Red Rose War

Military action

A long war that led to creation of the Kingdom of Oren-Hayim and the beginning of the decline of the Gratic Empire.

At the end of the First Age, only Llenir was left to conquer as the Empire grew in strength. But Jonitan I, who had just completed the exploration of the Dark Forest in 174 I , grew lazy in his appointment of a new diplomat to the position of Magistrate of Bindi, the capital of Hayim Province. In his haste to prepare for the invasion of Llenir, he selected Dearth the Wise.   Dearth the Wise later became known as Dearth the Bloodthirsty for the brutal reign of terror that he imposed on his city. Hayim "revolutionaries" were hanged daily as he continued to provide Gratic and Schinter settlers with low taxes and solitary access to Bindi's only market. The Hayim people suffered greatly, as the shortfall of taxation fell to them to pay in a language and currency they did not understand.   In the late fall of 178 I , tensions rose as Dearth began to execute common criminals, despite it being a violation of Imperial law. On 16 Frostmonth, the people of Hayim stormed the Citadel and the Imperial Dockyards, dragging out Dearth and beheading him in the street (as is custom for murderers in their culture). After wresting control from the local Gratic military presence, they declared Khinkan IV Abuknajim - who had been in hiding since the conquest of Hayim - King of Hayim, ending two decades of Gratic rule.   Following this, the Kingdom of Hayim declared war on the Gratic Empire and invaded Oren. At the Battle of Peralt Bridge the following year, the portion of the Imperial Army stationed in Oren was taken prisoner, and the Kingdom of Oren was liberated. Marrying the only remaining daughter of King Rathus, Princess Drusilla, he declared that the kingdoms would be one united force against Gratic aggresion. This was the founding of the United Kingdoms of Oren-Hayim.   Jonitan I would not take this insult to his sovereignty sitting down, so he dispatched troops to put down what he saw as an organized rebellion in 180 I . He brutally slaughtered several villages in the area before bad health forced him to return home. He died early the following year, leaving his young son Kelem I as successor to his vast empire at the tender age of five.   Soon the army that Jonitan sent became garrisons that settled in eastern Hayim and southern Oren. These garrisons were constantly under attack from Hayim and Oren as the two powers jockeyed for control of the region.   A dozen years passed without any large change in the situation. Finally, Kelem I was old enough to go on campaign, and he decided to finally put an end to the conflict in Oren-Hayim. His army barely survived under his ambitious (and poor) leadership, but he was able to agree to what was supposed to be a temporary truce with Oren-Hayim.   The Treaty of Oren-Hayim was ironically signed at Peralt Bridge - the site of the Empire's first defeat in the war - between Kelem I , who was nursing the leg injury that would later kill him, Khinkan IV Abuknajim, and Queen Drusilla. It defined the borders of the United Kingdoms and the Empire in relation to the Red Guard Mountains and the edge of the Dark Forest.   So sudden and incomprehensible was the loss of the war that historians decided the year following the treaty, which would have been 194 I , would be instead the beginning of a new Age, the Second Age. Since the dawn of this new Age, the Gratic Empire has only experienced a decline in power.