The Battle of Crown Pass

The Battle of Crown Pass occurred in the late autumn, as tensions were building between the Southern and Northern kingdoms. It is recognized as the first true defensive battle of the Kingdom Wars that broke out that winter between the Kingdom of the South and the Kingdom of the North.
The stage for the battle was set when a strong assault by soldiers from the southern kingdom overtook the Crown Pass outpost. What had been intended to be a distraction by southern soldiers from the movement of forces to the west, resulted in a breech of defenses where the southern military claimed the pass; and held it for approximately 24 hours.
The pass was reclaimed by forces loyal to the King of the Northlands when Gabriel Morgan, a former city guard from Newcastle, rallied men and women that had been scattered by the breeching of the outpost's gate. Employing hit and run strikes, a superior knowledge of the terrain, and a keen sense of how to best make use of what skills those he commanded had to offer, Morgan gathered together those able to fight and led them in a battle that successfully routed the enemy forces before the southern kingdom could move reinforcements into position to hold the pass.

Notable Moments in the Battle:

Prison Transport Wagon Attacked on Road:

One of the moments that many historians would agree marks the pivotal turning of the tide for the Battle of Crown Pass is the choice of soldiers, searching for people that had fled the outpost, to attack the prison transport wagon as it was ascending the road toward the outpost.
Many scholars speculate that had the soldiers either allowed the wagon to draw closer, or had been more thorough in assuring everyone on the wagon (and the centaur that pulled it) was dead, then the pass would have remained in the control of the southern forces.
Military tacticians agree that the entire course of the war to come would have been changed had the southern forces controlled such a vital point of entry into the Northern Kingdom.

Early Morning Attack:

One of the most often discussed moments of the battle is Morgan's choice to wait until near dawn before launching his attack. Military tacticians have been known to speak at length on what had to have been a difficult decision, given the sounds of captives being tortured and tormented by the invading soldiers, and more often than not agree that the timing of the attack was vital to the successful re-taking of the outpost.
The choice on timing came from Morgan's application of knowledge gained from years of late evening patrols in the tavern districts of Newcastle. Having spent years as a guardsman patrolling the crown city, Morgan was well aware of the impediment to reflexes that the enemy would suffer from the combination of a lack of sleep and over-indulgence in alcohol.
Military strategists speculate that had Morgan attacked either sooner, or later, than his chosen time, the enemy forces would have been better prepared for holding the outpost until a much larger contingent of soldiers arrived from those that had been deployed west the day before.

Notable Figures in the Battle:

Prisoner Turned Leader:

Sent to Crown Pass as a prisoner, sentenced to serve ten years on the front lines, Gabriel Morgan survived an attack on the prison wagon by southern kingdom soldiers. Escaping the wreckage, Morgan cut free the centaur that had been pulling the wagon and together they fled into the nearby forest. The pair then worked together to take out patrols and rescue as many of those fleeing the fallen outpost as they could, creating a small fighting force comprised of squires, widows, injured soldiers, and civilians that had fled the town.
Leading his rag-tag teams into small skirmishes, Morgan chipped away at the invading soldiers throughout the night; taking weapons, armor, and other gear from the fallen soldiers to arm and armor his own people.
As dawn approached, Morgan moved his people into strategic locations around the outpost town. He positioned those with some skill with bows on high rocks, backed up by those who were too young or injured to do more than supply ready arrows to the archers. The remaining able bodied were gathered into a strike formation that advanced through the town, following tactics used by the Newcastle city guard to suppress riots or push back aggressive crowds. It was a style of city combat that the southern forces had not been trained in, and gave Morgan's group yet another tactical advantage in the battle.

Beast Of Burden Turned War Hero:

Perhaps one of the most notable figures in the Battle of Crown Pass was the centaur that fought alongside Gabriel Morgan. Having arrived at the pass pulling the prison wagon on which Morgan rode, the centaur was befriended by the former crown city guardsman and worked with Morgan to rescue as many people fleeing the outpost as they could, risking his own life to carry to safety many of the survivors. The centaur led the final charge going into battle with Morgan on his equine back, the two leading those who stormed the outpost in the final confrontation that forced the southern soldiers back through the breeched gates and out of the outpost to reclaim it.
In the wake of the successful reclaiming of the outpost, Morgan officially appointed the centaur as his acting second in command. An appointment that shocked the entire outpost, as centaurs had long been regarded as beasts of burden that were equal to horses.

