Dead Lands Campaign: by Fendragur Calinhad
PART 3: Moorland
With the fall of both Kar Duran and Zvolen’s sacking it left inhabitants of the Dead Lands with the fear of certain annihilation, I’m sure of it. More clearly this phase is marked heavily by a more coherent and unified resistance against the marching armies. It is also the first phase of the war when the armies actual suffer defeats though they do end up all joining forces together for the march on Drachenwald.
This phase was considerably longer as the fighting took place through Autumn and Winter leaving many of the armies to slow down their marches due to whether and logistical concerns. I would speculate that many of these battles were simply delaying tactics by the Drachenwald Pact, and the Coalition’s blindness to the cohesiveness and intelligence of their foe had become far too relaxed in their movements.
As many say, in hindsight if the Coalition hadn’t taken so much time to group up they might not have had to face such a large foe at the Battle of the Moorland, or better it could have been avoided and they’d just taken Drachenwald. This isn’t about ‘what ifs’ and ‘might ofs’ though; This is about what did happen for as always by its very nature hindsight is useless.
Map of Phase 2 of the Dead Lands Campaign [Blue is Northern Front; Orange Western Front; Green Southern Front; Yellow Eastern Front; Cyan United Front].
Northern Front
For consistency we’ll start with the Northern Front lead by High King Blámhac Mac Abhann of Gleann-Abhann and King Spjälle Östbergson of Ealdomere. Last we saw these two they had spent much of their portion of the campaign arguing over which direction to march. After all the Gleannics and Ealdomerens have a nasty history of near constant conflict with each other. A vast majority of their issues were dealing with raids on their supply lines which slowed down their large army considerably. Worse off they found themselves quickly dealing with strings of mass murder in their camps with men drained off their blood completely. Beyond that little resistance was met leaving only two battles of note.
1.
Netra - October 31 - November 19, 1560 P.A. the siege of Netra began. Though the Northern Front could easily have overtaken the large village they felt it better not to waste troops as the village itself was almost entirely living Slovics. It also allowed them to focus on the supply raids more than before.
2.
Ruins of Koschel - At the fall of Netra they march East coming across a set of ruins named Koschel. Here little resistance is met as they simply wait out the winter amongst the empty stone structure. From November 25, 1560 P.A. - March 19, 1561 P.A. they wintered until being called to meet up at a set of coordinates on the map to unite the four fronts.
Western Front
This front is the one which suffered the most setbacks during the second phase of the campaign. The chief reasons were as follows; dividing their forces to explore the mountain pass network; misinformation given by local guides who viewed the Coalition forces as cruel invaders; said locals also put up massive guerilla resistance; and finally the snowfall in the mountains once winter hit.
1.
Devil’s Pass - October 15, 1560 P.A. The name the dwarves gave it was Thul Dhuvheysh, but the Urak-hai called it by its translated name. It was a Dwarf bridge over a collapsed cave ceiling, which meant a long fall into an area with rather tall stalagmites. A natural pitfall.The stone bridge was sturdy and wide but they soon found themselves accosted by crossbow fire from the other side of the bridge, as well as burning barrels of tar and oils being rolled down toward them. After all there were plenty of small settlements littered throughout the mountains especially for the Dwarfs, and though Kar Duran had fallen the war was still on for them. The Dark Horde though managed push through and drive off the small band of Dwarven guerillas.
2.
Bumlodir - November 1, 1560 P.A. Warchief Orgug Blackfist lead a large detachment of his Dark Horde against a dwarf settlement set up in the passes. In it were both Dwarfs and a contingent of undead, as well as necromancers. The worst news at the time was how the forbidden school of magic still existed. Though it makes sense seeing how if there were still living Slovics there would still too be necromancers for that type of mage had thrived in the region before the plague.
3.
