War Across the Bryan

## 2421-2441 War Across the Bryan

It had been centuries since the last great wars between cities in Roane, Devnah and Thearth; but the competitive and war-like nature of the people there could remain quiet for so long.  They had violence in their blood and spirit, and for a twenty year period, there was no break in the violence that poured out on the region.  This time, however, the violence would cascade southward, embroiling Azmuth, Surrin, Crocia and the Smothe in the chaos.

### 2421-2431 Rise of Lord Balmor

The people of Thearth have a competitive nature, but often respect order in their competition.  In Bylaufen, this has always been the case. For the noble family of Balmor, they would use the common spirit of order and competition to bring a sense of unification to the city states.   Lord Edgahn Balmor had risen in his family and city through great oratory and fierce competition.  He was a great warrior, but he won most of his battles by convincing people that win or lose, they were made of the same blood.  Lord Balmor did not lose, so in effect, the nobility of Bylaufen slowly believed that they were all off much better with a single great leader, and with a belief they were stronger together.

Family Balmor became the rulers of Bylaufen, but it was certainly not enough.  Lord Balmor knew that Thearth could be more than warring city states, and that if they cities could bind together, they would be a force that all of Eirethune could not resist.  Lord Balmor took this message to Dregnak, Velderwall, and Sharn Korg next.   At first, the lords of those cities derided Lord Balmor for his notion of unity, but slowly he worked the concept of independent unity into their minds - Retain your independence by joining with others who share your spirit.  Lord Balmor never spoke of unseating the rulership of a city, but rather he wanted to insure the competitive cities of their independence while making the case for unity.   Over the next few years, the rest of Thearth and northern cities of Devnah were joining in the confederation that Lord Balmor preached.

#### 2425 Sack of Aachnarn and the Annexation of Roane

Aachnarn was the largest city in Roane, and larger than any single city in Thearth by thousands.  When Lord Balmor brought his message to Aachnarn, it was met with disdainful accusations of usurping power from the cities, and loss of individual identity.  The more cosmopolitan nature of the city belittled Lord Balmor and his message of city-state unity.  Lord Balmor could not move the nobility of Aachnarn, but he also didn’t threaten them with anger or violence. Instead, he plainly stated that it was time for the cities to work together, and that the people of the regions needed a common spirit to help them, not the greed of a few empowered noble families.   He brought his message to the citizenry inside Aachnarn and out in the supporting fields.  And then he brought the army of all of Thearth and most of Devnah.

Lord Balmor lay siege, and could have easily won because Aachnarn hadn’t been stockpiling before Lord Balmor attacked; but instead the forces of Balmor assault the city, bringing the main gates of the city down in minutes, by having kept a large hidden force inside the city when he visited.   The noble quarters of the city were sacked and destroyed, but he left the merchants, markets and craftsmen completely without damage.  Heads were put on pikes, but it was only the nobility that had derided him.

Aachnarn was still a great and well-peopled city, and to compensate the city for its losses, Lord Balmor decried that Aachnarn would be the new capital of the nation-state.  It would be the center of the new world and its people would be the envy of all other capitals across Eirethune.  Lord Balmor then called for a new court of nobles that would include all of the cities in Devnah, Roane and Thearth, as well as any members of the noble families from Aachnarn that were now willing to join the nation-state.

When the city was taken, Lord Balmor sent messages to the other cities in Roane.  He did not wish their destruction, but rather he valued their independent spirit, and sought the addition of their spirits to their own, to create the greatest nation state in Eirethune.  Only a few cities (Harnak, Kreegar, Poznot) joined quickly with the new nation-state that Lord Balmor was bringing, so Lord Balmor sent emissaries next, to speak the word of unification in their courts, to their rulers, to their people.   Soon, only Dag Mier, on the rim of Roane, would not comply with Lord Balmor.  To the court there, Lord Balmor sent the severed heads of the chief nobility of Aachnarn, and the heads spoke the word of unification to the court in Dag Mier.  Roane fell into line with the nation-state.[1]