The Warrior Widow:

During the planning for the retaking of the outpost, the widow of a soldier that had been killed came forward and offered suggestions to Morgan regarding locations where archers might be best positioned. Seeing the skill and understanding of the terrain the woman had, Morgan included her in the planning, to which the woman provided significant tactical advantages with her knowledge of the terrain and the layout of the outpost and town. She provided detailed information on where blind spots could be found and identified points of cover that could be used during the attack.
As the southern forces were forced from of the outpost, the woman donned armor and joined the final push led by Morgan and the centaur. She then took the initiative to direct the sealing of the broken gate, as well as guiding teams to fortify several other areas where the wall had been weakened or damaged during the initial assault by southern forces.
Recognizing the skill at strategic thinking the woman had shown, Morgan appointed her the acting military strategist for the outpost until such a time as a new commander was appointed and assigned the task to someone of their choosing. The appointment of a woman to a military position was met with shock by most of the men of the outpost, and enthusiastic praise and raised spirits by most of the outposts' women.

The Conflict

Prelude

Ages ago, as the Temple of Justice began a purge of the old beliefs in the Southern Kingdom, the man that would become known as the First King of the North led a group of refugees out of the town of Elsene and into the Crown of the World Mountains. Trapped in the mountains by winter snows, the group found shelter in the ruins of an abandoned dwarven settlement that was sheltered in a stone canyon that had been carved out by the dwarven people between two mountain peaks.
As spring gave way to summer, the refugees descended into the presumably untamed lands beyond the mountains and soon formed the Northern Kingdom, with Stephen DeVaux named as the first king of the northern valley.
In the years since the Southern Kingdom, ruled primarily by a group of royal advisors from the Temple of Justice, has made efforts to bring the people of the northern lands under the rulership of the Kingdom of the South and extend the reach of the Temple of Justice to all parts of the Northern Kingdom.
A stubborn people, the North remained independent and continued to be a place where all systems of belief were allowed. As the Northern Kingdom grew in power the items made there came to be desired by those of both the Southern Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Isles. Trade agreements were crafted to help facilitate the shipments of goods. Not only between the three kingdoms by sea, but also between the North and South by wagons that traveled the only viable overland route, the narrow mountain trail that is known as The Southern Pass to those in the north, and as Traitor's Pass to those in the South.
A new era is dawning in the world, as mechanical engineers find new ways to transport trade goods. Spearheading this is LaVellen Engineering's new class leader; a steam powered ship. The class leader, under construction in the LaVellen Shipyards of Newcastle in the Northern Kingdom, is to be the King's new flagship and proof of concept for a new class of steam powered ships that will make the Northern Kingdom the world leader in trade, naval combat, and exploration.
Such an advancement in power inevitably fanned the flames of jealousy in the southern kingdom. Royal advisers from the Temple of Justice encouraged the king of the south to declare open war on the kingdom of the north, and to seize the new ship technology for the southern kingdom. Forces that had been building along the border between the kingdoms were sent additional men and weaponry with which to begin a full assault on the outpost in Traitor's Pass, to seize the location and allow for the movement of military forces into the high valley region beyond the mountains.

Deployment

BEFORE THE BATTLE:

The Northern Kingdom:

Before the Battle of Crown Pass the outpost population was comprised of:

• 3 Command level officers
• 20 able bodies soldiers
• 2 centaur wagon pullers
• 20 civilian merchants
• 24 civilian family members of soldiers
• 14 children under the age of 12

In the days leading up to the battle 40 additional soldiers arrived from the crown city to aid in the defense of the outpost.

