The Cask Conflict of 35-36, 2A

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Overview

The Cask Conflict was an armed regional conflict lasting 16-moons, about 1.5 harvests, spanning years 35 and 36 of the Second Age. It was a resource war fought in the Eastern province of the Zuul'hy Freelands between the forces of the Boekomz Barony of Northwest Zuul'hy on one side, and the Sungzel Sea Coalition of Southern and Eastern Zuul'hy on the other.

History

Rise of the Boekomz Barony (21-24, 2A)

It was early in 21, 2A. The first ruler of Vath'azen, Batu Ch'luun, had passed and the kynekin people were deeply in mourning. At his Remembrance ceremony, coordinated by the dwarven Lord Retenes Pervak, the palates of the world awoke to the wonder of the potent ja'nakh beverage known as boekomz. Requests for the straw-colored spirits, largely originating from the men of Rolighav, spiked in Western Zuul'hy - far beyond its meager stores. The price of the limited supplies sky-rocketed, creating an unexpected windfall for the region. Hoping to share in its newfound prosperity, ja'nakh brewer Togou Kyobel - the Father of boekomz - petitioned the Freelands Council of Regions for support in a business endeavor he dreamed would benefit all peoples of the land. Wealthy Ja'nakh families from both the central and northwest regions came forward, agreeing to send their sons and daughters to apprentice under Kyobel for two years.

Freelands Regional Map by Koragath

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

35, 2A

Ending Date

36, 2A

Location

Zuul’Hy Freelands

Flag of the Boekomz Barony

At the end of those two years, in mid-23, 2A, Kyobel's apprentices returned to their respective cities armed with the necessary expertise to brew boekomz. Kyobel encouraged this group of apprentices to stay in contact, sharing ideas and experiments such that each variant would have its own distinct regional flare. The group's closeness, combined with the power held by their collective families forged a tight-knit community that would later become known as the "Boekomz Barony," a powerful political alliance holding great sway across regional boundaries. The harvest of 24, 2A was the first time Kyobel's apprentices had a true opportunity to put their artesian craft to the test, and the world watched in anticipation with coin purses at the ready.

The Food Crisis & Vyrian Secession (24-28, 2A)

Three harvests would pass before the brewers of the northwest region would uncask their first batch of boekomz; longer than the central brewers who were moving quickly with an 18-moon aging that - even though it was noticeably inferior quality - was still scooped up by avid consumers for a premium price. This was still shorter than Kyobel's original process requiring at least five harvests to round out the spirits' flavor profiles. The unique blends of the more hardy northwestern grains, combined with the three-harvest aging proved to be overwhelmingly popular. The northwestern Boekomz Barons celebrated with an influx of coin and requests for even more boekomz.
However, not everyone was pleased with the shift. The Barons' blind focus on leveraging grain for boekomz reduced the amount available for food supplies. Shipments to surrounding regions and kingdoms, which had been unfailingly reliable up to this point, slowed and in some cases stopped altogether. Prices for grain climb to an all time high, leaving many to fend for alternative sources of food.
The impacts of food these shortages were strongly felt in the fledgling kynekin kingdom of Vath'azen to the West. Preexisting tensions between the marginalized vryian population of eastern Vath'azen and their King were dramatically exacerbated by the unavailability of reliable sustenance to meet their most basic needs. It was the dwarven House of Vogrem that came to their aid, opening their own food stores to the people. They were seen by many as heroes, staving off a humanitarian crisis.
But little did the world know their goals were anything but altruistic. Still stinging from the loss of their northermost mountainhold of Kurzniert to the Freelands after the Great War, the dwarves of Vogrem used their now considerable influence among the vyrians to stoke the fires of discord against the crown. The result was the vyrian secession from Vath'azen, establishing the independent Kingdom of Sanysgal.

The Timber Troubles (28-30 2A)

Back in the Freelands, the success of boekomz brought about its own problems. Northwestern Zuul'hy consisted of mostly plains - dry grasslands and savannas. While this proved exceptional for growing the grains needed to make boekomz, the region had extremely limited access to forests.
But the ja'nakh are a communal people with a shared social identity. Since the establishment of the Freelands, wood had been willingly provided by the western and central regions to support the northwest's needs, in much the way the northwest had always provided surrounding regions an abundant supply of grain for food.
Yet as the Barons pressed to increase production, the northwest's lack of access to timber - the most vital component for constructing the casks needed for aging boekomz - came to the forefront. While the central and western regions were initially able to support their needs, by 30, 2A, they realized the northwest's demands were outpacing their ability to deliver. This began to create some friction between the Barony and leadership within the three regions. Adding to the tensions, in an uncharacteristic violation of social norms, the larger Zuul'hy Council of Regions publicly chastised the Barony for the misery they were inflicting on the neighboring Kingdoms by restricting the flow of food supplies in favor of profits.
Shamed and wanting to avoid further alienating their regional leadership, the Barons disagreed on the best path forward. Where central and western brewers counseled caution and wanted to slow production while working to mend relationships with the Council of Regions, those of the northwest would not be dissuaded from the opportunity to further increase their profits. The northwest brewers knew they needed an alternate source of timber. Keeping their own counsel, the answer was clear: Eastern Zuul'hy. The Freelands' eastern region boasted hundreds of square miles of untapped forests stretching to the sky, ripe for the purchase.