#### 2425-2431 Invasion of the South

When Lord Balmor sent emissaries to the remaining cities of Devnah, they complied quickly with the spirit of the nation-state; this time following the request of Lord Balmor to send troops to his council that would be held in Bryanende.  When the nobles and forces were assembled, Lord Balmor only said a few words commending all who had brought the nation-state into being, the new Balmorien.  After that, Lord Balmor only famously said, “And now we bring the spirit to new cities. Follow me.”  Lord Balmor left the council, mounted his steed, and trotted out to cross the East Bryan Bridge.

The army followed Lord Balmor heading southward, with cavalry at the front which crossed the Bryan in one day.  They ran into some minor resistance on the Lantor Shores, but the beachhead was made and the rest of the army soon followed.

Pickets from Yardham sent out the alarm to Balkmore, Rinarn, and the other cities and towns of Azmunth.  Troops were hastily sent, but were not very well organized as there was not any central leadership in Teldor at the time.  The Balmorien army swept aside a force outside of Yardham and proceeded to lay siege to the city with a covering force.  With the remainder of his army, Lord Balmor headed to Balkmore to lay siege there.  A combined force of troops from Great Azmunth, Rinarn and Redenkorz attempted to break the siege, but they were fought off.  One by one, the cities of Teldor would fall, the head nobles of their courts killed, and banners of the new nation-state rising in their castles.

Word of the invasion by the nation-state of Balmorien was heard in Surrin, Crocia and the Smothe.  Although the regions were not particularly unified, they at least had shared pacts and councils and communication to a greater degree than what was found in Azmunth.   The troops of the south formed up well in advance of the direct invasion of the main Balmorien army, who had been still taking the rest of Azmunth.

The military leader of the southern army was Lord Takhan, a lord from northern Surrin.  He was commanding in military councils and nobles from all of the cities and regions could not help but to follow his orders.   He believed Lord Balmor would think that the southern armies would just protect central Surrin as it was the easiest way for troops to move and respond in defending the southern cities.   Lord Takhan left a screening force outside Bredenkham, but then moved the bulk of the southern army west and up to Great Azmunth to retake the city and then attack the Balmoriens from the west.  Even if Lord Balmor went south, there would be a force to delay them long enough for the rest of the southern army to attack, destroying their supply train as they went.

When Lord Balmor heard that Great Azmunth was being sieged, he pushed south east towards the Smothe, avoiding Bredenkham and the screening force all together.  The Balmoriens razed villages and towns all throughout eastern Surrin, Crocia and Smothe, pillaging, ransacking ignoring the fate of their supply train to the north.  For the next year, the armies played cat and mouse across the southern regions, engaging in battles of attrition without a single major conflict.  However, the Balmorien army was slowly getting weaker and weaker and they either needed to retreat or gain some advantage and attack the southern army when they were not completely assembled.  Lord Balmor would circuitously make his way north, but he sent out more scouts to trail Lord Takhan’s army and look for any advantage.

Finally, there was a moment when a sizable force of Lord Takhan’s army had been separated with enough distance from the main force that it looked to Lord Balmor that he might be able to destroy it without repercussion and find a route back north to Devnah.  The right wing of Lord Takhan’s army had been near Feanon and then headed north to retake Polkevin, while the left wing was moving southeast through the Gartre Forest to Bog’s Head.  Lord Balmor had been spread in the Smothe, but they could more easily regroup and head north while the left wing of Lord Takhan would have to make their way out of the Gartre Forest, delaying their reinforcement.  So Lord Balmor regrouped and headed north to Polkevin to attack the right wing.  Lord Balmor engaged the southern forces on the edge of the Cymydog Wood, but almost as soon as they did, they were attacked by the entire other wing of the southern army from the rear.  Whether there was illusion or mass speed or some other mysterious force at work, Lord Balmor would never know as his main force would be crushed and Lord Balmor with it.[2]  The Battle of Cymydog Wood left the Balmoriens with desperate stragglers, attempting to head north to the bridge to return to Devnah.  They would never make it, however, as forces from the towns and cities in Azmunth and Lord Takhan’s army hunted them down, thus ending the invasion.

