The War of Ash and Light refers to the open conflict between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty.[5] The war took place between 835-836 PD and lasted for eight months and seven days. Underlying conflicts, however, began decades earlier.
Background[]
Rising tensions[]
Virtually from the moment of its founding in 539 PD, the Dwendalian Empire sought to expand itself by absorbing or conquering its neighbors in Western Wynandir.[6] Inevitably, its continued expansion brought it up against the neighboring Kryn Dynasty. Although the Ashkeeper Peaks formed a natural boundary between the two, the Kryn viewed the continuous expansion by the Empire with suspicion, while the Empire saw the Kryn as bestial remnants of a land devastated by the Calamity. Tensions grew between the two countries, and starting before 806 PD, a long string of skirmishes with the Empire escalated before full-scale war broke out in 835 PD.[7][8] During the Chroma Crisis in late 810 and early 811 PD, when news spread of the fall of Draconia and the occupation of the Dreemoth Ravine by the ancient white dragon, Vorugal, the Kryn Dynasty temporarily withdrew to Rosohna, fearing another attack.[9] But about a year after the crisis, there had been recent attacks on outlying townships on both sides of the Kryn-Dwendalian border.[10] In approximately 822-823 PD, a battle was fought near Nogvurot in which many soldiers on both sides were killed.[11]
Martinet Ludinus Da'leth listed the reasons for the tensions as: the Kryn belief in the Luxon, Kryn missionaries recently found in Nogvurot,[12] skirmishes along the border and the Kryn capture and torture of Empire spies, rising numbers of Xhorhasian creatures crossing into the Empire, general mistrust of goblinoids, and a growing suspicion that the Kryn coveted the comparatively richer Empire lands.[13]
Theft of the Luxon Beacons[]
Fan art of the attack on the Zauberspire, by Lap Pun Cheung.[art 1]
In the few years before war broke out, two of the precious Luxon beacons of the Dynasty had disappeared and resurfaced within the Empire. The Kryn believed they had been stolen, while in reality they had been given to the Empire by a traitor within their own government, Shadowhand Essek Thelyss, who thought that the beacons should be studied rather than worshiped.[14] This exacerbated tensions between the two countries, and the Kryn eventually sent two infiltrators into Zadash in an unsuccessful attempt to recover at least one of the beacons, during which the Zauber Spire was nearly destroyed. Instead, both Kryn were killed and the beacon disappeared, as it was recovered by the adventuring group known as the Mighty Nein.[15]
First Battle of Ashguard Garrison[]
On 3 Fessuran 835 PD, the simmering tensions boiled over into full-fledged war with a Kryn attack on the Ashguard Garrison in the Ashkeeper Peaks near the Brokenveil Marsh in which over a thousand Empire soldiers were killed. In response, King Bertrand Dwendal formally declared war.[16]
Known events[]
After the war was announced in the city of Zadash, there were immediate large troop movements by the Empire eastward.[17] The city of Hupperdook was a center of production of war machines for the conflict,[18] as well as explosive and black powder-based technologies.[19] The Empire also began recruiting mercenaries from outside the country, with some coming from as far as Shadycreek Run[20] and Nicodranas.[21]
Attack on Castle Lorelei[]
According to the semi-canonical one shot The Song of the Lorelei, at some point before the end of 835 PD[22] a Kryn soldier entered the Dwendalian Empire, and with the assistance of three criminals from Deastok attacked the settlement of House Lorelei. The drow used necromancy to summon undead to help take down the castle guard and staff,[23] assassinating Katerine Lorelei, the family's former regent,[24] and maiming the ruling lord, Haldur Lorelei, before taking him to the family mausoleum to wait for Lord Lorelei's children to return home and find the message asking them to meet. There, he waited with Lord Lorelei, and used his magic again to reanimate the previous head of the house, Lady Geneviève Lorelei, turning her corpse into a dark undead entity, the Iron Woe.[25] When the Lorelei siblings arrived at the castle they were confronted by the three human criminals who had assisted the Xhorhasian soldier (during that battle the reanimated corpses of various Lorelei ancestors found their way into the Cyrengreen Forest),[26][27] and when they found Haldur with his captor confronted him, barely rescuing Lord Lorelei,[28] defeating their undead grandmother[29] and killing the Kryn agent.[30]