Sunstone Pass - November 19, 1560 P.A. With the Dark Horde moving through the Eastern branch of the mountain paths the Teifland forces under Warlock Pavart Nergüi move along the Northern paths. They gain guides from local Drow and follow them wanting a direct route out of the mountains to link up with the Northern Front. They run into issues at an underground pass through a massive quartz cave. There they are assaulted by Gollic Drows who do precision strikes killing Tiefling officers, such as their warlocks, Pavart himself was killed leaving his second in command Arkrius Tsukino, his apprentice.
4.
Betrayl - December 8, 1560 P.A. Warchief Orgug had fallen back to the Western Front’s headquarters of Kar Duran but a third of his forces still explored deeper into the mountain range lead by their Gollic Drow guides, who had been paid a substantial fee for their services. This was a mistake as the Urak-Hai had no idea that Pavart had angered the Drow at Eluvidale, seeing how both army leaders refused to speak to one another. The Erilidar Drow had lead the Uark-Hai into a small depression where they could camp ‘safely’ during winter. Instead a large force of Drow, Dwarfs, and Slovics began to rain arrows, bolts, and boulders down on the Urak’hai in their vulnerable position, forcing them to retreat blindly into one of the mountain passes.
5.
Frozen Pass - December 14, 1560 P.A. to January 21 1561 P.A.. The Dark Horde forces soon became trapped by the snow drifts in the upper Montenegrin Mountain range and were left suppliless in on plateau they soon named the Frozen Pass. Much of their forces died from starvation and hypothermia. After the snow began to melt thanks to freak warm front they joined up with the rest of the Dark Horde army informing their warchief of the betrayal. Orgug Blackfist quickly tortured the Drow guides as punishment.
6.
Retaliation - December 25, 1560 P.A. Also known as the second battle of Eluvidale. The battle of Retaliation was a cunning trap laid out by the vengeful Eriladar Drow. Their druidic nature magic while at first doing exceptionally well to the Tiefling ranks soon proved unable to combat the destructive force of the demonic fire magic the warlocks held. The tide was turned and the Drow were forced to retreat.
7.
Zilina - December 31, 1560 P.A. With the mountain passes becoming increasingly harder to navigate and move through thanks to the Winter snows the Tiefland forces temporarily under control of Arkrius Tsukino did a forced march through the snow drifts and rammed into the walls of Zilina. It was here they finally realized that there were not so mindless undead about. The settlement put up a surprising defense despite the skeleton crew left to hold it. Still by the end of the day it had fallen, with a moderate amount of Tiefland casualties. After which the Tiefland army tried to resupply as best they could and rested until eventually linking up with Warchief Orgug later on towards the end of winter. While wintering orders came in from the Warlock council in Omnigovi to relinquish command to Warlock Chekad Govewala, seeing how Arkrius Tsukino was still just an apprentice.
8.
Vjss Fjord - February 17, 1561 P.A. This battle was a pincer strike from several willful undead with Gollic’s acting with ranged support. Their force was incredibly small compared to the full might of the Dark Horde army, though they were using the narrowness of the battlefield to counteract this. Still the Urak-hai proved the victors with their undead assailants doing a full retreat. After this the Dark Horde forces met no more resistance in the Montenegrin Mountain range and eventually linked up with the forces of Tiefland.
Southern Front
While the Western Front had more battles the Southern Front had larger and bloodier ones than all the others. After having spent a large amount of time unable to continue moving North through the Forsaken Valley the Southern Front managed to find a pass leading them East then North into the highlands around the Sabine River section in this area.
1.
Ragusa - September 12, 1560 P.A. To their immense surprise the Southern Front is confronted at the village of Ragusa by a contingent of Slovics mixed with Gollic Drow from the Aluua tribe, undead necromancers, and Ashtong Urak-hai. It was little more than skirmish between the defenders and the vanguard for once the main army arrived they fled East.
2.
