Battle with the Stone Menace

The Conflict

Prelude

In the year -11, the Stone Menace crash landed in the Frozen Wastes and had originally been mistaken for a meteor.

Deployment

The Stone Menace launched the first attack, claiming almost three dozen lives before Iradae the Lawgiver rallied the clans out of their panic in order to mount a counteroffensive.

Battlefield

Spanned the entire region of the Ice Flats.

Conditions

The length of the conflict forced the Stenza to endure the harshness of High Winter in an effort to detain the creature and protect their homes. This forced the development of an expansive tunnel system that still exists in part under every settlement in the region.

The Engagement

The conflict immediately forced the Stenza on the defensive and turned into a long slog when the Stenza developed an effective strategy for exploiting the creature's weakness to being observed. This began to wear on the minds of the warriors, and the Collective Knowledge, and it still only slowed the creature down enough for the Stenza to bury their dead. Iradae the Lawgiver set scientists and technical experts on working on a more permanent solution by the year -9, although none would be found and implemented until eight years later.

Outcome

Every clan felt the loss of at least some of its members, with some clans coming close to utter extinction due to the Stone Menace's abilities and ruthless killing spree. The Clan of the Lost radically restructured in order to accommodate this change, with a lot of support from Iradae the Lawgiver and the newly formed Unified Stenza clans. An area in the Frozen Wastes was set aside strictly to inter the dead of this one conflict, where they could be found, and it is said so much Ale was poured to the Snow Warrior and his barriers that it flowed for three days afterward into the Ice Flats itself.

Aftermath

It can easily be said that the battle with the Stone Menace changed the Stenza political landscape forever. Iradae the Lawgiver famously decided that, to protect the species in case such a thing ever happened again, they must remain unified. To this end, he codified common ethics and social codes into The Twin Pillars to ensure everyone was on the same page. The Droghi held their first meeting as a council in Strares and had decided that Iradae had earned the right to lead them through the transition. Iradae famously retired after he was sure the union would hold, but his deeds and the seven years he served as Leader would serve as the model for leaders generations down into the present day.
The battle also radically altered Stenza technological capabilities, not only marking the invention of Stasis, but also transforming the Stenza into a rudimentary space-faring civilization. Stasis has evolved into a myriad of uses across Stenza society, most prominently as a medical procedure. Meanwhile, the crude storage of Space Dust in crystalline containers, despite still having the power to launch a large object into orbit, was ultimately rendered obsolete by Gravity Control. This allowed spacecraft to leave the planet's surface efficiently and gather the dust in its native environment, greatly improving engine quality and efficiency. However, that could not be done without experiments done in microgravity near Mudewei and the Artificial Moon housing the defeated creature.

Historical Significance

The defeat of the Stone Menace is a cornerstone of Stenza history and unified culture, and so is celebrated annually at First Sunrise. Traditionally this is a celebration of the first First Sunrise of a unified Stenza state following the Menace's defeat.

Legacy

The entire conflict has been mythologized in Stenza culture, given that it led to the Unification of Clans. Iradae the Lawgiver is credited with almost the entirety of the Stenza victory, even though historically it was very much a team effort. Many of his actual deeds had become greatly embellished with time and the development of a unified identity as a people, points which would make the man himself bristle if he were alive to hear them. Even so, the stories about Iradae the Lawgiver are popular centerpieces at festivals.

In Literature

The battle and the Unification it led to are central themes in any Khe'drakha about Iradae the Lawgiver.

Conflict Type

Siege

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

-11

Ending Date

0

Conflict Result

Survival of the Species, Unification of Clans

Location

Ice Flats