Battle of Dirfai Birdge

Military: Battle

The Battle of Dirfai Bridge saw the defeat of the Akroni army led by Sado the Bold, his death at the hands of Nakra of the House of Xoch, and the shattering of a large Akroni army. It came following the capture of Trahe Nor by Nadra of the House of Xoch, and the expulsion of the Akroni from the Nauld Caverns for the next decade.

The Battle of Dirfai Bridge was the culmination of a running campaign Southwest of Trahe Nor, where an Akroni force assembled over the course of the Siege fought a scorched earth war over the Larani-held Nauld Caverns. Led by Sado the Bold, a Warlord who had proven his worth commanding the defense of Dach-Kraen at the end of the Third War of Kanos, the Akroni army's objective was burun everything, making Larani hold over the territory untenable and unsustainable. 

Initially, they wanted to break the Siege of Trahe Nor, but assembled too late to stop it. They fought a battle at Dirvin's Rest with a small Larani relief force, driving them off without serious casualties on either side. During their movement to Bwkrint's Mill, the Larani intercepted them with a larger force than previous, still smaller than the Akroni army. 

The serious casualties inflicted by the Lati convinced Sado of the need to avoid any and every engagement. After the victory, they burned their supply chain, leaving the impaled corpse of the commanding Lati in front of it for Nakra to discover. Instead, they lived off the land, and the victims of their plundering. By the time of the Battle of Dirfai Bridge, they had made it as far south as the city of Xoch-Lw, capitol city of the holdings of the House of Xoch. The entire way down, they had been engaged by smaller forces and the larger army led by Nakra, always fighting to retreat and little else. 

While the idea of living off plundered resources to make travel faster was decent, especially in the relatively rich Larani Sotteran--the areas not already ravaged anyway--the desecration of the commanding Lati's body was not. The Lati happened to be a close friend and lover of Nakra, making her fight with Sado personal. 

When they finally met at Dirfai Bridge, while most of the Akroni army was using to it to cross a deep ravine, Nakra destroyed the bridge through rage-fueled Telekinesis. Most of the army had either fallen to their deaths or was trapped on the other side. Those that did not flee died to Larani arrows and magic. Sado himself had not crossed yet, leading a valiant but futile defense with the remaining quarter of his army. 

They were slaughtered, with many literally pushed into the ravine. Sado himself was killed by Nakra, who strangled him with her bare hands. She left his body impaled in front of the bridge ruins, surrounded by the corpses of his men. It was at that point that her soldiers declared her the rightful head of the House of Xoch, leading to a dynastic conflict between her and her brother.