Battle of the Bay of Shipwrecks

The Battle of the Bay of Shipwrecks was one of the final battles of the Manslayer War in the late Fourth Age. It was a naval engagement in the Parthenian Bay between the forces of Parthenia under Psaro the Manslayer and the allied forces of Branca, Burland, Konenbur, Endor and Soretta.
The battle opened the way for the allied invasion of Parthenia and the Battle of the Iron Marshes. As a result of the Battle of the Bay of Shipwrecks, the Parthenian Bay would be named the Bay of Shipwrecks.

Background

Branca

After the start of the Manslayer War, Branca, the Kingdom of the South, began gathering forces and allies to fight back against Psaro the Manslayer and Parthenia. Over the course of the war, numerous kingdoms would offer their aid and forces and join the alliance, largely due to the efforts of the Zenethian Heroes.
As information about Parthenia and Psaro's plans came to light, a war council near the capital of Branca was held with each nation in the alliance in attendance. The allied forces planned the invasion of Parthenia by sea as an attempt to both defeat the Parthenian forces that threatened them and to capture or kill their leader Psaro to end the war.
There was no information about the full strength that faced the allies or any defenses in place at Parthenia. The Heroes elected to use their abilities to scout ahead with a Wind Walk spell. While the gathered armies marched eastward to the coast of the Wild Lands, the Heroes went ahead.
At Parthenia, the Heroes found an anti-magic barrier around the island that repelled intrusion. They found where the enemy fleet was holding and went to turn back, however Petra D'Silva split from the party. Without the means to end the spell and not endanger all of them, they had no way to prevent Petra from leaving them, and she headed towards the beasts. Thinking themselves betrayed, the party returned towards the gathering forces on the coast of the Wild Lands.

Parthenia

After the initial attack on Konenbur, the navies of Parthenia had been engaged with Konenbur vessels in and around Cascada and the Rend.
By late 4A 996, Konenbur had lost control of the Rend and fighting was occuring in the Seafoam Sea. After the White Fleet of Soretta joined the war, the naval battles in the Seafoam Sea began to turn to the favor of the allies and they began regaining territory.
It is unknown how many of the bestial vessels were occupied in and around Cascada at this time, however some of the Parthenian fleet were successful in pulling back to the Parthenian Bay. It was known to the bestial forces that at least the navy of Burland was approaching from the north as well, and the bulk of the Parthenian ships were brought to the Parthenian Bay in preparation.

Known Events

Leading to Battle

Petra D'Silva and the Falcon

After Petra D'Silva split from the rest of the Heroes during their scouting mission, Petra went to the leading ship of the beasts. There, she presented herself to the minotaur captain of the vessel, Black Phillip. Petra said she was a dissenter and wished to help Psaro win the war; all she wanted was her own ship. Black Phillip did not believe her, but offered her a chance to prove her resolve. He presented a dagger to her, and to prove herself, she took her own eye. The minotaur allowed her onboard and threw her to the under decks as part of the crew of the Falcon, the lead ship of a squadron headed to intercept a human fleet in the north.
On the Falcon, she met a gnoll named Ringer. The gnolls were being forced to work under the minotaurs and were unhappy with their lot, and Petra convinced them to mutiny. The gnolls threw off the minotaurs and the Falcon was theirs.

Engagement with the Burland Fleet

The squadron the Falcon was a part of was about to engage the Burland fleet. Petra raised a flag with the Zenethian symbol on it, and the Falcon surprised the other beast vessels. Quickly, before they could react the crew of the Falcon sunk the other vessels with cannon fire.
Petra approached the Burland flagship and explained her plan to the fleet captain. Turning around and headed east, the Falcon led the Burland fleet towards Parthenia to meet with the engagement there.

