Clouds in the Vale

Clouds in the Vale was a battle between Varenval and Nimb and is widely regarded as Varenval's first attempt to fully invade Nimb. Despite stronger military power and a surprise battle tactic, Nimb was able to successfully repel Varenval through the brilliant tactics of Bajkal.

The Conflict

Prelude

There was little prelude to this battle, at least from the Nimbian perspective. It's widely thought that the Amber Queen, in the earliest years of her reign, sought to demonstrate power so as to dissuade those who might attempt to dethrone her. Given that an invasion of either Konard or Brist would directly violate Hession's Peace and cause a likely three-on-one war in the Borian, the Amber Queen instead set her sights on the oft politically-distant Nimb.

Deployment

The Clouds in the Vale began when a large Varenval force used magical and physical means to shift a large quantity of rock into the strait between the foothills of the Noian Range and the east coast of Nimb. These rocks served as semi-stable bases for large bridges to be quickly constructed over the span, allowing Varenval forces to march onto Nimb's eastern shores, beyond the edges of the Awan Forests.
Nimb, once it realized what was occuring, entrusted the control of their military force to Bajkal, a high-ranking solider who had once lived in Varenval. Nimb thus deployed only a small portion of its force further south, down the beach, while another portion of its force entered the straight (underwater) and the rest arranged themselves throughout the dense brush of the Awan Forests.

Battlefield

The main battlefield would ultimately be the eastern edge of the eastern Awan Forest. This field was thick with brush, cicuk trees, angur vines, and loamy sand. The secondary battlefields would include the beaches of eastern Nimb, the Taring Strait, the foothills of the Noian Range, and the western reaches of the Vale.

The Engagement

The Nimbian forces took two deoch to fully secure their intended places as Bajkal had detailed. Over these two deoch, the Varenval forces attempted to enter the Awan Forest several times only to become nearly immediately lost and find themselves back on the beaches once again. Bajkal had counted on this physical barrier to delay the Varenval forces, and he had also anticipated that this delay would cause the Varenval forces to travel south down the eastern Nimb beach.
Once the forces began to head south, the Nimbians began to hary their forces from the edge of the forest. The Varenval forces would attempt to enter the forest to kill the harriers, but instead they found themselves lost and then on the beach again. Eventually, the army of the Vale decided to split into two groups: one which would entrench on the beach and the other which would head further south. The entrenched group was of little concern, and so Bajkal focuse his next plan on those to the south. Using the natural defenses of Nimb, and the abilities of his people, Bajkal shifted (or created) cloud cover over the advancing force. These clouds caused the forces to tire easily, grow irritable, and occasionally hallucinate.
As the forces of the Vale became incapacitated, Bajkal moved his forces into place. When they were ready, they emerged from the strait and destroyed the land bridges as they advanced on the western shore of the Vale. Leaving only a small force to continue to harry the beach force and a magical group to continue the cloud assault, Bajkal moved the larger force into the Noian Range, being as careful as possible to avoid notice from Vale forces.
Despite some small skirmishes, Bajkal managed to bring his force within sight of the Varenval capital. He parked his army in the Vale, and then he himself snuck into the city. Though an aggressive defence from the remaining Vale army did damage Bajkal's troops in the Vale, he made his way to the throne room of the Amber Queen (through his connections from previously living in the Vale). Once in her throne room, he laid out where things stood (with the main force stuck, dead, out of their minds, or mired in battle in their own land) and the Amber Queen agreed to call off the battle so long as Bajkal announced that he had come to seek peace to resolve the "invasion" that Nimb was losing (to help her save face).

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

896 IH

Ending Date

898 IH

Conflict Result

Nimb repelled the Varenval invasion