Three months.
That's how long it took to erase the homes of the Orcs in Hippolyta. From 1/8/428 IE to only 4/26 of the same year, Queen Benigna Palmira Camacho had declared that, following the Isolation of Edda, Hippolyta had no time to dally letting a poison infect its stability, its unity, its divinity under Elven rule, under Hippolytan rule. Thus, a battalion of soldiers, trained to not just conquer, but raze and destroy, was made.
The Conflict
Prelude
In -1000 PE, a shocking event rocketed through Edda. Rather, one rocketed around Edda, as the land as its known today suddenly became enclosed in a ring of chaotic magic that churned the seas, broke up the land, made the very air thick and heavy to breathe, and even drained away the lives of those caught within. It was a period of panic, paranoia, and desperation as various nations wondered what to do, and what would come next.
Towards the end of that Era, Queen Benigna Palmira Camacho of Hippolyta decided that to make sure that her kingdom would survive the test of time and any more fluctuations of Mana, they needed to be fully unified. Not hand in hand, but all one hand, one that she could rule in the way the god-fae intended, or so she said. First, they sought to bring together the other elves under heel, a more social campaign that quickly found success, High Elves and Silver Elves were already the predominant social demographics, and Wood Elves just needed to have the sanctity and safety of their forests threatened by propaganda for the masses to flock to Hippolyta, and the Dark Elves were the primary scapegoat for this social campaign.
This just left the west of Hippolyta. The westmost coast had consistently been an ignored spot for the Hippolytan government. While they wished to conquer the dense, mountainous forest that separated them from easy access to the wider ocean, the terrain made it very costly and difficult to navigate, and other paths existed. But, one factor made it unavoidable anymore in this period of expansive nationalism. The western side of Hippolyta had long since been the safe haven of the Orcs, the mountainous people that were the sister species to the Elves. They did not have the fortune the Elves had when it came to the population of the forest and had often suffered at the hands of their previous expansionism but had found some sanctuary in fleeing in places past the tall mountains that they could traverse much easier than the elves.
While previous rulers, and even Queen Benigna herself, had been content to ignore the piece of territory entirely, letting the Orcs remain there while still having it be legally part of the nation. But, if all were to be united, then that meant the mountains would need to be conquered, and the Orcs would need to be integrated into proper Elven society, or entirely removed from it.
They were given one chance at "negotiation", which is to say a Duke sent a representative, told the chosen leader of the Orcs that they all were on his land now, and that they needed to come join Hippolytan cities or else. This was obviously met with disgust and revulsion, with the leader going so far as to declare themselves entirely separate from Hippolyta as a result. While sovereignty was the end goal for Orcs for many generations now, at this moment it gave the Elves the perfect excuse to launch an official military campaign.
Only two main units needed to be deployed for this campaign, aside from your standard rank-and-file along with supply chains. The first was a battalion of Earth-Shapers, specially trained Druids and Wizards that could carve their way through the mountains where feet could not travel. The second was the new Knights of Selene, formed as the arm of the unified Hippolytan expansionism. They were specifically trained in sword arts alongside destructive magic, being able to weave both together with terrifying accuracy, and hand-picked to show the most loyalty with the least amount of empathy.
The Orcs mostly prepared for a defensive battle, but they were not prepared for the destruction that was to come.
Most of the Campaign was fought in the open fields between the dividing mountains and the western coast of Hippolyta. While some Orcs tried to fend off the Hippolytans in the mountains, the Earth-Shapers and Knights of Selene routed them with brutal ease.
To call those fields a Battlefield, however, is a stretch, as a battlefield might be considered a back-and-forth, a treacherous field of combat that is hell for either side. No, instead, it was a consistent forward push of fire, blood, and tears, as villages burned to the ground, warriors and heroes fell, and the victims either fled or surrendered to servitude.
In the process of burning down the Orc villages, many fields of produce and usable plants were also razed. Almost 70% of the regions farmed land was entirely ruined and salted, with even more land burnt and destroyed in various fashions.
Most effects of the Selenite Campaign stretch even into the modern day. First, the Knights of Selene are still a prevalent elite group of guards that've only grown larger and more varied in their methods of destruction, especially during the Border Wars. Second, Hippolyta's victory gave them a connection to the ocean, which resulted in them finally being able to sail out and find Kaguya, which would lead to their rulership of Kaguya by Hippolyta for centuries.
Third, perhaps most obviously, the subjugation of the Orcs continues to this day. While modernity has lessened the blood spilled, it does not erase what has already been spilled. Furthermore, their culture has largely been carved out of history, with many not even being able to pass it down to the younger generations. Similarly, every attempt made with the new era of government to try and validate the sovereignty of the Orcs as a people group is dragged through the mud, owing to their lack of cohesion and structure. Despite many of them living long enough to directly know the history, with at most two generations between them, they take the easy way out of the issue by putting their blinders on, and only focusing on the present, not the circumstances that made it.
Historical Significance
The Knights of Selene have continued as an infamous corp of jingoistic torturers and nationalists, with little to no empathy or morals about them. While the individual is always different from the whole, it's an earned behavior, as even after this battle was won, they still serve as culture police, squashing out dissent, counter-culture, and whoever might be a "threat" to Hippolytan society.
"Blood-Stained Moon, the price of YOUR honor" is a book written by an anonymous Orc author, and was a researched expose into the true violence of the Knights of Selene against the Orc people. It took Hippolyta by storm and became a popular case study into the Knights' methods and the true history of the Orcs. While it didn't cause full social upheaval or riots, many people gained a new perspective on the conflict, their societal hand in its continued consequences, and their attitude toward Orcs in general.
The author has not been found to this day, even 50 years after the initial publishing, but that's most likely for the interest of their own safety first and foremost.
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