Battle of Fyrthwold Bay

A major naval engagement between the navies of the Northern Alliance, led primarily by the Kingdom of Essear, against naval units of the Sacred Demesne of the Faith Militant alongside Free Republic mercenaries. It was mostly inconclusive, except that Lord Cymir Passeia died in the battle, leading to Lady Eowyra Passeia of Essear taking the throne.

The Conflict

Prelude

The Cleanse had been declared by Cymric Bales IX two years earlier, but much of the proceeding time had been spent preparing. Armies had to be raised and fleets built. Finally, after two years of tension, the two sides met in the first major engagement of the war.
It had been building. Relations between Essear and the Free Republics had been growing increasingly strained, as trade disputes took on more martial elements. Not wanting to engage in open conflict, the two sides both harassed one another and traded at the same time. Meanwhile, the Sacred Demesne massed its ships in Ames Bay, in a protected harbor and tolerated by the Free Republics. For them, business was business, and it didn't hurt to have both major powers in debt to them.
But Lord Cymir learned of the Demesne's plans to attack their shipping lanes and strangle the supply routes and deployed his ships alongside those the Magocracy of Marithel could spare in an attempt to bottle up the Sacred Navy before it could get out of port. But his own spies were betrayed and the Free Republic mercenary company, the Golden Armada, warned Demesne Adm. Jhon dy Orrea to take his ships to sea quickly and attack first.
Joining the Sacred Navy, the Golden Armada — under the command of Nosima the Crab — sailed on the 10th of Elient from Ames Bay. They would find the Northern Alliance's fleet waiting for them.

The Engagement

The two forces met off the coast of The Wytchmoor on the evening of 11 Elient, 855 CE. Cymir was waiting. He took advantage of the fact that the Sacred Navy eschewed non-human sailors, and used the darkness to his advantage. He used two lanterns on each galley to increase his apparent numbers, and made liberal use of mounted catapults and war wizards to destroy half of the Golden Armada's forces and nearly a third of the Sacred Navy's. Hundreds of sailors either drowned or, if they made it to shore, disappeared into The Wytchmoor, never to be seen again.
The battle was a blow to the Sacred Navy, and the Golden Armada was decimated. The loss of the Sacred Navy's flagship, the Maiden of the Waves, was a victory for the North, but it was bittersweet.
For the wiley Nosima knew the ways of Essear and Merithel magic, and managed to sneak close enough to Cymir's flagship and set it ablaze with his own magic-wielders. Cymir's body was never recovered, and Nosima escaped. He later sent a taunting letter to Lady Eowyra saying that the Crab had devoured her father.
Jhon dy Orreo abandoned his fleet, fleeing in a rowboat before his First Mate took over and made an orderly retreat with the remaining galleys. The Golden Armada, despite Nosima's trickery, was decimated and limped back to Ninthmire where it was immediately impounded for unlicensed privateering.
After the battle, the newly installed Lady Eowyra had the eyes of all the Demesne prisoners gouged out save for one, who kept one eye so as to guide the others back to Valês Rise. The prisoners had one message from Lady Eowyra to Cymric Bales IX: not even fish would be able to navigate safely through Northen waters without her permission.

Outcome

With the death of Lord Cymir, the throne of Essear passed to his only child, Lady Eowyra Passeia of Essear. Always shrewd, she has since become obsessed with avenging the death of her father. She especially blames pirates from the Free Republics as playing an outsized role in the battle.

Included under Conflict

The Cleanse

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Naval

Start Date

11th Elient, 855 CE

Ending Date

12th Elient, 855 CE

Conflict Result

The death of Lord Cymir Passeia

Location

Fyrthwold Bay

Belligerents

Northern Alliance

• Kingdom of Essear
• Magocracy of Marithel

Led by

• Cymir Passeia

The Sacred Navy and the Golden Armada

• Free Republics of the West
• Sacred Demesne of the Faith Militant

Led by

• Jhon dy Orrea
• Nosima the Crab

Strength

30 Galleys

23 Galleys (Sacred Navy)
10 Galleys (Golden Armada)

Casualties

10 Galleys

7 Galleys, including the flagship, the Maiden of the Waves (Sacred Navy)
5 Galleys (Golden Armada)

Objectives

Halt the raiding of the Sacred Navy on shipping lanes.

Expand power into Fyrthwold Bay and cripple the Northern Alliance's eastern trade routes.