Old Grehk/War of the Nine Realms
The War of the Nine Realms is an ongoing conflict involving most of Beluaterra that grew out of the earlier Yipinalke War. The eponymous nine realms and major combatants are the Western Alliance of Heen, Hetland, Old Grehk, and Sint, and the eastern realms of Avalon, Bara'Khur, Enweil Fronen, and Thalmarkin. As well as the nine realms themselves, two other power have been drawn into the war in support of the Western Alliance; Mesh and Riombara. Mesh declared that it would send it's armies to aid Hetland's defences, but has not formally declared war on any eastern powers or fought outside Hetland's borders. Riombara also entered the conflict in support of Hetland, attacking Enweil on the 11th of March 2010; however a formal state of war between Enweil and Riombara had existed due to preexisting tensions over Fwuvoghor.
So far the war has been largely fought in two theatres; the initial Grehk front (broadly encompassing the lands between Pomatim, Xerus, and Yipinalke) and the Southern front (broadly encompassing the area surrounding Dyomoque) where the war spread after the entry of Hetland. More limited engagements have been fought in the Wohdichil Forest and the plains around Enweilieos.
Origins
"I'm not sure if you know the source of the war that Old Grehk is embroiled in. Fronen declared war on us because they wanted our lands, some of which they successfully took. This war has been ongoing for some time.
Recent history though, Old Grehk's allies demanded Old Grehk sign peace with Fronen and attack Sint. This was Thalmarkin, Melhed, Bara K'hur and Avalon (who claimed to be neutral between Fronen and OG, and allied to both at the time). Old Grehk decided that the wrongs of Sint were in the past and would prefer to deal with the daimon incursion in Fronen, represented by the Blood Cult. Our allies repeated their desire to war Sint and threatened if we did not agree with them, they would war us as well.
At this point our King stepped down and Old Grehk went to election with two candidates of opposing viewpoints. The Duke of Vozzessdor, who insisted we war Sint with our allies and the Duchess of Ossmat (myself) who insisted our diplomacy should not be dictated under threat of war. I won, and the Duke subsequently switched his allegiance to Fronen. Thalmarkin, Bara K'hur and Avalon declared war on us after that."
- Queen Skye Uceek, 1st October 2009
Major Battles
Sack of Ossmat
The opening engagement of the Northern War. Armies from Fronen, Thalmarkin and Avalon overran Old Grehk's defences and sacked the capital city of Ossmat for over a week. Eventually the combination of relief forces from Sint and Heen and battles with the surviving Old Grehk forces forced the eastern armies into retreat. Amidst the chaos, monsters and undead sprung up in the rural areas surrounding Ossmat; ironically this benefited Old Grehk as they hindered the movement of the easterners.
First Siege of Vatrona
Whilst the Army of Old Grehk was raiding Xerus, Thalmarkin and Fronen stormed the stronghold Vatrona and defeated the Garrison. The easterners attempted unsuccessfully to induce the population to change their allegiance, whilst Old Grehk and Sint massed in Kell. When the Western Alliance marched to relieve the seige, the ensuring battle was bloody; ten nobles suffered wounds including King Piru Petteri Cosula of Thalmarkin (who was gravely injured) and High Marshal Askarn Iltaran of Old Grehk. At the end of the battle the Western Alliance held the field; barely one in nine easterner soldiers escaped unharmed.
Battle of Gemke
Choosing to bypass the walls of Vatrona this time, Thalmarkin and Fronen struck into the rural county of Gemke. Unfortunately, three hundred Fronenite soldiers were left behind in Rolbury; a combined Old Grehk and Sint Army fell upon these stragglers and destroyed them. Despite having destroyed nearly a third of the enemy army at Rolbury, the Western allies were outnumbered when they followed on to Gemke. Vastly superior numbers of archers and a calm wind won the day though. King Piru Petteri Cosula of Thalmarkin was again wounded.
Chase to Tor
Seeking to relieve pressure on the Southern front, Avalon moved through Bara'Khur's lands and then struck east towards Heen's lands in force. The Army of Old Grehk followed the Avalon troops and united with Sint and Heen forces to confront the enemy in Tor. In an ironic inversion of the Battle of Gemke the Western armies found themselves without archers; but luckily the weather did not favour Avalon. Both sides took heavy casualties, with Pontifex Benton Aelradir of Sint amongst the wounded. Avalon's archers were left in control of the battleground, but with the rest of the army badly damaged they had little choice but to turn homewards the next day.
Second Siege of Vatrona
26 November 2009
With the Sintian armies still recovering from the Chase to Tor, Thalmarkin and Fronen attacked the stronghold of Vatrona for a second time. Despite outnumbering the defenders twofold, a lack of siege engines would prove fatal. Repeatedly the Fronenite infantry was thrown back from the walls. Only one company managed to gain a foothold on the ramparts, but even they were eventually overwhelmed. Although High Marshal Askarn Iltaran was badly wounded, the Army of Old Grehk inflicted seven hundred casualties, while suffering only two hundred and fifty of their own.
Fall of Junohep
4th December 2009
The Fronenite army, including former Count Kane Dragul, invaded Junohep and commenced a brutal killing spree in order to seize control of the region. Western Alliance troops attempted a counter attack, but the armies of Sint and Heen had been weakened fighting against the Enweil expeditionary force. During the disasterous battle, seven Western nobles were captured or wounded and not one common soldier escaped unwounded. By contrast less than a third of the the Fronenite army were casualties. Three days later Fronen seized control of Junohep.
Death at Gemke
10th December 2009
Thalmarkin had been quiet for two weeks after the Second Seige of Vatrona, largely occupied with monsters and undead in their frozen north. Without sufficient force to storm Vatrona they marched into Gemke to challenge the Army of Old Grehk. The two armies were closely matched, but bad weather limited the impact of Thalmarkin's archers and allowed the Grehkian infantry to overwhelm them. At the close of the battle Sir Garry Sumpter, a Hero of Thalmarkin, was cut down in the melee and died on the field. His Marshal, AasWulF De Carinthie, would subsequently swear to destroy Old Grehk for the hero's death.
Third Siege of Vatrona
13th January 2010
The armies of Fronen brushed aside resistance from Old Grehk in Gemke, before uniting with a large force from Thalmarkin to assault the mountain Stronghold of Vatrona. Outnumbering the garrison by a factor of seven and well equipped with siege engines, the eastern host easily stormed the keep. Thalmarkin proceeded to launch a brutal takeover. Even backed by allies from Heen and Sint, Old Grehk was unable to muster sufficient manpower to retake the Stronghold.
Second Battle of Gemke
27th January 2010
After stablising Rolbury, which had suffered heavily from a Grehkian raid-in-force, Fronen's army attacked Gemke. Slaughtering any who opposed them for several days, the local government nevertheless remained loyal to Old Grehk while Sint's army marched to aid their allies once more. The eventual battle was inconclusive; with reinforcements from Thalmarkin the eastern forces achieved a tactical success, but suffered slightly heavier casualties. With insufficient troops to continue their conquest of Gemke, Fronen's army retreated while the westerners dealt with their stragglers.
Third Battle of Gemke
10th February 2010
Both armies repeated their strategy from the previous campaign; with Fronen striking at Gemke while Old Grehk waited for Sintian reinforcements. Thalmarkin united their forces with Fronen earlier and in greater strength, but this made little difference to the outcome. The battle went on over a full day and whilst Fronen retained the field at first, their invasion force was driven off after reinforcements arrived from Ossmat.
In the aftermath of the Third Battle of Gemke, Grehkian troops recaptured Rolbury, which had been part of Old Grehk prior to Queen Skye's election.