The Cedar Contract (30-33, 2A)

Cedars of Eastern Zuul'hy by dream by WOMBO

Intent on establishing a trade agreement for timber, the northwest Barons sent emissaries to Eastern Zuul'hy. Days turned to moons, moons into seasons, and seasons into harvests. The harvests of 31 and 32 had passed and still the negotiations dragged on. Every time the contract neared finalization, some new caveat, clause, clarification, or amendment was introduced, requiring even more litigation. In one common recounting of the negotiations, a full three moons were spent arguing over the specific parameters and conditions constituting what was a weather "event" that would satisfy the delayed delivery clause of contract.
The frustration of the northwest Barons mounted, alongside the pressure of insufficient new casks in which to age their spirits. But little did they understand the cascading and far reaching impacts of their past choices to restrict the flow of grain. The leaders of both Eastern and Southern Zuul'hy had been under steadily increasing pressure from the overcrowded Vice-Kingdom of Lysandre to drive the Council of Regions to release more grain. Like the vyrians of Sanysgal, the elven citizens of the new empire were starving.
Instead of rejecting the request of the Barony outright, which ja'nakh culture dictated would further disgrace the northwest brewers, the ja'nakh of the east used the negotiations as a pretense to delay the expansion of boekomz. Where the Barons saw timber for gold as a clear win-win situation for both sides, the leaders of the east refused to be willing participants in furthering the suffering of the elves simply to line their own pockets or those of the Barons.
It was not until mid-harvest of 33, 2A the verbose "Cedar Contract" was finally ratified. Rumors spread like wildfire in the plains that the signatures were borne of fear stemming from direct threats to the families of eastern negotiators perpetrated by an outside criminal element suspected to have been hired by the wealthy northwestern Barons. Yet by this time, the contract was so long and so complex that no one person fully understood the interrelationships of its many nuances.
The northwest barons breathed a collective sigh of relief, and the needed timber began to flow.

Enter the Coopers' Guild

Flag of the Coopers Guild

Unbeknownst to the Barony, another group had been watching the multi-harvest Cedar Contract negotiations play out with immense interest. Coopers across the five regions of Zuul'hy (minus the Freehold) had come to understand the power they held in transforming timber into the vital casks needed to age boekomz spirits. Without casks, the spirits could not be aged. Without new casks, future batches of spirits could be held hostage as leverage. The cask-makers quietly banded together under the banner of the "Coopers' Guild," intent on consolidating their collective bargaining power to apply pressure to the Barony. Their operations were coordinated from the the Eastern Zuul'hy city of Nanham on the Sungzel Sea, where the majority of the Cedar Contract negotiations had taken place.
The Guild slowly reduced cask production and raised prices. It wasn't until the harvest of 34, 2A when the boekomz was ready for casking, that the Barony found themselves without enough new casks and realized what was happening. Suddenly, boekomz production was at risk. The Barons demanded the Coopers' Guild resume production, but the Guild refused unless the Barons agreed to pay three times the going rate for casks.

Escalation (34-35, 2A)

Incensed and outraged at the attempted strong-arming, the northwest Barons ignored the counsel of their central and western colleagues. They were determined to send a clear message to anyone standing in their way. Once again, they turned to the criminal underworld, opening assassination contracts against Coopers' Guild leadership. But the forward-thinking Guild was several steps ahead. The bounty hunters of the Brenacyra got more than they bargained for with these contracts, coming face-to-face with elite elven mercenaries from Al'jymoor hired to protect senior members of the Guild. Not a single contract was successfully executed, and for several weeks all seemed quiet.
Yet over the next two moons, early in 35, 2A, a handful of the largest boekomz cellars in the northwest suffered a series of mysterious fires that decimated the stores of boekomz slated for uncasking that year. Though no one claimed responsibility for the attacks, ja'nakh plainswalkers along the northern border with Al'jymoor reported increased sightings of the silhouettes of elven wyvern-riders against the night sky.

Deployment

The Siege of Nanham (35, 2A)

The March to Khoojam by Koragath

The northwest Barons had clearly been beaten at their own game. Since subtlety failed, a more direct approach to resolving matters was needed. Over the years, the northwest Barons had politically maneuvered themselves into northwest regional leadership, cleaving the identity of the region to the Barony such that the two were practically inseparable. Leveraging this power, they assembled an estimated fighting force of over 5,000 ja'nakh soldiers in the city of Al'taraas on the northern shores of Lake Evigsmeer.
The newly formed "Al'taraas Brigade," under the command of Colonel Kramon On'gwa, followed the East-West Sambhara Road through the lands of Central Zuul'hy and established a base of operations in the Imperial Ruins of Khoojam some 50 miles (80.4 km) south of their target, the Eastern Freelands city of Nanham. Their task: Claim the city and the surrounding area with its dense forests in the name of Northwestern Zuul'hy while eliminating the threat of the Coopers' Guild.

