Dwilight University/History/The War for Paisly

Extract from the The Book of D'Hara concerning the War for Paisly:

As recorded by Asriel Octavius.

On the 12th Day of Autumn in the 8th Year of Dwilight D’Hara declared war on Madina and attacked the city of Paisly. The same day, Terran allied itself with D’Hara and, a day later, also declared war on Madina. The Dragon King of D’Hara, Cenarious Stormrage, stated that the war was due to the hostile and insulting behaviour of Duchess Nightling Balewind of Paisly and the failure of Doge Tacin of Madina to control her.

The initial force which landed in Paisly was beaten back but they were reinforced over the next two days and were able to wipe out all the Madinan units guarding Paisly as well as wounding Nightling herself. In this they were aided by a monster attack against Paisly. However, the defenders rapidly began raising militia units to defend the city leading to days of protracted fighting. Terran forces were unable to aid in this since they were occupied trying to fight their way past the horde of monsters in Paisland.

After a few days the Madinans in Paisly were defeated and at last some Terran forces arrived to occupy the city while the D’Haran forces refitted in Port Raviel. The D’Haran forces were divided into two groups, the First and the Second Wave. The First Wave left immediately and began a friendly takeover as soon as they arrived in Paisly, aided by their Terran allies. There then followed a brief period where the occasional Madinan unit appeared and was wiped out whilst the Terrans struggled to get more reinforcements through Paisland and the D’Haran Second Wave refitted.

The season turned to winter and a day later reports reached D’Hara that the massed forces gathered in Madina were sailing for Paisly. The Second Wave was immediately ordered to Paisly along with everyone in Port Raviel. It was calculated that the combined allied forces in Paisly would be able to use their defensive advantage to defeat the slightly larger Madinan force. It was hoped that the takeover might even be complete by the time the Madinans arrived due to the long travel times on the stormy winter seas.

And, on the 3rd Day of Winter, just three days after it had started, the takeover was completed and Paisly became part of D'Hara. However, there was no time for the conquerors to celebrate since the same day news arrived of the vast forces that Madina was bringing north. Their huge fleet had been sighted just a few hours from Paisly and it was obvious that this would be one of the greatest battles in Dwilightian history. Madina had mustered almost twelve hundred men to attack the city, which was defended by a combined Terran and D'Haran force of almost a thousand men. Since the defenders would have the advantage of the walls it was impossible to predict how the battle would go. At the same time Duke Mathias stepped down from his stewardship of Port Nebel and was reappointed as the Duke of Paisly.

On the 5th Day of Winter a small Madinan force of seventy men landed and were shot down by the archers on the walls. They were wiped out to the last man but succeeded in killing two defenders with their bows. It was assumed they had arrived early by mistake, their ships sailing ahead of the main fleet. Another Madinan ship arrived the next day and the forces onboard promptly surrendered upon realising they were alone. Later that day a Madinan knight defected and joined D'Hara as a knight of Paisly.

On the 8th Day of Winter the decisive battle of the war took place. A Madinan force of seven hundred and eighty men landed and attacked the city. Over a three hour battle the nine hundred defenders held their ground, cutting down the Madinans as they approached the walls and then repelling the few units that actually made it onto the parapet. Unable to scale the walls the Madinans began a fighting retreat and were pursued by the defenders. The joint D'Haran-Terran forces continued to press the attack until the surviving Madinans were put to flight and driven from the battlefield. At the end of the battle D'Hara and Terran were the clear victors having lost a mere three hundred and thirty five compared to the seven hundred on the Madinan side. During the battle Sir Vigilans Animus, Magistrate of Justice of Terran, Senator of Chateau Saffalore, Marshal of the Pride of the Highlands and Vallyn Rothach, Lord Admiral of Madina, Marshal of the Madinan Ducal Guards were seriously wounded and four other nobles were wounded. A Madinan lord was also captured.

During the next day the Madinan forces scattered throughout the region were hunted and several assassination attempts by Madina were foiled. All of the assassins were captured and thrown into the dungeons. At sunset the same day a smaller Madinan force of a hundred attacked the city and were defeated. Eighty two casualties were inflicted by the defenders whilst they suffered twenty three of their own. Immediately after the battle Nightling herself attempted to assassinate Duke Mathias of Paisly only to be captured by his guards and imprisoned before she reached him. This was viewed as the icing on the cake by the defenders, even though she escaped just over a day later. Shortly afterwards, reports showed that the remainder of the Madinan fleet had turned around and was heading back to its own realm. No longer needed, the Terran forces said farewell to their allies and returned home to refit. On the way they managed to clear Paisland of the monsters that had been plaguing it.

On the 11th Day of Winter guards in Paisly captured Nightling Balewind while she was trying to escape from her successful assault on Douglas Münchhausen (a knight of Paisly). She was thrown into the dungeons in the hope that she could be banned so that the next time she was captured she could be executed. Shortly after Nightling was captured, another Madinan tried a similar stunt but was captured before they could harm anyone.

After a period spent refitting, during which a keep was built in Paisly, the D'Harans moved out into Paisland, beginning a friendly takeover on the 17th Day of Winter. It succeeded in two days.

The war gradually petered out over the coming days. Madina made no further attempt to attack and expanded its territories through the conquest of Candiels, indicating that it would rather spend its efforts on expanind westwards than on trying to recapture a far flung former posession. Certainly by early autumn of the same year there had been no further agression between the two realms and, whilst the state of war remained, the War for Paisly itself had ended.