War of the Gates

The War of the Gates was a civil and religious conflict in Estaria with participation from Prekha and Landren, which lasted from 1599 to 1709 SE. The conflict was between Orthodox Atovist and Renewist Atovist factions over control of Solgrad and the Estarian throne following the Renewist Upheaval and the exile of King Gaelin the Bloody.

Summary

The Incitement

The Day of Red Snow

In the winter of 1599, King Saul of Hedgewall sent a regiments of knights to end a revolt of unhappy farmers north of Solgrad in a hamlet called Steeplegate. The farmers were upset that they were being taxed twice, once by King Saul's regime, and then again by the remnants of northern nobles who claimed Saul's rule was illegitimate. These lords collected their own taxes to fund a faction called the Estarian Regency, a collection of land holding nobles backed by the Orthodox Atovist church. Additionally, Saul's government was much poorer than previous Estarian Kings' since he didn't have access to the wider Estarian imperial holdings, many of which were loyal to the regency. This meant that commoners in the capital felt an increased tax burden.
Saul's knights were struck with hammers, axes, and bills by the farmers, killing one knight. The knights in turn responded with wholesale slaughter, killing every attacking farmer and torching Steeplegate to the ground. This resulted in the death of women, children, and families that weren't part of the revolt as well, creating a black stain on Estarian history known as the Day of Red Snow.

The Siege of Lockford

After the massacre, King Saul's support among Estarians was as unpopular as ever. The Regency took this as a time to strike, and sent a mercenary army to the dutchy of Lockford in Last Light of 1599. Their original intention was to cut off supplies to Solgrad, but the mercenary dopplesoldiers laid siege to Lockford after burning and salting their farmland. The siege lasted only one week before Duke Cameron Lowe surrendered to the mercenary army. This was the first battle of what would be known as the War of the Gates.

Early Battles

The First Battle of Mayfield

After a decade of conflict against mercenaries and loyalists in northern Estaria taking refuge in the Redshade Jungle, King Saul lead a march of Estarian Landscknecht and knights on a stronghold of orthodox loyalists for the Estarian Regency who were held up in the town of Mayfield, a priory within the jungle that bordered Prekha.
On the forty-second of Vitsow, 1610 SE, Saul's men clashed with Regency loyalists in the Redshade Jungle with Saul himself among the combatants. The men loyal to Saul vastly outnumbered the Regency loyalists in the town of Mayfield, but their advanced was slowed by the difficult terrain. Critically, the Estarian military had made a massive strategic blunder by relying heavily on cavalry for their advance, which couldn't navigate the dense jungle environment surrounding the town. Additionally, the Estarian's reliance on landscknecht mercenaries posed a similar issue because their weapons were too long for the dense foliage.
The battle lasted seven hours before King Saul's men were routed. During a final cavalry maneuver, Saul's horse was toppled and he was killed by longbow fire. Despite being responsible for his death, loyalist nobles from the Estarian Regency gave King Saul a proper burial after the battle.

Estarian Victories

Following the major defeat at Mayfield, the Estarian kingdom crowned a new king Jonas Cipecus, Saul's nephew. His strategy was far more cautious in order to avoid a repeat of Mayfield. The Estarians fought a series of skirmishes and sieges at the borders of the Regency's territory, using their advantage in manpower and money to wittle down their territory.
By 1654, the Estarian Regency's territory was pushed back to their holdings in the heart of the Redshade Jungle, Lockford, and a series of priories to the south of Lockford, west of Solgrad. Still, the fortified priory of Mayfield represented a significant challenge to King Jonas and his men.

Involvement of Prekha and Landren

King Jonas' Deal with Prekha

With both sides of the conflict facing a stalemate, they turned north for allies. First, King Jonas made a deal with Emperor Nazfrus of Wehn, the Emperor of Prekha. The Prekhan's were promised the town of Mayfield and its surrounding land in the Redshade Jungle if they could take the town and sack its surrounding hamlets. Though Prekha was a historical enemy of the town, Nazfrus and Jonas were both Renewist Atovists and the offer was enticing enough for him to agree.

Lord Hinson and Landren

Further to the north, the kingdom of Landren expressed sympathies to the . The historically Orthodox kingdom wished to see Solgrad returned to the True Atovist Church. After a generation of conflict, Landren was ready to join in the fighting.
Lord Hinson of Masau, the leader of the council of lords governing the Estarian Regency, turned to King Hanley the Forseer for military support in retaking Solgrad. Landren would not officially join the conflict until after the Second Battle of Mayfield.

The Second Battle of Mayfield

On the fourth of Reap, 1658, King Jonas launched a second attack on the priory of Mayfield. By that time, the majority of the Estarian Regency's leadership had based themselves in Lockford, but Mayfield was still an important northern operating outpost.
Jonas' men were better equipped for the jungle environment, and this time they had assistance from Prekhan infantry. Mayfield was sieged for three days before falling on the sixth of Reap, 1658. This would be the final major victory for the Renewist Estarian faction before their slow decline.

Turning the Tide

Hinson's March

Fighting continued for a decade with little ground gained between both sides. Critically, however, forces from Landren crossed the Crescent Sea into Estaria to assist the Estarian Regency in retaking Solgrad. This coalition was successful in preventing King Jonas from overtaking them, but it took over a decade for Lord Hinson to amass enough men to launch a crusade on Solgrad.
On the twenty-third of Sol, 1681, Lord Hinson marched down with an army of twenty five thousand men from Lockford. Their goal was to take the town of Hedgewall and then move north to Solgrad. This is known in art and song as Hinson's March.

