Timber Wars

Military action

Erathian King David Gryphonheart IV expands beyond Phynaxia and into Elven forestlands, inciting anger from AvLee.   A devastating war is declared which lasts for almost fifteen decades and results in the Contested Lands.

The Timber Wars were a series of border conflicts between Erathia and Avlee from 646 and 789 AS.   Under the leadership of King David Gryphonheart IV, Erathia was expanding its borders. Some of his explorers and settlers entered the forest north of the nation of Phynaxia and found a rare type of wood, well suited for making bows and other weapons. They started building settlements and sawmills, but soon encountered the native elves, who informed them that they were actually tearing down AvLee. This fact was ignored by the humans, and in 646 AS, an elven ranger arrived at King David's court with a message. The Duke of AvLee was demanding that the humans abandoned all settlements north of Phynaxia, and pay a sum of gold equal to the value of the wood taken from the region, but King David refused, and AvLee declared war against Erathia.   As their armies clashed, neither side was strong enough to gain a permanent advantage. The war continued for one and a half century, and the area between the two lands slowly became a desolate wasteland. In 789 AS, after shedding vast amounts of blood and money, the two kingdoms agreed to stop the fighting, and King Eldrich Parson signed a peace treaty with the Erathian king. While the borders between the nations had shifted, neither side had gained more ground than they had lost. The almost uninhabitable area between them came to be known as the Contested Lands.