Lorenzen War

The Lorenzen War was a conflict that lasted from **392PR** to **417PR**, between the Lorenzen Kingdom and the Kingdom of Nirva. It started with the initial raiding by the Lorenzens over the Yiburn River into Nirva, leading into a full scale war.

## Background

In **353PR** the Lorenzen Kingdom managed to quell the tribes in between the Junak Stream and the Yiburn River, expanding their border outwards so that it reached the natural river, which in turn touched borders with the Kingdom of Nirva.

By **381PR**, the Kingdom of Nirva had finished expanding its borders, conquering the tribes that once raided them and looking inwards to deal with internal conflict. They also began consolidating themselves as a regional power.

The Lorenzen Kingdom began dealing with internal problems in **390PR**, with another succession crisis now placing Felix Jepsen on the throne.

To avoid dealing with the internal conflict and looking outward, Torkild Brandt began preparing his army to begin raiding Nirva.

In **392PR** the raids began, not starting the official war but being claimed by historians as the beginning of the war since it snowballed into an all-out-conflict.

## Raiding

Initial raiding into Nirva was met with little success, with Brandt losing more in finances than gaining anything. This caused the raiding to become more sparse before some of the other Lorenzen nobles joined in by **394PR**.

The seasonal raiding continued, draining a lot of Nirva’s economy, though some victories allowed them to gain some of it back. Sending armies of their own over the river to raid some of the Lorenzen lands.

By the end of **395PR**, the raiding became more fierce, with skirmishes between the two breaking out everywhere. The Nirvans were able to gain some victories, but were losing due to their outdated tactics.

With the Battle of the Yiburn River coming to a close with Lorenzen victory, it changed the scope of the warfare from just raids to full warfare, with King Octan reforming the military. Internal conflict in the Lorenzen Kingdom soon broke out, giving the Nirvans a chance to breath and rebuild.

## Nirvan Advance

With the reforms successfully implemented, they began rebuilding the army and dealing with the smaller raids across the river. No land had yet to be taken in the 9 year long war.

When the crisis was at its worst in **402PR**, the Nirvans were able to cross the Yiburn river unopposed, creating fortifications on the Lorenzen side of the border. King Octan wanted the first objective to be Orolan, willing to take things slow under his commanders who were still learning after his reforms.

Once the Lorenzens realised their mistake, Brandt gathered his army and went to fight them at the Battle of Lentia.

As the campaigning season ended, the soldiers under General Marius built a fortification along the Rubicon River, getting supplies from Nirva when needed.

In **403PR**, Marius was able to get reinforcements from Nirva with commander Titus Julius at the head. Using the fortification near Lentia as a base, the Nirvans ventured out and raided the surrounding area.

Before the end of **404PR**, Gaius Marius and Titus Julius were able to get the walled city of Orolan to surrender, by blocking Brandt out of his regional power to stop him from convincing his council otherwise. Marius spared the Lorenzens in Orolan, keeping most of the council members other than those that opposed Nirva in control, one of the promises he had to keep when the city surrendered.

Finally, the Lorenzen Kingdom had finished dealing with the crisis, putting Ivan Clemmensen on the throne. King Clemmensen’s first act was to gather the nobles under his influence and march on the Nirvans in **405PR**. Marius and Titus went out to meet them at the Battle of the Junak.

## Truce

In **406PR**, with the successful coup of King Ivan, Peter Eriksen now had control. Realising he needed time to consolidate his power rather than go straight into conflict, he called for a truce with the Nirvan leader, King Octan.

The negotiations between the two were mediated by the Aliquam Guild, using a neutral place in Serdica (where they were welcomed by the Dwarves). The discussions lasted 3 days before they finally agreed on a truce, with King Peter giving up Orolan in the hopes he could take it back eventually.

The truce ended 8 years later in **414PR**, when King Octan died of old age, leaving his son and heir, King Kaeso, in control. Wanting to mark his own name in history, he brought the truce agreement to an end by gathering an army under Gaius and Titus, aiming to take the city of Yiburn.

## Capture of Yiburn

King Peter was a smart man, one of the better Kings since the Lorenzo family. Keeping updated on King Octan's health, knowing full well that the heir would likely try and restart the conflict again.

So, using the time provided, he quickly quelled the unrest amongst the Lorenzen nobles before building up his defences in Yiburn. While he was unsure if he could keep the city, his plan was to make it so the Nirvans had to fight for every piece of land they acquired.

When the campaigning season started, Gaius and Titus entered Lorenzen lands at the head of a strong Nirvan army, meeting the Lorenzens at the Battle of Klaton.

Understanding the Lorenzen tactic, Gaius split his army into two, with Titus leading the second and himself leading the first. They were to slowly take different routes to Yiburn, ensuring that their supply lines could follow and be protected in case of an enemy attack.

The rest of the year for the Nirvans was met with constant hit-and-run tactics, King Peter revolutionising the way it was done. He aimed to kill two Nirvans for every metre gained, keeping a constant barrage of volleys on them at all times. During the night he didn’t let them sleep, attacking them at every opportunity and burning what supplies he could find.

By the end of the year, the Nirvans had only moved halfway to Yiburn, building fortifications along the way to protect their supplies. King Peter himself had troubles and losses, though this year was classed as his victory.

In **415PR**, the same happened again. Gaius and Titus moving slowly into enemy territory and the Lorenzens hitting them with everything they have at every moment. Once more, by the end of the campaigning season, the Nirvans had gotten to Yiburn, though were unable to siege.

For the Lorenzens, their attention was about to be required elsewhere, dealing with Ilakan and tribal raids on their Northern border. King Peter remained in the South to deal with the Nirvans but sent a good portion of his forces under Count Birch.

Once the campaigning season in **416PR** rolled around, Gaius and Titus united their armies with reinforcements from King Kaeso. Orders were also given to take the city by the year as they were now expanding outwards to deal with the tribes nearby, including in between them and Bhirn.

With their numbers boosted to 15,000 once more along with some siege equipment built during the winter, the Nirvans marched on Yiburn to take the city by force.

For the Lorenzens they planned to let the Nirvans siege, so that they could harass the enemy every chance they got. What they didn’t expect was that the heavily defended supply lines and fortifications meant Gaius’s flanks were covered. King Peter was able to hurt the enemy a little, but once the siege equipment pushed forward, the enemy fortifications stopped the Lorenzens from pushing through and lifting the siege.

Inside the city was a slaughter, Hanne and Livy write that the frustration of the constant Lorenzen attacks boiled over on the Nirvans, making them kill indiscriminately. The city was so gutted that once Marius took control, very little of the citizens remained, either dead or escaped through the tunnels.

Once it was captured, it was renamed to Julius, after the founder of the Kingdom.

## Peace Agreement

By **417PR**, the fighting between the Lorenzen Kingdom and the Kingdom of Nirva had halted. The Nirvans instead focused on the tribes around their new areas, intending to conquer them while the Lorenzens were focused with the Ilakans.

With an opportunity he didn’t want to miss, King Peter opened up discussions with King Kaeso. Aliquam was once again used as a mediator, offering protection to the Lorenzens and Nirvans when they passed through one another's territory. Negotiations came to a close in Caesan with King Peter giving up a significant amount of money and letting the Nirvans keep the cities.

The peace agreement officially ended the war, seen as a huge victory for the Nirvans.