Battle of Agabad

The **Battle of Agabad**, also called the **Battle of the Badlands** or the **Battle of Gedding**, took place on 20 June CE 953, between a coalition led by the Merovian heir Hildern I and the Cyravine Delphan Gilem di Valenti against the House of Darcedon and their vassals commanded by the prince sovereign Genio of Stavia. It was a conclusive end to the political engagements between CE 897 and CE 953, in which Merovia has succeeded in acquiring many Darcedonian allies and weakening their standing.

Whether the battle was strategically conclusive is disputed: Darcedon dissolved the position of Corophant, the Arborean parliament, and installed a puppet as Exarch of a united state of Duessel. However, Cyravest remained a powerful enemy and Darcedon was economically crippled by the battle, resulting in further losses in territories like Gantelusia and Tyrrhos.

## Prelude

By CE 950, Merovian authority over much of Neuphany had been restored since the War of the Dragons, which at this time encompassed all of Arborea, most of *Velusia* (in Bastria), Crotalusia, and nearly all of Arcadia. In addition, the Republic of Cyravest had made gains in Tyrrhos and Cisteria. The most tenuous of these alliances were between Merovia and Crotalusia, as the Nazari had but a tenuous treaty in place and were growing restive. The Arcadian tribes were more submissive to Merovia, but likewise were likely to turn on Merovia if convenient, as they were only bound by a shared hatred of Darcedon. Arborea and *Velusia* in general was more receptive to Merovia, with historic and familial ties.

Phillip III, the Ruby Prince of Kasmir and at the time the heir apparent, has secured a temporary peace with the House of Marques in return for a loan from their bank to counterbalance their debts to the Papetral Pontifect, which he planned to leave entirely. The Crown Prince was also aware that Hildern I and his father had been making deals with other houses to undermine Darcedonian authority. However, if he denounced the Merovians, it could spark war, and the fiscal pit that his family was in would ensure a swift defeat.

Cateline II, the older sister of Hildern I, had been betrothed to Vincent I of Lorraine the year before. In CE 952, she sent a servant alone to meet with the Nazari king Kadir, with her ring as proof of the letter's legitimacy. She both offered her hand in marriage, and offered *Eragonia* as a dowry. Kadir asked Phillip III for support in securing Cateline II, and seeing the opportunity to acquire a powerful allow in Crotalusia, Phillip III accepted. Kadir demanded Cateline II to be
delivered along with the dowry. Bonafice V, the Corophant of Merovia, rejected these demands, and Kadir used this as a legitimate reason to invade *Eragonia*. It is understood today that Cateline II did not intend for this to occur, only wanting to use this as political leverage with her father Bonafice V to marry into a different noble house.

Kadir entered *Eragonia* with a diverse army from all parts of Crotalusia, sacking the capitol of Saint David's Grotto in April CE 953. The heir to the House of Caer Lei, Genevieve IV, was taken as a consort and her father was killed. Valentine, archbishop of Rhodes in northern *Eragonia*, is credited with saving his city by meeting Kadir in person and offering himself as a tribute. Many other villages and towns also claim to have been attacked in these accounts.

Upon learning of the invasion, Hildern I alerted the Delphan of Cyravest to move his army rapidly from Tyrrhos to Agabad. The Delphan Gillem di Valenti, seeking any victory against Darcedon, was leading a force consisting of "a few leagues of knights without a single regular soldier." A Merovian force consisting of 400 noble knights snowballed across Arborea between April and June to build an army composed of almost every young male in western Neuphany, swelling their ranks to over 45,000.

The ability to muster such an army so quickly was in part due to the apparent victory that Merovia would score against Darcedon; to eliminate the barbarian threat once and for all, and to snuff out the last of Darcedonian authority, would mean that local lords would gain true autonomy once again. Confidence was quite high also because prevailing attitudes were that the army would only consist of Kadir's army, and that Phillip III would not have a professional army mustered in time. This turned out to be the exact opposite, as Phillip III has been preparing an army for this purpose for years.

