Eannelk Occupation (707-598)
Background
The Drakoyan Middle Empires brought about a stunning series of losses for the North.
Throughout the course of the period (1112-707) southern lords made enormous territorial gains following a formidable military thrust, absorbing two sovereign nation-states sitting on their northern borders: the Kingdom of Andarc, and the Navirdic homeland of Goi Dav. Drakoyans then went toe to toe for the first time with the forces of Aug Faldr, a mighty regime whose lands extended further into Rela than had any prior Northern dynasty’s, and beat them soundly back as well, ultimately precipitating Aug Faldr’s fall; and the short-lived government of Weyr Thurn which replaced it was next on the Imperial chopping block. By UT 802, Drakoyan dominion, now straddling two continents, was at its all-time height.
In Chalornok, north of Weyr Thurn, discontent brewed among the Iron Lords as a storm gathering in the night sky: their idiot cousins’ failures to defend Arlok's southern boundaries had exposed them to possible invasion.
Invasion was bad for business! Exporting precious metals to Delhiza had made the Lords rich indeed – so rich that buying off their enemies had come to be simpler than maintaining standing armies. They knew their rivals were mostly petty chieftains which while bloodthirsty, lacked the resources to mount a serious attack, and could be crushed if push came to shove. The new Imperial threat upon their doorstep, however, jolted the Lords straight out of smug security. Realizing they were in no place to fend off a much better-armed foe, and many having lost the characteristically northern appetite for blood and brutality, a kind of panic set in across Chalornok's noble houses.
Callag Eannelk (UT 745-699)
Streak of Silver
The Eannelks of Unwiel were unusual among Raigur's tribal clans. Whereas the latter were comprised of warlords without savvy, fond of parroting ancient law to justify their neverending raids, the scions of Eannelk were born with the fabled “streak of silver” (i.e. grey hair, a Northern idiom signifying advanced wisdom). This trait helped them rise above the common fray, both on the battlefield and at clan moots, and their prescience in unearthing advantages kicked off many rumours that they were blessed with the Seers' Gift (...or perhaps in league with the Devil, depending on the rumourmonger).
Wits also granted the family a keen interest in court politics, which lent another edge by refining its understanding of diplomatic tactics and endearing to its members a fair swathe of aristocrats in positions to swap favours. Other tribal chiefs only spurned the nobility, accusing them of going soft after a “southern fashion” and refusing to work with them.
Callag Eannelk inherited the title of Clan Chief when fear of impending Drakoyan slaughter reigned in Chalornok, and the streak of silver in him spotted opportunity. Until this point, the Iron Lords sought nothing from the clans but an armistice, but they now needed warriors to shore up their defensive force - and there were none fiercer than the men of Unwiel.
by Midjourney
He proposed to Villeks, Taine of Stonismond, that he would rally the clans under the lord’s banner, but demanded a hefty sum and title over the lands from Unwiel north to Schardiar. Villeks agreed, if only because Callag’s brass interested and amused him. He had little confidence in the chieftain’s ability to pull off the deed.
As fate would have it, an especially hard winter fell that year in Raigur. Food supplies ran short. Callag pleaded with and eventually convinced Villeks to open up his castle’s stores to the other clans, using his own lands as collateral against the debt. The gamble paid off: The tribal chiefs, indebted to both Clan Eannelk and the Taine for their survival over the long, bitter months, pledged their arms to their cause.
When Villeks insisted they do so formally by taking an oath to serve his house the fighting bands refused, but Callag proposed to take the oath on behalf of the clans, sparing them the unearthly consequences of violating a sacred trust while satisfying Villeks’ concerns about accountability. The Taine agreed, and the clans of Raigur fell under Callag’s leadership.
by Midjourney
The Golden Stag: Liberator of the Weyr
Villeks first employed clanspeople as guards for iron shipments, a role they begrudgingly accepted. The coin was good, but culturally they regarded themselves as warriors, not hired swords. To make matters worse, because the Drakoyan forces much-feared by the Iron Lords never did arrive, there were few battles to be had. Thus the clans of Raigur effectively became glorified labourers, helping move heavy loads more often than fending off attacks, and so grew idle and restless.
