The War of Eleven Leagues

In the year 1459 AD, the Tarwass Isles in the Noryth sea requested help from Grand Marin against Thyorn raiders. The raids were conducted by a few small bands of raiders, and Grand Marin willingly responded to the plea for aid. They sent an army.
The West Marinian Army turned up, 24,000 strong, and quickly repelled the Thyorn threat. Then the army set up permanent garrisons on the islands. The garrisons were seen as an invasion by the islanders who formed the League of Liberty and petitioned Grand Marin for the removal of her armies. The council of Grand Marin refused.
Following the refusal a second League was created, the League of Thistles. This was a militant group formed amongst the garrisoned islands.
In 1461 the League of Thistles made their first move against The West Marinian Army. They besieged and assaulted the fort on Tarin, the south-eastern island of the Tarwass Isles.
The fort fell and the garrison was slaughtered to the last man. An overwhelming victory for the League of Thistles, but also their undoing. Defeating an unprepared, skeleton garrison was one thing; tackling an army of vengeful Marinian Redcoats was another. It took three days for the Marish to hear about the attack, on the fourth the Marinian Navy landed 10,000 men on Tarin.
Believing the Marish to be too unwilling and cowardly to fight, the Purple Bonnets were reckless. An argument rose over their next actions, but their confidence soon won out. The Purple Bonnets marched forwards with 6,000 men to offer battle at Tarindale. The Marish won without firing a shot.
One death occurred at Tarindale. A young drummer boy who stood defiantly as the Purple Bonnets retreated, he was trampled to death by his own side. It was claimed by the League of Thistles the boy was beaten by the stocks of the bloodthirsty Redcoats, an atrocity in revenge for the butchered garrison. However, the atrocities came after the battle. The fleeing Purple Bonnets were hunted down. Hundreds were bayonetted where they stood. Hundreds more were rounded up to be executed en masse for treason. Those who survived hid amongst the Tarintops in small, insignificant pockets.
A pardon was wrestled through the Parliament of Grand Marin by the League of Liberty, allowing the vanquished resistance fighters to surrender and return to their homes.
Yet, the Redcoats on the ground didn't take well to the parley. Those Purple Bonnets that did surrender would be framed for capital offences and hung, or simply shot on site and left to rot on the highland slopes. From there on out the choice was simple for the Purple Bonnets; they could return discretely to their homes and never mention the word 'thistle' again; or, they could find passage out of the Tarwass Isles.

The Leerocks

Following the defeat of the League of Thistles in the Tarwass Isles and their near-complete expulsion, many of their most influential members fled to the other islands in the Marinian chain. The most significant of these were Johan Fisher and Artor Lawman. They had both been appointed officers in the Purple Bonnets, Fisher a captain and Lawman a colonel. It had been these men who debated the course of action on Taren. And, as Fisher was only a commoner, they ended up sallying forth under Lawman's suggestion.
Together they reached anchorage in the Leerocks in 1463. Fisher raised a motion to appeal to the local islanders for help, however as the islands were mere fishing villages, Lawman refused. Lawman stated the fisherfolk would sell them out to the nearest Marinian outpost, and that they would be better to seek aid from Goldsey.
Johan Fisher was outraged at the remark and his followers took up arms in readiness to defend the honour of the Leerock fisherfolk. Lawman's supporters seized the stern castle and threatened to fend of any attack. The situation only cooled down when Fisher realised Lawman wouldn't back down and the only way to avoid bloodshed of his comrades was to disembark his own men. Lawman then took the ship to Goldsey.
From the point of divergence, their stories take vastly different turns.
Fisher remained on the Leerocks over the next few months. His modesty and empathy, alongside his natural abilities as a leader, earned him many friends. The local fishermen kept him and his men supplied and swelled his ranks with volunteers. It was easy for the fishermen to travel to other ports and villages under the noses of the Marish, spreading news to other islands.
It wasn't long before Fisher had amassed another army under the banner of a new collective; the League of Labour. On Goldsey, Lawman was having a much harder time. Upon arrival he was imprisoned with the rest of his men in the Vault. The local sheriff, Marc Debaque, was suspicious of the unregistered carvak and its jury-rigged crew.
Lawman complained for nearly a month to his jailors that he was a nobleman and demanded to be treated as such. Lawman showed no signs of caring about his men's condition, he only wanted for himself to be fed adequately and to be given clean water to shave. It got to the point where his own men were telling him, through the heavy steel bars, to shut up his selfish whining. When the Sherriff eventually gave Lawman an audience, more due to his guards' complaints than Lawman's, he wasn't impressed with what the Purple Bonnet had to say. Lawman not only demanded treatment according to his status, but for the men and armaments to fight the Marinian Army.
Debaque brought each of the prisoners up individually. In turn, they were asked what they were doing on Goldsey. Nineteen of the men admitted they were Purple Bonnets, six denied they were part of any resistance and that they had always sworn loyalty to Marin. Debaque released the self-proclaimed Purple Bonnets apart from their captain. Lawman himself was thrown into the deepest, dingiest of the Gold Vaults; rumour has it been told the gold was his until his death, then the door was slammed tight and never opened again. None know if Lawman lived or died in that vault.
The other six crewmen, the deniers, were taken to the Parliament of Marin. In the grand, marble Chambers of Democracy Debaque handed them over to the authorities.
Debaque then called forth the other representatives of the Oceanspire Islands and declared a confederacy to be made to pacify the unstable rebels. This confederacy wasn't called a League, however, historians and minstrels alike refer to it as the fourth league. Debaque followed the intel provided by Lawman and headed straight for the Leerocks. He travelled on a carvel and with only his most trusted advisors. Upon reaching Leerock he entered the nearest tavern and called to the patrons to speak to Johan Fisher. Spending a month in long discussion, Debaque and Fisher found they shared many ideals and values. After negotiating a truce, Debaque returned to Marin to lay it on the table. Grand Marin threw the truce into the hearth.
Grand Marin formed a new league, the Marinian League. The Marinian League summoned all the islands under her influence and protection to oust the rebels with fire. Debaque appealed the decree and was removed from office. There would be no negotiations with rebels. To the flames with their ships.

