War of the Bogcross Keep

The War of the Bogcross Keep was a war between House Mudree and House Endon between 1542-3 6E. The war was won by the defenders of House Mudree, and House Endon was forced to return to Brancaster empty handed.

After the victory of the war, any hope of the County of Lavrune being diplomatically added to Telmara faded. Lavrune's national pride swelled during and after the period of the war, leaving the option of annexation by Telmara a no longer favorable position by House Mudree.

## Conflict

In the year 1533 6E Dour Mudree ascended to the position of count after his father’s passing. Dour was only seventeen at the time that he became count, and there were growing fears of an orcish invasion happening inside the County of Lavrune. Many inside of Dour’s inner circle pushed the young boy to join Telmara for protection against an orcish threat.

Dour instead refused to listen to his advisors and worked towards keeping his realm independent during the following years. Many letters were written back and forth from Numeris to Bogcross Keep in an effort from Telmara to diplomatically annex Lavrune. Dour declined each time.

One of the letters somehow reached House Endon of Brancaster, which would lead to Bran Endon beginning to plan the annexation of Lavrune through military means. Lavrune would later claim that House Endon was supported by the Telmarian crown in their attempts to conquer Lavrune, however, House Longrivers would deny the accusations up until they were overthrown by their own lords in the Baerain Rebellion in 390 7E.

Bran Endon gathered his forces on the border of Lavrune during the winter of 1542 6E, meanwhile, Bran was able to successfully gain support from House Dathrone of Etchwick who would supply Bran with roughly 2,000 light infantry, 300 heavy infantry and 200 light cavalry led by Ilford Darthorne, whom was the brother to the current dynastic head of the Darthorne’s.

Ilford Darthorne, along with Bran Endon’s own forces of 3,000 light infantry, 500 heavy infantry, 300 archers and 50 light cavalry, were eager to smash the defenders at Bogcross Keep before they had a chance to prepare. Together their forces combined matched a total of nearly 6,400 men.

Unfortunately for Bran, Dour had been warned of the thousands of men camping on his border, and spent the winter recruiting men for the defense of Bogcross Keep. The campaign to raise men for the upcoming war enraged a patriotic spirit in Lavrune, which would ensure that the county would never again consider peacefully joining Telmara again. The war propaganda worked. Dour was depicted as a benevolent ruler who would do anything for his people, while Bran was seen as an invader.

That winter Dour was able to raise 4,000 light infantry, 600 heavy infantry, 400 archers, 300 light cavalry and 50 heavy cavalry. Not wanting to lose his advantage, Dour didn’t wait for the spring to defend his country. Instead, Dour left in the first month of the new year northwards to surprise his invaders in a sneak attack.

Bran’s forces were not in good condition to fight. The men that Bran had sent to the border to camp had not been given proper supplies to set up camp for a winter, and many of them had little food and barely any cover from the winter winds. Ilford was also stationed at the Bran’s camp, saying of the conditions that they were “inadequate for a force of 600, much less 6,000.”

Bran’s suggestion that he remain in Brancaster for the winter also did not help the moral of his troops. Fights would often break out in the camps, and disease spread easily. Bran lost over 400 men from the winter, and over 100 horses also died from the cold.

Dour’s scouts reported finding the enemies camp on January 20th. Dour ordered that his men remain hidden and unseen on the other side of a large river that separated Dour’s forces from the enemies own forces. Setting up camp on January 20th, he made clear his plan to attack his enemy before daylight the next day.

Ilford’s own scouts had spotted Dour’s troops later on that day setting up camp, and Ilford took this time to write a letter to Bran, asking for him to come to the camp as quickly as he could make it.

After sending the letter, Ilford wasted no time getting his men to chop down as much timber as they could during the daylight. He worked his men hard, making sure that each of them took their part in gathering wood inside of their camp. After nightfall, Ilford began to enact his project by having his men drag the limber to the edge of the river to construct a makeshift fort that would act as defense from Dour’s forces.

Dour’s scouts had been commanded to watch the river, and upon hearing of the construction of the fort, Dour knew that he had to act. If his enemy could take the defensible location behind a wall, he knew that he would be at a disadvantage.

Dour roused his troops early in the night and marched them northwards up the river, making sure to stay too far away from the river to be noticed by the enemy. After arriving far enough up the river, Dour had his troops begin to cross the freezing water. The task of moving his men across the river was an arduous task, and moving the horses across the river was even harder, but after three hours, Dour managed to move all of his forces across the freezing river.

Dour continued to march eastwords and planned to smash his opposing enemies from behind. Within another hour, Dour had managed to position his forces on the east side of Ilford’s camp. After getting into position Dour was able to push down on his enemies on the riverside before they had proper time to enact. Dour now had both the uphill advantage and a river to the back of his enemies preventing quick escape.

Although Ilford was able to rouse his troops into a defending position, it was too late for his forces as they were fractured by Dour’s charging cavalry and arrow barrages.

By the time Ilford and his remaining men had crossed the river, Ilford had lost over 3,000 men. It was a crushing defeat. Before the morning’s sunlight Ilford signed the peace deal and left Dour to claim his victory.

With the war over, Dour returned home a hero to his country, never to be attacked by Telmara again. This war left House Endon disgraced and Ilford would later that year commit suicide over his failure in the war.