Battle of Falinmal Hill

The battle of Falinmal Hill was the final and decisive battle of the Four Kingdom's War fought in Bindaela at the end of the first century BNE. The battle was fought between the forces of the Kingdom of Narmein and the forces of the Four Kingdom's alliance, consisting of forces from Thraenmein, Thraenflan, Froulin, and Fruonbaen. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for Narmein, with all four rival kings falling in battle. This result gave Narmein effective control over the entire Binaela region.

## Background

The Four Kingdom's War began when the leaders of the Four Kingdom's alliance failed to honor a treaty obligation to defend Narmein from an attack from Icrenic raiders. Narmein repelled the attack and declared war on its former allies for their treachery in 4 BNE. The crown prince Dramthios led Narmein's troops into the field and became king when his father King Tharthios died of illness in 2 BNE. He blamed the stress of the war for his father's death and vowed to avenge him, although heavy alcohol abuse was a more likely cause of Tharthios death.

The war proceeded slowly as none of the combatants were initially willing to commit large forces to the field. This changed when Froulin and Fruonbaen led a seige of Narmein's key ally in the east, Saraballul, prompting Dramthios to march east in 1 NE to relieve his ally.

Because the previous monsoon season had been mild, the Sarabal valley was passable and Dramthios marched along the river course to maximize speed. When he came to a large bend in the river, he chose to march around the bend to the north rather than risk a crossing that would leave him boxed in by the river on three sides. As he passed the bend, he was met by a larger force of troops from Froulin and Fruobaen from the east. He retreated to a then-unnamed hill (named Falinmal Hill only after the battle) to the north of the bend in order to secure high ground.

The enemy forces attempted to goad Dramthios into a fight on open terrain but Dramthios was concerned about a possible ambush from the other two kingdoms and chose to fortify his position rather than advance. This proved wise when the forces from Thraenmein and Thraenflan emerged from hiding in the hills and largely surrounded his position, although Dramthios kept forces along the north bank of the Sarabal to maintain a potential retreat route and shorten his defensive line.

## The Battle

The combined forces of the Four Kingdom's alliance outnumbered Dramthios's forces by 8,000 to 4,000. Because they didn't know the status of Dramthios supplies or the whereabouts of his other forces, they chose to press their numerical advantage with a direct assault. The first day of battle proved indecisive. The Four Kingdom's forces gained ground by driving Narmein's forces away from the river bank and forcing him to retreat onto the hill where he was now surrounded on all sides. This assault was costly, however, as the Four Kingdom's forces lost 1500 men while Narmein only lost 400.

The Four Kingdom's leaders ignored their disproportionate losses and viewed the gain of strategic ground as a victory. Still holding a considerable numerical advantage, they chose to attempt an all-out assault on the hill on the second day of battle. They began with a full assault with their cavalry, numbering around 900, hoping to break the defensive lines and end the battle quickly. This would prove to be a fatal blunder as their cavalry suffered heavy losses charging uphill against disciplined defenders in good defensive positions, and they failed to break the line. Dramthios, meanwhile, had kept his 700 mounted fighters in reserve and now possessed a significant cavalry advantage.

The Four Kingdom's made a second blunder by spreading their line to thin along the narrow stretch of land between the hill and the river. Dramthios counterattacked into this force and trapped them in the muddy ground along the edge of the river where they were slaughtered.

Elsewhere along the line, Dramthios employed a successful strategy of feigned retreats in order to lure attackers into poor position where they could be outflanked or enveloped. The attacking forces from the Four Kingdoms were poorly coordinated and poorly disciplined and were repeatedly caught out by this trick.

Poor coordination and communication between the forces led to confusion about the state of the battle and the Four Kingdom's forces were not ordered to retreat from the hill until the battle was out of hand. Fruonbaen, which had lost half it's men along the river, was the first to attempt a retreat into the foothills to the north but their forces collided with the forces of Froulin, who were not retreating, leading to confusion and chaos. Dramthios released his cavalry into the field where they outflanked and ran down the fleeing attackers, massacring many. King Flaerthios of Fruolin was slain near the foothills during this charge. The cavalry also ran through the Fruonbaen encampment to the east of the field, where King Faelthios was slain.

Unaware that their allies on the eastern line had been routed, the forces of Thraenmein and Thraenflan regrouped for another assault of the hill. The assault was halted along the Narmein line along the hill and the alliance forces were then outflanked by the Narmein Cavalry, which had passed around the hill to the north and now bore down on the remaining alliance forces. King Iacothios of Thraenmein was slain while attempting to retreat to his camp on Farunnam hill and King Thoulthios of Thraenflan was killed along with most of his men in the mud near the river.

## Aftermath

The battle had been bloody for both sides but the Alliance forces had suffered far worse casualties, losing 6,500 men to only 2,200 losses for Narmein, with the alliance cavalry all but wiped out. The death of all four kings, one of whom was childless and two of whom had only minor children, was an even more crippling loss for the alliance. The kingdom's leaders had little choice but to surrender on Narmein's terms, which essentially amounted to full annexation of their territories to Narmein.

The battle also led to the foundation of the city of Noulian at the site of the battle. Dramthios believed that his victory and the death of his four rivals were a sign of divine favor and chose to build a new capital at the site of the battle. He named the hill he had fought from Flinmail ("gods' salvation", later known as Falinmal) Hill and ordered the palace to be built on the summit. He also gave himself the title of emperor, the first time that title had been used. (Noulaenic Faerfel lit. "Great King").

He also ordered the fallen kings to be left where they fell. He walked to each of them and drove a pike through their hearts into the mud below. He declared that these pikes would define the corners of his new city's boundary, which lead to the characteristic irregular shape of the city's original walls.

Although the four kingdom's surrendered to Dramthios reign, the battle didn't mark the end of resistance to the new Noulaenic empire in Bindaela. After Noulian was burned in 25 NE, the dukes of several former kingdoms attempted to reassert independence. This resistance didn't end until King Iacothios II of Thraenmein was executed for treason in 38 NE and replaced with an imperial prince as duke.