Trollbane Suzerainty

The **Trollbane Suzerainty** is an event that marked the end of the Era of Blood and the beginning of the Era of Trollbane Peace -- in which the 'modern' Kingdom of Stromgarde took shape and the Trollbane Dynasty solidified their control over the entirety of the Arathi Basin and began their overlordship of the Stromic Highlands. It was preceded by a series of devastating conflicts, intense diplomacy, and attempts at unification of the Stromic Highlander Clans under a single king, something that had not occurred since the fall of Clan Dunkeld a few centuries before. It occurred sometime after the fall of the Arathorian Empire and -1000 L.C.

# Background

## Era of Blood

The Era of Blood was the preceding period and was marred with intense conflict -- both between the various Clans vying for supremacy over the other, but also as a period of invasions by Stromic Lowlander Houses and Forest Troll Tribes, such as the Witherbark, Vilebranch, and Amani. It began with the death of the last King of the Highlands and the final member of the royal Clan Dunkeld lasted for several hundred years. Many Clans would not survive this period and those that did would find their grudge books filled with feuds that would last until the current day, all having a black mark on their reputations in one way or another.

Several Clans -- now known as the Great Clans -- each called themselves King and warred to expand their respective demesnes and defend their territory from rivals. Several would almost achieve the status of \*royal clan\*, such as the Gowers, Drugains, and Sutherlands, but none ever had the same lasting rule as the Dunkelds before them. Many of the Clans, both Great and Minor, fell during this period. By the time the Trollbane diplomats entered the Highlands, the Clans were all fractured along the lines of eleven Great Clans:

* Angelystor
* Douglas
* Drugain
* Glaenclwyd
* Gower
* Maesmaur
* Pensbryn
* Powys
* Rosgarreck
* Sutherland
* Vannel

Each of the eleven Great Clans had their own few minor clans and septs sworn to them -- alliances between Great Clans were often short-lived and suspicious in nature, never lasting more time than required to achieve an objective before one ally would betray the other.

# Diplomatic Beginnings

When the first Trollbane diplomats came to the Highlands, they approached the border Clans -- Powys, Glaenclwyd, Douglas, Sutherland, and Rosgarreck. Of these five clans, three -- Powys, Douglas, and Sutherland all seemed more amicable than the other two as they often fought alongside Lowlander Houses against the Forest Troll incursions from the south or otherwise had the most to gain from greater support from the more powerful and growing kingdom of Stromgarde. The Trollbane diplomats began using these three Great Clans as a springboard to larger ambitions -- supporting them in greater capacity against such Trollish incursions and displaying their ability to empower clans as they saw fit.

This greater capacity to make greater and more bloody war only began to detract from the common rivals of these three clans -- Rosgarreck, Glaenclwyd, Vannel, Pensbryn, and Maesmaur swiftly beginning to lose more and more ground and villages. These clans began to rally among themselves, joining forces where they could in order to stem the tide of their newly empowered rivals. Soon, Clan Drugain joined them -- their capacity for martial prowess and brutality outstripping all others. The Drugains believed that from this coalition could rise a new royal clan that would see their dragon banner rise.

Calling upon an aged alliance, the Pensbryn Chief rallied Clan Angelystor into the coalition to stand against the Trollbanes. The Angelystor Chief, however, was of a mixed reputation: he was known for easily betraying allegiances at the drop of a hat for arbitrary reasons.

= The Gower Gambit +
Feeling more and more isolated as the only eastern Great Clan to not join the coalition, the Gowers were seeing the writing on the wall and needed to pick a side. Their strength was needed by Trollbane supporters to even the scales and the coalition clans needed them to secure a final victory. At Caer Gower and Auchsmuir were frequently held feasts and diplomatic meetings, but with each passing month the Gowers did not seem to favor one side or the other and neither side seemed to be able to offer anything of substantial gain to get the Gowers on their side.

In this frustration, the wily Drugains decided that enough was enough -- if they would not join, they would die. A massive campaign occurred Gower lands, pillaging and ravaging much of the villages that bordered their lands. This surprise attack caused the coalition to rally suddenly and lay siege to Auchsmuir and Caer Gower simultaneously, splitting their forces. In response, the Trollbanes, alongside Clan Sutherland and Douglas, laid a counter-siege on the impregnable Caer Drugain while Clan Powys began a long march to the sea.

# Angelystor Betrayal

At the Siege of Caer Gower, the forces of Clan Powys fell upon the combined forces of Glaenclwyd, Vannel, Rosgarreck, and Angelystor. Outnumbered 3-to-1, it was a desperate fight to relieve the siege and defeat the coalition forces once and for all. In the midst of the battle, the Angelystor Chief ordered his kinsmen to attack their allies. As the Angelystor held the center, their betrayal was deeply cutting and devastating, but the retribution they felt was in equal measure. Many Angelystor kinsmen were cut down, but such was the price of victory -- many more of the coalition's forces were killed.

With the siege lifted and Clan Angelystor switching sides, the swelled ranks of the Trollbane allied clans moved against the forces of Clans Drugain, Pensbryn, and Maesmaur that laid siege to Auchsmuir. Caught between the walls of Auchsmuir and army that came from behind, the results of the battle were equally as bloody as those at Caer Gower -- a loss for the coalition. Clans Pensbryn suffered deep losses while the Maesmaur Chief had made several desperate charges against the Angelystor warriors specifically, cutting many of them down at the high cost of many of his own clan.

At the last few moments of the battle, the Drugain Chief rallied the final few warriors of the Clan, cutting a bloody swathe through the lines and retreating back to his clanlands in defeat.

# Trollbane Peace

With the coalition largely defeated, the Trollbanes ordered that Clans who resisted needed to have an example be made of them.

* Clans Glaenclwyd was put to the sword, their lands becoming absorbed by Clan Douglas.
* Clan Rosgarreck was put to the sword, their lands becoming absorbed by Clan Sutherland.
* Clan Pensbryn became vassalized by Clan Sutherland -- their land and power remaining more or less intact, being needed and used as a bulwark against the Forest Trolls.
* Clans Vannel lost many of its lands to Clan Powys, becoming their vassals
* Despite switching sides, Clan Angelystor was rewarded only by being spared the sword and their lands were relatively untouched... but they became a vassal of Clan Gower in the process.
* In the chaos of the reorganization, Clan Maesmaur was absorbed into Clan Drugain -- bolstering the final holdout against the Trollbanes.

King Trollbane offered clemency to Clan Drugain, which they quickly accepted. With this, the supremacy of the five Great Clans -- Drugain, Douglas, Gower, Powys, and Sutherland -- became solidified. Each was elevated to the status of Duke of the Kingdom of Stromgarde and each Clan swore to their new overlord, but the treaty written ensured that the Great Clans would be given a large amount of independence -- the Trollbanes become little more than Suzerains over the Clans.