War of the Vale
In the year 1243AP the War of the Vale broke out. This was a decade long war between Rasfadal and Burbry. It was a devastating conflict for both sides.
The Conflict
Prelude
Long ago the Duchy of the Vale encompassed the entirety of The Great Vale. Sometime during the 6th century the duke of the Vale died and his domain was divided among his twin sons. Thus, the duchy was split in two: The Duchy of The Great Vale and the Duchy of Granvalle. Both duchies were independent, but through marriage Granvalle would become part of the Kingdom of Burbry during the 7th century. The Duchy of the Great Vale was conquered by Fendalian kings some time during the 10th century. Reginald V's grandmother had a claim on the Duchy of the Great Vale. Reginald V used this to justify his ambitions to reunite the Duchy of Vale once more. On 15 Feveron 1243 Reginald send a messenger to Duke Anwil, declaring his claim on the Duchy of the Great Vale and Derwon Castle, and his intentions to take both.
The Engagement
The First Campaign 1243-1244
The first campaign started when Reginald V sent a force of 5,000 men to Derwon Castle on 3 Margon 1243. Within a fortnight the Granvalle forces had surrounded and besieged the castle. When they arrived at Derwon the Granvalle general sent envoys to the town and the castle located there to seek a surrender of the Derwon garrison, offering terms of surrender. The garrison killed the envoys and sent the bodies back. This enraged the Granvalle army so that they stormed the castle of Derwon on 1 Apron 1243, killing the entire garrison inside. This became known as the storming of Derwon. News of Granvalle's sack of Derwon provoked a reaction among the lords of nearby counties and the Alliance of the Southern Lords was formed on 15 Apron, 1243. This alliance included the Duke of The Great Vale, Count of Golban, Count of Arlin and Count of South Fendal. On 2 Meyon, 1243 the Kingdom of Domari joined the Alliance of the Southern Lords. The Alliance was specifically formed to resist Granvalle aggression. This was not anticipated by Reginald V. On their way to the Duchy of Granvalle the Domar forces captured several settlements in the Duchy of Sorlond. On 22 Junon, 1243 a Domari force managed to capture Derbot Castle. This cut the Granvalle army off from the Kingdom of Burbry. Seeing the odds turn against them, the Granvalle army decides to make a second push. The Southern lords were slow to deploy their forces and had not yet managed to organize their troops into a single army. On 1 Auron, 1243 the Granvalle army engaged the Southern Lords' army amidst the chaos and managed to defeat them at the Battle of Ferling. Feeling that they had weakened the Southern Lords enough the Granvalle army started marching home with intentions to retake Derbot Castle from Domari. On 22 Noveron, 1243, on their way they encounter the Domari force that was headed for Ferling. Just as the battle started the armies of the Southern Lords arrive at the field. The army of Granvalle suffers a disastrous defeat And retreat to Derbot. On 28 Decermon, 1243 the Southern Lords and Granvalle sign the Treaty of Ferling in which all Granvalle occupied settlements are returned to Duke Anwil. After signing of the Treaty of Ferling both armies return home. Duke Anwil maintains a large army near the border to make sure there are no subsequent attacks from Duke Reginald V. On 18 Feveron, 1244 both armies stand down, marking the end of the first campaign. The Kingdom of Domari, however, refuses to release any of the occupied holding and the entirety of the Duchy of Sorlond is brought into the kingdom. In the past centuries Domari had shown very little interest in expanding their territory beyond the Domart Mountains, and this many leaders did not understand their motives.The Second Campaign 1244-1245
On June 15, 1244 Burbry and Domari signed a non-aggression pact in Romlond. This secured the Burbry’s border with Domari, allowing Auder XI to focus his attention on Rasfadal. Immediately after signing the treaty the Burbric king started mustering an army. On July 1 Auder XI started his invasion of The Great Vale, leading over 15.000 men into Rasfadal. They laid siege to the weakened city of Derwon on July 3 and within a week the garrison was forced to surrender. Burbric forces massacred the majority of the garrison to instill fear in their enemies. After the Siege of Derwon the Burbric forces continued their march and swiftly conquered the entirety of the County of the Great Vale by July 18. The next target of the Burbric forces seemed to be the County of the Lesser Vale. On august 30 Count Rycherd, desperate to avoid the Burbric