Untenable Circumstances
During the mid-Fifth Wave, after the
Cataclysm, the
Grekelski a small statured people of reptilian descent, lived in the swampy area of the inland sea on the west side of the
Spiral Mountain Range. The waters in the inland sea rose, inundating and consuming their homeland as a result of major environmental and terrestial changes wrought by the
The War of Light and Dark, the
Dragon War and
the Cataclysm. The grekelski were forced out of their homes and into the lands of the elves. This set up an immediate conflict between the two people groups as the grekelski took over the elven territory and the elves resisted, a conflict that resulted in the great Swamp Battle and the subjugation of the grekelski.
An Unintended Invasion
The grekelski were attempting to create a place for themselves and their offspring, but this was not a compatible aim with the same desires of the elves who already lived in the region around Houghton where the grekelski emerged. The grekelski require an extensive swamp-based ecosystem to reproduce and they began to aggressively convert arable land and pastures belonging to farmers in the areas ruled by the elven kingdom into swampland through a complex system of dikes and irrigation pipes.
This became an immediate problem. Elves are a prickly lot, and the large scale immigration into their land by a people who were diametrically opposed to their environmental, cultural, economic, and religious values and destructive of their property and welfare was seen as an invasion. The legitimate property rights of farmers under the elven governance were ignored, in large part because the grekelski, being mostly a hunter-gatherer society, have no concept of property ownership beyond regional territorial boundaries. Their conversion of farmer's lands and destruction of crops and pasture was extensive, and the elves fought back, destroying the irrigation systems the grekelski had installed and uprooting the non-native swampland species out of their fields. They then began to erradicate these changes out of any areas (not just privately owned farmland) where they were seen. Tensions escalated in the area as farmers defended their livelihoods and the grekelski struggled to establish a foothold where they could live.
Escalation
The grekelski took to protecting their irrigation systems and the non-native species they had planted and depended on for food and habitat. Grekelski warriors were stationed on elven farmers lands, and tensions increased dramatically. Elven farmers appealed to their government for assitance, and the town mayor sent troops to aid the farmers.
Initially, these conflicts ended strongly in favor of the grekelski, as the local elven troops were nothing more than volunteers and police forces, and were not equipped to deal with actual military troops. After several skirmishes in which the elvish forces were badly outnumbered and forced to retreat, the Grekelski became confident and redoubled their efforts to convert the lands of the elves of the inland sea region into a swampland habitat.
The elven governor of the region recognized that his troops were inadequate to the job that was required, and appealed to
Fellalond and
the Green Lady, who responded with well trained and well equipped troops including war mages, specially trained and skilled elven
sorcerers who specialized in military conflict. The forces were led by her personal guard, the Green Lady's Brotherhood, and the expeditionary force was under the command of General Hortense Kamelo.
The
Grekelski military forces were grossly out numbered and ill-equipped compared to these new elven opponents. The grekelski had a few magic workers, but these shaman were not trained or specialized for combat. The elven farmlands which had been the source of the conflict were not yet transformed into swamp, an environment with which the grekelski military was familiar and could have used familiar effective tactics.
Interactive map that lays out the events of the infamous Swamp Battle between the Grekelski and the Brotherhood of the Green Lady.
Resolution
After several skirmishes on local farmlands which ended in retreat for the grekelski, the grekelski regrouped to attempt to meet the elves on terrain that favored them. Within their chosen battlespace, large force of grekelski attempted to ambush the elven forces, but their plan was thwarted by elven sorcerers who were able to detect the ambush and direct their troops to avoid it. The elves divided their troops and designated a small force to spring the trap, then took the bulk of their forces and circled around the grekelski and counter-ambushed them. The grekelsi fell back and disappeared into the limited swampland they had been able to create, only to be trapped when elven sorcerers used fire spells to burn their shelter off. The grekelski forces were slaughtered, with over half the troops killed outright, and a third of the remaining troops injured enough to impair their capability to fight. The grekelski fled the fire, those who were not killed in the fiery blast.
The surviving grekelski reported back to their king Crotaphi who was contemplating possible courses of action, all of them grim. At that point, the elven commander, General Hortense Kamelo, sent an envoy to king Crotaphi and requested a parley. When the king agreed, the meeting was short, but more hopeful than he expected.
The Green Lady had been thoroughly briefed on the situation, and recognizing that the grekelski had been motivated in their actions by a fundamental need for racial survival, she had authorized the elven commander to offer a new home in a swampland within the elven kingdom to the grekelski in exchange for their surrender.
This opportunity was not without risk, but clearly seemed the best path forward to the king. He agreed to the terms of surrender and
directed his troops to lay down arms and submit to the elven officers.
While this agreement on both party's parts was probably made and accepted in good faith, the outcome was much less successful than was hoped for by either side. Today, Crotaphi's surrender is looked upon by the
Grekelski as a fools dream, and his name has become a slang term for "idiot" or more generously, "niave".
I love the cover art; that is, of course, the first thing I noticed. I appreciate the unusual, novel-like presentation of the article as well. I think you've done a great job of laying out the stakes and explaining tactics of both sides. Some suggestions: A visual of some kind would be helpful, either a battle map or, at the very least, an example of terrain so that an observer can get an idea of how it worked - but you did a great job of describing that, too, so mostly this would just be to break up the text a bit. Even the most well-written text can get a bit dry without visual aids, especially in any online format. It doesn't have to be fancy; even a crudely-drawn and photographed image would give some depth. You could even turn the disadvantage into an asset, by saying it was a hastily-drawn battle map of the grekelski battle commander on site, which can make the whole thing seem more real. Maybe it's a matter of limited space -- free account? -- but if not, this might really help. I would like a clearer idea of numbers? Like, how many troops (estimates within a range of 10s or even 100s is perfectly acceptable.) Also, just FYI; loss of half of one's troops, with that many wounded? That's not a decimation. That's a slaughter. Technically, "decimate" literally means to be reduced by a tenth (it's Latin) and it comes from an old punishment; to punish a whole unit by punishing every tenth troop. And that in and of itself is usually an indicator of a dramatic loss in a battle. An army that has been decimated will struggle to fulfill its duties in the next battle. Half of the troops lost, and more wounded? Surrender was the *only* option. I'd also like to know more, briefly, about why things did not turn out as well as hoped. If you already wrote articles about that, leaving them as articleblocks would be helpful. You can put them in the full length footer if you don't want a sidebar (which clearly you did not) :) Overall, a very interesting read, and well thought-out. Good work!
Thank you for reading all the way to the end and for the constructive comments! I agree with everything you said, way too much the wall of text, I simply ran out of time to make this better. I plan to fix it next week. I did not know the history and precision of meaning of decimate - thanks for extending my knowledge! And yes, my "oppressed species" is the grekelski and I did explain how it all turned out (badly for everyone). It's here if you care to read it!
Grekelski
The disappearance of the inland sea wetlands drove the grekelski into conflict with the elves which remains unresolved even today.