Narrows - September 15, 1560 P.A. the Southern Front attempted to march across the Sabine River at a spot called the Narrows. They were met though by heavy resistance from both the forces fought at Ragusa, and reinforcements from Ostrava which was their target. Despite their significant numbers the forces of Ostrava had prepared with an array of siege equipment who laid down a thick blanket of artillery fire upon the Coalition forces as they attempted to cross.
3.
Sanguine Pasture - September 26, 1560 P.A. After being forced to fallback and stay in the Southern side of the river the united forces of Tinnu Torphen, Khabaro, and Al-Maghreb came into conflict again. This time it was in a stretch of land covered in a red tinted vegetation, thus why the soldiers gave it the name Sanguine Pasture. Here they were hit by a force of Mahnusian jinetes coming South out of the foot hills, and Aluua rangers with Waldesian light infantry from the West. The ensuing battle has a lot of contradictions as to what exactly happened but what is known is that the Southern Front won the battle but took almost one thousand casualties.
4.
Bloody River - October 1, 1560 P.A. Having driven off the enemy at the Sanguine Pasture the Southern Front moves north toward a section of the Southern Sabine river which was just as easy to cross as the Narrows. Here they were met with the same resistance as they were at the Narrows though. Still the Coalition forces hunkered down and kept pushing forth. ‘Once more into the breach’ was the most commonly given order that day as much of the fighting between the Ostrosian forces and the Southern Front was in the waist deep waters of the Sabine River. With incredible luck the Southern Front’s few mages managed to take out some of the enemy artillery allowing them to focus more on the enemy units. The magical bombardments and lack of missile support forced the Ostrosians back. By the end of the battle the Southern Front had lost 2300 troops, they didn’t bother to count their enemies dead.
5.
Ostrava - October 16 P.A. By forcing the Ostrosian army to do a full retreat it gave the Southern Front both a much needed respite, and more importantly the large amount of enemy artillery that was left behind in the retreat. This was put to great use as it tore down the walls of Ostrava. Once Ostrava was defeated the Southern Front marched into the town and killed all kicked all the remaining inhabitants out to start for the winter whilst the Coalition rested there to recoup their strength. Later on they would meet up and join the other Coalition forces at Skopje.
Eastern Front
The Eastern Front went very much like how the Western Front had done. They moved slowly and spent a long time wintering at Brno once they took it. afterwards though they did come into conflict with several undead forces in the area along their march. These fights weren’t as difficult as those suffered by the Southern nor Western Fronts though.
1.
Brno - September 13-14, 1560 P.A. After the incident at Bromon Grove the united armies of Trimaris, Ansetorra, Bran, and the Twelve Peers march toward the only known settlement on their maps. Their reason for going North rather than South was due to the wilderness and swampland being just as thick near the Oreth River, river that separates Latmium from the Dead Lands, as it was in the central region. Marching an army of theirs through there would have been near impossible. Upon arriving near Brno they moved their forces into position and quickly took the village killing every undead there. After which they actually decided to stay in Brno for several months due to the need to change and maintain supply routes which were undergoing the same attacks as the army did at Tall Fields.
2.
Stand of the Roshae - January 30, 1561 P.A. The Eastern Front has gone on the march again and managed to arrive at a Drowish fort called Wethsari. Here approximately two to three hundred Drow of the Roshae tribe had been doing long range reconnaissance into Coalition territory, and sabotage work as well. Grandmaster Cédric Gardet broke the moral of the Gollic tribals quickly with a massive push from his paladin core. The Drow had obviously never face such warriors and upon capture were tied to stakes and left to die of thirst, starvation, or any opportunistic animals that came by.
3.
Battle of the Crater - February 6, 1561 P.A. The battle of the crater was as the name suggested in a crater. In fact several craters were scattered along the Ostrava province. The Crater must have been rather old as there were plenty of gentle sloping entrances for the armies to move down and meet. It essentially was skirmish between the Trimarin cavalry and undead who had most likely come from Hodonin. The undead put up an adequate fight and killed more than who killed them but still lost. Their heads were taken by the Trimarins as trophies.
