Avicennan War
A large-scale military conflict between the human nations of Avicenna and Gameth. While Avicenna had an overwhelming technological advantage against the aging kingdom of Gameth, Avicenna was racked by several internal crises: first with the assassination of its leader Gen. Boua Ussaki by the adventurer Sebastian the Character, followed by the destruction of its capital Kanara due to the lich Fairouz the Undying and her legion of cultists.
With assistance from the Royal Knights Brigade and the strong-willed leadership of Queen Astrid Nestorius, the Avicennan armies were routed and forced to surrender by the spring of 876. The treaty penned annexed territories like the mining town of Ravi back to Gameth for the first time in 500 years, severely diminishing Avicenna's role on the global stage and landing a mortal blow to its technological enterprises.
The Conflict
Prelude
Engineers in Avicenna were making technological breakthroughs at an exponential rate in the years leading up to the war, crafting high-tech firearms and war machines to use in future conflicts. Gameth, a longtime rival and obstacle to Avicenna's regional ambitions on the continent of Liat, appeared in decline during the reign of King Nestor VI. By the middle years of the 870's, Avicenna's military leaders were champing at the bit for an all-out war with Gameth.
The Engagement
- The Avicennan Advance (Autumn/Winter 874): Avicennan forces overpowered Gameth's ill-prepared armies, pushing past the Nestorian Mtns. and to the edges of the Kelethian Woods.
- Siege of Oakengaard (Spring 875): An Avicennan fleet led by Adm. Aldo Snaggletooth attempted to seize the Gamerian town of Oakengaard, but the city was spared when The Kraken rose from its depths to decimate the Avicennan vessels. Aldo barely escaped with his life, and Gamerian forces were given time to regroup.
- Assassination of Gen. Boua (Spring 875): Gen. Boua Ussaki, the military dictator of Avicenna, was assassinated along with much of her military entourage in a suicide bombing perpetrated by a halfling sorcerer named Sebastian the Character. As per its newly-updated rules of succession, Adm. Aldo became the new leader of Avicennan kingdom.
- The Mountain Skirmishes (Summer 875): Gamerian leadership assumed that the war would end after Gen. Boua's death, but Adm. Aldo proved to be a capable leader in a time of crisis. Relying on his years of experience as a ranger, Aldo led Avicennan forces in several successful skirmishes in the Nestorian Mtns.
- The Devastation of Kanara (Fall 875): The Avicennan capital was bombed by cultists under the leadership of the evil lich Fairouz the Undying. The cult had managed to grow unchecked in the midst of the Avicennan War, and Adm. Aldo was forced to relocate his government to the mining town of Ravi to the north.
- The Sky Raid (Winter 875): Members of Gameth's adventuring group the Royal Knights Brigade managed to infiltrate and destroy Avicenna's massive airship, a powerful feat of engineering that could have leveled Gameth's capital of Gameria in a matter of minutes. Adm. Aldo was killed when the airship crashed into the Largas Ocean, effectively ending the Avicennan War
- The Siege of Ravi (Spring 876): The Avicennan War officially came to an end when Avicennan forces under the leadership of Gen. Idris surrendered to Gamerian armies surrounding the city of Ravi.
Outcome
With the Siege of Ravi ending in the spring of 876, Avicenna's unconditional surrender allowed Gameth to relocate forces to the Gulf of Gameth to defend against attacks from Fairouz's cultists. The Royal Knights Brigade was also available for high-level assignments after the fall of Avicenna, flying behind enemy lines to confront the evil lich at the Battle of Faouzia in the summer of 876. Fairouz was defeated, and Gameth once again became the most influential nation on the continent of Liat.
Aftermath
The Treaty of Cosmere, signed in the fall of 876, redrew the map of Liat and cemented Gameth's role as the world's most powerful human kingdom of the industrial era.
Several territorial changes were made:
- Gameth annexed the mining town of Ravi, leading to a brain drain from Avicenna as its engineers flocked to Gameth to continue their studies
- Sardivelia, for its assistance funded the Gamerian war effort, was rewarded with the island of Charybdis where Avicenna's powerful airship was created. The island was renamed Piedmonte in honor of the merchant republic's leader Paoli Piedmonte
Historical Significance
Legacy
Decades after the defeat of its longtime rival, Gameth started to play a larger role on the global stage for the first time since King Constell II's failed conquests of Southern Pescat in the 4th Cycle's fifth century. The Royal Knights Brigade became household names after the Battle of Kassadeia and the defeat of the Sunken God, inspiring rival kingdoms and organizations to establish bands of adventurers of their own.
In Literature
- Chronicles of the Continent: the Fairouz Terror by Avicennan merchant-turned Gamerian scholar Tarpin Melchor recounted the exploits of the Royal Knights Brigades' founding years and their involvement in the campaign to defeat Avicenna's imposing forces. The book became a bestseller, cementing the allure of the adventuring lifestyle in the public imagination.
Technological Advancement
The Avicennan War was the first recorded case of an airship being used in combat, an engineering marvel that took hundreds of thousands of man hours to develop. The airship could bypass all traditional forms of defense, flying above the tallest gates and delivering a relentless rain of bombs and hellfire on its targets. This airship was used by Aldo Snaggletooth to kill The Kraken that had destroyed his fleet in Oakengaard several months prior, but a band of adventurers from the Royal Knights Brigade attacked the airship's engines and blew the engineering marvel from the sky.
More than thrity years after the Avicennan War, no nation has been able to recreate the technological capabilities of the world's first airship. Nations like Gameth, Sardivelia, and the tiefling kingdom of Rakka are currently in an arms race to create the first airship fleet.
Belligerents
Strength
Casualties
Objectives
To annex territory from Gameth along the Nestorian Mtns.
To defend against Avicennan invasion and mitigate damage from Avicenna's powerful war machines.
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