Although this independent military move caused great damage to one of the Dwendalian Empire's noble houses, presumably limiting its involvement in the war, the dark elf agent who led this attack had personal motivations that went beyond war: decades earlier, he and Lady Geneviève had become lovers, having Haldur out of wedlock despite the disapproval of both parts of the family; however, when other Kryn soldiers came to take their comrade, a fight ensued, in which both Geneviève and the elf's twin brother were killed.[31] The Kryn agent was taken back to Xhorhas, but years later, when Haldur's eldest daughter was six, he and his wife Rosalind had Haldur's father as a guest in Castle Lorelei for at least a portion of the summer, although the dark elf spent part of that time disguised.[32] Whether this visit was for purely sentimental reasons, whether it revived old grudges or whether it was part of an espionage operation is unknown; however when the drow attacked his son years later he did not immediately kill him, and when the Lorelei siblings confronted their grandfather (ignoring their blood relation) Haldur tried to stop the fight, to no avail.[33]
Attack on Felderwin[]
While the Mighty Nein were at sea, they heard little of how the war was progressing. However, at Bisaft Isle, they learned that there had been recent battles between the warring nations and that Marquis Olesya Lapidus of Port Damali was calling many of the Clovis Concord's warships to the southern coast near the border with Xhorhas as a precaution.[34] There had been very recent news of a Kryn attack on Felderwin, and that its fields had been set ablaze.[35] When the Mighty Nein investigated the Felderwin attack, they learned that it had apparently been aimed at recovering one of the two Luxon beacons in the Empire's possession. The beacon had already been removed from Felderwin, but the Kryn captured the alchemist who had worked with it, Yeza Brenatto, taking him back to Rosohna, where the party eventually obtained his release and reunification with his wife, Veth. This release was facilitated by the Mighty Nein returning to the Dynasty the beacon that they had recovered months earlier in Zadash.
Attack on Hupperdook and Second Battle of Ashguard Garrison[]
In mid-Misuthar 836 PD, Dairon told Beauregard that very recently, Dwendalian attempts to retake the Ashguard Garrison had failed, with great losses, and that Kryn assassins had managed to kill several military-linked nobles in both Bladegarden and Zadash. She had also learned that Hupperdook was mobilizing a next wave of experimental weaponry including small mobile war skyships.[36]
On 25 Misuthar 836, Dairon shared with the party that she had heard rumors of a recent Kryn military push westward towards Urzin, one of their mobile swamp cities.[37] Toward the end of Dualahei 836, there was a series of attacks by the Kryn on some of the military siege installations within the empire, including an assault on some of the weapon creation factories in Hupperdook.[38] The city sustained quite a bit of damage.[39] The Empire counter-assaulted within Xhorhas, retaking the Ashguard Garrison at the cost of many lives.[40]
Battle of Rexxentrum[]
A Kryn attack on Rexxentrum itself began on 13 Thunsheer 836, using tunneling purple worms bearing Kryn warriors.[41] The attack was halted when Allura Vysoren told King Dwendal that she had, on behalf of the Council of Tal'Dorei and as a neutral third party, reached out to the Bright Queen and told her of the activities of the Angel of Irons cult and their attempt to release one of the shackles binding Tharizdun. Because Allura represented the information as coming from the Mighty Nein, the Queen trusted their word and temporarily withdrew the attack so that the Kryn would not be inadvertently aiding the cult.[42] Martinet Ludinus Da'leth of the Cerberus Assembly suggested that the Empire could use the Nein as a mediation tool to bring the conflict to an end by returning the Empire's Luxon beacon.[43]
The party was successful in getting the Bright Queen to agree to a peace conference between the two warring nations, and to maintain a cease-fire while they took place.[44]
Conclusion[]
Fan art of the Mighty Nein reacting to the end of peace negotiations, by Zoe Roellin.[art 2]
The war was declared over on 10 Unndilar 836, after successful negotiations between the two nations occurring on ships in the Lucidian Ocean south of the Whitedawn Lagoon and east of Urukayxl.[45] The parties' respective prisoners, Vence Nuthaleus and Adeen Tasithar, were exchanged, the beacon was returned to the Dynasty, and the armadas sailed away peacefully.
