Ash'rily

Summary

In ages past, Ash'rily was once the capital of the Ash Sea Islands and is considered the centre of its culture and history. However, over that time the Kingdom of Ash Sea Islands has come to somewhat frequent blows with Abington and as a consequence, Ash'rily has seen it's ownership change several times over the years. After the most recent conflict between Abington and ASI there are high hopes that this may truly be the last time the two kingdoms come to blows over the Islands and Ash'rily.

The Fall of Ash'rily

(This account concerns the last fall of Ash'rily to Abington; during the age of King Nautilus and King Gabriel.)

Ash'rily was the centre of dispute during the war between Abington and Ash Sea Islands in late 2005 early 2006. Early on in the conflict, Ash'rily was cut off from the rest of ASI and was effectively forced into a lengthy siege with little spare food. The Ashlantean army had been most of the way to Drachenwald when news of Abingtons strike reached them and thus were unable to return in time to prevent Abingtons invasion.

Defenders of Ash'rily under Duke Wallace used it as a base of operations for conducting a successful hit and run campaign on straggling Abington forces when they moved toward Ser'quea to stop the Ithillian and Ashlantean forces coming to liberate Ash'rily. Eventually, the hit and run campaign led to a rushed attacked on Ash'rily in December of 2005 to stop further raids, but the Abington command had hopelessly underestimated the defenders. Abingtons army was successfully repulsed by a handful of defenders and the local militia. Abington forces were shaken by the strength and resolve of the Ashlanteans who had fought them.

Unable to seize the well defended city on their own, Abington eventually called in assistance from both RedSpan and Carelia to conduct a combined assault on the weary defenders - some of whom had been trapped in the city for weeks. The resulting battle saw Abington finally overcome the defenders, though the Ashlanteans had fought valiantly in the face of such overwhelming odds.

After the battle, Abington, Carelia and RedSpan conducted a brutal, and intentional, campaign of looting and pillaging within the city. Over 60 separate instances of looting and theft were reported in the days following its loss. Under this pressure and the fact that Ash'rily was already starving, Abington managed to take control of the city in just a few days. This led both to a collapse of Ashlantean morale and tax income, effectively ending the war there and then. However it wasn't until the Treaty of Ash'rily was finally agreed upon a few weeks later that the conflict was officially ended.

A small scrap of paper was discovered with some information on a Defence of Ashr'rily.