The Siege of Nanham by Koragath

Splitting his forces into four regiments, Colonel On'gwa sent the First and Second clockwise, back across the Sambhara and through the precious forests north of Nanham. The Second Regiment paused, camping in the forests, preparing to keep the leaders of the Coopers' Guild from fleeing while minimizing damage to the woods to the greatest extent possible. But the First Regiment pressed on. Their vital mission was to destroy the eastern side of the Sambhara Road before advancing on the small port city of Tymaru, effectively cutting off land-based supply routes and any reinforcements that might be sent from Beht'satym.
The Third Regiment would approach from the West, while the Fourth advanced North from the Ruins of Khoojam. Together the four regiments would initiate what Colonel On'gwa anticipated to be a lengthy siege of Nanham until the city surrendered the leaders of the Coopers' Guild.

Engagement

The quiet cities on the edge of the Sungzel Sea were completely unprepared for an assault from within the Freelands. Tymaru was a modest port city of 7,000 without walls or a castle and fell in the first weeks of the assault. The remaining regiments advanced, cutting Nanham off from vital support.

The Fall of Tyarmu by Koragath

Nanham would suffer for almost three moons while the leadership of Eastern Zuul'hy struggled to decide how to respond. In ja'nakh culture, to attack ones own kind was completely unimaginable, and yet this is exactly what the Boekomz Barons of the northwest had done. Eastern leadership appealed to the new empire in Al'jymoor as well as their neighbors in the Vice-Kingdom of Lysandre.
Knowing Vath'azen's attention was turned toward its internal problems with Sanysgal, armies of the new empire amassed along the shared border between Al'jymoor, Central, and Northwestern Zuul'hy. Yet in reality this show of force was of little concern to the Barony. They wagered the new empire would be hesitant to break Article IV of the Thee'nor Accord, which clearly forbade foreign armies from entering the Freelands. To violate the treaty ran the risk of drawing the realm into another Great War.

Al'jymoor's Show of Force by Koragath

Enter The Sungzel Sea Coalition (35-36, 2A)

The Sungzel Sea Coalition's Response by Koragath

The First and Fourth Regiments of the Boekomz Barons were prepared both for the response force overland from Beht'satym and even a sea-based force to respond from the Eastern region's capital of Zerastoa. What they were not prepared for was a defensive alliance between Eastern and Southern Zuul'hy that would come to be known as the "Sungzel Sea Coalition." With a forced march through the famous woodlands of Thee'nor, the Barony's Fourth Regiment found itself unexpectedly on the defensive. A second fleet sailed North from the Southern capital of Mun, attacking the largely unprotected Ruins of Khoojam and sending Colonel On'gwa's command and control structure into disarray.

The Barony's Defense by Koragath

The Second Regiment shifted southeast to face the fresh forces of Beht'satym from the East while the First mounted an effective defense from the captured city of Tyarmu. The southern Coalition ships screened North from Khoojam, blockading any attempts for the First to effectively leverage the ships of Tyarmu's ports.
On the Western Front, the coalition's sea blockade created an opening that allowed the ships of the East to deliver desperately needed goods and supplies to the people of Nanham. On land, the Fourth Regiment found themselves fighting the approaching coalition forces with their backs to the very walls of a newly supplied and reinvigorated Nanham. Leaving behind their relatively safe position in the northern forests, the Third Regiment moved to the Fourth's defense, keeping the Sambhara Road open as both a supply line, and line of escape, should it be necessary.

The Nanham Militia (36, 2A)

Nanham Flanks by Koragath

With a fresh supply line and eastern leaders from Zerastoa arriving by sea, the beleaguered people of Nanham found hope. They were emboldened, rallying together under the Coalition's banner and fielded a militia force of their own. The Nanham militia split into two battalions, one marching East to flank the Barony's First and Second Regiments at Tyarmu, while the other flanked the Third and Fourth Regiments to their South.
Weary from the long siege and with nowhere to run, the Fourth Regiment, along with Colonel On'gwa was the first to fall. The Third broke, fleeing West back to their own lands. At the sight of the the combined Coalition forces closing in on Tyarmu, the Second Regiment fled North, leaving the First to their own fate. Completely surrounded by land and sea, and soldiers of the First surrendered, bringing the Cask Conflict to an end.

Aftermath & Legacy

The once powerful alliance of Boekomz Barons from Northwest, West, and Central Zuul'hy fractured, each choosing different paths forward. The Council of Regions forced the northwest Barons to pay restitution to Eastern Zuul'hy and mandated a minimum amount of grain the region was required to produce for food annually before the selection of grains for producing spirits. Further, the Council implemented a price cap on how much could be charged for food-focused grain, seen by many as an attempt to compensate for the suffering the Barony had caused the surrounding Kingdoms.
The newly formed Sungzel Sea Coalition solidified a close-knit relationship between the ja'nakh of the Southern and Eastern Freelands. The support of Al'jymoor and the new empire made great strides in reducing past suspicion while increasing good will toward the elves.