Tensions between the two nations remained, however, as they competed to excavate and recover artifacts from the ruins of Aeor in the northern reaches of Eiselcross. While there was no active warfare, machinations and maneuvering continued to take place behind the scenes in a form of cold war.[46]
References[]
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 20.
- ↑ See "Harvest Close" (2x17) from 2:25:32 through 2:27:02. Starosta Wyatt Fedar received word that war had been declared. It was announced publicly the following day.
- ↑ See "High Seas, High Stakes" (2x99) at 3:22:59.
- ↑ See "Family Gathering" (2x71) at 39:57.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 6. The war's name is given here.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, pp. 15–16.
- ↑ As of 836 PD, skirmishes had been happening for "over thirty years". See "Unwanted Reunions" (2x88) at 1:45:48.
- ↑ In 835 PD, skirmishes had been leaving bodies in the Brokenveil Marsh for "nearly two decades." See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 136.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 20. The text says this happened in 815 PD, but there is overwhelming agreement among sources that preceded Campaign Two and the Explorer's Guide or came afterward that the Chroma Crisis would have occurred in 810–811 PD.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 99.
- ↑ See "Stone to Clay" (2x91) at 0:34:53.
- ↑ Because of the battle which took place there in which a Luxon beacon was present, slain consecuted Kryn soldiers had been reborn in Nogvurat children, and were now at the age where they were recovering memories of their past lives. See "Stone to Clay" (2x91) at 0:34:53.
- ↑ See "Unwanted Reunions" (2x88) at 1:44:52.
- ↑ See "The Fancy and the Fooled" (2x97) at 3:54:00.
- ↑ See "Midnight Espionage" (2x12).
- ↑ See "Harvest Close" (2x17) at 2:25:27.
- ↑ See "Labenda Awaits" (2x20) from 0:22:42 through 31:41.
- ↑ See "The Hour of Honor" (2x24) at 0:11:10.
- ↑ See "Divergent Paths" (2x25) at 0:20:21.
- ↑ See "Converging Fury" (2x27) at 2:15:33.
- ↑ See "Agreements" (2x61) at 1:27:05.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 0:20:14. Liam describes to Lucius the troop movements that happened after the war was announced in Zadash, meaning House Lorelei was attacked after that event but before the attack in Felderwin.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 4:22:43.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) from 0:58:36 through 1:00:49.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 3:10:54.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 1:58:54.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 2:31:17.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 3:00:34.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 4:14:20.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 4:20:00.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 4:23:00.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 1:08:16.
- ↑ See "Liam's One Shot: The Song of the Lorelei" (Sx36) at 3:09:46.
- ↑ See "A Storm of Memories" (2x46) at 0:25:58.
- ↑ See "A Storm of Memories" (2x46) at 0:26:50.
- ↑ See "Family Gathering" (2x71) at 0:39:37.
- ↑ See "A Tangled Web" (2x77) at 45:05.
- ↑ See "From Door to Door" (2x81) at 3:25:19.
- ↑ See "Lingering Wounds" (2x89) at 0:17:24.
- ↑ See "From Door to Door" (2x81) at 3:25:19.
- ↑ See "The Cathedral" (2x86) from 0:18:54 through 0:25:49.
- ↑ See "Punishment and Politics" (2x87) from 3:04:34 through 3:06:28.
- ↑ See "Punishment and Politics" (2x87) at 3:08:13.
- ↑ See "Bathhouses and Bastions" (2x90) from 3:12:00 through 3:32:11.
- ↑ See "High Seas, High Stakes" (2x99) at 3:30:25.
- ↑ See "Gathering of Needs" (3x95) at 0:23:42.
Art:
- ↑ Fan art of the attack on the Zauberspire, by Lap Pun Cheung (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of the Mighty Nein reacting to the end of peace negotiations, by Zoe Roellin (source). Used with permission.