Kadir's army met with Phillip III's army, led by Viscount Genio of Stavia, by June of CE 953 in the plains of Agabad, about 150 miles west of White Harbor in Cascadia. Together, they agreed to ride to Rhodes before launching an attack on mainland Arborea. A small town on the way to Rhodes, Gedding, was ruled by a Silver-blood Viscount who had promised to open the city gates to Kadir. In spite of this promise, inhabitants of Gedding shut their gates against the advancing invaders and trapped Kadir behind their walls, where he was killed unbeknownst to the Viscount. Genio began to besiege the city while they waited for the Viscount to deliver on his promise to open the gates. After four days of heavy rain, Genio began his final assault on 20 June CE 953.

## Battle

Hildern I and his coalition pursued Genio of Stavia from Gedding with an army totaling about 45,000, against about 15,000 Nazari vassals and 12,000 Darcedonian soldiers. The night before the main battle, the Nazari encountered a band of Darcedonian knights and engaged them in a skirmish. At least 15,000 dead resulted from this encounter alone. Genio of Stavia had set up a tactical delay along his route of retreat in order
to keep Hildern I from catching him before he arrived at a suitable
battlefield location. The two forces at last met somewhere on the plains of Agabad, just south of the mountains, on 20 June CE 953.

Genio of Stavia had his diviners give him a reading the morning of the day of the
battle. They foretold that the battle would be a loss without question, but one of
the enemy leaders would be killed, and if he were smart, two more would be in his possession. Genio delayed until the afternoon, about 2pm, so the impending sunset would help his troops to flee
the battlefield in case of defeat.

The Agabad plain rose on its north side by a
 sharp slope to a ridge; this geographical feature dominated the
battlefield and became the center of the battle. Darcedon first seized
the right side of the ridge, while the Romans seized the left, with the
crest unoccupied between them. The Cyravine knights held
 the left side, the Merovians the right, and an unoccupied ridge in the center. Genio's forces attempted to take the
ridge, but were outstripped by the Merovian coalition.

The Delphan di Valenti, whilst in the rear commanding his knights, was struck by a guided arrow from Genio's bow in the assault. Di Valenti was thrown from his horse and trampled to death by his
 advancing men, and when this was discovered, the Cyravine knights were routed, leaving the Merovian army on the south side opposite of the ridge. Though they outstripped the speed of Genio's forces, and Genio retreated to his well-fortified camp hidden along the ridge. The Merovian charge apparently swept past Genio's camp in pursuit; when night fell, Hildern I, returning to friendly lines, mistakenly entered Genio's encampment. There he was wounded in the ensuing melee before he escaped. Darkness also separated Hildern I from his
own men. As he feared that disaster had befallen them, he spent the rest
 of the night with a few Cyravine knights that had retreated onto the plains.

On the following day, finding the battlefield was "piled high
with bodies and the Nazari nor Darcedon did not venture forth", the remaining Cyravine knights and Merovian soldiers to decide their next move. Knowing that Genio was low on provisions
 and "was hindered from approaching by a shower of arrows placed from within the confines of the Merovian camp", they started to besiege his fortified position. In
this desperate situation, Genio remained unbowed and "heaped up a pyre of horse saddles, so that if the enemy should attack, he would knock over this pyre, and they would be fated to burn in this crevice."

While Genio of Stavia was besieged in his camp, the Cyravine knights searched for the body of their prince. After a long search, they found di Valenti's corpse "where the dead lay
 thickest" and bore him away, abandoning the Merovians to their siege. Genio, trapped in the ridge, followed a similar strategy to Attacus Rex: he had his soldiers lie on the flanks of the ridge and open the center. 20,000 Merovian soldiers protruded into the center, but found that they had been encircled. The pyre was knocked over, and the flanks closed in on the soldiers. Hildern I ordered a retreat, seeing no way to rescue the soldiers; ultimately, 6,000 men perished, and the other 14,000 surrendered and were taken prisoner.

