers killed), and retreated with just 1,500 soldiers. The alliance had lost much of its army with over 2,900 dead (1,500 Sturgis, 500 Vlandian knights, 400 Battanian soldiers, and 500 crossbowmen).