onslaught, sent out envoys to the burbric forces and offered military aid for the conquest. Auder XI accepted they changed they focused their next actions on Darnithal instead. On September 20 the Burbric army arrived at Darnithal, but encountered unexpected resistance from Fendalian forces. King Staar II had mustered his troops in Hofendal and was waiting for Auder in Darnithal with 10.000 men. The battle of Darnithal lasted several days and resulted in a burbric defeat, forcing the burbric army to retreat. King Auder then turned to King Alfonte of Elmara for support. On October 17 the Kingdom of Burbry and the Kingdom of Elmara forged an alliance on the terms that Elmara would gain control over South Fendal. In november the two kingdoms invaded Fendalian lands; Elmara from the south and Burbry from the north. Rasfadal was forced to split their forces and was unable to fight off the invaders. Within a months and a half the entirety of South Fendal was under Burbric-Elmaran control. As per their agreement Elmara claimed the County of South Fendal, but Auder XI decided to try and forge an outcome where the county would fall under Burbric control. This lead to the breaking of the Burbric Elmaran alliance and the two kingdoms turned on each other. The In April 1245 the Elmaran army attacked Burbric forces at Gwendal where the former was utterly crushed and forced to retreat to Darnithal. In early June the Burbric army was still unorganized when the Elmaran army attacked them, leading to another Burbric defeat. Burbry was forced to retreat to the Great Vale and South Fendal was under Elmaran control.The Third Campaign 1246-1248
The second campaign ended in the summer of 1245 and Rasfadal had lost a significant portion of land. For over a year king Staar II and king Alfonte negotiated in secret. Staar insisted that Burbry had become too strong after gaining a foothold in the Great Vale. In July 1246, a year after the end of the second campaign Rasfadal and Elmara forged the Fendalian-Elmaran Alliance. In August the combined Fendalian-Elmaran forces invaded the Great Vale. They managed to defeat the Burbric army in a handful of skirmishes, but were unable to occupy any holding or gain a foothold in the Vale. By December the alliance was still unable to make any significant progress and king Alfonte decided to break his with Rasfadal, and joining Burbry instead. A fortnight later the Sarkass, the Archduke of Sovar offered to join the Burbric-Elmaran alliance as well, forming the Great League. In March 1247 Sarkass lead the invasion of Varasia and occupied the northern lands of Rasfadal. Two months later a Burbric-Elmaran force invaded the Hofen Pastures. At this point Rasfadal was facing invasions on all sides and in no position to effectively defend against any of them. By the summer the Great League controlled a large portion of Rasfadal, but again there were disagreements on how to decide the occupied territory. Negotiations were tense and eventually Sovar decided to leave the great League. Sarkass knew that Rasfadal was under great pressure and made Staar II and offer: hand over the occupied lands of Varasia and I will join you against the Burbric-Elmaran force. On October 10 Staar II, with little room to negotiate, accepted to these terms and formed a Fendalian-Sovarish Alliance. Staar II ordered the Fendalian forces to halt any further Burbric-Elmaran conquest while the Archduke of Sovar sent his forces south to the Great Vale. The Burbric holdings in the Great Vale were mostly unmanned and Sovar was able to easily capture Castle Derbot. Later a joint Fendalian-Sovarish force managed to defeat the Burbric forces at Derwon, followed by several Burbric defeats on the field. A contingent of Fendalian-Sovarish remained at Derwon while the rest of the army marched east to drive the Elmaran Forces out of South Fendal. This army managed to achieve several victories against Elmara in a string of field battles. By the end of January 1248 Elmara was completely driven out of South Fendal. However, while the Fendalian-Sovarish army was fighting in South Fendal the Burbric forces manages to reclaim Derbot castle. The army then turned its attention to Derbot to drive Burbry out of the Great Vale. After a quick march they laid siege to the castle by the end of February and managed to capture it after a short siege. The Burbric forces were scattered, but suffered only minor losses. The Fendalian-Sovarish forces decided to exploit their victory and pushed into Burbry. They managed to achieve several victories and occupy a large portion of Southern Burbry, but in July a replenished Burbric force attacked the invaders and drove them back in a string in battles. Eventually the Burbric army managed to recapture Derbot castle in July 1248. At this point Sovar and Elmara saw no point in supporting the war anymore and both left their alliances, marking the end of the third campaign.The Fourth Campaign 1249-1253
