The First Battle of Fort Chessa

The First Battle of Fort Chessa (Yat Tataki na Chessyosa) followed attacks by Orkrim of The Varkimgra Tribe on the Azmasanmanne Humans in what is now northwestern Chessa.
The Azmasanmanne people had been expanding northwest along the Forest River (Sashigyang) from the area around Riverport in Chessa, displaced by the quickly growing population of Chessmanne people. Finally settling in the foothills of the Great Eastern Mountains, they began establishing villages there in areas with abundant resources. However, their villages soon came under attack by aggressive Orkrim of the Varkimgra tribe. After one of their villages was wiped out, the Azmasanmanne built Fort Chessa. Initially, a relatively small fort with wooden stockade walls, the Azmasanmanne expanded it quickly, constructing watch towers, digging a moat and a well, and constructing a furnace and forge for manufacturing weapons and armor. Exploiting iron, copper, and tin ore and coal outcroppings in the area, the Azmasanmanne began equipping troops with high-quality bronze and iron weapons and armor that were far superior to the flint, stone, and wood weapons of the Orkrim. Most of the Azmasanmanne people moved into the fort or built houses just outside its walls for protection.
For a time, there was relative peace, but then a band of Azmasanmanne explorers from the fort happened upon a small group of Orkrim hunter-gatherers, surprising them. In the ensuing fight, several Humans and some of the Orkrim were injured or killed. The remaining Humans fled back to the fort, while the Orkrim hauled the bodies of the dead Humans back to their village and desecrated them. One of the Human explorers, bravely or foolishly, followed the Orkrim, locating their village and observing the bodies of his dead companions being desecrated.
Arriving back at Fort Chessa, the explorer related what had happened to the rest of the Azmasanmanne living there. Enraged, the Azmasanmanne gathered a troop of about 100 soldiers. They donned their armor and weapons and set out for the Varkimgra village. When they arrived, they proceeded to slaughter the Orkrim, not sparing any of them, while suffering few casualties of their own. They reclaimed the bodies of the dead Azmasanmanne and returned to Fort Chessa. Realizing that the Varkimgra Orkrim would quickly retaliate, the people of the fort prepared. All of the Humans living outside the walls were evacuated and brought into the fort. Every able-bodied person was armed, and those too young or too old to fight were housed in a stout building constructed from thick logs. Watches were posted.
Early the next morning, the alarm was sounded. A force of about 500 Orkrim attacked the fort carrying clubs, crude swords made with obsidian blades, and short bows with obsidian-tipped arrows.
Outranged by the compound bows of the Azmasanmanne and being picked off by the skilled Human archers, the Orkrim gathered for a frontal assault of the wooden gate of the fort, but the moat bunched them together, and a hail of arrows killed dozens of them. After their numbers had been thinned, the gates were flung open and a company of heavily armored Azmasanmanne soldiers assaulted the remaining Orkrim.
Orkrim almost never flee from a fight. Panic and fear in battle is despised by Orkrim, but on this day the Varkimgra fled back to their villages. The Humans pursued them for some ways, but then returned to Fort Chessa. After celebrating their victory, the next day they collected the bodies of the dead Orkrim, heaped them in a great pile, and burned them. To the Orkrim, burning a body is an enormous affront - akin to saying the fallen is no better than garbage. The Varkimgra vowed vengeance on the Humans for the offense.
Thus began a long series of battles between the Azmasanmanne and the Varkimgra Orkrim that lead, after many, many years and thousands of deaths, to the Varkimgra being driven into The Jumble, where they were no longer a threat to the Humans of Senyon or Chessa. Or so the Humans believe.

The Conflict

Battlefield

The First Battle of Fort Chessa, and many subsequent battles, took place at Fort Chessa in the foothills of the Great Eastern Mountains in northwestern Chessa.

Outcome

The Azmasanmanne Humans were victorious, killing around 400 of the 500 Varkimgra Orkrim that attacked the fort that day.

Aftermath

The battle was the first of many between the Azmasanmanne Humans and the Varkimgra Orkrim lasting over 100 years. Over decades, due to their superior weapons and tactics of the Humans, the Varkimgra Orkrim were driven away from their homelands in northwestern Chessa southward into the Jumble.

Historical Significance

In Literature

Accounts of the First Battle of Fort Chessa, and many later battles between the Azmasanmanne and the Varkimgra appear in The Book of History of the Great Sacred Empire, apparently transcribed from earlier sources lost to time.

Start Date

The actual date is lost to time, but roughly 1500 years before the present.