The Marching of Many Leagues

With the Decree of the Sea in 1465, the Marish threw their advantage of being the victims into the furnace. Two new leagues arose to contest the Marinian League's powers to make such orders.
The League of the Divided formed between the archipelago that dotted the straits into the Great Divide. Ehry'kinae backed this League by providing weapons and military advisors.
In the Inner sea five scattered islands formed the Levy League. They agreed with Fisher's philosophy about those who worked hardest getting equal say. The islands in the league had a brutal revolution that saw the upper class supporters of the islands rounded up into carvaks full of pitch and burnt alive.
A Merchant's League, opposing the idea of common labourers having power and prestige, set up in direct contrast to the Levy League. Also established on the interspersed islands of the inner sea.
Wary of the oncoming war, the League of the Loved was established in the niches of all the Marinian Isles. They believed war only led to brokenness, following the Ferwill philosophies they prayed the ultimate desires of men would prevail.
The League of the Loved were considered insignificant by the other entities, and in the War of Eleven Leagues they didn't have much of an impact. Yet, in the grand scheme of Gard they changed things forever. The Loved Ones fled west across the ocean. Looking for a fabled land where Ferwill retired after meeting the Emperor of Giit. They founded Ferfurst in New Aeven; although, it was far from paradise.
The island of Littlebeach formed its own league. Which had little, if any, bearing on the overall war.
For ten years the Marinian League and its allied factions wrestled to keep the rebellious islands in line. Fisher had reorganised his rabble of misfit labourers. Using his loyal, determined Purple Bonnets as the core, he set up a standing army and trained them thoroughly in the art of combat. They were brutal and efficient killers when they needed to be, but honourable and merciful when required too.
Additional to his army of 11,000 men of the line, Fisher gathered an assortment of specially trained skirmishers who were masters of guerrilla warfare. They could strike at vulnerable points before merging into the countryside like ghosts. The Wasps would prove to be true thistles in the Marinian League's side.
On Leerock a familiar scenario played out in 1467 as on Tarin. The Marinian Navy landed 15,000 men on the beaches with 9,000 more sent to the other Leerock islands. Fisher was faced with a choice, only this time none of his men challenged his decision. The Labourforce retreated to the interior, leaving his Wasps to carry out raids on camps and supply caravans throughout the island chain.
As the antique weaponry was replaced by the wheellock and flintlock devices owned by the various regiments, the Wasp raids became increasingly deadly.
The Marinian Army struggled with supply problems when wagonloads of ammunition and spares were captured. Entire battalions were forced to remain in camp and do nothing while outside the walls their comrades were been killed.
Elsewhere the problems were just as bad for the Marish.
In the Divided Islands matters had gotten out of hand for the Marinian Sumshire Army, under Lord Digby Summersea. The local rebels were more organised and better equipped than Summersea's troops, thanks to the aid of Ehry'kinae. And the stagnation in the peaceful southern counties of Grand Marin had left the Redcoats wanting in skill. Summersea was forced to remain on the loyalist island of Dividend for this part of the war, having floundered his attempts to gain a foothold elsewhere.
In 1469, two years after the arrival of Marinian troops on Leerock, Fisher marched out to meet them at Beckford.
Beckford was to be a proving ground for Fisher's long debated tactics and his well-drilled men. Each of his officers knew Fisher from his frequent walks of the camps; they all knew how he thought and what was expected of them, allowing each to act both collaboratively and individually when needed. "As long as you take action, that action will not come under fire." Fisher meant his officers had the power to make snap decisions without his orders, that any action was better than no action.
The Labourforce were dealt multiple heavy blows by the Redcoats, but ultimate victory came to the rebels. Fisher's men stood firm, the Wasps buzzed about the battlefield, picking off enemy officers of rank. General MacTarval was sniped from his horse and the Marinian West Army withdrew from the field in chaos, losing almost half their men. It gave Fisher's men the courage they needed to turn their force into a contender on the battlefield.
Further embarrassment came for the Marish a year later, when Ehry'kinae war galleys brimming with Divided infantry raided the south coast of Grand Marin. It was the first fighting on Marinian soil in over 700 years.
The Marinian League was losing.