The following months Auder XI entered intense negotiations with the Mountainfolk of Domari, convincing them to join his side in the war. In secret the Domari folk had already pledged their support to Staar II when he was ready to start another assault. In late August 1249 Auder XI launched his assault on the Fendalian Great Vale. He expected Domar forces to join him, but was unpleasantly surprised to find a Domar force awaiting them on the Fendalian side. He immediately realized he had been played and laid siege to Derwon, but refused to advance for the time being. In October a Domar force assaulted the Burbric Duchy of Daundry and managed to occupy several settlements in the region before Auder XI was able to respond. The Burbric army gathered at Sossard, but was defeated by the Domar forces and forced to retreat to Vassart by the end of November 1249. The winter of 1249-50 was extremely harsh and all military activities were halted until spring. In late spring the domar forces moved to Vassart where they defeated the Bubric army once again. The Domar forces were now on the doorstep of Mirrouse, the Burbric capital. Auder XI realized that loosing the capital would mean the end of the war and hired a group of Olorlay Mercenaries to form a large strike force again the Domar army. On September 12 the Burbric army marched to meet the domar forcers at Vassart, but they were utterly crushed and king Auder XI was captured by the Domar forces. The Burbric nobility was in disarray and the kingdom got involved in a diplomatic spiel to attempt to negotiate Auder XI’s release. Princess Eleana, the mother of Auder XI, travelled to the desert Kingdom of Tarnen to negotiate and forge an alliance. In January 1251 she returned with a Tarnish force, invaded Domari and achieved a victory at Daundry Keep. In March Auder XI was forced to sign the Treaty of Mul-Domar in which he surrendered the Duchy of Daundry in order to be released. As these events unfolded, Auder XI’s invasion of the Great Vale had come to a complete stop and Rasfadal used this time to gather a large force to counter the invasion. In June 1251 they invaded the Burbric Great Vale with an army of 20.000 men and laid siege to Castle Derbot. By the end of July the castle was captured. Shortly after claiming the castle the Fendalian force was able to occupy the entire Duchy of Granvalle. In December 1251 Staar II made a peace offer to Auder XI, but the Burbric king already lost too much land to Domari and refused. After the treaty of Mul-Domar Auder XI no longer had to worry about a Domari attack. In January 1252 the Burbric-Tarnish army marched south. At Kennant The Fendalian and Burbric armies met and after a small skirmish the Fendalian forces retreated to Derbot Castle. By June the Burbric army had laid siege to Derbot castle and launched an assault. Both sides suffered devastating losses before the Fendalian force could retreat to Derwon Castle. In early July the Burbric army had laid siege to the castle of Derwon and on September 30 they launched another assault. They suffered a defeat. The Tarnish forces refused to keep on fighting and returned home. Auder XI’s forces were now spread very thin, but so were those of Staar II. In a desperate attempt to win the war Auder hired another mercenary band from Olorlay and besieged Derwon again. After a short siege Auder XI launched an assault. The battle lasted 3 days and became one of the deadliest battles of the war. By the end both armies were completely depleted. Neither side now had the military strength of financial means to carry on with the war anymore. In March 1253 Auder XI and Staar II met in Derwon where they signed the Treaty of Derwon, bringing an end to the decade long war that would become known as the War of the Vale.
Timeline
War of the Vale
War of the Vale
Included Conflicts
Conflict Type
War
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
15 Feveron 1243
Ending Date
25 Margon 1253
Conflict Result
Location
Belligerents
Rasfadal
Led by
Strength
At it's height around 30.000 fendalian men, though over the entire war 50-60.000 fendalians have been deployed.
At its peak the Burbric army deployed nearly 60.000 men.
Casualties
c. 30.000 men killed
Over 50.000 Burbric men.
Objectives
Maintain control over the The Fendalian Great Vale
Conquer the The Fendalian Great Vale
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