The Battle of Bluebrook

On the fifteenth of First Light, 1659, before reaching Hedgewall, Hinson's army encountered a force of sixteen thousand conscripted men and knights marching west to intercept them. These two armies clashed in the fields south of the small hamlet of Bluebrook, which is situated on the southern outskirts of Hedgewall's dutchy. The conflict was significant because it was the largest engagement of infantry in the century-long war, and neither side had any fortifications during the engagement.
Lord Hinson used his cavalry to funnel the Estarian forces into tighter columns before raining the battlefield with longbow missiles. This tactic was repeated until the Estarian soldiers were routed with heavy casualties. The duke of Hedgewall surrendered after the regency victory, giving the crusaders a direct line to Solgrad.

The Estarian Throne Changes

In 1663, King Jonas Cipecus died of old age, and was replaced by his first-born son, Martin Cipecus the Second.

The Siege of Solgrad

On the fortieth of Last Light, 1670, Lord Hinson's men reached the capital city of Solgrad, and began sacking the nearby farms. Ironically, the town of Steeplegate, the site of the Day of Red Snow which began the century-long war, was raised by Hinson's army.
The city was sieged for more than two years. By this time, Hinson's army had grown to nearly forty thousand, tripling the numbers of combatants within Solgrad's fortified gates. On the fourth of Vitsow, 1673, the Regency forces attacked Solgrad's gates with trebuchet and an aggressive escalade assault. They were repelled before they could brake through the city gates and lost nearly five thousand men.
Hinson was forced to retreat. His army marched west to Hedgewall and Lockford, but not before leaving Solgrad weakened and with little options to strike back.

The Slow End of the War

By this point, the war had been raging for more than seventy-three years. Two generations of Estarians had grown up and died fighting in a war over control for the throne, and the fervor felt during the Renewist Upheaval was all but gone. The Estarian Empire was on a steep decline and support for the war was at an all-time low.
King Martin Cipecus was seen as responsible for the seige on Solgrad. To make matters worse, he was not a devout follower of Atovism. Although he was a renewist and engaged in renewist ceremony, his true reputation was for hedonism, lavish parties, and debauchery.

Thirty Years of Night

Lord Hinson died shortly after the siege of Solgrad, leaving the Regency in a weakened state after its retreat. For the next thirty years, there was no major pushes from either side. As the Regency regained strength and leadership, King Martin the Idle failed to push his advantage, allowing the citizens of Solgrad to live in squalor. Solgrad's wealth and strength declined in the following three decades.
In 1819, Playwriter Lester Calmo wrote a tragic historical play about this period called Thirty Years of Night.
Over this thirty year period from 1673 to 1705, the Estarian Regency fortified their territory in Lockford and Hedgewall More than three foruths of Estaria's territory at the time were under the regency's occupation, and more and more local lords were turning face and supporting the regency over the king. After the death of Lord Hinson, the Estarian Regency was governed by their council of lords before appointing a new regent king, the future king of Solgrad, King Eiknir of Lockford.

King Eiknir's Plan

Eiknir knew that Solgrad was unconquerable, and turned to a more diplomatic approach. After declaring himself regent lord, he argued that King Martin was unfit to lead Estaria, pointing to the apparent decline of Solgrad's metropolis. Eiknir offered amnesty to any and all dukes, lords, and vassals that pledged allegiance to him, regardless of any crimes they had committed against the Regency. He made a public show of rewarding the lords under him as well, using the wealth the regency had accrued from its many conquered territories to publicly anoint his regent lords with gifts and hold lavish festivals in his territory.
This plan worked as well as Eiknir could have anticipated. After two decades of pressing his advantage, Eiknir had the loyalty of many lords within Solgrad itself and even King Martin's own court. Martin's poor leadership and the promises of Eiknir caused enough internal strife in the Renewist regime for a coup.

The Day of Red Robes

In the summer of 1705 SE, an envoy of King Eiknir met with Archduke Sutherland of Greyswallow, a member of King Martin's court. The two discussed plans to overthrow King Martin and instate King Eiknir in his place, ending the war and renewist rule over Solgrad. Though Duke Sutherland was a renewist himself, he loathed King Martin's rule and sought concessions from Eiknir in exchange for his role in the conspiracy. It would take more than three years for Archduke Sutherland to put their conspiracy into action.
On the first of First Light, 1709, during a royal procession in Solgrad at the base of Lonir Point Keep, Archduke Sutherland along with five other members of Martin's court produced daggers and struck King Martin in his back in front of a crowd of onlookers. King Martin's royal guard were in on the conspiracy and did nothing to stop the attack. One guard even assisted in the murder. Though six men drew weapons, only Archduke Sutherland and the guard actually struck King Martin. It's said that the king's blood and spinal fluid spilled from his robes onto the stone streets of Solgrad.

Eiknir Ascends

In exactly one month, on the first of Vitsow, 1709, King Eiknir ascended to the Estarian throne. King Martin's children were executed and Eiknir declared that the "true Atovist Church" had been set back into its rightful place.
As a concession to his co-conspirator, Eiknir revoked the Treatise of Religious Purity (or rather, refused to reinstate it).

Conflict Type

War