4.
Cacenas - March 5, 1561 P.A. After the Battle of the Crater the Eastern Front turned toward the great wilderness to deal with some force of mindless undead that had gathered in great bulk over winter. Upon arriving the Coalition forces were stuck fighting a large horde of mindless undead being controlled by both a cabal of necromancers and several Liches. Using a large array of flanking tactics, and holy magic from the paladins they managed to defeat all the liches, for the time being. With this they felt their supply lines secure and marched south to meet at the predetermined coordinates with the other fronts.
United Front
The united front is what the full force of all the Coalition forces were called. Meeting on the plains of Varna. Here both the Eastern, Western, and Northern fronts united. The Southern front would only link up later on.
1.
Battle of Coalition - March 30, 1561 P.A. This was less of a battle and more of a scouting attempt on the armies of the Coalition. No one of the United Front died but several enemy scouts did. This was hyperboled into some epic struggle showing the unity of the continent as a moral boost. In actuality a patrol found a handful of scouts and killed them.
2.
Skopje - April 7, 1561 P.A. This was an actual battle with all the forces of the Coalition working alongside. Here is where the Southern front managed to link up with their other coalition members. The village itself fell with the casualties they gave being miniscule at best. The sheer overwhelming strength of the united front made them a true terror.
3.
Svejtnic - April 24, 1561 P.A. At the vast estate of some long dead noble the United Front was struck hard by a large force of heavy cavalry using necromantic magic. At the time they had no idea what these riders were, now we know they were death knights of Charon’s Echelon. These riders hit in several vital spots and penetrating deep into the war camp before turning and fleeing without suffering casualties themselves. Angered by this attack the march toward Drachenwald was put on hiatus as the United Front chased after these riders in full force. Suspiciously, having a head start and being in a small more maneuverable mass than the Coalition, these riders were always in sight leading of their pursuers.
4.
Battle of the Moorland - June 1 -5, 1561 P.A. The mysterious riders lead the Coalition into a part of the precarious Dead Lands’ wilderness. It had no name that we know of so it was simply called after the dominant geographical feature, the moors that dotted the area. This battle had an unprecedented amount of units that hasn’t been seen or since seen in known history. The United Front had approximately 72000 units, with the Drachenwald Pact fielding an estimated 100000 units. The battle lasted several days with many casualties on both sides. This is an important battle which will be covered later on in detail. For now just know that the United Front lost leading to the final phase of the campaign.
Chronology of Events
- Ragusa September 12, 1560 P.A.
- Brno September 13-14, 1560 P.A.
- Narrows September 15, 1560 P.A.
- Sanguine Pasture September 26, 1560 P.A.
- Bloody River October 1, 1560 P.A.
- Devil’s Pass October 15, 1560 P.A.
- Ostrava October 16, 1560 P.A.
- Siege of Netra begins October 31, 1560 P.A.
- Bumlodir November 1, 1560 P.A.
- Sunstone Pass November 19, 1560 P.A.
- Siege of Netra ends November 19, 1560 P.A.
- Northern Army winters at Ruins of Koschel November 25, 1560 P.A.
- Betrayal December 8, 1560 P.A.
- Trap of Frozen Pass starts December 14, 1560 P.A.
- Battle of Retaliation December 25, 1560 P.A.
- Zilina December 31, 1560 P.A.
- Trap of Frozen Pass ends January 21, 1561 P.A.
- Stand of Roshae January 30, 1561 P.A.
- Battle of the Crater February 6, 1561 P.A.
- Vjss Fjord February 17, 1561 P.A.
- Cacenas March 5, 1561 P.A.
- Northern Front ends wintering and Ruins of Koschel March 19, 1561 P.A.
- Battle of Coalition March 30, 1561 P.A.
- Skopje April 7, 1561 P.A.
- Svejtnic April 24, 1561 P.A.
- Battle of the Moorland June 1-5, 1561 P.A.
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