The Crucible

Hearing of Marish been killed so close to his doorstop, Paxtshire born inventor Thomas Crucible marched on Hamston to deliver a report directly to the High Helmsman of the Marinian Parliament.
For years Crucible had taken his sketches and designs to the foreman at the Paxton Royal Armoury. Yet none of his ideas had been taken forward. In 1470 those ideas were crucial. Crucible had studied military history at Copsecourt University and trained as an engineer and armourer in Grand Marin.
Sneaking into the servants entrance of Hamset House, Crucible delivered his theories and designs to High Helmsman Camsith Forleur in his drawing room. Forleur, although originally terrified by the intruder, immediately placed Crucible as the Helmsman for the War Cabin. Where he met Penry Roper, the Overseer of the War Cabin, who had been pushing for years to reform the army himself.
The War Cabin began a complete overhaul of the entire Army. They devised plans for the Navy also, but these interferences didn't sit well with the Naval Deck and few were taken aboard.
First to go was the mismatch muskets that were in production. These were replaced by the Paxton Pattern Flintlock Musket, designed by Crucible at the Paxton Royal Armoury, where the first prototype was manufactured and stored. The flintlock design was robust and simple enough for a soldier to fix. The ammunition was standardised to match, meaning any cartridges could be used for any gun, there was no haphazard supplies which led to under provisioned soldiers. A Redcoat without his Sally couldn't smoke, as the old saying goes.
An issue Crucible struggled with was how to keep the bayonet from coming loose when buried in flesh. He had overcomplicated the problem, and when he showed it to Roper the Overseer suggested a simple spring. The spring allows the musket to be easily twisted on and off by a Redcoat, while providing enough tension to stop it coming loose in action.
As well as the Paxton Pattern Musket, new drills replaced outdated techniques. The Redcoats were arranged into ranks of two, instead of three. This practice was reluctantly used in the past as it made the battle line more vulnerable to cavalry, also three ranks helped keep up the moral of troops. But there was no contesting the increase in the amount of arms that could be brought to bear with two ranks, and the adoption of it was encouraged from the highest level.
The other great overhaul was deploying light infantry companies. Crucible and Roper commissioned reports from survivors of Wasp attacks and improved upon the tactics used. The result was a company in each battalion that could effectively fight both in line and skirmish order. Picking the brightest of the rank and file who could act on their own initiative to throw back enemy light troops and pick at their line.
For the first few months under these reforms Fisher was able to improve on his victories. Recognising the psychological implications of such small and fragile lines. Massing his men into columns he would hammer through the lines and rout the Redcoat lines.
Greater success was made by the Paxshire Corps under General Leonus Unthny. Unthny was an inspiring general, matching the scientific attentions of Crucible and the technical aptitude of Roper with his understandings of strategy, tactics and of his men. Unthny took his men to the south coast to begin with and dealt a crippling blow to the Kinaen raiders. This earnt him the renown to take his men on to the Divided Isles.
Not only did Unthny secure the Divided Isles, but he went on to strike at the keystone of Ehry'kinae power: the Highorn of Bakra'a. In the northern Marinian Isles, Fisher was getting stung with a string of defeats. The tide had turned.
Hearing the glorious tales of Unthny's Redcoats, the West Marinian Army regrouped and took to the field.
The first test for the Redcoats was at Tynrock. Two ranks were formed and waited on the crest of a hill. The Labourforce columns charged forwards with elation and tasting victory, and the Redcoats held their fire.
General Nortip had them hold till the enemy was within thirty yards. His Redcoats stood like stones in eyrie silence. When Nortip's sword swept down; the crackling explosions rippled down the line. The Marish were obscured by a plume of acrid smoke, the shouts of the Labourforce bore down on them. But still: they held their ground, they reloaded, then they fired again.
The point blank barrage smashed into the columns. Every single Paxton Pattern Musket could be fired forward and expect to hit. The Labourforce replied but only a handful of men could bear arms.
Then the Redcoat guns fell silent. Before the columns had a chance to catch a breath, a horrific noise filled the air: the scraping of thousands of bayonets onto muzzles. An insect-like click audible to only the bearer, the bayonets were fast. They were levelled, then they charged.
The labourforce fled.

