Whalers' War
Pots of boiling oil
the stench of slaughter at sea
men with iron hooks
"...and in the face of overwhelming demand, the Whalers finally burned their nets and cried 'No! We hunt them to nothing!'. Their leader, Mary Culligan, declared that their harpoons would remain pointed shoreward, towards the land-bound butchers who had demanded the slaughter of so many peaceful animals. The fleets would not return to land, they would remain at sea and protect the whales until the last of them joined the Devil Barnum's crew of souls.
But the Empire's demand for whale oil was too deep seated, too high. And at the obscene price which the barbaric resource commanded, Silas Varacco was loathe to lose his monopoly over the whaling fleets. Hours after the strike began, his newspapers were flooding the streets. WHALERS DECLARE WAR! cried the headlines, "FISH BEFORE FAMILY", SAYS CULLIGAN!. The minds of the people were quickly turned against the Whalers' cause.
Soon there were new headlines. ABLE MEN NEEDED, MANDATORY NAVAL DRAFT, FIGHT FOR YOUR EMPEROR!."
But the Empire's demand for whale oil was too deep seated, too high. And at the obscene price which the barbaric resource commanded, Silas Varacco was loathe to lose his monopoly over the whaling fleets. Hours after the strike began, his newspapers were flooding the streets. WHALERS DECLARE WAR! cried the headlines, "FISH BEFORE FAMILY", SAYS CULLIGAN!. The minds of the people were quickly turned against the Whalers' cause.
Soon there were new headlines. ABLE MEN NEEDED, MANDATORY NAVAL DRAFT, FIGHT FOR YOUR EMPEROR!."
- Excerpt from "Blood and Oil: a History of the Whalers' War" Johannes Bruges - 1207 Year of Enlightenment
The Conflict
Deployment
On the 13th day of the Month of Hooks, 1124, Mary Culligan coordinated the mutiny of 523 whaling ships and seizure of their oil stores, remaining the commander of the fleet for thirty of the thirty-five years during which the Whalers' War was fought. For 35 years, 523 whaling ships held off the combined forces of the Empire and the fledgling Coinlord Silas Varacco in a brutal guerrilla war, fought in entirely nautical theaters. In the Thirtieth year, however, the Whalers were betrayed by Culligan, and the conclusion of the war became certain.
The Empire initially set out to crush the rebellion with overwhelming force, but after appearing suddenly and inflicting hideous damage on Imperial whaling ships or military vessels, the Whalers simply sailed off over the horizon, daring the fleets to chase them out into the open seas. Many hundreds of Imperial ships and sailors set out in pursuit, most were lost with all hands. Those that returned when their supplies ran out reported no sign of the whaling fleets, they seemed to have vanished into the sea itself.
Meanwhile, the Empire's demand for whale oil only increased as their stores became exhausted. Parts of the war fleet were contracted out to Varacco's whaling business, and sent out to continue the bloody work. As if called by the whales' distress, the Whalers would appear suddenly, launching harpoons and the occasional flaming barrel of whale oil. The resource the Empire so craved had been turned into a weapon against them. The Whalers would most often scuttle or steal the ships they raided before disappearing again into the wild blue yonder.
The Empire initially set out to crush the rebellion with overwhelming force, but after appearing suddenly and inflicting hideous damage on Imperial whaling ships or military vessels, the Whalers simply sailed off over the horizon, daring the fleets to chase them out into the open seas. Many hundreds of Imperial ships and sailors set out in pursuit, most were lost with all hands. Those that returned when their supplies ran out reported no sign of the whaling fleets, they seemed to have vanished into the sea itself.
Meanwhile, the Empire's demand for whale oil only increased as their stores became exhausted. Parts of the war fleet were contracted out to Varacco's whaling business, and sent out to continue the bloody work. As if called by the whales' distress, the Whalers would appear suddenly, launching harpoons and the occasional flaming barrel of whale oil. The resource the Empire so craved had been turned into a weapon against them. The Whalers would most often scuttle or steal the ships they raided before disappearing again into the wild blue yonder.
Conditions
The sheer numerical superiority of the Imperial Fleet demanded guerrilla tactics from the Whalers, which proved brutally successful. The war continued at vast cost to the Empire for three decades, until the Whalers were betrayed by Mary Culligan.
The Engagement
From the outset of the Whalers' strike and the beginning of the War, the Whalers were a fatalistic body. Spurred on by a righteous fury, they knew their war was one of attrition, a grinding game in which the goal was not to win but to survive as long as possible. The conscripted legions of Imperial sailors could rarely match the ferocity with which the Whalers fought, and had no defense against their fearless tactics. What defense could there be against men who hurled themselves at ships, ablaze with whale oil and vengeance, happy to die as penance for their years of slaughter? Tactical calculations suggest that the rate of attrition was greater than ten Imperials for every one Whaler, and this rate includes the final years after Culligan's Turn. It is fearsome to contemplate the havoc that an organized Whaler army might have wrought, had they formed a true organization.
