Shadowdale/Shadow-Lion War
Most people in Shadowdale adhere to the Shadow. Nevertheless religion is not enforced and everyone is free to worship according to his conscience. Duke Edmund of the Spider's Citadel started his own religion, which he called Aunurism. This was not an issue. But when he instructed his followers to use violent methods against the Shadow, he broke the law. When confronted with this, he and Duke Roen of the Shadow's Citadel decided to switch to Caligus: leaving Showdale with only Krimml, Braga, Greatbridge and Evora. (2022.08.25) Many nobles rejoined Shadowdale, resulting in Viseu, Karbala, Negev and Al Amarah returning to Showdale. However Akesh Temple, Fontan, An Najaf, Oporto and Montijo were lost.
The treacherous Dukes were allowed in Caligus, provided they would give up their title. Margrave Tzedvier of the Akesh Temple was a follower of the Shadows, but also was the vassal of Duke Roen and therefore went with him to Caligus. He, too, proved his loyalty to Patriarch Nemean JeVondair by stepping down and was eventually rewarded with the Duchy of the Spider's Throne when Duke Edmund stepped down. (2023.03.07) As Duke of the Spider's Throne he came into conflict with Margravine Cyria of Fontan, who had been a staunch supporter of Duke Edmund.
One of Cyria's knights was Eisenritter. He suddenly rose through the ranks due to his military genius and became the new Patriarch. (2023.07.06) A pamphlet circulating in Shadowdale clearly proves he killed Patriarch Nemean in a palace coup. After defeating Eponllyn, Eisenritter wanted to attack Shadowdale, but Duke Tzedvier did not want to fight his former realm and rejoined Shadowdale. (2023.11.07) The tyrant Eisenritter demanded the Duchy back, but the brave Queen Etain did not back down to his threats, so Caligus declared war to take away the lands which according to feudal law belong to Duke Tzedvier and according to history belonged to Shadowdale.
The tyrant Eisenritter prepared his war well and had already entered into an alliance with Queen Alyssa of Perdan, whose Queen first had close relations with Queen Etain. Shadowdale was smaller than either of the realms separately, so what chance did it stand against both combined? The brave lions of Perleone recognized the danger this alliance would pose to their existence and decided to join the war at the side of Shadowdale. Together they made a fist and even besieged the Caligan capital: Akesh Temple. However, King Lemric of Perleone did not want the war to escalate and therefore did not declare war on Perdan. Because of this the Perleonic troops did not get involved in the crucial Battle for Akesh. (2023.12.09)
After the fall of Viseu (2024.01.18), the nobles of Shadowdale met in Krimml to discuss surrender. However, a fiery speech by Duchess Flavia of the Shadow's Bluff riled them up and a campaign was launched to join the Perleonic advance from the south by marching and looting through Perdanese lands. However, the banks of Perleone refused to accept bonds from Shadowdale, so the expedition was forced into a chaotic retreat, while being picked off by the Perdanese. The Grey Exarch William Armsworth kept his cool and instead retreated through Caligan lands to help prevent the annexation of An Najaf. (2024.02.04)
The alliance suffered another decisive defeat at the February Battle of Supra. (2024.02.23) The battle saw Shadowdale arrive just too late and after this battle, Perleone was expelled from Abadan. Meanwhile Caligus used their wealth to bribe officials in An Najaf, thus gaining it through treason instead of military force. (2024.03.06)
Once again the nobles of Shadowdale met in Krimml to discuss surrender. However, besides the territories Caligus now possessed, the tyrant Eisenritter demanded the banishment of Duke Tzedvier (who had become dear to the Shadowdalian nobles) and a considerable amount of gold for each day the war went on - which had become a significant amount by that time. Shadowdale simply could not comply to these conditions and since it was not believed the peace would last, they once more decided to fight on.
It was decided to study the records in Krimml to discover how to defeat Caligus. It was then noted that the large Caligan army burned the wealth of the realm. So Shadowdale adopted raiding parties to weaken the Caligan economy. Of particular notoriety is the Great Raid, where three nobles went on a rampage at the same time: Joost de Vries around Nascot, Sonder Komurov around Mashhad and Everhard Brennaborg around Sordidus. Meanwhile Perleone sent Greatjon Mormont to support Shadowdale militarily and replaced their silent King Lemric with Jav Lin.
