The War of Bulls & Stallions - Part 2

Map Location #10.

‘Battle of the Southern Tip’ – House Trabberge seeks to end the shared control of the seas as both they and Cascil feel they cannot win unless the sealanes are theirs alone. Only by being able to travel around the continent can they force the King to agree to redivide Coaseth more to their liking. House Ennorren’s navy has sailed from Baytow and after wintering in Halingcrest, now makes its way eastward. The Tear Raidfleet has been harassing Trabberge vessels for two years. They now begin to concentrate on pushing or enticing the Stallion fleet to head west, toward the waiting royal naval force. House Yvithoste attacks the royal fleet with its coastal bombards and siege engines as the Bull Fleet seeks protection from a fierce summer storm. The Trabberge fleet arrives in pursuit of the Raidfleet and a sea-battle of utter confusion ensues. The three fleets shred through each other, while all are pummelled from the onshore defenders of Yvithoste. The initial conflict is indecisive. Trabberge takes refuge in Yvithoste harbours and the royal navies put in on Trine Island. Further combats occur for some weeks. Both sides use Trine Island as a shield, attempting to lure the other into a tactical mistake. House Tear’s forces led by the elite ‘Windsword’ shock troop arrive in Trabberge City and intense fighting with the city’s troops occurs. The defenders do well with their local advantages until the House Maynor arrives to throw their strength in with the exhausted attackers and victory is theirs’. Learning of the defeat in their patrimony, Trabberge’s naval commanders realise they cannot afford to wait. They commit to engaging with the royal fleets at sea and the great battle that has been avoided. Meeting between Trine Island and the mainland the three navies fight once more. This is a more controlled affair and there are two days of advantage sought between the forces. Unknown to anybody, High Seat has always had an hidden naval base, and a fleet of ships within. These have sailed during the weeks of stalemate and appear now to seal the Trabberge fleet’s fate. Not content with crushing the fleet of the Stallions’, the combined fleets then sweep the Yvithoste coastline, seizing this House’s holdings.

Map Location #7.

‘Battle of the Two Cities’ – While these happenings occur in the southern waters, in the west the two landbased armies of cavalry continue to measure one another. Cascil knows it must continue its aggression or the royal forces will become entrenched and the situation will resolve against them. Leading the combined troops to the north-east, is Marshall Lamnen Casc. His forces skirmish with the royal houses’s troops for ten days, all the time advancing. At a point halfway between the site of the initial battle of the war four years earlier and Ridershome, the two armies of cavalry meet. It is the greatest cavalry combat the world has ever witnessed. Herald and Warlogue alike, watch from the nearby hillsides directly west of the battlefield. The area is conducive to manoeuvre and from dawn until early evening the two armies are locked in a wheeling series of arcs and crescents. Thrust and counter. Expertly commanded on both sides, the finest exchange of cavalry actions amounts to a non-determined result. Horse and rider weary of the increasingly difficult tactical trading and as all Housemen love their mounts, they decide to stop. The Ennorren commanders choose only a brief respite as sun sets and under the cover of night depart the field. Marshall Lamnen’s irritation the next morning is noted in the heraldic chronicle. He knows the royal forces have the upperhand and simply will wait until the coalition falters and splits of its own lack of successes. Receiving word of the Trabberge defeat, he presses onward in pursuit. Bad months’ weather and an intentionally elusive enemy means the year’s campaigning ends indecisively.