Ardenfell Conquest

This article is a Work In Progress.

Prelude

In the year 626, a group of settlers from Ravia set out to sail south in search of new land and opportunity. However, due to a strong storm, they overshot their destination for northwestern Ardenfell. The rocky cliffsides of the coastline prevented them from making landfall anywhere along the western coast until they finally came upon the southern bay. The ship made landfall on the beach, and the passengers disembarked. By this time, almost half of the inhabitants had died at sea. When the settlement was established, they constructed a monument to honor the pioneers and named their town Rayhaven, inspired by the rays of sunlight at sunset that shine through the town from the ocean, nestled between the rocky cliffs on either side of the valley.
Several years after the establishment of the town in 629, a group of people from eastern Ardenfell had finally managed to reach the western coastline. Unfortunately, to their surprise, a settlement had already been established. When they discovered this settlement wasn't started by Ardenians, a very vocal segment of the group left in rage and returned home to urge their kings to take action, while only six families chose to remain.

Predeployment

When presented with news of the foreigners, four kingdoms on the eastern side of Ardenfell banded together to form a chivalric order, named the Order of the Four. Each kingdom gave about 100 lances to the order, equaling about 400 knights and their crew, for a total of roughly 2,400 personnel.

The Conflict

Deployment

While the forces were being assembled, the marshals couldn't agree on a plan of attack. They did not have a navy large enough to send their troops. The safest option was to go north around the plateaus and forests and then down the western coast. But this would take too long, and the Order would have to deal with the northern territories. The most direct route was through the Forgotten Forest, but this was dangerous.
However, they took too long to decide, and eventually, a harsh winter arrived, halting their efforts to mobilize. Subsequently, many personnel fell ill and became too weak to deploy. When winter passed, they finally set out to march to Rayhaven in the early months of 630.

The Forest

Three of the four marshals decided to march through the Forgotten Forest, while only one opposed the idea. Still, the order marched across Ardenfell. When they got to the forest, one marshal stayed behind with a reserve unit while the others sent a few lances in for reconnaissance.
The knights and their crew of the first lance to go in became gravely ill and died quickly. The further the remaining recon units went into the forest, the more of them disappeared. Eventually, some of them managed to reach the Forgotten Forest Ridge, but could not figure out a way past it. Word was sent to the rear echelons, but only one individual messenger made it out. Everyone who made it to the ridge would never be heard from again.
Weeks had passed without any word from the units at the ridge, and they were presumed dead. The reserve units were having their own problems with diseases and men disappearing, even at the edge of the forest.

Conflict Type

Military Campaign

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

629

Ending Date

631

Conflict Result

Order of the Four disbanded.
Started the Four Kingdoms War.

Location

Ardenfell

Belligerents

Order of the Four

• Order of the Four

Rayhaven

Strength

100 Lances

(400 knights and supporting crew)

— ~2,400 personnel in total

None

Casualties

40 Lances

160 knights and supporting crew

— 960 personnel in total

(~14.5% of the total force)

None

Objectives

Expell the foreign settlers and claim Rayhaven.

No objectives; they didn't even know it was happening

The Return Trials

Word reached the kings of the four holds about what had happened in the forest. This royally pissed them off, and the marshals were court-martialed back to their respective holds. The kings held a meeting and conspired to have the marshals hanged for their incompetence and negligence of the conquest.
The marshals pleaded for their lives, calling out that the rulers of these four kingdoms were the incompetent and negligent ones. They publicly argued that the leaders of the Order of the Four were responsible for the final decision to march through the Forgotten Forest, rather than the marshals, though the kings denied it. Despite this, all four marshals, including the one who opposed going into the forest, were executed for their alleged crimes.
At their execution, before each one was hanged, their crimes were read aloud, including how many men each one of them had lost, though those who died of sickness were left out of the statistics. In total, 40 lances were lost, equating to 160 knights and their supporting crew. for a total of 960 personnel, which was about 14.5% of the total force.

Outcome

After the marshals were executed, some civilians believed the marshals' allegations and started accusing the kings of having demanded that the army go through the forest. The civil unrest only grew as time passed, as other groups defended their kings' decisions. At the peak of the civil unrest, a document acquired by an informant was leaked to the public, officially disclosing that the rumors were true.
This sparked an uproar among the civilians, who took up arms and demanded that their kings meet the same fate as the marshals. However, this revolt was met with resistance from the king's guard and civilians who bought into the propaganda. Soon, a civil war was inevitable.

The Great Uniter

The Four Kingdoms War was short but bloody. The Order of the Four was disbanded, but despite the civil war, many of the knights had pledged loyalty to the kings. When it ended, eastern Ardenfell was left in shambles.
Four new kings were appointed at the same time and became known as the Quartette Kings. They took a different approach from their predecessor rulers and opted to establish a trade route with Rayhaven instead of taking it by force. The informant who had leaked the document to the public stepped up to help rebuild their civilization.
In honor of those who had been lost in the forest, the informant created a new chivalric order called the Order of the Forgotten. He used this order to help rebuild the eastern holds and persuaded the four new kings to unite under a single nation. Soon, the northern holds agreed to join the union, though a couple of them were initially hesitant. The founder of this new order was dubbed the Great Uniter of Ardenfell and eventually united the entire region under one nation.