Everyn War

Despite its name, this conflict was begun by the Dumein Dominion, and they were the aggressor throughout. It is called the "Everyn War" because it was the first time in history that the flourishing city of Everyn was successfully attacked - much less subdued - by a foreign force. After centuries of trying to conquer all territory in the east of Ayndrinor, the Dominion was able to take Everyn through cunning political alliances and a good amount of skullduggery within the city.
Having the boon of Everyn's wealth and population, the Dominion was now able to fund a war across the continent, challenging all their neighbors for the first time in two centuries. Two of the neighboring kingdoms - Brandis and Riverford - saw the might arrayed against them and surrendered quickly, hopeful to be given lenient treatment and allowed some degree of autonomy. This proved a wise strategy, as their hopes were rewarded with less harsh treatment. This worked in the Dominion's favor as well, as they were able to close two of the fronts of the war and divert troops to the main fronts in the north and southwest. The other neighboring nations - namely Wessil and Tallstag - put up valiant resistance to the onslaught, but in the end the Dominion (by that point under the newly created banner of the Everyn Federation) was able to breach the walls and capture the cities and their leaders.
The only successful defender was the high-tech gnomish Enlightened City of Kort, despite the Dominion's best efforts. The large army mustered at the foot of Kort's cliffs, ready to scale the sheer walls or fight up through the train tunnels. But the defenses of the city proved too robust for the attackers to overcome, and the Federation was forced to give up after only two weeks. At the foot of the Korter hills, the Dominion lost at least 9,000 men to death or injury - mostly borne out of leaders' frustration at not being able to get past the defenses and committing soldiers to hopeless attacks that left many maimed or killed. These casualties are more than the Federation/Dominion suffered in the entire rest of the war combined, and they occurred within roughly a month.
From the assault on Everyn to the formal surrender of Tallstag at the event known as the Peace of Everyn, the war lasted just over 3 years - one of the shortest and most successful campaigns in Ayndrinor's known (a.k.a. Second Age) history. Historians and scholars are still puzzling at how the Dominion was able to conquer Everyn, especially after so many previous tries. It might take several decades or centuries for the answers to reveal themselves, long after the current Sovereign and his advisors are dead.

The Conflict

Prelude

Since the early centuries of the Second Age, the nations of eastern Ayndrinor have been almost perpetually at war. Conflicts ebbed and flowed with changes in leadership or due to the effects of droughts both environmental and fiscal. Territory and towns changed hands frequently, and leaders wanted to make a name for themselves in their nation's annals by expanding their land. One lull in the wars had been in place since around 1265 2A, as territory was consolidated and the ambitions of the leaders were tempered by years of drought and sustained economic hardship.
In the year 1475 2A, a new Thegn was crowned in Dumein Keep. Taking the name Oswold IX, this leader started off his reign quietly, ensuring his people were fed and happy. His mother, the previous ruler, had left him a set of very competent advisors who were all eager to help the young thegn step into his own legacy. Some three short years after his coronation, Oswold began to make political moves and alliances that would be the foundation for the Everyn War. He arranged the marriages of several cousins to the highest noble houses in Everyn, ensuring that the city would be more pliable to Dominion rule once he was ready. With these alliances primed, Oswold and his advisors just needed to employ a bit of subterfuge to subdue the great city, and then the continent was changed as the war began.

Deployment

After quickly taking Everyn, Oswold IX spent the summer and early autumn gathering up the city's treasure and mustering as many soldiers as he could manage. Much of the marshy fields between Everyn and Dumein Keep were turned into military camps and training grounds, as these peasants were drilled in the ways of war. After enduring a winter in training, Oswold's troops were sent out along several different fronts. The First Army marched southwest toward Crowsbane and Hillsborough Camp, hoping to subdue the kingdom of Wessil and cut off land routes to Brandis. The Second Army marched north toward the Kingdom of Tallstag, while the Third and Fourth armies headed west toward Riverford and Kort respectively.
Having gathered information and reports of the forces mustering and training, the Monarch in Brandis sent a formal letter of surrender to Oswold, hoping to avoid bloodshed in his territory. The third army besieged the Riverfordian town of Bridgington quickly after the beginning of the war, though this only lasted a couple weeks before Riverford likewise surrendered and fell under the banner of the Everyn Federation.
The Fourth Army split from the Second Army after taking Camp Morrigan and headed for Kort. They set up a siege force outside the Lower City, hoping to take the train station and allow their soldiers to make it up to the Upper City. Even the Lower City put up a strong resistance, and it took many casualties and just under a week for the Dominion forces to breach the walls. There, they were bogged down and hindered by Kort's advanced technology and defensive capabilities.
The Second Army continued its march north after taking Camp Morrigan, splitting slightly to allow smaller forces to take the Northwest Watchtower and Baggerville while the main host laid siege to the capital of Forest-end.
Having forced surrender relatively early, the Third Army was ordered to split to reinforce the other flanks. Half went south to join the First Army in Wessil, while the other half headed north to join the sieges of Kort and Tallstag.

