War of the Brass Throne

The War of the Brass Throne was a civil war taking place in the Duchy of Harä at the turn of the 6th Century. On the surface it was a succession war, but in fact many factors were in play; the most important of these was a disagreement over whether to move the capital city to Zinthur or maintain it at Nermohoff.

## Background

Tensions in Harä had been rising since the mid-480's. The nation of Sernuria to the south had collapsed, and Duke Ashger decided to take advantage of this. He established the town of Serdon, and was only stopped from re-settling the now-vacant city of Zinthur by vehement noble opposition.

The factions began to form. Ashger's two sons, Herolf and Kalgrim, disagreed over the matter - Kalgrim supported his father's wishes to expand to the south, while Herolf threw in his lot with the noble faction opposing the Duke.

Over the next decade and a half, the factions formalised to a degree, finding new issues over which to oppose the other. By the year 499, the loyalist Zinthur faction controlled the city of Nermohoff as well as Serdon and the central plains of the country. The reactionaries led by Herolf controlled Bränos, Nala and Ursha - their holdings split in two.

## The War

In April 499, Duke Ashger fell ill, and died within a week of contracting his illness. Being a strong believer of the survival of the fittest, he bequeathed half of his duchy to each of his sons. He was acutely aware that this would be the catalyst for the brewing war, and also trusted whichever son that came out on top to repair the broken country.

Ashger's death was, however, fairly unexpected. He had only been in his mid-40's, and very healthy until the illness struck. While both factions had been posturing, neither was really ready for war, and in fact Herolf had been having trouble with disagreements within his own faction - the Barn of Nala, Jart Sengrim, had ambitions for independence, and was building force to cross the Hurva River and settle the western bank.

The Nermohoff faction was snapped out of this reverie in August 499 - Kalgrim's forces marched on Nala. While Jart had been rebellious, Herolf came to his aid with men from Ursha. Both Kalgrim's attack and Herolf's aid proved to Jart that he could not simply sit out the conflict. Jart was forced to pick a side, and the series of events forced him to side with Herolf.

The Siege of Nala was in stalemate for three months; with both armies too small to risk challenging each other, Kalgrim's force camped outside Nala while Herolf's men camped on a rise half a mile to the north.I n November the ground began to frost over, and Kalgrim's force was ill-equipped for winter. He marched back to Nermohoff to sit out the winter. This act, the Winter Truce, held for every winter during the war, and has been tradition in Harnese warfare ever since.

In February 500 the hostilities resumed, with Herolf taking the offensive this year. Forces from Bränos marched west and were defeated in a small skirmish halfway to Nermohoff. While Kalgrim pressed this advantage, Herolf's main force laid waste to the small castles and fiefs directly west of Nermohoff itself.

This petty chain of events continued for the next several years - small skirmishes and the cautious destruction of the countryside shows that both factions were aware the victors would have to pick up the pieces afterwards. Neither side was willing to throw away lives, or the country's infrastructure, in order to win.

This didn't stop the nobles from wanting it to end, though. The Barns of Nala, Serdon and Bränos especially; it was mostly their land which was being destroyed. In late 503, the Barn of Serdon defected and joined Herolf's faction. This swung the balance massively in favour of the reactionaries, who laid siege to Nermohoff the following February.

Nermohoff fell in June 504, and Herolf declared the war was over on the same day he had his brother Kalgrim executed for treason.