### 2431-2441 Vengeance of the Magnate

Lord Takhan did not stop at the destruction of the Balmorien army; rather he was set on vengeance against the invaders.  He named himself Magnate of the South as commander of the victorious southern armies.   The inertia of the armies cheered him on as the Magnate headed back across the bridge, again with the cavalry first to secure the other side.

The Magnate was not interested in taking Devnah, Roane or Thearth, rather they were more interested in leaving a mark on the north, a burnt and desolate mark.   The Magnate moved his forces into Devnah and ravaged the countryside, burning everything that wasn’t protected by high walls[3].  The nobles of Devnah mustered what troops they could, but separated they were very vulnerable and remained safely in the walled cities.  The rest of Balmorien, however, were worried about the invaders, so they began to muster whatever troops they could, although they had lost so many in the wars in the south.

The Magnate was not going to be trapped in the north like Lord Balmor.  Although they had crossed via the bridge, they sent word to make sure they had support ships waiting for them should they need to retreat.  The ships came north and with the armies, the Magnate progressively destroyed all of the ports in Devnah as well as Poznot; sometimes attacking only from the sea, leaving the city intact.

The Magnate scorched Devnah and southern Roane.  When he started to gather for an attack on Aachnarn; however, his scouts indicated that substantial forces were being gathered on the plains to the north to relieve any siege of the capital city.  So the Magnate burned Harnak and began his retreat back towards the coast.   The Balmorien army followed them and attacked their stragglers, but not before the Magnate burned Devnah more on their way back to the bridge.   The troops and ships headed south, but when they did, they ended the link.  When the army made it to the far side, whatever was left on the bridge sank with the bridge, as the supports and center melted into the sea.

The armies of the south mostly dispersed, but the Magnate had long realized how vulnerable his land was split into city-states.   Therefore, the Magnate called for the creation of a southern nation-state, Teldor, named for the Lord of Balkmore that had bravely died defending the onslaught.  The Magnate set the new capital to be Balkmore, even though it would be led by a family from Surrin.  The cities of Azmunth and northern cities of Surrin joined the new nation-state, but the regions of the south and cities far from Balkmore would not.  The cities to the far south saw Azmunth as a trade partner, but not part of any culture they held.  Nonetheless, two of the nation-states, Balmorien and Teldor were established during this time of war.

## Links

Chronology of Eirethune

Previous, The Demon Wars

Next, The Ice Wrought Doom

## Notes

[1] It is said that Lord Balmor had a horn that allowed him to talk through severed heads which he held in his hands. The horn was lost at the Battle of Cymydog Wood outside of Polkevin and never found.

[2] There are two possible items that could be responsible for the deception that Lord Tarkhan was able to engineer. The *Standard of Treiherr* was said to be an item which projected invisibility in a 120' radius to any person who had touched the standard within a day. There was one such standard found that is in the vaults of Balkmore, but it is said that there were more, probably lost at various battlefields from Cymydog Wood to Harnak. Secondly, the *Staff of Adrain* was said to enable increased speed to any rider who could see the bright gem, up to 300' away. This was lost somewhere in the Wedyn Hills prior to the attack on Poznot.

[3] It is said that Dreebak had flames that ran up the outside of its walls like a flood. The *Gauntlet of Fire Wash,* wielded by Lord Shinden, was the source of these fire waves that crashed against the walls. Lord Shinden of Bamtie, often went on raids against orc-kind in the West Mote Hills. The gauntlet was lost during a raid somewhere in the hills near the River Nant.