Battlefield

The First Army, bolstered by the reinforcements from the Third Army, was able to capture Crowsbane, Hillsborough Camp, and Croppschire in quick succession, allowing them to be at almost full force heading toward the capital of Crabbe-by-the-Sea. There, the siege was held for several months against fierce opposition from the defending city. The army was forced to bunker down for the winter and maintain the siege, hoping to starve the city into submission. By mid-spring the siege was in full swing, and by the beginning of summer the city had fallen.
The Second Army, also bolstered by reinforcements from the Third Army, was able to take the Northwest Watchtower and Baggerville somewhat quickly. The former fell quickly due to its size and geographic isolation, while the latter had more to do with not having adequate perimeter walls to keep the invaders out. Following these successes, the armies marched on Forest-end and began a siege there. Unlike the First Army down south, this siege force had to contend with the fierce northern winter during their siege. The Tallstaggers were used to operating in frozen conditions and in the harsh winter, so they were able to operate as normal, whereas the attackers had to retreat and hunker down for the winter at Camp Morrigan. The following spring, the siege resumed, but Forest-end proved to be too resilient, and the siege was held until the next winter, with both sides suffering casualties and loss or damage of equipment.
As winter of 1482 set in, the armies once again retreated to Camp Morrigan and let up the siege. This gave the city yet another chance to stockpile reserves and build up their food supply to withstand the siege once again. The following spring of 1483, the two sides looked to be in yet another deadlock that would last until the following winter. However, due to the surrender of Wessil in the south and the retreat from Kort, the Dominion was able to move a massive number of troops to the northern theater and focus more manpower on overtaking Forest-end. And in fall of that year, the extra numbers proved invaluable, as the city was breached, and surrender accepted. The Peace of Everyn was signed on 20 Fomar Ardt, 1483 2A, marking the end of the war and the beginning of the Federation.
Not mentioned so far is the Fourth Army and their travails at the cliffs of Kort. Having besieged the Lower City for several weeks and finding it difficult to breach the walls, the army was finally able to gain access to the city's lower district and start planning to attack the upper city. Kort's defenses proved strong, as they were able to completely shut down and block the train tunnels that ran up through the mountain, and any attempt at scaling the cliffs ended in the deaths of all involved. The generals of the army were focused on getting a win no matter the cost and continued to send men toward the upper city, where they faced certain doom. After months and months of trying to get to the Upper City and the Korters gaining ground in counter-advances, after several thousand lives lost or injured, the generals were forced to admit defeat and retreat out of the Lower City. These generals faced shame and a strong rebuke from the Thegn on their return to the Dominion, and they have not received military commissions since. No one quite knows if the rebuke and punishments were due to their ineptitude and inability to take Kort or because they recklessly sent so many Dumeiners to their deaths for a lost cause.

The Engagement

In addition to the formal battles mostly held in and around besieged cities, there was a good amount of guerilla warfare being lodged against the Dominion in various parts of the continent. Of course, the citizens of conquered cities tended to form underground resistance movements and fought back against their oppressors, but there were also some cells within the lands of the Dominion itself that struck at passing transports or supply caravans. Whatever loose organization may have existed among these rebels was certainly coordinated by the Kingdom of Tallstag in the north and by Wessil in the south. Rumors abound that the gnomes of the Enlightened City of Kort provided advanced weaponry to these rebels, despite Kort's pledge of neutrality after the Dominion soldiers slunk away from the cliffs in defeat. More likely is that the gnomes of Riverford funneled weapons and supplies from Kort to the rebels, glad to be supporting the resistance to the Dominion even if officially the kingdom had surrendered.

Outcome

All kingdoms and nations east of the Backbone Spires answer to the leader in Everyn, who is of the ruling dynasty of the Dumein Dominion. Two of the conquered territories, Brandis and Riverford, maintain a great deal of autonomy under this new arrangement, owing to their early surrender and lack of resistance to the war.
The other two conquered territories - Wessil and Tallstag  - are kept under close watch, their rulers scrutinized by Federation superiors akin to commissars. There is great unrest in these two provinces, as they suffered heavy casualties during the war and have not been quick to forgive the invaders and their new overlords.

Aftermath

The war and its political reshuffling are still too new to have any idea of long-lasting effects or consequences. At best, the unrest in the provinces will die down in a decade or longer, as long as the Federation is able to usher in prosperity and maintain peace amongst the citizens. At worst, a civil war or several separate uprisings will threaten to tear the new Federation apart before it has much chance to succeed.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

18 Earrach Dar, 1480 2A

Ending Date

20 Fomar Ardt, 1483 2A (Peace of Everyn)

Conflict Result

The Dominion emerged victorious, creating the Everyn Federation to rule the conquered territory

Belligerents

The Dominion

• Dumein Dominion
• Everyn Federation

Resistance

• Brandis
• Kingdom of Tallstag
• Riverford
• Wessil

Strength

100,000 soldiers, split between north and south fronts

5,000 standing soldiers
30,000 mustered from territories
Tens of thousands of civilians in besieged cities

Casualties

7,500 dead
10,780 injured

At least 5,000 dead
Estimated 7,000 injured or malnourished

Objectives

Consolidate all territory east of the Backbone Spires under one banner

Fend off the advances of the Dominion and maintain independence