Group ennui achieved a breaking point three years into the arrangement. Some clansmen declared they would prefer starvation to the dull life they’d acquired, and, stoked by underlying intra-clan rivalries, these dissatisfactions kindled infighting among them. Villeks was on the verge of releasing Callag from his oath as the constant uproar was hardly worth the trouble, but the Eannelk chief persuaded the Taine in another direction: towards war.
The Iron Lords believed the Drakoyan decision not to invade was a psychological tactic to get their guard down. The Lords had no inkling that the Drakoyan Emperor, Ch̀odkhüzhawsh, had no interest in moving further north and had even begun to regard Weyr Thurn as a prize with too steep a cost, as tensions with the southeastern nation of Vir Rel claimed the lion's share of his attention.
Callag convinced Villeks that offense was the best defense, and that the men of the clans should march south to liberate the Weyr people from their Drakoyan oppressors, putting distance between Chalornok and the Empire in the process. Only then could the Lords breathe easy and resume their business.
After Villeks presented these ideas to the other Lords, Houses Hinrui̯s, Lei̯p, and Oi̯faa from the Hold of Bournapk joined the campaign. Some were keen, even giddy, at the prospect of not only staving the Drakoyans off, but becoming conquerors.
They appreciated the arrangement Villeks had made with the clans on his land – if something similar could be hashed out on their end, they wouldn’t have to sacrifice their own soldiers. Callag’s ambition saw him pleased to preside over negotiations with Bournapk clanspeople, who grasped that getting involved offered a unique chance to better their situations and even expand their holdings. Fifteen new families would soon fight alongside the Eannelk.
Early battles went far more smoothly than anyone imagined. Territories in Weyr Thurn were reclaimed one after another, with very little Drakoyan resistance. The Weyr, viewing Callag as a means to slough off their yoke and return their lands to northern rule, enthusiastically joined the rebellion.
Callag’s success was so great it came to earn him the title, “The Stag” – after a myth common to the clans about a divine Golden Stag whose rule heralded the coming of a new age.
By 707, taking full advantage of Ch̀odkhüzhawsh’s seeming indifference to his advance, Callag had reconquered all of Weyr Thurn, redubbing it ‘Ceweren’ – land of the Weyr.
Breaching the Empire
Callag employed a rhetoric of liberation throughout his campaign, and though privately stockpiling power as he went, his end game really had been about freeing the Weyr, who he saw as his countrymen.
Having granted the Weyr back their lands, the Stag began to plot on a larger scale. The Drakoyan Empire fell within his sights.
His forces from Chalornok were overwhelmed at what they had managed to accomplish together, and their unprecedented run of good fortune made them see the greater adventures yet to come in mythological terms. And like good true folk of the north, they had no intention of just sitting around waiting for it to happen. The fire in their blood sang songs of battle.
The Weyr did not share this zeal. While Callag demanded tribute from them, he had not imposed his will over the land and left their laws, and those that enforced them, intact. Under the status quo, they were basically self-governing again, so while in debt to Clan Eannelk for this, they saw lives as inappropriate collateral. They would not go happily to war.
What was more, the Weyr, a “civilized” metropolitan group, struggled to accept the increasing influx of Chalornok migrants and their comparatively violent and boorish ways. Callag’s knack for politics eased these misgivings among the country’s bureaucrats, but the common people had a tough time learning to endure their new neighbours’ customs. Seeking to preserve the good will he had earned by cutting their chains, the Stag did at first not force the Weyr to fight, but offered such special incentives to join his army that many signed up.
He held Ceweren for a full three years before setting foot on Drakoyan soil. Then finally, in UT 704, his forces breached the Empire’s northmost border.
For five years, Callag’s armies hammered away at Drakoyan defenses, again with a certain ease. Ch̀odkhüzhawsh, embroiled in a now-military conflict with Vir Rel, had not taken sufficient precautions to fortify his northern territories and so lost them, one by one.
The Stag’s victories felt endless. Then, in 699, shortly after the death of his six-year old granddaughter, Usi, first child of his eldest son Mourvau, Callag Eannelk caught fever which that winter he succumbed to. Due to the child’s preciousness to him, many said he died of a broken heart.
Mourvau (UT 726-d. 667)
by Midjourney
by Midjourney
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