The Southern Kingdom:

Before the Battle of Traitor's Pass, there were 20 able bodied soldiers led by two commanders camped just below the gates of the pass outpost. A The main compliment of the deployed military had settled into an encampment on the lower southern slopes of the mountains, occupying the ruins of the town of Elsene. This consisted of:

1. 3 military leaders
2. 12 command level officers
3. 200 able bodied soldiers
4. 23 squires
5. 27 civilians acting in support roles to the military encampment

Under orders from the military strategists of the king's court, the force in Elsene deployed an additional 60 able bodied soldiers, led by 3 command level officers, up the slope to partake in a diversionary attack against the pass outpost. The attack on the outpost was intended to keep the Northern soldiers focused on the attack, covering the movement of the remaining members of the encampment along the old trade roads that ran west along the base of the mountain range to a dwarven mining city in the far northwestern corner of the Kingdom of the South.

Taking of the Pass Outpost by Southern Forces:

5 command level officers, acting on orders from the military strategists in the crown city of the Southern Kingdom, led 80 able bodied soldiers in an attack on the Northern Kingdom's outpost at the summit of Traitor's Pass. The men, under orders, pressed the gate in a show of force intended to test the defenses even at the cost of significant loss of life on their side.
In the late evening hours soldiers doused the gate with what lamp oil they had and set fire to the gate, piling logs that had been hauled up the slope against the heavy doors to increase the bonfire that had been set against the sturdy wood doors. By early morning the doors had been weakened sufficiently that the attacking force was able to use additional logs as battering rams to break open the gate and rush the defending forces.
Although their mission had been intended as a mere diversion, the southern soldiers had managed by dawn to take control of the outpost in Traitor's Pass and sent word for the men that had been deployed north to send back enough able bodied soldiers to man the outpost properly and hold it for the southern kingdom.

Reclaiming Control of the Pass Outpost:

As detailed in other sections of this accounting, the pass was retaken after less than 24 hours by a small force led by Gabriel Morgan, who displayed strong leadership and command ability in the placement of what forces he had to reclaim the pass with:

• Gabriel Morgan - acting commander
• Centaur - acting second in command
• Unnamed Widow - acting military strategist
• 7 able bodied soldiers - many of who were fighting while badly injured
• 30 civilian family members of soldiers that had been stationed at the outpost
• 12 civilian merchants

During the battle Gabriel Morgan's force managed to kill approximately half of the invading soldiers, including three of their commanders, and drive the remaining two commanders and their soldiers into a retreat that left the enemy forces back beyond the ruined gateway, which Gabriel's forces were able to blockade enough to hold the line until additional Northern Soldiers arrived to defend the pass from further attacks.

Battlefield

The Crown Pass Checkpoint is an old dwarven mining town that was taken over by the Northern military as a checkpoint on the only pass over the Crown of the World mountains.
Nested in between two mountain peaks, the Southern Pass outpost is usually manned by 20 full-time soldiers and their families. With the increased tensions the number of soldiers at the pass has been tripled, to 60 soldiers actively guarding the pass.
While the valley opens out on either side of the area, the actual pass itself is a narrow cut in the stone of twin mountain peaks, the gap between them filled in by a stonework fortification with a double gateway system on the southern side of the outpost. The northern side of the outpost is more open, flowing into the private homes and businesses of the soldier's families and the businesses that see to the needs of the outpost and those transporting goods through the pass. A meltwater lake feeds into a stream that flows down from the pass, providing a water source to the small settlement and to scattered farms that supply it from lower down the northern slopes of the mountains.
It is on this rugged high mountain terrain where the battle of the Southern Pass is fought, with the small band of defenders moving up northern slope of the mountain to retake the pass.

Conditions

The Battle of the Southern Pass started in the early morning hours, after a long night of the southern military force thinking they had successfully claimed the outpost and enjoyed a significant portion of the outposts liquor supplies in celebration. The battle was further tipped against the southern forces by the time of year being late autumn, meaning the mountain pass was miserably cold and damp from early snowfalls that left the southern soldiers more chilled and miserable than the hardy mountain dwelling northerners that were there to reclaim their homes.

