Great Naporian War

5 BTN - 0 BTN

The Great Naporian War was a pivotal conflict early in the recorded history of the archipelago. It took place entirely within the modern realm of Napori as well as the island of Kell, what is now known as the Little Kingdom. The results of the Great Naporian War foreshadowed many historical events to come and also established the foundations of race relations since.

## Belligerents

* Human Nobility
* Halfling Settlers
* Dwarf Settlers
* Elf Refugees
* Orc Hordes

## Origins

### Human Settlement

The beginnings of the war can be traced back to the first settlers to follow after the Triumvirate Paladins, a number of *gaspar* settlers sailing from the west. Among them wee the first of the ancient bloodlines that make up the modern noble houses of Napori and other realms. It was these settlers that established settlements such as Tiri and Nesseri. Following the *gaspar* were the *arstul*, who attempted to settle on Narada but were met with a degree of opposition before they settled farther to the east. It was they who established Arnis and began mining the Evalades while the *gaspar* dominated the coasts.

### Competition for Territory

Following humanity were the halflings, and dwarves, and the small folk were met largely with derision by the humans as well as opposition over the waterways and mining sites. The final straw was the arrival of elves from the south. The elves first arrived on Andron, making their way along the islands to the south in a series of sporadic migrations that inspired them to name the islands the Vaneades or the "stepping stones," as it translates in elvish. The elves were not simply sightseeing as they made their travels, but were being hotly pursued by the hordes of orcs that had massacred their homelands hundreds of miles away. When the elves reached Narada, they were met by curious and frustrated locals who were at their wit's end with new arrivals. Tensions escalated quickly, and soon enough elvish groups and human settlements were locked in warfare as space to settle went scarce.

### Alliance and Outbreak

The dwarves, with no particular love for the elves, were soon called upon for an alliance with the humans who promised them free reign of the best mining lands should the elves be expelled from the region. The halflings kept to themselves as best they could, but were often forced to engage in battle to defend their own settlements from multiple incursions. There starting skirmishes lasted for nigh on two years, but it wasn't until the orcs reached the southern shores of Narada that the war began in earnest.

## Events of the War

### First Battle of the Plains

As the skirmishes between elves and men and dwarves escalated, they were eventually agreed to meet in battle in the plains south of the human city of Malverna. During this orchestrated conflict, the orc hordes that had days ago landed o the shores came swarming up from the south, and the original belligerents were overwhelmed. Men fled back into the walls of the city, the elves fled to the Anorian Forest and the dwarves were left stranded by the northern shores of the island, shunted aside by the others. Very few survived the battle to flee, and they were refused access to Malverna or Ithil. In desperation, the dwarves dug into the High Hills as a last resort.

### The Nights of Fire

With each of their enemies isolated, the orcs set siege to the human cities of Malverna and Ithil, and the dwarves of the High Hills were beset again, and dug deeper and deeper to escape their aggressors. The few that escaped to the Evalades began fortifying their homes for the coming storm.

Meanwhile the orcs continued their sieges, razing the land as they gorged on the bounty of the countryside. Castles and towns and watchposts fell to their onslaught and soon only the four great cities stood standing: Nesseri, Malverna, Ithil and Arnis. While there were numerous attempts by the few standing kingdoms to liberate Malverna and Ithil, each of their assaults were beaten by the orcs and their superior numbers. As castles and towers fell to the orcs, they were repurposed as new strongholds. After two years of siege, the orcs set up a coordinated attack against both Ithil and Malverna, launched on two consecutive evenings. The two cities were razed to the ground by repeated attacks in the night, and were desolated within a week. These attacks would come to be known as the nights of fire.

The refugees that escaped the cities were cut down as they ran for miles to the east, and many people of Ithil were drowned in the Sea of Napori with no other means of escape.

### The Strongholds

It was the Sevelles, a noble family that lived among their own smallfolk on the opposite side of the Sea of Napori that collected the refugees that managed to acquire boats to make the crossing. As other survivors from Malverna rounded the Sea to the north, they also found refuge in Castle Sevelle, the family's home and stronghold. The influx of new labor enabled them to construct new walls around their estate in time to repel the initial assault of the pursuing orc hordes. The Sevelle estate was besieged for three months, but remarkably repelled the orcs in a series of bloody sorties that sent them packing back to the north.

A number of outriders were then sent to Arnis to summon reinforcements.