The League of the Lost

Fisher and his Labourforce were put on the back foot in 1478. The Redcoats pushed then back further each day.
Supply issues were no longer a problem with the standardised cartridges and muskets. Less supply caravans needed to be sent out, meaning those that were could be escorted by the crack light companies. The Wasps began to suffer if they stirred from their nests.
The islands fell one at a time, until only Leerock remained. The Labourer's capital was heavily fortified and the garrison was ready to fight till the death. But Fisher was not ready to let his men die.
The League of Labourer's famous general petitioned for a truce, placing his own life as forfeit. The truce was initially denied by the Helmsmen, they believed Fisher would be their prisoner by the year's end regardless. The Helmsmen pushed the West Marinian Army to besiege the capital.
Fisher's men stayed true to their cause, many of them died in the ensuing siege, but not without inflicting serious casualties on the Redcoats. In Januane of 1479 it was clear cracking the rock would be more costly in lives than the generals were willing to pay.
Crucible, although at first wanting to see the ultimate success come from his reforms, was persuaded by Roper to seek an armistice.
Again the Helmsmen refused. So Roper and Crucible devised their own plot for the endwar. They contacted Fisher across the siege line, requesting him to lay down his arms and avoid bloodshed.
Fisher knew he needed guarantees before he could surrender. So he sought to create the League of the Lost. He banded together the rebellious factions, offering peace for all under the conditions that no harm were to be done to any man. In exchange he offered the annexation of the disputed territories, on the requirement that each would be represented in the Parliament of the Marinian League.
Nortip pulled the caulking out from the Helmsmen by insisting that his own men would mutiny rather than face the guns of Leerock once more. A mutiny would have been disastrous, the rebels could escape and the fire could spread.
The Pilots stepped in unanimously to apply pressure to High Helmsman Forleur. On 7th Augult 1479, the guns fell silent on both Leerock and Ehry'kinae.
The Marnian League had won. The Marinian League was everyone.

The Conflict

Prelude

Thyorn raids on the Tarwass Isles

Start Date

1459

Ending Date

1479

Conflict Result

The dominane of the Marinian League

Location

The Marinian Isles

Belligerents

The Marinian League

• The Marinian League

Led by

Strength

68,000 Redcoats, 23 Razed-Galleons, an assortment of other ships

Casualties

28,000 men

Objectives

Control and pacification of the Marinian Isles

The Purple Bonnets

Led by

Strength

6,000

Casualties

3,000+

Objectives

The independence of the Tarwass Isles

The Labourforce

Led by

Strength

18,000 men, 6 Razed Galleons, 2 Galleons and 7 War Galleys

Casualties

12,000

Objectives

Freedom and Independence for all the islands of the Marinians

The League of the Divided

Led by

Strength

23,000

Casualties

6,000

Objectives

Defending the rights of island nations and a free sea. Securing more territory for the Divided Islands.

Ehry'kinae

Led by

Strength

30,000

Casualties

3,000

Objectives

Support alliance with the Divided Isles, securing future trade.