The Zoraki - Black Tower war

The relations between The Witchmaster and Zorakin have never been easy nore have it been friendly. The Witchmaster of the Aidne mountain have always been raiding his neighbouring countries in search of steel, food and slaves. Sometimes these raids have led to war. One such time was in the years 546 A.O to 555 A.O.
The winters in the mountian had been harsher than normal leading to many blackbloods coming down to the plains to raid. Most of them were probably not from the Witchmaster, but rather the wild tribes of Aidne driven away by the Witchmaster. But it suited the northern nobles agendas to blame it on the Witchmaster. Although there are evidence that the raiding parties came from the Witchmaster as well. In the year 546 A.O after many years of minor conflicts the King of Zorakin were persuaded by powerful nobles to declare war against The Black Tower. The first couple of years the battles were small as the Witchmaster seemed to be testing the strenght of his opponents.
In 548 a large horde of black bloods poured out from the Brynhildur forest with the course set on Fil-Tofia. They bypassed all other fortifications, burned and looted all smaller settlements they could handle. Most of the black blood forces consisted of Goblins from the forest, led by detachments of Orcs bearing the Black Tower sigils. Amongst them were human wizards and warriors who served the Witchmaster.
As the large army laid siege to Fil-Tofia, mercenary wolfriders from the free clans of Black blood in the Aidne mountains roamed the duchy and harassed all attempts to form an opposing force.
A smaller but more profilent force of Black bloods from the Black Tower descended from the mountains. It had many trolls and Ogres amongst it and it laid swift siege to the town Villanoth and looted it. Then it marched for Boronne and Castle Fort la Nord. This siege were violent and many attacks were made from the Black Bloods. The castle were heroicly defended by its soldiers led by Baron Baugge.
In 549 a relief force from the south arrived and as the battles waged there were no real conclusions more than the siege of Fil-Tofia and Boronne were lifted. In early winter the Black bloods had retreated into the Brynhildur forest and the battles staled. The King gave order to disband the souther army over winter and marched back south. Before doing so he gave a piece of land outside Boronne to the Order of the Sun, much to the dismay of the Baron. The winter of 549 were horrible as food was scarce and the raids from the Black Bloods were intense. On the other side the Raxorians who knew the land fought back, hard and strong keeping the Black Bloods at bay.
In autumn 554 the King are finally persuaded by his war council to amass the largest army ever seen on Zoraki soil and march to the The Black Tower and tear it down. He is rused by the vision of how Kardien and Goina would see him as a hero larger than his father and all former Kings. Most of the year are spent preparing while the northern nobles are left to fend for themselves against the growing numbers of Black Blood
In early spring 555 the King is forced to give the order to march north, knowing full well that the army was unprepared for fighting in the mountains, were winter still raged. As the army moved north the morale in the army were on top and the young nobles were planning the victory feast and who they thought would kill the Witchmaster. When the army reached Saittlebeaux the Black bloods withdraw before it into the Brynhildur forest. The army and its leaders fully believed that it feared them and pursuid. When the Zoraki army headed into the forest they were exposed to guerilla warfare from the opposing forces. The Zoraki army never manageed to come to a real battle but won enough skirmishes to follow deeper into the forest. As they came up into the mountains they were severely hit by the cold and lack of food. The harrasment continued and the Zoraki army start to split up as the possibilities to move are hampered. Some smaller forces are quickly eradicated by the Witchmaster. The main force continues upwards and fights it way through several small fortressess. When they have come deep enough to being able to see the black tower on the horizon, they were hit hard by the full force of the Witch masters army and defeated. The remnants of the army fought its way back through hardship and despair. As they were close to the Zoraki border in the Brynhildur forest, the last remnants were surrounded by a large force. Large enough to eradicate them. The Witchmasters army leader invites the King to a peacetalk. And the King is forced to accept a Status Quo peace knowing full well that The Witchmaster could have demanded more. The King is a broken man after this, and many noble families have lost their sons, brothers and husbands in the war. All for nothing.

The Conflict

Prelude

The tensions between the two realms grew as raidning parties from the Aidne mountains became more prominent. They became more bold oin their search for slaves, metal and food.
The Nobles who were hit hard complained to the King who refused to take any decision. Other more powerful nobles who disliked the King saw an opportunity to weaken his power and started vouching for war.

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

546

Ending Date

555