## Outcome

By the end of the two-day engagement, Kadir of the Nazari had been killed, the Delphan Gillem di Valenti had been killed, and over 60,000 men had died in Agabad. Of these, 30,000 men from Arborea had been killed, later died from their wounds, or taken prisoner, and about 15,000 Nazari and Darcedonian men had been killed.

Hildern I retreated to regroup with his father Bonafice V, but was caught by a Nazari patrol from Rhodes meant to regroup with Kadir with Valentine of Rhodes. After a brief engagement, the Merovian retainer was routed and Hildern I was captured, and brought to Genio outside of Gedding. Abandoning Gedding and ambitions in Arborea, Genio sent word to Bonafice V that his son was in his custody. Feigning ignorance, Genio of Stavia asked on behalf of Kadir for the release of Cateline II and Sibelle I, Hildern I's youngest sister, into his custody in exchange for Hildern I. The Corophant agreed, and the two daughters were handed over for Hildern I in October CE 953. All hostilities had officially ended by this point, and Darcedon agreed to disband their army.

### Capture and execution of Bonafice V and Hildern I

Though Cateline II resisted her captors, Sibelle I resented her father for handing her over to Darcedon and agreed to participate in a trap for Bonafice V. She was wed to Martigo del Gana, a powerful Madelian nobleman whose marriage closed a longstanding rivalry with the nation-state of Stavia. Sibelle I sent a letter in December CE 953 to her father saying that Martigo del Gana wished to defect to Merovia; when he and Hildern I visited the allegedly neutral lands in Madelia, both of them were captured and executed by del Gana. Because it was done by a Madelian lord, it did not violate the terms of their treaty.

The last Merovian heir, Hildern I's son, was approached after this encounter and offered 100,000 florins to sell his rights to Darcedon. An exhausted and ravaged Arborea convinced him to do so, and his rights to rule were consolidated as a position known as the Exarch; the nation was then reconstructed as an alliance known as Duessel, subject to the House of Darcedon. Phillip III's half-brother Alfonse di Grassi, ironically a grandson of Bonafice V as well, was positioned as Exarch of Duessel.

### Cyravine reactions

With the death of the Delphan, there was a renewed public interest in culling Darcedon. However, with the debts to the Papet repaid, Darcedon could not be summoned to the Palace of Dragons nor punished for their repeated indiscretions. The Cyravine public elected Janus di Montane, a magnate from Baredor, as the new Delphan. Janus di Montane, a political outsider, had promised to end the conflict in Tyrrhos and to "never be a friend to Darcedon," implying that he would begin an outright invasion.

Despite this, Cyravine forces were not well equipped for such open conflict and had no special interests to influence Darcedon; tacit revenge through assassination or otherwise was also not a possibility due to the status of the Jade House of Lords in Laconia. Ultimately, they would lose the conflict in Tyrrhos as well, and bid their time with what allies were left in Arborea.

### Darcedon retracts further

Despite the apparent victories over their rivals, Darcedon continued to struggle with maintaining their alliances, and after the execution of the Merovian heirs, the war-torn provinces had a truce only out of necessity. Meanwhile, allies in the mountains of Gantelusia and Tyrrhos began to fizzle out. Tyrrhosi interests were still weakening thanks to the Grimshaw, and marital alliances were shafted in the coming decades in favor of the Niocletians once the Papet was in their hands.

Similarly, Bastrian allies fell to the wayside when Hohenz annexed all of Bastria; their eagerness to establish political power forced Phillip III to further stretch his dwindling armies and take out more loans to invest in mercenaries to hold onto this newly annexed region. To pacify the cities now under Hohenzian control, Bastria was incorporated into Laconia fully and given similar rights for citizens and lowered taxes than they had previously. This did indeed sate the two regions somewhat, but attempts to centralize power properly were wasted efforts. Additionally, this made the annexation a net negative for many years, plunging Darcedon further into debt.