Exodite Conquest of Cymbar
in 288, the Starseers of Exodus finished their years long project to open a dormant rift from the Borderworld Exodus into the world of humans. They did not know exactly where it would lead, but when they crossed they found themselves in the Kingdom of Cymbar. Their first action was to survey the landscape, and begin fortifying the gate they had opened. Their activities were swiftly discovered by peasants from the village of Harmon-on-the-Dent a mere stone's throw away, who alerted their local lord. When the lord arrived with a retinue of knights, the Starseers initially retreated, but returned a day later with a larger group of elves, many of whom were armed.
This however, was not the beginning of the war. Despite the lack of a common tongue, both sides realized that the other did not wish to fight. They exchanged gifts, after which most of the elves retreated back beyond the gate. A few went to Harmon and to accompany the lord, to learn more of the land they had entered and to learn the language of the Khelish people.
The lord, envisioning a monopoly on a host of exotic goods the likes of which nobody had seen before, allowed the Exodites to set up a trading outpost at the site of their portal, with the condition that his household would act as the middleman for any Exodite trade. And for a time, this arrangement worked. However, more elves kept arriving in Fin-Allan, and the then-king of Cymbar grew concerned about this foreign force at the heart of his realm.
The Conflict
Prelude
The original deal with the lord of the Dentlands was struck for 15 years. At the time both parties considered this a formality and expected it would be extended, formally or informally. However, in 303, both the lord of the Dentlands and Clavius Guld, king of Cymbar had their doubts about Fin-Allan. Clavius Guld was not happy about a now thousand strong outpost of elves owing no fealty to him. The lord of the Dentlands, in the meanwhile, was by now convinced that the elves were not keeping to the treaty and were trading with the locals. The Exodites did not understand what the difference between the lord's household and his landed peasantry was, and thus found the complaint incomprehensible. On february 5th, in the year 303, the Lord of the Dentlands issued a demand to the minister of Fin-Allan. Abandon the outpost, and go back through their gate. The minister of Fin-Allan refused. The lord of the Dentlands called upon his vassal knights and rode on Fin-Allan, expecting to take the lightly fortified outpost within the day. Instead, the Exodites of Fin-Allan formed up under the command of their minister and routed the Dentland knights with a weapon the Khelish had never seen; the musket. The Lord of the Dentlands then limped back to his castle, and sent a messenger to Moorhan. The elves had not acquiesced, and had repelled his assault. The king responded, riding out towards the Dent.
Deployment
Clavius Guld called upon all he could on short notice, and laid siege to Fin-Allan. However, the presence of the gate presented a unique challenge. The Exodites were supplied through the gate, and could be reinforced as well. Thus, Guld sought a way to take the outpost so that he could post his own garrison and be able to observe the elves' movements through the gate. However, the Exodites' strange weapons made the outpost difficult to take and Guld's knights were reticent to risk a frontal assault. Thus, Guld ordered the construction of catapults to aid the siege. If Fin-Allan could not be captured, it would instead be leveled. Guld bid the elves to surrender, and when refused, he commanded his engineers to bombard the outpost.
Ginead realized the precarity of his position, and sent for Fin-Lyaan. The elves withstood catapult fire for two days, but then a regiment of elves drawn from the settlements near Fin-Lyaan marched through the portal and placed themselves under the command of Ginead Synnde. Ginead then sallied forth in the night, still outnumbered by Guld's host. However, the night sally caught the encircling force unawares, and Guld had no way of ascertaining the Exodites' capacity to reinforce Fin-Allan. The night musket charge routed much of the encircling force, but Guld was able to preserve the core of his force, and retreat back to Castle Arkstone. The elves meanwhile, having broken the siege resolved upon a new objective. Bring the King of Cymbar to heel and preserve their presence in the region. Guld sent out messengers, and fortified.
Knowing where the king had retreated, the Exodites gave chase, turning the siege upon the humans. This time, the Exodites bid the king to surrender. Arkstone however was well stocked, and Clavius Guld expected relief forces to converge on Arkstone within a month. However, Synnde had no plans for a long siege. The night-sighted elves performed another midnight maneuver, undermining the walls of Arkstone and blasting them down with their surplus gunpowder. By the time the defenders of Arkstone realized what was happening, Synnde's regiment was already in, and it was this action that came very close to ending the war less than two weeks after it started. However, blindsided and just roused from their sleep they may have been, Guld's retinue was composed mainly of hardened knights. The Battle of Arkstone would end in Exodite victory, but Guld had broken out with much of his force intact, and exacted a bloody toll from the elves. Making their way towards a nearby town, Guld's retinue resupplied and then continued the retreat back towards Moorhan, hoping to meet up with further vassal forces and form a host that could defeat Synnde.