During the 30th year of the war, Mary Culligan betrayed the Whaler fleet she had roused. In return for her own life, amnesty from Imperial justice, and a place as one of the Coinlords, Culligan mapped out the hidden cave network within the Isle de Sangre which had allowed the Whaler fleet to escape Imperial retribution for the first bloody years of the war, and eventually become their base of operations. She also revealed that the Tritons had secretly sided with the Whalers in their efforts to protect the whale population, as the human tendency to hunt a species to extinction was seen as morally abhorrent. The main strength of the Whaler fleets was found to be not only in their savage combat prowess, but also the living glass modifications made to their ships by their Triton allies. The Whaler ships appeared to vanish into the sea, because they were vanishing into the sea - descending below the surface of the waves and out of the Empire's reach, by way of the first known Mer-cloth diving suits and ingenious Triton engineering that allowed their ships to maneuver vertically as well as horizontally, and maintain velocity underwater. The ships' interiors were totally waterproof, and could stay beneath the surface as long as necessary, providing they had the supplies to survive.
This information was painstakingly chronicled by Mary Culligan and presented to Silas Varacco, who sold the information (at an exorbitant price, of course) to the Emperor. These events are referred to by historians as Culligan's Turn. Armed with this knowledge, the Imperial fleet descended mercilessly upon the Whalers hideout, burning their ships and drowning those they took prisoner. Though the remaining Whalers fought valiantly and many fled into the uncharted waters of the Southern Sea, there is no question that they were crushed 'neath the Emperor's heel. Five years later, the Whalers' War was declared officially ended.
During the 30th year of the war, Mary Culligan betrayed the Whaler fleet she had roused. In return for her own life, amnesty from Imperial justice, and a place as one of the Coinlords, Culligan mapped out the hidden cave network within the Isle de Sangre which had allowed the Whaler fleet to escape Imperial retribution for the first bloody years of the war, and eventually become their base of operations. She also revealed that the Tritons had secretly sided with the Whalers in their efforts to protect the whale population, as the human tendency to hunt a species to extinction was seen as morally abhorrent. The main strength of the Whaler fleets was found to be not only in their savage combat prowess, but also the living glass modifications made to their ships by their Triton allies. The Whaler ships appeared to vanish into the sea, because they were vanishing into the sea - descending below the surface of the waves and out of the Empire's reach, by way of the first known Mer-cloth diving suits and ingenious Triton engineering that allowed their ships to maneuver vertically as well as horizontally, and maintain velocity underwater. The ships' interiors were totally waterproof, and could stay beneath the surface as long as necessary, providing they had the supplies to survive.
This information was painstakingly chronicled by Mary Culligan and presented to Silas Varacco, who sold the information (at an exorbitant price, of course) to the Emperor. These events are referred to by historians as Culligan's Turn. Armed with this knowledge, the Imperial fleet descended mercilessly upon the Whalers hideout, burning their ships and drowning those they took prisoner. Though the remaining Whalers fought valiantly and many fled into the uncharted waters of the Southern Sea, there is no question that they were crushed 'neath the Emperor's heel. Five years later, the Whalers' War was declared officially ended.
Outcome
- Oil trade resumed, albeit at a significantly reduced capacity due to a total lack of experienced whalers
- 500 Imperial warships sold to Silas Varacco to be refitted as whaling vessels
- Thousands of Imperial conscripts forced into whaling to fill the worker void
Aftermath
- Triton presence in Southern Sea greatly reduced.
- Population of Brigands' Landing suddenly doubled by influx of Imperial conscripts after being whittled to half its pre-war peak over the length of the conflict.
Conflict Type
War
Battlefield Type
Naval
Start Date
1124th Year of Enlightenment, month of Hooks
Ending Date
1159th Year of Enlightenment, month of Winds
Conflict Result
The Empire quelled the Whaler rebellion
Belligerents
Strength
- ~7000 warships
- Conscripted sailors
- Mercenaries under the command of Azar Ibn-Alhad
- ~12,500 Whalers
- 523 whaling ships
- Crew size: 16-32 crew members per ship, depending on the size of the vessel
Casualties
- ~100,000 total
- ~70,000 conscripted sailors
- ~30,000 mercenary auxiliaries
- ~4800 warships
- Estimated at ~12,000
- Survivors hunted by the Empire as war criminals. Only the most lawless or desolate places are safe for the Whaler veterans, and even there they sleep with faces towards their doors, one eye open.
Objectives
- Eliminate the Whaler rebellion
- Restore balance of the oil trade
- Prevent Imperial whaling efforts
- Survive as long as possible against the numerically superior Imperial fleet
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