The Engagement

Gabriel timed the initial attack to take place in the early morning hours, a time when he knew from years as a city guardsman in Newcastle, the southern celebrators would have bellies full of reflex slowing liquor and heads drowsy from lack of sleep. As a result of this planning, and an insistence that his own people get as much sleep as they were able to before the attack, Gabriel was able to

Outcome

By retaking the pass, Gabriel Morgan and his resistance fighters prevent the southern kingdom's army from establishing a foothold that would have allowed them to funnel soldiers into the Northern Kingdom.
As the enemy was routed it was realized that, among those who were of rank and able to take command, Gabriel was  the most qualified to be commander until reinforcements arrived. With his history of service in the city guard of the crown city, and his successful coordination of the teams that retook the pass, Gabriel was near unanimously elected to assume command until a new commander arrived.
As his first act as commander, Gabriel shocked everyone by appointing the centaur that had fought by his side as his second in command, and granting the rank of lead strategist to the woman who had helped devise the plan of attack and taken control of sealing off the wall after the southern military was routed.

Aftermath

It remains to be seen what long term effects there will be from the Battle of Crown Pass and the subsequent appointments of a centaur and a woman to high ranking positions within the outpost, but many consider it to be a possible indicator of more equal rights for both women and centaurs so long as the pass remains stable and in the control of the northern kingdom while they hold those positions.

Historical Significance

Before it was a outpost guarding the border between the two kingdoms, the pass was a dwarven city and a gateway to mines that once descended deep into the mountains for precocious metals. Those mines were sealed off by cave-ins long before men from the southern kingdom moved into the ruins.

In Literature

Traitor's Pass

by J.L. Preston
Written by a famous historian of the southern kingdom, the book Traitor's Pass is a scholarly look at how the King's Champion turned on the king to aid demon worshippers to flee through the mountains to create the Northern Kingdom. Considered by many in the Temple of Justice to be the foremost historical record of the events, Traitor's Pass is so heavily laden with passages that support the Temple of Justice and proclaims the God of Justice to be the only true deity, that many outside of the Temple of Justice, or the Southern Kingdom, see the work as blatant proselytizing and an effort to spread fear and misinformation to further the goals of the Justicars.

A Historical Study of Crown Pass

by H.P. Croft
Unlike Traitor's Pass, by J.L. Preston, A Historical Study of Crown Pass is a purely fact based accounting of the history of the pass, beginning with several recent archeological studies of the area that are supported by interviews with dwarves that claim descent from the dwarves that once worked the mines in the pass and built the original structures. The book goes on to walk the reader through a decade by decade evolution of how the buildings and town changed over the first hundred years, then highlights on important changes, before going back to a decade by decade description of the pass's transformation up to the time of publication for whatever edition of A Historical Study of Crown Pass the person is reading.
NOTE: A Historical Study of Crown Pass is banned in the Southern Kingdom and has been a preferred source of fuel for book burnings held from time to time by the Temple of Justice in cities throughout the southern kingdom.

Dwarven Mines: How Deep Is Too Deep?

By The Royal Mining Society of The Southern Kingdom
This geological story of the collapsed mines of the Crown of the World Mountains focuses on what caused the mines to collapse and the possibility that the dwarves abandoned the mines because they encountered demons deep in he darkest mine shafts. This book focuses on the area of the mountains known in the southern kingdom as Traitor's Pass, with a forward written by the High Justicar of the Temple of Justice, at the time of the book's writing, that speculates on the possibility that the people of the town of Elsene were corrupted by demons that had come down from the mines, and that is what guided the people to 'Traitor's Pass' when they fled justice with the king's former champion.
NOTE: Many dwarves recommend this book for anyone that wants a good long laugh and some fine grained paper to keep near their bedside for use with their chamber pot or in their privy. Although most Justicar friendly news fliers and papers only typeset "Many dwarves recommend this book for anyone to keep near their bedside" and claim typesetting space and costs for why the often heard comments are so drastically abbreviated.

Demons of the Mountains?

