Battle of the Gates

* House Loreian
* House Dorenis
* Unknown House

The **Battle of the Gates** was the final battle of Aerel's invasion of the Summerset Archipelago. Aerel Arana's force alongside that of Lady Erandel Andorin totalled approximately 50.000 men, which had marched through the lands which constitute the contemporary Crownlands. Upon reaching Alinor they laid siege to the city and captured its ruler, marking an end to any significant resistance against Aerel's conquest.

The battle took its name from the capturing of the two gatehouses in Alinor's walls, after which King Naldien's advisers recognised the battle was lost and mutinied, taking their king prisoner and ending the battle.

## Prelude

After the conquest of several other Altmeri kingdoms, Aerel Arana's army had grown exhausted—hardened by battle yet weary. His force ballooned in size when he made a pact with Erandel Andorin, who at the time ruled as Queen of the Rivers and Hills. None know exactly what this pact involved, but Erandel eventually withdrew from her war tent and bent her knee to Aerel, pledging her support to his conquest of the remaining southern territories. With his army reinforced to approximately 50.000 men, Aerel marched back around Oleander Bay and began his conquest of what constitute the contemporary Crownlands.

Many lords resisted the invasion, forming a short-lived alliance known as the Sisters Pact, but the alliance was far too loosely centralised to resist Aerel's lightning strikes. Whether by submission or death, holdings fell to Aerel one by one until he reached Alinor. It was here that King Naldien III Parnon, who had recently declared himself the 'Prince of the Sisters Pact', ruled a petty kingdom from the city. To pacify the last major point of resistance to his conquest and finally end his campaign, it was necessary for Aerel to take the city.

## The Battle

King Naldien III Parnon neglected to take direct command of his forces, opting instead to remain within the relative safety of his keep within the city, which rested below a steep cliff on the mountainside. Surviving advisers to the king report that he knew of what befell King Saleth V Harlore during the razing of the Aerie, yet for some reason—possibly driven by grief over the loss of his two children—decided to mount a defence nonetheless. The lords under his command did what they could to increase their probability of success, opting for an aggressive defence designed to bait Aerel to order ground assaults where it would be least optimal for his forces.

Surrounding the city of Alinor was a wall of stone and mortar reaching some twenty feet in height. Two major gates were carved into this wall, which was were most of Alinor's defenders were placed. Archers mounted the walls and peppered Aerel's host with arrows, while infantrymen prepared spiked barricades behind the gates. Reports from the surviving lords say that they were well aware that the battle was lost from the moment it began. Even if Aerel took their bait, their numbers had no hope of defeating a 50.000 strong host. The most they could hope for was to deliver Aerel a pyrrhic victory.

Aerel ordered battering rams to the two gates, splitting his army accordingly to storm the gates. Simultaneously he took to the skies with his gryphon Nereon, accompanied by his sister-wife Alyssare atop her own gryphon. The two siblings harassed the defenders behind the walls with constant dives from their gryphons, rising to high altitudes followed by devastating controlled crashes into enemy formations, particularly against the archers on the walls. This split the attention of the defending archers, who began to focus on the gryphonriders, relieving pressure from the army on the ground.

In time the gates fell to the might of the battering rams, allowing for Aerel's forces to flood through and enter the gatehouses. Though it was difficult for them to push with the extensive defensive positioning of the city's defenders, they succeeded in capturing the gates and dispatching many of the archers from the walls. At this point it was clear that victory for the Aranas was at hand. King Naldien III Parnon's advisers implored him to surrender, but he refused, stating that he would defend his city to the last man. Rather than see such a bloodbath occur, his advisers mutinied against him, capturing and shackling their king. With this they offered peace to Aerel, who accepted the ceasefire and occupied the city without further loss of life.

## Aftermath

King Naldien was stripped of his titles, lands, and incomes by Aerel, and those lords who had once served Naldien swore their allegiance to their conqueror. With this the Summerset Archipelago was finally united under a single ruler for the first time in its history. Remaining lords in the southern Crownlands eventually heard of King Naldien's defeat and travelled to Alinor to swear their fealty to Aerel, lest they risk a forced submission like so many others.

Some time after his victory in Alinor, Aerel summoned to the city a representative from the sapiarchs of Lillandril who could serve him as an adviser, as well as the High Aldarch himself. Together they performed a joint coronation in Naldien's old keep, crowning Aerel as the first king of the united Summerset Isles. It was here too that Aerel declared that Alinor would serve as his kingdom's capital, rather than the vastly larger and more prestigious alternatives, such as Shimmerene or Sunhold. Over time Aerel and his dynasty would expand the city, the first project of which was the construction of a new castle to serve as their seat, which was built onto the cliffside overlooking the city and came to be known as Eldarhall.