Battle of Marguul Pass

Military action

Darguun's declaration of independence from Cyre caused little concern in Breland. The goblinoids’ treatment of Brelish settlers was a far different matter—the public demanded retaliation. This outcry was the lead up to the disastrous battle of Marguul Pass.

A number of nobles and generals, mindful of the trouble caused by the Reachers and the Valenar and perhaps sensing an opportunity for Brelish expansion without actually engaging Cyran troops, pressed hard for an attack. King Boranel, reluctant to commit troops outside Brelish borders and cognizant of hobgoblin prowess from his adventuring days, was ultimately convinced to invade only after great debate.   The High Command claimed that a quick strike through Marguul Pass would shatter the goblins and allow for the capture of Lhesh Haruuc’s new capital at Rhukaan Draal. The leaders crowed about the might of the newest and greatest of the Brelish mobile fortresses, Veldarren.   Mindful of disquiet among the troops caused by Boranel's hesitancy, the generals convinced him that a showing of royal support was necessary. They assured him that placing the nineteen-year-old Prince Boramil in the fortress would improve moral while keeping him safe and giving him “valuable battle experience.”   Other than Veldarren, Breland's forces included 4,000 archers and crossbowmen, 2,200 light foot, 400 dragoons, and 2,000 veteran heavy foot, primarily halberd troops, with 300 Rangers serving as scouts. The cavalry numbered 400 light horse, but much of the pass was too steep or rocky for effective cavalry operations. The army also brought 40 warforged titans and 800 warforged foot. In all, a Brelish army of more than 10,000 soldiers marched up the pass.   Veldarren itself mounted 20 ballistas and fielded the Tower Wands of Sharn, proud General Minyu of Wroat, Prince Boramil, and the controversial Colonel Lady Urik Rowan, leading the 240 souls of the Ardev dragoons. Still, Veldarren’s deployment was more a result of Breland's arrogance and desire for an overwhelming victory, rather than of sound military planning. In truth, the fortress was far too large and cumbersome for an engagement in the close confines of the mountains pass. The Brelish would pay dearly for that miscalculation.   The goblinoid opposition was neither especially numerous nor well organized, but it was tenacious. The bugbear general Acthuun commanded 700 heavy infantry, 3,500 irregular infantry, 2,100 ranged troops (mostly shortbow archers and javelineers), a small company of sorcerers and artificers called the Hammerfists, and 800 wolf-riding cavalry. Achtuun’s greatest asset was 600 heavy hobgoblin foot, well-disciplined veteran mercenaries. In all, just over 7,500 newly united defenders protected the rebel goblin kingdom, and they were much more lightly armed and armored than the Brelish forces.   A traditional standing fight would have been suicide for the Darguun forces, because their ranged troops could not match Brelish archery and their light infantry would be decimated by Brelish warforged and heavy foot. Cowing his troops into obedience by the sheer force of his personality, the cunning Acthuun refused to assault the mobile fortress or charge the columns as they marched east. Instead, the goblinoids used a series of landslides to close the pass and then set up their forces behind them. Given the massive bulk of the fortress, the Brelish spent more time digging than moving. A pattern was soon established: The fortress and human troops slowly cleared rubble and advanced up the pass in daylight, then hunkered down at night; the goblins ambushed outlying patrols and loosed more rockslides in the day, then at night picked off sentries or decimated troops stranded outside the fortress walls.   Frustrated after days of slow progress, General Minyu ordered a nighttime advance supported by arcane lanterns. His troops met a solid phalanx of elite hobgoblin heavy infantry a few miles below the top of the pass. The 600 hobgoblins were entrenched in a narrow gorge, and they fought viciously. One on one, they were more than a match for the Brelish heavy foot, their pikes several feet longer, their tower shields heavier, their will stronger. They held the gorge for more than seven hours, until the Brelish found a way onto the cliffs overlooking the gorge and buried them in a landslide.   The next morning the fortress approached the top of the pass, over the bodies of the fallen hobgoblins. Every pilot was needed to steer it through the narrow gap—the mountain walls were mere feet away. Suddenly, it became immobile, and every entrance opened. Either through treachery or superior spellcraft, the goblin Hammerfi st sorcerers had somehow taken control of the fortress’s arcane navigation and controls. Bugbears and hobgoblins hidden in shallow caves along the slopes leaped the narrow gaps (in some cases, simply reaching out and grasping the fortress sides) and scaled the walls, swarming over Veldarren. Goblin irregulars and wolf cavalry moved en masse to the open ramps. The Brelish center, almost entirely light troops, fell apart. The Brelish heavy foot, Rangers, warforged, and cavalry behind and on the flanks were pinned down by the goblin archers. After a furiously quick assault, the fortress fell. The Darguun army seized the ballistas and used the walls and siege engines to cut a swath through the remaining Brelish formations.   The aftermath was a chaotic, panicked rout. The whole venture was surely the most shameful and costly battle in Brelish military history. Of the “noble 10,000” who ventured up the pass, only about 1,500 battle-scarred survivors returned to tell the story at Sterngate. General Minyu and Prince Boramil were killed in battle. Only through desperate and heroic action did Lady Rowan and her dragoons contain the rout and prevent the Darguuls from spilling into Breland.   The mobile fortress was overrun by goblinoids as the walls cracked and its bulk settled firmly. Reinforced and entrenched where it rested—at the tightest chokepoint of the pass—Veldarren became a monumental headstone over the buried hobgoblins. From that day forward, Matshuc Zaal, “the Stolen Fortress,” has sealed and guarded Marguul Pass. This surprising victory cemented Lhesh Haruuc’s claim to power and is a point of great pride throughout Darguun. Stung by the military disaster, Breland abruptly sued for peace, and Darguun's birth pangs were over.  

The depth of Boranel's unease about the Darguun invasion was revealed starkly when details of the fiasco started filtering in. The king's wrath was terrible, but, for the most part, it was directed at those who convinced him to launch the campaign in the first place, a group of headstrong generals and nobles. More than a few of those who achieved their position due to birth, bribe, or bureaucracy were sacked. During the state funeral for his son, King Boranel spoke movingly of the grief he shared with so many Brelish families and publicly accepted full responsibility for the debacle. Echoing long-standing Brelish sentiments, he (somewhat foolishly) vowed that no more Brelish blood would be spilled in “ foreign entanglements.” When Zil diplomats approached him about negotiating a treaty with the Lhesh, he agreed. - Renowned Zil librarian Augusta Wainwocket