Realizing military might alone could not bring peace, the Caligans and Perdanese started to send diplomats, while Eisenritter dropped the demands for financial retribution and Tzedvier's banishment. With the diplomats working behind the screens and the Grey Exarch in meditation, Shadowdale initiated a raid to Perdan. Although Perdan successfully defended its lands in the Battle of Nascot (2024.03.26), the expedition resulted in a diplomatic agreement between Shadowdale and Perdan that they would no longer attack each other's lands. Although Perdan would still defend the Caligan lands, they would no longer embark on attacks in Shadowdale.
Meanwhile Caligus had successfully breached the Perleonic defences and take the Mines of Isadril. (2024.04.07) Already since the previous failure, Shadowdale had plans to move south to combine their forces with Perleone. With their preparations complete, the Grey Exarch lead the army across the sea to Perleone. The expedition failed to surprise Perdan who had already learned of it from a spy. Although the expedition helped Perleone recover and saw success in the Battle in Moyale (2024.04.24), the casualty rate forced Shadowdale to return home.
Back home, Caligus had sent an arsonist, Gottfried Gotz, to wreak havoc. The success of this infiltrator caused former Margravine Cyria Wilde to employ similar tactics. However, when Shadowdale became more or less successfull in hunting these infiltrators, Cyria became even more elusive by focussing on scouting behind enemy lines.
With the terrorist attacks decreasing, Shadowdale tried to go on the offensive again. They poked the defensive line, running from Fontan to Evora and eventually concluded that An Najaf was a weak spot: if they entered through there, then Perdan could no longer defend both Viseu and Fontan. Meanwhile, Colin Ceallaigh was sent in secret to Perleone to save it from starvation.
Then Shadowdale was shocked by treason: Earl Brimzin Gear of Dulbin had been a spy all along and had hoarded a massive amount of food. With Caligus on the brink of starvation, it was decided the food was more desirable than the spy reports, so Brimzin switched his allegiance to Caligus. (2024.06.17) Caligus then marched for Krimml, but was defeated in the Battle of Braga. (2024.06.26) Then Shadowdale tried to regain Dulbin. Initially they were defeated (2024.07.02), but during a second attempt they managed to stand their ground against an army with 4000 more CS. (2024.07.10)
Shadowdale then attacked Viseus and severely damaged the walls, after which they went south to attack Fontan. However, they were intercepted by Caligus in An Najaf. Bu chaotic manoeuvring Shadowdale evaded a large scale battle, limited casualties and kept Caligus long enough engaged to allow Perleone to take Abadan. (2024.07.22) Once Caligus had moved back south, Shadowdale initiated a takeover in Evora. Thanks to the sacrifice of Perleone who kept Caligus engaged during the First and Second Battle of Mashhad and subsequently August Battle of Supra, Shadowdale succeeded in regaining Evora. (2024.08.04)
It is at this time that the war threatened to escalate. Perdan and Perleone had so far been at peace, resulting in a devastating loss at Akesh Tmeple in December. During the February Battle of Supra, the Perdanese Imperator with unit behavior to partake in the battle. King Lemric chose to not make a fuzz about it to prevent an escalation at that time. Instead Perleone adapted to Perdanese involvement in subsequent battles. However, during the August Battle of Supra Perdan positioned itself between her allies and Perleone to cause a crucial delay, resulting the battle to not take place until the evening when Caligan reinforcements had arrived. Many in Perleone were angry and called for open warfare.
Meanwhile a plague had struck the island and the other realms lost a significant amount of nobles. Shadowdale only lost one - a suspected spy. This meant for the first time since the start of the war, both sides had a similar amount of nobles. Enthoused by their recent successes and believing the war was finally fair, many nobles wanted to continue the war. However, peace negotiations had been materializing. An initial proposal had already been approved a month earlier by all realms except Perleone, who rejected it because the wording was considered ambiguous, but a new proposal had just been approved. So Queen Etain decided to agree to a ceasefire.
Nevertheless, Queen Etain performed one more action: the arsonist Gottfried Gotz was in Braga. She snuck up to him and set him on fire, thus gaining his allegiance.
The war had been tough on Shadowdale: of the 19 nobles only 6 had been in Shadowdale before the war started. These nobles were Queen Etain Dubhaine, Duchess Flavia Arindal of Krimml, Grey Exarch William Armsworth, Sir Ahmadkin Imad Khader of Karbala, former Tormentor Dirk Kalamar of Braga and Earl Colin Ceallaigh of Greatbridge.