Siege of Trahe Nor

Military action

The Siege of Trahe Nor was the background to the early war in the Sotteran. Competent Larani commanders resulted in the city being taken, allowing the Larani to push into the Akroni Sotteran. The Nauld Caverns would remain a point of conflict for centuries, however, as Larani success would not last.

The city of Trahe Nor, the center of an underground Dawasi trading empire and main gate to the Nauld Caverns, quickly joined the Akroni Confederacy at the start of the Long War. The Nauld Caverns, positioned to the SouthWest of the Aphes Valley, acted as an easy junction for both factions to skirmish, making non-alignment deadly. 

The Larani had a stake in the Western portion of the Nauld Caverns, through various Lati, old Makassi colonies, and some tributary states. Once war spilled out of the Aphes Valley with the Battle of Korin Field, the Lati there were mobilized to defend their holdings. 

They were able to muster and storm the rest of the caverns with relative ease, as Akronis had delayed in moving armed forces to the Caverns, hoping to avoid conflict there. The most difficult part of Laran seizing the caverns was taking the city of Trahe Nor. Built into a giant stalactite, it was only accessible through winding passages, none large enough for an army. Dawasi runeforgers were able to ward the sides of the city, so while all the buildings built onto the outside were destroyed, the stalactite itself would not be destroyed by Lati magics. 

The delay caused by the Siege allowed Akronis to properly move an army to contest Larani dominion over the caverns, deploying through smaller tunnels and entrances. They made a habit of harassing Laran's backline and razing the smaller settlements unprotected by walls or the cavern's natural formation. 

Despite the challenge posed by the siege, Laran overall performed well, blocking any escape and starving them out. Conventional siege artillery was constructed and used to target specific points, attempting to intimidate the defenders into surrender. The head of the attacking army, Nadra of the House of Xoch, wanted to make use of the city, its development, and prime location, so avoided destroying it. 

Ultimately, Larani victory was brought on by infiltrators working directly for Nadra orchestrating a coup. The city's king died from poisoning--though this was not known until after the fact--and in the grasp for power between his three children that followed, a fourth faction proclaimed Nadra true heir by right of conquest. Ignoring that he had not yet conquered the city, enough of the starving populace wanted the siege to be over that they installed Nadra as king before he had even set foot in the city walls.

Nadra set about putting his new city back together, leaving command of most of his army to his sister, Nakra. His success wouldn't last, as after his sister returned from pushing the Akroni out of the Nauld Caverns, she deposed him. The city itself would only stay in Larani hands for another decade before a Dawasi noble recaptured it.