Second Lorenzen War

The Second Lorenzen War was a conflict fought between the Nirvan Republic and the Lorenzen Kingdom. It is the second such event that occurred in the world, the first being the Lorenzen War between the Kingdom of Nirva and the Lorenzen Kingdom.

## Background

In **392PR** the first Lorenzen War was fought between the Kingdom of Nirva and the Lorenzen Kingdom, caused by Torkild Brandt when he and his forces chose to cross the Yiburn River and raid the lands of Nirva.

The war caused a lot of evolution for the Kingdom of Nirva, especially through the Octan Reforms, which greatly changed their army. Eventually, the Nirvans were able to win, taking the city of Yiburn and forcing the Lorenzens into a peace agreement.

The two nations continued a lingering hatred of one another leading to only small skirmishes between the forces. It wasn’t until **490PR** that preparations were made for a second war. The preparations were started by Vibius Calenus and Gallio Aebutus of the Calenus Faction, already known for the military strength at this time. The two had spent most of their life by this point dealing with future threats of the Republic, mainly with their Southern border. Now that the Southern border had been dealt with, they changed their focus North, where the Lorenzen Kingdom stood.

Using their power in the government, and Gallio being a consul at the time, the duo and their allies began building an army and training the troops for a long war. King Lukas Bundgaard heard reports about the upcoming war and decided to use his time to build up his defences and quell the unrest in the nobles.

When the Nirvan army was prepared and the campaigning season begun, the Nirvans sent an official envoy to King Lukas and declared war, passing the Junak stream into the Kingdom.

## Course

On Asunak 4 **491PR**, Vibius, Gallio and the Nirvans crossed the Junak Stream with a total of 7 legions alongside Arenian, Bhirnian and Thurim allies, bringing their total to 37,000.

### Steen

The moment the Nirvans crossed the Stream they begun dividing their army. 3 of the 7 legions, a total of 14,400 troops, would go with Gallio Aebutus and move up on the Western side of Steen, spreading into the hold of Busk if needed. The goal of Gallio and his right-hand man, Decimus, was not to fight the enemy armies but instead take lands while Vibius battled, retreating back to Orolan if needed.

The rest of the troops, including the allies, would move with Vibius and take the Eastern side, where they would face most of the early combat.

The Lorenzens under King Lukas were gathering their forces together at the time with a meeting point in Ludvigsen. Their plan was to meet the Nirvans on their terms and use their more mobile force to force unfavourable encounters. The only noble who did not go to the meeting was Eskild Steen, who gathered his troops and rode out to face Vibius in battle, even though he was vastly outnumbered.

#### Battle of Steen

*See: Battle of Steen*

The Battle of Steen was the first battle of the Second Lorenzen War between Eskild Steen and Vibius Calenus, Eskild realised he would likely lose the battle without inflicting any serious damage, but as an honorbound warrior, he had to protect his lands.

As expected, the Eskild’s forces were dismantled, though a surprise was the fact that he wasn’t able to deal a single blow to Vibius, who burnt the front of his army before they reached him. Seeing such a visual of power, the rest of the Steen soldiers surrendered.

Steen was later conquered, bringing Vibius and Gallio’s armies back together as one, ready to face the Lorenzens gathering in the next hold.

### Johansen

The next target for the Nirvans was the hold of Johansen, bordering with Steen and Ludvigsen. Cautious, Vibius and the Nirvans pushed into the hold slowly, ensuring they were ready for any attack, avoiding the disaster that happened at the Battle of Acela during his early career.

The hold went without much resistance, though was slowly taken, Vibius fearing that the Lorenzens could come down from Ludvigsen at any moment. When they didn’t he remained in the hold for the rest of the year with the troops while Gallio returned to Nirva for the winter to deal with the politics.

The reason the Lorenzens had not pushed up was once again due to internal struggles. Angry that Eskild had gone ahead without them, the other nobles began complaining that their own holds could be taken. At one point infighting almost occurred between the troops, forcing King Lukas to take control. Eventually he managed to calm the nobles and state that they would face the Nirvans in the next year.

### Clemmensen

Gallio returned to Vibius in Marcu **492PR**, joining back up with his brother-in-law and taking command. The Nirvans at this point were in high spirits, they had taken two holds and had yet to lose a single man. In the winter, Vibius spent most of his time sending spies and scouts into the surrounding land, hoping to learn the reason that the Lorenzens hadn’t attacked.

When he found out, he began his move. The first target was the hold of Clemmensen, hoping to take or at least threaten most of it before the Lorenzen nobles returned back to Ludvigsen where the King waited eagerly. Reports had told him that most of their troops had returned home for the harvest, so it was unlikely that they could come together fully in time for a major threat. So, his goal was to force their hand. He first waited for the nobles and troops from Clemmensen, Magnussen and Morch to make their way to Ludvigsen, even holding off on attacking them individually. After they passed him, he moved into the Clemmensen hold and began his control.

In the Lorenzen camp, William Clemmensen was furious, about to lose his hold. The lords of Morch and Magnussen were similarly furious, fearing that they may be cut off from their base of power, or worse, their finances. So, after pressure mounted on King Lukas, the Lorenzens left their camp to march on the Nirvans, still missing the armies from Laurid and Meldgard.

#### Battle for Clemmensen

*See: Battle for Clemmensen*

Vibius soon heard the scout reports of army movement and began preparing a suitable battleground. It didn’t take long for him to find a large flat plain with a hill on his side, setting up his camp there while forming his army ahead. The Lorenzens arrived later, waiting a day before the battle.

