The First Pilgrim War

Military action

A pivotal even in the History of the Mashiq which saw the weakened Qartagonian Emirates expelled from the Mashiq and its holy cities and a new group of states emerge, collectively called the Pilgrim States and bound together through a shared Auloan culture and Heavenly Council-centered religion.

In 306 SE, three young nobles—Prince Lothair the Fair of Reikerk, Lady Alysaria the Lioness of Bellacre; and Prince Rainard the Abdicate of Cavalon—gathered together a force of 30,000 troops. Many of these soldiers had never fought before and were really just pilgrims seeking to visit the Mashiq and its important sites. They were recruited as the army marched—first from the small town of Beacon, up through Reikerk and Faleret along what is now known as the Pilgrim Road. Importantly, however, around 5,000 of them were trained fighters with experience not only in warfare but also in monster hunting. These warriors had cut their teeth driving the remaining goblinoids and beastfolk west to Czeršia and had also, in some ways, been radicalized into believing that any non-humanoid was an abominable being.   When the army reached Solstice, the main port with access to Nioa, the three leaders of the crusade—collectively referred to as ‘the Miraculous Three’—called for all of the army’s livestock and weapons to be sold so they could purchase passage on ships. This caused many of the soldiers to desert, leaving only a force 15,000 strong. Despite this, the travelers now called by all who encountered them, the Grand Pilgrim Army, obtained passage across the Sea of Brass and arrived in Iskendra.   In Iskendra, the Empress Zena Dardannos pledged to aid the Pilgrims by sending her army with them if the Pilgrims agreed to help the Iskendrans retake several important fort towns in the Kanesh peninsula. The Miraculous Three reluctantly agreed and set out from Iskendra with a bolstered force. This aid from the Iskendrans proved to be a great asset to the Pilgrims, though not because of their manpower. As the Grand Pilgrim Army took the fort towns of Melitan, Perga, and Damizon, the Mashiqi emirs thought that the invading army was simply a renewed effort by the Iskendrans and not some larger threat. When the Grand Pilgrim Army emerged from the Bashari Timberlands, the Mashiqi were largely unprepared. Additionally, during this march through Kanesh, one of the beloved Miraculous Three—Lothair the Fair—was killed while fording a stream during an ambush.   The Pilgrims took Bosra-by-the-Sea in 308 SE with relative ease. In 309 SE, the Pilgrims attacked Alameen, the largest city in the Mashiq. After a long and bloody siege, the Pilgrims captured the city, losing some 10,000 men in the process. However, one of the emir’s sons had hid his forced in foothills of the Sulfur Sea and attacked while the walls of the city were still being repaired. The Pilgrims were sure all hope was lost, when Lady Alysaria the Lioness led a daring charge against the reinforcements. The Lioness broke through the battlelines, killing scores of Qartagonians before confronting the enemy commander and slaying him and his wyvern mount. Though gravely injured, this act of bravery rallied the Pilgrim defenders allowing them to snatch victory once more.   Finally, in 311 SE, the remaining forces of the Pilgrims surrounded the last Qartagonian holdfast in Jeharoa. The siege of the city lasted months years, with much of the civilian population and the Qartagonian defenders dying of disease and hunger. Many of the Pilgrims perished as well, as their siege works were sabotaged by kobold sappers and their camp was constantly attacked by nomadic gnoll cackles hired by the emir. During this period, Lady Alysaria continued to recover from her wounds and gave birth to a son, whom she named Jehoriah. Alysaria then agreed with Rainard to split the captured territory between themselves and two of their commanders—Lord Fulk I of Clarilet and Sir Tarwin.   Finally, Prince Rainard and his men breached the city walls. After five years of backbreaking toil and devastating warfare, the Pilgrims had made it to their destination. Pent-up frustration, and zealous rage was unleashed upon not only the Qartagonian defenders, but also the Mashiqi civilian population. The Pilgrim warriors ran through the streets like packs of wolves chasing sheep. Rainard and a detachment even cornered a large group of Mashiqi, including women and children at the Sunstair temple complex. When asked how they should determine who was Kōsite and who followed the Council, Rainard reportedly said, “What does it matter? They got in the way all the same.” Then he and his men butchered everyone inside.   For days, the city burned. Lady Alysaria, from her place in the camp, was reportedly horrified by what she saw. When the smoke cleared was over, Alysaria and Rainard held a service for the fallen Pilgrims outside the Sunstair temple. They then convened a meeting with their commanders and the high ranking prisoners taken during the battle. A disagreement occurred and sources differ on the exact nature of the exchange. Some say it had to do with how to deal with the captured Qartagonian commanders. Others say Alysaria confronted Rainard over his bloodlust. However, when the meeting was over, Rainard and his loyal household guard gathered together outside the city. They then marched to Alameen and then north through the Mashiqi Gates and into the Marrow Desert. Their apparent goal was to take more Qartagonian settlements in the Marrow and eventually capture Qartago itself. However, within months, none had heard from the company and they were assumed to have been lost to the sands.   With Rainard gone, the Mashiq was divided between Lady Alysaria, Lord Fulk, Sir Tarwin, and Gisela; an Iskendran woman who’d married one of the leading captains of the Battle for Jeharoa. The captain died later from his wounds. Lady Alysaria took Jeharoa and became Queen Alysaria the Lioness. Fulk took Tyria and became King Fulk of the Rock. Sir Tarwin became Prince Tarwin the Stalwart of Alameen, and Gisela became Princess Gisela of the Poppies, after the Poppy River that flowed out of Bosra. For the past fifty years, the Pilgrim nobility of the Mashiq have continued to attempt to assert their dominance over the region to varying degrees of success. The dangerous and unstable nature of the region has caused a great many of them to die, forcing a great deal of intermarriage to ensure Pilgrim control.