The Parthenian Sea

Initial Engagement

During this time, the rest of the Zenethian Heroes had returned to the allied fleet. As Leo's ship, the Black Barrow, was still in Endor, they joined the forces on Branca’s flagship, the Occidentalis with King Alphonse Brancana. Paired with them was the elven warship, the Effervescent, with Sacred Guardian Quarivon on board. King Brancana gave a speech to the crew of the flagship, and Chedae took to the skies. The fleet set sail and headed towards Parthenia.
Near the end of the month of Drimon in 4A 996 in the Parthenian Bay, the allied fleet and the bulk of the bestial ships engaged, with some of the Parthenian forces held in reserve closer to land. The fleets fired on each other, spells were cast between ships, and Chedae used her divine breath weapon to attack bestial ships. In the initial stages of the battle, the Occidentalis took damage and began taking on water. Leo summoned a large skeleton of a water beast to support the underside of the ship and keep her afloat.
As the battle progressed and the battle lines became less defined, King Brancana ordered the Occidentalis to break through the lines and head towards Parthenia. His intent was to get the Zenethian Heroes to make landfall, so that if the allied fleet was repelled they might still be able to fight Psaso and win the war. The Effervescent broke away from the battle as well and joined them as they broke towards Parthenia and the atolls near the shore.

The Sinking of the Effervescent

The Occidentalis and Effervescent headed towards the coast where the reserves of the Parthenian fleet were holding. As the two allied ships approached, the Effervescent pulled ahead of the Occidentalis as the bestial reserves which outnumbered them moved to engage.
Then, coming along the coast from the northwest was the Falcon. Behind it was a large gray mass of mist, like a low hanging cloud. It was rapidly approaching the bestial ships, which seemed to either not take notice of it or believed the Falcon was still on their side.
Leo cast a distant Dispell Magic on the mist, and when it dissipated it revealed the hidden Burland fleet. The Falcon raised a flag with the Zenethian symbol on it, and the Parthenian reserve ships sounded war horns and turned to engage.
In the brawl the flagship of the Parthenian ships sailed directly towards the Occidentalis. King Brancana ordered her to port, but there was not the space to do so. Ahead of her, the Effervescent pulled in front of the beast ship and presented her broadside. In the exchange of cannonfire, the Effervescent was severely damaged and set abaze. The Parthenian flagship then impacted the elven ship and plowed through with its metalic prow, sundering the ship and sinking her.
The momentum of the beast flagship was slowed greatly from the impact with the Effervescent, however it was not stopped. The Occidentalis was unable to pull away, and the two ships collided. The Occidentalis was smaller than the beast flagship, however because of Leo's summoned skeleton, it remained afloat despite the prow of the ship pushing down onto the Occidentalis.
The bestial crew boarded the Occidentalis, and King Brancana and the Heroes fought against them. In the combat, Brigitte was separated from her allies, and she was overpowered and killed by an axe to the chest from a minotaur. The Heroes rallied and killed the bestial enemies, and Brigitte was resurrected.

Breaking Through to Parthenia

During the melee, the ships were separated and the Occidentalis continued on beyond the engagement. The Falcon joined them and the Heroes learned that Petra had taken the ship and led the Burland fleet to the Parthenian Bay. The ships entered the bay past the barrier surrounding the Black Mountains of Parthenia, and meanwhile the rest of the allied fleet continued battling the Parthenian ships.
As the fighting continued, the allied fleets with the support of the flanking Burland fleet were victorious, and the majority of the Parthenian ships were sunk or sinking by the end of the engagement.

Aftermath

The battle resulted in the loss of most of the bestial fleet's ships. With the naval forces protecting the Parthenian Bay lost, the allied fleet was able to begin an invasion of Parthenia. This would lead to the next battle of the war, the Battle of the Iron Marshes.
Though many allied ships were sunk as well, including the Effervescent, the flanking manuever from the Burland fleet allowed a relatively swift and decisive victory.
During the remaining days of the war, the allied fleet would engage in small-scale skirmishes around the Parthenian Sea against the remaining bestial ships.

Legacy

• The Parthenian Bay was renamed the Bay of Shipwrecks after the Battle of the Bay of Shipwrecks that occured there, where many ships from the alliance and Parthenia were sunk.

• "The Fate of the Effervescent" tells the story of the sinking of the elven flagship in the Battle of the Bay of Shipwrecks.

Conflict Type

Battle

Start Date

Drimon 4A 996

Parent Conflict
Manslayer War

Location
Bay of Shipwrecks

Outcome

• The battle was won by the allied fleet and much of the Parthenian fleet was sunk.

• The battle allowed the allied forces to invade Parthenia, leading to the end of the war.

Major Combatants

Gimoran Alliance

King Alphonse Brancana
Zenethian Heroes
Chedae, The Heaven's Light
The Occidentalis
The Effervescent
The Falcon
Allied armies

Parthenian Forces

Parthenian Fleet