By The High Justicar of the Temple of Justice, The White City of the First Kingdom.
DUE FOR PUBLICATION THIS YEAR This book, currently being dictated to his scribes, is an account by the current High Justicar of the crown city of the Southern Kingdom of the events that led to a small group of demon worshipping northern heathens being able to cast back the just and devout soldiers of the southern kingdom in their efforts to purge the lands to the north of demonic infestation.
NOTE: Many historians, that are not devote followers of the temple of justice, have already begun to denounce this book as something that should not be published. Citing as their reason, fears of the damage that such a book might do to reasoning and scientific advancements that are enjoyed by those not adhering to the Book of Laws that the Temple of Justice holds as a guidebook for everyone's life.

Small Group Tactics for Military Leaders

By Captain Isaac Preston, His Majesty's Army, Northern Kingdom DUE FOR PUBLICATION THIS YEAR Being penned by Captain Isaac Preston, this tome is already set for mass printing by printers shops in Newcastle and promises to be a military study of the tactics used by Gabriel Morgan and those who aided in the retaking of the Crown Pass outpost by a rag-tag group of mostly injured soldiers, women, and children. Strong debates between the Captain and the publication house leave question to how accurately the account will portray the persons who were a part of the battle. It is expected that many details will be glossed over, or left out of the finished tome. It is expected that there will be no mention of specific names or of the personal history of key figures, so as not to draw attention to the fact that the primary heroes of the battle were a prisoner, a war widow, and a centaur.

SPOILER ALERT:
This article contains spoilers for the not yet written first chapter of Book 2 of the work in progress Northern Kingdom series.
This article describes events from a conflict that occurs at the start of book two of my series. The series is currently being written, with the first book in the editing phase and books two and three being outlined. Given the ongoing process of preparing the story for publication, this conflict is subject to minor changes in some of the details as the novels are revised and events finalized.

Prominent Figures:

Gabriel Morgan
Centaur (Unnamed - pulls wagon)
Widow of one of the soldiers

Two Different Names:

Crown Pass

In the Northern Kingdom the pass across the Crown of the World Mountain Range is known as Crown Pass and is a trade checkpoint and military outpost on the only land-based connection between the kingdom of the north and the kingdom of the south.

Traitor's Pass

In the Southern Kingdom the pass is known as Traitor's Pass and is named for the perspective the people of the south have on the former King's Champion, who deserted his post and fled over the Crown of the World Mountains with the people that had fled the town of Elsene on the eve that the town was to be purged of demons and their consorts.

Conflict Type

Battle

Belligerents

The Military of the King of the Northlands

• Northern Kingdom

Led by

• Gabriel Morgan

The Military of the King of the Southern Kingdom

• Justicars

Strength

• Unnamed Centaur - acting 2nd in command
• Unnamed Woman - acting military strategist 
• 7 able bodied soldiers - many injured in previous fight
• 12 civilian merchants
• 30 civilian family members of soldiers
• (14 being children under the age of 12)

• 5 Command level officers
• 80 able bodies soldiers - Full Time

Casualties

Unknown

• 3 Command level officers
• 47 able bodied soldiers

Objectives

Retake the pass outpost and hold it until reinforcements arrive from the garrison at the base of the mountain.

Hold the pass outpost until reinforcements arrive from the those that had been deployed to the western edge of the mountains.

A Terrifying Sight to Behold

One can only imagine how the southern soldiers must have reacted when, in the darkest hours of the morning, the never before seen sight of a centaur clad in full military armor came charging out of the darkness toward the large bonfire the men had set in the town's central square.
Even more startling would have been the perception that the centaur had four arms, wielding shield and twin swords, as the arm and blade of Gabriel Morgan would have been all that would have been easily visible of the man seated on the centaurs equine back in those first few moments of the attack.
In their tired and inebriated condition it would be understandable if the devout followers of the God of Justice had thought the king of demons itself were rushing out of the darkness to the north to claim their souls.
It is speculated that this opening move was a likely cause for the soldier's ranks having been so easily broken by the much less experienced and smaller force that drove them from the outpost.