Meanwhile, Ginead Synnde controlled Arkstone, but was so far reliant on supply through the portal, which would become increasingly unfeasible as the Exodite army pursued Clavius Guld further into Cymbar. They raided what they could from Arkstone, and reassessed their plan. To achieve success, the Exodites would have to capture the Cymbarite leadership or crush them on the field. Operating far from the portal would require the army to supply from the countryside. Sending a messenger to Fin-Lyaan once more, Synnde set out after just a day, dispatching raiding parties along his convoy. His loot was lacking however, as it became apparent that the peasants of Cymbar would rather burn their grain in a pit than hand it over to the elven army. Synnde was bogged down, as supplying the army independently took more time and effort than planned.
Guld, meanwhile, met up with Baltair Talfax with a host from Incrigg. Having received word that Synnde was in pursuit and looting the countryside, the combined host separated out their light horse, with the goal of intercepting Exodite raiding parties. Here, Cainneach smiled upon the Cymbarites, as it rained prodigiously. Thus, Talfax's riders caught and rode down small bands of elven warriors, whose powder was not dry. As Synnde advanced, he lost a contingent here and there to Talfax's riders, and had to make a choice. Either he would turn his army around and retreat, or he would lunge for Ennishall and deny the riders a base of operations.
He chose the latter, as Guld had planned. Reaching Ennishall required Synnde to cross the Andlin river by bridge. Here, Guld made his stand. By now aware of the effects of the elven gun on horses, Guld left his cavalry in reserve and dismounted his warriors. He had his archers fortify the riverbanks, so they could fire across or towards the bridge from cover. They did not have to wait long, as Synnde marched for the bridge. A protracted gun and archer battle ensued, as Synnde would not take the bridge, arraying his troops behind shield walls and attempting to exhaust the Cymbarite archers.
Guld, realizing the situation sent runners out across his side of the river, ordering his archers to stop shooting and hunker down. Believing the Cymbarites had exhausted their supply of arrows, the Exodites marched upon the bridge. The front of their column was almost across when the order came for the archers to loose again, subjecting the Exodites to enfilade. Most of the elven force charged forward, firing their muskets as the knights and infantry of Incrigg moved to block them. In the end, the knights, weakened by musket volley proved insufficient to hold the elven charge, and the king ordered a retreat towards the town and fort of Ennishall.
Though successfully crossing the bridge, the Exodite regiment had taken significant casualties, and by this point Synnde realized he had not the manpower to take Cymbar. Thus, he turned around. Marching his army back towards Fin-Allan, looting the countryside as he went. Guld was soon in pursuit, but stopped to capture the token garrison the elves had left at Arkstone. Then he moved back on Fin-Allan, seeking to take the outpost and destroy the portal.
The Exodites would return, once more routing Guld in the Second Battle of Fin-Allan. And again the elves advanced down the coast, only to be stalled by their overstretched and constantly harried supply chain as the Cymbarite kingdom summoned more and more irregular raiders to block elven supply missions. The stalemate lasted for 3 years, as whenever the Exodites met a Cymbarite host on the field, the Exodites would rout the Cymbarites, but could not secure the logistics to move on Moorhan. Ultimately it was yet another escalation of commitment that enabled Synnde to move forward, as fresh troops were put to pacifying the Dentlands, defending supply caravans, and manning captured forts while the main force marched down the road. The march and subsequent siege on Moorhan were some of the more bloodless episodes in the war, as Guld realized he had little chance with his depleted host, and by that point the elves had demonstrated that walls would not stop them.
So Guld came out to negotiate, resulting in the end of the war by the Treaty of Moorhan.
Battlefield
Most of the war was fought in the southern Dentlands, in the townlands south of lake Donner. The war was fought mainly by castle siege and night raid, as Guld's forces began avoiding pitched battles.
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
303
Ending Date
306
Conflict Result
Cymbar becomes a vassal of Exodus
Belligerents
Strength
Casualties
Objectives
Maps
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Cymbar
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