Werewar

The **Werewar** was a war in which the kingdom of Duthu had defend itself, and its cursed were-king against attacks from both the kingdom of Chotque and the kingdom of Ammer who were trying to steal pieces of land under the excuse of liberation.

## History

### The Prelude

The Season of the Goat in 987 brought a heavy drought to the kingdom of Duthu which caused that year's grain harvest to fail. The king was holding session in his court were he made an effort to relieve his subject's plight and lend them financial aid. Each issue they brought before him he would judge fairly. Slowly the courtroom began to thin out, until only an old cloaked woman was left standing. The day had been long, and the king had not eaten anything all day so he asked the peasant woman what she wanted in a less polite tone than he would have liked. "Only a piece of bread... It's all I ask." the woman told him. In any other year this would have been a simple request, but the harvest failure had caused bread to become worth its weight in gold, and the only one that the king had left was for the king himself. "You can't have any!" he replied to her. Again the old woman begged for a piece of bread and again the king refused. Then the old woman became furious and threw of her cloak, revealing the shape of a beautiful sorceress. "For your lack of tact and dog like behaviour I will curse you to spent your nights as your true self!" she screamed at the king while cursing him with foul magicks. Each night from that day onward the king would became a dog-like beast known as the were-king. At first his courtiers tried to keep this dark curse hidden from the general public, but it wasn't long before rumours began to spread about the howling people heard coming from the king's palace. After two years the rumours had spread far enough to reach the ears of neighbouring monarchs, and they declared war on the were-king of Duthu to "liberate" the kingdom from this evil beast.

### The war

The two armies of Chotque and Ammer attacked on the same day in a uncoordinated surprise attack, claiming a large amount of land before a counter force could be drummed up. The generals of the Duthu army at first tried to fight Chotque with the full might of their soldiers, and managed to successfully drive the troops of Chotque out of the lands that they had invaded during their surprise attack, all the way back to the border. Then the army focused itself on Ammer and they drove them back to the border, but by then Chotque had reclaimed the land they were just pushed out from. The generals quickly realised that their only chance was to split their forces and fight a war on two fronts. The were-king's man hold staunchly against the invading forces, but were slowly and surely driven back until they stood with their backs to the capital city's walls.

### The sudden end

The war ended in a stalemate after the were-king of Duthu was found dead in his chambers, causing Chotque and Ammer to lose their justification for the war. It is believed that the were-king committed suicide in a rare moment of clarity when he saw the bonfires of the enemy armies shine on the hilltops surrounding his palace. Rumours however say that it was his trusted adviser who killed the king in a desperate attempt to save the kingdom from conquest. No matter how he died thou, the kingdom was saved and the enemy forces retreated from its lands.

### Aftermath

The kingdom of Duthu was forever weakened by the conflict and its monarchy would never be restored to its former self. The lands it had successfully defended during the werewar would slowly be chipped away and gobbled up by the kingdoms surrounding it until Duthu became just a shadow of its former self.