First Battle for Serezhi Manye
The first of three major battles for the protection of Elazireth's domain, Serezhi Manye. The city was a prime target for Krel'Outama to attack because of the proximity of one of his breaches, due to a pocket in the Natural Flow only a few kilometres from the city, Krel was able to spawn Void Beasts quickly and aggressivevly without having to cross a continent to reach the Dragon Lord. This is the first battle where Krel was able to directly infiltrate a Dragon Lord's domain, massively increasing the threat he imposed. The defence was lead by Teråvinen as Elazireth's current Dragon Speaker. This is also the battle where Zhetvokhron became the first Void Breather.
The Conflict
Prelude
The breach Krel made laid low for a few years. It had broken through into an underwater cave that had a weak presence of the Natural Flow, enabling the easy breach point. Krel couldn't initially push the city using this breach because the early Void Beasts weren't capable of swimming. As a result, they were forced to stay inside the cave until a new Beast was produced that could. This version would first meet the waters in early 2402, prepared to take on the city. For the majority of August, Krel was merely testing the capabilities of this new Void Beast, and it proved to be doing a fairly good job of both navigating the waters and combating Raxarians, so come the 29th, Krel formed an assault force and began attacking the city on the 30th.
Battlefield
Much of Serezhi Manye was at stake. The Void Beasts eventually even made it to the gates of Elazireth's chambers, where they met the fiercest resistance.
The Engagement
During the early hours of the morning, Void Beasts caught the raxarians by surprise and crashed through the city entrance, having little trouble gaining significant distance early on. Once the Raxarian resistance properly gathered, their progress had slowed immensely, but not stopped. For much of early afternoon, the frontline had frozen entirely, holding firm near the city centre. Some Raxarians broke away in an attempt to flank the Beasts' line, however they had the same idea and caught them on the way. They weren't prepared to meet such swift resistance on their route and were pushed back to the Raxarian line. In doing so, the line was forced to retract deeper into the city as to cover their sides and compress the defence. Teråvinen stayed at the front line alongside his kin, stalwart to protect his home and his Lord.
Krel's initial push was held back for some time but it was not to stay quiet forever. By that night, much of the first wave had been defeated, and the raxarians had earned themselves a break from the chaos to assess the situation. The line moved much further out and secured a more fortified position, preparing for more Beasts. While they did so, Teråvinen established communication with Ranðuikh, Zysargia's current Dragon Speaker, in an urgent request for reinforcements. Ranðuikh agreed and sent a force of 400 from the reserves to assist Serezhi Manye, and they should arrive the following day. A few hours into the night, the second wave of Void Beasts hit, this time slightly larger than the first. The raxarians were ready though, and the line held firm for a while longer. The expected reinforcements, however, did not arrive when expected. They were met with a Void Beast overwatch group, the first of its kind, sent to intercept incoming Raxarian reinforcements. A grave sign that the Beasts were adapting.
The reinforcements didn't lose many raxarians, but they did lose time. They were set back a few hours, mostly from the combat itself, but also from the aftermath of caring for dead and wounded. The line back in Serezhi Manye was starting to buckle without these reinforcements. The recent advancements in Void Beast "magic" was causing significant damage to the raxarian defences, which were ill-equipped for such attacks. Once again, they had no choice but to fall back into a more defendable position. The new vaguely aquatic Void Beasts were proving to be a formidable foe, much stronger physically than the Void Majors and the raxarians were struggling to fight them effectively. The reinforcements were getting close but the line still needed to hold out until they arrived. At around mid-afternoon, the line finally broke. Some Beasts coordinated a blast into the centre of the line that blew a big hole right through the defence. The line was once again forced to retreat further in lest the remaining raxarians get metaphorically eaten alive. By now they were edging ever nearer to the gates of Elazireth's domain. Here, the raxarians held a firm defence. Shortly thereafter, the reinforcements finally arrived. They barreled through Serezhi Manye, clearing any and all stragglers they came across and checking on fallen raxarians. Some groups of raxarians became separated due to the chaotic nature of this battle. They met up with the main force and gradually cleared up the remaining Beasts. There were still hundreds of Void Beasts left to eliminate and they were still able to split up the reinforcements into multiple smaller groups. A group of around 80, that including one yet-to-be-named Zhetvokhron, ended up finding themselves quite far from the frontline. More on the outcome of that group can be found in his page.
With the reinforcements finally there, the Void Beasts were eradicated at last. Despite the fierce fighting, raxarian losses were relatively low - at least when compared to other conflicts of a similar scale. This is due to the defendable nature of Serezhi Manye, the main route through the city is an enclosed cityscape. There are many places for raxarian archer support to fire safely from, along with strong avenues safe from flanking for shield-bearers to secure. The interior of the main structure, just outside of Elazireth's domain does not have such structure however, which is why it became much harder to hold once they were forced inside. Despite the difficulties they faced, it was firmly a raxarian victory.
Outcome
Once the Raxarian reinforcements arrived on the 2nd, the Void Beasts could no longer keep up. Pinched from both sides, they were eradicated. Much of the city was damaged, if not destroyed, however the large majority was unscathed. Many Raxarians were injured, but relatively few were killed when comparing to other conflicts of a similar scale.
Aftermath
The Raxarians now knew that there was a breach somewhere nearby; there was no way that such a large force of Void Beasts could've made it to Serezhi Manye unnoticed unless the breach was close by. Finding it would prove to be nigh impossible though.
Included under Conflict
Conflict Type
Battle
Battlefield Type
Urban
Start Date
August 30th, 2402 BFB
Ending Date
September 2nd, 2402 BFB
Conflict Result
Raxarian victory
Location
Belligerents
Strength
Estimated to have been around 3000.
On-site Raxarians were about 900 strong. Reinforcements later arrived with 1200 more.
Casualties
3000.
92 deaths, 257 major injuries, with 498 other injuries.
Objectives
Raid Elazireth's chambers and destroy everything in the way.
Defend Elazireth and the city.
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