The battle itself was a major victory for the Nirvans, forcing the Lorenzens to withdraw and the death of one of their nobles at the hands of Vibius.

### Magnussen and Morch

Fending the Lorenzens back for the time being, Vibius once again split his army in half. This time he left half his army with Decimus at the recommendation of Gallio, who returned to Nirva to deal with the politics.

Decimus marched and took Magnussen, besieging the large town and starving them to surrender. In Morch, Vibius took the land easily, marching through each village and town and watching them surrender. When he reached the small city of Morch, he was welcomed, the citizens fearing brutality. Instead, Vibius held a festival for his victory and left the city relatively unharmed, ending the year.

### Busk and the Ilakans

At the beginning of **493PR** both sides received the unfortunate news that the Ilakans had declared war on the Lorenzen Kingdom. Frustrated that he may have to face two armies, Vibius left Gallio in Nirva, letting him deal with the political aspect of things, while he gave a third of his army to Decimus Auxilius.

The goal of Decimus was to take everything West of Asger lake, removing the buffer zone between Ilaka and Nirva. However, he was given strict orders not to antagonise the Ilakans, commanded only to take the area and set up a fort for defence.

Vibius on the other hand was going to take the hold of Busk, staying away from the Lorenzen army. The Lorenzen and Ilakan movements during this period are covered in the Ilakan Lorenzen War.

Without a unified army to face them, the Nirvans only faced up against Kristoffer Busk, who only had a small amount of forces. This became known as the Battle of Asger Lake, despite it being in the hold of Busk.

After winning the battle with once again no losses, Vibius left a garrison of men and a fort just north of Busk, entering the Dalsgaard hold, expecting the Ilakans to quickly overwhelm the Lorenzen army.

### Juul

Now holding the complete Southern side of the Lorenzen Kingdom, he decided to slowly push up to the capital, hoping to either capture it or isolate it from the Ilakans while he awaited Gallio to deal with them politically.

This time the hold took even longer than he expected, dealing with the monsters in the Asger Forest along with Lorenzen resistant fighters. One time Vibius had to evacuate his own tent to avoid the fire from surrounding him during a night raid. Later, Vibius would describe the hold as a frustrating and stressful place, giving him new things to be angry about each day.

By mid-way through Caesan, he finally conquered the stubborn hold

### Ludvigsen

With time left in the campaigning season, Vibius eventually regrouped with Decimus and entered the Ludvigsen hold. Knowing the Lorenzens could attack at any point, he took it slow, taking the lower side of the hold first. After taking the Southern side of the hold, Vibius received good news from Gallio.

The news reported that his brother-in-law had managed to make a deal with King Ilias Kostides, allowing them conquer up to the hold of Dalsgaard, not taking any lands that the Nirvans had claimed. The only cost was that Vibius would have to defeat the Lorenzen army, allowing the Ilakans to meet little resistance.

Finishing the letter, Vibius immediately sent his scouts out to search for the Lorenzen army, pushing up quickly through Northern Ludvigsen. When he heard that the Lorenzens were stationed on the far East of Dalsgaard he rode out to meet them, happy he could claim some of the hold as his own, ignoring what relations would be damaged with the Ilakans.

### Dalsgaard

Vibius and his soldiers arrived in Dalsgaard by the start of Jika. During his march, King Lukas had managed to find a flat plain for the two to battle, now more confident in the control of his army. Seeing no other alternative, Vibius travelled to meet him.

#### Battle of Dalsgaard

*See: Battle of Dalsgaard*

The Battle of Dalsgaard was the victory the Nirvans needed to end the war, but it came at a heavy cost. The Lorenzens gave everything they had in the battle, fighting tooth and nail, negligent of their own well-being. At one point in the battle the Lorenzen Knights almost broke through, forcing Decimus and his reserves to ride out and meet them.

Vibius once again proved his worth in the battle, hacking his way through the enemy and reaching their commander, where he used his magic viciously to bring them to their knees.

By the end of the battle, the Lorenzens had been defeated. Vibius and the Nirvans now took the long process of taking the other holds, finding heavy resistance that only slowed their progress.

### Vestergaard

Before the campaign season ended, Vibius was able to conquer most of Vestergaard, though was unable to take the city before the weather made it too dangerous. Instead he wintered with his soldiers, keeping up good morale.

The Ilakans had similar difficulties, unable to reach Dalsgaard by the end of the year.

When the winter ended in **494PR**, Vibius and the Nirvans conquered the rest of Vestergaard, leaving only the Royal province left.

### Royal/Nylev

Now that all their borders had been conquered, the Lorenzens had nowhere. Still, they mounted heavy resistance, fighting the Nirvans in small groups whenever they could. Vibius by this point was growing bored again, deciding to participate in most of the battles. There, he earned his second nickname, the Demon of Nirva.

When the Royal province, all that was left was their capital, Nylev. Gathering his advisors, Vibius tried to make a plan to take the city but realised he would lose to many men. Cursing the losses from the previous battle, he returned back to Nirva, ending the war.

## Legacy

The legacy of the Second Lorenzen War is deeply ingrained in Nirvan history. It was one of their greatest achievements in the Early Republic, celebrating the man Vibius who helped them achieve it.

The lands have continued to be held by the Nirvan Republic to this day, combining some of the holds into different provinces to be governed.